New York (CNN) 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.Ban says he had to take Saudis off a black list due to threats to UN program fundingSaudis deny allegations, say they were the ones who were bullied
After much insistence from the _, the U.N. dropped the coalition from the blacklist earlier this week.