Famine and Central Bank – NYT and Yemen – US interests – Russia and Yemen – Attacks at hospitals – Phosphorus bombs – Asiri: Propaganda – Air raids, fighting – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
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
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
cp17a Huthis versenken Schiff / Houthis sink vessel
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
4.10.2016 – Reuters (** A E H P)
Yemen central bank crisis raises new famine fears
Intensive care wards in Yemen's hospitals are filled with emaciated children hooked up to monitors and drips - victims of food shortages that could get even worse due to a reorganization of the central bank that is worrying importers.
With food ships finding it hard to get into Yemen's ports due to a virtual blockade by the Saudi-led coalition that has backed the government during an 18-month civil war, over half the country's 28 million people already do not have enough to eat, according to the United Nations.
Yemen's exiled president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, last month ordered the central bank's headquarters to be moved from the capital Sanaa, controlled by Houthi rebels in the north, to the southern port of Aden, which is held by the government. He also appointed a new governor, a member of his government who has said the bank has no money.
Trade sources involved in importing food to the Arab peninsula's poorest country say this decision will leave them financially exposed and make it harder to bring in supplies.
The effects of food shortages can already be seen. At the children's emergency unit at the Thawra hospital in the port of Hodaida, tiny patients with skin sagging over their bones writhe in beds. Hallways and waiting rooms are crowded with parents seeking help for their hungry and dying children.
In July, Reuters reported that importers were already struggling to buy food from abroad because $260 million worth of their funds were frozen in Yemeni banks, while Western banks had cut credit lines.
Since then, importers have guaranteed much of the risk of financing shipments themselves.
The decision to move the central bank, seen as the last impartial bastion of the country's financial system which has helped keep the economy afloat in wartime, is viewed as a major blow for suppliers who are mistrustful of the decision and expect even more chaos ahead. Foreign exchange is already scarce and the sources do not have confidence in the new governor.
All of this will lead to further food disruptions and more hardship for Yemenis already facing impending famine, according to the trade sources.
"We have begun to cancel our forward contracts - it's just impossible to trade when there is no financial system in place. There is no coverage from the central bank where we can trust them or know them," said one source.
"This leaves anyone bringing in cargoes completely exposed," added the source, who declined to be identified due to the worsening security situation and fear of reprisals.
A second trade source also active in Yemen confirmed the growing difficulties.
"Western banks are not willing to process payments and the whole system is freezing up. It is an ever growing struggle to do anything commercial," the second source said.
The old central bank in the capital Sanaa used Yemen's dwindling foreign exchange reserves to guarantee shipments into a country which imports 90 percent of its food.
But Hadi disliked the bank paying salaries to his foes in the army and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement opposed to his internationally recognized government.
Struggling to advance on the battlefield and keen to undermine the Houthis, Hadi dismissed the bank's governor, Mohamed Bin Humam, named Finance Minister Monasser Al Quaiti in his place and decreed the bank be moved to Aden. It was a sudden decision that aroused suspicion among traders.
"The governor Humam enjoyed the confidence of all parties since he was clearly independent and working in the best interests of Yemen. To now appoint a minister of finance of the government is a retrograde step and none of the traders have any confidence in him or in the bank in Aden," the first trade source said.
The bank's closure in Sanaa is likely to hurt ordinary people already suffering from a collapse in the economy due to the war – by Jonathan Saul, Noah Browning and Mohammed Ghobari
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-economy-widerimage-idUSKCN1241K4 and (with images) https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/risk-of-famine-looms-in-yemen and (with more images) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3821807/He-s-sick-won-t-eat-Heart-breaking-photo-starving-boy-Yemen-nurses-t-cope-huge-swathes-chronically-malnourished-children-s-going-worse.html and similar article by the Guardian,mainly relying on Reuters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/yemen-famine-feared-as-starving-children-fight-for-lives-in-hospital
Comment: There nothing has to be "feared" any more, famine is already there.
3.1o.2016 – Mondo Weiss (** A K P)
‘NYT’ finds no ‘camera-ready villain’ in Yemen (because those are our child-killers)
Sometimes the most interesting thing you can learn from reading the New York Times is not information about the world, but information about how the New York Times wants its readers to think about the world. The piece by Amanda Taub on why the war in Yemen gets so little attention is, or should be, an instant classic in the realm of Orwellian thinking. If it was a subtle piece of irony or satire, an attempt at undermining the usual New York Times attempt at molding public opinion, it was a masterpiece. But more likely this is just an illustration of how mainstream liberal journalists actually think.
The piece is titled, “Why Some Wars (Like Syria’s) Get More Attention Than Others (Like Yemen’s).” Here is the crucial section:
This is very revealing. In Yemen the Saudis are killing civilians and bombing hospitals and also creating a famine (unmentioned by Taub) which is causing children to die of malnutrition, as shown on a recent BBC documentary, and this is being done with American help. The Senate had a debate on ending the sale of weapons to the Saudis and the Senate sided with the child-killers.
There seems to be a rather obvious good vs. evil story to tell here, just as much as in Syria.
Of course what Taub means concerning Syria is that the enemies of the US, the Syrian government and ISIS, commit atrocities. She doesn’t mean that the people the US arms also commit atrocities. She doesn’t mean that our “moderate” rebels are allied with Al Qaeda. There are villains in Syria, but on all sides. Taub only sees the ones condemned by the US government.
She doesn’t see any villains at all in Yemen, because the US is on the side of the biggest child killers. Obviously, then, they can’t be villains. They kill children, but they are the right sort of people or they know the right people. The morality she has is one shared by many self-described American liberals–it has nothing to do with condemning atrocities and everything to do with condemning the politically appropriate groups.
Orwell wrote about this in detail in “Notes On Nationalism”. It’s depressing how timeless the following passage is. Change a few names and it is as compelling a description of modern journalism and punditry as it was in 1945 – by Donald Johnson
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/10/villain-because-killers/
Comment: I must confess that I myself mostly overlooked the propaganda spin of the Taub article!! (see YPR 207). Also very critical was Daniel Larison: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/why-the-war-on-yemen-is-ignored/
3.10.2016 – The American Conservative (** A K P)
No, the War on Yemen Hasn’t Advanced U.S. Interests
Mansour Almarzoqi makes a preposterous argument against the effort to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia: [… see YPR 207, cp15]
Saudi Arabia doesn’t get “credit” for a commitment to protect civilians because it has routinely bombed civilian targets with obvious disregard for the lives of noncombatants. When over a third of coalition strikes in Yemen have hit civilian targets, the Saudis and their allies don’t get “credit” for something they clearly don’t care about. Saudi humanitarian aid has been paltry and stinting, it has come with unreasonable restrictions on how it can be used, and the little that it has provided is easily outweighed by the humanitarian catastrophe that the bombing campaign and blockade have caused. The coalition has wrecked Yemen’s infrastructure, starved its people of basic necessities, and indiscriminately bombed civilian areas for a year and a half. These actions make a mockery of any claim that the coalition governments are seriously concerned about the civilian population. The Saudis are so committed to protecting civilians that they bomb schools and hospitals and take out bridges that are vitally important for delivering food to the capital. The idea that the Saudis deserve anything but scorn for their treatment of Yemen’s civilian population is a joke, and it’s regrettable that this obvious truth has to be stated after all this time.
The “strategic context” Almarzoqi refers to relies heavily on the fantasy that the coalition is combating “Iranian expansionism.” Whatever Iran may be doing elsewhere in the region, it isn’t expanding into Yemen and never was. This part of the case for the war has been a lie from the start, but it is one that supporters of the war hope will distract Americans from what the Saudis and their allies are doing. It simply isn’t true that the war is being fought to prevent an Iranian takeover of the country, and no one should take seriously any argument that includes this claim. This is the excuse that the war’s supporters use to divert attention from the folly and recklessness of the intervention. Meanwhile, the war has strengthened Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). That by itself puts the lie to the claim that the war on Yemen advances U.S. interests. Insofar as AQAP poses a threat to the U.S. and our allies, the war has directly harmed our interests.
It is doubtful that the strength of Yemen’s government could ever be “fundamental” to U.S. national security. That’s a wild and absurd exaggeration of the importance of Yemen’s internal political arrangements to our security. However, if having “a strong central government and a stable as well as a functioning state structure” are so important to the U.S., there is no question that the Saudi-led war on Yemen has badly and perhaps fatally undermined both.
If creating a stable and functioning state was ever the goal of the Saudi-led coalition (and I rather doubt that it was), the coalition has completely failed at a terrible cost to the people of Yemen. It is obvious that no American interests have been served by supporting this war, and it’s amazing that this still has to be said after a year and a half of senseless and unnecessary war – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/no-the-war-on-yemen-hasnt-advanced-u-s-interests/
3.10.2016 – Huffington Post (** B P)
Why Putin is Keeping a Close Eye on Yemen
Even though Russian policymakers have carefully kept Moscow-Riyadh hostilities in check since the start of the Yemen civil war, the Russian state media has consistently depicted Saudi Arabia as a unilateral aggressor in the conflict.
The Russian state media has covered Saudi Arabia’s massacres of civilians in Yemen much more extensively than leading American and British news stations. By drawing attention to the women and children who have been displaced by Saudi air raids, the Russian state media has aggressively countered Riyadh’s argument that Saudi airstrikes are beneficial for Yemen’s long-term political stability. To highlight the double standards inherent in US and European foreign policies, Russian news networks have also scrutinized Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Pro-Kremlin commentators have used these arms sales as proof of the complicity of Western policymakers in Saudi war crimes in Yemen.
The Russian state media’s information war with Saudi Arabia and the United States over Yemen furthers Russia’s strategic interests in two main ways. First, by depicting Saudi Arabia as a savage aggressor in Yemen, the Russian government has strengthened its covert efforts to rally international support around the Houthis’ cause. Greater international solidarity with the Houthis could eventually help counter the impact of Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The unwillingness of Western powers to chastise Saudi Arabia for its war crimes in Yemen has caused Moscow to sharpen its focus on the plight of Yemen’s Houthi forces.
