Background of conflict – Hunger – Health system broken – No medicine for starving children –Yemens water catastrophe – Saudi attacks at hospitals: MSF reports – Britain’s role in Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp7a Iran und Golfstaaten / Iran and Gulf states
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Zentralbank / Central Bank
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
28.9.2016 – Dallas News (** B K P)
Q&A: Why the U.S. has blessed a Saudi war against a small group of impoverished smugglers in Yemen
So the common threat from Saudi Arabia started in the late '70s. The Saudis tried to settle Wahhabis in Zaidi territory?
That's right. ... It's been a Saudi solution to their internal extremist problem. People who are even more extreme than the ruling, the dominant group in Saudi Arabia, to export it. So we saw that most vividly in the 1980s, when people like Osama bin Laden and his followers moved to Afghanistan and were financed, encouraged to do so by the regime in Saudi Arabia. We've seen it more recently in Syria, where they've done the same thing. And in 1979 in Yemen, as you just said, they sent someone who just tried to overthrow the Saudi regime, amazingly. ... But they let him out and said, "OK, off you go to northern Yemen," and he set up a madrassa, sort of an academy, which over the years became a hotbed of extreme Wahhabism, which the local Zaidis didn't care for at all. And in reaction, they turned to Iran and asked for, really, not weapons or anything, but initially at least for instructors and literature. They thought they should get serious about their religion, and they sort of drifted more towards the sort of mainstream Iranian Shia variant.
So this guy Hussein al-Houthi was the leader of the Shias in Yemen who turned to Iran for religious inspiration?
That's right.
Were the Houthis engaging in terrorism?
There's no sign of that at all. As I said, their main occupation was smuggling and selling khat and weapons. I mean, but on a strictly commercial basis.
So here's where we get Saudi Arabia more directly involved. Yemen's then-president, Saleh, got the Saudis involved by sending his own forces across the border to hit the Houthis from the rear. The Houthis respond by sending a small invasion force into Saudi Arabia, and then we have a conflict.
That's right. The Houthis sent, it was a few, 300 men, I think from memory, went into Saudi Arabia. Then the Saudis sort of freaked out and declared a general mobile military mobilization and began bombing northern Yemen, bombing the Houthi territory. But actually, they lost. The Houthis defeated the Saudi ground forces that were sent against them. And the Saudi air force, it was bombing away and did hit some of the main Houthi city, Sa'dah. But otherwise it was militarily ineffectual. It was kind of a fiasco of a campaign on the Saudis' part.
What ties us to the Saudis economically?
A huge amount of money. Well, all sorts of things still. The one that really hits the eye is the enormous trade in weapons from us to them – Kris Boyd interviewing Andrew Cockburn
Comment: Very interesting article, information on the deeper background of the main conflict.
28.9.2016 – AFP (** B H K)
Children starving in rebel-held Yemen fishing village
With their eyes bulging, stomachs swollen and bones visible, children in the rebel-held fishing village of Al-Khukha are facing starvation as Yemen's conflict shows no signs of ending.
Even before the outbreak of violence in 2011, malnutrition was a chronic problem in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
The situation is so bad in Al-Khukha, near Hodeida on the Red Sea coast, that some doctors estimate as many as half of the village's children are at risk of dying.
"We have nothing to eat," Hayat Ahmed says over the cries of her famished son lying nearby on a makeshift rope bed.
She says men from the village used to go fishing in the waters between Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Horn of Africa.
"But they no longer go into the sea because of the war and air strikes," Ahmed adds. "We are poor and have nothing left."
The violence and associated rising cost of fuel has hit fishing hard.
"Malnutrition among the children is a chronic problem in Yemen," says Mohammed al-Assadi, the Sanaa representative of the UN children's agency, UNICEF.
He says the conflict reversed several years of improvement in the west coast provinces of Hodeida, Hajja and Taez where 31 percent of children are now suffering severe malnutrition.
Authorities say the situation is even worse in Al-Khukha, a village with a population of 5,000.
"Around 50 percent of the village's children suffer from severe malnutrition," says Fuad al-Nahari, the director of an Al-Khukha health centre.
Abdullah Joblan, an official in the village, says several children have died of malnutrition.
Assadi says child malnutrition is a direct result of the shortage of supplies and drinking water, as well as the collapse of the health system.
A lack of jobs and sufficient income has also contributed to the problem.
Making matters worse, boats have been destroyed and fishermen are unable to sell their catch due to insecurity.
"Whenever we hear the noise of a jet, we run to hide, leaving all our fish and property behind," says fisherman Ahmed Omar – by Abdo Haider
https://www.yahoo.com/news/children-starving-rebel-held-yemen-fishing-village-173157115.html = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3812246/Children-starving-rebel-held-Yemen-fishing-village.html and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQlR-vOHACE
28.9.2016 – WHO (** B H)
Health services decline as conflict in Yemen continues
Yemen's 18-month conflict has led to depletion of health services, with more than 1900 out of 3507 health facilities in 16 governorates currently either not functioning or partially functioning, closing access to much needed essential health services to thousands of Yemeni people.
The preliminary results of the WHO-supported Health Resources Availability Mapping System (HeRAMS) show the scale of damage to health facilities. Physical damage was endured in 274 health facilities (69 health facilities are totally damaged and 205 are partially damaged). The preliminary results of the 2016 HeRAMS show that only 45% of surveyed health facilities were fully functional and 17% have stopped functioning.
The HeRAMS results reveal a dramatic gap in health services’ availability. General services and trauma management services are available only in one third of the health facilities. Child health and nutrition services are available in approximately 4 out of 10 facilities. It was found that communicable diseases management was the most available category of health services (available in 55% of the surveyed facilities), while maternal and newborn health interventions were offered in 35% of the surveyed health facilities. Notably, noncommunicable and mental health services were the least available (in 18% of the health facilities).
HeRAMS also confirmed existing critical shortages in the health workforce. More than 33 000 health staff are working in 16 governorates with wide variations in the distribution among the governorates. 70% of 16 surveyed governorates report the level of staffing below the WHO benchmark of 22 health workers for every 10 000 population.
http://www.emro.who.int/yem/yemen-news/health-services-decline-as-conflict-in-yemen-continues.html
27.9.2016 – Save the Children (** B H)
YEMEN HOSPITALS RUN OUT OF MEDICINE FOR DANGEROUSLY MALNOURISHED CHILDREN
Children going untreated in Yemen hospitals unless parents supply own medicine
Desperate parents are being asked to provide their own medicines to treat their malnourished babies and children, as Yemen’s hospitals run out of supplies and the health system has collapsed.
But Yemeni families told Save the Children staff they are so poor they can barely afford fuel and transport costs to get to hospitals. Even when families are able to borrow cash to get to hospital, they cannot then afford essential medicines once they get there.
Dr Abdullah Thabit who runs the Malnutrition Section of Al Sabeen mother and child hospital in the capital Sana’a said: “On Saturday two twins died because of a lack of medicine. The situation here is very critical, we receive more than three cases of malnourished children every day from different governorates.
“There are not enough rooms, no medicine and a lack of doctors. The hospital cannot provide salaries to bring more doctors. The salary is not enough because the cost of currency is going up and food is expensive.
“Meanwhile, we ask the patients to buy medicine themselves from outside the hospital. Some cannot afford the medicines so they leave and they don’t come back and we don’t know what will happen next, especially to their children.”
The hospital’s manager Dr Hilal AlBahri said: “Children are dying and we are out of medicine. The health system has already collapsed.”
Other parents have sold their possessions and taken out loans. Yemeni families told Save the Children staff they have lost their jobs and livelihoods as a result of the war so cannot afford food and medicine. Many are eating just one meal a day.
Save the Children therefore welcomes the UK government’s support at the UN Human Rights Council .
Comment: The last sentence cited here is superfluous. The UK itself is one of those who are mainly responsible for that disaster. The UK earns hundred times more in arms exports to Saudi Arabia than it gives for humanitarian help.
Comment by Judith brown: This is a man made disaster and the world needs to sit up and take notice.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154752129823641
27.9.2016 – Middle East Eye (** B H)
Yemen, ripped apart by war, faces another catastrophe
Yemen once had some of the world's most sophisticated water conservation techniques. Now, taps run dry and disease is on the rise.
Yemen, torn apart by Saudi bombing raids and ground offensives by Houthi rebels, is facing another potential disaster.
The country is running out of water: within the next year, Sanaa could achieve the unenviable distinction of becoming the world’s first capital city to run dry.
A lack of water has contributed to mounting levels of poverty throughout the country with disease rates, particularly those for children, among the highest in the world.
The World Bank says that at the end of the 2015, more than 19 million of the country’s 27 million people - more than 70 percent - did not have access to safe drinking water. The World Food Programme warns that millions are on the brink of famine.
Shortages of food have been exacerbated by the destruction of infrastructure by various groups in the conflict and the blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition. Several other factors have contributed to the country’s water crisis.
In line with developments in agriculture in several other countries including neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the arrival in the late 1960s on the agricultural scene of the diesel-fueled water pump led to profound changes.
Farmers gave up old methods of irrigation, based on terracing and surface water harvesting, in favour of the less time-consuming option of sinking tube wells to tap underground water resources.
Yemen’s aquifers, their waters built up over thousands of years, were exploited to turn the desert into agricultural land. Between 1970 and 2004, Yemen’s area of cultivated farmland increased by more than 1,000 percent.
But the water table in many parts of the country has dropped dramatically as more than 100,000 wells have been sunk.
extensive damage done to civilian areas by Saudi-led coalition forces.
As a result of the ongoing war, international projects aimed at alleviating some of the country’s water problems have been abandoned or put on hold and most aid agencies have been forced to leave.
But as long as the war continues, more comprehensive measures to tackle what is a catastrophic set of water problems are not going to be implemented – by Kieran Cooke
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/yemen-ripped-apart-bywar-faces-another-catastrophe-1783441806
Comment by Judith Brown: Water is such a big issue in Yemen. And yet in the last year they have had so much rain with no way of collecting and storing it. Now Sanaa is likely to be destroyed by a permanent drought after the war ends.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154750461503641
and see film:
27.9.2016 – Red Cross (* B H)
In Yemen, access to water can be a daily struggle
When infrastructure is destroyed, taps stop running. Protracted conflict in Yemen has destroyed water facilities and cut power needed for pumps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP41VlotOIs
27.9.2016 –Ärzte ohne Grenzen (** A K)
Sitzung des UN-Sicherheitsrates zum Schutz medizinischer Hilfe: Ärzte ohne Grenzen veröffentlicht Berichte zu Angriffen auf medizinische Einrichtungen im Jemen
Auf der Grundlage von internen Untersuchungen veröffentlicht Ärzte ohne Grenzen zwei Berichte zu Angriffen auf medizinische Einrichtungen im Jemen, die von uns betrieben oder unterstützt wurden. 20 Menschen starben bei diesen beiden Angriffen – die meisten von ihnen Patienten, 32 weitere wurden verletzt. Die von Saudi Arabien geführte Koalition hat bestätigt, die beiden Angriffe verübt zu haben. Bei einem der beiden Angriffe wurde am 15. August 2016 das von Ärzte ohne Grenzen unterstützte Krankenhaus in Abs in der jemenitischen Provinz Hadscha getroffen. Der andere Angriff traf am 2. Dezember 2015 das Krankenhaus von Ärzte ohne Grenzen in Taiz. Die nun veröffentlichten Berichte beschreiben detailliert, was vor, während und nach den Luftangriffen passiert ist. Ärzte ohne Grenzen ist mit der militärischen Führung der von Saudi Arabien geführten Koalition in Kontakt und hat mehrfach die ernsten Folgen dieser Angriffe thematisiert.
Diese Angriffe führen nicht nur zu einem Verlust von Menschenleben und zu Zerstörung, sondern auch zu einer Unterbrechung der medizinischen Aktivitäten. Menschen, die ohnehin sehr verletzlich sind, haben so keinen Zugang mehr zu medizinischer Versorgung. Infolge der Bombardierung des Krankenhauses in Abs hat sich Ärzte ohne Grenzen aus sechs Krankenhäusern im nördlichen Jemen zurückgezogen.
Auch wenn sich beide Bombenangriffe in vieler Hinsicht deutlich voneinander unterscheiden, trafen sie in beiden Fällen voll funktionierende Gesundheitseinrichtungen. In beiden Fällen wurde der geschützte Status medizinischer Hilfe nicht respektiert. Die internen Untersuchungen der Angriffe in Abs und Taiz kommen auch zu dem Schluss, dass die Neutralität und Unparteilichkeit der Einrichtungen vor den Angriffen gegeben waren. Es gibt deshalb keine legitimen Gründe für die Angriffe. Die Details der Berichte weisen eindeutig darauf hin, wie der Krieg im Jemen von allen Konfliktparteien geführt wird: Ohne jeglichen Respekt für ziviles Leben.
https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.at/article/sitzung-des-un-sicherheitsrates-zum-schutz-medizinischer-hilfe-aerzte-ohne-grenzen = https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/yemen-bericht-aerzte-ohne-grenzen-angriffe-krankenhaeuser
27.9.2016 – Médecins Sans Frontières (** A K)
Member states must advance concrete measures to protect access to medical care in conflict zones
After conducting internal investigations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is releasing two reports describing attacks on medical facilities it runs or supports in Yemen. The two attacks combined resulted in the death of 20 people, most of them patients, and wounded 32 others. Both attacks were acknowledged by the Saudi-led coalition (SLC). The attacks were on ahospital in Abs, Hajjah governorate on 15 August 2016, and on the MSF clinic in Taiz city on 2 December 2015. The reports detail the actions taken before, during and immediately after the airstrikes. MSF is engaged with the military leadership of the SLC and have raised our serious concerns about the attacks.
