U.N. aid chief to urge U.S. to reverse plan to blacklist Yemen's Houthis

FILE PHOTO: U. N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) Mark Lowcock, addresses the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock will on Thursday urge Washington to reverse a plan to designate Yemen's Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, warning the move would push the country into a "famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years."

In prepared remarks for a briefing of the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters, Lowcock will tell the 15-member body that a U.S. plan to issue licenses and exemptions to allow aid agencies to continue working will not prevent a famine in Yemen, which relies almost solely on imports.