UN points to Houthis as responsible for Aden airport attack
Yemen's new government, which emerged from the Riyadh accords, was landing in the coastal city of Aden, where the country's temporary capital had been established, when several explosions took place at the airport on 30 December. According to initial reports, at least two of the explosions were reported to have taken place at the airport. The first was in the room where the press reception was to take place and the second in an area where Yemeni security forces were stationed.
An investigation by a team of UN experts found that Yemen's Houthis were responsible for a 30 December attack at Aden airport that killed at least 22 people as members of the internationally recognised country's government were arriving, two diplomats familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The experts presented their report to the UN committee overseeing Yemen-related sanctions during closed-door consultations on Friday, but Russia blocked its wider dissemination, the diplomats said. They requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The report comes at a sensitive time for the new US president, Joe Biden, as his administration and the United Nations press the Houthis to accept a peace initiative that includes a ceasefire.
The Houthi movement, which controls most of northern Yemen, has been fighting forces loyal to the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Arab coalition in what is seen as a proxy war between Tehran and Riyadh.
The UN panel of experts found that the Houthis launched missiles at Aden airport from two locations under the movement's control at the time, Taiz airport and a police station in Dhamar, diplomats said.
Saudi Arabia has offered a ceasefire proposal to the Houthis in Yemen under UN supervision. The peace initiative includes the reopening of air and sea links, as well as the payment of taxes and customs revenues for oil tankers docking at the port of Hodeida in western Yemen.
However, Riyadh has denounced Iranian influence in the region and its support for the Shia militia. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, has made clear that the kingdom reserves the right to defend its territory, citizens and residents from "systematic attacks" by rebels on civilian targets and installations important to "the world's economy and energy security".
The offer comes amid an ongoing exchange of blows between Saudi-led coalition forces and Yemeni insurgents. Tensions in the region have risen sharply following repeated Houthi air offensives on Saudi oil installations and military hangars, and the Kingdom's bombardment of the capital, Sana'a, and other enclaves in the country.
The movement's leader, Abdelmalek al-Huti, said he is ready for "an honourable peace" following Saudi Arabia's proposal, which includes a comprehensive ceasefire, the reopening of Sana'a's international airport after five years, and the start of peace negotiations under UN auspices.
However, Al-Huti pointed out that first and foremost, Riyadh must end the blockade on Yemen and its military intervention in the country, which began on 25 March 2015 at the head of a coalition of Sunni countries against Shiite insurgents and in favour of the government of President Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi.
The conflict between the government and the rebels erupted in 2014, when the Houthis conquered large parts of the west and north of the country, including the capital, ousting the government and forcing Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has conveyed Washington's support for efforts to stabilise the region to the Saudi foreign minister. Blinken stressed that none of the world's great challenges can be solved at the national level, and that it is therefore imperative to promote cooperation between countries, preferably at the United Nations.
Guterres, for his part, welcomed the return of the United States to international consensus and UN bodies it had left and said that cooperation between the organisation and Washington is vital.
