Leaders of UN and aid groups urge immediate release of 17 staffers being held by Yemen’s rebels

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The heads of six U.N. agencies and three international humanitarian organizations issued a joint appeal to Yemen’s Houthi rebels for the immediate release of 17 members of their staff who were recently detained along with many others also being held by the Iranian-backed group. Their appeal was echoed by a statement from several nations and the European Union ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting on Yemen Thursday where U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg said the Houthis were holding all those detained in the crackdown incommunicado. The Houthis said Monday they had arrested members of an “American-Israeli spy network” days after detaining the staffers from U.N. and aid organizations.