On Yemen, ICP Asks Jordan's Judeh of Casualties, AQAP Gains
By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 21, 2015- Mere hours before Saudi Arabia declared an end to its Decisive Storm campaign of airstrikes on Yemen, Inner City Press asked Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh about the civilian casualties caused, and if the campaign by the coalition of which Jordan is a part is providing opportunities to Al Qaeda. Video here.
Judeh referred to the briefings given by the Saudi military spokesman, and said harm to civilians was certainly not the goal. He said Al Qaeda has been in Yemen for some time, and cited his earlier statement that this group, Daesh and other extremist groups must be defeated.
Earlier in the Security Council meeting on the Middle East, after Israel's Ambassador Ron Prosor cited Netflix' House of Cards and Frank Underwood, Juden replied to Prosor about "all the TV shows you watch." Yemen's Hadi was to appear on TV just as the Security Council meeting ended. Watch this site.
Earlier on April 21, a week after Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the UN assured Inner City Press about his country facilitating evacuations from Yemen, amid its airstrikes, the International Organization for Migration announced its
"decision to temporarily suspend its evacuation of third country nationals (TCNs) from Sana’a, Yemen...operations continue to be hampered by unacceptable demands in regard to the identity of passengers to be evacuated by IOM."
But who is it, making demands in regard to identities?
Inner City Press asked IOM spokesperson Joel Millman:
"Can you say WHO is making these demands about identity information? Is it only the countries to which flights are going - in which case, are some countries less demanding than others -- or do other countries, including IOM donors, makes these demands?"
Millman replied quickly: "No we are not sharing that detail."