[28/08/2018 10:11]

RIYADH-SABA
The Arab Coalition backing the Yemeni government against Houthi rebels has expressed its surprise over the biased statements of some UN officials which attribute attacks committed by Houthis against civilians to the Arab Coalition's "errant strikes."

The Coalition's spokesperson Col. Turki al-Maliki told reporters in Riyadh on Monday said: "Recently the al-Thawra Hospital and the fish market [in Hodeidah] came under shelling. Many UN organizations and officials were vocal to express their opinions through press statements and on social networking websites. After it became clear and evident to the international community that this sorrowful incident was the work of the Houthi militia, the voices of these UN officials were heard no more."

He said that such statements from UN officials in Yemen and outside Yemen including the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock show that Houthisare exercising pressures on the UN organizations and NGOs in Yemen. He said that the environment in in Sana'a and all of Yemen is not suitable for the operation of the UN organizations.

He said that such statements are more likely a response to the Houthi pressures and an outcomes of the Houthi control on the relief aid programs of the UN and the Houthi restrictions on the movement of UN officials in Sana'a.

He cited a recent statement from Yemen's Foreign Ministry which had expressed a similar surprise of the involvement of UN officials in marketing the Houthi narrative on such attacks.

He stressed on the imperative of the commitment of UN officials to the principles of impartiality in their work.

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