A senior leader in the city of Aden has said the UN-led political process in Yemen is no longer fit for purpose because it fails to recognise the aggressive Houthi drive to rule the entire country.

Saleh Al Haj, head of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) foreign affairs department, said the Houthis' control of the north is now entrenched in a way that the UN process does not recognise.

He was speaking a decade after the rebel group mounted its offensive to take over the capital city of Sanaa. The Houthis control most of northern and western Yemen, including Sanaa, and the internationally recognised government is now based in Aden. The STC is a popular front that brings together cross-society groups in Aden and the southern coastal areas.

“The Yemeni peace process has stalled,” Mr Al Haj told The National. “It is important now to look at a new approach to deal with Yemen and the Houthis. The Houthis have a mentality of domination.

“The point of the road map and peace process that the UN has started was to get the two sides to sign a perfect deal. The reality is that the Houthis are not interested. They have a domination mentality and they don't want to compromise.

“The only way to deal with that is to minimise their strength so that they come to the table in the spirit in mediation. But that is not going to happen.

“It has been tried before, so we have to look at different things. We have to build the institutions from the inside to provide services so that the people from the north see there is a better way for them to live.”

Mr Al Haj appealed to UN delegates and other foreign diplomats in Yemen to relocate from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to Aden, where the internationally-recognised government is now based. It has been a willing partner in the UN-led peace process.

“We have asked all the international bodies and humanitarian organisations to move to Aden so that they can have more access to aid delivery,” Mr Al Haj said. “With the Houthis now arresting UN staff and hindering any access to aid and payments, there is a crisis.

“There is a need for donors after the US, UK and Germany pulled out, and it will add to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. That's why we say Aden is the best alternative and we are working on new mechanism to get aid to the people.”

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy to Yemen, condemned the Sanaa authorities late last month for a carrying out a new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel in the capital and the port city of Hodeidah.

Mr Al Haj said sticking with the status quo now favours tjhe Houthis, even though the US began orchestrating a bombing campaign against the Iran-aligned group earlier this year.

Houthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Al Rahwi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials were killed in an Israeli strike last month as they attended a government meeting in Sanaa. But that has not disrupted the family and clan-based Houthi power structure.

“The Houthis have become bigger than just a militia,” Mr Al Haj said. “They inherited institutions and built on that. They have changed a lot in these institutions: the Yemen military, the education system and the culture in the areas they control.

“The Houthis are getting support from Iran, while we in the south are facing hostilities that mean we cannot export or operate the oilfields we need for revenue.”

Fighting on the front line has intensified in recent weeks and STC troops face a well-supplied enemy that continues to enjoy Iranian backing.

“The Houthis inherited large-scale stocks of weapons and also enjoy Iranian drones and missiles,” Mr Al Haj said. “Our forces are facing these on the front line on a daily basis.”