The internationally recognized Yemeni government wants the global community to take a harder line on Houthi rebels accused of stealing funds earmarked for civil workers' salaries, the Yemeni ambassador to Russia said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said in summer that the mechanism agreed by the warring parties in Stockholm to allow for such payments had been put on hold. It guaranteed that ships carrying fuel for fuel-strapped areas under Houthi control would enter through Al-Hudaydah port and that revenues from the port would go to civil servants based on the pre-conflict payroll database.

"We ... hold the international community responsible for obliging these militias to stop this escalation and extortion and to end the measures that they have taken, and for the international community to announce a clear position towards this behavior," Ahmed Wahishi said.

The Yemeni government cleared seven fuel shipments for entry in mid-October, according to the diplomat.

This generated 3.2 trillion Yemeni rials ($12.8 million) in customs and tax fees and allowed aid agencies to bring an average 4,000 tonnes of fuel to Houthi-held areas.

"These permits were granted for the entry of these shipments through Hudaydah Port, providing that the Office of the UN Special Envoy continue bearing the responsibility of overseeing the process and preserving the legal fees collected from these shipments until a mechanism is agreed upon for the payment of these funds as civil servant salaries," Wahishi explained.

The UN special envoy said the government's decision was a positive step, but it is expected to be only a respite from the ongoing economic blockade. He stressed that a mutually agreed solution was needed to ensure an uninterrupted flow of fuel into rebel areas to guarantee the availability of aid to 24 millions in need of assistance.