US arrests Energy Department employee under claims of backing Yemen’s Houthis

The Justice Department has arrested a man under claims that he attempted to provide material support or resources to Yemen’s Houthis. The 51 year-old, identified as Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, is a US Energy Department employee. "As alleged, a US government employee travelled overseas and used his specialised expertise in an attempt to aid the Houthis, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization backed by Iran," the assistant attorney general for national security, John A Eisenberg, said. Eisenberg claimed that Ellaboudy "acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives". "These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination," he added. Ellaboudy is scheduled to appear before a federal judge on 2 October in Washington.