UN envoy urges Houthis to release aid workers held in war-torn Yemen

Houthi rebels have detained 13 UN personnel and five international NGO workers

Houthi soldiers patrol outside the UN complex in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA

A senior UN official on Thursday urged Yemen's Houthi rebels to release all detained UN and NGO personnel immediately and to cease the arbitrary detention of civilians.

The Houthis have detained 13 UN personnel, five staff members of international aid groups and many more civilians, the world body said. All of the detained staff are Yemeni citizens.

“Such arbitrary detentions are not the expected signal of an actor who is seeking a mediated solution to conflict,” UN special envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg told the Security Council.

The leaders of six UN agencies and three international NGOs also issued a joint call for the release of their staff detained by the Houthis. The agencies called on the targeting of aid and development workers in Yemen to stop.

The statement was signed by the heads of the UN health, food, human rights, development, culture and children's agencies.

Edem Wosornu, a senior UN aid official, told council members that the world body received “very limited information on the circumstances of our colleagues’ detention”.

“We still do not know their exact whereabouts or the conditions in which they are being held,” she said.

The Houthis said on Monday they dismantled an alleged American-Israeli spy cell that included former staff of the US embassy in Yemen, according to a statement from Abdel Hakim Al Khaiwani, the group's intelligence chief.

“The American-Israeli spy cell carried out espionage and sabotage activities in official and unofficial institutions for decades in favour of the enemy,” he said.

The Houthis claimed that the cell operated from the former US embassy and northern Yemen.

The group released alleged confession videos by at least 10 Yemenis who said they were recruited to work for US operations in the country. Washington suspended its embassy operations in the country in 2015.

“These actions further call into question the Houthis’ commitment to doing what is in the best interests of the Yemeni people. Instead, it shows their focus on their own, ideological goals,” Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council.

Mr Wood highlighted Iran's continuing support in aiding Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region.

“Iran should not be permitted to hide behind the Houthis. It must comply with the council's resolutions and cease its provision of weapons,” he said.

Mr Wood added that the time has come for the Security Council to ensure compliance with the arms embargo and put a stop to the unprecedented breaches of UN sanctions.

“These transgressions make abundantly clear that the Houthis are the primary actor jeopardising a political resolution between the Yemeni parties.”

The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago, have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea. The group says the attacks are aimed at stopping the Israel-Gaza war and supporting the Palestinians.