Beyond the immediate loss of life and destruction caused by the bombings, the attacks led to a suspension of activities that left an already very vulnerable population without access to healthcare. As a consequence of the bombing of Abs hospital, MSF withdrew from six hospitals in northern Yemen.
While there are significant differences in the circumstances surrounding each incident, in both cases, the bombings hit fully functioning health facilities and the protected nature of the medical mission was not respected. The internal investigations of the Abs and Taiz incidents also conclude that the neutrality and impartiality of the facilities had not been compromised before the attacks and therefore there was no legitimate reason to attack them. The details of the incidents documented in these two reports are unambiguous indicators of how war is being waged in Yemen, where there is an utter disregard for civilian life by all warring parties.
UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2286, passed last May, condemned attacks on medical facilities in conflict situations and demanded that all parties to armed conflict comply fully with their obligations under international law. However, there have been no concrete and visible steps to materialise the resolution’s underlying intention
http://www.msf.org/en/article/yemen-msf-releases-detailed-documentation-attacks-two-medical-facilities-ahead-un-security = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/member-states-must-advance-concrete-measures-protect-access-medical-care-conflict-zones and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lesk00Eikfg
27.9.2016 – Médecins Sans Frontières (*** A K)
MSF internal investigation of the 15 August attack on Abs hospital - Yemen, Summary of findings
About the investigation
This document summarises the findings from the internal investigation of the attack on the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported Abs rural hospital in the Hajjah governorate in Yemen. A more detailed report will be released shortly. The objective of the investigation is to ascertain the facts surrounding the attack on the hospital and to establish whether the safety and security of staff and operations can be assured on the ground in Yemen. The investigation was carried out by an MSF humanitarian affairs adviser based at the organisation’s headquarters (HQ) in Barcelona, with critical support from past and present MSF staff involved in the Yemen operations at HQ and field level.
For the purpose of this internal review, 35 interviews were conducted with key MSF staff from the Yemen mission and the Abs hospital project, including direct eyewitnesses of the attack, and with patients who were at the hospital at the time of the airstrike. Additionally, relevant internal and external documentation, Yemen context analyses and photographic material were reviewed.
Introduction
On Monday 15 August at 3.40pm local time, the Abs rural hospital in Hajjah governorate in northwestern Yemen was hit by an airstrike killing 19 people, including one MSF staff member, and injuring 24 others. At the time of the attack, there were 23 patients in surgery, 25 in the maternity ward, 12 in paediatrics and 13 newborns at Abs hospital.
The airstrike constituted the fifth and deadliest attack on an MSF-supported medical service in Yemen in the past year, amidst countless attacks on other health facilities and services all over the country. The other four attacks on MSF-supported medical services were: Haydan hospital, in the Sa’ada governorate, on 26 October 2015; a mobile clinic in the al-Houban district in Taizz on 2 December 2015; Shiara hospital in Razeh, also in Sa’ada, on 10 January 2016; and an ambulance belonging to the Al Jamhoory hospital in Sa’ada town on 22 January 2016.
On 15 August 2016, at 3.40pm local time, a plane launched a projectile at Abs hospital without previous warning or communication with the MSF mission. The projectile made impact between the ER/triage area and the outpatient department (OPD).
Below is a list of events that either took place at Abs hospital or are relevant to the activities of the facility in the moments leading up to the attack and immediately afterwards.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/msf-internal-investigation-15-august-attack-abs-hospital-yemen-summary-findings and in full: http://www.msf.org/sites/msf.org/files/yemen_abs_investigation.pdf = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_Abs_investigation_summary_final.pdf
Iona Craig summing up: MSF investigation into August strike on hospital in Yemen shows Saudi coalition deliberately targeted civilian vehicle carrying casualties (see text in image)
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/780710860272664576
28.9.2016 – AP (A K)
Aid group: Coalition bombed Yemen hospital to hit vehicle
Doctors Without Borders says an internal investigation into the bombing of a hospital in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition shows that the airstrike was aimed at a vehicle carrying people wounded from a previous attack.
Comment: Could be. A vehicle coming to a hospital, what does it transport? Wants AP to whitewash the attack by such a report?
27.9.2016 – Doctors Without Borders (* B H K)
Film: Yemen | Under fire and desperate for protection
MSF clinics and supported facilities have not been spared – four facilities were hit by airstrikes or shelling between October 2015 and August 2016. These attacks are not isolated events specific to MSF, but part of a much wider trend of how the conflict in Yemen is being waged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lesk00Eikfg
27.9.2016 – Médecins Sans Frontières (** A K)
MSF incident report: Airstrike on the Taiz Health Clinic, Houban District, Taiz City 2 December 2015
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT: · On Wednesday, 02nd December at 14:10PM an airstrike hit the direct vicinity of a MSF clinic. The airstrike injured 9 people including a MSF health educator and the MSF guard. One of the wounded persons died of his injuries the following day. · The clinic was set up in a white tent, 5 m x 6 m, marked with a flag with the MSF logo. The airstrike hit the ground at 22 metres distance from the clinic. · At the moment of the airstrike, the clinic was closed. Normal clinic times are from 09:00 to 14:00. But on this day, the health staff and the patients left the location at around 13:40.
The team left early as there were only a small amount of patients due to other airstrikes in other parts of the neighbourhood earlier in the morning.· Of the people who were injured, 3 were next to the tent and the rest were at a short distance. Those present next to the clinic-tent included the person who died the following day and the MSF guard, who was seriously injured. Two of nine injured were transferred to Al Qaidah hospital; seven to Al Rasalah hospital. · The explosion was very heavy and felt by all the staff in the nearby MSF Mother and Child hospital. Staff started panicking and were scared, some started crying and wanted to go home. After phone discussion with the Hospital-Manager, it was decided to stop non-essential activities in the hospital and let the staff go home.
Following the airstrike a big part of the displaced population fled the area. In addition, the host community started to demand the displaced people leave the area, saying that it was because of them that MSF setup a clinic and that this led to the airstrike happening in the area. Most people are now displaced to Jabal Raimy and Al-Qahaaf.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/msf-incident-report-airstrike-taiz-health-clinic-houban-district-taiz-city-2-december and in full: http://www.msf.org/sites/msf.org/files/taiz_airstrike_clinic.pdf = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_Taiz_investigation_summary_final.pdf
And summed up in various articles:
27.9.2016 – Middle East Eye (** A K)
Saudi raids on Yemen hospitals violated international law: MSF
The French NGO described the attacks on its health facilities as 'unjustified and unprovoked' despite providing coordinates and signs
A damning report from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has accused the Saudi-led coalition of violating international humanitarian law by repeatedly bombing its medical facilities in Yemen, forcing it to quit the country.
The strike, which killed 19 people and wounded 24 others and drew international condemnation, followed air raids on nearby areas, MSF said. The charity sent out an ambulance to collect casualties from the strikes.
Warplanes from the coalition regularly bomb areas controlled by the Houthi rebels as part of its campaign launched in March 2015 in support of UN-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
A coalition plane "launched a projectile at Abs hospital without previous warning or communication with the MSF mission," the charity said.
The report found that the attack targeted a "civilian vehicle" - an ambulance - that drove into the hospital compound nearly five minutes before the air strike.
This was also confirmed by a Saudi general who spoke to MSF in Djibouti, the charity said.
Carrying patients believed to be victims of other nearby strikes, "the car was visually inspected at the gate" by a hospital guard who said that those inside "wore civilian clothes and that there were no weapons visible inside the vehicle".
The strike hit as MSF medical staff were bringing a stretcher to unload the wounded from the car.
The attack prompted MSF to evacuate its teams from six hospitals in northern Yemen, including Abs - a move that it said has "negatively impacted the availability and quality of healthcare" in the war-battered country.
The hospital was identified with large painted logos and through the communication of GPS coordinates.
27.9.2016 – Buzzfeed (* A K P)
Médecins Sans Frontières Reports Claim Yemen Hospital Bombings Showed “Utter Disregard For Civilian Life”
MSF’s reports, released ahead of a UN security council closed session on protection of medical missions, show that the hospitals had been identified to the Saudi-lead coalition with both GPS coordinates and logos and that there was “no legitimate reason” to attack them.
In an emailed press release MSF said: “The details of the incidents documented in these two reports are unambiguous indicators of how war is being waged in Yemen, where there is an utter disregard for civilian life by all warring parties.”
The findings are sure to put pressure on the British government,
In its press release, MSF said: “Since UNSC 2286 resolution was passed last May, there have been no concrete steps to work towards its underlying goal. MSF urges the UNSC members to take bold and practical steps in tomorrow’s meeting to ensure that 2016 is the last year that hospitals are bombed while the world watches in silence.” – by Alan White
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/medecins-sans-frontieres-reports-claim-yemen-hospital-bombin?utm_term=.weBQVo46A#.qvzmvbweL and by CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/27/middleeast/yemen-msf-hospital-attack/index.html
Comment by Judith Brown: Exactly. This should be top of the news in every newspaper and in all television and radio news programmes. These people died for no reason.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154749624468641
24.9.2016 – British Empire Exposed (** B K P)
Britain’s role in Yemen
Saudi-fronted campaign
The attack on Yemen is not “Saudi-led” but merely Saudi-fronted. Britain and America are concealed behind what Lord Curzon once called an ‘Arab facade’. Philip Hammond claimed Britain aren’t directly involved in the Yemen campaign but hinted they could be in the future. He instead states that Britain will support the assault on Yemen “in every practical way short of engaging in combat”. [9] Below is a catalogue of British involvement, based on reporting so far:
Direct involvement by British personnel
Targeting
British military personnel key in the codes that help select and attack targets. [10]
Britain provides Saudi Arabia with intelligence for targeting. [13]
S]ix [British] experts are working with Saudi targeteers who select locations for attack.” [11]
British officials have access to lists of targets. [1]
Targeting training: Britain is providing targeting training to Saudi forces, including for cruise missile attacks. Three three-week courses in targeting for the Royal Saudi Air Force (20 attendees on each). Saudi land forces were trained in targeting and “weapons-locating radar”. [14]
Presence in the command room
British military personnel are in the command room as airstrikes are carried out. [10] [1]
The control room (with the British personnel inside) is in Riyadh. [12]
Expertise
Sky News reports: “British military experts have joined Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against rebels in Yemen”. [11]
Signing off arms licenses
Government ministers sign off all weapons licenses. [16]
Weapons training
Saudis were trained to use ‘Storm Shadow’ (“an air-launched explosive device designed to destroy buried enemy command centres”). [14]
Britain may host Saudi personnel in the UK for further training. [14]
Other support
Weapons
https://britishempireexposed.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/britains-role-in-yemen/
cp2 Allgemein / General
28.9.2016 – Legal Center (* A K)
The outcome of 560 days Saudi aerial war
28.9.2016 – Al Masirah TV (A K)
Film: A bridge linking #Saadah with other Provinces has been hit by #KSA 15 times.
□ 4x4 cars can't bypass the destruction
□ Most of medical facilities destroyed in Saadah and seige makes it very hard to get medical supplies. Targetting key bridges and roads cuts the way to rescue and save immergency conditions.
□ Watch passanger cars completely destroyed and directly targetted by #Saudi brutal raids, killing several families
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/videos/1586208311675157/
28.9.2016 – Arab Digest (not rated B K P)
Starving Yemen: questions arising
Increased concern about human suffering in Yemen. UK rejects an international enquiry – may face a judicial review. Food supplies blocked by Saudi precision bombing. Starvation [subscription required]
https://arabdigest.org/2016/09/28/starving-yemen-questions-arising/
28.9.2016 – Occupy (* B K P)
Film: Act Out! [81] - Under My Country’s Sky - American Bombs in Yemen
Bushra al-Fusail is a Yemeni-American who lived under the ongoing airstrikes in Yemen for months before coming, ironically, to the country that makes the destruction of hers possible. Far from tucking herself away, she has been working tirelessly both on the streets and in the halls of Congress to raise awareness of the ongoing conflict in Yemen and, perhaps most importantly, of the U.S. role in the death and demolition in her home country. In this special episode, she outlines the reality of war, the backstory of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Yemen, the U.S. role in the war and how we, the people of the U.S., can #RememberYemen and push to end this horrific war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYqvCPkRcDM
28.9.2016 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Gulf of Aden Security Review - September 28, 2016
Yemen: Hadi government forces announce new phase of military operations in northern Yemen; southern Yemeni leaders call for independence and shut down North Yemen anniversary celebration in Aden; Hadi government and allied forces clash with al Houthi-Saleh forces along Taiz-Lahij border; Saudi-led coalition airstrikes target al Houthi-Saleh positions in northern Yemen
A Southern Movement leader, Abdul Rahman al Wali, stated that the conditions for southern independence are right in a September 28 announcement. Al Wali called on supporters to take a stand for independence in southern Yemen. He denounced the Hadi government for using the South as a political tool. Southern Resistance forces shut down the celebration of the 54th anniversary of the September 26 revolution in Aden city.
http://www.criticalthreats.org/gulf-aden-security-review/gulf-aden-security-review-september-28-2016
28.9.2016 – Aljazeera (* B K)
Film: Landmine casualties rise in Yemen's Taiz
As the battle for the Yemeni city of Taiz continues, thousands of landmines litter the ground and the surrounding mountains.
http://video.aljazeera.com/channels/eng/videos/landmine-casualties-rise-in-yemens-taiz/5144769116001
28.9.2016 – Press TV Iran (* B K)
Film: Yemeni activists unveil statistics about Saudi war
Saudi Arabia's bombardment of Yemen has left a trail of death and destruction. Many international authorities have given different estimates of the scale of destruction there. Our correspondent Mohammad al-Attab tells us more about the figures the Yemeni rights groups have registered.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/28/486695/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-UN-
27.9.2016 – IOL (* B K P)
Azad Essa: Where’s the outrage over slaughter in Yemen?
