UN council voices grave concern about Yemen

The UN Council voiced its “grave concern” about Yemen, ending months of disagreement that had prevented the 15-nation body from speaking unanimously on the unrest there.

“The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Yemen,” Gabon’s UN Ambassador Nelson Messone, council president this month, told reporters after a closed-door meeting on Yemen.

“They urged all parties to show maximum restraint and to engage in an inclusive political dialogue,” he said.

Messone said Council members also welcomed “the ongoing mediation efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council to help the parties find agreement on a way forward.”

He added that the Council backed the Geneva-based UN human rights office’s plan to send a team of investigators to Yemen next week to assess the situation there.

The Council first attempted to agree on a public statement to the press in April, but Russia and China blocked the agreement, envoys said. Security Council statements are agreed unanimously which means any Council member can veto them.

Western diplomats said Russia and China initially raised some concerns about the language on Yemen but ultimately accepted what the diplomats said was a strongly worded, albeit non-binding, statement.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are pushing Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy under a Gulf Arab proposal aimed at ending unrest that has pushed Yemen close to a civil war.

Saleh is recovering in Saudi Arabia from wounds sustained in a recent bomb attack on his palace.