Saudi Arabia exerted “unacceptable” undue pressure on the United Nations after the world body's annual report blacklisted a Saudi-led military coalition waging a year-long war in Yemen for killing children, according to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
The UN gave in to the intense pressure from the oil-rich nation, including the threat of a fatwa (religious edict), and removed the coalition from the list “pending the conclusions of (a) joint review”.
Besides the fatwa threat, Saudi Arabia had threatened to cut its funding of UN aid programmes in response to the boycott.
The UN report had accused the Saudi-led coalition of killing 60% of the 785 children who perished in the bombing campaign in Yemen in 2015. The report backed by Ban Ki-moon came down heavily on the Saudi Monarchy, alongside Somalia and the Central African Republic.
Consequently, the report invited the wrath of the furious kingdom, with Saudi officials demanding that it be “corrected”.
In an unprecedented move, the UN took off the kingdom from the list of countries accused of serious crimes against children.
Sources said, according to a report in The Times, that the decision to revise the report followed a campaign of “bullying, threats, and pressure” from Saudi Arabia and Gulf Allies who feared it could have far-reaching diplomatic ramifications and prevent arms deals.
The removal prompted angry reactions from human rights groups, which accused the UN chief of giving in to pressure from powerful countries. They said that Ban, currently in the final year of his second term, risked harming his legacy as UN secretary-general.
