London- Yemeni Ambassador in London Yassin Noman said on Friday that he blocked the selling bid on embassy property in the UK.

Houthis, a key player in a national insurgency in Yemen, had procured the official documentation of the embassy-related asset after having raided foreign ministry offices in Sanaa.

A group of Houthi-aligned brokers has already sold a valuable property which once belonged to the Yemeni government in Park Lane, central London, some 15 years ago, Noman told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The ambassador contacted the British Foreign Office telling them that serious documents belonging to the Yemeni embassy in London, also relevant to two other properties, one in London and the other in Birmingham, “are now in the possession of Houthis militias in Sanaa.”

Noman conveyed the embassy’s fear that those documents will be put to illicit use and demanded that necessary precautionary actions be taken.

The diplomat said that as soon as Houthis knew about the measures taken by the embassy, they rushed into reacting by Hisham Sharaf – the coup-assigned foreign minister—writing to a lawyer in Britain on the topic.

According to the ambassador, “the British Foreign Office has shown positive responsiveness and transferred the matter to legal affairs to complete needed procedures.”

“We will now continue the next steps and will inform the British Foreign Office, which will in turn contact local municipal councils,” Noman added.

He also warned against Houthis and loyalists to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh manipulating assets of the Yemeni state abroad.

The ambassador wondered why Houthis seized original documents of state property. He also stressed the importance of the papers remaining in safety from any irresponsible behavior.