'Ammonium Nitrate' Shipment at Aden Port Creates Controversy

Bags containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer (Reuters)
Bags containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer (Reuters)
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'Ammonium Nitrate' Shipment at Aden Port Creates Controversy

Bags containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer (Reuters)
Bags containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer (Reuters)

Yemeni media reports sparked widespread controversy after claiming a shipment of ammonium nitrate was stored in Aden port three years ago, twice the amount stored at Beirut port that caused the massive explosion.

Aden port authorities denied the claims, however, Yemen’s Public Prosecutor, Ali al-Awash, ordered a quick probe into reports about tons of ammonium nitrate abandoned in the city’s seaport for several years.

Judicial sources stated that Awash directed Aden’s Chief of the Appeals and a member of the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate the case, given the risks posed to the safety of the port, the city, and its residents.

The sources stated that the Attorney General ordered one of the public prosecutors to go to the port and investigate the issue in accordance with the law.

Yemeni residents expressed their concerns after recent online reports about the shipment, fearing they’d face a fate similar to Beirut, where a shipment of ammonium nitrate exploded killing over 100 and injuring thousands.

Meanwhile, the Yemen Ports Authority denied the existence of any shipment containing ammonium nitrate in the ports, according to a statement carried by Saba News Agency.

The authority's media department described the allegations of 140 containers loaded with ammonium nitrate in the port as fake news and falsifications of facts.

Under rules and laws regulating Aden port's facilities, it is prohibited to handle or store any shipments of explosives, flammables, and radioactive materials, added the statement.

The statement admitted there are old cargoes in the container terminal, but they contain 46 percent organic urea which is used as agricultural fertilizers, and are not explosive nor radioactive materials.

It asserted that storing or transporting such materials is not illegal or banned, urging everybody to seek accuracy before publicizing information, and avoid spreading panic among civilians.

On Friday, Yemeni lawmakers demanded an immediate investigation into allegations of stranded containers of ammonium nitrate.

MP Ali Ashal sent a letter to the government requesting clarifications about the presence of 130 40-foot containers of ammonium nitrate abandoned in Aden seaport, and the reasons for importing them.



UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel’s military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Analysts say it’s not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The death toll comes from the health ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

“The United States has so far failed to influence Israel’s behavior ... so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior or on the government of Israel,” said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota’s Los Andes University.

She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard.

The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.

South Africa’s current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Türkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine” Jaramillo said in a press conference. “It is about defending international law... and the right to self-determination.”