Yemen rebels deny stealing UN food aid

CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthi rebels are denying accusations by the United Nations food agency that they are stealing “from the mouths of hungry people” and diverting food deliveries.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, said in a statement on Tuesday the rebels were “surprised” by World Food Program allegations.

He said WFP “did not communicate officially” with the rebels regarding the alleged theft of aid.

WFP on Monday said the food aid meant for starving Yemenis is being stolen and sold in some areas controlled by the Houthi movement.

After hearing that humanitarian food was being sold on the open market in Sanaa, WFP said it found many people had not received the food rations to which they are entitled, and that at least one local partner organization affiliated with the Houthi Ministry of Education was committing fraud.

“This conduct amounts to the stealing of food from the mouths of hungry people,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said. “At a time when children are dying in Yemen because they haven’t enough food to eat, that is an outrage. This criminal behavior must stop immediately.”

A Houthi official expressed “deep disappointment” with the statement, saying it was “not in line with WFP practices”.

“We are surprised by this position, which is not backed by evidence and proof … We welcome the formation of independent committees to investigate the violations,” Houthi said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Yemen’s war and the ensuing economic collapse have left 15.9 million people, 53 percent of the population, facing “severe acute food insecurity” and famine was a danger if immediate action was not taken, according to a December UN report.

WFP has been trying to get food aid to as many as 12 million severely hungry people.

It said its monitors had gathered photographic and other evidence of trucks illicitly removing food from designated food distribution centers and local officials falsifying records and manipulating the selection of beneficiaries.

“It was discovered that some food relief is being given to people not entitled to it and some is being sold in the markets of the capital,” the WFP statement said.

Beasley said he was asking the Houthi authorities to make sure food reaches the people who need it.

Herve Verhoosel, WFP spokesman in Geneva, said WFP was looking at the possibility of distributing cash to needy people, if a biometric identification system could be introduced. is scans

He said Beasley had written to the Houthi leadership about the WFP findings several days ago.