By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 28 -- When the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference ended on January 25, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appeared in a video which was filmed, as one Ambassador in Sana'a put it, in a closet. Click here for that, here for a reply.
On January 28, UN envoy Jamal Benomar briefed the Security Council and then the press. Inner City Press asked Benomar about unrest in the south, even since the National Dialogue ended. (Back in November, Inner City Press also asked Benomor about the Harak or southern movement. )
Benomar on January 28 replied, What's happening in the South should seen in the context of repression and pillage of resources.
In 2007, he said, it was a rights based movement, including to reinstate of those arbitrarily dismissed from the civil service and the army. It was met with repression, with empty promises.
But now, Benomar said, "I'm in contact with leaders inside and outside of the country. He said the agreement on the south is an achievement for southerners, a just compromise, something to build on... an opportunity for a change in the situation to move forward including on the southern question." We'll see.
Before Benomar spoke, the UN Security Council president for the waning month of January, Prince Zeid of Jordan, briefed the press on the Council's morning and afternoon sessions. Inner City Press asked him about a debate taking place in connection with the Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions Group of Experts, about how to refer to the Rwanda genocide of 1994.
A Western Permanent Five member of the Council is saying it has a policy against calling it a genocide against the Tutsis, Inner City Press is exclusively told. What was that Benomar said, about a human rights based movement? We'll have more on this.
