A follower of the Houthi shouts slogans as he raises his weapon during a rally, in Sanaa, March 1, 2016.

The British Ambassador to Yemen said on Tuesday that the on-going conflict in the country was at the hand of Houthi militias and the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Ambassador Edmund Fitton-Brown made a statement on his official Twitter page saying: “Let us be clear that this war was caused by a violent seizure of power by Ali Abdallah Saleh and the Houthis.”

Fitton-Brown was appointed ambassador to Yemen in February 2015. However, whilst operations at the embassy in Sanaa remain suspended, Fitton-Brown has been based in Saudi Arabia.

Houthi militias retained control over Sanaa after their attempted coup in September 2014. In response, Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 after the armed Houthi movement had pushed the Hadi administration into exile in Saudi Arabia.

After UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait ended without an agreement last month, the Arab coalition resumed its ‘Operation Restoring Hope’ against the Houthis and their allies loyal to deposed Saleh.

The Houthi militias and Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) hold most of Yemen’s northern half while forces loyal to Hadi share control of the rest of the country with local tribes.

[vuukle]