UNITED
NATIONS — The
UN Security Council voted Monday to extend to all of Yemen’s Huthi rebels an
arms embargo that until now targeted only some leaders of the guerrilla group.
اضافة اعلان
Yemen has been embroiled since 2014 in a
civil war between the Iran-backed Huthis and the internationally recognized
government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Monday’s resolution backed by the UAE, which
is part of the coalition, was adopted with 11 votes in favor and four
abstentions.
Russia, which is close to Iran, voted in favor
of the resolution targeting the rebels.
Diplomats said this suggests a deal was cut
between
Russia and the
UAE for the latter to abstain in upcoming UN votes on
the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
One diplomat speaking on condition of
anonymity called this “cynicism at its max.”
The resolution states that the Huthi rebels
in their entirety will now be subject to an arms embargo first de-clared in
2015 on some of their leaders.
Targeting of the rebels runs the risk of
making the UN seem to lose its neutrality in the war in
Yemen, experts say.
While important politically, the extension of
the arms embargo will not change things much on the ground in the war itself, a
diplomatic source said.
Russia’s position is linked to that of the
UAE on the war in Ukraine, diplomats said.
Western countries “were very disappointed
with the Emirates’ abstention twice, Friday and Sunday, on votes on resolutions
in the Security Council on the war in
Ukraine,” said one Western diplomat
speaking on condi-tion of anonymity.
The UAE did this in order to keep Russia from
vetoing the adoption of the broader arms embargo against the Huthis, this
source said.
“We are very angry with the Emirates and
convinced they made a dirty deal with Russia” that links the Huthis and
Ukraine, another diplomat said.
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