UN slaps arms embargo on Yemen rebels

UNITED NATIONS: World powers imposed an arms embargo Tuesday on Yemeni rebels and demanded they relinquish territory seized in a sweeping offensive that forced UN-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee overseas.

The UN Security Council vote came soon after Iran proposed a peace plan for Yemen calling for a ceasefire followed by foreign-mediated talks by all sides.

Fears are growing of a humanitarian disaster in the impoverished state, which sank deeper into violence and chaos after a Saudi-led regional coalition launched an air war on the Houthis and allied rebel troops on March 26.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called Tuesday for investigations into the high level of civilian casualties that account for almost half of the at least 736 deaths recorded in the conflict.

Al-Qaeda has sought to exploit the turmoil to expand its foothold in Yemen, a front-line in the US war on the extremist group.

But in a setback for what Washington considers the deadliest branch of the terrorist network, Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said its ideological leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish had been killed in a drone strike on Monday.

Russia, which has friendly relations with Iran, abstained from the UN Security Council vote, but did not veto the measure that was put forward by Jordan and Gulf countries and backed by the other 14 of the 15 Council members.

The Houthis have seized swathes of Yemen since they entered the capital Sanaa in September 2014 after sweeping south from their northern stronghold.

The air campaign by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of five Gulf monarchies along with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan has so far failed to stop the rebel advance.

The UN resolution was the first formal action taken by the Security Council since the start of the Saudi-led bombing raids.

The resolution demands that the Houthis withdraw from Sanaa and all other areas seized during their months-long offensive.

It slaps an arms embargo on Houthi leaders and their allies, a measure that Russia sought to extend to all sides in the conflict.

The resolution puts Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi and ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s eldest son, Ahmed, on a sanctions list, imposing a global travel ban and an assets freeze on the two men.

The Houthis have allied with troops loyal to Saleh, who was forced from power in 2012 following a year of nationwide protests against his three-decade rule.

Russia had demanded humanitarian pauses in Yemen but the resolution fell short of that request and instead instructed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to intensify efforts to negotiate such ceasefires.—AFP