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UNITED NATIONS YEMEN OBSERVATION MISSION
UNYOM
(July
1963-September 1964) |
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UNYOM
was established in July 1963 to observe and certify the
implementation of the disengagement agreement between
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic. The mandate
of UNYOM ended on 4 September 1964 and its personnel and
equipment were withdrawn
UNYOM was established on 11 June 1963
by Security Council
resolution 179 (1963), to observe and certify the
implementation of the disengagement agreement between
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic. The mandate
of UNYOM stemmed from the disengagement agreement
entered into by the three Governments concerned, namely,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Republic and the Arab
Republic of Yemen, set out in the report of the
Secretary-General of 29 April 1963. The function and
authority of UNYOM as defined in the agreement were
considerably more limited than in the case of other
United Nations observation missions. Its establishment
was not based on any ceasefire agreement and there was
no ceasefire to supervise. The tasks of UNYOM were
limited strictly to observing, certifying and reporting
in connection with the intention of Saudi Arabia to end
activities in support of the royalists in Yemen and the
intention of Egypt to withdraw its troops from that
country. The mandate of UNYOM ended on 4 September 1964
and its personnel and equipment were withdrawn.
A
civil war which broke out in Yemen in September 1962
contained the seeds of a wider conflict with
international dimensions because of the involvement of
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic. Saudi Arabia
shared an extended border with Yemen, much of it still
undefined. The United Arab Republic (Egypt) had had a
special relationship with Yemen in the past. In March
1958, Yemen joined it to form the United Arab States,
but this association was dissolved in December 1961,
shortly after Syria seceded from the United Arab
Republic. A further factor in the situation was that
Yemen had long claimed that the Aden Protectorate was
legally part of its territory. The British-controlled
Government of the South Arabian Federation, which
included the Aden Protectorate, therefore also closely
followed developments in Yemen.
On 19 September 1962, Imam Ahmed bin Yahya died and was
succeeded by his son, Imam Mohammed Al-Badr. A week
later, a rebellion led by the army overthrew the new
Imam and proclaimed the Yemen Arab Republic. The new
Government was recognized by the United Arab Republic on
29 September and by the Soviet Union the next day, but
other major Powers with interests in the area, including
the United Kingdom and the United States, withheld
action on the question of recognition.
Following his overthrow, Imam Al-Badr managed to escape
from San'a, the capital, and, with other members of the
royal family, rallied the tribes in the northern part of
the country. With financial and material support from
external sources, the royalists fought a fierce
guerrilla campaign against the republican forces. The
revolutionary Government accused Saudi Arabia of
harbouring and encouraging Yemeni royalists, and
threatened to carry the war into Saudi Arabian
territory. The Imam, on the other hand, claimed that the
army rebellion was fostered and aided by Egypt, which
denied the charge. At the beginning of October, large
numbers of United Arab Republic forces were dispatched
to Yemen at the request of the revolutionary Government
to assist the republican forces in their fight against
the royalists.
On 27 November, the Permanent Mission of Yemen to the
United Nations, which was still staffed by the
royalists, addressed a letter to the Secretary-General
urging the United Nations to establish an inquiry to
ascertain whether or not the rebellion was fostered from
Cairo. This letter was informally circulated to the
United Nations missions. A delegation of Yemeni
republicans which had arrived in New York by that time
let it be known that they would not object to a United
Nations on-the-spot investigation.
The General Assembly, which began its seventeenth
session in New York in September 1962, had before it
credentials from both the royalist and republican
regimes in Yemen. It took up the question of the
representation of Yemen on 20 December, the very last
day of its session. On that day, the Credentials
Committee decided, by a vote of 6 to none, with 3
abstentions, to recommend that the Assembly accept the
credentials submitted by the President of the Yemen Arab
Republic. Later on the same day, the Assembly approved,
by 73 votes to 4, with 23 abstentions, the Committee's
report.
King Hussein of Jordan earlier that month had suggested
that the presence of United Nations observers might be
useful in finding a solution.
