Dubai: The UAE has strongly criticised outgoing UN Yemen envoy Jamal Bin Omar following statements he made to the UN Security Council last night criticising the UN arms embargo on the Al Houthi militia and implicitly blaming the anti-Al Houthi coalition for derailing reconciliation talks. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said on Twitter that Bin Omar has gone from mediator to “taking sides” in the conflict, adding that the former envoy has confirmed early impressions of him that showed that he “lacks professionalism” and seeks “personal glory”.
In a closed-door briefing to the UN Security Council on Monday, Bin Omar argued that enforcing a new arms embargo targeting the Al Houthi militia could accidentally prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen.
He also said he regretted that the 15-member body had not taken strong action sooner on his warnings of “systematic acts of obstruction” to the peace process.
“Implementation of the new targeted arms embargo ... could inadvertently restrict the flow of much-needed commercial goods and humanitarian assistance to Yemen, including food, fuel and medical supplies,” Benomar told reporters after the briefing.
He said “substantial agreement had been reached on the core elements” of a power-sharing deal before the conflict escalated last month when a Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched air strikes against the Al Houthis.
“The main sticking point was the issue of the presidency,” Bin Omar said.
“I told the Security Council that the collapse of the transition was not the fault of one side but rather the result of accumulated mistakes and miscalculations made to varying degrees by all sides,” he said.
- with inputs from Reuters
