Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 223 - Yemen War Mosaic 223
Yemen Press Reader 223: Krise im Detail – Zentralbank – Was die USA für den Jemen tun können – Schutzverantwortung? – Argumente von Politikern zugunsten der Saudis – Humanitäre Katastrophe–Italiens und Deutschland schmutziger Krieg – US-Bürger und Israelis im saudischen Kommandozentrum – Britischer Geheimkrieg im Jemen – und mehr
Yemen crisis analysis – Central Bank – What the US can do for Yemen – “Responsibility to Protect” – Politicians’ pro-Saudi arguments – Humanitarian catastrophe – Italy’s and Germany’s dirty war – US, Israelis in Saudi air base – Britain’s secret war in Yemen – and more
http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenPressReader223.pdf oder / or http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenPressReader223.htm
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 224 - Yemen War Mosaic 224
Deformity of newborns – New peace plan – Mercy Corps – Devastated Saada – Saudi Arabia reaps what it has sowed – The man who lost 27 family members – Children speak – Iran arming Houthis? – 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
cp13 Finanzen / Finances
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
5.11.2016 – Jennifer / Yemen Today TV (** A H K)
Horrifying photos & videos have emerged from #Yemen. See me for info or interviews with family/witnesses (photo / film)
https://twitter.com/teddy_cat1/status/794875474568761344 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9wZRQgOUag
Comment: Horrible deformity of Yemeni newborns, caused by Saudi chemical weapons.
5.11.2016 – Junge Welt (** A P)
Des Kaisers neue Kleider
Die »internationale Gemeinschaft« hat sich im Jemen in eine Sackgasse manövriert. Ein neuer Vorschlag soll jetzt einen Ausweg weisen
Der UN-Sonderbotschafter für den Jemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, ist wieder einmal mit einem neuen Friedensplan zwischen Sanaa und Aden unterwegs. In den beiden Hauptstädten der Bürgerkriegsparteien fanden vor der Ankunft des 55jährigen Mauretaniers Protestdemonstrationen mit mehreren tausend Teilnehmern gegen seine Vorschläge statt. Die Szenen unterschieden sich jedoch deutlich: …
Hadi hat den neuen Friedensplan des UN-Sonderbotschafters sofort abgelehnt. Er klammert sich statt dessen an die Resolution 2216, die am 14. April 2015 ohne Gegenstimme und bei Enthaltung Russlands beschlossen wurde. Der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen klagt darin einseitig »die Huthis« an, was eine abwertende Bezeichnung für Ansarollah ist, und fordert sie auf, sich bedingungslos und ohne Gegenleistungen der Hadi-Regierung zu unterwerfen. Von den »Huthis« und ihren Verbündeten wird außerdem verlangt, sich aus allen seit Beginn des Bürgerkriegs im Sommer 2014 eroberten Gebieten zurückzuziehen. Außerdem sollen sie »alle dem Militär und anderen Sicherheitskräften abgenommenen Waffen« abliefern. Nicht berücksichtigt wurde dabei, dass ein großer Teil der regulären Streitkräfte gemeinsam mit Ansarollah kämpft.
Mit der Resolution 2216 hat der UN-Sicherheitsrat den Anspruch verspielt, in diesem Konflikt als neutraler Vermittler aufzutreten. Zugleich sind die gestellten Forderungen auch unrealistisch, da die in Sanaa regierende Koalition nach wie vor militärisch stark, wenn nicht sogar überlegen, und keineswegs zu einer Kapitulation genötigt ist.
Schon die vorangegangenen Friedensvorschläge des UN-Sonderbotschafters, über die zwischen April und August dieses Jahres verhandelt wurde, waren deshalb von dem vorsichtigen und halbherzigen Bemühen gekennzeichnet, aus der Sackgasse herauszukommen, in die sich der Sicherheitsrat manövriert hat. Zu diesem Zweck brachte Ahmed Gedanken über die Bildung einer gemeinsamen Regierung der Bürgerkriegsparteien ins Spiel. Gespräche darüber sollten jedoch erst nach der militärischen Selbstaufgabe von Ansarollah und ihren Verbündeten beginnen. Dagegen fordern diese als erstes Hadis Rücktritt und die Schaffung einer breiten Regierung, die dann alle weiteren Maßnahmen überwachen und garantieren soll.
Davon ist auch Ahmeds neuester Friedensplan, der indessen noch nicht vollständig veröffentlicht wurde, weit entfernt – von Knuth Mellenthin
https://www.jungewelt.de/2016/11-05/021.php
4.11.2016 – Huffington Post (**B H)
Yemen Is Only Hopeless If the World Gives Up
I work for Mercy Corps, a global aid and development organization. And everyone in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, can recall the same half dozen airstrikes that rocked the ground and shook the windows the night before. This has been the norm for months at our house in the south of the city.
the country’s humanitarian needs are multiple and massive
Our field teams report that parents have been skipping meals in order to share food with their hungry children. Incidence of diarrhea is high, and health officials have announced there is a cholera outbreak throughout the country. Add to this massive flooding a few months ago, an economy hanging above total collapse and numerous failed peace talks, and for many, Yemen seems like an impossible situation.
Since we started programs in the country in 2010, our team at Mercy Corps has been working hard to meet as many of these needs as possible. Since the conflict began, we have distributed food vouchers, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, blankets and mattresses to tens of thousands of people. We have helped to rehabilitate sanitation systems in schools and health facilities, as well as trucked water into urban areas without regular water supply. We have helped more than 1 million people suffering from this war.
It is not nearly enough. The scale of the conflict is staggering.
And yet, we have seen shining moments of the best in humanity throughout this devastating crisis. We found one such moment recently in a small village, nestled in the mountains of Sanaa’s sweeping highlands. The decision to start work in this particular village in Haymah Dakhliyah district was complicated. When airstrikes started pummeling Sanaa and surrounding areas last year, many families fled to villages like this one outside the capital; we learned about this particular village after waves of displaced people had already arrived there, desperately in need of support. But this village already faced its own entrenched, internal conflict over land ownership. Village leaders told us the community never gathered anymore, for fear that it would end in armed clashes. And we seriously questioned the safety of working there.
We went anyway – by Maia Baldauf
4.11.2016 – AP (** B H K)
Home of Yemen's Rebels Struggles After Strikes' Devastation
All along the main street, buildings are crumpled beyond recognition, roofs punched in and pancaked. Historic mud-brick houses in its walled old city are pounded to dust. Saada, the birthplace of Yemen's Shiite rebels, has been one of the most densely bombed cities in Yemen during the past 19 months of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its allies.
Residents are now struggling to bring some signs of life back to the city, high in the mountains of Yemen's north.
The bombardment here eased relatively in recent months; the coalition may have hit everything worth hitting in the city, residents theorize, so some of the thousands who fled during the past year have decided to take their chances and return home.
But they are dealing with devastated infrastructure — a single, overburdened hospital, almost no electricity — and constant fear. The nearby countryside is still often hit by strikes, and Saudi-backed militias threaten a ground assault on the area. Drivers avoid coming close to pickup trucks carrying rebel fighters, fearing a missile may come streaking down.
"The more crowded a place is, the more we are afraid of bombings," said Naglaa Fathi, a 15-year-old girl whose family returned recently. After bombings in May 2015 shattered the houses around theirs, her family fled to Khamr, a town further south. But they were tired of moving from house to house.
