Ban Ki-moon Contradictory on Yemen and Libya

by PL — last modified Mar 21, 2011

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned violence against civilians in Yemen, but justified the Western bombings of Libya, asking the world to "speak with one voice" on that aggression.

In a joint press conference in Cairo with the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, Ban praised the support given by the 22-nation bloc to strong and decisive measures against the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Ban condemned the use of live ammunition against the anti-government protests in Sanaa, and urged an end to repression against peaceful demonstrators, while also expressing concern about uprisings in other Arab nations.

Apart from criticizing the regime of President Ali Abdulah Saleh, Ban referred to the current situation in Libya and said that is important that the international community speaks with one voice to implement the second resolution of the UN Security Council.

Ban said that the without the support of the Arab community it would have been impossible to implement the resolution approved on March 18, which was seen as a response to Moussa after he tried to correct the Arab League's stance on Sunday and condemned the indiscriminate bombings of Libya.