US, UN condemn seizure of ex-US embassy in Yemen

The U.N. Security Council and the United States have condemned the intrusion and seizure of the now-closed U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital and the detention of dozens of local employees by the country's Houthi rebels.

A statement on Thursday approved by all 15 members of the U.N.'s most powerful body called for "an immediate withdrawal of all Houthi elements from the premises" and "the immediate and safe release of those still under detention."

The U.S. embassy in Sanaa has been closed since 2015.

The Security Council stressed that the Vienna convention prohibits any intrusion into diplomatic property as well as the "inviolability" and "immunity" of the premises from searches and requisition — and that property and archives of a diplomatic mission that has been temporarily closed "must be respected and protected."

The council's statement followed a demand on Nov. 17 by the United Nations for the release of two U.N. staffers detained earlier this month by the Yemen rebels.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week that U.N. officials were given assurances by senior Houthi officials last week that the two men, both Yemenis, would be released. He told reporters Thursday that they still have not been freed.

He said the U.N. staffers work for the U.N. human rights office and UNESCO, and were detained on Nov. 5 and Nov. 7.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the northern part of the country, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.