Houthi leader: Bin Mubarak designated to form a government at American orders

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the “Ansar Allah” group, also known as Houthis, said, on Wednesday, that the Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, “became a puppet which the foreign powers are using the way they want”.

He added, in a televised speech, that president Hadi has designated his office manager, Ahmed bin Mubarak, to form a new government, “after the orders of the American ambassador (Matthew Tauler) and we will not accept that the president and prime minister become puppets to be used by foreign powers the way they want”.

Houthi explained, “President Hadi assured us that he will not appoint bin Mubarak as the head of the government, but he changed his position suddenly after a meeting with the US Ambassador, which means that bin Mubarak was nominated by foreign embassies, the American ambassador specifically, and this is a blatant interference in the country’s affairs.”

He continued, “We want a Yemeni national citizen who is concerned with the issues of Yemen”, adding, “There is both an internal and external campaign that seeks to distort the People’s Revolution,” which he said had succeeded on September 21 last year, in reference to his group’s control of the state institutions and buildings.

Houthi added, “All the Yemeni people in the north, centre and south suffer from the repression and we will stand with everyone for fairness and justice, and we will stand by the southerners until their problem is resolved. There is a conspiracy against everyone.”

The Yemeni presidency was not available for an immediate comment about Houthi’s accusations.

President Mansour Hadi, has designated, yesterday, his office manager, Ahmed bin Mubarak, to form a new government, in a move immediately rejected by Houthis.

The official Yemeni news agency said that bin Mubarak’s designation came in line with the implementation of the “peace and partnership” agreement between the Yemeni presidency and political parties and forces and Ansar Allah (Al-Houthi) group on September 21st, hours after the group’s control over most of the vital institutions in the capital, especially the Council of Ministers, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence, and the radio and television building.

The main terms of the agreement talks about the formation of a technocrat government in a maximum period of one month, and the appointment of two advisers to the president, one from al-Houthi group and another one representing the southern peaceful movement, as well as reducing the price of oil derivatives.

Report by Fuad Massad / Anadolu Agency