ADEN: Yemen’s government on Thursday announced it will end its cooperation with a UN human rights mission, accusing investigators of bias after a report on alleged war crimes.
The government came under fire last month after UN experts highlighted deadly air strikes by the regional Saudi-led coalition supporting it in the war with the Iran-linked Houthi militia.
“The government refuses to extend the mission’s mandate because its findings, outlined in the report, did not meet the standards of professionalism and impartiality or the basic principles of the United Nations,” said a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency.
It accused the UN group of “turning a blind eye” to the violations of the Shiite Houthi militia, who the government has been battling since 2014.
On Wednesday, the investigators, appointed by the Human Rights Council a year ago, had requested they continue probing the “extremely alarming” situation in Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition has dismissed as “inaccurate” and “non-neutral” the UN experts’ August 28 report, which accused both government forces and the Houthis of violations against international law.
Yemen’s conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015. It has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with three quarters of the population — or 22 million people — in need of humanitarian aid, according to UN figures.
Yemen government ends cooperation with UN rights mission
Yemen government ends cooperation with UN rights mission
- It accused the UN group of ‘turning a blind eye’ to the violations of the Shiite Houthi militia
- The Saudi-led coalition has dismissed as ‘inaccurate’ and ‘non-neutral’ the UN experts’ August 28 report
Iran’s foreign minister heads to Muscat for nuclear talks with US
- Iran will engage in the talks “with authority and with the aim of reaching a fair, mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” a spokesperson said
TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has departed for the Omani capital Muscat at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks with the US due to be held on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson said.
The US and Iran have agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, officials for both sides said, even as they remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations must include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss only its nuclear program.
Iran will engage in the talks “with authority and with the aim of reaching a fair, mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue,” the spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday.
“We hope the American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, realism and seriousness,” Baghaei added.