Now they're back in their home in Saada's Old City, though her parents moved out of their bedroom because "every time we look from the window, we see destruction," her mother Samira Mohammed said.
The destruction is extensive. In just the first weeks of the airstrikes in early 2015, around 1,170 structures were damaged or destroyed in Saada, according to the United Nations. As bombardment continued for more than a year, an estimated 40 percent of Saada's 50,000 residents fled. Many of those who remained literally dug holes in the ground to hide in and moved schools and hospitals into caves for protection.
It was here in Saada that the Shiite rebel movement known as the Houthis was born – All along the main street, buildings are crumpled beyond recognition, roofs punched in and pancaked. Historic mud-brick houses in its walled old city are pounded to dust. Saada, the birthplace of Yemen's Shiite rebels, has been one of the most densely bombed cities in Yemen during the past 19 months of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its allies.
Residents are now struggling to bring some signs of life back to the city, high in the mountains of Yemen's north.
The bombardment here eased relatively in recent months; the coalition may have hit everything worth hitting in the city, residents theorize, so some of the thousands who fled during the past year have decided to take their chances and return home.
But they are dealing with devastated infrastructure — a single, overburdened hospital, almost no electricity — and constant fear. The nearby countryside is still often hit by strikes, and Saudi-backed militias threaten a ground assault on the area. Drivers avoid coming close to pickup trucks carrying rebel fighters, fearing a missile may come streaking down.
"The more crowded a place is, the more we are afraid of bombings," said Naglaa Fathi, a 15-year-old girl whose family returned recently. After bombings in May 2015 shattered the houses around theirs, her family fled to Khamr, a town further south. But they were tired of moving from house to house.
Now they're back in their home in Saada's Old City, though her parents moved out of their bedroom because "every time we look from the window, we see destruction," her mother Samira Mohammed said.
The destruction is extensive. In just the first weeks of the airstrikes in early 2015, around 1,170 structures were damaged or destroyed in Saada, according to the United Nations. As bombardment continued for more than a year, an estimated 40 percent of Saada's 50,000 residents fled. Many of those who remained literally dug holes in the ground to hide in and moved schools and hospitals into caves for protection.
It was here in Saada that the Shiite rebel movement known as the Houthis was born – by Maggie Michael, Maad al-Zikry, and Hani Mohammed http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/home-yemens-rebels-struggles-strikes-devastation-43295206 = http://www.mvtelegraph.com/home-of-yemen-s-rebels-struggles-after-strikes-devastation/article_819a6dcb-1203-59e7-b2e4-c13c55f13df0.html (with 8 photos)
3.11.2016 – AJ+ (** B H K)
Film: “If I was president, I would clean up all the blood.” These kids lived through war. Their words are going to break your heart.
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/794222622951161856 = https://twitter.com/malonebarry/status/794449884892057600
3.11.2016 – Middle East Eye (** B P)
Saudi Arabia reaps what it has sowed
After squandered opportunities and blunders galore, the kingdom's foreign policy is backfiring across the region and that's just the beginning.
There have been two signs that Riyadh’s grip over its neighbourhood is loosening.
The first was a long range missile which the Houthis fired at Jeddah airport, west of Mecca. The second was the election of Michel Aoun as Lebanese president, which was guaranteed by the support of Saad Hariri, the businessmen the Saudis once bankrolled. Aoun is backed by Hezbollah and Damascus, the power he fought as a general.
Both are a form of blowback to the Saudi kingdom.
Each Arab neighbour has its own story to tell about the wild swings of a weather vane which goes by the name of foreign policy in Riyadh. In that time, they made three strategic blunders.
Take Yemen. For decades, Saudi’s man in Yemen was its dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose life Saudi doctors saved when he was critically burned in a bomb attack. As I reported at the time, the Saudis, along with the Emiratis, made contact with the Houthis and encouraged them to advance on the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
The plan was to provoke a battle with Islah, the Islamists in Yemen. It backfired spectacularly as the Houthis marched into Sanaa unopposed and advanced onto Aden. Only then did the Saudis realise the mistake they had made in providing a new opening for Iran. They were left with few other options.
The result is a Saudi bombing campaign that has levelled the country, but so far failed to recapture Sanaa, or prevent a missile being fired at Jeddah or Mecca.
As a result of all three blunders, Iran and Saudi Arabia have traded places. While Iran looked isolated before the Iraq wars, and the Saudis enjoyed influence in the region, Saudi Arabia is now encircled in conflict and by collapsing states. The kingdom has got war to the north and south.
Its arch foe, Iran is in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, boasting about controlling four Arab capitals. Saudi has spent tens of billions on its foreign interventions and the region is less stable than ever before. The crisis in Sunni leadership looms as large as ever, as millions are forced to leave cities for the refugee camps, or flee abroad. No one protects them.
The internal stability of Saudi is also affected. It used to be based on a crude pact: “We pay you and you shut up.” After the collapse of the price of oil, and the lifting of some state subsidies, Saudis are inverting the unspoken maxim by asking themselves: “If the state can not pay us, why should we shut up?”
When Saudi had a strategic choice to make, it made the wrong one. That choice was presented by the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
Saudi’s claim to be the banker of the Arab world, to become to the region what Germany became to Europe, would by now be uncontested. The royal family would be well placed to start the process of political reform at home, increasing political transparency, holding elections, and turning itself into a constitutional monarchy.
It would not have lost its wealth, but nor would it be in the position it is today of demanding that Saudis tighten their belts, while the princes loosen theirs – by David Hearst
www.middleeasteye.net/columns/saudi-foreign-policy-1215866329
Comment: the total failure of Saudi foreign policy in the whole Middle East. The author looks at several states, as Egypt, Iraq.
Comment by Judith Brown: I just hope they see sense and crawl back home. Yemen is in bits but it can pull itself together if only the war would stop.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154874522268641
3.11.2016 – BBC (** B H K)
Yemen: The man who lost 27 family members in an air strike
The war in Yemen had been going on for just two months when Abdullah al-Ibbi sat down for a late-night meal with his two wives, their children and grandchildren. It was then, in an instant, that his world shattered.
The air strike that hit Abdullah's home killed 27 members of his family. He survived, but only learnt about their deaths six weeks later when he woke up in a hospital bed.
"If I didn't fear God, I would have committed suicide at that moment," he recalls. "I would have jumped off a building... but God gave me patience."
The family had lived in the Houthi rebel stronghold of Saada, which has come under intense aerial bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition supporting the exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The air strike hit their home at around midnight, says Abdullah. Rescuers with bulldozers worked until morning to retrieve the bodies buried under the rubble. Seventeen were children - the youngest, Abdullah's granddaughter, Inas, was one month old.
Three of his adult sons also made it out alive.
Abdullah spends most of his time alone now, in the room in a local mosque where he lives. He looks forward to visits from his sons, who live elsewhere in the city.
The nights are particularly difficult. Abdullah sustained injuries to his head, spine and jaw and needs treatment that is not available in Saada, but it is not just the physical pain that keeps him awake.
He is haunted by the memories of the life he had. "Sometimes I sleep two, three hours and then I wake up and stay up until morning... I remember my children and my home," he says.
