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Yemen's Houthis denounce exiled government's central bank relocation

Xinhua, September 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebel group denounced Tuesday the exiled government's decision to relocate the country's central bank headquarters from the capital Sanaa to the temporary capital of Aden.

The condemnation came during a speech delivered by the group's leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, aired by the group's Almasira satellite television station on Tuesday night on the second anniversary of the group's control of Sanaa and other northern provinces.

The Houthi leader called for Yemeni people to support the central bank's location in Sanaa and to donate as much as possible in order to help the bank operate and fulfill its duties.

He urged the international community to reject the exiled government's decision and stand by "the Yemeni people."

"This act is legally null and void," he declared.

On Sunday, Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's internationally recognized president, issued a decree to fire the central bank's board and relocate the central bank to Aden.

Hadi appointed Monasser Al Quaiti, former finance minister, as the central bank's new governor, relocating the entire bank from the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa to the southern port city of Aden, the temporary bastion of Hadi's exiled government.

The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out after the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, stormed through Sanaa and forced President Hadi and his government into exile.

The move triggered a military intervention by a coalition from Middle Eastern Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015 to support Hadi through airforce campaigns and sea sieges in order to restore the government and recapture the capital.

The coalition has thus far made no major military progress in favor of Hadi and his Saudi-based government.

However, the central bank was the last card in the hands of Hadi's government to pressure Houthi rebels economically.

The exiled government accused Houthis of draining the bank to finance their fighters against government troops, an accusation denied by Houthis.

The civil war, ground battles and Saudi-led airstrikes have killed over 10,000 people - half of them civilians - injured about 35,000 others and displaced over three million, according to statistics obtained from humanitarian agencies. Endit