Establishment of UNYOM
Secretary-General U Thant undertook a peace initiative,
which eventually led to the establishment of the United
Nations Yemen Observation Mission (UNYOM).
In a report dated 29 April 1963, the Secretary-General
stated that, since the autumn of 1962, he had been
consulting regularly with the representatives of the
Governments of the Arab Republic of Yemen, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Republic about “certain aspects of
the situation in Yemen of external origin, with a view
to making my office available to the parties for such
assistance as might be desired towards ensuring against
any developments in that situation which might threaten
peace of the area”. He had requested Mr. Ralph J.
Bunche, Under-Secretary for Special Political Affairs,
to undertake a fact-finding mission in the United Arab
Republic and Yemen. As a result of the activities
carried out by Mr. Bunche on his behalf, and by Mr.
Ellsworth Bunker, who had been sent by the United States
Government on a somewhat similar but unconnected
mission, he had received from each of the three
Governments concerned formal confirmation of their
acceptance of identical terms of disengagement in Yemen.
Under those terms, Saudi Arabia would terminate all
support and aid to the royalists of Yemen and would
prohibit the use of Saudi Arabian territory by royalist
leaders for carrying on the struggle in Yemen.
Simultaneously with that suspension of aid, Egypt would
undertake to begin withdrawal from Yemen of the troops
that had been sent at the request of the new Government,
the withdrawal to be phased and to take place as soon as
possible. A demilitarized zone would be established to a
distance of 20 kilometres on each side of the demarcated
Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, and impartial observers would
be stationed there to check on the observance of the
terms of disengagement. They would also certify the
suspension of activities in support of the royalists
from Saudi Arabian territory and the outward movement of
the Egyptian forces and equipment from the airports and
seaports of Yemen.
The Secretary-General asked Lieutenant-General Carl C.
von Horn (Sweden), Chief of Staff of the United Nations
Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), to visit the
three countries concerned to consult on the terms
relating to the functioning of United Nations observers
in implementation of the terms of disengagement.
In a second report dated 27 May, the Secretary-General
told the Council that on the basis of information
provided by General von Horn, he concluded that United
Nations observers in the area were necessary and should
be dispatched with the least possible delay. The
personnel required would not exceed 200, and it was
estimated that the observation function would not be
required for more than four months. The total cost was
estimated to be less than $1 million, and he hoped that
the two parties principally involved, Saudi Arabia and
Egypt, would undertake to bear this cost.
In a further report submitted on 7 June, the
Secretary-General informed the Security Council that
Saudi Arabia had agreed to accept a ‘proportionate
share” of the costs of the operation, while Egypt agreed
in principle to provide $200,000 in assistance for a
period of two months, which would be roughly half the
costs of the operation for that period. Thus, there
would be no financial implications for the United
Nations in getting the Observation Mission established
and for its maintenance for an initial two-month period.
The Secretary-General announced his intention to proceed
with the organization and dispatch of the Mission
without delay.
The next day, the Soviet Union requested the convening
of the Council to consider the Secretary-General's
reports on developments relating to Yemen. After
considering the reports, the Council adopted, on 11 June
1963, resolution 179 (1963), requesting the
Secretary-General to establish the observation operation
as he had defined it. This resolution constituted the
basis for the establishment of UNYOM. It did not set a
specific time-limit for the Mission, although two months
was mentioned in the preamble in connection with its
financing. The Secretary-General took the position that
he could extend UNYOM without a decision of the Security
Council if he considered that its task had not been
completed, provided that he could obtain the necessary
financial support.
Mandate extensions
In his first report on the operation, which was
submitted to the Security Council on 4 September 1963,
the Secretary-General pointed out that the Mission's
task would not be completed on the expiration of the
two-month period, and for that reason he had sought and
received assurances from both parties that they would
defray the expenses of the operation for a further two
months.
