U.N. rights office urges Yemen to reverse decision on expulsion

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein arrives to address delegates during a special session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in Burundi in Geneva, Switzerland December 17, 2015. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights official called on Yemen on Friday to reverse an "unwarranted, counter-productive and damaging" decision to expel his representative. Yemen's foreign ministry declared the representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights persona non grata after what it said were unfair statements, a news agency run by the Saudi-allied government reported on Thursday. ]nL8N14R2R7] "Our job is not to highlight violations committed by one side and ignore those committed by the other," High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement. "I fear it will hamper our work in the future." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by John Stonestreet)