The lack of mobilisation over the travesty in Yemen is hypocritical. The US is still gatekeeper of this conflict and winners-losers remain the same
International outrage to the events in Yemen remained subdued. When it is spoken about, it is described in circles as among the most forgotten on the globe. But this is a misnomer. Yemen is not forgotten, it has been wilfully ignored. And given that some of the main players in the UN Security Council are trying their best to deflect from the issue, the lack of global regard for the matter is unsurprising.
From the onset, Saudi Arabia has been on a campaign to divert any attention from its crimes in the country at the UN Security Council - despite not having a seat there. Foreign Policy magazine described Saudi Arabia as having “succeeded in blocking actions to restrain its military conduct and highlight the humanitarian costs of the conflict”.
Meanwhile, the US and UK - the primary benefactors in the war in Yemen - consider the alliance with Saudi Arabia as so important that they are willing to sacrifice their self-respect to keep that alliance alive.
The story of a sectarian divide between Shia and Sunnis - a primary narrative in this war - frankly underwhelms in the face of another murky, unsubstantiated war for power and control.
Many observers say the US is only supporting Saudi Arabia as a way to balance their relations between Riyadh and Tehran in the region. The war does not live up to any international standards of scrutiny, nor is there is any endgame in sight.
The US however is still the gatekeeper of the conflict. The Saudis do not have the technical know-how to run a campaign of this nature on their own and need US expertise to continue its campaign. But little is likely to change.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is waiting for an Aylan Kurdi moment before it is roused from its indifference.
The lack of mobilisation over the travesty in Yemen is hypocritical.
But on deeper inspection, it is clear that Saudi Arabia here, again, is a mere a servant of the empire.
The winners-losers of this conflict remain the same – by Azad Essa
Comment: One point is wrong: This is NO Saudi-Iran proxy war.
27.9.2016 – Shafaqna (B P)
EDITORIAL: Justice for Yemen should not turn in a game of politicking
I am referring here to Taiz and the siege this one city has found itself under for several months.
War has come to Yemen. Yemen did not ask or called for any military confrontation with Saudi Arabia but war came nonetheless.
No one forced former President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi to run away from Yemen and call upon Riyadh to wage a vengeful war of political vindication, and yet he did.
I ask you this: beyond sectarianism, tribalism, regionalism and infantile political bigotry can you not see that imperial powers are playing you against your own people? Would you not rather stand with your kin against a foreign invaders and be free to argue later on about legitimacy?
What legitimacy do you hope to gain by forfeiting your sovereign rights and your civil liberties? – by Catherine Shakdam
http://en.shafaqna.com/news/37620
Comment: What does she really want to tell us? This whole article also seems to be “politicking” to me. You cannot relativize human victims of war, where ever and caused by whome ever. And: Unfortunately, Yemen is split many times and not united at all.
22.9.2016 – RT (* A K P)
‘If US can’t stop the war, they can at least stop selling weapons to Saudis’ - 10yo Yemeni girl
A 10-year-old girl from Yemen, whose heart-wrenching YouTube video plea for an end to the violence in her homeland has touched social media users, has spoken to RT about the constant fear of death she has to live with in the war-torn country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBD8D0ac3zw
Comment by Judith Brown: Another interview with Yara - explaining that all Yemenis think of death all the time. This film that more closely shows her face really shows the strain that she is living under. This is heartbreaking. Please world listen to this awesome and courageous child.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154749738968641
and
28.9.2016 – Axis of Logic (* A K)
‘If US Can’t Stop War, It Can At Least Stop Selling Weapons To Saudis’
A 10-year-old girl from Yemen, whose heart-wrenching YouTube video plea for an end to the violence in her homeland has touched social media users, has spoken to RT about the constant fear of death she has to live with in the war-torn country.
“I used to feel safe, safe with my family, and we felt freedom. But in these days we stay at home, we’re afraid that we go to a place and they bomb it, we’re always scared,” Yara Al-Mutawakel, who lives in the besieged Yemeni capital, Sanaa, told RT Arabic.
“We never stop thinking of death,” she adds, saying that at the sound of the airstrikes that have been the background noise in and around Sanaa for the past 18 months she thinks she’ll be their next target.
“Any innocent child in Yemen could be the [next] victim. Yemeni people and children can’t [feel] freedom anymore at all,” Yara says.
In the video she posted on YouTube less than a month ago, Yara says she remembers the day it all began as if it were only yesterday. She also tells viewers of her constant fears that her family will be killed, of her problems sleeping because of the constant bombing, and of her contempt for the Saudi-led coalition.
“The Saudis are lying, they are lying to all the countries that are giving them money to fight against us and destroy our country.
“They are telling them, ‘We are just helping [Yemenis],’ but they are not helping us, they are destroying us… destroying our schools, our factories, making children die – my family, all families, are maybe going to die,” she says.
Ten-year-old Yara is pleading for the US to stop selling weapons to the region.
“I want America to stop the war. At least if they can’t stop the war, they can stop selling weapons to Saudis,” she urged.
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_75213.shtml
27.9.2016 – L’Algérie Patriotique (B K P)
Le bonheur des wahhabites est dans le malheur du Yémen – Par Mohamed Benallal
http://www.algeriepatriotique.com/article/le-bonheur-des-wahhabites-est-dans-le-malheur-du-yémen
Comment: Overview article in French
23.3.2015 – ARD (* C P)
Nahost-Experte Michael Lüders zur Situation im Jemen
Der Jemen kommt nicht zur Ruhe. Kein Tag vergeht ohne Gewalt. Zu Straßenschlachten kam es am Sonntag in Taiz, der drittgrößten Stadt des Landes. Tausende Einwohner wehrten sich gegen den Vormarsch der Huthi-Rebellen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBnqR-eGybw
Kommentar: Ein Rückblick – 3 Tage vor Beginn der saudischen Luftangriffe.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
28.9.2016 – BBC Arabic (** A H)
Film: Ashwaq Muharram, a female medical doctor at Hodeidah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6-P8-tXdoM
Comment: Depressing images, even for those who do not understand Arabic. There had been a written English report on this doctor: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37429043
28.9.2016 – World Health Organization (A P)
Map: Yemen: Snapshot of WHO response in Yemen Crisis 2015-2016 (As of 31 August, 2016)
Since March 2015, an es mated 21.1 million people have been affected in the ongoing conflict and are in need of humanitarian assistance (UNOCHA). 14.1 million people were expected to seek health services, with the Health Cluster targe ng to reach 10.5 million under the Yemen Humanitarian Response (YHRP-2016). The escala ng con-flict has put more pressure on the health system and the vulnerable popula on seeking health care, where less than 50% of health facili es are fully func onal and 17% stopped func oning (HeRAMS, 2016) . Skilled health workers have been forced to relocate, and inversely intense pressure has built on health facili es where large displaced popula ons have moved.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-snapshot-who-response-yemen-crisis-2015-2016-31-august-2016 and in full: www.who.int/hac/crises/yem/yemen_snapshot_who_response_aug2016.pdf = http://www.who.int/hac/crises/yem/yemen_snapshot_who_response_aug2016.pdf
27.9.2016 – More photos of starvation (B H)
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/780820931195310081 and https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/780820553313710081 and https://twitter.com/UghhuU/status/778560973816954880
27.9.2016 – Hussam Almolaiki (B H)
More than 21 million Yamanis in need of emergency aid , the war is still going on and expanding famine ! (photo)
https://twitter.com/hussam25173474/status/780695489402507264
27.9.2016 – Mohammed Al-Asaadi (B H)
An entire nation is facing an imminent humanitarian catastrophe: 3 of 5 persons in #Yemen don't have enough food/sleep hungry. Stop the war! (photo)
https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/779366316662779904
8.5.2016 – Konflictcam (* A H)
Photos: Food Distribution to the Physically Disabled in Sana'a; Yemen, 2016
Mona Relief distributes food to a center for the physically disabled in Sana'a.
29.9.2016 – Tag 911 AE (A H)
UAE distributes 8,500 food parcels to Yemen
Emirates Red Crescent has started distributing about 8,500 food parcels to parts of Yemen.
Just under half, 4,000, are destined for poor families in Abyan Governorate.
The other 4,500 will go to Al Mukalla city in Hadramaut, which was retaken from Houthi rebels in April.
ERC’s programme in Hadramaut includes a number of relief projects and huge food relief convoys that will provide assistance to 80,000 families.
http://tag911.ae/uae-distributes-8500-food-parcels-to-yemen/
Comment: Bombs for Saada, bread for Hadramauth.
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
2015/2016
Just to remember: Dhamar Archaelogical Museum before and after the Saudi air raid (photos)
https://twitter.com/alezzisa/status/780842172568461312
Comment: This had been one of the most important museums of Yemen, housing thousands of objects from archaelogical excavations of Yemens ancient culture - which is the ancient culture of all Arabs. Look, the museum is standing absolutely lonesome in a plain landscape, that means, this museum was DELIBERATELY targeted and destroyed. - Wahabism is eager to destroy not only pre-Islamic Arabian tradition, but also non-Wahabi Islamic tradition. Also in this point, ISIS and Al Qaida are the offsprings of Saudi Wahabism.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
28.9.2016 – RT ( A P)
Yemeni rebels may have kidnapped a US citizen
Houthi rebels have allegedly kidnapped an American citizen on suspicion of espionage. Peter Williams had been living in Yemen since 2004 and taught at a school in Sana'a. Details are still unfolding. RT America’s Ashlee Banks reports what we know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLg2KOKI0fU
28.9.2016 – Fars News (A P)
Yemeni Speaker Asks for Iran's Help, Blasts Arabs' Attempts to Display Parliament as Illegitimate
Yemeni Parliament Speaker Yahya Ali al-Raee in a letter to his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani called for Tehran's assistance to reconstruction efforts in his country, and lambasted certain Arab states' attempts to question legality of the legislature.
"Coming under aggression by foreigners and facing with the terrorist groups' crimes in many provinces, the Yemeni nation pins hope on those who have always stood beside them," al-Raee wrote in his letter released on Wednesday.
He called for the Iranian nation and government's further assistance to the Yemeni people in the reconstruction of their war-torn country.
Stressing that the Yemeni parliament has taken its legitimacy from the constitution, al-Raee rapped certain Arab states for their attempts to display the country's legislature as illegal.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950707000708
28.9.2016 – Saba Net (A P)
Political Council approves mechanism to implement general amnesty
The Supreme Political Council ratified an implementation mechanism to carry out general amnesty, forming a main presidential committee based in the capital Sanaa to oversee the process.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441717.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
28.9.2016 – Intelligence Online (not rated A P)
Abu Dhabi, which has been heavily involved in the conflict in Yemen, has recently been encouraging greater activism on the part of South Yemen’s political and military secessionists.(…) [ 336 words ] [€5,2]
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE : Intelligence Online | by Ali Salem Al Beidh | Ali Nasser Mohammed | Haider Aboubaker | Ali Abdullah | National Liberation | Abdulrahman Ali | Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi ➔ See the 16 keywords [subscription required]
28.9.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A P)
Severe electrical blackouts in #Aden days after Aden Refinery union workers stopped providing diesel in protest of unpaid salaries
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1121244321261930
28.9.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A T)
#AQAP has claimed responsibility for the killing + injuring of Security Belt forces today via explosive device in Bi'r Nasir region of #Lahj
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1121245131261849
28.9.2016 – Almanar (A T)
US-Saudi Aggression Mercenaries Attack Prison in Yemen’s Aden, Kill Guard, Prisoners
A Yemeni prison guard was killed Tuesday in a militant attack on a prison compound in the southern city of Aden, police said.
Unidentified gunmen attacked al-Mansoura central prison in Aden and hurled a hand grenade on the prison walls, the police said in a statement.
According to the statement, a number of the assailants were killed in ensuing clashes with prison guards.
“A prison guard was seriously injured in the clashes and succumbed to his wounds,” the statement said.
