Yemeni government approves draft law designating Houthis ‘terrorist organization’

The Yemeni government on Sunday approved a draft law designating the Houthi group a “terrorist organization” and criminalizing its activities and financing.

The decision came during a Cabinet meeting in the temporary capital Aden, chaired by Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

The Cabinet approved the draft following a presentation by the legal affairs minister and instructed officials to complete the constitutional and legal procedures required for its ratification.

The meeting came a day after a Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309, according to the statement.

The attack drew widespread condemnation, while the group threatened to continue targeting Saudi Arabia.

The Cabinet said Yemen was at a “decisive stage” aimed at restoring sovereignty over its entire territory and ending what it described as the Houthi coup “financed and directed by Iran.”

Al-Zindani instructed all executive authorities to move from reacting to events toward proactive action, maximize readiness and meet the needs of the armed forces, military formations, security forces and Popular Resistance.

The Houthis had not commented on the proposed designation as of 1445GMT.