Sana’a: Yemeni rebels in control of the capital yesterday ordered the finance ministry to suspend all payments except salaries to state employees, in an apparent tightening of their control over government bodies.
Abdul Malek Al Ejri, a member of the political bureau of the Al Houthi movement, or Ansarullah, said the measure was at the request of employees anxious that public funds be protected at a time of uncertainty.
Al Houthi fighters seized Sana’a with little resistance on September 21 after overrunning an army brigade affiliated to the rival but moderate Islamist Islah party, making them effectively the power brokers in the country.
The Al Houthi group has resisted demands to quit the capital, saying that an agreement it signed with President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to make them a part of the government gives them the right to stay until a new prime minister has been named.
Saudi Arabia views Al Houthis, who hail from the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam, as allies of arch-rival Iran. Al Houthis acknowledge they are on good terms with Iran but insist they are not backed by it. Tehran denies meddling in Yemen.
At an emergency meeting held in Saudi Arabia late on Wednesday, Gulf Arab interior ministers warned that the situation in Yemen was a threat to the region and demanded the restoration of government authority in Yemen.
Saudi warning
Saudi Arabia fears that the rise of Al Houthis to the position of Yemen powerbroker amounts to a victory for Iran.
Explaining the movement’s instruction to the finance ministry, Al Ejri said: “In these extraordinary circumstances, there is a real danger that elements from the former government would act in a way that would tamper with funds and to doctor books, that will cause the collapse of the state.”
He said the instruction had been delivered by what he called popular committees overseeing the operations of various ministries and seeking to ensure security in the city of two million following the September 21 takeover.
Prime Minister Mohammad Basindwa, who resigned on the same day as the takeover, was due to keep his government in place on a caretaker basis under the accord between Hadi and Al Houthis.
But most ministries are functioning at a minimal level and many ministers and senior officials are not reporting to work.
A ministry employee, who declined to be identified, said a ministerial oversight committee set up by the Houthis delivered the instructions on financial transactions.
“The committee ordered the officials to abide by their instructions until a new government is formed,” the employee said.
Al Ejri said the committees consisted of grassroots groups that had joined anti-government demonstrations launched by Al Houthis in Sana’a in August in protest against fuel price rises.
