(5 Nov 2014) The leader of Yemen's powerful Shiite Houthi rebels has brushed off the threat of UN Security Council sanctions - saying they will never be "humiliated." The United Nations last month expressed deep concern at developments in Yemen, urging the new government to expedite reforms - especially in the army and security forces - and threatening to impose sanctions. Speaking in Saada, a defiant Abdel-Malek al-Houthi addresses a large crowd of supporters. Al-Houthi is the leader of the dominant Shiite Houthi rebels who now control the capital Sanaa and are currently battling al-Qaida militants. UN diplomats say the United States has asked the Security Council to freeze the assets and impose a global travel ban on three "spoilers" - Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied with the Houthis, and two Houthi leaders, Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim. Approval by all 15 council members is required to impose sanctions, and the council has set a deadline of Friday evening (7 November 2014) for objections, UN diplomats have said. If there are no objections, the Security Council committee will order sanctions on the ex-president and the two Houthis. "A lot of talks are circulating between politicians and diplomats about a move for sanctions against some persons from Ansar Allah and others, they think that using hype in the media and political and diplomatic fields would intimidate us from taking our responsibilities to confront their conspiracies against this nation. We tell them, we are not afraid from the Security Council and the ten countries, and we are not afraid of any tyrant powers because we hold the vision and the spirit and the determination. We will never be humiliated," says al-Houthi in his rousing speech. Al-Houthi is delivering the speech in honour of Ashoura, a major Shiite holiday commemorating the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and an iconic Shiite martyr. His words signal an escalation in rhetoric against the country's leadership and feeds fears among many Yemenis that the rebels are looking to expand their already considerable territorial gains. A presidential official said that al-Houthi's speech came after President Hadi refused to give the Shiite group an official government mandate to battle al-Qaida. Al-Houthi also called on the Yemeni people to take action, saying: "We will not stay silent against any conspiracy on the security level, political level and the economic level, our great Yemeni nation and our people's committees will move and will be ready, and I call on them to raise their combat readiness, at the same time I called upon our great Yemeni people to be ready for any future options in case those criminals decide to drag this country into chaos and destruction." A recent UN deal stated that the Yemeni president would appoint a new prime minister after consulting with two advisers, one representing the Houthis and a second representing Yemen's disgruntled southern region. After naming a prime minister, the president, together with different political factions, would form a new cabinet which would present its programme to parliament within a month. However, after the appointment of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah more than two weeks ago, disputes among the political factions have delayed the formation of the new government. Last Friday, the Houthis gave Hadi a 10-day ultimatum, hinting of a takeover if they didn't succeed in forming a government. On Saturday, the political factions agreed on a cabinet of apolitical technocrats. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/02d2f5bed241ab9409dfe5a6e4f7ba66

• published: 03 Aug 2015
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