"Our lives were humble but it was a quiet life, a good life, we were happy... we lost everything." – By Sumaya Bakhsh (with photos)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37791211
2.11.2016 – Real News (** B K P)
Are the U.S. Claims that Iran Is Arming the Yemeni Houthis Credible?
Investigative journalist Gareth Porter scrutinizes the claims made by the U.S. and finds credibility of its evidence highly questionable
PERIES: Now in your article you claim that there are at least 4 examples of the seizure of arms shipments which were really destined for Somalia but the United States claimed that they were headed to Yemen and sent by the Iranian government. Explain these incidents you are talking about in the article and why you challenged them.
PORTER: You know Sharmini the thing that needs to be understood about this propaganda line by the United States is that they are accusing the Iranian government of wanting to supply these arms directly to the Houthis directly through these set of sea based fishing boats going through the Arabian Sea. And they are claiming that these 4 instances that I talk about in the article are examples of the Iranian government sending these arms to the Houthis. In fact, what I show in my article is that these arms that were captured on board several fishing dhows were in fact part of a scheme of armed smuggling that was arranged clearly by arms smugglers in Somalia working with armed smugglers either in Iran, that is private arm smugglers in Iran or most likely in Yemen.
This is a pattern that has been uncovered by a UN monitoring group which wrote a report in 2015, which has been largely ignored or completely ignored.
PERIES: Now in your article you claim that there are at least 4 examples of the seizure of arms shipments which were really destined for Somalia but the United States claimed that they were headed to Yemen and sent by the Iranian government. Explain these incidents you are talking about in the article and why you challenged them.
PORTER: You know Sharmini the thing that needs to be understood about this propaganda line by the United States is that they are accusing the Iranian government of wanting to supply these arms directly to the Houthis directly through these set of sea based fishing boats going through the Arabian Sea. And they are claiming that these 4 instances that I talk about in the article are examples of the Iranian government sending these arms to the Houthis. In fact, what I show in my article is that these arms that were captured on board several fishing dhows were in fact part of a scheme of armed smuggling that was arranged clearly by arms smugglers in Somalia working with armed smugglers either in Iran, that is private arm smugglers in Iran or most likely in Yemen.
This is a pattern that has been uncovered by a UN monitoring group which wrote a report in 2015, which has been largely ignored or completely ignored except for me, that pointed out that there was a pattern here where Yemeni and Iranian ships, fishing dhows are part of illegal fishing networks operating offshore off the Somalian coast. And there is a belief of n the part of these researchers that it is these illegal fishing networks that are linked up with the arms smuggling. That these fishing dhows that have been doing illegal fishing are also smuggling arms either from Iran by the arms smugglers that operate out of Iran or Yemen into Somalia.
So I actually inquired with the press officer of the central command’s naval contingent and I asked why is it that the US military keeps saying that they believe that these arms are headed to or intended for the Houthis in Yemen whereas the fishing crew keeps saying that they were intended for Somalia. Indeed your allies are saying the same thing.
Well his answer was we’re not going to answer any questions about the intelligence or other reasons why we are taking this position. So it’s clear to me that they did not have any real evidence to back this and that this is really a deliberate deception. A rather shallow and obvious deception which is really being carried out as a gesture to Saudi Arabia to show that the United States is support. Whereas the Saudis are expressing suspicion that the US no longer supports them.
PERIES: And what interest does the US have in blaming Iran in all of this. I imagine Iran is of course denying that there is such shipments taking place. Do we know that for sure? Are the Iranians shipping arms to the Houthis in Yemen?
PORTER: Well we cannot say with certainty that the Iranians are not shipping any arms to the Houthis. There’s been a recent story claiming that the Iranians have used a land entry into Yemen from Oman but the place where this supposedly has been happening is an area that is controlled by the Hadi government and its allies. So, it wouldn’t be easy presumably to do that.
But I think in the larger picture, the main point here is that the Iranians do not really have a strong reason to be sending the kinds of arms that have been found on board these ships to the Houthis because these are ordinary arms that the Houthis already have in such great abundance that it would be pointless for Iran to try to supply those to the Houthis. In fact, they would be taking risks that would not be worth it. Indeed, the more important fact is that what the Houthis need is ammunition. That is probably what they are running short of given the fact that they have enough weapons but they don‘t have large stocks of ammunition.
So, the important thing is that none of these ships that were intercepted have any ammunition on them and that really is another giveaway as to the lie that is accompanying the propaganda claims that have been made on this issue.
PERIES: And explain the Somalia angle here. Why are there so much arms being shipped to Somalia?
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=17566 and interview in film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM7pbDhwpfs
cp2 Allgemein / General
4.11.2016 – Being Libertarian (* B P)
Why Nobody Cares About The Genocide In Yemen
In my conversations with people about the American, British, and Canadian assisted genocide going on in Yemen I notice a mental stumbling block. Some of the most politically-minded people wish to change the topic. People don’t seem to entertain the notion that it’s possibly true, and yet it’s easily substantiated – Al Jazeera and the BBC report on it thoroughly. Yet, it’s failing to penetrate the consciousness of the average American, Canadian, or the Brit.
I initially wrote about this here.
One would think that it would be a major political issue that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Theresa May, and Justin Trudeau have all endorsed arming the Saudis, who are currently guilty of the heinous war crimes in Yemen. Rand Paul recently spoke to the US media and Congress about this issue, only to be met with silence. No one cared. It failed to resonate with people and I’ve been grappling with the question of why no one cares that our countries have completely lost their sense of ethics.
Our ethical judgments, as the byproduct of evolutionary programming, aren’t necessarily geared toward ethics, but rather pragmatic concerns; i.e. getting by in society.
It would ostracize people to think of their country as evil, and thus our evolutionary programming doesn’t permit it. If it seems like there’s some sort of thought-barrier when you talk to people, it’s because there is. There’s something blocking their thinking. It’s an evolutionary impasse. There’s no survival benefit to coming to grips with the depths of depravity of one’s country.
Every nasty word that was ever said about the genocidal war criminals throughout history applies to Canada, the UK, and the US; and to confess the maltreatment of the Yemenis is to say the most atrocious things one can imagine. Unfortunately, the majority of the people living in one of those countries are not programmed to think in that way.
Given that our nationality is part of our identity, a large part of our upbringing, most people take it personally when their country is insulted. The relationship between nationality and identity is so intertwined one might as well insult a person’s parentage, with the same expectation. People either cannot fathom the depths of their country’s evil, or they cannot entertain the possibility or speaking out against it. Our psychological make-up doesn’t allow for this.
there is an aspect of the conflict in Yemen in which the moral imperative is deafeningly loud in terms of telling us the course of action. The Saudis are using our weapons. We have to stop this. Ethics, morality, and basic human decency demand no less – by Brandon Kirby
https://beinglibertarian.com/nobody-cares-genocide-yemen/ and recommends for further reading, from 2015: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/a-problem-from-hell-the-u_b_8090782.html
and, from the same author:
21.8.2016 – Being Libertarian (* B P)
That Moment You Realize Your Country Participates in Genocide
After the Second World War people gathered at Auschwitz and passionately declared “Never again!”
Unfortunately, we the people meant nothing of the sort; it was merely a token gesture - empty emotional rhetoric. Much like Obama, Trudeau, and Cameron’s statements on keeping a watchful eye on Saudi Arabia, it was a photo-op statement devoid of anything substantial.
