اضغط هنا لقراءة الخبر بالعربية
The Houthis group (Ansar Allah) called on the United Nations and international organizations to intervene to prevent what it called the Saudi-led Arab coalition countries targeting the floating Safer reservoir at Red Sea port of Ras Isa in the western province of Hodeida, controlled by the group.
According to Houthi-run Yemeni "Saba" news agency the Ministry of Oil and Minerals in the Houthi Salvation Government in the Yemeni capital Sana'a "appealed to the United Nations and international organizations to allow the sale of crude oil in the ship safir and benefit from the return in the establishment of oil reservoirs alternative,".
On Thursday, the Houthis warned of the risk of a major environmental disaster in the Middle East due to the possibility of an oil leak from the floating reservoir Safir.
Houthi Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf said during his meeting with the UN Resident Coordinator, Lise Grande, that the United Nations has been addressed more than once to give this subject great importance and the work of a comprehensive assessment of the current situation and the development of a number of alternatives to unload the amount stored and benefit from the proceeds of selling aspects related to raise the suffering of the Yemeni people in many areas.
During her meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Houthis in Sana'a, Grande asked to re-address the Secretary-General of the United Nations on facilitating access to the floating oil reservoir by experts to be brought by the United Nations to assess the situation and propose possible steps.
The Oil ministry in Sana'a said that "the ship Safir has become dilapidated and maintenance work is suspended because of the aggression and in case of oil spill will lead to an environmental disaster in the Red Sea stretching from Bab al-Mandab to the Suez Canal and the destruction of marine life."
The ministry called for "neutralizing the oil installations as vital institutions to serve the citizens and the property of the people."
The floating oil tank consists of one million and 174,000 barrels of crude oil, a ship owned by the Yemeni state and currently controlled by the Houthis. Before the war in Yemen, the vessel received the production of five oil companies and through which exports are exported and the supply of crude oil refineries to Aden refineries.
The Saudi-led coalition backing legitimacy in Yemen warned on Monday of oil leakage in the Red Sea as Houthi group has denied the dischargeof crude from the floating reservoir in Ras Isa port, in Hodeida governorate.
At weekly press conference in Riyadh, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki accused Houthi of obstructing the emptying of the Red Sea port-based Safir reservoir.
Yemen has been racked by an armed conflict that entered its fifth year and had already triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, with most of the population in need for a type of humanitarian aid and immediate protection, including some 2 million children suffering severe shortage of nutrition in absence of adequate health care.