Second, the Russian state media has promoted Iran’s narrative of the Yemen war to demonstrate that the Moscow-Tehran alliance can thrive outside the context of Syria.
Even though Yemen’s Houthi government took power through a political revolution on September 21, 2014, Russian policymakers have tacitly concurred that allowing the Houthis to remain in power is the best outcome for Yemen’s future political stability. This swift acceptance of a revolutionary government differs markedly from Moscow’s resolute support for authoritarian incumbents like Gaddafi’s Libya and Assad’s Syria during the Arab Spring. But Putin’s overall preference for stable authoritarianism in Yemen aligns closely with Russia’s broader Middle East strategy.
As stability is Russia’s overarching goal in Yemen, Moscow’s long-term loyalty to the Houthis is not assured.
To avoid alienating large portions of Yemen’s increasingly sectarian society, the Russian government has called for nationwide peace negotiations involving all factions in the civil war – by Samuel Ramani
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-ramani/why-putin-is-keeping-a-cl_b_12184874.html
3.10.2016 – Doctors Without Borders (** B K)
One year after Kunduz: Battlefields without doctors, in wars without limits
Today, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is remembering one of the darkest moments in its history. On 3 October 2015, U.S. airstrikes killed 42 people and destroyed the MSF trauma hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. As we grieve the loss of our colleagues and patients, we are left with the question: is it still possible to safely provide medical care on the frontline? In the past year, there have been a further 77 attacks on medical facilities run and supported by MSF in Syria andYemen. Hospitals are being continually dragged onto the battlefield, and patients and their doctors and nurses are sacrificed in the process.
We cannot accept that we might be targeted for treating the wounded enemy. We will take our message to those with the fire-power in all of the places where we work. We will continue to demand of the most powerful and their allies that they turn their rhetoric into reality. And we will denounce those who seek to erode the laws of war.
A war without limits leads to a battlefield without doctors. We will not sit silently by and let this happen – By Christopher Stokes, MSF General Director
http://www.msf.org/en/article/one-year-after-kunduz-battlefields-without-doctors-wars-without-limits
Comment by Judith Brown: The double standards oh USA - and U.K. they pass a security council resolution in May forbidding attacks on hospitals. When Saudi Arabia destroys hospital after hospital the world is silent. But when a hospital is destroyed in Aleppo it is called a war crime - which it is. But in the case of Yemen more weapons are sold to the perpetrators of the destruction of hospitals. What two faced cowards they are not able to stand up to the might of the companies who make these disgusting weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768036063641
30.9.2016 – Salon (** A K)
America’s deadly gift: U.S. gave Saudi Arabia skin-burning white phosphorus. Questions remain about how it’s being used in Yemen
The Washington Post reported last week that a Saudi-led coalition that has waged war in Yemen for 18 months appears to be using a dangerous chemical called white phosphorus, supplied by the United States. A U.S. government official confirmed to the Post that a photo shared on social media appears to show U.S.-made white phosphorus, but did not trace it to a particular sale.
Mark Hiznay, associate arms director at Human Rights Watch, told Salon that the projectiles in the social-media photos in the Washington Post story “are indeed WP,” using a common abbreviation for white phosphorous.
“What is not known is where these munitions are being fired into, and whether they they are impacting in areas with concentrations of civilians,” Hiznay said via email.
“It’s also unclear if the Saudis are using the WP as an obscurant in a smoke screen, for marking or signaling, or for antipersonnel/anti-materiel effect,” he added.
Hiznay said Human Rights Watch is “trying to locate and document areas in Yemen attacked with WP, but it’s not easy to do remotely.”
Human Rights Watch could not find public records detailing the types and quantities of white phosphorus munitions transferred to Saudi Arabia by the U.S. or the dates they were transferred.
“We are concerned about WP being used to target combatants or destroy equipment that are commingled with civilians or civilian objects,” Hiznay said. “International humanitarian law is weak in this area and we are calling on states party to the Incendiary Weapons Protocol to strengthen existing rules when they meet in Geneva in December.”
Rights advocates are concerned that U.S.-supplied white phosphorus could be used in a similar way. When used as a weapon, white phosphorus is nothing short of hellish.
The American Chemical Society has noted in a scientific article that “common fire-fighting agents unfortunately cannot be used to extinguish burning phosphorus because this substance tends to reignite quickly whenever it gains access to the air — for example, upon evaporation of water which has been used for quenching.”
And the military news website GlobalSecurity.org has warned, “These weapons are particularly nasty because white phosphorus continues to burn until it disappears. If service members are hit by pieces of white phosphorus, it could burn right down to the bone.” – by Ben Norton
cp2 Allgemein / General
4.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K P)
Yemen's military operations are purely defensive acts: spokesman
Yemen's army spokesman Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman said that every military operations carried out by the army and popular committees' forces in confrontation against U.S.-Saudi aggression and their allies were purely defensive acts.
In a statement to Saba on Monday evening, Luqman said that that "the army and popular forces are committed to the highest morals, values and principles in their military confrontation that are neither targeted civilians or civilian targets nor international navigation."
"Reports about that UAE warship was a civilian ship were baseless and just lies circulated by the pro-aggression media," Luqman said.
He said that "the Yemeni naval forces had not carried out the attacks against the warship on Saturday, Oct. 1, until it had been closely watched, inspected and made sure that the warship was among the Saudi-led aggression military coalition off the Yemeni coasts."
"Furthermore, the UAE defense ministry said in a statement on its website that the attacked warship is belonging to the UAE army forces," Luqman added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442406.htm
Comment: Yemen, here: The Houthi / Saleh part of Yemen.
3.10.2016 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Yemen war to continue with US arms sales to Saudi: Activist
Hussain al-Bukhaiti criticized USSecretary of State John Kerry’s latest initiative to resolve the crisis in Yemen whichdemanded that the Houthi Ansarullah movement lay down arms and hand over their weapons to a third party.
He said Kerry only insisted on stopping missile attacks on Saudi borders, adding that he did not mention anything of the blockade in the country and the “suffering” of the Yemeni people.
The United Nations is controlled by the United States and Britain and therefore it is biased and all its condemnations have been against Yemenis’ operations inside Saudi Arabia, he added.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/10/03/487478/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US-weapons-sales-Houthis-missiles-UN and film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qztdj22VzgM
3.10.2016 – The National UAE (* A P)
A divided Yemen would be a poison pill for the Houthis
On Sunday, the Houthi rebels announced a "national salvation" government based in the capital Sanaa, a direct rival to the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi. The country, for so long at war, is now a giant step closer to splitting.
Secession, long a dream of the south of the country, may now have acquired an unstoppable momentum – but, crucially, it may be the north that leaves first.
In the past, I have argued that southerners would regret a divorce from the north. That, admittedly, was before the Houthi-led takeover of the capital, with the result that the Houthis and allies of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh began raining missiles on cities in the south.
Yet the reasons why secession would be difficult for the South remain. The most notable reason is that the Southern Movement, or Hirak, is divided on what precisely should come after. And that is without taking into consideration the many provinces across the south and the power struggles within them.
Nor is there an established leadership in Aden, nor even a clear way of dividing the national army, meaning that any new leadership in Aden would have difficulty imposing its will across the rest of the south. Yet, as with so many big political upheavals, the country may yet sleepwalk into it.
But if a split Yemen would be bad for the south, it would also be bad for the north. With the Arab coalition unable to dislodge the Houthis from Sanaa, and the Houthis unable to make inroads elsewhere in the country, a stalemate is opening up.
A split Yemen would not be the dream Mr Saleh, Iran or the Houthis believe. By the time they discover that, however, it would already be a living nightmare for most of Yemen – by Faisal Al Yafai
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/a-divided-yemen-would-be-a-poison-pill-for-the-houthis
Comment: This article from an Emirati website contains serious ideas, but of course, the Iranian story and anti-Houthi propaganda cannot totally be omitted. – certainly, a split will be dangerous for Yemen, but of course not only for the Houthis and the Saleh affiliates. And, that are both sides who are splitting the country: Just think of the Central Bank.
3.10.2016 – Mehr (* B P)
The devil’s advocates in region
[Overview: saudi Arabia influencing public opinion and foreign politics related to the Middle east worldwide] – by Lachin Rezaian
http://en.mehrnews.com/news/120140/The-devil-s-advocates-in-region
Comment: Iranian viewpoint, nevertheless mostly fitting – Iran itself of course is described as positive only. Nevertheless, worth a read.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
4.10.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A H)
To show or not to show. We constantly circulate pictures of suffering, struggling, dying children. We break into their pain and the pain of their families. And nothing changes. These very children are under airstrikes, hungry, sick.
#Yemen is dying. And nobody seems to care (photo)
4.10.2016 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (* A H)
Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund (HPF): Strategy Paper - Second Standard Allocation (September 2016)
Comment: Overview over humanitarian situation in Yemen.
4.10.2016 – ORF (*A H)
Film: Jemen – Der vergessene Krieg
Es ist ein vergessener Krieg, der im Jemen wütet - dabei ist nach fast zwei Jahren Krieg die Situation dort so schlimm wie kaum in einem anderen Teil der Welt.
http://tvthek.orf.at/topic/Ausland/8222798/heute-mittag/13844616/Jemen-der-vergessene-Krieg/13844865
4.10.2016 – World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Map: Yemen - Emergency Livelihood (Agriculture Livelihood) Assistance: Total number of Beneficiaries Targeted/Reached by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster Partners - August 2016
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/yemen_fsac_emergencyliveli_gap_aug2016.pdf = http://fscluster.org/sites/default/files/documents/yemen_fsac_emergencyliveli_gap_aug2016.pdf
4.10.2016 – UN Children's Fund (* A H)
UNICEF Calls for Safety of Schools in Yemen as the New School Year Opens
As schools open this week in Yemen, UNICEF urges all parties to the conflict to protect schools.
