Dispute Ruptures Between U.N.'s Ban Ki-moon and Saudi Arabia

"A diplomatic fight, usually kept behind closed doors, exploded in public Thursday as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon accused Saudi Arabia and its military allies of placing 'undue pressure on the international organization.

A source told CNN earlier this week that the Saudis applied full court pressure with a threat to cut off ties with the U.N. if the organization did not remove the country from a blacklist of groups violating children's rights in the conflict in Yemen. The U.N. source said that a threat of a 'total rupture' had been made, placing hundreds of millions of dollars to U.N. humanitarian agencies in doubt...

After much insistence from the Saudis, the U.N. dropped the coalition from the blacklist earlier this week. Human rights organizations roundly blasted the U.N., describing the decision as 'caving' and 'pandering.'

In a press conference, Ban called his decision to remove Saudi Arabia from the blacklist as 'one of the most painful and difficult decisions I have had to make.'

The U.N. leader attributed his decision to the repercussions it would have on other U.N. programs...

[Saudi Ambassador to the UN] Al-Mouallimi disputed Ban's comments, calling them 'outrageous.' He denied any talks with the U.N. about de-funding its humanitarian agencies...

Al-Mouallimi stressed that it was Saudi Arabia that was 'bullied and threatened' by the inclusion of the country on the U.N. blacklist..."