Moreover, it’s undeniable that the Saudis are committing genocide. They have carried out airstrikes against the infrastructure that allows for humanitarian aid in the northern parts of Yemen.
The Saudis are clearly guilty of three of these. This scenario fits the legal definition of genocide. It’s grossly unethical. Clearly no moral human being could support these actions. Nevertheless, our leaders are supporting these actions and the logical deduction is that they aren’t moral people.
The United States is having a fierce debate over gun control in the wake of the massacre in Orlando. A man murdered people for them being homosexual. Imagine the horror in the case of the police being on the same side as shooter - and if your imagination is failing you, visit Saudi Arabia where the officials share the same ideology of the shooter. We debate gun control, but our leaders are giving far more impressive arms to people that are criminally insane.
All of this is done because Saudi Arabia is our ally. Even so, that would never excuse the bloodshed that we currently support. That aside, Saudi Arabia remains a significant source of support for Salafi jihadism.
The question we have before us is whether or not we’ll take part in abetting genocide. If we vote for politicians that support this, then abetting genocide is precisely what we, as individuals, are doing. A better world is worth fighting for – by Brandon Kirby
https://beinglibertarian.com/moment-realize-country-participates-genocide/
4.11.2016 – Almasdar News (* A P)
Said it was "demonized"; Bahhah calls for apology to Saleh's regime
Khaled Bahah, former Vice President and Prime Minister at the same time, called for an apology to the regime of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh that "was demonized in 2011".
According to some activists who attended a gathering for Khaled Bahah with a group of Yemenis residing in Berlin on Wednesday, they were surprised to hear the different speech spoken by Khaled Bahah by regretting what the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh went through.
Bahah said in the gathering that he had no independent vision to resolve the crisis in Yemen, but he came to mobilize the support for the roadmap presented recently by the UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Bahah, who didn't allow the audience to film and asked them to close their mobile phones, added that President Hadi is no longer accepted and must step down quietly, "and we start a new beginning."
It is worth to mention that Bahah was assuming the position of Vice President and the Prime Minister at the same time, before his relationship with President Hadi worsens and then Hadi dismissed him early April of this year.
Bahah aspires to play a key role in the future, as he presents himself as a person welcomed internationally and regionally.
Bahah also aspires to play the role of a "consensus person" agreed upon by all Yemeni parties to lead the upcoming phase, if the crisis ends up with a political settlement.
Bahah is now in a tour to a number of countries to mobilize support for Ould Cheikh's roadmap, which was rejected by President Hadi and the government, as well as by the Yemeni parties.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/86026
Comment: This is quite interesting. Bahah was deposed by “president” Hadi, although Hadi without parliamentary consent did not have the constitutional right to do so. It sounds strange that even Bahah now calls for apology for Saleh’s regime, but compared to what came after him, Saleh was certainly better. What “president” Hadi is concerned, he is certainly right. Already in an earlier phase of the war, the Houthis and others thought of Bahah as a possible consensus figure to lead Yemen transition and the first phase of and after a peace agreement. Well, Bahah seems to be back on stage – and still a much better candidate than Hadi.
4.11.2016 – Christian Today (* B K P)
Why Are We Standing By While Yemen Burns?
When we are presented with images of starvation, it is incumbent on us to ask, not only what the natural causes might be, but where the political impetus is coming from.
Finally, five years after some brave journalists began reporting hunger in Yemen, the conflict has become newsworthy in the West.
Now we know, we need to ask why this suffering is being perpetrated and, more challengingly, if we in the US and UK are partly responsible.
If a natural disaster is tragic, then a politically and militarily enforced humanitarian disaster is obscene. The principalities and powers are conspiring to leave Yemen's innocent children short of food, medicine and worst of all, hope.
Evangelical NGO Tearfund says the situation in Yemen is so dire that it should be ranked alongside the devastating crisis in Iraq and Syria. "The statistics speak for themselves" says an article on Tearfund's website, "over 21 million people urgently need humanitarian assistance – that's 83% of the population, higher than for Syria (74%). Over 14 million lack safe regular access to food – rising to 19 million for water and sanitation."
These are astonishing figures. To put them in context, look at the United States. If an equivalent percentage of US citizens were under threat of starvation, it would equal 284 million Americans. Make no mistake, this is a calamity.
The UN, which is also now categorising Yemen as one of the three most serious situations in the world – along with Iraq and Syria – has detailed the devastating consequences of the violence in Yemen.
This is the heart of the problem. Neither side in what is both a civil war within Yemen, and a proxy war within the wider Middle East, seems to be respecting human rights. Worse still, one of the sides is backed by the West.
In an excoriating piece, Peter Oborne highlights the British complicity in Saudi's war.
The reason we're given? Well, as Prime Minister Theresa May insisted in the House of Commons, "Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is an important relationship. It's a particularly important relationship in relation to the security of this country and counter-terrorism."
What craven nonsense. May suggests that keeping British people safe comes at the expense of Yemeni lives. Well, not in my name. Our reprehensible genuflection before the Saudis is one of the deepest stains on modern British and American foreign policy. No 'pragmatist' talk about our oil dependency or the (very real) need to keep our citizens safe from terrorists will persuade me otherwise.
As we gather to remember our brave servicepeople who have given so much over many generations to keep the West safe from fascism, we should gather with a sense of deep disquiet that our governments aren't merely standing by on the other side – we seem to be deepening and intensifying one of the world's most deadly conflicts.
Shame on us – by Andy Walton
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/why.are.we.standing.by.while.yemen.burns/99815.htm
4.11.2016 – Reuters (* B K)
Foreign help building Eritrea bases violates embargo: U.N. experts
United Nations sanctions monitors warned in an annual report released on Friday that possible foreign support for a new military base and seaport in Eritrea and the presence of foreign weapons and equipment were likely in violation of an arms embargo.
The monitors told the U.N. Security Council last year that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had established a military presence in Eritrea as part of the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which lies just 40 km (25 miles) across the Red Sea from the poor Horn of Africa nation.
They said the use of Eritrea's land, waters and airspace by other countries to conduct military operations in a third state was not a sanctions violation, but warned that "compensation diverted directly or indirectly towards activities that threatened peace and security in the region, or for the benefit of the Eritrean military, would constitute a violation."
In the past year the U.N. monitors collected evidence, including the construction of a new military base at Assab airport and a new seaport next to it, indicating "there may have been external support for infrastructure development that could benefit the Eritrean military."
The monitors said they have also documented the presence in Eritrea "whether for training or transit, of armed personnel and related military and naval equipment of various Member States other than Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."
The U.N. sanctions monitors determined the current terms of the U.N. arms embargo does not allow for such activities and recommended that the Security Council provide advice to U.N. states on compliance with the embargo – By Michelle Nichols
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eritrea-yemen-un-idUSKBN12Z2IR
4.11.2016 – Al Araby (* B P)
The answer to Yemen's problems doesn't lie in partition
[…] the will of several southern leaders who wish to put an end to Yemen's unity. They now see time the time as ripe for making this dream into a reality. Pro-separation southern groups see the unification of Yemen as a costly mistake for which they have paid dearly.
Today, unity stands at stake as many southern leaders continue promoting the idea of separation and campaign in earnest to wrench the south from the north.
