Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

YEMEN: Senior official denies closure of UN offices
27 Apr 2008 13:10:14 GMT
 Source: IRIN

Background

•  Food and hunger

MORE >>
SANAA, 27 April 2008 (IRIN) - The UN in Yemen has raised the level of security in its buildings in a bid to mitigate any terrorist attacks against it but has not closed any of its offices, a senior UN official told IRIN.

Aboudou Karim Adjibade, acting UN Resident Coordinator, said that while some UN staff had had to relocate while security enhancements were made in their offices, their work continued as usual, contrary to reports by international news agencies saying some UN offices in Yemen had closed.

"It's a pity that this misinformation was spread but I want to confirm that no UN office has been closed in Yemen. We never abandon any population in dire need of our assistance," Adjibade, who is also the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative, told IRIN.

He added that following a series of terrorist attacks in Yemen, a threat analysis of UN offices was conducted and it was decided that security needed to be beefed up.

"What happened in recent days was we increased the level of precautionary measures to mitigate security threats against buildings and UN staff," Adjibade said.

Three terrorist attacks

On 18 March, mortar shells were fired at the US embassy in Sanaa but missed and landed in a nearby girls school. Thirteen girls and five guards were injured in the attack, according to security officials, and the US State Department ordered all non-essential embassy staff and family members to leave the country.

On 6 April, three rockets were fired into a compound in Sanaa housing Westerners working for the state-owned Safer oil company. The Jund Al-Yemen Brigades, an arm of al-Qaeda, said it carried out the attack in which no one was hurt.

On 10 April, a blast shook the headquarters of Canadian oil company Nexen in Sanaa. No one was hurt in the attack.

UN a target for terrorists

In the wake of these incidents, it has emerged that the UN has been singled out as a target for future attacks, according to Adjibade.

"We hear now that there are terrorist groups which are specifically targeting the UN. That was not the case before," he said. "If you go to the websites of terrorist groups, you will see the UN being treated as an enemy of Islam. That has become a new paradigm. We have to cooperate by raising the security alert among us and protecting our buildings," he said.

The UN agencies working in Yemen include United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

maj/ar/ed

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Food and hunger

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  CWS responds to food crisis by the household
CWS

•  Food prices: facing the challenges ahead
Concern Worldwide - Ireland

•  Less Food for More People in Need - International Medical Corps Warns about Effect of High Food Prices
IMC - USA

•  Rising insecurity brings new challenges for humanitarian reporting
Red Cross - UK

•  Food aid basket missing critical ingredients
MSF International

MORE >>

Latest news

•  YEMEN: Senior official denies closure of UN offices

•  Hundreds protest against food prices in Senegal

•  ANALYSIS-Chance of US drought seen; food squeeze feared

•  IMF SAYS REVIEWING HAITI'S NEED FOR INCREASED FINANCIAL ASSISTAN

•  LIBERIA: Govt links rising food prices to conflict risk

MORE >>

IRIN news

Related articles

Breaking stories
YEMEN: Senior official denies closure of UN offices (1 minute ago)

Hundreds protest against food prices in Senegal (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
What can we do to end the food crisis? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
CWS responds to food crisis by the household (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Zimbabwe's hunger deepens as election crisis bites (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Afghanistan food security alert (1 minute ago)


Country information

Topics
Food and hunger
Facts & figures
Yemen

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-25T131848Z_01_AFR02_RTRIDSP_2_ZIMBABWE-ELECTION_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/AFR02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-24T122831Z_01_JAK15_RTRIDSP_2_INDONESIA-RICE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK15.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-24T121341Z_01_JAK12_RTRIDSP_2_INDONESIA-RICE-PANGESTU_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK12.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-24T121046Z_01_JAK07_RTRIDSP_2_INDONESIA-RICE-PANGESTU_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-24T120849Z_01_JAK09_RTRIDSP_2_INDONESIA-RICE-PANGESTU_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK09.htm

Police arrest Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters at Harvest house in Harare April 25, 2008. Police gather outside their headquarters before arresting Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in Harare ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Sun Apr 27 13:16:11 2008