UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council Friday voiced its “grave concern” at the situation in Yemen, ending months of disagreement that had prevented the 15-nation body from speaking unanimously on the unrest there. “The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Yemen,” Gabon's UN Ambassador Nelson Messone, who is the Council president this month, told reporters after a closed-door meeting on Yemen. “They urged all parties to show maximum restraint and to engage in an inclusive political dialogue,” he said. Messone said Council members also welcomed “the ongoing mediation efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council to help the parties find agreement on a way forward.” He added that the Council backed the Geneva-based UN human rights office's plan to send a team of investigators to Yemen next week to assess the situation there. The Council first attempted to agree on a public statement to the press in April, but Russia and China blocked the agreement, envoys said. Security Council statements are agreed unanimously which means any Council member can veto them. Saleh has not appeared in public since he was flown to Riyadh for treatment to be treated for wounds sustained on June 3 when a bomb exploded as he prayed at a mosque in his palace in Sanaa, raising doubts over the possibility of his return. His absence has hiked up internal and international pressures on Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to assume power. Youth protesters, who have protested against Saleh's rule since January, have demanded that Hadi form an interim ruling council to crush any hopes of the president's return. “A transfer of power to the vice president is the best way for a national consensus in the country,” said Noman. Otherwise, “it will be difficult to ignore the option of forming the interim ruling council demanded by the people,” he said. The Common Forum will continue to push for “transferring power to the vice president and forming a unity government that would pave the way for a comprehensive national dialogue,” he added. Hadi's grip on power is seen as shaky as Saleh's relatives continue to run main security systems. The Ministry of Interior said members of the Joint Meeting Party coalition were behind the pipeline attacks in Maarib province and the attacks on pylons, causing a fuel crisis and power cuts, the Saba news agency said, listing the names on its website. It quoted a source at the ministry as saying “the ministry has registered the names of those elements in the black list and circulates their names”. Months of protests by hundreds of thousands of Yemenis demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after 33 years in power have taken their toll on the country's infrastructure and public services. In March, tribe members opposed to Saleh attacked electricity pylons in the central Maarib province triggering power outages in parts of the capital Sana'a. The same month, a blast on Yemen's main oil pipeline had stopped the flow of light Marib crude to the Aden refinery, bringing it to a halt and leading to country-wide fuel shortages. The government had blamed the pipeline blast on tribesmen supporting opposition groups demanding Saleh's ousting. A senior official said Yemen had lost nearly $1 billion in revenues since the blast. Earlier this month, the 150,000 barrels-per-day refinery received a 600,000-barrel shipment of crude from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia as part of a promised 3 million barrels. The source quoted by Saba said the ministry would engage all security agencies, including the national security and the security departments of the governorates, to arrest them. The source also said the ministry allocated a reward of 3 million Yemeni rials ($13,500) for those reporting a wanted person or provide information leading to the arrests.
