Yemen’s state-run airline suspends the only route out of Sanaa over Houthi restrictions on its funds

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s state-run carrier says it has suspended the only air route out of the country’s rebel-held capital to protest Houthi restrictions on its funds. Yemen Airways on Sunday canceled its commercial flights from Sanaa international airport to the Jordanian capital of Amman. The airline said in a statement that the Houthi rebels rejected a proposal to release 70% of the funds — $80 million — in the rebel-controlled banks. The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying that the rebels offered to release 60% of the airline’s funds in Sanaa. The Sanaa-Amman air route was reintroduced last year as part of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire deal between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government.