UN Rights Council votes to prolong Yemen probe

RIYADH - The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemeni rebels alongside government forces on Friday strongly criticised a UN human rights mission as the UN Human Rights Council voted, by 21 votes to eight, in favour of prolonging its investigation into the "extremely alarming" situation.

How far to investigate atrocities in the war in Yemen has become an annual diplomatic wrangle, with the Netherlands repeatedly pushing for a probe into the war, and Saudi Arabia arguing against the toughest international scrutiny.

Supporters of the resolution, including Canada and the European Union, had argued that an expert group mandated by the Council last year still had work to do, but opponents said it would exacerbate the crisis and increase regional instability.

Yemeni Human Rights Minister Mohammed Askar had urged the states on the 47-member Council to vote against the resolution and back an alternative plan to give Yemen technical assistance.

"This draft resolution is not in favour of Yemen because it encourages war... and it responds to the will of certain countries to politicise the situation in Yemen," Askar said.

"We believe it is a resolution that creates more pressure on a country that is already suffering."

Saudi Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said he was very disheartened by the resolution, while Emirati Ambassador Obaid Salem Saeed al-Zaabi said everything had been done to try to agree a joint text that served the people of Yemen.

"If the draft resolution is adopted as it is, it will do more harm than good for Yemen," al-Zaabi said, adding that it would deepen divisions in Yemen and regional instability.

The coalition, which includes other Sunni Muslim states, has conducted thousands of air strikes targeting Iran-backed Huthi rebels and has hit civilian areas, although it denies ever doing so intentionally.

Mexico's ambassador Socorro Flores Liera said the expert group should investigate food aid being blocked and called on all states to refrain from supplying weapons to the warring sides.

The Yemeni government already announced on Thursday that it was ending cooperation with the UN investigation into suspected war crimes during more than three years of conflict.

The Saudis had taken strong issue with an August 28 report by the rights panel, which accused both government forces and Huthi rebels of violations but said that coalition air strikes had caused "most of the documented civilian casualties" and voiced "serious concerns about the targeting process".

In comments released through the Saudi information ministry, the coalition criticised the "inaccuracy of the information in the report, which was derived from non-governmental organisations and the testimonies of some persons whose circumstances are unknown".

It said the report "failed to mention Iran's role in Yemen, and the countless violations perpetrated by the Huthis, both against the Yemeni people and against the kingdom" of Saudi Arabia.

"These violations include targeting the kingdom using Iranian ballistic missiles -- aimed at civilian and religious sites," it added.

The coalition says the rebels have fired more than 185 missiles at Saudi Arabia since it intervened in Yemen in March 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into exile as they closed in on his last stronghold.

It accuses Saudi arch-foe Iran of smuggling in the missiles through the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, the entry point for UN aid for millions of desperately needy civilians that is currently under attack by government and United Arab Emirates troops.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Wednesday told a conference in New York that he was frustrated at the lack of criticism directed at the Huthis, whose coup d’etat four years ago derailed a peaceful political transition in Yemen.

Jubeir cited a list of Huthi transgressions including the use of child soldiers, assassinations of political leaders and blocking the entry of cholera vaccines paid for by Saudi Arabia that has led to the catastrophic spread of the disease in the impoverished country.

The UN says there have been nearly 10,000 confirmed deaths in the conflict since the coalition intervened in 2015, although the real number is far higher.

The conflict has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with three-quarters of the population -- or 22 million people -- in need of humanitarian aid.