Ahmed, the World Food Program staff , who died is Yemen, would have been alive today had the United Nations Secretary-General not displayed lethal cowardice and incompetence, said an American analyst with a field experience on Yemen’s affairs.
Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in Middle Eastern countries, Iran, Turkey and Yemen , called the U.N. Secretary-General António] Guterres to move U.N. operations to Aden, instead of only demanding an investigation into the death of the World Food Progamme worker, “killed while being held captive by the Houthi rebels”.
Rubin added that it has been more than a decade since the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital Sana’a. While they have maintained a stranglehold and reign of terror over the city and, indeed, much of northern Yemen, they did not win legitimacy.
Guterres, however, refused to move U.N. operations to Aden, “Even as" Houthi leaders began to kidnap U.N. workers, mostly local nationals working for U.N. agencies since 2021, Guterres, however, refused to move U.N. operations to Aden",
The number skyrocketed this past summer, between May and July 2024," as the Houthis kidnapped up to 72 aid workers. The Houthis kidnapped Ahmed on January 23, 2025, along with seven of his colleagues.
Not only did Guterres—and World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain—put U.N. employees at risk, but they also undermine U.N. programs by allowing U.N. agencies and employees to become hostages of Houthi authorities.
The Houthis recognize that if they hold U.N. employees hostage, killing men like Ahmed every so often, the U.N. will refuse to speak up about Houthi abuses or diversion of aid for fear of suffering Houthi retaliation. If, on the other hand, the U.N. offices relocated to Aden, they could operate freely.
Feeding Houthi blackmail is neither competent nor necessary; it is craven.
Operating in Aden would not necessarily mean denying services across Houthi lines.
Guterres’ actions are even more damaging, however. While foreign workers relocated to Aden, Guterres left Yemeni employees behind for the Houthis to prey upon. Both he and McCain essentially signaled that the lives of Yemeni employees were less valuable to the U.N. than those of European or American background.
Had Guterres instead cut off all assistance to the Houthis the second they seized a single hostage, he would have signalled to the Houthis intolerance of their tactics. He also would have firmly aligned the U.N. with its own policies, tying administration functions to the Internationally Recognized Government. Decisions have consequences. The U.N. should relocate all its offices in Yemen to Aden and portions of the country under the recognized government’s control.
Rubin concluded “Feeding Houthi blackmail is neither competent nor necessary; it is craven. The Houthis are solely responsible for Ahmed’s death, but the negligence of Guterres and McCain made Houthi action possible. The only statements U.N. and World Food Programme leaders should issue are their own resignations”