Police said security forces seized two vehicles used by the militants and arrested a driver of one of the cars.
http://english.almanar.com.lb/44504
Comment: Headline contradicts text. There is no hint at all that “US-Saudi Aggression Mercenaries” had attacked the prison, as the text clearly tells. Look also at
27.9.2016 – Anadolu (A T)
Yémen: Attaque armée contre une prison à Aden
- Un gardien de la prison centrale d'al-Mansourah, dans la province d'Aden, a été tué lors d'une attaque armée, affirme la police locale
http://aa.com.tr/fr/monde/y%C3%A9men-attaque-arm%C3%A9e-contre-une-prison-%C3%A0-aden/653534
27.9.2016 – Middle East Monitor (A T)
Yemeni government kills suspected Al Qaeda chief
Yemeni security forces killed a suspected local Al Qaeda chief yesterday in a gun battle inside his house in the southern province of Abyan, security officials have announced.
One policeman also died and another was wounded after troops stormed the residence of the suspect identified as, Abdullah Hubaibat, on the outskirts of the town of Loder.
Two other militant suspects were wounded in the fight, while a third was arrested, the sources said.
The security forces further disclosed that they arrested an alleged Al-Qaeda operative, Abu Osama al-Yassiri, after raiding his home in Al-Wadeei directorate in Abyan.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20160927-yemeni-government-kills-suspected-al-qaeda-chief/
Comment by Judith Brown: What, killing their allies? Al Qaeda is fighting on the same side as Hadi's Saudi paid army. Although they seem to have fallen out in Aden where AQAP regularly targets politicians and military for assassination.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154750485423641
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
28.9.2016 – Reuters (* A P)
Yemeni rights inquiry not up to the job, U.N. official says
A Yemeni commission reporting on human rights abuses in the country's civil war lacks impartiality and is not up to the job, U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore said on Wednesday, adding to pressure for an independent inquiry.
The Yemeni National Commission of Inquiry, which reports to the country's internationally recognized and Saudi-backed president, was set up a year ago after Saudi Arabia deterred a Dutch-led attempt to set up an independent investigation into the war that has killed at least 10,000 people.
The U.N. human rights office has said air strikes by a Saudi-led military coalition are responsible for most civilian casualties, and rights groups have demanded the U.N. Human Rights Council set up an independent investigation.
The Council is expected to choose between continuing the Saudi-backed investigation or backing a fresh Dutch-led demand for independent human rights monitoring on Friday.
Gilmore told the Council that the Yemeni inquiry "lacks impartiality, does not abide by the basic norms of protection" and its mandate, composition and methodology were not up to international standards.
Such a body "will fail to contribute to the direly needed cohesion and stability, and to promote justice and accountability," she said.
Gilmore said the Yemeni investigators had either rejected or failed to respond to U.N. offers of help, and had wrongly stated in their report last month that the U.N. human rights office failed to provide technical assistance.
Yemen's Human Rights Minister Ezzeldin Al-Asbahi told the Council that the U.N. report was politicized and failed to take into account that the war was caused by a coup by the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh – By Tom Miles
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-un-idUSKCN11Y2L2
Comment: All this was evident from the very first day on. This Yemeni government commission’s main purpose was to prevent the UN to install an independent investigation of the war crimes in Yemen and to block a last year’s Dutch proposal for such an investigation. That has just been a waste of time, so that the Saudis could bomb and kill one more year. That’s the blood on UN’s hands.
28.9.2016 – Save the Children and others NGOs (A P)
Joint oral statement by Save the Children, Action contre la Faim, CARE International, Oxfam and Première Urgence during Human Rights Council session on the humanitarian situation for vulnerable children and families in Yemen
Numerous other allegations concerning possible violations of international law have been documented in the High Commissioner's recent report, as well by the UN's Panel of Experts to the Security Council Sanctions Committee, and by credible international human rights organisations.
We welcome continued efforts to secure peace but it is imperative that the international community uses its influence to ensure all parties to the armed conflict act in compliance with obligations under international law.
Therefore we urge the Council to adopt a new resolution mandating an international independent body under the auspices of the UN to carry out comprehensive investigations into allegations of violations of international law by all parties to the conflict as an urgently needed step to hold those responsible for violations to account, and to deter future violations.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-oral-statement-save-children-action-contre-la-faim-care-international-oxfam-and = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SC_HRC%20Statement_Yemen_FINAL%20%2827Sep%29.pdf
28.9.2016 – Reuters (* A P)
Yemen's Houthis must disband militias under any peace deal: Saudi-led coalition
A Saudi-led coalition will not accept a Yemeni peace deal unless it requires the Houthi movement to disband its armed wing, a spokesman said on Wednesday, in effect rebuffing an offer by the Iran-allied group for a truce made three days earlier.
But Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri, spokesman for the Arab coalition, told reporters in Berlin that while a political solution to the conflict was needed, Saudi Arabia would not support an agreement that allowed the Houthi movement to maintain its militias.
The kingdom would not "accept an armed militia at our back door," Asseri said, without making a direct reference to the truce offer. The briefing with Asseri held at a Berlin hotel had been organized by the Saudi embassy in Germany – By Andrea Shalal
Hadi's government says that any move toward peace can begin only when the Houthis heed a 2015 U.N. Security Council Resolution mandating that they quit Yemen's main cities and hand over weapons they had seized since 2014.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-saudi-idUSKCN11Y23G
Comment: Asseri in Berlin. What are we happy to see him here. And still nothing new at all: Claiming that the Houthis must capitulate, just trying to misuse “peace talks” for achieving a victory – and not a peace – as by military means a victory cannot achieved. – “The kingdom would not "accept an armed militia at our back door,": Saudi Arabia claims to dictate what should happen in Yemen. What’s there rigjht to do so?? And there are even more other militia in Yemen, fighting against the Houthis, what about these??
27.9.2016 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (* A P)
FYI, UK is backing distorted & much weaker call that replaced orig Netherlands' proposal for int'l inquiry in #Yemen (look at text in image!!)
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780783778952310784
Comment: Look at reporting in YPR 204.
Comment by Judith Brown: Now why is this not in UK newspapers today when it is a sort of U-turn and it is important. So far I can't find it in any mainstream newspaper in UK today.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154749641948641
27.9.2016 – CNS (A P)
As UN Rights Council Mulls Measure on Saudi Abuses in Yemen, Where Does the US Stand?
The Obama administration is caught between allies in Europe and the Arab world as a resolution comes before the U.N. Human Rights Council this week, calling for an independent investigation into human rights abuses in Yemen.
The draft resolution, introduced by the Netherlands and supported by Washington’s European partners, is opposed by Saudi Arabia, whose airstrike campaign against Shi’ite militia in Yemen has cost thousands of civilian lives.
As diplomats discuss the Dutch-drafted resolution on the sidelines of the HRC session in Geneva this week, the U.S. has yet to make its position clear.
The U.S. would not have a vote on the measure, as it is does not currently have a seat on the 47-member council. But it could lend valuable moral support, should it choose to do so – by Patrick Goodenough
27.9.2016 – Alwaght (A P)
Should Yemen’s Ansarullah Negotiate with Saudi Arabia?
Currently, even the Saudis admit that the Ansarullah movement of Yemen is a popular and accepted movement. Thus, it is understandable that the negotiations may have threats and opportunities for Ansarullah. By reviewing the pros and cons of Ansarullah entering the negotiations, the importance and significance of each threat or opportunity can be understood.
The supporters of Ansarullah’s presence in the political negotiations, argue that due to the weakened infrastructure of Yemen, and the loss of a part of Ansarullah during the Saudi war, it is reasonable for this movement to attend the negotiations in order to prevent more losses and also follow its goals at the negotiation table.
Another group of the supporters that have more realistic views believe that Ansarullah’s participation in the political bargaining process could be considered a practice to strengthen the political power of the movement.
Participating in the negotiations and forming a coalition government could be an achievement for this group as a general movement in Yemen. That being said, Ansarullah will not be able to take complete control of the government, but it could be part of the official governing power.
Although the opponents and critics of Ansarullah’s participation in the political negotiations do not disagree with the totality of the negotiations, they also do not consider the subjects present at the negotiation table in favour of Ansarullah, nor do they consider it the right time for this movement’s involvement in the negotiations.
The opposition group also believes that in the current anarchic situation, considering that Ansarullah itself is a power pole among multiple dimensions of power, the results of negotiations will not be sustainable. Hence, this opposition group argues that Ansarullah should insist on not delivering the weaponry and not giving back the seized cities.
http://alwaght.com/en/News/68971/Should-Yemen%E2%80%99s-Ansarullah-Negotiate-with-Saudi-Arabia?
29.9.2016 – Eghtesad Online (A P)
Envoy rejects Saudi Arabia’s letter to UN as false
“Iran has not had policies on dispatching arms for Ansarullah fighters,” Khoshrou said in his letter to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
The Iranian envoy said that the Saudi Arabia’s letter included unsubstantiated claims that have not been verified by any independent entity.
“These claims are raised against the numerous confirmed reports, documenting Saudi Arabia’s war crimes and violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”
According to IRNA, the following is Ambassador Khoshrou's letter to the UN Security Council President:
cp7a Iran und Golfstaaten / Iran and Gulf States
28.9.2016 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Iran Rejects ‘Baseless’ Allegations by Bahrain, UAE
Iran has dismissed as “baseless and absurd” the Emirati foreign minister’s allegations that Tehran is fueling regional insecurity, saying such remarks come despite Abu Dhabi’s deadly bombing campaign against Yemeni civilians.
Abbas Yazdani, the first secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations made the comments in an address to the world body’s General Assembly.
“It is absurd and hypocritical for the official of a country whose jet fighters are bombing innocent civilians in Yemen to accuse Iran of interfering in domestic affairs of other countries,” said Yazdani.
On September 24, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan claimed during the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting that Iran is seeking to undermine regional security since it signed a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries last year. He also alleged that Iran is sponsoring terrorism.
http://ifpnews.com/news/world/persian-gulf/2016/09/iran-rejects-baseless-allegations-bahrain-uae/
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
28.9.2016 – In the Now (A H)
Saudi teen gets jail time for 'facetime' with US blogger
A 19-year-old Saudi Internet user called Abu Sin has been arrested by authorities after they found videos of him chatting with an American video blogger. They accuse him of “unethical behaviour”. He gained popularity on the Arab-speaking web with his sideways cap, toothless smile, and over-the-top flirting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0EHeQa8R8U
28.9.2016 – RT (* B P)
Film: Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of the Unjust
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, joins us in studio to talk about her new book on Saudi Arabia, “Kingdom of the Unjust.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ZdlBY6th0
28.9.2016 – Counterpunch (* A E P)
Cracks in the Kingdom: Saudi Arabia Rocked by Financial Strains
Things are not well in Saudi Arabia and this week there were two pieces of bad news. Hitherto, there have been protests like this by foreign employees suffering from the knock-on effects of cuts in state expenditure following the drop in the oil price. In work camps far out in the desert workers complain that, not only have they stopped receiving money owed to them, but they are no longer even receiving supplied of food and electricity.
But today the cuts are for the first time hitting public sector workers who are Saudi citizens, 70 per cent of whom work for the government. So far the austerity is limited with lower bonuses and overtime payments and a 20 per cent reduction in the salaries of ministers
There are political dangers in this move. In the oil states of the Middle East there is a trade-off between the spectacular wealth of a corrupt and autocratic elite and an extensive patronage system through which much of the rest of the native population plugs into oil revenues.
With a Saudi budget deficit of $100 billion in 2015, this haemorrhage of cash may not be sustainable but will also be difficult to rein in. Great construction companies like Oger and Binladen are having serious difficulties getting paid by the government with Oger alone reportedly owed $8 billion.
The woes of foreign workers, and even of the native public sector employees, are not necessarily going to destabilise an absolute monarchy like Saudi Arabia that mercilessly crushes dissent.
Among those exempted from this week’s benefit cuts are Saudi forces in Yemen which may remind Saudis that they are still mired in a vastly expensive conflict there which their government voluntarily entered last year and shows no sign of winning – by Patrick Cockburn
27.9.2016 – Middle East Eye (* A E P)
Angry foreign staff block Saudi road in protest over missing pay
Foreign workers in Saudi have increasingly broke a strict ban on striking as a financial crisis has led to a wage crisis across the kingdom
Scores of foreign staff at Saudi Arabian company the Saad Group blocked a road in the Eastern Province on Tuesday as part of a protest over not being paid in more than seven months.
Footage sent to MEE showed a large group of mainly Indian and Pakistani workers stopping traffic on the road that links the town of al-Hasa to the Eastern Province’s capital Dammam.
Scores of foreign staff at Saudi Arabian company the Saad Group blocked a road in the Eastern Province on Tuesday as part of a protest over not being paid in more than seven months.
Footage sent to MEE showed a large group of mainly Indian and Pakistani workers stopping traffic on the road that links the town of al-Hasa to the Eastern Province’s capital Dammam – by Rori Donaghi
Comment: Vision 2030 showing its first successes.
26.9.2016 – New York Times (* A E P)
Decline in Oil Prices Lands on Government Workers as Saudi Arabia Cuts Paychecks
Saudi Arabia on Monday announced sudden, drastic cuts to salaries and perks for government employees as part of the kingdom’s struggle to slash spending at a time of low oil prices.
The cuts, unveiled in a series of royal decrees and cabinet statements read aloud on state television, reduced ministers’ salaries by 20 percent, slashed perquisites for members of the consultative assembly and limited overtime pay and vacation for civil servants.
