WASHINGTON, January 31 (Sputnik) — The security situation in Yemen following the fall of the government is relatively stable, but needs political solution, Yemeni Embassy spokesman in Washington DC Muhammad al-Basha said on Friday.
“There is no security vacuum to the extent that people are reporting at this point,” Basha said during a Wilson Center conference on the recent Houthi takeover of the Yemeni government. “This is not a Sunni-Shia war in Yemen…this is a political crisis with political resolutions, hopefully.”
“AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] is going to have a chance to recruit more,” If the Houthi government opposition group, who recently seized control of the presidential palace in Sanaa and drove President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and much of his cabinet out of power, continue to expand their influence, Basha warned.
He added that Yemen may then face threats from other militants including the Islamic State terrorist group “which is already trying to have a footprint in the country.”
The embassy spokesman has been in discussions with representatives of Yemen’s various factions vying for power following the resignation of President Hadi, all of which have stated an intention to to move for a political resolution. “No one wants to pick up guns and fight,” Basha stated.
By Sunday, the people of Yemen and the international community should have a clearer picture of how the government will function moving forward, the spokesman said. One possible outcome could be a Houthi-brokered Expanded National Congress, to include different factions under one umbrella, he said.
Last week the Yemeni government’s main opposition group, the Houthis, took control of areas in the capital city Sanaa and forced the resignation of President Hadi. The country has since been on an unsure footing regarding the future political control following the removal of the previous, US-backed administration.
