Washington.. Blinken discusses with his Omani counterpart the issue of employees of organizations and diplomatic missions detained by the Houthis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed with his Omani counterpart, Badr Al-Busaidi, the issue of humanitarian agency and diplomatic mission employees detained by the Houthi militia in Yemen, and the urgent need for their release.

This came in a phone call made by Blinken to his Omani counterpart on Friday, to congratulate them on the occasion of the 54th National Day, and he touched on the issues in Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon, according to the US State Department.

The US State Department said in a statement that the two ministers discussed "the urgent need to secure the release of Yemeni employees of the US Embassy in Sanaa and international and non-governmental organizations who were unlawfully detained by the Houthis."

Secretary Blinken expressed deep concern about the treatment and conditions of detainees, the statement said.

. @SecBlinken spoke with Omani Foreign Minister @badralbusaidi today. They discussed efforts to free innocent Yemeni detainees held by the Houthis and reviewed efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution between Israel and Lebanon and an end to the war in Gaza.

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) November 23, 2024

The Houthi militia launched a wide-scale kidnapping campaign early last June, targeting about 70 employees of relief agencies and non-governmental organizations, including a number of United Nations employees, while it continues to detain a number of employees of the American embassy for more than three years, accusing them of espionage.