UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) continues to worry about the consequences of the U.S. designation of Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization, said a spokesman on Monday.
"In Yemen, the UN continues to be deeply concerned that the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization designation of the Houthis will push Yemen into a large-scale famine. Given the dangerous situation right now with the risk of famine, the policy should be reversed," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Details on planned licenses for aid agencies have not been published yet, although the designation is to take force on Tuesday. Given this uncertainty, the UN is expecting major disruptions to the world's largest aid operation just as famine starts to take hold in the country, he said.
Even if licenses come through for aid agencies, these will not address the main problem, which relates to commercial imports, he said.
Nearly all of Yemen's food, medicine, fuel and everything else is brought in by commercial importers.
The long-standing UN Security Council position is that commercial imports to Yemen must be protected and must continue to flow through all ports in the country, he noted.
The United Nations will also have to review the potential consequences of the U.S. designation for the Safer tanker mission, he said, referring to the planned UN mission to inspect and repair the derelict oil tanker moored at a seaport controlled by the Houthi.
The world organization has been saying for months that the floating oil storage vessel was in imminent danger of leaking some or all of the more than 1 million barrels of oil on board.
Dujarric expressed the hope that the U.S. decision will be reversed as soon as possible, given that President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday. Enditem
