Saudi-led coalition pledges to counter hostile media

RIYADH: Undersecretaries from the information ministries of countries in the Saudi-led coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen held a meeting in Riyadh on Sunday.
Dr. Khalid bin Abdul Qader Al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media’s undersecretary for external media welcomed the attendees and conveyed greetings from Minister of Media Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad.
Al-Ghamdi said: “This meeting comes as a continuation of the coordination of efforts between members of the coalition, which was established on the request of the Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2015.
“It also follows the meeting held by the coalition’s ministers of information on June 23, 2018, in order to follow up on the implementation of its recommendations and the adoption of executive mechanisms to its initiatives.
“It aims to support legitimacy in Yemen through the media in the face of Houthi and Iranian media in the region and in the world, to set a mechanism to activate a joint media discourse to confront hostile media.”
He continued: “The meeting comes at a crucial stage of the Yemeni crisis, after the Human Rights Council failed to adopt a unified draft resolution about the situation in Yemen. This was caused by the lack of cooperation showcased by Holland, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg and Ireland. They were determined to not consider the remarks presented by the concerned states about the expert’s report about Yemen and the contradictions it contains.
“The decision of the Human Rights Council to extend the work of the Group of Regional and International Eminent Experts on Yemen for one more year came amid a clear division in the council. It was passed with the approval of less than half of council members because it was not based on the consent of the concerned state. This violates (the state’s) sovereign right to accept or refuse international resolutions directly related to the human rights situation on its territory.
“The Arab group, therefore, came up with a draft resolution that asks the High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to provide technical assistance and capacity building for the legitimate Yemeni government and the Yemen National Commission of Inquiry based on Human Rights Council agenda item 10, which was adopted with the consent of the concerned state.”