The new measures came as a shock to many in the country’s bloated public sector, which for decades has served as a vehicle for the royal family to distribute its oil wealth in the form of well-paid jobs that often require little work.
More than two-thirds of employed Saudis work for the government.
The government this year started a major project, known as Vision 2030, aimed at overhauling the economy, reducing the dependence on oil and creating a more productive native work force – by Ben Hubbard
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-cuts-salaries-oil.html?ref=world&_r=3 and see also http://life-in-saudiarabia.blogspot.de/2016/09/king-salman-cuts-down-salaries-of-all.html?m=1
Comment: Vision 2030 going ahead.
? – Channel 4 (A P)
Film: Channel4 exposing lies of terrorism sheikh al Arifi
https://www.facebook.com/NotoWahabism/videos/981941721934410/ and see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NMfV3-CBsM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6rJhcS81mY
cp9 USA
29.9.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Kongress überstimmt Obama - Verhältnis zu Saudis vor Belastungsprobe
Nach der Verabschiedung eines umstrittenen Gesetzes im US-Kongress drohen der Regierung in Washington schlechtere Beziehungen zum wichtigen Verbündeten Saudi-Arabien.
Beide Kammern des Parlamentes billigten am Mittwoch mit großer Mehrheit eine Regelung, mit der Angehörige der Opfer des 11. September 2001 den Golfstaat verklagen können. Hintergrund ist, dass 15 der 19 Attentäter aus dem Königreich kamen.
Die Entscheidung des Kongresses ist eine Niederlage für Präsident Barack Obama, der erstmals in seiner Amtszeit von den Abgeordneten überstimmt wurde. Senat und Repräsentantenhaus hatten das Gesetz in diesem Jahr bereits gebilligt. Gegen die Entscheidung legte Obama sein Veto ein, das die Volksvertreter nun mit den Stimmen beider Parteien überstimmten.
Das Gesetz macht den Weg für Klagen gegen Saudi-Arabien in den USA frei, weil es bei Terroranschlägen auf amerikanischem Territorium eine Ausnahme vom Grundsatz der Souveränität macht. Die Regierung in Riad hat wiederholt den Verdacht zurückgewiesen, dass sie die Attentäter vom 11. September unterstützt haben könnte.
http://de.reuters.com/article/usa-saudi-arabien-idDEKCN11Z0HB
28.9.2016 – AP (* A P)
Saudi Arabia has ways to hit back at 9/11 lawsuit effort
Saudi Arabia and its allies are warning that U.S. legislation allowing the kingdom to be sued for the 9/11 attacks will have negative repercussions.
The kingdom maintains an arsenal of tools to retaliate with, including curtailing official contacts, pulling billions of dollars from the U.S. economy, and persuading its close allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to scale back counterterrorism cooperation, investments and U.S. access to important regional air bases.
"This should be clear to America and to the rest of the world: When one GCC state is targeted unfairly, the others stand around it," said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an Emirati Gulf specialist and professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University.
"All the states will stand by Saudi Arabia in every way possible," he said.
Chas Freeman, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs and ambassador to Saudi Arabia during operation Desert Storm, said the Saudis could respond in ways that risk U.S. strategic interests, like permissive rules for overflight between Europe and Asia and the Qatari air base from which U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are directed and supported.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in June that the U.S. has the most to lose if JASTA is enacted. Despite reports that Riyadh threatened to pull billions of dollars from the U.S. economy if the bill becomes law, al-Jubeir says Saudi Arabia has only warned that investor confidence in the U.S. could decline.
Stephen Kinzer, a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, said the eight-decade-long U.S.-Saudi relationship is "entering into a new phase," in which ties will be mostly underpinned by arms sales, unlike during the era of warm relations under President George W. Bush.
Abdullah, the Gulf analyst at UAE University, said he expects to see a GCC that acts more assertively and independently of the U.S. in places like Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt.
"This is not just a threat. This is a reality," he said – by Aya Batrawy
28.9.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)
Senate overrides Obama's veto of 9/11 bill letting families sue Saudi Arabia
Lawmakers refused to oppose measure backed by 9/11 families, permitting them to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for allegedly backing the hijackers
Barack Obama suffered a unique political blow on Wednesday, when the US Senate overturned his veto of a bill that would allow families of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.
If, as seems certain, the House follows suit later in the day, Obama will endure the first override of his presidency less than four months before leaving office. No Democrats came to the Senate floor to defend his position before the overwhelming bipartisan 97-1 vote. The Democratic minority leader, Harry Reid, cast the sole vote against override, which has put Congress at odds with the White House and national security establishment – by David Smith
Comment: And a lot of other reporting: http://www.twcnews.com/tx/austin/politics/2016/09/28/senators-vote-to-override-obama-s-veto-of-sept--11-bill.html and http://thehill.com/policy/international/298264-senate-overrides-obama-9-11-veto-in-overwhelming-vote and http://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-overrides-obamas-veto-of-bill-allowing-terror-victims-to-sue-foreign-governments-1475080281 and http://www.ibtimes.com/obamas-veto-update-senate-overrides-president-jasta-house-vote-next-2423214 and more
27.9.2016 – Al Monitor (* A K P)
Will next US president shift Washington's Yemen policy?
Washington’s backing for the Saudi campaign in Yemen (intelligence sharing, logistical support, etc.) came when the Obama administration sought to assuage wary Arab Gulf leaders’ concerns about possible US abandonment of its Gulf Cooperation Council allies for a rapprochement with Iran. Nonetheless, Riyadh’s military campaign in Yemen has unsettled US officials. From Washington’s vantage point, Saudi bombardments and blockades have clearly failed to achieve Riyadh’s objectives while only offering extremists opportunities to usurp power within the fog of a civil war. At the heart of Washington and Riyadh’s differences on Yemen are their two contrasting threat perceptions. For Saudi Arabia, Iranian influence via the Houthis poses the gravest menace to the kingdom’s security. For the United States, however, the Islamic State and al-Qaeda represent the most serious threat out of Yemen.
According to Matthew Tueller, Washington’s ambassador to Yemen, "There is no military solution in Yemen, but a political one." Yet as the Saudis view Ansar Allah as Tehran’s proxy, Kerry’s proposed concessions to the Houthis are dangerous and misguided in the eyes of Riyadh officials, particularly as the rebels step up attacks against the kingdom. Despite Kerry’s efforts to pressure Saudi Arabia to approach Yemen more diplomatically, Washington has unquestionably enabled Riyadh’s military campaign against the Houthis, highlighted by the fact that the US has sold $115 billion in arms to the kingdom under Obama’s watch (more than any other US administration).
America’s next president must recognize how a diplomatic resolution to Yemen’s crisis serves long-term US interests. Effectively countering the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Yemen requires a unified state to work with as a partner. To achieve this end, Washington must urge all sides in the Yemeni civil war, including the Saudis, to budge from their rigid positions and make necessary compromises.
However, without blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia, it is unclear what Washington can do to pressure Riyadh into ceasing its bombing. It is also questionable whether the Houthis and Saleh loyalists will view the US as a legitimate peace broker given Washington’s tacit, albeit crucial, support for Riyadh’s campaign in Yemen. Finally, as the US military is engaged in operations against the Islamic State in Libya, Iraq and Syria, it remains to be seen how much attention Obama’s successor will pay to Yemen.
27.9.2016 – The Independent (* A P)
Watching Trump and Clinton debate Isis from my home in the Middle East was as predictable as it was absurd
'We have to knock the hell out of Isis – and we have to do it fast,' Trump told the world. Well, sure, but haven’t we all been knocking the hell out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, even Lebanon, and achieving the constant rebirth of ever more vicious warriors, of which Isis may soon generate another, even worse progeny?
Watching them both yacking on about the Middle East as a pink dawn glowed from behind the Lebanese mountains above Beirut, I found the Trump-Clinton show a grimly instructive experience. In the few hundred miles east and south of Lebanon, hundreds are dying every week – in Syria, in Yemen, in Iraq – and yet there were the terrible twins playing “I can beat Isis better than you can beat Isis”. Was this what the Arab world really meant to the reality show participants at the unpronounceable university campus on Long Island? – by Robert Fisk
27.9.2016 – Atlantic Council (* A P)
Yemen Heightens Tension in Saudi’s International Relations
The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has witnessed considerable strain over the past few years, but increasing reports documenting poor targeting practices and disproportionate collateral damage in the Saudi-led coalition’s conduct of the war in Yemen has sparked an unprecedented outcry in the US Congress. When examined alongside a similar backlash taking place in the United Kingdom, it becomes clear that the human toll caused by Saudi air strikes has widened the rift between it and its long-standing allies in the West. Unless and until Saudi Arabia takes meaningful measures to allow the impartial investigation of attacks on noncombatants, eliminate indiscriminate bombing of civilians and civilian structures, and hold those in command of Yemen operations to account, the widening rift could hold serious consequences for its international relations.
As the human cost of the war mounts, more Yemeni actors may become convinced that neither the Houthis nor a Saudi-backed government can provide the opportunity for a normal life and fall prey to the extremists attempting to fill the vacuum. Responsible conduct and accountability remain the best bet for Saudi Arabia to secure its southern border and maintain its strategic international relations – by Tarek Radwan
Comment: Misleading in a very important point. “increasing reports documenting poor targeting practices and disproportionate collateral damage in the Saudi-led coalition’s conduct” pretends the Saudi war in Yemen would be a legal war if just military objects are targeted. THIS IS NOT TRUE. This war from the very beginning is a WAR OF AGGRESSION. Thus, every targeting in this war is illegal.
28.9.2016 – Sputnik News (A P)
US Concerned by 'Lack of Precision' of Saudi Airstrikes in Yemen
The United States has raised concerns with Riyadh regarding the imprecision of Saudi airstrikes that have killed civilians in Yemen, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing on Wednesday.
Kirby also claimed that the deliberate attacks by the Syrian and Russian governments in Aleppo were not the same as Saudi Arabia’s imprecise strikes that accidentally killed civilians in Yemen.
https://sputniknews.com/world/20160928/1045809866/saudi-yemen-airstrikes.html
Comment: This is an odd statement. The problem is not a “lack of precision” but the Saudi aerial war in general, deliberately TARGETING at civilian targets. And even more, the whole Saudi aerial war simply is a WAR OF AGRESSION, thus EVERY targeting, even at military targets, is a matter of “concern”. – And, further: The Saudi air strikes in Yemen by juridical viewpoint ARE EVEN WORSE than the Russian/Syrian strikes at Aleppo, as the Assad government still is the legitimate Syrian government, having claimed Russian help. – Thus, this US statement is a perfect example of a try to downsize and to whitewash the criminal aspect of Saudi air raids in Yemen – and of the own, US implication as well.
27.9.2016 – US State Department (A P)
On Reports of U.S. Citizens Detained in Yemen
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner, Deputy Department Spokesperson, Washington, DC, September 27, 2016
We are deeply concerned by reports of U.S. citizens being unjustly detained by the Houthi-controlled National Security Bureau in Yemen.
Such detentions are unacceptable, put in jeopardy any Houthi efforts to establish that they are credible and responsible interlocutors, and invite serious questions about their commitment to seek a lasting peace for Yemen.
Should any U.S. citizens in Yemen who are being held unjustly be harmed, it would be the responsibility of those organizations, groups, or individuals detaining them.
The United States is monitoring the situation in Yemen very closely and calls on the Houthis to immediately release any U.S. citizens currently being held.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/09/262466.htm
Comment by Judith Brown: I guess we are all concerned about illegally detained citizens. What about the non-violent demonstrators in Saudi Arabia who have been detained and beheaded.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154750470638641
Comment: See also cp5, RT reporting.
26.9.2016 – Neil Clark (B P)
The US: Airstrikes are 'barbaric', except when we & allies do them in Iraq, Yugo, Afghan, Libya, Syria, Yemen... Then they're 'humanitarian'
https://twitter.com/NeilClark66/status/780304108884488192
26.9.2016 – Politico (* A P)
Saudi lobbyists plot new push against 9/11 bill
With a veto override looming, the Saudis are leaning on U.S. companies to pressure Congress to kill the measure.
Saudi Arabia is mounting a last-ditch campaign to scuttle legislation allowing families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to sue the kingdom — and they're enlisting major American companies to make an economic case against the bill.
General Electric, Dow Chemical, Boeing and Chevron are among the corporate titans that have weighed in against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, which passed both chambers unanimously and was vetoed on Friday, according to people familiar with the effort. The companies are acting quietly to avoid the perception of opposing victims of terrorism, but they're responding to Saudi arguments that their own corporate assets in the kingdom could be at risk if the law takes effect.
Meanwhile, Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader who now co-leads Squire Patton Boggs' lobbying group, e-mailed Senate legislative directors on Monday warning that the bill could lead other countries to withdraw their assets from the United States and retaliate with laws allowing claims against American government actions.
While the White House has emphasized national security to justify rejecting the bill, enlisting business interests could prove influential with lawmakers representing places where the companies have significant economic footprints. Companies could lose favored access to the Saudi market and see their own assets subject to seizure in lawsuits, just as Saudi holdings in the U.S. would be, people familiar with the situation said.
