Consultations on Yemen
This afternoon (Monday, 13 October) Council members will be briefed in consultations by Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Yemen Jamal Benomar. While the periodic consultations on Yemen, agreed to when the programme of work was adopted earlier this month, remain scheduled for 29 October, in light of the sharp deterioration in the security and political situation in Yemen, the UK, the lead country on Yemen in the Council, requested on Friday today’s briefing by Benomar. Also on Friday, the Council issued a press statement condemning in the strongest terms a bomb attack on 9
October in Sana’a, which killed at least 47 people, including children. Council members also condemned the continued attacks against Yemeni security forces, most recent of them in Hadramawt on 9 October, as well as in Bayda on 8 October (SC/11595). At press time, it was unclear if there would be a Council outcome following today’s meeting.
In addition to the events of last week, Benomar’s briefing is expected to cover recent developments in Yemen including today’s appointment of a prime minister. Since the Council’s last briefing by Benomar the Houthis, a Zaidi Shiite rebel group from the north, seized Sana’a, following fighting from 18 to 21 September that reportedly left 200 dead. On 21 September President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the Houthis and Yemen’s major political parties signed the Peace and National Partnership Agreement which called for a ceasefire and steps to establish a new government within one month of its signature. The Council welcomed the deal in a press statement on 23 September as “the best means to stabilize the situation and prevent further violence” (SC/11578).
Members will be anxious to hear Benomar’s assessment of the situation, his views on the chances of implementing this agreement now that a new prime minister has been appointed and on whether the Houthis will now fulfil their obligations in good faith. The agreement stipulated that the Houthis should dismantle and remove their camps from the vicinity of high security facilities in Sana’a after the appointment of a prime minister.
On 7 October, President Hadi appointed Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as prime minister, but the Houthis rejected the appointment. Today’s appointment of Yemen’s ambassador to the United Nations Khaled Mahfoodh Abdullah Bahah as prime minister, may mark a turning point as the Houthis appear to have welcomed the decision. Council members are likely to be keen to hear from Benomar as to whether this might signal a breakthrough that could allow for a more stable security situation. Council members are also likely to stress the importance of establishing a new government promptly.
Members will also likely be interested in hearing Benomar’s views on whether the 2140 Sanctions Committee on Yemen should designate spoilers of Yemen’s transition process for individual sanctions or whether it would be useful to give more time before doing so in order to give the 21 September agreement a chance to take root. From bilateral conversations with Benomar last week, some members appear to be expecting him to make a strong appeal for Council action regarding designations.
An appeal by Benomar for action would correspond with expectations that the Yemen Panel of Experts (PoE) will later this week submit case studies with information about individuals that the Committee could use as a basis for such designations. On 16 September, the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee issued a press release (SC/11564) encouraging the PoE to develop case studies on individuals or entities threatening Yemen’s peace, security or stability. The release was prompted by several Committee members’ frustration over the absence of recommendations for sanctioning spoilers in the PoE’s interim report. On 22 September, the PoE sent the Committee a letter with preliminary information on five individuals that it was preparing case studies on. It seems that there could be consensus in the Committee on listing former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is believed to have had a role in the latest events. There had also been growing momentum to designate Houthi leaders, but with the Houthis emerging now as a major power broker, expected to participate in a new government, some members might have reservations about doing so at this stage. Members will likely be interested in hearing Benomar’s views on the matter.
Benomar’s assessment of the risk of worsening sectarian violence and the possibility that Yemen’s Sunni Islamist party, Islah, might become more closely aligned to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) will be of great interest to members. Supporters of the Islah party have suffered a series of military defeats in recent months inflicted by the Houthis and the party appears to be the biggest loser politically following Yemen’s power shift. After the Houthi takeover of Sana’a, AQAP issued a statement on 23 September urging Sunnis to fight the Shiite Houthis. AQAP claimed responsibility for the 9 October suicide bombing in Sana’a. (The attack, which claimed 47 lives, was believed to be by a suicide bomber and targeted Houthi supporters who were preparing to march in protest against Hadi’s appointment of bin Mubarak as prime minister.) AQAP has also claimed responsibility for several other attacks against the Houthis, including a suicide bombing on 28 September that killed 15 at a field hospital in Al Jawf governorate.
In its press statement on Friday, the Council additionally voiced its support for President Hadi, called on Yemeni actors to promptly implement the Peace and National Partnership Agreement and emphasised the importance of continuing to implement the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and an inclusive government.