Saudi Arabia adds 19 Yemeni individuals, entities to terror list

RIYADH (AA) - Saudi Arabia announced late Tuesday that it has added 19 Yemeni individuals and entities to its terrorist list.

The eight Yemenis and 11 entities were listed for their involvement in facilitating the financial activities of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, while some of them are associated and cooperating with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the kingdom’s Presidency of State Security.

The motion involves “freezing all assets belonging to the names of designated individuals and entities and prohibiting dealing with them or for their benefit,” it said in a statement.

Riyadh also accuses these individuals and entities of providing weapons to the Houthis and facilitating the smuggling of money and oil to it.

The Presidency of State Security said it "will continue to work to stop the influence of the terrorist Houthi militia and to target the most prominent individuals and entities who provide them with financial support and cause violence."

This is the second move of its kind in a week.

On June 7, Saudi Arabia, the rest of the Gulf states and the US added 16 individuals and entities to their terrorist lists, some of whom are linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Daesh/ISIS and the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria.

Yemen has been witnessing an ongoing war for more than seven years as forces loyal to the legitimate government backed by a Saudi-led Arab military coalition fight the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group, who have taken control of some Yemeni regions, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat