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Yemeni MPs: Washington Informed us about its Rejection of Political Council | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A soldier loyal to Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi stands atop a tank as he uses binoculars in Majaz district, in the country’s northwestern province of Marib, , December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Owidha


Aden-U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller has slammed the rebels’ formation of a political council, describing their move as a breach to the Yemeni constitution, Yemeni parliamentary sources said.

A committee representing parliamentary blocs held a meeting with Tueller to discuss the insurgents’ escalatory moves in Sana’a.

Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Ali al-Shadadi headed the committee that discussed with the U.S. ambassador “the Yemeni situation and the rebels’ challenge to the Yemeni and international will through their latest decision to form a political council.”

The lawmakers asked the ambassador to “urge the U.S. government to put pressure on Houthi rebels and ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, considering their recent actions illegitimate,” the sources said.

The insurgents’ move also “subjects the country to additional crises and destruction,” the sources added.

Tueller expressed full understanding and agreed with the committee that the rebels’ step is neither based on the constitution nor on U.N. resolutions.

“Their purpose is to obstruct exerted efforts to implement U.N. and international resolutions that stipulate restoring the role of state institutions and clearing cities from militias,” said Tueller. He also promised to raise the issue with the ambassadors of 18 countries in their upcoming meeting, according to the sources.

In the same context, Deputy Mohammed Moqbel al-Humairi expected all procedures taken by rebels in Sana’a, including forming a political council and calling for a parliamentary session, to be rejected and denounced.

“We and the Yemeni people totally reject this criminal step since it widens the gap and blocks the road for the implementation of international resolutions, ending the coup and restoring state institutions,” said Humairi.

“We call on countries adopting the Gulf Initiative and sponsoring political dialogue, the U.N. Security Council, all peace-loving countries and international and regional parliaments to set limits to this gang in order to maintain the Yemeni people’s unity and regional and international peace,” he added.