The Saudis are now spending more than $250,000 a month fighting the bill, retaining powerhouses Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Glover Park Group, Sphere Consulting and Squire Patton Boggs. Besides working with companies invested in Saudi Arabia, the lobbyists are directly contacting lawmakers, placing opinion articles and seeking support from think tank scholars – by Isaac Arnsdorf and Seung Min Kim
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/saudi-arabia-veto-911-228686
26.9.2016 – The National Interest (* B K P)
Why Congress Supports Saudi Arms Sales
In allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Congress protected American jobs, U.S. companies and the wider defense industry.
Senators Paul Ryan and Chris Murphy recently proposed a congressional resolution to stop a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Their measure failed on a 26-71 vote this past Wednesday. Their case rested in large part on the fact that Riyadh's intervention in Yemen—conducted with American-made weapons—has cost an untold number of innocent lives in the Arabian Peninsula. While their argument carried weight from a humanitarian perspective, it did not make sense in terms of the impact it would have on American jobs, U.S. companies, and the wider defense industry.
On a local level, hundreds of American jobs in the proposed sale are at stake.
When considering this particular sale it is important to keep in mind the big picture of U.S. defense exports and their contribution to America's defense industry. Over the past six years, as U.S. defense spending has faced considerable budgetary pressures, American defense companies have struggled to maintain employees and keep production lines open. With tightening defense budgets, highly-skilled manufacturing jobs on the line, and the prospect of production lines for advanced U.S. weapons being phased out, American exports of defense articles and services have become and will continue to be ever more important.
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the dominant purchaser of American arms.
Maintaining a robust security cooperation relationship with Saudi Arabia also helps America's defense industry in the region as a whole.
If Senators Ryan and Murphy would have succeeded in their measure, Riyadh would almost certainly have gone to another large military supplier, possibly Russia.
Had the sale been blocked and Saudi Arabia shifted to Russia, China, or other suppliers for military purchases, other Gulf States would have followed suit, putting in jeopardy an additional tens of billions of dollars in sales by American multinational companies and thousands of highly-skilled manufacturing jobs – by Oleg Svet
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-congress-supports-saudi-arms-sales-17840
Comment: The title of the Site already tells all. They already had much better reports, anyway. That here is cynicism: Keeping my job by getting other people killed and wrecked.
25.9.2016 – Scott Horton (* A P)
Audio: Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist based in Sanaa, discusses the US Senate’s rejection of Rand Paul’s joint resolution to block a billion dollar arms deal to Saudi Arabia, and why the US feels the need to placate the Saudis over the Iran nuclear deal – even though the destruction of Yemen helps Al Qaeda and ISIS gain power.
http://scotthorton.org/interviews/92516-nasser-arrabyee/
25.9.2016 – Ron Paul (* A P)
Ron Paul on Yemen (film)
"#US Weapons Fuel Saudi Slaughter in Yemen"
The report discusses and answers the following important points:
• US State department spokesman Moral Blindness towards war on Yemen
• Ascalated & continued Saudi crimes against Humanity
• US deliberately avoid to condemn crimes against civilians in Yemen
• US administration weapon deals with #KSA generate wealth to the US but also brings Terriorist alot closer to attack the US again ($100+ billion in #Obama Administration)
• Who is Saudi's closest allie in Yemen? #Al_Qaedah #AQAP
• Investigations on Human crimes is a task delegated by the UN / USA to Saudis to do, where #Saudi is in itself the aggressor and voilator of human rights
• #UN role? Whitewashing #Saudi crimes
• #US hypocracy exposed, claiming Hadi is still the ligitimate Yemeni President
• Not many Americans know the truth about brutal war in Yemen because it is deliberately kept low profile
• Iran was used by Saudi to justify their illegal war against Yemen
• It is amazing how Yemenis could fight back all this - it is because they are Yemenis and this is their country!
https://www.facebook.com/mohamad.shami.33/videos/10153950319992217/ = https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154750377913641
24.9.2016 – Daily News (* B T)
The alarming truth about today’s terror threat: Former NYPD official says America is in greater danger than any time since 9/11
The dramatic deterioration of the security conditions across the Islamic world coupled with a degree of complacency at home — is responsible for this situation.
The first reason for my grim assessment: Since the so-called Arab Spring of 2011, the breadth and depth of conflict raging across the Islamic world has grown dramatically.
Four nations are completely broken and in engulfed in devastating wars with no end in sight: Yemen, Syria, Somalia and Libya.
We cannot allow this to happen again. We must stand by our allies, especially during their most difficult times. This will be critical for Afghanistan in the years ahead. We cannot "pull the plug" on them for whatever reason, or we will pay a far larger price when their Army army collapses and Al Qaeda comes roaring back.
Abroad, we must support key allies like Mali, Yemen, Egypt and Afghanistan — and recognize that Wwestern- style democracy cannot be forced down their throats before they are ready – by Michael Sheehan
Comment: “Abroad, we must support key allies like Mali, Yemen, Egypt and Afghanistan”: Which “Yemen”? – And: “we must” nothing: The US interference all over the world above all has contributed to this rise of terrorism – let’s begin with the US-Saudi alliance allowing the Saudi to spread their Wahabism worldwide.
22.9.2016 – Rand Paul (A P)
Film: Today marks, not the end of the battle but the beginning of a long Constitutional struggle to reclaim Congress's proper role and prerogative in matters of foreign policy. Thank you to everyone who stood with me today against Obama's Saudi arms deal.
https://www.facebook.com/RandPaul/videos/10154164485056107/
Comment: Rand Paul for President!
15.8.2016 – Center for Strategic & International Studies (* B K P)
It is one of the many ironies of the 2016 presidential campaign that the United States is at war in varying degrees in four different countries in the Middle East and North Africa—Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen—as well as continuing its “longest war” in Afghanistan. All five of these wars now involve ISIS to some degree.
Neither Trump nor Clinton have seriously addressed U.S. policy for any of these five wars, and the Obama Administration has not publically stated its grand strategy for any conflict.
This lack of attention to America’s wars is dangerous in the case of all its wars, but it is particularly dangerous in the case of Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. The United States is supporting a very different mix of forces in each country in different ways with what seems to be one narrow goal: denying ISIS the ability to control territory or the ability to establish some form of government and sanctuary. The key U.S. tools in each war zone mix air power and with U.S. train and assist efforts and arms transfers to local factions.
There is no prospect in any such war, however, that the United States will win a near term victory in either the broader strategic sense of fully defeating ISIS
Once again, the United States does not seem to be learning from its past. The real test of victory is never tactical success or even ending a war on favorable military terms, it is what comes next.
The U.S. backing of the Saudi-UAE led coalition in Yemen is limited largely to support of air operations, intelligence, and targeting data, and is the lowest level of U.S. involvement in its current wars – although a U.S. Marine amphibious force did prevent Iranian convoys from coming to Yemen at one point in the war. Yemen, however, is a military and civil strategic nightmare.
Any peace is almost certain to be temporary and unstable. Worse, Yemen is so poor, so limited in water, lacking in economic development, so tied to a narco-economy, and so highly populated that it has no clear path towards nation building its various factions can agree upon.
Yemen’s strategic position at the gates to the Red Sea and long border with Saudi Arabia do make it a potential strategic threat. At least for the foreseeable future, however, the most that one can hope for is to limit and contain its violence and role in terrorism and in the growing tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Any end to conflict is likely to be temporary or illusory, and serious nation building is likely to be impossible. The United States still needs a strategy for both the military and civil side of Yemen’s fighting and instability, and it still has to make hard choices, but the best real-world strategy is likely to be an awkward and unstable mix of containment and finding the least bad options – by Anthony H. Cordesman
https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-wars-iraq-syria-libya-and-yemen-what-are-endstates
Comment: Interesting, but a typical US think tank product. The author takes for granted that the US plays the role of super power and policeman in the world, forming everything according to US interests.
28.9.2016 – Dr. Karim (A P)
Film: How do you define hypocrisy? Here is practical definition #Yemen
https://twitter.com/StopDestroYemen/status/781331812744331264
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
Siehe cp1 / See cp1
28.9.2016 – Press TV Iran (* A P)
'UK ignoring war crimes of its allies'
Britain, the US and their allies have taken a selective approach to the issue of human rights to protect their interests, an American scholar says, citing Saudi Arabia and Israel’s immunity to punishment as an example. Stephen Zunes, International relations Scholar from California, being interviewed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORr2TMEOyL8
28.9.2016 – Al Araby (A P)
Jeremy Corbyn just pledged to end UK-Saudi arms sales
So, when Jeremy Corbyn, Britain's newly re-empowered opposition leader, pledged in his first speech since seeing off a formal leadership challenge to scrap the sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia, it was not only red meat to the red flag flying Labour party membership - but was appreciated by much of the tweeting public.
27.9.2016 – BMJ (* A P)
UK must stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia in light of bombings of Yemeni health facilities, says charity
The charity Medact has called on the UK international trade secretary, Liam Fox, to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia to prevent further bombing of healthcare facilities in the conflict in Yemen. Fox, who studied medicine in Glasgow and worked as a GP in Buckinghamshire before entering politics, is now responsible for licensing arms sales in his ministerial role.
Campaigners from Medact, a charity for health professionals focused on global health improvement, and other doctors and health professionals have appealed to Fox as a doctor to think of the health of Yemeni people, the brutal attacks on clinicians, and his duty to “first do no harm.” They cited evidence that British arms were being used to … – by Jacqui Thornton [subscribers only]
http://www.bmj.com/content/354/bmj.i5261
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
28.9.2016 – Tactical Report (A K)
Kuwait: Emir Sabah and military participation in Yemen
Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad is said to have agreed to expand the Kuwaiti military participation in the Saudi-led Decisive Storm military operation in Yemen. This comes after receiving a call from Saudi King Salman on the subject last month
http://www.tacticalreport.com/view_news/Kuwait:-Emir-Sabah-and-military-participation-in-Yemen/5154
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
22.9.2016 – International Business Times (* A K P)
Wall Street: Defense Contractor Stock Posts Record Close After Saudi Arms Deal Gets Senate Approval
A day after the US Senate voted to move ahead a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, General Dynamics — the defense contractor slated to profit from the deal — had a record-setting day on Wall Street, posting its highest closing price ever.
The Obama administration first greenlit the deal, which would see the sale of 130 General Dynamics battle tanks and other combat vehicles to Saudi, last month. A bipartisan group of senators, led by Kentucky Republican Rand Paul and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy, had tried to block the sale, citing Saudi Arabia’s dismal human rights record and fears of an destabilizing arms race in the Middle East.
The Senate moved the deal forward Wednesday, in a 71-27 procedural vote. As International Business Times reported, General Dynamics had spent millions of dollars on campaign donations and lobbying ahead of the vote.
On Thursday, a day after the crucial vote, the company's stock closed higher than ever before: $154.86 a share.
General Dynamics did not respond to an IBT request for comment.
General Dynamics has been doing business with Saudi Arabia since the mid 1990s, but its last sale was in 2014, for just $100 million. Over the last few years, the Kingdom has begun to flex its muscles, and build out its arsenal – by Avi Asher-Shapiro
cp13b Zentralbank / Central Bank
28.9.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A E P)
Yemen nation-wide campaign To support Central Bank with cash continues To foil US-backed Saudi conspiracy to starve Yemenis East Sanaa Tue
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/781072818100375552
27.9.2016 – Gulf News (* A E P)
Yemen pays government salaries from new central bank HQ
Y emen’s government, currently based in the port city of Aden, said it began collecting tax and custom revenue from provinces and paid salaries of thousands of public servants.
The internationally recognised government has recently taken the onus of paying government salaries and servicing the country’s internal and foreign debt after moving the central bank headquarters from the Al Houthi-held Sana’a to Aden.
The move was meant to stop the rebel movement from using the facility’s reserves to finance their military effort. “We have started connecting the bank’s computer terminals with branches in other provinces. We have also started procedures of paying government salaries including those who live in Al Houthi-held areas,” Fahd Kafayen, Yemen’s Fisheries Minister, told Gulf News.
With shrinking revenue sources due to the current war against Al Houthis and their allied forces, the government predicted a big deficit in the budget and is moving to seek financial help from international donors. “The government is considering finding other sources of finance like foreign aids,” he said.
The minister said that the government would not pay public servants or military personnel who were employed after Al Houthis’ coup against president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi two years ago. “The government would cut off salaries of government employees who were added on the payroll after September 2014.” he said.
Similarly, the commander of Reserve Forces, previously known as the Republican Guard, Major General Sameer Al Haj said that only those Republican Guard soldiers who deserted the rebel-held provinces and joined the national army would receive salaries from Aden-based government. The Republican Guard forces have largely remained loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh even after he left office early 2012.
Comment: The Aden Central Bank gives up neutrality. And of course they only pay pro-Hadi military now. Now just the Hadi government is looting the funds for its own warfare. – If Houthi-held Yemen keeps the old Central bank running, then there would exist two Central Banks in the country, and Yemen splits still more. If they could not keep it, the scenario would even be worse – a financial breakdown with all its disastrous consequences in the north.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
Siehe / See cp6
28.9.2016 – Reuters (A T)
U.S. military says strikes kill four al Qaeda operatives in Yemen
The U.S. military struck two targets in Yemen in the past week, killing four operatives of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in a continuing effort to degrade and defeat the group, the military command for U.S. troops in the area said on Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that two al Qaeda operatives were killed in a strike in Marib province on Sept. 20, and another two were killed in a strike in the Baydah area on Sept. 22.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-usa-idUSKCN11Y2II
cp15 Propaganda
28.9.2016 – Saudi Press Agency (A P)
Yemeni PM reiterates thanks to Kingdom for supporting Yemen
Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obaid bin Dhugr reiterated thanks to the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for its positions towards Yemen.