In his second report dated 28 October, the
Secretary-General reported that there had been no
decisive change in the situation in Yemen and, because
of the limiting and restrictive character of the UNYOM
mandate, the Mission would have to be withdrawn by 4
November 1963, since there would be no financial support
for it after that date. However, three days later, he
informed the Council that Saudi Arabia and Egypt had
agreed to participate in the financing of UNYOM for a
further two-month period and, accordingly, preparations
for the withdrawal of the Mission had been cancelled. He
indicated that, although no Security Council meeting was
required for the extension of UNYOM, he had consulted
Council members to ascertain that there would be no
objection to the proposed extension.
On 2 January 1964, before the expiration of the third
two-month period, the Secretary-General reported that he
considered that the continuing functioning of UNYOM was
highly desirable, that the two Governments concerned had
agreed to continue their financial support for another
two months, and that he had engaged in informal
consultations with the members of the Council before
announcing his intention to extend the Mission. This
process was repeated at the beginning of March, May and
July 1964, and UNYOM was extended for successive periods
of two months until 4 September 1964.
In late August 1964, Saudi Arabia informed the
Secretary-General that it found itself unable to
continue the payment of expenses resulting from the
disengagement agreement, and Egypt indicated that it had
no objection to the termination of UNYOM on 4 September.
The Secretary-General therefore advised the Council of
his intention to terminate the activities of the Mission
on that date.
Organization of UNYOM
Following the adoption of resolution 179 (1963), the
Secretary-General appointed General von Horn as
Commander of UNYOM and took steps to provide the Mission
with the required personnel and equipment. In the
initial stage, UNYOM was composed mainly of six military
observers, a reconnaissance unit of 114 personnel and an
air unit of 50 officers and men. In addition, 28
international staff members and a small military staff
were assigned to UNYOM headquarters. The military
observers were detailed from UNTSO and the
reconnaissance unit personnel were drawn from the United
Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The UNEF air base at El
Arish provided support for the air unit, including six
aircraft and a similar number of helicopters.
With the arrival of General von Horn and the first group
of military personnel, UNYOM began operations on 4 July
1963. In August, General von Horn resigned, and his
deputy, Colonel Branko Pavlovic (Yugoslavia), took over
as acting Commander until September 1963 when
Lieutenant-General P. S. Gyani (India), then Commander
of UNEF, was temporarily detailed from that Force and
appointed Commander of UNYOM.
The strength and composition of UNYOM remained unchanged
until November 1963, when a reappraisal of its
requirements in terms of personnel and equipment was
undertaken. It was felt that in view of the cooperation
shown by the parties and the peaceful and friendly
attitude of the people in the area covered by the
Mission, it was no longer necessary to maintain a
military unit in the demilitarized zone; therefore, it
was decided to withdraw progressively the reconnaissance
unit and to deploy instead up to 25 military observers,
while the aircraft of the Mission were reduced to two.
Special Representative appointed
At the end of October 1963, when the Secretary-General
thought UNYOM had to be withdrawn for lack of financial
support, he announced his intention to maintain a
civilian presence in Yemen after the withdrawal of the
Observation Mission, and he had in mind the appointment
of Mr. Pier P. Spinelli, head of the United Nations
Office at Geneva, as his Special Representative for this
purpose. After the withdrawal plan was cancelled, as
mentioned earlier, the idea of appointing Mr. Spinelli
was retained, particularly since General Gyani had to
return to his command in UNEF.
In November 1963, upon the departure of General Gyani,
Mr. Spinelli was appointed Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, as well as head of UNYOM. He assumed
this dual responsibility until the end of the Mission.
Operations
The mandate of UNYOM stemmed from the disengagement
agreement entered into by the three Governments
concerned, namely, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Republic and the Arab Republic of Yemen, set out in the
report of the Secretary-General of 29 April 1963. The
function and authority of UNYOM as defined in the
agreement were considerably more limited than in the
case of other United Nations observation missions. For
example, its establishment was not based on any
ceasefire agreement and there was no ceasefire to
supervise. The tasks of UNYOM were limited strictly to
observing, certifying and reporting in connection with
the intention of Saudi Arabia to end activities in
support of the royalists in Yemen and the intention of
Egypt to withdraw its troops from that country.