Since the conflict escalated more than 18 months ago, attacks on school children, teachers and education infrastructure had a devastating impact on the country’s education system – and on the chances of millions of children to access learning.
“Children were killed on their way to school or while at school”, said UNICEF Yemen Representative, Julien Harneis. “Parties to the conflict should keep children and schools out of harm to give education a chance”, he added.
Due to violence and the closure of schools, more than 350,000 children were unable to resume their education in the past school year, bringing the total of out-of-school children in Yemen to over 2 million. “Children who are out of school are at risk of recruitment to fight”, said Mr. Harneis.
Since the conflict escalated in March 2015, the United Nations has verified that 1,210 children, some as young as eight years old were recruited to fight.
UNICEF estimates that 2,108 schools across the country can no longer be used. They were destroyed or damaged, host internally displaced families or being used for military purposes.
UNICEF is supporting the Back-to-School campaign to provide children with a learning opportunity. This includes the renovation of nearly 700 damaged schools and provision of school furniture, stationery and school bags. Teachers are receiving training on psychosocial support to help students cope with the horrors of the conflict.
“Where schools have been damaged, we are renovating and providing tents to serve as temporary classrooms so that children can learn”, Mr. Harneis said.
In the past year and a half, UNICEF has reached over 575,000 school children with education material and psychosocial support and has worked with partners to support over 600,000 students in grade 9 and 12 to take their exams.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-calls-safety-schools-yemen-new-school-year-opens-enar
4.10.2016 – UN Children's Fund (* B H)
In Yemen, a mother’s determination keeps her children in school
In Yemen, approximately 2 million children are currently out of school, due in large part to the ongoing conflict in the country. Hear how one mother’s perseverance has kept her sons enrolled in classes.
Meet Um Osama, a fighter in Yemen but with a different kind of cause. Armed with nothing but hope for a brighter and safer future for her children, the mother of two is determined that her children continue their education in spite of the ongoing fighting.
Um Osama is not alone in this fight – hundreds of thousands of parents are worried about their children’s education. UNICEF estimates that presently at least 350,000 children are unable to go to schools across Yemen, either because the schools have been damaged by the fighting, are occupied by fighters, or are doubling as shelters for the millions who have been displaced. This is in addition to more than 1.6 million children who were already out of school during the 2015–2016 school year.
Ahmad Al Tashi, UNICEF’s Construction Engineer, is responsible for the repair of damaged schools in Sana’a and in the adjoining governorates. “UNICEF has so far assessed that there are at least 174 schools across the city that need either minor, or like in this case, major repairs,” he says. “We are working with the education department so that repairs can be done before children come back to school.” – by Rajat Madhok
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/yemen_92852.html?utm_source=unicef_news&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_link = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-mother-s-determination-keeps-her-children-school
3.10.2016 – Mail&Guardian (* B H)
My six months in Taiz, Yemen: “I did more than treat the wounded. I taught the eager”
Nurse Adeline Oliver, an operating theatre (OT) nurse from Johannesburg, recently spent six months there on assignment with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), recruiting and training nurses to work and save lives in the busy operating theatre.
“Because of the conflict, [the nurses] didn’t have work experience and certainly not much OT experience,” says Adeline. “I had to pretty much start from scratch. I had to train them, and the situation was intense, so they had to learn quickly.”
Training young nurses in such an emergency situation would have deterred many, but for Adeline it was a blessing; an opportunity to impart her knowledge and skills from 32 years of work in national and international hospitals.
“It was beautiful to watch. I was able to remove myself and watch them function as a professional team.”
Set up in 2015 at the beginning of the war in Yemen, the hospital aims to provide basic medical care. Many patients trek through the hills of Taiz for hours just to get there, but they don’t have another option when they need medical attention.
“Our role is to provide basic medical care to those who don’t have any,” Adeline says recalling an infant who developed an abscess that engulfed his body and hampered his mobility.
Despite the challenges of working in a harsh environment, Adeline feels there is much to learn from the people of Taiz.
3.10.2016 – Living in yemen on the Edge (A H)
Apocalypse now. #Yemen. famine, pain in #Tihama region. photos via Hussam Almolaiki @hussam25173474
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1125427074176988
3.10.2016 – Judith Brown (A H)
This is Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154767679593641
3.10.2016 – Doctors Without Borders (*A H)
Saber is one year old. His mother hospitalized him to Al Salam Hospital in Khamer, Amran. He is admitted now at the malnutrition department in the hospital. His mother says: “We live in Al-Osaimat in Amran governorate. The road is not paved and no cars go in that road so we had to go out early in the morning to be able to arrive to the hospital in a good time. we walked for an hour to reach the main road of Al-Qafla area and found a car. Then it took us another two hours to reach the hospital. When my baby got sick the first time, we were not able to hospitalize him as we did not have money for the transportation to go to the hospital. When we saw that it's getting worse for him, my husband had to borrow some money so we save our baby’s life.
Dr. Najwa Al Najar who is working in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at MSF run Al-Salam Hospital” many people don’t have enough money to hospitalize a member of their family when they are sick. As it takes them longer time to arrive to the hospital, they develop complications before arriving to the hospital. Sometimes, the patient passes away.” (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/MSF.Yemen/posts/1093191234122497
3.10.2016 – Press TV Iran (B P)
Yemen, Saudi Arabia expected to start real peace talks: Analyst
The formation of a new government in Yemen is expected to be a proper move to uphold the Yemenis’ stance in bargaining for peace with militants loyal to resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Veterans Today's senior editor Gordon Duff told Press TV’s 'Top 5.'
Ruling out a “false narrative” that claims the Saudi war on Yemen derives from a longtime “animosity” between Riyadh and Tehran, he argued that Saudi Arabia and Iran are going to redress their relationship.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/03/487419/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Peace-Talks-Duff
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
3.10.2016 – Yemen Update (A P)
At least a dozen of journalists are still held captive by Houthis for over a year. None of their family members can visit or defend.
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/782698631749074945
Comment by Judith Brown: Most of these are held by the Houthis, some are also reported to be held by Al Qaeda.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768965643641
3.10.2016 – Saba Net (A P)
Revolutionary leader speaks to the nation
Revolutionary leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi delivered a televised speech to the nation late on Sunday on the occasion of new year of Islamic lunar calendar.
In his speech, the leader reaffirmed the country's steadfastness to confront all challenges imposed by the aggression countries, urging the people and officials to take their responsibilities seriously to rebuild the country.
"The Supreme Political Council and the state institutions are responsible to ensure developments in the economic sector," the leader said.
He said "the Missile Force was a typical model in developing themselves and their rocketry science despite all the difficulties and that everyone must follow their foothold."
Also in the speech, the leader of the revolution criticized supporters of the aggression in the south, saying "the money which those give you is a little compared to what they want from the wealth stored in you land."
"Emiratis today are in control of all vital installations in the south and southerners have become powerless against the armed invaders," the leader said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442267.htm
3.10.2016 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Film: Yemenis appoint former Aden governor to form government
Yemeni media say Abdulaziz bin Habtoor was tasked to form a national salvation government in the capital Sana’a. Back in July, the Ansarullah movement and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh announced the creation of the High Political Council as a governing body to run the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x0XVilAMnc
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
4.10.2016 – Shapban (A P)
southern separatists in #Yemen & their latest fads (photos)
https://twitter.com/shapban/status/783325997429059584
4.10.2016 – Shapban (A P)
100s protest in Aden, south #Yemen for not receiving their monthly pay (photos)
https://twitter.com/shapban/status/783326194305536000 and https://twitter.com/ALyemenNow/status/783293451551006720 and https://twitter.com/Z3tet/status/783300187695509505
3.10.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A T)
Al Mukalla Avoids Huge Disaster after Experts Defuse Half Ton of Explosives
The bomb disposal unit in Al Mukalla, south Yemen, defused eight explosive barrels, each weighing 65 kilograms and containing more than 520 kilograms of TNT explosives and C4.
The barrels were planted by al-Qaeda inside the wrecks of an old sunk ship six meters deep in the Arabian Sea. They were connected via wires, made especially for the purpose of bombing.
“If the terrorist members blew up these barrels, houses would have been totally destroyed as well as the fishing boats in the nearby port and the commercial ones not to mention the harm on fisheries and the coral reefs,” said Brigadier General Abu Salih al Yafei.
He described the operation as successful given that the unit specialized in disposing mines began defusing the explosives immediately after being notified. According to the brigadier general, the unit disposed each barrel separately before moving them to the sea, away from the city and the fishing boats.
Another military source in the Saudi Arabian Coalition stated that investigations with al-Qaeda members who were arrested and others who surrendered helped uncover the plot – by Ahmad al-Juaidi
Comment by Judith Brown: According to Saudi Arabia - Al Qaeda left bombs in boats after they left a Mukalla. I wonder.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768025158641
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
4.10.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Yemen's Houthis voice conditions for possible peace talks
Yemen's Houthis toughened demands for the resumption of talks to end the 19-month-old civil war, saying President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi must go and an agreement must be reached on the presidency.
The comments from the Iran-aligned forces are likely to complicate United Nations efforts to bring the parties back to talks based on proposals made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in August.
"Any talks or negotiations by Yemeni delegates must be on the condition that the United Nations offers a written and comprehensive peace plan," delegates from the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a statement on Saba news agency.
"If the proposal does not include an agreement on the new presidential institution, then it [the UN peace plan] becomes merely a partial and incomplete vision, which cannot be a foundation for discussion," the statement said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN1241RN
and
4.10.2016 – Almanar (A P)
Yemen National Delegation: Any Solution to Crisis Should Be Inclusive
Yemeni national delegation to peace talks denounced the silence of the international community regarding the escalation by the Saudi-led aggression on the Arab impoverished country.
