Yemeni president meets UN experts panel

Yemen’s President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Monday met with the UN experts team tasked with probing an alleged Iranian arms shipment seized by the Yemeni Naval Force late last month. The President reviewed the factors that have impacted negatively on the country and led to awkward security problems, including terrorism, sea piracy and weapon and drag smuggling. The UN team briefed President Hadi on tasks they have made since their arrival to Aden three days ago, saying that they are in the final stages that included investigating the ship’s crew individually. Yesterday, the team accompanied by the chief of the southern military command Nasser al-Taheri inspected the contents of the ship which includes 40 tons of anti-aircraft missiles, Katyusha rockets, explosives, ammunition and other military equipments, according to SABA news agency. The move came after Yemen has requested officially the UN to probe into the arms shipment. Backed by international forces, the Yemeni coastguards on January 23 intercepted the ship “Jihan2″ as entering the eastern Yemeni territorial waters of Mahrah governorate after obtaining accurate intelligence information, the agency said, adding that eight Yemeni sailors were also captured on the ship.