In a key address while celebrating the 54th anniversary of 26 September Revolution in the provisional capital of Aden, bin Dhugr said the determination storm, launched by King Salman, has saved the region from a security catastrophe.
He called on Houthi militias and forces loyal to deposed president Ali Saleh to incline to reason and go for the national interest of the country and people, noting that it is part of the national interest and stoppage of bloodshed to concede wrongdoing and return to reason and to implement the UN Security Council resolution No. 2216, starting with handing over of weapons, withdrawal from cities and regions which they occupied to pave the way for political solutions based on the GCC initiative, its executive mechanism and outcomes of national dialogue.
He explained that urgent and crucial duties lie before the Yemeni government, citing the restoration of security and stability in the liberated regions to pave the way for restoring the State and liberate the whole country from the fist of rebels.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1543528
Comment: Praising the Saudis is one main task of the Hadi government. Grotesque propaganda anyway. “the determination storm, launched by King Salman, has saved the region from a security catastrophe”: determination storm is the aerial war; the whole sentence is so sick that a longer comment is superfluous. And not to forget, just Saudi interference created the free space in which Al Qaida could grow even faster.– “stoppage of bloodshed” – well, the quickest way is stopping war and air raids. – And again, claiming that the Houthis must capitulate and selling us this claim as a step to peace, while it only would be a step to Hadi’s victory. – And again, a failed pre-war political process never can be reanimated after all what had happened.
27.9.2016 – Spiegel Online (* A K P)
Saudi-Arabien pocht auf Einhaltung von Rüstungsverträgen
Der Jemenkrieg befeuert die Debatte über Rüstungsexporte nach Saudi-Arabien. Riads Militärsprecher Asiri beteuert, dass sich das Königreich an bestehende Vereinbarungen halte - und fordert dasselbe von Deutschland.
Ahmed al-Asiri ist eines der bekanntesten Gesichter des saudi-arabischen Militärs.
Dass sein Land deutsche Waffen im Jemen einsetzt, bestreitet Asiri im Gespräch mit SPIEGEL ONLINE. Derzeit hält er sich zu politischen Gesprächen in Berlin auf. Er hat eine klare Botschaft an die Bundesregierung: In der Debatte um Ersatzteile für eine Rüstungsfabrik in Saudi-Arabien pocht er auf Einhaltung bestehender Verträge.
Asiri. Wir konnten nicht zulassen, dass eine Miliz den Jemen destabilisiert und die Macht an sich reißt. Wir mussten verhindern, dass der Jemen ein zweites Libyen wird. Die Huthis haben Kampfjets, Raketen, Artillerie erbeutet. Wenn wir so etwas im Nahen Osten zulassen, kann dasselbe morgen in Europa passieren. Uns geht es darum, der legitimen jemenitischen Regierung und der Armee zu helfen.
Der Jemen muss ein sicheres und stabiles Land sein, und die Menschen müssen frei über ihre Regierung entscheiden können, so wie es Uno-Resolution 2216 vorsieht. Wenn wir das erreichen, werden wir der internationalen Gemeinschaft einen großen Dienst erwiesen haben.
Am Ende kann es nur eine politische Lösung geben. Dafür aber müssen wir mit militärischen Mitteln gewisse Voraussetzungen schaffen. Nur durch reden werden wir nichts erreichen.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Es gibt Zweifel an der Zielsicherheit Ihrer Luftwaffe. Sie haben mehrfach Krankenhäuser und Märkte bombardiert.
Asiri: Fehler passieren in jedem Krieg. Wir bedauern das. Aber die Milizen führen einen asymmetrischen Krieg. Sie mischen sich unter die Zivilbevölkerung und verwandeln Hospitäler und Schulen in Munitionslager und Trainingscamps. Und eine Schule, die ein Ausbildungslager ist, wird zum legitimen militärischen Ziel.
Wir liefern keine Waffen an Milizen, wir kooperieren auch nicht mit Milizen, wir arbeiten mit Regierungen zusammen. Die Waffen, die in der Fabrik von Heckler und Koch hergestellt werden, sind für unsere Armee – Von Matthias Gebauer und Christoph Sydow
Kommentar: Asiri also jetzt in Deutschland. Er kann hier seine bekannte Propaganda wiederholen. „Wir konnten nicht zulassen, dass“: wie selbstverständlich nimmt er sich das Recht heraus, dass Saudi-Arabien in die Verhältnisse im Nachbarland eingreifen darf – und das sogar mit den Mitteln, die es mit dem Luftkrieg anwendet. – „Die Huthis haben Kampfjets“: das ist Quatsch. Sie haben bislang kein einziges Kampfflugzeug zum Einsatz gebracht. – „die Menschen müssen frei über ihre Regierung entscheiden können“: Ein Witz von einem saudischen Sprecher. Wie sieht es denn mit freien Wahlen in Saudi-Arabien aus?? – „werden wir der internationalen Gemeinschaft einen großen Dienst erwiesen haben“: LOL. – „die Milizen führen einen asymmetrischen Krieg“: Klartext: Alles, was wir angreifen und alles was wir treffen, sind schon deshalb militärische Ziele. – „wird zum legitimen militärischen Ziel“: Irrtum, dieser Krieg ist ein Angriffskrieg, und in einem solchen gibt es überhaupt keine legitimen Ziele, seien sie zivil, militärisch oder sonstwas.
27.9.2016 – Saudi Press Agency (A P)
Seminar at United Nations on Humanitarian Disaster in Yemen
A seminar entitled "humanitarian disaster in Yemen" was held here today, where the Yemeni National Organization Coordinator for the Defense of Human Rights Naji Alaw spoke on the applicability of international law on armed militias and dissident armed forces, pointing out that militias commitments are no different from the commitments of states to international humanitarian.
He stressed that the coup militias in Yemen imagine the opposite of truth that it is not committed to respect international treaties and international human rights law, and therefore persist in gross and widespread human rights in Yemen violations.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1543206
Comment: A seminar “on Humanitarian Disaster in Yemen” without even mentioning the Saudi air raids and the Saudi blockade which had created the greatest part of this disaster really is just one thing: propaganda.
27.9.2016 – MENAFN (A P)
'Youth should be proud of UAE's presence in Yemen'
Emirati youth are urged to keep themselves better informed on current world issues, broaden their perspectives, and read more. This is particularly pertinent in order to respond to allegations involving the UAE's affairs, said a minister.
From Al Kaabi's perspective, the youth should be proud of UAE's participation in the Saudi-led coalition's efforts in Yemen. "Our presence is a main factor in protecting this country. They have to know that the enemy does not have to be on this land to be considered a threat. Its mere presence in a neighbouring country is enough to get our soldiers moving," Al Kaabi told Khaleej Times.
http://menafn.com/1094975717/Youth-should-be-proud-of-UAEs-presence-in-Yemen
23.9.2016 – Arab News (A P)
UN lauds KSA humanitarian efforts toward Syrian and Iraqi refugees
The UN is well aware of Saudi Arabia’s generosity in extending humanitarian assistance to Iraqi and Syrian refugees, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
Asked how he assesses the Saudi role with regard to refugees, he said every country has a role to play both in financial support and in terms of taking in refugees. “But we’re very much aware and appreciative of the financial support that the humanitarian operation has received from Saudi Arabia in the past.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/988461/saudi-arabia
Comment: To flatter the Saudis in such a way just is dishonorable for an UN official.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
29.9.2016 – Almanar (A K PH)
Saudi-led warplane carries out air strike on al-Malahit area in Saada’s al-Zaher governorate
http://english.almanar.com.lb/46627
28.9.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
28-9-2016
Targeting and bombing civilians by the warplanes of Saudi Arabia and its alliance
Casualties and damage (full list):
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=697473513736350&id=551288185021551 v
28.9.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Cities BOMBARDED: 11 civilians killed & 25 homes destroyed in #Yemen today after 90 Saudi airstrikes attack 7 Yemen regions.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/781180611432181760
28.9.2016 – Alalam (A K PH)
In new Saudi airstrikes against residential areas in Yemen on Wednesday at least four civilians have been killed and several others have been wounded.
Saudi military aircraft struck an outdoor market in the Haydan district of the northern mountainous province of Sa’ada, on Wednesday, leaving three people dead and three others injured, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.
A child was later killed when Saudi fighter jets bombarded al-Sharqabi village in the same Yemeni district.
Additionally, Saudi warplanes bombed a fuel station in the Majz district of Sa’ada. The massive explosion shook the area and caused material damage to a number of nearby buildings.
Saudi warplanes also carried out multiple air strikes against Bayhan District in the central province of Shabwah as well as Attan, Hafid and Nihm districts in the west-central province of Sana’a.
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1866610
28.9.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Aggression air raids kill, injure 5 civilians in Saada
At least two citizens were killed and three injured on Wednesday morning by Saudi aggression airstrikes on a souk in Haydan district of Saada province, a security official said.
The warplanes hit the souk two times, Killing two civilians and wounding three others in central Maran area in the district, he said.
The Saudi aggression also waged raids on areas surrounding the souk as the fighter jets continued intensely flying over the area hours.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441719.htm and film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2ovHu4A4Q = https://www.facebook.com/881240811966559/videos/1117274578363180/ and photos https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1118258711598100&id=881240811966559
and
28.9.2016 – Almshhadalyemeni (A K PH)
Five killed and wounded, including children, to target aviation aggression to a popular market in Saada province
Martyred and wounded five citizens, today Wednesday, September 28 / September 2016, after the airline Saudi American aggression targeting a popular market in Haydan district in Saada province.
The security source said the government, the airline aggression launched two raids on the popular market in central Maran District Directorate of Haydan what led to the martyrdom of three citizens , including children , and wounding two others seriously injured and damaging amounts of the citizens ' food.
http://www.almshhadalyemeni.com/14908
28.9.2016 – Tweets Sanaa in the morning (A K)
explosions now in Sanaa, #Yemen as #Saudi fighter jets start bombing the city
https://twitter.com/shapban/status/780997436638695429
airstrikes have been on all night , and now when I woke up still hearing bombs and explosions while jets hovering in sky.. morning in Yemen
https://twitter.com/IoViola21/status/781035018349080576
#Saudi jets are bombing Sanaa right now. We didn't sleep last night because of bombing and now they are back
https://twitter.com/dwipas2020/status/781035143968460800
8:07 am #Sanaa time, 2nd #Saudi Coal. strike; former took place minutes ago. Won't forget how strikes woke me up last night. Morning!
https://twitter.com/osamahfakih/status/780997971282432002
#Saudi jets are bombing Sanaa right now. We didn't sleep last night because of bombing and now they are back
https://twitter.com/dwipas2020/status/781035143968460800
Good bombing..er..morning. Yeah, Saudi airstrikes non stop since last night, it's 10:45AM & bombs everywhere!
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/781037770034778112
10:50 am #Sanaa time, more airstrikes following..
https://twitter.com/osamahfakih/status/781038490037420033
Yemen Sanaa: From window of my office now: US-backed Saudi war criminals bombing randomly2kill humans every time they fail to stop failure (photo)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/781148428235571202
28.9.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi aggression warplanes hit Sanaa province several times
Saudi aggression warplanes launched a series of air strikes on Sanaa province on Wednesday, a security official told Saba.
A total of 15 raids targeted Nehm district, three other raids on Gharasi area of Bani Hushish district and a raid on Bait Naam village of Hamdan district, the official said.
The air strikes resulted great damage to agricultural lands and residents' houses, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441721.htm
U.S. -Saudi war planes hit fuel station in Saada
U.S. -Saudi war planes launched strikes on a fuel station in Saada governorate on Wednesday, a security official told Saba.
The strikes destroyed the station in Al-Jamalh area in Majz district, as well as they caused great damage to nearby the citizens' houses and properties, the official added.
It was the latest in a series of air strikes against fuel, electricity, water stations in the province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441723.htm
Aggression hits Hamdan with four airstrikes
The Saudi-led aggression waged on Wednesday four raids on Hamdan district in Sana'a province, a local official said.
The official added the aggression targeted Dhuala'a area in the district causing huge damage to the citizens' houses and their agricultural land.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441782.htm
Saudi warplanes resume striking capital Sanaa
Saudi aggression warplanes resumed bombing the capital Sanaa early on Wednesday, an official said.
They struck al-Hafa area south of the capital four times.
The bombing devasted citizens' houses and public, private properties, said the official.