In a statement, the national delegation, which is still in Muscat, denounced the escalation of the attacks against the Yemeni people, slamming the stance of the international community especially the United Nations.
“This escalation puts new obstacles against the negotiation path, as it proves the unseriousness of the aggression states to ensure peace,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the delegation, which includes representatives of Ansarullah revolutionary group and General People’s Congress party (GPC), stressed that any solution to the crisis should be inclusive.
“New talks should be based on plans brokered by the UN and officially handed. These plans should include all the political, economic, security and humanitarian aspects, on top of which are the ceasefire, lifting the blockade on Yemen and agreeing upon a new presidential institution,” the statement added.
Consequently, any plan that excludes such points is incomplete and can’t be constructive, the national delegation warned.
http://english.almanar.com.lb/52710
3.10.2016 – AFP (A P)
´Devastating´ to see Yemen malnourished children: UN
UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen O´Brien on Tuesday described as "absolutely devastating" the sight of Yemeni children suffering malnutrition as a result of the country´s 18-month conflict.
Speaking to reporters in rebel-held Sanaa as he concluded a two-day visit, O´Brien said he had visited a hospital in the Red Sea city of Hodeida where he met "very small children affected by malnutrition".
"It is of course absolutely devastating when you see such terrible malnutrition," he said, hailing the efforts of relief agencies trying to meet the "very severe needs" for food in the country.
"We need to do more. We need to do everything we can to meet the very large scale of needs which are here in Yemen," he said, in his first visit since August last year.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/154837-Devastating-to-see-Yemen-malnourished-children-UN
Comment: Devastating for an hour or so. Then things are forgotten, #Saudis' criminal siege and airstrikes continue to devastate #Yemen and press releases are issued, randomly, saying 'devastating'
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1126392440747118
3.10.2016 – UNOCHA (A H P)
UNReliefChief at Al-Thawra hospital #AlHudaydah. Hospitals are worst affected by conflict. We need to do something urgently now. #Yemen (photos)
https://twitter.com/ochayemen/status/782973434447949824
At Hudaydah port #Yemen. All parties to the conflict must ensure this lifeline to people is urgently rehabilitated
https://twitter.com/UNReliefChief/status/782865831306854400 #UNReliefChief listens to the concerns of people in Al Honood area, #AlHudaydah, damaged by airstrikes #Yemen
https://twitter.com/OCHAYemen/status/782974945479495680
Comment: For a great part, this starvation is UNs fault, UNsC resolution 2216 backing Saudi blockade, and also Saudi bombing. Well, what to do, Mr. O’Brien???
3.10.2016 – Middle East Monitor (A P)
‘Oman to host Yemen peace talks’
Omani newspaper Rai Al Youm revealed yesterday that the Gulf state is to host peace talks between warring Yemeni factions in the hope of ending the ongoing war affect its neighbour.
A source revealed that Sultan Qaboos was ready to receive the warring Yemeni parties, along with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed and a Saudi delegation supposedly led by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to work on a peace agreement.
Both sources from the government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi rebels have denied the paper’s claims.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161003-oman-to-host-yemen-peace-talks/
but
3.10.2016 – fars News (A P)
Former Presidential Advisor: No Agreement Achieved in Oman on Yemen
A media adviser of former Yemeni president rejected media reports on an agreement between the Saudi side and Ansarullah movement to put an end to war in Yemen.
"No agreement has been signed in Muscat for ending the war in Yemen," Taha Mustafa wrote on his Twitter page.
He reiterated that the Saudi, Kuwaiti, UAE and Ansarullah have not reached a deal in the Omani capital.
Mustafa's rejection came after the Arabic-language Rai al-Youm quoted news sources in the Persian Gulf countries as saying that the warring sides had reached an agreement in Muscat.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712001128
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
4.10.2016 – Raialyoum (A P)
#Saudi King tells royals in the Kingdom: stop your financial & sexual scandals in the West. We cannot defend u
http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=534149
3.10.2016 – Deutschlandfunk (* A P)
Die größte Gefahr geht von Saudi-Arabien aus
Bundeswirtschaftsminister Gabriel (SPD) reist heute in den Iran. Das Land sei sicher ein schwieriger Partner, aber auch einer mit „Überlebensinteresse an der Niederringung des IS“, sagte der Islamwissenschaftler Wilfried Buchta im DLF. Und warnte mit Blick auf die Lage in der Region: Die Gefahr, die von Saudi-Arabien ausgehe, werde unterschätzt.
Wilfried Buchta im Gespräch mit Kathrin Hondl
Hondl: …. Ist der Iran, um jetzt auch wieder zu Gabriels Reise zurückzukommen, das Verhältnis des Westens zum Iran der Dreh- und Angelpunkt der künftigen Entwicklung?
Buchta: Das würde ich nicht ganz so unterschreiben. Ich sehe die Gefahr, die zum Beispiel aus Saudi-Arabien kommt, als eine viel bedrohlichere an. Wir unterschätzen die Möglichkeiten, die Saudi-Arabien hat, durch den massiven Export ihrer wahhabistischen Spielart des Islam. Dieser Einfluss reicht bis nach Indonesien, bis auf die Bahamas, zu allen möglichen muslimischen Auslandsgemeinschaften überall in der Welt, in Europa, in Afrika, in Asien.
Hondl: Saudi-Arabien ist ausgerechnet der Hauptverbündete des Westens im Kampf gegen den Islamischen Staat.
Buchta: Ja! Und da sehe ich eine Einseitigkeit der Blickrichtung. Natürlich ist das iranische Revolutionsregime ein schwieriger Partner des Westens zur Eindämmung des IS, aber ein Partner, der ein Überlebensinteresse an der Niederringung des IS hat. Denn der IS hat eine strikt anti-schiitische Ausrichtung und er möchte, falls es ihm gelingt, möglichst alle Schiiten der Welt konvertieren mit Zwang, oder töten. Saudi-Arabien hingegen ist eben auch ein Schiiten-Feind, aber Saudi-Arabiens Ideologie ist zu 98 Prozent identisch mit der Ideologie des IS. Was den IS von der saudischen wahhabitischen Ideologie unterscheidet, ist die Befürwortung der Monarchie. Die Wahhabiten in Saudi-Arabien halten an diesem alten Pakt zwischen wahhabitischem Staatsklerus auf der einen Seite und dem saudischen Königshaus fest und legitimieren die Monarchie in Saudi-Arabien. Und der IS hat sein eigenes ideologisches Konzept, nämlich das des Kalifats. Beide Konzepte sind unvereinbar, aber ansonsten ist die Ideologie, das heißt eine Ideologie, die auf Ausgrenzung nichtmuslimischer Minderheiten zielt und auf Abgrenzung gegenüber dem Westen, die gleiche.
http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/konflikte-in-der-islamischen-welt-die-groesste-gefahr-geht.694.de.html
3.10.2016 – The Independent (A)
Saudi princess leaves Paris after ‘ordering bodyguard to kill painter and decorator’
Princess Hassa has reportedly claimed diplomatic immunity over her involvement in the case
A Saudi princess has reportedly left Paris while claiming diplomatic immunity after she allegedly ordered her bodyguard to kill a painter and decorator who was working for her in the French capital.
Princess Hassa, 42, the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, allegedly told her bodyguard to “kill this dog,” claiming “he doesn’t deserve to live,” after the painter and decorator carrying out work in her Paris apartment in the 16th arrondissement was caught taking photographs.
The bodyguard is alleged to have hit the 53-year-old painter over the head following the command before tying the man up by the wrists and assaulting him for four hours, The Local reported. He was then allegedly made to kiss the princess’s feet before being ejected from the building and told never to return – by Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Comment by Judith Brown: Well well well. The Saudi royals think 'off with his head' can apply in France. And even in France they get away with it.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154769136523641
29.9.2016 – Al Bab (* A H)
Labouring in vain: the Gulf's unpaid workers
Stories abound of workers being unpaid for months – and sometimes never getting what they are owed.
This is a long-running problem in the Gulf but the economic downturn caused by low oil prices has made it a lot worse. When companies run short of cash their workers are among the first to suffer.
The most prominent example is Saudi Arabia where tens of thousands employed by the kingdom's two largest construction firms have been hit. But over the last few months Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE have also witnessed complaints – and sometimes illegal demonstrations – by workers who have not been paid. In Kuwait, according to a government official, all recent strikes have been caused by non-payment of salaries.
Athough Gulf regimes acknowledge the problem their current legal and administrative systems are inadequate for dealing with it and workers who have the misfortune to find themselves without pay can end up being treated as law-breakers rather than victims.
Media reports from other Gulf states show a similar pattern to Saudi Arabia, but perhaps on a smaller scale. The examples below, though, give only a part of the picture: they are cases that happen to have been reported in the media. Others go unreported, often because workers are nervous about making a fuss – by Brian Whitaker
http://al-bab.com/blog/2016/09/labouring-vain-gulfs-unpaid-workers
cp9 USA
Siehe cp1 / See cp1
3.10.2016 – The Hill (* A P)
Saudi Arabia hires 10th lobby firm
The government of Saudi Arabia is now employing 10 lobbying firms in Washington as it grapples with a new law that would allow families of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue the country.
The Saudis have hired King & Spalding to provide “advocacy and legal services” related to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, according to a contract filed with the Justice Department. It’s the fifth firm to be hired by the country in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia hired four other firms at the end of September, right before the White House issued its veto. Heavyweights Squire Patton Boggs, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Glover Park Group, along with Sphere Consulting, were added to the payroll.