The flag of the former southern state is flying in some cities of Yemen's south such as Aden. Separatists appear to believe secession is the magic wand that would fix the problems in the south bring salvation to the people. This, though, is disillusion.
Looking back over the past 26 years of Yemen's history, it is clear that the country's unification is not at fault. Indeed, it is not unity which has paralysed development and progress in Yemen.
Presently, Yemen is synonymous with catastrophe. Mulling over the country's slide into this chaotic situation, there is cause to believe that growing extremism, unfair policies, intolerance and mismanagement of the country are actually at the root of Yemen's problems.
It is therefore, unrealistic to think that separating the south from the north would establish peace.
The menace of extremism for example, effects everyone.
Any effort to drive the country towards secession will be doing a great service to al-Qaeda, helping them to set up a firmer foothold in Yemen's south.
As a result, the outcome of partition in Yemen would not only harm to the south, but the entire region. Instead of undermining unity, efforts should be directed towards eliminating the threat of violent extremism.
Southerners claim unity has brought them nothing but marginalisation, either politically or economically. In such a context, it is clear that unity has been badly effected by unfair policies.
But now, Yemen has reached a critical turning point and the future is uncertain. Whether Yemen adopts federalism or another form of governance, the south may well be better off. Full secession however, will cause further subdivisions.
Indeed, Yemenis do not need to be divided to overcome their problems. They need to be tolerant and accepting of each other, helping to dilute hatred and sectarianism – by Khalid Al-Karimi
3.11.2016 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Gulf of Aden Security Review
[The events day by day, from Nov. 3 backwards]
http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/gulf-aden-security-review
4.11.2016 – Press TV Iran (* A K P)
Film: “Yemeni retaliatory operations no threat to Mecca”
Yemeni scholars and religious leaders have got together in the capital Sana’a to reaffirm their solidarity in the face of Saudi Arabia’s plots against Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNorhyzWzyI = http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/11/04/492033/Yemeni-retaliatory-operations-no-threat-to-Mecca
3.11.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K P)
Yemen clerics Decrying Saudi media allegations About targeting Mecca as a desperate attempt to cover up countless US-backed Saudi war crimes (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/794235751626113025
3.11.2016 – The Sleuth Journal (* B K)
S naked aggression on Yemen gets scant scoundrel media coverage. It includes undeclared drone war begun post-9/11, Obama continuing what George Bush began, civilians harmed most of all.
Casualties are multiples higher than officially reported, civilians ruthlessly slaughtered – war in Yemen another bonanza for US, UK, French and German weapons makers, along with war-profiteers from other countries.
Washington bears full responsibility. Riyadh shares it. Conflict continues raging, the Pentagon selecting targets for Saudi warplanes to terror-bomb.
Conflict resolution efforts failed because Washington, Riyadh and their rogue partners want war, not peace – holding an entire nation hostage to their viciousness, a severe humanitarian crisis taking unknown numbers of lives.
Separately, on October 28, Saudi Arabia was overwhelmingly reelected to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), a body infested with major human rights abusers.
Heavy US pressure got General Assembly members to vote Russia off the HRC. Genocidal war on Yemen continues, the body failing to condemn the slaughter.
It doesn’t promote human rights. It supports horrendous abuses committed by Washington and its imperial allies – by Stephen Lendman
http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/saudi-warplanes-continue-massacring-civilians-yemen/ = http://right.is/conservative-opinion/2016/11/saudi-warplanes-continue-massacring-civilians-in-yemen-6110.html
2.11.2016 – Coalition of Humanitarian Relief (* B H K)
The Coalition of Humanitarian Relief issuing a new report on the humanitarian situation in Taiz for October 2016
The Coalition of Humanitarian Relief (CHR) in Taiz has issued a new report on the humanitarian situations in the governorate for Oct 2016, including human and material losses that have been observed due to the events, the health and education situations and the humanitarian relief needs for the governorate.
CHR has declared in the report that about 56 were murdered and 433 injured, women and children were among them during last Oct, there were serious injuries due to the indiscriminate shelling and sniping to the neighborhoods and public markets.
Men were the biggest number among many victims as 36 were murdered and 301 were injured; while children were the second category among the victims as 17 were murdered and 86 were injured; while 3 women were murdered and 46 were injured seriously.
Forced Displacement
CHR has indicated in its report that about 480 households were displaced forcedly from their houses during the armed clashes in Hayfan and Asselw districts.
These displaced households, who couldn't even bring the necessary needs of their luggage’s, personal properties and furniture out of being afraid of death, resorted to schools or host families
A city without relief
At the time, that Taiz has still lived a very hard and tragedy situation because of the ongoing war in many areas that the siege imposed for more than one year made it even worse on hundreds of thousands of civilians inside the city regarding health, food and environment fields.
Since the siege of the western entrance has been broken at the mid of Aug, CHR has issued two Important Statements (1, 2) explaining that the city hasn't received adequate aids from INGOs that may meet the real needs with comparison to the big population of the city and big numbers of inured, murdered and affected people.
Such appeals, calls, however, responded with just very few aids, particularly after the big hinder of delivering many relief aids to the beneficiaries inside the city has been broken (the imposed siege of western entrance).
Needs
CHR renews its confirmation regarding the monthly needs of relief aids in heath, environment, food, shelter, water and petroleum products fields - as published in a previous report – to ensure the progress of public life for Taiz inhabitants.
Taiz still lives a very hard and tragedy situations since the beginning of war in 14th Apr 2015, and the imposed siege has made it even worse for more than 13 months
https://www.facebook.com/alrumim/posts/1216686248354072
1.11.2016 – Pres TV Iran (* A K P)
UN warns of ‘catastrophic situation’ in Yemen
A top UN official has warned of a catastrophic situation in Yemen if the warring sides do not reach a peace agreement at the earliest. UN humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien, says more than 21 million Yemenis are in need of protection and humanitarian aid. He says over two million people, including 370,000 children are suffering from malnutrition. Meanwhile, United Nations envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has said that the people of Yemen are being held hostage to personal and reckless political decisions.
Interviewed: @HussainBukhaiti explains why #UN envoy to #Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, must be replaced
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2lgfi2Djk
29.9.2014 – Middle East Eye (* B K P)
Saudi crapshoot in Yemen
Saudi Arabian officials say their involvement alongside Iran to bolster Yemen's Houthis is 'thoroughly thought out', but could their efforts come back to haunt them? The surprise is to hear how closely involved Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates were in the Houthi advance and how it reached a de facto understanding with their biggest regional rival, Iran. In November last year, I first reported Saudi contacts with their old enemies the Houthis. I wrote then:
"Bandar's war against political Islam has also made itself felt on Saudi's troubled border with Yemen. The need to combat the advance of Islamist group al-Islah in Yemen has led the Saudis to support Houthi militias - with whom the kingdom once went to war. A prominent Houthi, Saleh Habreh, was flown via London to meet the Saudi intelligence chief."
In the last few weeks, those meetings have intensified. I understand that a Houthi delegation went to the UAE for a high-ranking meeting and that the same delegation flew on to Riyadh. There has also been a successful meeting between Iranian and Saudi Arabian foreign ministers in New York a week ago.
The point man for these meetings was the Yemeni ambassador to the UAE, Ahmed ali abdullah Saleh, the son of the former president who was forced from office in 2012.