Around other four air strikes hit several parts of Sanaa, causing great damage to redidents' homes
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441700.htm
Saudi warplanes wage raids on Hamdan of Sanaa province
causing great damage to the citizens' houses and property
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441704.htm
Saudi war jets wage raids on Nehm
damaging citizens' houses and property
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441710.htm
27.–28.9.2016 – Tweets Sanaa at night (A K)
Peachy. Phone battery almost dead. More Saudi fighter jets arriving in Sana'a sky for bombing party. Now 2:05AM. Logging off.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780906292214988801
Wtf was that!? Strange boom , isnt it? It must be a British bomb, sounds like " Boooooom wzzzzzzzzzzzz weird
https://twitter.com/jaguarofYemen/status/780884365182136320
.@omeisy as the saying goes, the only way to save your home or building in Yemen from Saudi bombs is to wave the black Isis flag on ur roof
https://twitter.com/Arabellastory/status/780842782940332033
Amount of bombs being dropped now getting ridiculous. You know, if goal is genocide, single mini nuke is cheaper. Just saying. Sana'a
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780899020839485440
These are DEFINITELY new max terror bombs.They make terrifying tornado/high speed wind sound descending & in explosion aftermath!
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780897405201809408
Awfully quite for a few minutes, I was playing dead, almost worked but idiot neighbor cursing at top of his voice. Now jets are back
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780894079206948864
Really have to go to bathroom but would suck if my body recovered while hugging toilet seat. Need 5min airstrikes break, please.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780890196455911425
Relax everyone, we're completely helpless & no point panicking or embarrassing ourselves in last minutes if we're gonna die anyway.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780889650474971136
Very massive airstrikes, I was ready to sleep but suddenly I jumped over my bed.
https://twitter.com/SamADam24/status/780883192802791424
Well that was a bit "doomsday" scary! Sky lit up dark red along massive explosion of airstrike that violently shook ground for miles!
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780888724410343425
Sanaa under attack, 4 or 5 huge explosions until now Saudi warplanes looking for civilians to kill
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/780886588469473285
My three story stone house is shaking like like hell now & I'm at least several kilometers from current airstrikes. Homes there?
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780886745806147584
OMG #Sana'a under hysteric bombardment 2night , warjets still screaming terrifying sleepy children.
4 deadly explosions in #Sanaa in the last 20minutes. The #Saudi Royal family cannot sleep at night unless innocent #Yemeni people are killed
https://twitter.com/drammarali/status/780893263217758210
The #Saudi airstrikes minutes ago targeted the YEC storage warehouses at noqum mon. East of #Sanaa
https://twitter.com/SaifOliby/status/780890656512307200
Saudi jets have been flying over our heads in the capital Sanaa since almost six hours.
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/780914807205748736
more in timeline of https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/
27.9.2016 – Evening in Sanaa (A K)
Breaking: despite no sound of #Saudi jets hovering over #Sanaa, two very very huge explosions heard in the northern part of city
https://twitter.com/HishamAlRadhi/status/780823107401572352
Intense airstrikes in Sana'a now. Quick, get as far away from hospitals, schools, public buildings, homes..other usual Saudi targets.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/780823055086055424
27.9.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
27-9-2016
Targeting and bombing civilians by the warplanes of Saudi Arabia and its alliance
Casualties and damage (full list):
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=696974880452880&id=551288185021551
27.9.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Hostile warplanes hit residents’ houses, farms
The Saudi-US aggression continued on Tuesday targeting residents’ houses and properties in a number of governorates.
A military source told Saba that the aggression’s warplanes launched a sortie against a nursery belonging to the Office of Agriculture and Irrigation in Al-Anad, another one in the middle of the city and three other sorties against Al-Shuhada cemetery in Razih area in Sa’ada governorate.
The source pointed out that two farmers were injured by a sortie against a farm in Sahar district, and a car was also targeted in Baqum district in Sa’ada governorate.
The sorties also continued against locals and their properties in Sa’ada governorate, the source said.
Eight other sorties were launched against the districts of Baqum, Kitaf and Munabih in Sa’ada, it added.
The hostile warplanes also conducted three other sorties against Osailan district in Shabwa governorate and a sortie against Al-Madaribah district in Lahj governorate.
A series of sorties was launched by the Saudi-American warplanes against Nihm district in Sana’a governorate leaving behind big losses in people’s houses and properties.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441679.htm
U.S.-Saudi warplanes launche 6 raids on Serwah
targeted citizens' houses and property, as two houses were destroyed
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441599.htm
Saudi jets wage raids on Hodeida
Saudi aggression fighter jets waged on Tuesday morning three air raids against civilian targets in Hodeida city, an official said.
The raids targeted Political Security buildings in downtown the port city
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441596.htm and film targeting Political Security buildings: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/780800179398119424
Saudi war jets wage raids on Sa'ada, Jizan
Saudi aggression fighter jets waged late on Monday a series of air raids on northern provinces of Sa'ada and Jizan, a security official told Saba.
The jets also waged three strikes on al-Dukhan mountain as they targeted a gathering of Saudi soldiers by friendly fire in Malhma site in al-Khubah area of Jizan province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441578.htm and see film, damages at civilian homes in Razeh region, Saada province: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlxMTBtX-Sw
Saudi jets launch raids on Bani Matar
caused huge damage to citizens' houses and Property
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441566.htm
27.9.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
26-9-2016
Targeting and bombing civilians by the warplanes of Saudi Arabia and its alliance
Casualties and damage (full list):
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=696678633815838&id=551288185021551
27.9.2016 – Yemen Voice (A K)
Film: A wedding bombed by Saudis
https://www.facebook.com/YemenVoic/videos/1521430844537629/
Comment: Which wedding?? Also look at cp18.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
28.9.2016 – Alwaght (A K PH)
Saudi Airstrike Kills 10 Friendly Troops in Yemen
The Saudi jets sent to bombard Yemeni targets mistakenly targeted Riyadh’s army troops killing ten soldiers.
Warplanes meant to hit north Yemen, targeted the Saudi Malhamah base in the al-Khobe areas of Jizan, located 967 kilometers southwest of capital, Riyadh, al-Masirah TV reprted.
http://alwaght.com/en/News/69171/Saudi-Airstrike-Kills-10-Friendly-Troops-in-Yemen
Comment: Already reported YPR 204, now more details.
27.9.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Many mercenaries killed and injured in Taiz
Number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and injured in an artillery shelling by the army and popular forces in Taiz province, a military official said Tuesday.
The army and popular committees' forces targeted the gathering in south of Dhubab district, killing and wounding dozens
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441595.htm
Army targets gatherings of Riyadh's mercenaries in Lahj
The army and popular committees targeted gatherings of Saudi aggression mercenaries in Mothlth al-Ashash south of Khpop in Lahj province, a military official told Saba on Tuesday.
They fired Katyusha rockets against their gatherings and armored vehicles, inflecting great losses among them
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441569.htm
Army pounds Saudi site in Jizan, kills Saudi soldiers
A number of Saudi soldiers were killed on Tuesday in Abu-Ma'adh military camp in Jizan, a military official said.
The official added the army and popular committees pounded the camp with a number of Katyusha rockets.
A number of Saudi soldiers were also injured in the attack.
The shelling caused a burn of the camp and blasts in weapons cache.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news441663.htm
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
28.9.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A)
Last night heavy airstrikes on #Sanaa shook the entire city and today situation was equally devastating.
One of the people behind this page decided to go for a walk, nowithstanding the bombardments, just in the heart of the Old City to show the world both the beauty of our battered jewel and the resilience of Yemenis who, no matter what, try to continue living day after day: opening the shop, selling shoes, going to the market both to sell and buy.
And the walk started from the pidgeons and doves market: the symbol of#peace (photos9
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1121271854592510
28.9.2016 – Business Monitor International (* B E)
Yemen Infrastructure Report Q4 2016
Even with a peace deal to the civil war in sight, the security and political instability in Yemen, which has brought the economy to a virtual standstill, means it will take years for industry to recover. The precious hydrocarbons sector is in meltdown, severely affecting public income. In an environment so hostile to investment, development and operations, we expect the construction sector to remain deflated for some time, after which only volatile and muted recovery can begin. Latest Updates And Structural Trends ■ We expect a resolution to the conflict in Yemen in the coming quarters. Over the long term we highlight the absence of a financially viable Yemeni state unless substantial overseas support is forthcoming. ■ We maintain a pessimistic view of construction industry growth, with an estimate for 2015 of -22.1% and a forecast of about -6% in 2016, with only a modest base affected recovery expected from 2017-2018. We forecast a deep economic recession until 2019. • The Yemeni hydrocarbons sector is at a virtual standstill, with pipelines and refineries under frequent attacks. In 2017 we expect the country to become a net oil importer. • Significant reconstruction and the recommencement of delayed projects are a rare bright spot on the horizon, with Middle Eastern and Asian investors likely to lead the recovery.
http://www.spi-reports.com/product/462896-yemen+infrastructure+report+q4+2016.html
28.9.2016 – Finder (A E)
Here Are Ways To Send Money To Yemen Better
Send and receive money across the equator in a jiffy to Yemen, Rep.
It wasn’t always easy to send and receive money across the Equator, but people all over Australia can rest assured it can be done in current times with a quick visit to a bank or money transfer service.
Although there are limited relations between Australia and Yemen, there are several reasons why it’s important to be able send and receive money between the two.
https://www.finder.com/international-money-transfers/send-money-to-yemen
26.9.2016 – Aljazeera Centre for Studies (* B P)
Transformations of Political Islam in Yemen: Revolution to Counter-revolution
The paper reviews the emergence and process of the Islah (Reform), a Muslim brotherhood party and al-Rashad (Guidance) a Salafi party. These parties, along with other Islamists, have experienced intellectual reassessments amid growing threats targeting the geopolitical future of Yemen. The paper touches on the relation between these parties within the country’s political spectrum and its regional outskirts in the Yemeni post-revolution era.
The Houthi (Ansarullah) group will not be reviewed since it is a militia-based body founded on sectarian origins linked to several regional powers. In short, it is perceived as one of the counter-revolutionary tools in Yemen.
Opposition under control: The Yemeni Alliance for Reform is defined as a popular political organization that seeks reform in all walks of life in the light of Islam and its guiding rules. The party’s first political confrontation with deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh occurred during Yemeni presidential elections in 2006.
Ramifications and transformation: The relation between Islah and the former regime has been marked with conditional support combined with calculated opposition. The popular uprising that broke out have forced decision makers in al-Islah party to respond to their supporters’ demand for deep-rooted changes. Alternatively, al-Rashad party and the Houthi group were ideologically diverse parties, prompting the need for finding out an Islamist party that would challenge al-Islah party.
After the breakout of the current fighting in Yemen, some Saudi-led alliance countries kept opposing any role to be played by Islah party in Yemen because they had classified the party as being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood group.The Islah party is facing a major challenge posed by some regional powers for dissociating the party from the so-called the “International Muslim Brotherhood Organization”, but a number of party leaders have denied any links to the organization.
The Salafists engaged in fighting against the Houthis who were backed by Saleh militias, for defending Damaj institute which is run by the group. The Salafists were finally forced to carry arms in the absence of any central government control.
As for Salafists linked to al-Rashad party union, the group joined political activity when they were about to be annihilated by the Houthi militias after facing imminent collapse. Thus, the party opted to reconciliation and normalization of relations, both at the domestic level and with the Western countries – by Saeed Thabit Saeed
Comment: A clearly anti-Houthi and pro-Islah / pro-Salafist article. It is certainly strange to label the Houthis as “counter-revolutionary” and – as the only of the three parties mentioned here – as “sectarian” and as “militia-based”. The Houthi movement was just a political and religious movement at the time when it was founded. Its intention was the defending of Zaidism in northern Yemen. The Zaidis had been pummelled since decades by Salafists (or Wahabists, that is the same in that case) from Damaj institute which had been founded in Zaidite northern Yemen and was financed by Saudi sponsors, intending to spread Wahabism among Zaidites in Yemen. The Houthis became more and more militarised during the conflict with the central government. And Islah party also has militias – now fighting against the Houthis; these militia therefore often are labelled as pro-Hadi government, “loyalists”, “popular resistance”, what just is incorrect. – Damaj institute was founded for creating unrest in Yemen – as it really did.
27.9.2016 – AFP (A)
Brautvater wirft Granaten bei Hochzeit im Jemen
Ein Brautvater im Jemen hat der Hochzeit seiner Tochter ein tödliches Ende bereitet: Der frühere Offizier warf bei der Feier am Montag zwei Granaten in die Menge, wie ein Behördenvertreter und ein Verwandter am Dienstag mitteilten. Durch die beiden Explosionen seien acht Frauen, vier Kinder und der Angreifer selbst getötet worden.
http://www.zeit.de/news/2016-09/27/jemen-brautvater-wirft-granaten-bei-hochzeit-im-jemen-27152003
27.9.2016 – AFP (A)
'Disturbed' father of bride kills 12 at Yemen wedding
Aden. A wedding in Yemen ended in tragedy when the "mentally disturbed" father of the bride hurled two grenades, killing eight women, four children and himself, an official and relative said Tuesday.
Eighteen others, including women and children, were wounded in the incident late Monday in the town of Yarim, in western Ibb province, the official said.
A relative said the father, Hazaa Sharman, was a "mentally disturbed retired army officer."
Yemen is awash with personal weapons and carrying firearms is entrenched in the traditions of the Arabian peninsula republic.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-Disturbed--father-of-bride-kills-12-at-Yemen-wedding
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-204-yemen-war-mosaic-204
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-204: / Yemen War Mosaic 1-204:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm und / andhttp://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
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