Rabat – Omar Kadiri, the envoy of Morocco’s Permanent Mission to United Nations, has defended the military actions of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, openly challenging the UN 2017 report on children in armed conflict.
During a debate organized by the Security Council on children in armed conflict, the diplomat said that Morocco will continue to work with the members of the collation and all stakeholders to “restore peace and stability in Yemen, find a political solution to the conflict and to ensure the protection of all civilians, including children.”
The collation was recently blacklisted by the UN for killing and injuring 683 children and for committing 38 attacks on schools and hospitals last year, in a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres submitted to the Security Council early October.
Contesting the report, the Moroccan diplomat affirmed that “the coalition ensures the protection of civilians following the military escalation of the Houthis.”
“The horror and violence inflicted on children in Yemen are caused by their deliberate and systematic recruitment by the Houthis as soldiers and their use as human shields.”
Kadiri said that the UN’s report “lacked reliable, unbiased, and credible sources of information.”
“The absence of coordination with the coalition affected the neutrality of the findings of the report,” the envoy claimed. For Kadiri, the efforts of the international community “would benefit from adopting a pluralistic and strategic approach aimed at preventing the violence and not just bringing awareness to it.”
On Sunday, Morocco pledged support for the government in Yemen led by President Abdurabbuh Mansour Hadi, during a meeting held by the coalition.
Morocco joined the Saudi-led coalition action in March 2015, providing political, intelligence, logistics and military support.
In the same year, Morocco sent 1,500 soldiers to Yemen to participate in the Arab coalition’s ground offensive.
