[24/06/2017 01:39]

NEW YORK-SABA

The Yemeni government said Friday said it wants the whole world to know what is happening in Yemen so foreign journalists are welcome to visit Yemen and report what they see.

A statement from Yemen's permanent mission to the UN read: "The Yemeni Government wants the whole world to know what is happening in Yemen. We want local journalists to be free to report what they see. And we want foreign journalists to visit all parts of Yemen and report what they see. The Houthi-Saleh rebels do not want this – for the obvious reason that it would expose them to international condemnation.

So the Houthis prevent local journalists from reporting, by harassing and imprisoning them (the number of Journalist detainees in the Houthi controlled areas are staggering). And when foreign journalists have in the past flown into rebel-controlled Sana’a, the Houthis have not allowed them to move around freely, instead taking them on carefully curated programs, the sole purpose of which has been to support rebel propaganda efforts."

The statement said that if foreign journalists want to visit Yemen, they need simply to apply for a visa at a Yemeni embassy. It said: "We will allow them full access to the 80% of the country controlled by the legitimate government, and we will not prevent them from traveling into rebel-occupied areas should they wish to do so, and as long as they are willing to accept the risks of traveling into the lawless territory. They will see the grievous damage the rebels have done and continue to do to Yemen and the suffering they are causing to the Yemeni people.

However, we know from experience that journalists flying directly into Sana’a and placing themselves under the control of the rebels for short and tightly-managed visits do not see what is really happening and are not able to report fully and accurately."

The permanent mission's statement re-informed the world of the basic facts of what is happening in Yemen and why is it happening, in response to recent reports covering Yemen in the international media.

More excerpts from the statement:

"Yemen is suffering a dire humanitarian crisis. The reasons for this crisis are simple. Houthi rebels, allied with former President Saleh and backed by the Iranian regime, are attempting the violent overthrow of the democratically elected President Hadi and his government. This has plunged the country into conflict, resulting in destruction of infrastructure and disruption of the flow of food and medicine.The rebels have seized some key ports and airports and are using them to smuggle weapons into the country. They are stealing humanitarian supplies and selling them to finance their war campaign against the Yemeni people.

The International Community knows this. That is why the UN Security Council has fully supported President Hadi, condemned the rebels, and backed the International Coalition, which is defending President Hadi’s Government and confronting the Houthi-Saleh rebels and their backers."

"The Government of Yemen reaffirms its full support to the recent proposals presented by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in order to stop Yemeni bloodshed, restore state legitimacy and achieve security and stability in accordance with the three references: the GCC initiative, its implementing mechanism, the outcome of the national dialogue and Security Council Resolutions related to Yemen, particularly Resolution 2216.

The Yemeni government seizes this opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to peace against violence, and calls upon the international community, the Security Council members and the G18 countries sponsoring the political process in Yemen to apply more pressure on the coup forces to engage in good faith and urgently to resume the peace talks."

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