UN passes Yemen sanctions proposal
The United Nations Security Council has adopted a Russian-drafted resolution on a technical rollover of the Yemen sanctions regime, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The unanimous vote on Monday followed a Russian veto of a text drafted by the United Kingdom which contained language regarding Iranian “noncompliance” with the UN sanctions against individuals and entities deemed to be engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Yemen.
In the vote on the UK-drafted text, 11 members of the council were in favor, Russia and Bolivia were against, and China and Kazakhstan abstained.
Britain sought to focus attention on a report in January by the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions against Iran that examined missile remnants fired into Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels last year and said many “are consistent with those of the Iranian designed and manufactured Qiam-1 missile”.
It concluded that Iran was not abiding by the 2015 UN arms embargo on Yemen because it failed “to take the necessary measures” to prevent the direct or indirect supply of missiles and drones to the Houthis.
According to AP, Britain first dropped condemnation of Iran in the text to try to get Russian support. And during last-minute negotiations, it removed a promise of “additional measures” against violators of the arms embargo, and also softened language from “expressing concern” to “taking note with particular concern” of the experts’ findings.
But Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia wasn’t satisfied.
He accused Britain of sowing “discord at a time when the Security Council is in dire need of closing its ranks” by bringing the resolution to a vote knowing it would be vetoed.
Nebenzia called the panel’s “selective and contentious conclusions” unverified and uncorroborated. And he warned that the resolution’s adoption would have “dangerous, destabilizing ramifications” in Yemen and the region.
“This will inevitably escalate regional tensions and lead to conflicts among key regional players,” he told the council, warning of the “grave danger in toying with geopolitical maps” and antagonizing relations in the Middle East between Sunnis and Shiites.
Sun Degang, deputy director of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University, said the conflict in Yemen comprised four main forces — Houthi rebels supported by Iran, forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and supported by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the remaining forces of al-Qaida and supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Meanwhile, foreign military operations, such as Saudi Arabian-led military intervention and US air raids in Yemen, have influenced the political situation of the wartorn country, said Sun.
“They were killed by landslides destroying families sleeping in their houses,” said Naring Bongi, a police officer in Mendi.
Provincial Administrator William Bando said more than 30 people were believed to have been killed in the rugged region, about 560 kilometers northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reported.
The PNG disaster management office said it was verifying the reports but it could take days to confirm a death toll.
News sources also said that around 300 people were injured during the 35 km deep tremor.
The quake also caused panic and damaged buildings across the border in eastern Indonesia.
Aid agencies said they were ready to help but were also awaiting more information. Udaya Regmi, the country head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said it had 20 volunteers on standby but that getting accurate information remained difficult.
ExxonMobil said communications with nearby communities remained down, hampering efforts to assess damage to facilities that feed the PNG LNG plant.
“Communications continue to be one of the most significant challenges,” the company said in a statement.
Its partner, Oil Search, said a review of all of its facilities and infrastructure would take at least a week.
Miners Barrick Gold Corp and Ok Tedi Mining also reported some damage to infrastructure.
Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. Part of PNG’s northern coast was devastated in 1998 by a tsunami, generated by a 7.0 quake, which killed about 2,200 people.