A review of disclosures by The Hill shows that Saudi Arabia is now paying upward of $1.3 million in lobbying fees per month — including payments to its other firms, Hogan Lovells, MSLGroup, DLA Piper, Podesta Group and BGR Group. Targeted Victory, a Republican ad firm, is working through a subcontract with MSLGroup – by Megan R. Wilson
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/lobbying-hires/298975-saudi-arabia-hires-tenth-lobby-firm
Comment: 1.3 million a month – how cheap, compared to other costs, such lobby prostitutes are!! That’s just the cost of 9 minutes 20 seconds Saudi aerial war against Yemen, 24 hours every day around the clock, since more than 560 days now.
3.10.2016 – Wallstreet Journal (* A P)
U.S. Terror Victims Law Unlikely to Cause Swift Saudi Investment Exit
Legislation that will allow the families and victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia has raised concerns that the kingdom will cut back its exposure to the U.S., but a sudden change in its investment strategy toward the world’s biggest economy is unlikely, analysts say.
With relations between the two allies under increasing strain, Saudi Arabia could chose to sell or shift its assets in the U.S. and re-evaluate its longstanding currency peg to the dollar to free it from following U.S. monetary policy moves.
But there are significant risks in doing so, as that would impact the value of Saudi Arabia’s own investments and substantially increase the risks associated with currency volatility such as imported inflation.
“It’s [the law] still at an early stage and in our view there appears to be no immediate risk,” Mr. Iqbal said.
But the uncertainty could raise the cost of borrowing for Saudi Arabia if lenders are concerned about U.S. courts making an award against the Saudi government, analysts say – by Nikhil Lohade
3.10.2016 – Washington Post (* A P)
Civilian casualties in Yemen bring charges of U.S. responsibility for Saudi actions
Reservations are growing within the Obama administration about American military involvement in Saudi Arabia’s air campaign in Yemen, as some lawmakers and human rights groups charge the United States with responsibility for Saudi attacks that have killed many civilians.
While both sides have been blamed for violence against civilians, the Obama administration now faces increasing pressure to reconsider its military support for a campaign that was supposed to be a short operation focused on defending the Saudi border, but has evolved into an open-ended, offensive war.
“It’s that offensive warfare that raises a lot of questions in policymakers’ minds,” said a senior State Department official
Despite repeated strikes on schools and hospitals, officials see little choice for now but continued support,given the intense desire to shore up a bilateral relationship rocked by President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and new legislation linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
The Yemen campaign illustrates the sometimes uncomfortable collision of American interests in the Middle East and their consequences — in this case, a perception of U.S. indifference to lost lives. Some officials also say the campaign sets a worrisome precedent in which the U.S. military is actively enabling an operation into which it has limited visibility and even less control.
“When we see civilian casualties, it puts us in an extremely awkward position, because Saudi Arabia is a close ally,” another U.S. official said.
U.S. officials say the extent of American support has been more limited than commonly thought.
U.S. officials say that “errors of capability or competence, not of malice” are behind repeated Saudi strikes on civilian targets – by Missy Ryan
Comment: The last two sentences cited here: LOL. Self-whitewashing. Furnishing arms, political support (for instance UNSC res. 2216; blocking all consequences); refueling fighting jets; targeting logistics; just now: navy at the Yemeni coast: that is “limited” support????
Comment by Judith Brown: Well of course they say they have made mistakes not acted with malice. So if they make so many mistakes, why sell them weapons?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768972228641
and Daniel Larison refers to this WP article:
4.10.2016 – The American Conservative (** A P)
The Obama Administration’s Pathetic Excuse for Supporting the War on Yemen
If we have learned anything from the last year and a half, it is that automatic support for whatever client states choose to do is as destructive as it is mindless. The U.S. has no formal obligations to help defend Saudi Arabia, and it certainly isn’t obliged to assist them or any other Gulf state conduct a war against one of their neighbors. Deciding to back the Saudis on this should have been anything but a foregone conclusion, especially when our government had no clear idea of what they were hoping to achieve. U.S. support for the war also shows us how irresponsible it is to think of these client states as “allies” that we have to help. Who could honestly believe that helping a gang of wealthy despotic governments pummel their poorer neighbor was the “right thing to do”?
Earlier in the article, there is a reference to the “intense desire” that people in the administration have to shore up the relationship with the Saudis, but none of the officials quoted in the story can say why that relationship is worth enabling a disastrous war and creating a major humanitarian catastrophe. The Obama administration has viewed their support for the war as a sick sort of trust-building exercise with Riyadh, but that is the worst possible reason to lend support to any military campaign. We shouldn’t even do that for our treaty allies, so we certainly shouldn’t be doing it for states that are much less important. Instead of judging the intervention by whether it was justified or likely to succeed at an acceptable cost, the administration just backed it because it was what the Saudis and their allies wanted to do. An “intense desire” to please despotic clients is no excuse for fueling a senseless and atrocious war, and it is an indication of how indefensible the administration’s position is that this is the only excuse they can offer – by Daniel Larison
3.10.2016 – Xinhua (A P)
Saudi cabinet urges U.S. congress to reconsider law on 9/11 attacks
The Saudi cabinet on Monday expressed hope that the U.S. Congress would reconsider a law allowing families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, warning of "grave consequences."
The cabinet said that the adoption of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) is of great concern to the international community, Saudi acting Minister of Culture and Information Essam bin Saad bin Saeed told the Saudi Press Agency following Monday's cabinet meeting.
The international relations are governed by the principle of equality and sovereign immunity, which has been in place for hundreds of years, and the weakening of the sovereign immunity affects negatively all countries, including the United States, he added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/03/c_135730657.htm
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
4.10.2016 – Bloomberg (A P)
U.K.’s May Expects Saudis to Probe Allegations of Arms Misuse
Prime Minister Theresa May said she has asked Saudi Arabia to probe allegations that British-made weapons have been used in its military intervention in Yemen.
Asked if Britain should halt arms sales to the kingdom, May said the U.K. has one of the most stringent regimes governing the suitability of arms exports.
“I have been very clear personally with Saudi Arabia that we expect these issues to be properly investigated and, if necessary, lessons to be learnt,” May said in an interview with BBC TV’s “Newsnight” show. “But what is important in foreign policy, first of all, is that we consider what is in the British national interest.” – by Thomas Penny
Comment: Always the same as they said already since a long time. The Saudis should probe their own war crimes. Of course, they do not, the only thing to expect is self-whitewashing. For May it’s normal that the suspect and the prosecutor are the same person. The Britisch government just wants to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, whatever happens. Thus, they tell us a story which is getting even more ridiculous as times passes by.
3.10.2016 – British government (A P)
Minister for the Middle East statement on the formation of a 'National Salvation Government' in Yemen
Tobias Ellwood expresses concern following the Houthi and Saleh alliance's announcement of a rival government to the legitimate government of Yemen
Speaking in response to developments in Yemen, Tobias Ellwood Minister for the Middle East commented:
I am very concerned by the continued steps being taken by the Houthi and Saleh alliance. The intention to unilaterally form a ‘Salvation Government’ is in direct defiance of the UN-facilitated peace process and undermines commitments made to finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The Yemeni parties must consult and work with the UN Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in order to come to an agreement and return stability to the country.
Comment: A document of hypocrisy. The British government and Mr. Ellwood in special are backing Saudi Arabia and its Yemen war without any preconditions. Ellwood is not “concerned” by the victims of the Saudi aerial war, but by a merely political measure of one of the warring parties. – “the legitimate government of Yemen”: the Hadi government no more is the legitimate government of Yemen, whatever Hadi and his government themselves and outer forces will declare. – Ellwood worries about the Yemen Political Council is acting “unilaterally” – well, the Hadi government does this almost every week (just think of the central Bank) and Mr. Ellwood does not worry at all.
Comment by Judith Brown: The arrogant and insensitive Tobias Ellwood is now making a statement on the government set up in Sanaa by the Houthi-Saleh alliance. What he fails to take into account is that any decision taken by his favoured 'government' in exile or in Aden will not bring any order to the north, and a huge demonstration in Sanaa on 20th August was considered by those taking part a referendum on the decision by the Houthis to install a ruling body and recall parliament - I guess not do much support of the Houthis per se although the attacks on Yemen by Saudi Arabia have increased their popularity - but with the hope that it might introduce some order into their chaotic and difficult lives. In effect, with the central bank moved to Aden by Hadi, there is going to be an opposing bank set up in the north and with two armies, two banks, the stage is set for Yemen to divide - at least temporarily - and it will therefore need separate ruling mechanisms.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768928063641
30.9.2016 – Sputnik News (A P)
One Third of Brits Blame Saudi Arabia for 9/11 - YouGov Poll
A new YouGov poll has found that more than 1/3 of Brits believe that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks. It comes just days after the US Congress pushed through a controversial bill that will allow legal action against Saudi Arabia over the atrocity.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160930/1045880344/brits-blame-saudi-sept-11.html
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
4.10.2016 – Human Rights Watch (* B P)
Why No Outcry Over Nabeel Rajab?
Prominent Bahraini Rights Activist Faces 15 Years In Prison
In January 2014, Stephen Colbert interviewed Human Rights Watch’s executive director Ken Roth and asked him who the next Nelson Mandela would be. Alongside the Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, he named Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.
Rajab, who’s been in jail since June, has a court hearing this week that quite possibly will sentence him to 15 years in prison on ludicrous free expression charges.
One of Rajab’s supposed crimes is his criticism of the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen.
You’d think it would be easy for governments to call for Rajab’s immediate release, as Human Rights Watch and 21 other campaign groups have asked them to do. So far, only the United States has made an explicit call for Bahrain’s ruling family to free Rajab.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/10/04/why-no-outcry-over-nabeel-rajab
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
3.10.2016 – Middle East Monitor (A K)
5 truckloads of weapons en route to Houthis seized
Yemeni security forces seized five truckloads of weapons that were set to be delivered to Houthi rebels in Al Mahrah governorate yesterday evening, local reports revealed.
