Saudi Arabia on Friday rejected the UN's move to blacklist the coalition fighting in Yemen, calling the information cited in the international body's annual list "misleading." "We reject the inaccurate and misleading information and figures contained in the report," the Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi told a news conference at the United Nations, insisting the Saudi-led coalition does everything possible to avoid hitting civilians.
Al-Mouallimi added that the coalition exercises maximum degree of care, precaution to avoid civilian harm.
The annual UN report on children in armed conflict named the Iran-allied Houthi militias and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for violations against children in 2016.
The Kingdom’s envoy said the report had lacked means of collecting information and securing sources in Yemen. He added that the UN did not put the coalition on the “first list” that includes children's rights violators.
In the report, the UN praised the decrease in the number of victims in Yemen due to the coalition's actions and spoke of the responsibility of the Houthi militia for violating children's rights.
“We are consulting with the United Nations to correct the image by facts and information,” Al-Muallimi said.