On
Yemen, UNSC
Presidential
Statement As
Adopted Does
Not Say Coup
But PR Cites
Iran
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
22, updated --
When the UN
Security
Council
convened for a
rare Sunday
meeting on
March 22, its
Yemen
Presidential
Statement had
already been
agreed to. Online
here.
It
did not use
the word
"coup," but Yemen's
Ambassador who
spoke before
its adoption
used the word
coup repeatedly,
and told the
Council events
have been
“incited by
Iranian
ambitions in
my country.”
His speech,
in Arabic, is
put online
here by
Inner City
Press.
The
Ambassador of
Qatar also
spoke, for the
Gulf
Cooperation
Council, as
well as UN
envoy Jamal
Benomar by
video from a
small room.
Benomar said
without talks,
Yemen could
become like
Iraq, Libya or
Syria.
After a two-hour
closed door
meeting of the
Security
Council,
during which
Permanent Five
members'
Permanent
Representatives
drifted away
one by one, no
one came out
to the UN
Television
stakeout to
speak on the
record and apparently
little new was
said behind
closed doors.
Now what?
Hours after
the UN
Security
Council
scheduled this
emergency
meeting on
Yemen, the US
has
announced:
"Due
to the
deteriorating
security
situation in
Yemen, the
U.S.
Government has
temporarily
relocated its
remaining
personnel out
of
Yemen.
We have
informed
President Hadi
of this step
as part of our
close
coordination
with the
Yemeni
government.
We will
continue to
engage the
Yemeni people
and the
international
community to
strongly
support
Yemen’s
political
transition.
We also
continue to
actively
monitor
terrorist
threats
emanating from
Yemen and have
capabilities
postured in
the area to
address
them. As
we have in the
past, we will
take action to
disrupt
continuing,
imminent
threats to the
United States
and our
citizens.
"There is no
military
solution to
Yemen’s
current
crisis.
We urge the
immediate
cessation of
all unilateral
and offensive
military
actions.
We join all of
the other
members of the
Security
Council in
underscoring
that President
Hadi is the
legitimate
authority in
Yemen and
re-emphasize
our support
for his
efforts to
lead Yemen
through
crisis.
We call upon
the Houthis,
former
President Ali
Abdallah
Salih, and
their allies
to stop their
violent
incitement
that threatens
President
Hadi, Yemeni
government
officials, and
innocent
civilians.
"We encourage
all Yemeni
factions to
constructively
engage in the
UN-led
political
dialogue to
achieve an
inclusive
power sharing
agreement.
No unilateral
assertion of
authority will
succeed in
Yemen.
We urge a
renewed
commitment to
a peaceful
political
transition
consistent
with the Gulf
Cooperation
Council
Initiative,
the National
Dialogue
Conference
outcomes, and
relevant
United Nations
Security
Council
resolutions.
"We are
concerned that
the well-being
of all Yemenis
now stands
threatened by
increasing
instability,
with
extremists
trying to
capitalize on
growing
volatility as
witnessed in
the
unconscionable
March 20
attacks that
killed over
130 Yemeni
men, women,
and
children.
Progress in
the political
transition
process offers
Yemen the best
hope to
address these
grave
threats.
The United
States remains
committed to
supporting all
Yemenis in
this endeavor
and to aiding
those who
continue to
strive for a
peaceful,
prosperous,
and unified
Yemen."
Five weeks
after the last
Yemen
resolution of
the UN
Security
Council was
adopted on
Sunday,
February 15,
now on Sunday
March 22 the
Council held
another
emergency
meeting on
Yemen. Much
has changed,
most recently
airstrikes on
Hadi's
headquarters
in Aden and
more deadly
bombing of
largely Houthi
mosques in
Sana'a.
With less than
24 hours
notice on
March 21 the
new emergency
Security
Council
meeting was
reported by
the UN
Spokesperson,
Inner
City Press,
Lithuania,
Jordan which
requested the
meeting, and
France the
Council's
president for
March.
It was said
Hadi requested
the meeting;
some
speculated he
wants the
"Houthi coup"
language that
was dropped
from the
February 15
resolution
revived. But
with the
Houthis
themselves
targeted, how
would this
play? And if a
first round of
sanctions
didn't stop
these
developments,
would a second
round?
Update:
Sources tell
Inner City
Press that UN
envoy Jamal
Benomar
abruptly left
Yemen, and
that Hadi's
goal is to get
(more) UN
Security
Council
authorization
for military
action against
the Houthis
"and Saleh."
But he could
already claim
to be
authorized for
that. A
Presidential
Statement
doesn't mean
victory on the
ground,
though...
Update
II: a
question, of
course, is how
all this UN
Security
Council action
relates to its
P5+1 talks
with Iran on
the nuclear
file. Seems
the draft PRST
would call on
"all member
States to
refrain from
external
interference
which seeks to
foment
conflict and
instability
and instead to
support the
political
transition."
ALL member
states?
Including
Saudi Arabia
and Qatar? Or
only Iran?
On a cold
Sunday in New
York, the
UN Security
Council
scheduled a 5
pm vote on a
resolution on
Yemen. Diplomats
rushed in.
The Gulf
Cooperation
Council had
submitted a
draft with the
word "Houthi
coup" in it,
but the phrase
did not
survive.
After the
watered down
resolution was
adopted 15-0,
Inner City
Press asked
Saudi Arabia's
Permanent
Representative
about the
threat of new
sanctions,
given how
little
previous
sanctions on
Ali Saleh and
two Houthi
leaders
accomplished -
and, does he
think the
Houthis are
working with
Saleh? (Video
here and
embedded
below.)
He replied
that both are
spoilers, they
could work
together
directly or
indirectly.
The Gulf
Cooperation
Council will
be continuing
to push the
Security
Council, for
example on the
house arrest
of Hadi and
others.
Jordan's
Permanent
Representative
added that
come members
did not want
the word coup.
Inner
City Press
notes that
while Hadi
consented to
US drone
strikes, a
coup would
leave such
consent "up in
the air."
After
the diplomats
left, two
different
Arabic
language
channels
described what
had occurred
in entirely
different
terms: one as
a "strong
message," the
other as
"weak."
And so it
goes.
, 
