"The president of the Security Council invites the members of the Council to informal consultations of the whole, in connection with 'Middle East (Yemen)', tomorrow, Saturday, 4 April 2015 at 11:00 a.m.," said an email message sent to reporters from the UN office.
The meeting will take place behind closed doors, according to the message. Jordan, one of the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, is the rotating council president for April.
On March 22, the 15-nation UN body called an emergency meeting to discuss the volatile situation in Yemen.
The Yemeni crisis has become the focus of the ongoing Arab summit led by Egypt and attended by 20 Arab monarchs and presidents, including fleeing Yemeni President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, amid an ongoing Saudi-led military airstrikes against targets of Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Yemen has mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down.
The three-year reconciliation talks failed to resolve the crisis but create huge power vacuum that could benefit the powerful al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and other extremist groups.
Conflict in Yemen killed more than 500 people over the past two weeks, Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement issued by her office on Thursday.
- Extremely concerned for the safety of civilians caught in the midst of "fierce fighting" in Yemen, Amos, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, called on all parties involved to meet their obligations under international law and do their utmost to protect the ordinary women, children and men who are suffering the consequences of the conflict.
4/4/15
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Houthi militants broke into the Consulate General of Russia in the Yemeni seaport of Aden and looted it, according to reports in local media...
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- As Yemen conflict intensifies, UN relief chief urges all sides to do more to protect civilians...
Extremely concerned for the safety of civilians caught in the midst of “fierce fighting” in Yemen, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator called today on all parties involved to meet their obligations under international law and do their utmost to protect the ordinary women, children and men who are suffering the consequences of the conflict.
In a statement issued by her office this afternoon, Valerie Amos, who is also the Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said reports from humanitarian partners in different parts of the country indicate that some 519 people have been killed and nearly 1,700 injured in the past two weeks – over 90 of them children.
Further, Ms. Amos said tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, some by crossing the sea to Djibouti and Somalia. Electricity, water and essential medicines are in short supply.
“Those engaged in fighting must ensure that hospitals, schools, camps for refugees and those internally displaced and civilian infrastructure, especially in populated areas, are not targeted or used for military purposes,” she said.
Despite the grave dangers, she continued, United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners are coordinating with the Yemen Red Crescent and local authorities to deliver emergency health kits, generators so that people can get clean water, food and blankets.
“Before this recent escalation in the violence, millions of Yemenis were already extremely vulnerable. I hope that peace, security and stability will be restored as soon as possible,” Ms. Amos concluded......................http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50496#.VR9pAvAYE9Q
2/4/15
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Yemen’s Saleh may possess chemical weapons...
ReplyDeleteThe spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition forces, did not rule out the possibility that former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh may be in possession of chemical weapons, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said that Saleh is an unpredictable man from who any behavior can be expected to preserve his position.
Asiri made the remarks during a daily briefing session in Riyadh on the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.............http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/04/04/Ousted-Yemen-president-may-have-weapons-of-mass-destruction.html
4/4/15
Fighting intensifies in the streets of Yemen's Aden...
ReplyDeleteRebels have engaged in intense street battles with forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Yemen's southern port city of Aden.
The UN Security Council is set to meet on Saturday to discuss a Russian proposal for "humanitarian pauses" in Saudi-led air strikes, which have targeted Houthi rebels over the past nine days.
As the country continued to spiral into chaos on Friday, Houthi fighters and their allies withdrew from Aden's Crater neighbourhood, as well as one of Aden's presidential residences which they had seized a day earlier, residents and a local official said.
Their withdrawal followed clashes and an air strike on the presidential palace at Ma'ashiq, overlooking Crater. At least one Houthi tank was destroyed and another taken over by Hadi's loyalists, they said................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/fighting-intensifies-streets-aden-150403221148819.html
4/4/15
Russia and Red Cross appeal for 'humanitarian pause' in Yemen...
ReplyDeleteRussia and the Red Cross appealed on Saturday for a military pause in Yemen to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation of civilians after 10 days of Saudi-led air strikes and fighting in which hundreds of people have died.
Russia distributed a draft resolution at the United Nations pressing for suspensions of the air strikes to allow evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats, and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.
The International Committee of the Red Cross called for an immediate pause in hostilities to deliver life-saving medical aid, saying three of its shipments remained blocked.
"All air, land and sea routes must be opened without delay for at least 24 hours to enable help to reach people cut off after more than a week of intense air strikes and fierce ground fighting nationwide," the ICRC said in a statement.............http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/russia-and-red-cross-appe/1766814.html
4/4/15
Saudi U.N. envoy slams Russia’s request on Yemen ...
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the United Nations said Saturday that Russia’s call for a humanitarian pause in Yemen was aimed at hindering a draft resolution by Gulf Arab states and Jordan that is being negotiated by the Security Council.
Abdullah al-Moalami’s comments to Al-Hadath, Al Arabiya’s sister channel, came shortly after Russia called for a meeting of the 15-member council amid growing alarm over the rising civilian death toll in Yemen.
Russia had distributed a draft resolution pressing for a suspension of airstrikes to allow the evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats, and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access, reported Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent in New York..............http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/04/05/Saudi-U-N-envoy-Russia-wants-to-ruin-Arab-draft-resolution.html
5/4/15