![Houthi fighters ride in an armoured vehicle outside the residence of slain former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on December 4th. [Mohammed Huwais/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2017/12/15/10773-Yemen-Sanaa-Houthis-700_496.webp)
Yemen’s Ministry of Religious Endowments and Guidance on Thursday (December 14th) urged mosque preachers and religious scholars to use the Friday sermon to call on the people to unite behind the legitimate government.
In a circular sent to directors of religious endowments and guidance offices, the ministry instructed them to direct preachers to use the Friday sermon to raise awareness about the negative impact of the Houthis (Ansarallah).
“Scholars must explain the dangers to the security, stability and safety of our people [and] region" and to international navigation routes if the Houthis continue to control "a vital part of our beloved country", the ministry said.
Friday's sermons will follow the ministry's instructions "to explain the dangers of Houthi militias to the security and stability of our country", said Sheikh Mohammed al-Wali, director-general of the Office of Religious Endowments and Guidance in Aden.
“Some preachers and scholars already have adopted this call in their sermons and awareness-raising programmes of their own accord,” he told Al-Mashareq.
Battle must be resolved swiftly
In a Thursday statement, Association of Aden Scholars head Sheikh Ammar Ben Nasher al-Ariqi warned against the Houthis' "exploitation of tribes in supplying the Iranian scheme with a huge reserve of manpower".
He also warned against accepting the Houthis’ authority as a fait accompli.
“Any delay in resolving the battle and putting an end to the coup will strengthen their grassroots bases, including those who are either followers or allied with the Houthis doctrinally or politically,” al-Ariqi said.
He stressed the need to take advantage of the widespread popular resentment against the Houthis by offering former supporters of the militia a general pardon to heal wounds.
He also called on the General People’s Congress (GPC) to withdraw from its alliance with the Houthis and from all battlefields to put an end to its political and military partnership with the militia.
“Creating an expanded national political alliance under the legitimate government, national army and honourable resistance is the ideal solution for Yemen,” he said.
