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Yemen’s Bin Daghr: Houthi Militias Cannot Suppress Civilian Protests with Brutality | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Houthis ride a truck while patrolling a street in Sana’a January 21, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah


Aden- Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid Bin Dagher said that the sudden disappearance of liquid cash from both Sanaa and Hodeidah Central Bank branches, in addition to the registered deficiency in the bank’s ability discharge the payroll of employees is a reason for great concern.

Citizens are directly affected by the delayed salaries. More so, civilian life has been rendered to absolute torment and difficulty by the Iran-backed militias who wreaked havoc over Yemen.

Hundreds took to the streets of Yemen’s capital Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden on Sunday to protest a liquidity crunch that has prevented authorities from paying salaries for the past three months.

Security forces loyal to the anti-government Houthi rebels dispersed dozens of protesters in Sanaa. They also maintained a heavier-than-usual presence throughout the capital in anticipation of renewed protests.

Demonstrations staged by soldiers and civilians were faced with Houthi cruelty and violations of civil rights, however, Mr. Dagher says that public rage cannot be diminished or overcome by brute force.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants cracked down on several protests by public servants demanding months of unpaid salaries, residents said on Sunday.

Militiamen cracked down on the protesters using live bullets, rounding a number of them up. Houthis are facing an acute cash crisis as the internationally-recognized government relocated the central bank headquarters to Aden, saving national assets from Houthi monopoly, depriving them from a vital source of finance.

Bin Daghr added that it is time for Houthis to lean towards realizing a peace settlement for the war-torn country, which could only manifest through coup gunmen withdrawing from chief territory such as Taiz and Hodeidah.

Turning in arms is also a predominant factor to realizing a political peace solution, as Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists are requested to surrender all illegal artillery to a third neutral party, so that the arm power gets to safekeeping and is never raised again against the national institution and public.

Okaz newspaper commented on Yemen, saying that despite all attempts and initiatives undertaken by the Kingdom, other Gulf States and the United Nations to extinguish the flames of the Yemeni crisis and restore the missing security and stability, Houthi intransigence and continuous deception of supporters of ousted Saleh have thwarted any attempt, initiative and effort for solving the crisis.

The paper called on the international community to take a tough stance against Houthi militias and ousted Saleh loyalists.