UN move to step up its inspection of ships before arriving in Yemen is a "not enough step" but could “enhance inspection abilities”, according to Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber.
Jaber, who is also the Executive Director of Isnad Center for comprehensive humanitarian operation, told Asharq Al-Awsat that there is still a greater need to control the movement of ships, especially small ones, which pass through the Red Sea and arrive at a different port.
UN’s move came after several talks with the Arab coalition to support legitimacy, which the Ambassador said lasted a month.
"What was agreed upon has not been completely implemented," he added.
The United Nations is beefing up its inspections of ships bringing humanitarian aid to Yemen to ensure that no military items are being smuggled and to speed delivery of desperately-needed relief supplies, Reuters said in an expanded report on Thursday.
This comes as Iran-backed Houthi armed group intensified its attacks on Saudi Arabia - targeting, till now, the kingdom with 108 ballistic missiles, all of which were destroyed by the Saudi Royal Air Force, according to the coalition's spokesman.
Under an arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council, monitors from the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) are based in ports in Djibouti, Dubai, Jeddah and Salalah to observe screening of cargo destined for Yemen.
Reuters also indicated the team supporting the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Lise Grande confirmed that those steps were taken to increase the number of monitors and inspectors and the use of scanning equipment.
The agency quoted Jaber saying that he met with UNVIM director and his team in Riyadh and agreed on improved and enhanced capability.
The Saudi Ambassador told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday that UNVIM would increase its inspectors to 10 from four and its monitors to 16 from six and would also improve its technology to inspect ships.
In December, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that UN’s team of experts met with the coalition in response to the coalition’s long demanded request.
The coalition reiterates its demand for UN monitoring of Hodeidah port, currently under insurgents’ control.
Spokesman of the coalition, Colonel Turki al-Maliki revealed that coalition forces targeted factories in Hudaidah being used by the insurgents to manufacture booby-trapped boats that threaten the movement of maritime navigation in the Red Sea.
Maliki also indicated that the threat of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias to the maritime navigation and international trade in Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea is a threat, not only to Saudi Arabia, but also to the most important international strait and shipping route.
The Colonel already offered evidence of Iran's involvement in providing Houthis with ballistic missiles.
Saudi Arabia provided more than $12 billion to Yemen in various relief, economic and development fields. Recently, the kingdom pledged $930 million in response to the international appeal and another $70 million to Yemen's development projects with the UAE, which pledged $500 million in response to the United Nations’ appeal for Yemen this year.