To carry out these tasks in the initial stage,
detachments of the UNYOM’s reconnaissance unit were
stationed in Jizan, Najran and Sa'dah in the
demilitarized zone and the surrounding areas. They
manned check-posts and conducted ground patrolling. In
addition, air patrolling was carried out by the air
unit, which had bases at San'a as well as Jizan and
Najran, particularly in the mountainous central part of
the demilitarized zone where there were few passable
roads. The six military observers detailed from UNTSO,
who were stationed at San'a, and the two positions at Al
Hudaydah were primarily responsible for observing and
certifying the withdrawal of Egyptian troops.
In order to check on the reduction or cessation of
assistance from Saudi Arabia to the royalists, a pattern
of check-points and air/ground patrolling was
established to cover all main roads and tracks leading
into Yemen and the demilitarized zone. Air and ground
patrols were carried out daily with varied timings and
routes, the patrol plan being prepared and coordinated
every evening.
Experience quickly showed that air and ground patrolling
had two main limitations, namely, that traffic could be
observed only by day while, for climatic reasons, travel
during hours of darkness was customary in the area, and
that cargoes could not be checked. These problems were
met by periodically positioning United Nations military
observers at various communication centres for 40 hours
or more, so that traffic could be observed by day or
night and cargoes checked as necessary. Arrangements
were also made to have Saudi Arabian liaison officers
assigned to United Nations check-points and check
cargoes when requested by United Nations observers.
Various complaints were received by UNYOM from one or
the other of the parties concerned. They fell mainly
into two categories: on the one hand, allegations of
offensive actions by Egyptian forces against the
royalists in Yemen and in Saudi Arabian territory, and,
on the other, alleged activities in support of the
royalists emanating from Saudi Arabia. UNYOM authorities
would transmit these complaints to the parties involved
and, whenever possible and appropriate, investigate
them.
In accordance with the disengagement agreement, the
responsibilities of UNYOM concerned mainly, in addition
to the cities of San'a and Al Hudaydah, the
demilitarized zone on each side of the demarcated
portion of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border. It did not
extend to the undefined portion of that border nor to
the border between Yemen and the British-controlled
South Arabian Federation.
From the very start, the Secretary-General pointed out
that UNYOM, because of its limited size and function,
could observe and report only certain indications of the
implementation of the disengagement agreement. However,
despite its shortcomings, the Mission did have a
restraining influence on hostile activities in the area.
The Secretary-General repeatedly expressed the view that
the responsibility for implementing the agreement lay
with Saudi Arabia and Egypt and progress could be best
achieved through negotiations between them.
With this in view, he informed the Security Council that
UNYOM could, within limits, serve as an intermediary and
as an endorser of good faith on behalf of the parties
concerned, and that it was his intention to have the
Mission perform these roles to the maximum of its
capability. When Mr. Spinelli was appointed Special
Representative of the Secretary-General and head of
UNYOM in November 1963, he devoted a great deal of his
time and attention to good-offices efforts and held
extensive discussions with officials of the three
Governments concerned. These discussions were of an
exploratory character to try to ascertain whether there
were areas of agreement between the parties which might,
through bilateral discussions or otherwise, lead to
further progress towards disengagement and the
achievement of a peaceful situation in Yemen.
Secretary-General's assessment
The assessment of the Secretary-General on the
functioning of UNYOM and the implementation of the
disengagement agreement, as set out in his successive
periodic reports to the Security Council, are outlined
below.
In his first report on this subject, dated 4 September
1963, the Secretary-General found no encouraging
progress towards effective implementation of the
agreement, although both parties had expressed a
willingness to cooperate in good faith with UNYOM. He
noted reluctance by each side to fulfil its undertakings
regarding the agreement before the other side did so.
His second report of 28 October 1963, indicated limited
progress. He stated that although the developments
observed by UNYOM were far short of the disengagement
and regularization of the situation which had been hoped
for, they were in a limited way encouraging in that the
scale of fighting had been reduced and conditions of
temporary truce applied in many areas.
