Dr. Nasser Al-Khubaji, member of the Presidency of the Southern Transitional Council, head of the Negotiations Affairs Unit, received today, Sunday, at the headquarters of the Foreign Affairs of the Southern Transitional Council in the capital, Aden, Peter Rice, Director of the Office of the United Nations Envoy in Aden.

The meeting, which was attended by Anis Al-Sharafi, Deputy Head of the General Department of Foreign Affairs of the Southern Transitional Council, and Hadeel Samir, Political Affairs Officer in the Office of the UN Envoy, discussed the repercussions of the recent Houthi escalation on the truce extension negotiations and peace efforts. In this regard, Dr. Al-Khubaji pointed out that the Houthi militia squandered peace opportunities after the recent terrorist attacks, the latest of which was the attack on Al-Dhaba oil port in Hadhramout Governorate, and the previous attacks on the Al-Nashima port in Shabwa governorate and the border fronts by drones.

Al-Khubaji warned against continuing to cajole the Houthi militia and make concessions to it over security, regional peace and international navigation, pointing out that Houthi squandered all the revenues in his hand to support and finance terrorist attacks and operations.

Al-Khubaji added that the Houthi militia does not pay any attention to international law and UN Security Council resolutions, and does not understand the language of dialogue and peace, and the Houthi militia  increases its persistence whenever concessions are made to it, praising the decision of the National Defense Council yesterday regarding the classification of the Houthi militias as a terrorist group, calling on the international community to take firm measures and strict to support the Presidential Leadership Council in confronting and curbing Houthi terrorism.

Al-Khubaji stressed that the Southern Transitional Council provided many opportunities in the past during the recent agreements and consultations in order to devote itself to confronting the Houthi threat and addressing the economic, service and security conditions in the liberated governorates, stressing the need to implement all provisions of previous agreements such as the Riyadh agreement and consultations, to avoid an escalation of the popular movement in Hadhramout and of being out of control.

Al-Khubaji stressed the importance of empowering women's role in the comprehensive political process and involving them in negotiations for a political solution, after their role was marginalized as a result of the escalating growth of militias, terrorist and extremist organizations and parties.

For his part Director of the Office of the United Nations Envoy in the capital, Aden, Peter Reiss, confirmed that the UN envoy, Mr. Hans Grundberg, is following the recent developments with great interest, calling for giving more time to international efforts to make the ongoing negotiations succeed, and to remedy the horrific humanitarian and economic repercussions that may Yemen will have .