Houthi rebels namecheck Britain’s newest MP George Galloway

LONDON — A senior Houthi leader pitched Britain’s newest member of parliament, George Galloway, as an unlikely mediator in the current Middle East conflict.

Assigning blame for the sinking of a British vessel in the Red Sea this weekend, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi — a representative of the Iran-backed militant group — hit out at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

And he floated the new pro-Palestinian MP for Rochdale as a potential player in easing tensions.

Al-Houthi posted on social network X: “We say to Sunak, you and your government bear responsibility for the ship M/V Rubymar.” The Rubymar, a U.K.-owned cargo ship, sank on Saturday, two weeks after it was attacked on Feb. 18 by an anti-ship missile. 

But he added: “You have a chance to salvage the M/V Rubymar by sending a letter of guarantee, signed by George Galloway, that the relief trucks agreed upon at that time would enter Gaza.”

Yemen’s Houthi group has launched a flurry of attacks on commercial and naval vessels in the critical trade artery in protest at Israel’s war with Hamas. In retaliation, the U.K. and U.S. military have carried out air strikes.

Galloway, a former Labour MP who was kicked out of his old party, was re-elected to the U.K. parliament Thursday on a staunchly pro-Palestinian ticket for the Worker’s Party of Britain.

Galloway has already argued that Labour leader Keir Starmer will “pay a high price, in enabling, encouraging and covering for” what he called the “catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip. Labour accused him of being “only interested in stoking fear and division.”