On 2 January 1964, he reported that UNYOM observations
tended to confirm that, during the period under review,
no military aid of significance had been provided to the
royalists from Saudi Arabia, and that there had been a
substantial net withdrawal of Egyptian troops from
Yemen. Ground operations had further decreased in
intensity. The Secretary-General reiterated his belief
that the solution of the problem lay beyond the
potential of UNYOM under its original mandate, and he
referred to the extensive discussions his Special
Representative had had with members of the three
Governments concerned with a view to furthering progress
towards disengagement and the achievement of a peaceful
situation in Yemen.
A
later report, submitted on 3 March 1964, raised a new
problem: Yemeni and Egyptian sources asserted that large
quantities of supplies were being sent to the royalists
from the Bayhan area across the frontier with the South
Arabian Federation. The Secretary-General pointed out in
this connection that since that frontier was not
included in the disengagement agreement, United Nations
observers did not operate in that area. However, he
mentioned that the nature and extent of the military
operations carried out by the royalists during January
and February would seem to indicate that arms and
ammunition in appreciable amounts had been reaching them
from that source.
The Secretary-General also reported that the royalists
appeared to be well provided with money and to have
engaged foreign experts to train and direct their
forces, and that they had recently launched attacks
against Egyptian troops. From the developments observed
by UNYOM, he felt that progress towards the
implementation of the disengagement agreement had been
very disappointing during the period under review; a
state of political and military stalemate existed inside
the country, which was unlikely to be changed as long as
external intervention in various forms continued from
either side. On the other hand, he noted certain
encouraging factors, particularly the increasing unity
of feeling and purpose within the Arab world arising
from a Conference of Arab Heads of State held in Cairo
in mid-January 1964 and the resulting improvement in
relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The
Secretary-General expressed the hope that the meeting to
be held between the two parties in Saudi Arabia would
result in some progress towards the implementation of
the agreement and towards an understanding between the
two Governments to cooperate in promoting political
progress and stability in Yemen.
In his report dated 3 May 1964, the Secretary-General
stated that there was no progress in troop reduction
towards the implementation of the disengagement
agreement and that no actual end of the fighting
appeared to be in sight. He noted, however, that the two
parties had reported noticeable progress in discussions
of a number of problems at issue between them, and that
a meeting between President Nasser of Egypt and Crown
Prince Feisal of Saudi Arabia would be held in Cairo in
the near future.
On 2 July, the Secretary-General reported that the
military situation in Yemen had remained fairly quiet
over the past two months, that no military aid by Saudi
Arabia to the Yemeni royalists had been observed and
that some slight progress in Egyptian troop reduction
appeared to have occurred. Once again he appealed to the
parties concerned to meet at the highest level with a
view to achieving full and rapid implementation of the
disengagement agreement.
Termination of UNYOM
In his final report dated 2 September 1964, the
Secretary-General again acknowledged the failure of the
parties to implement the disengagement agreement and the
difficulties UNYOM faced in observing and reporting on
these matters. There had been a substantial reduction in
the strength of the Egyptian forces in Yemen but it
seemed that the withdrawal was a reflection of the
improvement in the situation of the Yemeni republican
forces rather than the beginning of a phased withdrawal
in the sense of the agreement. There were also
indications that the Yemeni royalists had continued to
receive military supplies from external sources. Noting
that UNYOM had been able to observe only limited
progress towards the implementation of the agreement, he
reiterated his view that UNYOM's terms of reference were
restricted to observation and reporting only, and that
the responsibility for implementation lay with the two
parties to the agreement. He stated that UNYOM had
actually accomplished much more than could have been
expected of it in the circumstances, and that during the
14 months of its presence in Yemen, the Mission had
exercised an important restraining influence on hostile
activities in the area.
On 4 September 1964, the activities of UNYOM ended and
its personnel and equipment were withdrawn. Shortly
after the withdrawal of UNYOM, relations between the
parties steadily improved and issues were resolved
between them. There has been no consideration of the
matter in United Nations organs since the termination of
that Mission.
Source -
United Nations
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