ADEN: The United Nations has relocated the place of appointment of the resident coordinator for Yemen to Aden, more than a week after at least 18 UN personnel were detained in the capital Sanaa.
The resident coordinator’s office for Yemen said on Tuesday that the office location was changed to Aden, but that the resident coordinator would continue to fulfill his mandate across the country.
“The Resident Coordinator maintains a presence in Sanaa and he will be traveling across the country, including to Sanaa,” the office said.
The foreign ministry of the Aden-based government earlier on Tuesday welcomed the UN’s decision, calling on the body’s other programs to follow suit.
“The Ministry reiterates its strongest condemnation of the continued arbitrary detention of dozens of humanitarian workers by the Houthi militia and calls for their immediate and unconditional release,” it added. The UN previously said that Houthi rebels raided its premises in Sanaa on August 31 and detained UN staff, following an Israeli strike that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers. Yemen’s Houthi-run Foreign Ministry said UN officials’ legal immunities should not shield espionage activities.
