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Houthi leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, the President of the Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, was interviewed on France 24 TV on April 18, 2019. He offered no comment when asked about peace talks with the southern separatists that would involve a division of influence according to the old border that used to divide Yemen. He claimed that the Houthis have not been using drones and missiles as part of a peace initiative, but that they may reconsider this stance if the rebels continue to show "arrogance." In addition, Al-Houthi claimed that the World Food Program (WFP) has been giving the Yemenis spoiled grains and foods that they don't like – thereby "forcing" them to buy things in the market – and that it wastes most of the aid money on cargo, storage, and people who do not deserve the aid. He said that the WFP should "think modern" and simply give the Yemenis cash to buy what they need, as well as give them "small projects" because they are a "productive" people.
Following are excerpts:
Interviewer: You have marked the fifth year of the war with military operations in the south, in order to take control of the areas north of the border that used to divide Yemen. This is what people believe. They believe that there is a quiet agreement with the southern separatist forces to divide influence on the basis of the old border. Is this analysis correct?
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi: No comment.
Interviewer: I did not hear or understand your answer.
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi: I said: 'No comment.'
Interviewer: So we can understand from this that there are efforts to divide influence with the separatist forces in the south?
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi: No comment.
[...]
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi: The Americans themselves said that there is a [Houthi] threat to the UAE and the KSA, but the claim from a few days ago that we had attacked Khamis Mushait with drones is not true. The brothers in the Ministry of Defense still adhere to our call, from day one, to stop the use of drones and missiles.
[...]
However, this [initiative] seems to be ineffective, so perhaps we will reconsider and examine new options this year, because we will not stand idly by forever. We presented this initiative in order to bolster the peace efforts, but if they continue with their arrogance, if they continue to mobilize [forces], and if they continue to confront us, we might turn to other options.
[...]
We talked about the corruption of the World Food Program [WFP] in Yemen. We have documents proving that the WFP buys quantities of spoiled grains. It buys spoiled food. Most of the money is spent on cargo and storage. The money goes to people who do not deserve it. Instead, there should be monetary aid. I said to them: You must think modern. It's 2019. Don't think in the mentality off the Middle Ages, the mentality of the 1950s. This is the mentality of the past. When you bring me wheat, flour, oil, and things that the Yemenis do not like, you force them to go buy these products in the market. Just give them cash right from the start, and they will buy the things they need. We also told them to give the people small projects. Yemeni families are productive. Don't give us this aid that sends the Yemeni people hundreds of years backward.
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