As
UN Celebrates
Yemen, Ali
Saleh
Role
Continues, In
NY Mission Too
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 4 --
Amid
allegations of
"Pharaoh" in
Yemen, and
with some
women
activists
having to flee
post-Gaddafi
Libya, the UN
has pointed at
Yemen as the
success of the
"Arab
Spring," as
its success.
And perhaps it
is.
Still,
dictator Ali
Saleh remains
involved. How
involved, the
UN does not
like to say.
Nor do they
like to be
specific about
the immunity
Saleh
claims he got
under the
November 23,
2011 Gulf
Cooperation
Council
agreement.
Recently,
Saleh
demanded that
his General
People's
Congress party
get a 50%
role in the
National
Dialogue. When
Inner City
Press twice
asked UN
envoy Jamal
Benomar on
Tuesday what
percentage
Saleh's GPC
ultimately
got, the
question was
not directly
answered.
Maybe that's a
strategy,
just as none
of the
sanctions on
spoiler
threatened by
the Security
Council in its
Resolution
2051 back in
June have been
imposed.
The
recent killing
of a Saudi
diplomat in
Yemen didn't
give rise to
the
expected
Security
Council press
statement.
Pakistan's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
offered his
condolences
during the
Tuesday
afternoon
session in the
Security
Council, but
many other
speakers
didn't.
But
what about the
rights
violations,
including
crucifixion,
detailed in
Amnesty
International's
recent report
on Abyan? How
will the Yemen
judicial
system deal
with those?
And
what about
Yemen's own
Permanent
Mission to the
UN -- how
supportive
of Ali Saleh
is it?
Inner
City Press
reported on
the twists and
turns
of the
Mission's bank
account, and
its temporary
inability to
vote in
the UN. Now
it's said the
foreign
minister is
aware of his
"Saleh
problem" in
New York, and
it will be
addressed. But
will it?
Watch this
site.
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