After his meeting with the Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested the talks could lead to an improvement in relations.
"Both my Saudi counterpart and I believe that this meeting will be the first page of a new chapter in our two countries' relations," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.
In today's conflict, many of the leaders of al-Islah are themselves Zaydi. They are from the Hashed tribe as is Saleh himself. So to call this conflict sectarian is misleading. This is a political conflict in which the government forces, which fought alongside al-Islah against the Houthis, have melted away or sided temporarily with the small northern tribe from Sadah in North Yemen.
Islah in Yemen have never been in conflict with the Saudis, but Riyadh appears to have made a strategic calculation that now is the time to declare war on all political Islamist factions wherever they happen to be in the Arab world - Yemen, Egypt, Libya.
When asked in a meeting in Europe recently why the Saudis were so staunch in their opposition to moderate political Islamists, Turki al Faisal, the foreign minister's brother, and former ambassador to Britain said they had made a strategic calculation. He said: "This policy has been thoroughly thought out."
It may have been thought through, but it is a dangerously short-sighted calculation particularly when applied to a country like Yemen which straddles Saudi Arabia's porous southern borders – by David Hearst
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/saudi-crapshoot-yemen-2045467253
Comment: An interesting look at the development preceding the Yemen war. Saudi interference in Yemen seems to be more dubious and more complex than generally is believed.
Comment by Judith Brown: An interesting article from the days when the Houthis took over Yemen. This is the first time I've read this article but it suggests that Saudi and UAE encouraged the Houthis to take over Sanaa. I dint know this writer nor his credentials convening his knowledge of Yemen but he seems to quote a lot of sources. Does anyone know how true this is?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154875336173641
13.10.2016 – The Hindu (* B K)
While “defending” a government that doesn’t seem to enjoy any legitimacy at home, Riyadh and its allies have turned Yemen into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Neither the human suffering nor the futility of the campaign has compelled Saudi Arabia to look for other solutions.
This is because Riyadh sees this war as part of its rivalry with Iran. It considers the Houthis to be agents of Iran, and does not want Tehran to have a proxy presence in its backyard. But Saudi Arabia cannot be allowed to destroy Yemen further to defend its narrow geopolitical ambitions. Washington supports the campaign through intelligence-sharing and by vetting targets. Moreover, the Obama administration announced a $60-billion arms deal for Riyadh months after the Yemen operation began. It expressed “deep concern” after the Sana’a bombing, but stopped short of taking any action. The U.S., which recently pulled out of the Syria peace talks citing Russia’s bombing of Aleppo, should ask similar questions of the Saudis, and use its ties with Riyadh to find a diplomatic solution to the Yemen crisis. What Yemen needs is an immediate ceasefire between the Houthis and the Saudis, followed by talks involving all parties, not more bombings – Editorial
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/stop-the-saudi-war-in-yemen/article9212035.ece = https://kashmirobserver.net/2016/opinions/stop-saudi-war-yemen-11724
13.4.2016 – Katehon (* B P)
RELIGIOUS EUGENICS IN THE YEMEN
Under Riyadh’s impetus, Yemen has suffered a religious erosion which stands today to claim not just its independence but its very sense of identity. Ever since 1994, when the-President Saleh agreed to open up Yemen to Wahhabi clerics, in exchange for military support against southern secessionists, Yemen has been colonized, and its faith harvested for radicalization.
From that moment on, the infamous Muslim Brotherhood – under the convenient banner of al-Islah (itself a coalition of tribes and political factions) imprinted its Saudi-sponsored version of Islam, to hell with Yemen’s traditions, betraying those very principles of tolerance and inclusion Yemen once held so dear.
To manifest such a covert religious takeover Riyadh operated behind a series of smokescreen – buying off tribal loyalties, and officials’ ears so that its agenda will meet no resistance. Ironically, if not for the so-called Arab Spring, if not for Riyadh’s attempted coup against President Saleh – a very corrupted Saleh I might add, this one former stooge of al-Saud would not have reneged against Riyadh. If not for Saudi Arabia’s desire to rise al-Islah the only political power in Yemen, Saleh would never have brokered a peace with the Houthis, and the Resistance might never have burgeoned into a fierce liberation movement.
It is important to remember that if South Yemen quickly fell to Riyadh’s dogma on account its own religious identity was never strong to begin with – in between Britain’s imperialism, and communism’s rejection of the religious South Yemen has had a hard time defining its allegiance; North Yemen knew exactly who it was, and what Islam echoed strongest.
Since 2011 Yemen has undergone a religious revival. Driven by a need to reinvent their nation and more importantly the principles that command and define them as a nation-state following decades of blind nepotism, Yemenis have cried out in rejection of Sunni radicalism aka Wahhabism, bent on reclaiming their heritage – Shia Islam.
Before I further get into Riyadh’s eugenics agenda in Yemen I would like to introduce readers to Wahhabism itself - maybe then this assumption that Islam and Wahhabism are in fact one and the same will be laid to rest – by Catherine Shakdam
http://katehon.com/article/religious-eugenics-yemen
Comment: From a Shia point of view. There is a Sunni majority in Yemen however, even it’s true that Wahabism was not the main ideology before Saudi religious interference, proselytization and pressure.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
5.11.2016 – Al Monitor (* A H)
Worst forecasts become reality as Yemen starves
Nearly 5,800 people reside in the starving district, spread among small towns. It lies on the coast between the port cities of Hodeidah and Mokha. The severe food shortage is worst there, where the situation is the most severe, but half of the Yemeni population lives in hunger. The United Nations Children's Fund stated Oct. 28, “Yemen's 18-month war has left 370,000 children at risk of severe malnutrition — a condition which needs urgent treatment to prevent a child from dying.”
Salman Abdul Raqib, a member of the BasmtnaSalam initiative, which had sent aid convoy from Sanaa to the Tuhayat district Oct. 22, told Al-Monitor that famine has hit 90% of the district's population, "which is absolutely horrible. Some of those who received our aid are very skinny. They are skin and bone and barely moving, not only because of hunger, but also for being sick.”
He added, “There are merchants and organizations providing assistance to the people of Tuhayat that is easing their hunger. But for how long will it last? Can we ensure that these people will be fed for another year? If the war continues and the economy continues to deteriorate, who will be providing for them?”
Fear of the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes on the Tihama coastal areas is largely to blame for the suffering of Tuhayat, whose citizens are dependent upon fisheries as their source of income. As the Saudi-led coalition started shelling fishing boats, which the coalition accuses of supplying the rebels with weapons, the fishermen have stopped fishing and lost their livelihoods.
The WFP reported Sept. 25, “The number of food-insecure people in Yemen is estimated at close to 14 million, according to a WFP food security assessment in June. This includes 7 million people who are severely food insecure, with 70% of the population of some governorates unable to provide food for themselves.”
The situation has been aggravated by the delayed payment of the salaries of 1.25 million state employees. This income is depended on by 6.9 million people, 48.2% of whom are children, according to an October report by the Yemeni Ministry of Planning.
Hunger is not limited to Yemen’s west coast. In the capital of Sanaa, dozens of new people have joined the long list of beggars roaming the streets and commercial centers – by Ahmed Alwly
4.11.2016 – Badische Zeitung (* A H)
Unicef-Mitarbeiterin über die katastrophale Lage in Jemen
Nur einen Schritt von einer Hungersnot entfernt: Über die Not der Menschen im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen sprach Frauke Wolter mit Ninja Charbonneau vom UN-Kinderhilfswerk Unicef.
