A significcant crack in the Saud-lead coalition of genocide in Yemen

From the Times article following:

The issue of cluster bombs was first raised earlier this week by Mr. al-Hussein. His country, Jordan, is a member of the Saudi-led coalition, but he has been sharply critical of the human rights abuses committed in the conflict

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, High Commissioner for Human Rights is a Jordanian.  His comments on the Saud clustr bombs is significant.

The New York Times

MIDDLE EAST

Yemen Reverses Decision to Expel U.N. Rights Envoy

By SOMINI SENGUPTAJAN. 8, 2016

Surveying damage from an airstrike last summer in Sana, Yemen, where the government has been accused of using cluster bombs in its fight against rebels. Credit Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency

 UNITED NATIONS — The government of Yemen [sic] on Friday reversed its decision to expel a United Nations representative from the country, and its envoy to the United Nations said that he hoped for “better relations” with the world body.  [It is a non-sequitur to refer to a 'Government of Yemen.  It's former president resigned and fled o Saudi Arabia.  He is no more than a puppet for the Saudi.]

The decision to bar the United Nations human rights official from the country came as the United Nations sharply intensified its criticism of Yemen’s government and its most powerful backer, Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, after Yemen’s announcement, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations said he condemned the move and said Yemen had run afoul of its international obligation to let United Nations representatives do their work. On Friday morning, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, called on the government to allow his representative to continue his work, calling its order “unwarranted, counter-productive and damaging to the reputation of the Government and its coalition partners.”

Then, on Friday, Mr. Ban, through a spokesman, issued an unusually stinging statement against the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that is seeking to rout rebels from inside Yemen, saying that its reported use of cluster bombs in heavily populated areas “may amount to a war crime.”

By late Friday afternoon, the Yemeni government had sent a letter to Mr. Ban’s office, saying that the official, the head of the Yemen office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a Palestinian named George Abu-Zulof, would be allowed to work in the country.

The letter, sent by the Yemeni ambassador to the United Nations, Khaled Alyemany, said that “because of the fuss created around the matter and caused by media reports,” Yemen’s government had “decided to give more time to review the relationship” with the human rights office.

“The problem is solved,” Mr. Alyemany, said by phone, afterward. “We hope for better relations with the high commissioner.”

Mr. Alyemany said he had also heard expressions of concern from members of the United Nations Security Council.

The issue of cluster bombs was first raised earlier this week by Mr. al-Hussein. His country, Jordan, is a member of the Saudi-led coalition, but he has been sharply critical of the human rights abuses committed in the conflict.

Yemen accused his office of ignoring “systematic violations” by the Houthi rebels and their allies, including a continuing, bloody siege of the city of Taiz.

Saudi Arabia’s conduct in the conflict in Yemen is particularly delicate for the United States, which provides intelligence and other support to the military coalition.

Cluster bombs, which open in midair, are still widely used in many conflict zones around the world; indiscriminately targeting civilians can amount to a war crime. The State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said this week that American officials had spoken to their allies in the coalition and called on them to take “proactive measures to minimize harm to civilians.”

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The Saudi-lead coalition formally consists of Fighter jets from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan,Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait,Qatar and Bahrain.  Pakistan refused to join in, and Oman, originally a part of the collition, quickly witherew its support.  Most of the desctuction is from Saud fihtr jets.  Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia:  Insurgency in Yemen detailed Map according to published reports. This map's information is based onw:Module:Yemeni Civil War detailed map. For sources, see that page's history and talk page. For a visual representation of the data, see that module's documentation page.    Controlled by Revolutionary Committee    Controlled by Hadi-led government and the Southern Movement    Controlled by Ansar al-Sharia/AQAP forces    Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)

[Note:  areas controled by the Saud is mostly Hemen's great sand desert.

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Imagws from Yemen by Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency

Mourners  for victims of a car bombing in Yemen this month. Credit Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agenc

A Yemeni girl with a notebook found in the ruins of a house apparently destroyed by an airstrike of the Saudi-led coalition in Sana last month. Credit Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency

A Houthi militiaman stood guard Saturday at the scene of one of two suicide bomb attacks at mosques in Sana that left 130 people dead.YAHYA ARHAB/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY