Sana’a: The Al Houthi rebels that have taken control in Yemen’s capital accused Western powers on Thursday of trying to exert pressure by closing their embassies, criticising the hasty exit of diplomatic staff as “unjustified”.
The United States, Britain and France have rushed to close their embassies over security fears in Yemen with US staff destroying top-secret documents and abandoning vehicles at the airport on Wednesday.
But Hussain Al Ezzi, described as the Al Houthi militia’s head of foreign relations, said the closures were designed to put “pressure” on the Yemeni people.
“The decisions of some Western countries to close their embassies in Sana’a are absolutely unjustified,” he was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency, which is under Al Houthi control.
After weeks of internal deliberations and drawing down staff, Washington finally closed its Sana’a embassy over the “deteriorating security situation,” evacuating staff to Muscat late Tuesday on a private Omani jet.
All the US Marines also left but officials stressed that there were still US special forces on the ground to carry on the fight against Al Qaida.
Late on Wednesday, a special Yemeni forces unit loyal to Hadi and which guards the US mission clashed with dozens of armed Al Houthi militiamen who tried to advance towards the embassy premises, witnesses said.
The militiamen were forced to retreat “after a firefight”, one resident said.
Before evacuating, the Marines “destroyed their heavy weapons and crew-served weapons, machine guns and such,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.
The Marine Corps said in a statement that no personal weapons had been handed over to Yemeni authorities and they had been smashed with sledgehammers.
Computers, documents, telephones and other sensitive materials were also destroyed, local embassy employees said.
A wrecking crane was used to destroy numerous vehicles, while those used to evacuate the embassy staff were seized by militiamen at Sana’a airport.
They included three cars used by Ambassador Matthew Tueller and his staff, and more than 25 vehicles used by the Marines in charge of security, airport sources said.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the seizure of the vehicles was “completely unacceptable” and urged the Al Houthis to “respect international conventions” regarding the embassy site.
Al Ezzi confirmed that vehicles had been seized, without saying exactly how many, and insisted they were taken for safekeeping and would be handed over “to a trustworthy third party, like the United Nations office.”
