After the diplomatic success achieved at the UN by Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Arab Coalition that support legitimacy in Yemen, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon took action to remove the coalition from the report on children and armed conflict, UN diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday that those who incorrectly pushed for the coalition to be included in the offensive report moments before it was published did so under the pressure of lobbies who are not pleased by Saudi Arabia’s successful performance. In particular, these lobbies were not happy about Saudi forming two coalitions, the first being an Arab coalition founded to re-establish legitimacy in Yemen and the second being the Islamic military coalition to fight terrorism. They were also unhappy with Saudi’s firm commitment to the Arab initiative to resolve the Palestinian issue which is illustrated by its request to make adjustments to the Arab initiative at the Paris meeting that was held recently.

The sources reported that the Secretary-General of the United Nations does not always read the reports that are written on his behalf. The sources added that Ban Ki-moon is no longer able to control matters and that because the end of his second term as Secretary-General is approaching, the lobbies were able to grab the reins of power.