Exclusive: Kuwait UN ambassador makes gloomy predictions about Middle East

For the second time in two years, Kuwait - the only Arab member state in the UN Security Council - is due to chair the international committee's meeting in June.

The Gulf state, deemed to be the region's mediator, has been praised for demonstrating remarkable efforts during its two years at the Security Council, particularly in its attempt to shed light on Arab and humanitarian issues, including - but not limited to - Syria and Palestine.

Ahead of the June meeting, The New Arab's UN correspondent Ibtisam Azem in New York interviewed the emirate's ambassador and president of the Security Council to discuss Arab and regional affairs, which have in recent weeks witnessed a flare-up in tensions.

What will be your main focus during the presidency of the Security Council in June?

The main theme will be the humanitarian situation and relevant issues, including preventive diplomacy and the prevention of conflicts. 

These are issues raised by Kuwait more than one-and-a-half years ago, even before becoming a member of the UN Security Council. Our role as an Arab nation is to primarily work on consolidating the Security Council's relations with the Arab League. For that reason we plan to hold more a number of high-level meetings attended by deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad al-Sabah - to discuss the issue of missing persons in armed conflicts and wars worldwide. We are drafting a law for a Security Council resolution to tackle this issue.

We also expect to hold another session on the prevention of conflicts and a third on cooperation between the Security Council and the Arab League. 

In addition to regular monthly briefings, we will convene a session to discuss work methods at the Security Council to look at possibilities of improving and developing the work flow.

According to the UN and relevant institutions, the Syrian issue consists of three layers: the political, the chemical and the humanitarian. Kuwait and Sweden have been partners in a number of successful initiatives that passed different resolutions related to entry of humanitarian aid and the humanitarian situation. What is your insight on the latest developments in Idlib?

There is consensus in the Security Council on the necessity to deliver humanitarian aid to Idlib and to protect civilians, but things on the ground are different. The Security Council has discussed the situation in Syria over the past seven weeks in multiple sessions and from via a variety of lenses, including political and humanitarian.

The ongoing situation in Idlib was addressed even in sessions in which it was not scheduled to be discussed - the last of which was the closed session attended by UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen.

It was also important that the US Special Representative for Syrian Engagement, James Jeffrey, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Vershinin, were present, but disputes on the political process are still ongoing. 

Pedersen said that all the details related to forming a constitutional committee are there but we need transparency and balance. This should include all segments of the Syrian people. The negotiations also include discussions on the formation of a six-member constitutional committee with a Russian proposal dubbed 4+2.

How do you see the situation on the ground and its affect on the political direction?

The general perspective is that unless the Syrian crisis benefits from the existing proposals - namely forming a constitutional committee, continuing the political process, writing a constitution and running UN-supervised elections in which refugees, including those who live abroad, take part - nothing will change.

The international actors have also discussed additional issues. This includes the fact that 60 percent of lands in Syria are controlled by the government. However, there are many parts that are unstable and not under its control - not to mention that approximately half of Syrians do not live in the regions controlled by the government and are exposed to displacement, internally and externally. These are just some of the points of discussion which, most importantly, take us back to the main point: a solution for Syria must be achieved political and not militarily. 

All indications show that the Syrian regime - backed by Russia, Iran and other parties - want to recapture control of all land. So far, it is clear that the military solution will tip the balance. To date, nothing has changed. If we look at de-escalation zones, we find that most of the areas were temporary security arrangements that subsequently escalated once more, and unfortunately, it is civilians that suffer the most. We see attacks from all parties involved, as well as the targeting of civilians, schools and hospitals. The result is quite simply enormous humanitarian suffering. 

The UN Special Envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, warned of a civil war and potential aggravation of the situation in his last briefing. What is your position on the latest developments?

We support Ghassan Salame and his work and the UN was close to bringing all actors to the table to convene a conference. Unfortunately, we distanced ourselves from the political solution. Despite the efforts made, it is clear that the last military operation and attack on Tripoli is still ongoing. We hope that there will be a ceasefire that would prevent destruction in the capital. 

Until now, and based on what Salame has relayed to us, no faction has managed to edge closer to heavily-populated areas. We could potentially see an enormous humanitarian crisis unfold, as well as the displacement of a large number of civilians, should there be escalated fighting in Tripoli - where more than two million people live. We are focusing on supporting the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's and his special envoy, and we sincerely hope that the political process will resume as soon as possible.

The sale of arms to all factions involved continues despite the current embargo. Is the Security Council fulfilling its duty to implement the relevant resolutions?

This is an important point of which Mr Salame has warned that there are violations of the arms embargo from all parties. The violations are currently happening across land, air and sea, and the Security Council must take measures to ensure that its resolutions are translated into practice. Unfortunately, we require political will and commitment in the Council. Who is responsible for implementing its resolutions? The answer is the United Nations' member states.

The members states must implement and commit to the Council's resolutions, as they are considered binding. Lack of commitment means that the conflict and destruction will continue, which will complicate the issue and make a future solution more difficult to attain.

To what extent are you worried about the future of Stockholm Agreement between the parties in Yemen?

Although approximately six months have passed since the Stockholm Agreement, it is very unfortunate that the agreement has not been implemented until now. It seems that the envoy is experiencing disputes with the parties involved, in particular the Yemeni government. 

In fact, the Security Council is the one that is facing this problem. The international community supports the UN Secretary-General and his Envoy, Martin Griffiths, as well as the implementation of the relevant resolutions and agreements, including Stockholm's. There have been many violations of the Hodeidah Agreement, and the Security Council must exercise pressure to ensure the implementation of its resolutions.

The Houthi rebel group declared a one-sided withdrawal and redeployment from ports but it is difficult to verify that the move honours all the demands and conditions agreed upon, including the deployment of local officials, some of whom worked in the ports prior to 2014. 

Likewise, it is also difficult to verify the redeployment itself. Meanwhile, there are other matters that have not yet been implemented in relation to hostages and detainees. In addition to this, all matters relating to Taiz have not been implemented. The concerned party here is the Houthi rebel group, which has yet to implement even the previous resolutions. 

If we take a look at Resolution 2216, the resolution demands the Houthi group withdraws from Sanaa too - not only from Hodeida. It is clear that the divisibility of solutions have not borne fruit. 

Yemen is passing through the biggest humanitarian disaster in the 21st Century, according to UN reports. Cholera prevails and millions are on the brink of famine. What are the steps needed to be taken by the UN and international community to prevent more deterioration of the humanitarian situation?

Undoubtedly, a political solution is the way to bring an end to the tragic humanitarian situation in Yemen. The international community agrees on the importance of doing more work to alleviate human sufferings - which no one can deny - in Yemen. Even before the start of the military operation and before 2011, the humanitarian situation was deteriorating. 

Approximately 50 percent of Yemenis lacked food security, according to UN reports. With the start of the political crisis and military operations, the humanitarian situation further exacerbated. 

More than half of humanitarian aid is provided by the coalition member states and there are some violations by the Houthi group, which have been confirmed by Mark Lowcock, UN Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy, during his last briefing in Security Council. 

These violations include the fact that the Houthis are the ones who hinder issuing visas to humanitarian sector workers, but we demand halt of violations from all parties, regardless.