This comes after an Omani truck was found in Marib on its way to the capital city Sana’a to deliver weapons to the Houthi rebels on Thursday night.
Al Mahrah governorate is directly on the Yemeni-Omani border.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161003-5-truckloads-of-weapons-en-route-to-houthis-seized/
Comment by Judith Brown: And 1.8 billion dollars worth of weapons en route to Saudi Arabia with no questions asked.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154768022348641
cp13b Zentralbank / Central Bank
Siehe cp1 / See cp1
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
4.10.2016 – Reuters (A T)
Im Jemen entführte Französin wieder frei
Eine vor zehn Monaten im Jemen entführte Französin ist wieder frei.
Die Mitarbeiterin des Roten Kreuzes sei in das Nachbarland Oman in Sicherheit gebracht worden und solle von dort aus in ihre Heimat zurückkehren, berichteten die staatliche omanische Nachrichtenagentur ONA und das Internationale Rote Kreuz am Montag. Die Behörden des Oman hätten bei der Befreiung mit "einigen jemenitischen Parteien" zusammengearbeitet, hieß es in dem ONA-Bericht. Details wurden nicht genannt. Die Frau war zusammen mit einem jemenitischen Mann von bewaffneten Unbekannten in der Hauptstadt Sanaa von ihrem Auto aus entführt worden. Der Mann kam kurz darauf frei.
http://de.reuters.com/article/jemen-entf-hrung-idDEKCN1240BX
3.10.2016 – Reuters (A T)
Kidnapped Red Cross worker freed in Yemen and taken to Oman: agency
A Red Cross worker kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen was freed on Monday and taken to neighboring Oman, Omani state news agency ONA and the ICRC said.
French-Tunisian, Nourane Houas, a staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Sanaa, had been kidnapped along with a Yemeni man by unidentified gunmen who intercepted their vehicle in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
The man was released hours later but Houas held in an unknown location.
ONA quoted an Omani foreign ministry official as saying France had asked Oman to try to locate her.
"The concerned authorities in the sultanate, and in coordination with some Yemeni parties, managed to find the aforementioned woman in Yemen and transferred her to the sultanate this evening, in preparation to repatriate her home," ONA said.
The agency gave no further details.
The ICRC confirmed Houas had reached Oman after being freed with Omani help – by Mohammed Ghobar
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-redcross-idUSKCN12329J and by AP (more details) http://bigstory.ap.org/article/41429cc1e2c3443f8453dac82830725f/french-woman-hostage-working-red-cross-released-yemen?nc=1475571133611 and https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/783017140534247424 and by IRC: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-abducted-icrc-staff-member-released = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-abducted-icrc-staff-member-released and images: https://twitter.com/shapban/status/783211272552771584
cp15 Propaganda
4.10.2016 – Arab News (* A P)
‘We were forced to intervene in Yemen’
The lack of intervention by Saudi Arabia and Arab coalition forces in Yemen would have turned the country into an Iranian missile base with dangers extending up to the southern border of the Kingdom.
And all this would have happened without Iran taking any direct responsibility, said spokesman for the Arab coalition forces Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri in a statement to the media.
The Kingdom intervened together with the 11 coalition countries to support the Yemeni people and to protect the southern border of the Kingdom, especially as security at the Yemeni border has been compromised in the chaos after the coup to smuggle weapons, drugs and people from different nationalities into the kingdom
“There are three main factors that prompted the Kingdom’s immediate intervention in Yemen. After the attacks of Houthi militias on the Kingdom’s borders in 2009, an agreement on end of all hostilities and for the Yemeni border guards to spread along the border was to take effect, but unfortunately the government of (Ali Abdullah) Saleh did not comply and the area became a base for Houthi militias to smuggle weapons, drugs and illegal people, creating a security problem for Kingdom.”
The second reason, he said, was the instability in Yemen, which has a direct bearing on the Kingdom. The absence of state institutions and lack of government meant that there would be voids to be filled and governed by terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and Daesh, similar to situations in Iraq and Syria.
The spokesman said the Kingdom’s intervention was in the best interest of the region and cannot be disputed, as lack of intervention at the appropriate time would have led to a situation far worse than now with the region at the mercy of Iranian missiles.
the Arab coalition’s intervention was not an attack on Yemen, but rather in support of the legitimate Yemeni government.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/993481/saudi-arabia
Comment: Asiri telling the usual propaganda story. The Iran is behind everything the Houthis do. – Nice argument, prevent smuggling by bombing a country into ruins. – “protect the southern border”: the Saudis began attacking the Houthis in 2009 – and also in 2015, Houthi attacks at Saudi territory just began several weeks AFTER Saudi air strikes at Yemen. Thus, Asiri just puts upside down here. – “Instability” in Yemen as a reason to intervene? That greatly was the Saudi intervention which increased instability. By bombing a country, you NEVER can create stability, whether in Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan… Colombia… or wherever. – “rise of militia”: that would be every countries own affair and cannot be the reason for bombing a neighbouring country. Germany should quickly bomb now: a) Hungary b) Poland c) Greece d) Britain e) ??? What a sick mentality. – “the Kingdom’s intervention was in the best interest of the region and cannot be disputed” first half of sentence: LOL, second half: it ACTUALLY IS disputed. – “the legitimate Yemeni government” is not the Hadi government, which expired one month BEFORE the beginning of the Saudi air raids. Comment: Saudi propaganda. They were forced to kill civilians, use internationally banned weapons, siege the country, starve #Yemen. They were forced
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1126092680777094
Comment by Shuaib Almosawa: Gen. Asiri asks Saudis to "stay away from rumors...on social networking sites which aim to weaken us internally"
https://twitter.com/Shuaibalmosawa/status/783418370121146368
Comment to comment by Jamila Hanan: Keep tweeting coz the truth is getting out and war criminal Asiri knows it.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/783443437026770944
1.10.2016 – Arab News (A P)
Saudi Arabia has welcomed the submission of the initial report of the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry confirming that it is “In line with international standards and with a high level of seriousness. It also monitored 9,816 cases of violation of human rights of citizens in Yemen and international humanitarian law.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/992181/saudi-arabia
Comment: This is Saudi propaganda connected to the decision of the UN Human Rights Council whether to install an independent investigation of war crimes in Yemen or not (see previous YPRs).
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
4.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi jets launch raids on Hamedan
caused huge damage to farmlands and residents' homes
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442404.htm
U.S.-Saudi warplanes launch 8 strikes on Saada
U.S.-Saudi aggression warplanes eight air strikes on several residential districts of Saada province on Tuesday, a security official told Saba.
Out of the eight strikes, five strikes on Marwi and Matjaraf areas of al-Dhahir district, two other strikes on Saeen area of Kutaf district, as well as another strike on Al Humaki of Bakim district.
The deadly strikes left bad damage to residents' houses and farms in the targeted areas.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442410.htm and see photos of strange bombs: https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1126454560740906
U.S.-Saudi aggression warplanes hit residential quarter in capital Sanaa
U.S.-Saudi aggression warplanes launched several air strikes on al-Safia residential area in central the capital Sanaa overnight, officials and residents told Saba on Tuesday.
The air strikes targeted Al-Bilayli quarter of al-Safia area and damaged a nearby hospital.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442409.htm and for Sanaa also:
3.–4.10.2016 – Sanaa at night (A K)
The number of airstrikes on #Sanaa should mount to 10 or 11 in a short frame of time.
Situation is dramatic. Neighbourhoods are engulfed in flames.
Fact is night is still long. #Saudis might continue with the sorties (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1587927128169942
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANwRF-ED8Og
Sanaa Huge fire caused by Saudi UAE strike on Yemen Economic Corporation furniture Stores 3\Oct\2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16d4YtoKKyw = https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/videos/1587917774837544/
HaliMan_300 @Hali_300 14m14 minutes ago
Picture f the frenzy bombardments tonight on Sana'a, it's like WW3 here, this an obvious act of terror (photo)
#Sanaa, tonight the trauma inflicted on our children will never disappear (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1125693680816994
The last #saudi bombing in the neighborhood Albulala And residents are leaving their homes after scare
https://twitter.com/hashemalameer/status/783035536739106816
.#Saudi airstrikes targeted downtown of the capital of #Yemen #Sanaa tonight (photos)
https://twitter.com/AlbrkanAlyemeni/status/783051203446005760
#Saudi #UAE raids Albelaily area #Sanaa on Next2 Childrn hospital Music institute Army sport centre Reprtd Huge fire (photos; city map)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/783039216804593664
Very Denise smoke spreading all over houses (film)
https://twitter.com/Bassam_Thobhani/status/783031485699858432
Massive explosion just made me spin trying to hug and hold my kids and be with them. #Sanaa #Yemen
https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/783028067279204353
Am shaking while taking this pic now. The 2nd one was really huge (photo)
https://twitter.com/Bassam_Thobhani/status/783028363246051328
Doctors needed immediately to go into the hospitals near the bombed area Alsafia near Alblily market a lot of people need help
https://twitter.com/dwipas2020/status/783041276539183105
Volunteers & ambulances rushing to bombed area trying to help victims despite unrelenting airstrikes, high risk of Saudi double tap.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/783038761764589569
Now, sounds of ambulances heard in streets of Sanaa aftermath that Saudi airstrikes in downtown Saifiya 10.33pm Oct03,2016.May God help us!
https://twitter.com/EngrLotf/status/783036674091655168
Till now 11.12pm. Ambulances still heading 2 targted site or taking causualties of airstrikes to hospitals.for how long this sorrow!
https://twitter.com/EngrLotf/status/783038067485663232
#Sanaa #Yemen- Residents asked to donate blood for victims of tonight's strikes on civilians by #SaudiWarCriminals.
https://twitter.com/teddy_cat1/status/783059836766416896
3.10.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
3-10-2016
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=700003686816666&id=551288185021551
3.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Aggression warplanes launch at least 20 strikes on civilian targets in Sanaa, its suburbs
Saudi aggression warplanes launched at least 20 air strikes on civilian targets in the capital Sanaa and its suburbs over the past 24 hours, officials told Saba on Monday.
