Yemen update 6/9/2016..Ban Ki-moonnraps Riyadh “undue pressure” over UN blacklist
Press TV visits scenes of Saudi Arabia’s crimes in Yemen’s Sa’ada
Yemen’s Ansarullah Delegates: Riyadh Delegation Stalling Prisoners Issue
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950320000682
Yemen’s Ansarullah delegation protested against Riyadh Delegation’s stalling of the prisoners issue, Yemeni media reported. The Ansarullah delegation also slammed unseriousness of the UN in dealing with such humanitarian issue, sources close to the talks and within Ansarullah delegation were quoted as saying, Al Manar reported. The stance of the Ansarullah delegation came following a talks session on Wednesday in Bayan Palace in the Kuwaiti capital. The session was the first meeting between Yemen’s warring sides in Ramadan month.
Kuwait hosts the UN-brokered talks aimed at finding solution to the deadly war in Yemen. Wednesday session tackled several topics including consensus government and forming military and security committees tasked with monitoring security and military institutions across the country. The session also discussed forming a committee tasked with monitoring the implementation of the deal.
Yemen has been since March 26, 2015 under brutal aggression by Saudi-led coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians. Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to fugitive Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.
Rights groups want Saudi, allies back on blacklist
Saudis Threaten To Leave U.N. Over Human Rights Criticism In Yemen
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-08/saudis-threaten-leave-un-over-human-rights-criticism-yemen
Authored by Colum Lynch, originally posted at ForeignPolicy.com, Saudi Arabia threatened this week to break relations with the United Nations and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to its humanitarian relief and counterterrorism programs to strong-arm the U.N. into removing Riyadh and its allies from a blacklist of groups that are accused of harming children in armed conflict. The threat — which has not been previously reported — worked, and the U.N. subsequently dropped the Saudis from a rogues’ gallery of the world’s worst violators of children’s rights in conflict zones.
In their Monday warning, senior Saudi diplomats told top U.N. officials Riyadh would use its influence to convince other Arab governments and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to sever ties with the United Nations, the officials said. The threats were issued in a series of exchanges between top Saudi officials in Riyadh, including Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, according to U.N.-based officials. The Saudi mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Riyadh was enraged after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon included the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen on a list of countries, rebel movements, and terrorist organizations that killed, maimed, or otherwise abused children in conflict. The 40-page report — which was issued last week and primarily written by Leila Zerrougui, the U.N. chief’s special representative for children and armed conflict — claimed the coalition was responsible for about 60 percent of 1,953 child deaths and injuries in Yemen since last year.
Hoping to mollify the Saudis, Ban issued a statement Monday saying he would remove the Saudi-led coalition from the list, pending a review of the matter by a joint U.N. and Saudi panel. The reversal triggered a wave of criticism of the U.N. from human rights groups, who accused Ban of caving to Saudi intimidation.
“It appears that political power and diplomatic clout have been allowed to trump the U.N.’s duty to expose those responsible for the killing and maiming of more than 1,000 of Yemen’s children,” Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Oxfam’s country director in Yemen, said in a statement. “The decision to retract its finding is a moral failure and goes against everything the U.N. is meant to stand for.”
Ban Ki-moon says Saudis pressured him over inclusion in Yemen children report
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/06/yemen-update-692016ban-ki-moonnraps.html
