Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, president of Yemen's Revolutionary Council, has said that remarks by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, after his meeting with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces on Saturday, were ‘positive’, appreciating Sisi’s call for political dialogue in Yemen. He also hoped for more support in this regard, away from military action.
Al-Houthi, who is the second most influential person in the Ansarullah movement after Abdel Malik al-Houthi, has denied that any Houthi leaders had been injured during the Decisive Storm airstrikes, led by Saudi Arabia. “Abdel Malik is fine and we are all alright,” he added.
Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm about the situation of Egyptians based in Yemen, al-Houthi said: “They are our brothers and they have their rights. We would not remain silent if we knew any of them are hurt or if we received information about ill-treatment by citizens.”
However, he said, “the Egyptian authorities should send a plane to transfer whoever wants to return to Egypt and we will secure their exit. Egypt should secure the landing and the takeoff of the civil plane from and to Yemen, in view of the airstrikes.”
Al-Houthi also called on Egypt to cancel the new measures imposed on the entrance of Yemenis to Egypt, saying that “we have been informed through the media that Egypt has introduced the obligation of obtaining visas prior to departure for Yemenis to access Egypt. However, we hope that the relationship between the two peoples remains the way it used to be. We also hope that Egyptian warships stop entering our territorial waters and that the Egyptian army remains ‘Egypt’s army,’ like President al-Sisi said, without getting involved in a war against a country that appreciates Egypt.”
Regarding the situation of Yemenis stranded at airports in other countries, al-Houthi said, “We called on the alliance countries to allow access for civilian aircraft, as we wanted to get access for a plane stranded in India. However, Saudi Arabia refused, which could expose the planes to airstrikes if they returned to Yemen.”
Despite confirming Houthi control of the southern Yemeni cities, al-Houthi believes that the ongoing strikes will allow al-Qaeda to tak control of these areas.
He also called on the Security Council to allow the return of the Yemeni envoy Gamal bin Omar, on order to resume the dialogue.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