Eight raids on the War College and its surrounding areas in Al-Rotha area in Bani AL-Hareth district in north of the capital Sanaa, two further raids on AL-Dailmi air base.
Another air strike on Bani Matar district and a raid on nearby AL-Sobaha area in the Sanaa western suburb.
Two other air attacks on Dhulaa region of Hamdan district in the west of the capital, and other two raids on Masoud region in Sanhan district in the southeast outskirts of Sanaa, as well as two raids on Jahlan area and two more strikes on Al-madfon region in Nihm district in northeast suburb of Sanaa province.
The strikes caused large damage to residential houses, private and public properties, farms, said the officials.
The official added that the fighter jets continued flying intensely over the capital and its suburbs over night and early morning of Monday as the jets broke the sound barrier, terrifying citizens.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442289.htm
3.10.2016 – Legal Center (A K PH)
3/10/2016 Dhamar City at 11:00 A.M
-Legal center for rights and development documented the bombing of Saudi Arabia warplanes and its alliance by three airstrikes on a governmental building behind City Max Center and destroyed it. Another airstrike targeted the public road in Dhamar AL-Qarn at the South of the city. The fourth targeted Dhamar Hospital.
-The airstrikes and killed a civilian and caused the injury of 7 others.
-The airstrikes damaged the doors, windows and the medical equipment. Because of fear, the patients were transferred to another hospital. Some others prefer to go home (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=699980066819028&id=551288185021551 and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGxJYHHDk9s
and
3.10.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K PH)
#Saudi #UAE raids Dhamaar dstroyd Gov building&1hit outside hospital Wall Kild Veterinarian Dr.fakhrr Eleimad 7inj (photos)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/783022873397059584
and
3.10.2016 – Ahmad Alghobary (A K)
Today was the strongest #Saudi air strikes on my city Dhamar next to our neighborhood #Yemen 1 killed & 7 injured (more photos)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/783017734070276096
My brother and some of his classmates were scared to death when #Saudi air strike hit next to their school (more photos)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/783018632469213184
3.10.2016 – Tweets Sanaa in the morning (A K)
Good morning from Sana'a. Where airstrikes on city now to avenge "unprovoked" attack on UAE fishing boat (photo)
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/782828896710496256
First morning airstrike was just heard!So we have morning airstrikes,night airstrikes, in between airstrikes!All orders all available
https://twitter.com/Hanaalshowafi/status/782829215163027456
Saudi now dropping the bigger bombs. Guess got bored making too many runs with smaller ones. Airstrikes violently shaking ground.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/782839498522628096
Dam Dam Dam this was the second and huge! #Sanaa #Yemen we want peace not wars
https://twitter.com/Hanaalshowafi/status/782831588090515456
3rd hit in Sanaa,morning airstrikes as energizer! Im n Sanaa privileged 2have wifi,many civilians in Taiz &Sadaa can't tell what's happening
https://twitter.com/Hanaalshowafi/status/782836008639467520
Four airstrikes in Sanaa. My little Yusof describes them as fireworks. He gets terrified when bombing is close and shakes our house.
https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/782849582615191552
The strongest explosion I have ever heard since the big boom in Attan. This is the second one but really big and scary (film)
https://twitter.com/zaidaahmed/status/782831522151817216
Plume of smoke from 3rd airstrike now in Sana'a represents $500K bomb. #Yemen & Saudi gov't want us to appreciate.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/782835731421097984
Saudi airstrikes on Sana'a intensifying now. It's 9:30AM. Our kids are at school you low lives. (photo)
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/782831967444279296
... the ultimate in psychological warfare - terrorize the children, the surest way to destroy the parents.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/782888723960696832
3.10.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K PH)
Heaviest #Saudi #UAE strikes on my city Dhamaar My nephews ran frm school cryin agricultural equips store owner kild (photo, graphic)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/782879360583864320
3.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
U.S.-Saudi warplanes launch raids on Jawf
large damage to citizens' farms
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442265.htm
Aggression Shelling kills 3 children in Jaw
A child was killed and two other children were injured in early Monday morning artillery shelling by the Saudi-paid aggression mercenaries on citizens' houses in al-Masllob district of Jawf province, an official told Saba.
The shelling also targeted the home of Sheikh Mabkhoot, the tribal chieftain of the district, said the official (photo)
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442247.htm
Saudi jets raid Serwah
No casualties were reported
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442268.htm
Saudi aggression warplanes launch raids on several provinces over 24 hours
Saudi aggression warplanes waged at least 13 air strikes on several provinces over the past 24 hours, official said.
Two air strikes on Razah district, other raid on Sakin district and two other air strikes on Al- thabat, al-Zamah in Bakam district of Saada governorate.
The strikes targeted telecom network, residential houses and farms.
The aggression also launched three air strikes on several areas of Marib province, and two other raids on Al-Rabi valley and other raid on Al-Matar region in the same province, officials said.
In al-Jawf province, officials said the fighter jets launched three raids on AL-Sabrin area of -Kab and aL-Sha'af districts.
The strikes caused large destruction in civilian property and farms.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442280.htm
3.10.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K PH)
US-backed Saudi war criminals killed 2 more Yemen fishermen&injured others in Mokha south west Yemen where UAE vessel destroyed.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/782864314675978240
and
3.10.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A K PH)
#Saudi airstrikes hit 3 fishing boats off #Yemen’s Mokha, killing 2 people, injuring 3
Now families will starve to death
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1125310790855283 and films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiK4V_JWZEg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGtG50x2xMI
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
4.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Army's rockets kill mercenaries in Jawf
The army and popular committees' missile force fired on Tuesday Katyusha rockets at a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Jar area east of al-Hzem city in al-Jawf province, a military official told Saba .
The rockets hit their targets accurately, killing and injuring dozens.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442398.htm
Army destroys Saudi vehicles in Marib
meanwhile, the missile force targeted gatherings of the mercenaries also in the same military camp, killing and injuring dozens
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442393.htm
Comment: Exaggeration seems to be included. Always are mentioned “dozens”, own losses seem not to exist.
3.10.2016 – Aljazeera (A K PS)
Yemen Gov. retake Algheil, Al Jawf near Saudi border in #Yemen per AJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-ubQBpcwwY
3.10.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)
Saudi Military Base in Assir Province Comes Under Yemen's Missile Attack Again
The Yemeni army and popular forces hit Saudi Arabia's strategic military positions and bases in the kingdom's Assir province with a Zalzal-3 ballistic missile in retaliation for the Saudi airstrikes on residential areas across Yemen.
The Yemeni missile attack inflicted heavy losses on the Saudi troops in al-Montazah military base in Assir province's al-Zahran region.
Early reports indicate large casualties on the Saudi forces in the missile attack. The Saudi army and its coalition members have lost, at least, over a hundred troops each time they have come under a ballistic missile attack by Yemen.
The Saudi-led forces' armored vehicles were destroyed during the Yemeni missile attack.
Informed sources announced on Sunday that the Yemeni army and popular forces have fully taken control of four strategic regions in three Saudi provinces.
The Yemeni forces are now in full control of Jabal (Mount) al-Doud in Jizan province, Jabal (Mount) al-Dokhan in Jizan, Jabal (Mount) al-Sar in Najran province and Jabal (Mount) al-Rahwa in al-Rabou'a region of Assir province, Ahd al-Jadid wrote on its Twitter page.
Ahd al-Jadid said that the mountains that are under Ansarullah's control are overlooking Jizan, Najran and Assir provinces and for the same reason Saudi Arabia is now in a very critical situation meaning that Riyadh has earned nothing and rather lost territory in the last 18 months of war on Yemen.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000903
4.10.2016 – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (* A K)
Press briefing note on (1) Syria, (2) Yemen and (3) India / Pakistan, 4 October 2016
Yesterday, at around 17:00 in Taiz, at least 10 civilians – including six children – were killed, and 17 others were injured – including six more children and three women – after an artillery shell apparently fired by the Popular Committees affiliated with Al Houthis and Army Units loyal to former President Saleh struck a busy street next to a market in Bir Basha, Al Mudhaffar district.
Witnesses who spoke to our staff in Yemen said the street where the market was located was crowded with people at the time of the attack, and there had not been any armed confrontations between warring parties in the Bir Basha area prior to this terrible incident.
The shell appeared to have been fired from an area in Al Ta’iziyah district, where the artilleries of Popular Committees affiliated with Al Houthis and Army Units loyal to former president Saleh are positioned.
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20638&LangID=E = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/press-briefing-note-1-syria-2-yemen-and-3-india-pakistan-4-october-2016
and
4.10.2016 – AP (* A K)
10 Civilians, Including Children, Killed in Yemen's Taiz
Medical officials say at least 10 civilians have been killed in a rocket attack in the war-torn Yemeni city of Taiz, including children.
The officials said on Tuesday that the attack took place a day earlier in a district called Beir al-Basha in Taiz, which has been besieged by the Shiite Houthi rebels for nearly a year. The district has witnessed previous attacks by Houthis.
Pictures of the dead children in a pool of blood were widely circulated on social media – by Ahmed Al-Haj
Comment: Number of killed had increased compared to earlier reports:
3.10.2016 – AFP (* A K)
Yemen rocket attack kills 6 civilians in Taez
Six civilians were killed and eight wounded on Monday when two rockets allegedly fired by Huthi rebels hit a popular market in Taez, military and medical sources said.
Three children were among those killed in the explosions outside a post office in the Bir Bacha district of the southwestern city, they said.