Die Lage ist so schlimm, dass die UNO den Jemen gerade auf die Notfallstufe 3, die höchste Stufe hochgesetzt hat. Das bedeutet, dass die Krise sehr groß ist, sehr viele Menschen betroffen sind und dass das Land die Krise nicht alleine bewältigen kann – die Unterstützung der internationalen Gemeinschaft ist dringend gefragt.
Der Jemen war auch vor der Eskalation des Krieges im März 2015 ein armes Land. Seither spitzt sich die Lage aber zu. So ist vielerorts die Versorgung mit Lebensmitteln zusammengebrochen. Und wenn es auf den Märkten Nahrungsmittel gibt, sind sie für viele unerschwinglich. 19 Millionen Menschen haben außerdem keinen Zugang zu sauberem Trinkwasser. Unter anderem deswegen gibt es zunehmend Fälle von Cholera. Insgesamt sind 82 Prozent der Bevölkerung auf Hilfe angewiesen, das sind mehr als 21 Millionen Menschen. Mehr als drei Millionen sind dabei Binnenflüchtlinge; sie sind vor den Angriffen geflohen und bei ihren Verwandten oder Freunden untergekommen. Aber auch die Gemeinden, die die Binnenflüchtlinge aufgenommen haben, sind sehr arm und es stellt sie vor eine große Herausforderung, die zusätzlichen Menschen zu versorgen.
Unter den Hilfsbedürftigen sind fast zehn Millionen Kinder unter 18 Jahren. Unsere Mitarbeiter im Jemen haben schon viele Krisen erlebt, die Situation der Kinder im Jemen aber sei herzzerreißend, sagen sie. In Zahlen heißt das: 1,5 Millionen Kinder sind mangelernährt, davon 370 000 so schwer, dass es lebensbedrohlich für sie ist, wird ihnen nicht rasch geholfen. Zudem wurden seit März vergangenen Jahres 72 Mal Gesundheitseinrichtungen angegriffen; 600 Einrichtungen sind außer Betrieb. Das hat geschätzt 10 000 Kleinkinder das Leben gekostet.
Ninja Charbonneau (40) ist Pressesprecherin bei Unicef Deutschland
Spenden: Unicef, Nothilfe Jemen,
IBAN DE57 3702 0500 0000 3000 00
4.11.2016 – UNICEF Yemen (A H)
In Aden, UNICEF distributed last week alone jerry cans, detergents & water purifiers for 6,650 people part of cholera control response (photo)
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/794615225307828225
5.11.2016 – Aljazeera (* A H)
Film: Yemen’s ongoing war keeps children out of school
Hundreds of thousands of school children in Yemen have been unable to start the new term because of the ongoing conflict. The UN says more than two million children are now out of school in the country Al Jazeera’s Emma Hayward reports.
4.11.2016 – UNICEF Yemen (A H)
1.83 million children out of school – 3.584 schools affected (image)
4.11.2016 – Vice News (* A H)
On the brink
“Malnourished children are exceeding the capacity of our centers,” George Khoury, the director of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, told VICE News. “While the conduct of hostility is one factor for deaths and killing, the major factor is not war in Yemen. People are dying silently every day because of malnutrition.”
Across the country, food prices have soared. The average price of sugar has jumped 46.2 percent since before the crisis started, rice has risen 48.4 percent, and barley has increased 69.2 percent, according to international food monitoring agency Food Security Cluster.
“Nutritious food is a dream for people,” said Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, Oxfam’s deputy country director for Yemen. “The situation is getting more and more critical every day.”
War and violence have compounded the spread of malnutrition by making it nearly impossible for Yemen’s health care system to sustain itself. Roughly 600 health facilities in Yemen have been forced to close since the start of the war. The most affected areas include the cities of Sanaa, Hodeidah, and Aden, where key infrastructure has been bombed.
Ammar Darwish, a physician based in Aden, worked 12-hour shifts every five days in the 22nd of May Teaching Hospital and was paid only $100 a month.
“You couldn’t give the patient the treatment that you think is the right one, you couldn’t do lab investigations; there is no abilities within the hospital,” said Darwish, who also struggled to pay for basics like food and transportation.
Undernourishment has also rendered Yemenis extremely vulnerable to disease – By Alexa Liautaud
https://news.vice.com/story/yemen-is-on-the-brink-of-famine
4.11.2016 – AFP (* A H)
Dans l'ouest du Yémen, pas de linceuls pour les morts de faim
„We do not even have blankets to bury our starved children”
«Nous n'avons même pas pu acheter de linceuls pour enterrer ceux qui sont déjà morts de faim»: Futayni Ali résume l'impuissance des habitants d'Al-Tuhayta, une ville portuaire de l'ouest du Yémen où la guerre a apporté la famine.
Le pêcheur observe, impuissant, ses cinq enfants qui souffrent de malnutrition.
«Nous ne pouvons plus rien faire pour nourrir nos enfants affamés», témoigne ce quinquagénaire qui gagnait 30 dollars par jour du produit de sa pêche dans la mer Rouge. Mais «le travail s'est arrêté depuis l'année dernière» lorsque la guerre entre rebelles pro-iraniens et forces progouvernementales s'est aggravée en mars 2015 avec l'intervention militaire d'une coalition menée par l'Arabie saoudite.
Depuis, «nous avons tout vendu, y compris nos lits et nos assiettes», ajoute Futayni Ali, en évoquant une «souffrance» croissante au quotidien et «l'attente de la mort».
Sa désespérance est partagée par de nombreux habitants du Yémen
http://www.lexpress.mu/article/292960/dans-louest-yemen-pas-linceuls-pour-morts-faim
4.11.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini ( AH)
Emirati and local media outlets report about @monareliefye's activities in Hodeidah province in western #Yemen
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/794563471752957952 referring to: Emirati: http://nbdelemirate.com/25406.html and Yemeni: http://www.saba.ye/ar/news445716.htm
4.11.2016 – France 24 (* A H)
Film: Children fighting against goats for food from rubbish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdU6TX76cHU
4.11.2016 – UNICEF Yemen (A H)
Map: Recording eight deaths due to cholera # in Sana'a, Hajja, Amran, Ibb, Aden, and more than 2000 suspected case of the disease, including 67 confirmed cases.
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/794225545278001153
4.11.2016 – AFP (* A H K)
Yemen: War-weary citizens face death from hunger and disease
In the Yemeni coastal town of Al-Tuhayta, 19 months into a devastating civil war, Futayni Ali watches helplessly as his five children complain of hunger. “We couldn’t even buy shrouds to bury those of us who have already died from hunger,” says the fisherman in his 50s, referring to other town residents. Ali used to make USD 30 a day from fishing in the Red Sea before the war between Shiite rebels and loyalists escalated in March 2015 with the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition.
But work stopped for Ali after the coalition started its military campaign including air strikes to push back the rebels, after they overran the capital Sanaa and advanced on other areas.
“We’re waiting for death to arrive. We can no longer do anything to feed our hungry children,” says the desperate father, who lives in the rebel-held western province of Hodeidah.
