Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

At UN, Yemeni Nobel Winner Opposes GCC Initiative, UNSC Won't Be Trapped?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 18 -- As the UN Security Council's five permanent members negotiate a draft resolution on Yemen, the new Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman arrived Tuesday in New York and led a demonstration across the street from the UN.

  Inner City Press asked Karman about the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative, which the Security Council draft would either endorse or say a political deal which be "based on."

  Karman replied, through a translator, that "the youth peaceful revolution is against the GCC initiative, especially because it gives immunity to Saleh and his family. We don't think the Security Council will be trapped into a resolution that will give an immunity to the regime." Video here, and see below.

Karman across from UN Oct 18, GCC not shown (c) MRLee, InnerCityPress.com

  Before Karman arrived -- her plane touched down at the airport at 3 pm but due to traffic she did not arrive until near 5 pm -- Yemenis turned a bullhorn on the UN with chants like "One, two, three, four, Ali Saleh get out the door." One sign said "Saudi and your GCC, Hands off Yemen!"

Sign "Saudi and your GCC, Hands off Yemen," Oct 18 (c) MRLee

  Another sign, bearing Barack Obama's photo, asked why the international community is so silent.

Signs by UN Oct 18, Obama photo in middle, (c) MRLee

 During the demonstration, a representative of the US Mission to the UN walked by the protest but did not stop.

Karman said that the same support that was shown to protesters in Libya should be shown to those in Yemen. She said she felt guilty she would sleep in a hotel in New York while other Yemenis slept on the sidewalk. She vowed to continue her protest. Watch this site.