Taez, the country's third city, is almost completely surrounded by the Iran-backed Shiite rebels and their allies, backers of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-rocket-attack-kills-6-civilians-taez and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLRm-DHjAzE
3.10.2016 – Yemen Post (* A K)
Civilians KILLED: 6 dead & 7 injured by Houthi rocket attack on populated street in #Yemen war torn region Taiz, local officials (graphic images)
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/782974371686146048
and
3.10.2016 – Hussam Almolaiki (* A K)
The number raise to 9 death and more than 15 wounded most of them are children . #Taiz
https://twitter.com/hussam25173474/status/782974757679554560 and horrible photos here: https://www.facebook.com/mohmalatary666/posts/1106672502751738 and film https://twitter.com/mohamadmahuob/status/783081780576477184
3.10.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Yemeni missile ‘targets Saudi military base’
Yemeni forces have targeted a military camp in Saudi Arabia’s extreme southwest in a missile attack.
The missile successfully struck the al-Montazah military base in the Zahran district of Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, which borders Yemen, on Monday, Yemen’s al-Masirah TV reported.
There were no reports of possible casualties or damage.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/03/487425/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Asir-Houthi
3.10.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Army launches missiles on Riyadh's mercenaries in Jawf
The army and popular committees' missile force bombarded gatherings of Saudi aggression mercenaries in al-Waqz area in al-Masllob district of Jawf province early on Monday, a military official told Saba.
They fired Katyusha rockets against their gatherings, the official said. The rockets hit their targets accurately, killing and injuring dozens.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news442266.htm
cp17a Die Huthis versenken Schiff / Houthis sink vessel
See YPR 207, cp17a
3.10.2016 – Fox News (* A K PS)
The U.S. Navy dispatched three warships near the southern coast of Yemen after four rockets hit and nearly sank a United Arab Emirates auxiliary ship Saturday, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack. There were no reported injuries to the Emerati crew. Al Jazeera reported on video of the attack.
Iran supplied the Houthis with the “shoulder-fired rockets” that nearly destroyed the UAE ship, according to two U.S. officials. It was not immediately clear what type of rocket the rebels may have fired.
Describing the U.S. response to the Houthis and their Iranian backers, one official said, “This is a show of force,” adding, “It’s concerning anytime this happens.”
“Sending the warships to the area is a message that the primary goal of the Navy is to ensure that shipping continues unimpeded in the strait and the vicinity,” said a U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The attacked vessel is an Australian built high-speed logistics ship leased to the UAE, Reuters reported.
Crews are towing the UAE ship to a port in nearby Eritrea, according to two U.S. defense officials.
The United States strongly condemned the “unprovoked attack” by the Houthis in a statement Sunday. “We call on the Houthi-Saleh groups to immediately cease attacks against all vessels. These provocative actions risk exacerbating the current conflict and narrow the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said – by Lucas Tomlinson
Comment: This was no auxiliary ship; this quite certainly is a propaganda story (see YPR 207, cp17a). – There have been records of killed crew (see YPR 207, cp17a). This was an attack on a warship during a war, thus it was no “unprovoked attack” and no attack on shipping in general (see YPR 207, cp17a). – Where the used rockets actually had been produced, is an open story; it can be Yemen itself as well (variously reported). – This part of the world is certainly very far away from Florida, San Francisco or Hawai – and the hell US navy certainly has no place there.
3.10.2016 – Janes (A K)
UAE's Swift hit by anti-ship missile
The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed that the United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) high-speed logistics vessel Swift (IMO: 9283928) was hit off Yemen early on 1 October.
http://www.janes.com/article/64274/uae-s-swift-hit-by-anti-ship-missile
Comment: Full article for subscribers only. – See reporting YPR 2017, cp17a.
3.10.2016 – Shapban (A K P)
in a deceptive twist, #CNN calls #UAE warship which was struck off #Yemen's coast as "aid ship" while #UAE warplanes are bombing Yemen
https://twitter.com/shapban/status/783230365532098560
3.10.2016 – Saba Net (* A K)
In an official statement, Navy and coastal defense warns any ship of breaking into the Yemeni Territorial Waters for any reason without taking prior authorization from the competent Yemeni authorities.
Monday, 3/October/2016.
https://www.facebook.com/YemenFightsBack/photos/a.1267969413236277.1073741828.1267772099922675/1292361240797094/?type=3&theater and http://www.saba.ye/ar/news442356.htm
Comment: A dangerous measure, will cause international reactions. Civilian shipping must be free all over the world. But:
3.10.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K P)
Yemenarmy spokesman: We do not target civilian ships&we would be always with safety of international navigation.We respect world interests
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/783162374928867328
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
4.10.2016 – Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (* B E H)
Through their eyes: How cooperative-led agricultural livelihood projects are making change in Yemen
ACTED believes local cooperatives offer the potential to help households and farmers learn how to rely less on unstable markets and more on their own ability to produce food and income.
The Western and Central governorates of Raymah, Hudaydah, Ibb and Al Dhale'e are traditionally agricultural zones, in which farmers rely on various agricultural activities for income. However, for many years, Yemeni farmers have worked on their own or in small, disorganized groups with unsophisticated techniques and equipment and no muscle in the local marketplace. Due to this, their production has been limited and they have struggled to capitalize on the agricultural opportunities in the region. In hopes of changing this outcome for small farms and in order to improve food security in Yemen, ACTED is taking a cooperative-based approach to supporting these farmers. With funding from USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), ACTED has established 14 agricultural cooperatives in four governorates of Yemen, supporting each with training and inputs.
Now more than ever, as government capacity falters in Yemen and humanitarian aid becomes more and more unsustainable, ACTED believes it is key that responses are community-driven and self-sustained. As the cooperatives have been functioning for more than a year, ACTED is now awarding grants to eight of these cooperatives to implement their own agricultural projects. Projects have been conceptualized entirely by the cooperatives themselves, based on what they perceived to be the needs and opportunities in their own communities. All projects will also be implemented by the cooperatives and their members.
In July and August, ACTED sat down with members of five of the different cooperatives to find out how their ACTED-sponsored livelihood initiatives were paying off. Here is what they had to say:
http://www.acted.org/fr/node/13361 = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/through-their-eyes-how-cooperative-led-agricultural-livelihood-projects-are-making
4.10.2016 – UN Human Rights Council (* B P)
Freedom of religion: UN expert urges Yemen to halt systematic harassment of Bahá’í community
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, today called on the authorities in Yemen to put an end to the systematic harassment of the Bahá’í population in the country, including arbitrary arrests and detentions. He also called for the release of three leaders of the Bahá’í Yemeni community detained over two months ago.
“No one should be persecuted based on their religion or belief and neither should they be targeted when belonging to religious minorities,” the human rights expert said. “Random arrests, detentions, raids of their homes and offices as well as confiscation of electronic devices and significant sum of money are simply unacceptable.”
“The Yemeni authorities should also immediately release all detained Bahá’ís who seem to be targeted based on their religion,” Mr. Bielefeldt said recalling the cases of Nadim Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf, Nader Tawfiq Al-Sakkaf and Kaiwan Mohamed Ali Qadri, imprisoned since 10 August 2016.
The three Bahá’í leaders were detained following a mass arrest of 60 Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís across the country at a nine-day event of moral and educational youth programmes in Jud Organization building in Sana’a. Most of the arrested people were subsequently released but them.
“Any arrest or detention based on the exercise of the freedom of religion is arbitrary,” the Special Rapporteur underscored. “It is worrying to learn that these arrests were allegedly instructed by the prosecutor in the country.”
“The authorities must also unlock the Bahá’í centre and allow the Bahá’ís to access it,” he said. “Persons belonging to religious minorities, including members of the Bahá’ís, must be ensured their rights to freedom of religion and belief.”
The human rights expert also drew attention to the case of Hamid Kamali Bin Haydara arrested in 2013, and remains incarcerated in the National Security Prison for ‘compromising the independence of the Republic of Yemen’, including spreading the Bahá’í faith in the Republic of Yemen. His trial has been postponed on numerous occasions up till September 2016.
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20635&LangID=E = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/freedom-religion-un-expert-urges-yemen-halt-systematic-harassment-bah-community
3.10.2016 – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (A)
Desert Locust Bulletin 456 (October 2016)
General Situation during September 2016 Forecast until mid-November 2016
The Desert Locust situation remained very serious in Yemen during September and there were signs that an outbreak was developing in Mauritania. In Yemen, hopper groups, bands and adult groups continued to form. More adult groups and perhaps a few small swarms are expected and will move to the Red Sea coast, into adjacent areas of Saudi Arabia and perhaps to the Horn of Africa where breeding will cause a further increase in locust numbers. Ground and aerial control operations were carried out in adjacent coastal areas of Saudi Arabia against hopper groups, bands and adult groups.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/desert-locust-bulletin-456-october-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/DL456e.pdf
29.10.2016 – Middle East Monitor (A P)
Hezbollah: Saudi is a bigger threat than Israel
Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah has slammed Saudi Arabia with claims that “Wahhabism is more evil than Israel”.
In a speech on Tuesday, he justified his comment stating that the Wahhabi ideology seeks to destroy others and eliminate Islam and its history.
Nasrallah denied accusations of sectarianism as he called for support to destroy Wahhabism and its “project that was launched in 2011”, in an apparent reference to the Arab Spring.
Nasrallah asserted that the unrest raging in Syria wasn’t a sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia sects, but one against the Wahhabi ideology that Saudi Arabia exports.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20160929-hezbollah-saudi-is-a-bigger-threat-than-israel/
Comment by Judith Brown: Well I guess if you are Shia you do worry about your survival with Saudi Arabia around with its huge supply of US and. U.K. weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154769272193641
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-207-yemen-war-mosaic-207
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-207: / Yemen War Mosaic 1-207:
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/
Yemen central bank crisis raises new famine fears
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