ADEN - SABA
Yemen's government has demanded the UN Security Council to hasten resolving the stand-off with Houthis regarding a "time-bomb" oil tanker ahead of all other Yemeni issues.

In a letter to the German Christoph Heusgen who currently presides over the Council, Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hadhrami called for forcing the rebel militia to unconditionally allow UN technicians to carry out maintenance for the tanker.

The tanker which Houthis have detained without any maintenance since 2015 is beginning to rust and threatens a spill of 1.4 million barrels into the Red Sea, an epic catastrophe that Yemen and several world countries and maritime organizations have warned against.

The foreign minister reminded the Security Council that his government had sent five memos warning the UN of the deterioration of the vessel's state of repair due to long disuse.