Hiiraan Online
Sunday April 22, 2018
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi (center), who heads the Houthi movement’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, attends a rally marking al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Yemen’s capital Sanaa July 10, 2015. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)
Mogadishu (HOL) - The leader of Yemen's Houthi Ansar Allah movement have voiced their support for Somalia in the wake of the diplomatic crisis between the horn of Africa nation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In a message posted to his official Twitter account on Friday, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of Yemen's Supreme Revolutionary Committee condemned the UAE for interfering in Somalia's internal affairs.
“We announce our support for our brothers in Somalia and condemn all the UAE regime (meddling) in Somalia’s affairs,” he added that “We advise the Emiratis to take their mercenaries away from these freedom-seekers (Somali people) who gave the Americans an unforgettable lesson, and learn a lesson before it is too late.”
Officially known as the Ansar Allah, or Partisans of God, the Houthi movement began as a theological movement that emerged in northern Yemen in the early 1990's. The movement quickly organized itself into an Islamic religious-political-armed movement.
The Shia rebel movement intensified in August 2014 when mass protests rocked Yemen.
After a series of military defeats, a Saudi-led coalition - that includes the UAE - stepped in to halt the Houthi advance and prop up the weak Yemeni government in March 2015.
Human Rights groups have blasted the Saudi-led coalition for violating the laws of war. Human Rights Watch noted that Saudi and UAE airstrikes "failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives," as well as the use of cluster bombs.
Over 14,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.
Somalia plays a minor role in the coalition, providing logistical support for the Saudi intervention.
Relations between Somalia and the UAE took a nosedive in recent weeks with the high-profile seizure of nearly $10 million USD from an Emirati plane by Somali authorities. The UAE was infuriated at the seizure and announced that it would cease its military training program in Somalia.