The UK government has agreed to look at the presence of a Houthi TV station in London after it was raised in parliament following an investigation by The National.
Bob Blackman, a senior MP, urged the Security Minister to look into whether Al Masirah TV is in breach of anti-terrorism funding regulations and being used by the Houthis as cover to obtain visas for the UK.
Al Masirah TV is the mouthpiece of the Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, which has controlled large parts of northern Yemen since 2015 and exerts control over territory that is home to about 25 million people.
The station is registered in the UK with a mailing address at a cafe that granted a toehold in the UK capital, leading to concerns over the advantages the registration could grant. One of the company's directors is listed as the director general of the Yemeni station.
Mr Blackman, MP for the Harrow East constituency, where Al Masirah TV has its address, has now raised the matter in the House of Commons.
“It’s been drawn to my attention that a company called Al Masirah TV has been operating in this country for 10 years,” said the veteran Tory politician. “They are owned by the Houthis, a proscribed organisation in the United States, and there’s a risk that these people are using the opportunity to avoid our visa system, to launder money and to encourage terrorist activities in this country. This is a concern, obviously, for national security.”
He asked the Leader of the House of Commons, Alan Campbell, “to encourage” the Security Minister Dan Jarvis to “come and give us a statement on what action is going to be taken to make sure that this company is in compliance with our rules and regulations, and indeed, if it isn’t then it should be removed from this country and our country made safe.”
Speaking later to The National, Mr Blackman said that he has been “contacted by a wide range of people” in his constituency who are concerned by the presence of Al Masirah TV.
“I’m asking Dan Jarvis to have a look to see if this is a legitimate media operation or whether it is being used to facilitate visas, fundraising and intelligence gathering, and if it's abiding by the regulations on terrorism financing,” he said. “He will be privy to more detailed information, and if they haven’t investigated them before, now would be an ideal opportunity.”
Mr Blackman said it was time for the UK to follow the lead of the US and consider proscribing the Houthis as a terrorist organisation. “They’ve attacked British shipping, including British warships, but for some reason we’ve not proscribed them, which I think is a bit bizarre,” he said.
Replying to Mr Blackman in the House of Commons, Mr Campbell told MPs that potential terrorist designations are kept “under close review”, and that this would be guided by the objectives of the relevant sanctioned regime and the evidence that is provided.
“We do not presently proscribe the Houthis as a terrorist organisation but that situation remains under constant review, and we will use our full diplomatic toolkit, including sanctions, to constrain their activities,” he said. “I’ll make sure that the relevant minister hears his concern and ensure that he gets a response from them.”
The Houthi station was registered as a company in the UK in its current form in September 2014 but has never had assets of more than £200.
The company's current directors are stated to be Ammar Al Hamzy, the director general of the channel, and Yousef Ahmed Al Moyed. Both of their nationalities are given as Yemeni but Mr Al Moyed lives in Lebanon. A former director is listed as Ebrahim Al Dulaimi, who is the Houthi envoy to Iran and sits on the political council for Ansar Allah.
Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, previously told The National the company would make access easier for Houthis who need visas to come to the UK.
“Using this facility as that cover makes it a lot easier in an immigration interview to be able to get a visa, because you have a plausible explanation, you have an overt reason for being in the country,” said Mr Hackett, who has also held positions at the US Defence Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.