“We have sold all we had — even the beds we slept on and the plates we ate from.”
The crisis is most visible in Ali’s hometown of Al-Tuhayta, where many have been reduced to skeletons with pale faces, sunken cheeks, and blank eyes.
“Around 5,000 people… could face death from hunger” in the town, warns town official Hassan Handiq.
4.11.2016 – OCHA Yemen (A H)
Head of @OCHAYemen @GeorgekhouryUN :"simple diseases in #Yemen are becoming like sentences to death due to lack of medical treatment".
https://twitter.com/OCHAYemen/status/794508538035011584
1.11.2016 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (** A H)
Yemen: Cholera Outbreak Situation Report No. 2 (as of 1 November 2016)
Cholera is spreading throughout Yemen. 71 cases have been confirmed in 11 governorates; eight people have already died in three governorates; and there are over 2,000 suspected cases across the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 7.6M people live in high risk areas, with projected case estimates up to 76,000 people.
19 months of conflict and import restrictions have crippled the capacity of the national health system to respond.
23 treatment centers have been established in nine governorates; 16 will follow.
The overall cost of the Yemen Integrated Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD)/Cholera outbreak Response Plan stands at $22M.
Cholera cases Source: United Nations and Government
2070 Suspected cases Source: United Nations and Government Confirmed deaths Source: WHO
$22M Funding required Source: United Nations
45% Health facilities functional Source: WHO
Given the dramatic breakdown of the health care system and its infrastructure throughout Yemen, as a result of 19 months of intensified violence and import restrictions and the consequential collapsing economy, the outbreak poses a significant threat to men, women, and children who are already weakened by the depletion of their protection safety nets, livelihood, and ability to access social services. In particular, the 3.1 million people that have had to move in search of security and livelihood are most vulnerable. WHO estimates that 7.6 million people live in high risk areas, with the potential spread of the disease identified to affect between 19,000 and 76,000 people in 15 governorates. Currently, only 45 per cent of health facilities are functional across Yemen and even in those, the capacity to respond to the outbreak is severely compromised by the lack of equipment, medicines, and personnel.
The situation is further exacerbated by inadequate sanitation conditions, especially in cities, where uncollected waste is helping spread the disease. Two-thirds of Yemen’s population does not have access to clean water supply.
Humanitarians are targeting 3.8 million people at risk through surveillance, health promotion, and laboratory and treatment/case management.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-cholera-outbreak-situation-report-no-2-1-november-2016 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA%20Cholera%20Situation%20Report%202-%20For%20Publication%20.pdf = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA%20Cholera%20Situation%20Report%202-%20For%20Publication%20.pdf
and imagine how cholera can spread when looking at this picture:
https://twitter.com/WHOYemen/status/794201539560820736
? – Major Tests (not rated B H)
Population: Poverty and Yemen Essay
Millions of Yemenis are being left to suffer impoverished and malnourished due to the change of government and the food prices dramatically increases push the country towards a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Nearly half the country’s population afflicted and hundreds of thousands of children who face life-threatening levels of malnutrition and starvation, which improves the chances of giving birth to mal nourished children and play a key roles in the country’s extreme maternal mortality rate. Moreover, because the cutting of major oil pipeline, so that prices for basic goods rose fast, this resulted poor families can’t work normally in their daily life, many business closed and unemployment rose. This phenomenon also raises water scarcity and a breakdown of health services makes the situations ever worse. Furthermore, facing the problem of chronic malnutrition resulted to impair cognitive ability and low IQ. This issues lead to the risk of loosing generation of Yemenis – by Katie Wang
https://www.majortests.com/essay/Population-Poverty-And-Yemen-599654.html
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
3.11.2016 – Almasirah TV (A K)
Film: Confiscated weapons of “the hypocrites of aggression” (whatever that means)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkxkHxl3eM
3.11.2016 – Almasirah TV (A K P)
Films: tribes proclaim to fight Saudi aggression (Amran, Mahwit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otqfN5W0NUk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1iYN8JokF8
2.11.2016 – Almasdar Online (* A H)
27children detained in prisons of Yemen’s Houthi armed group: Local NGO
27 children have been detained at prisons of Houthi armed group in Yemen’s capital. Said a human rights NGO on Wednesday.
Sana’a Center for Human rights said in a press release seen by Al-Masdaronline that 27 children have been detained in the Houthi-run central prison in Sana’a some of them for one full year.
The detained children were taken from popular markets, security checkpoints and some from their houses by gunmen of Houthi armed group and forces loyal to Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/85982
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
4.11.2016 – Southern Hirak (* A T)
South Yemen Counter Terrorism Bulletin Issue 4
3rd November 2016
Truck packed with explosives headed for 2nd Military Region Head Quarters in Mukalla was fired on by Hadrami Elite troops preventing casualties, except, of course, for the suicide bomber.
30th October
Security belt forces conducted raids in Al-Mansoora Aden & arrested a group of suspected militants and seize large amounts of explosives.
26th October
IED planted on the side of the road near a checkpoint in Shoqra town on the coast of Abyan was dismantled by security belt forces.
23rd October
Security belt forces conducted raids in Omar Al-Mukhtar neighborhood of Sheikh Othman Aden & arrested a group of suspected militants
19th October
Us Drone Attack Kills eight AQAP militants in Shabwa
18th October
Warplanes targeted suspected AQAP militants in the mountains near Azzan, Shabwa after militants attacked a checkpoint. 6 terrorists killed
16th October
Southern security forces dismantled an IED found in Yafa region near a market in Al-Had district, Lahj, this afternoon.
6th October
Mukalla's Southern Security Forces disarm deadly C4 explosive weighing 1.5kg.
US drone strike targeted a vehicle carrying suspected AQAP militants in Watah area of Shabwa on the road leading to Nisab district. 2 terrorists killed
5th October
The militants attacked the checkpoint at the Al-Hawta/Azzan junction to the west of Azzan, Shabwa. Three AQAP militants reportedly killed.
http://www.southernhirak.org/2016/11/south-yemen-counter-terrorism-bulletin.html
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
5.11.2016 – AFP (A P)
Hundreds protest against UN peace plan in Yemen’s Sanaa
Hundreds of supporters of Yemen’s rebels protested in the capital Sanaa on Saturday against a UN peace roadmap aimed at ending a devastating war between the Shiite insurgents and loyalists.
UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed last month put forward the peace plan aimed at halting fighting between the Huthis and forces loyal to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The Mauritanian diplomat, who arrived in the insurgent-held capital on Thursday for his second visit in a week, has led talks in Yemen since April 2015 and brokered several ceasefires that were often violated and failed to generate momentum towards a peace deal.
“Get out!” protesters shouted outside the hotel where Ould Cheikh Ahmed is staying, holding up photos of the victims of a war.
http://guardian.ng/news/hundreds-protest-against-un-peace-plan-in-yemens-sanaa/
Comment: There were protests in the south as well (see YPR 223). Take notice of (generally Saudi sided) AFP’s strange propaganda wording: “war between the Shiite insurgents and loyalists”.
5.11.2016 – Middle East Monitor (* A P)
Explaining Hadi’s anxiety over the UN’s Yemen peace proposal
All of the previous rounds of peace talks have proven that the three parties do not take part in peace talks because they ultimately seek peace in the interest of the Yemeni people – they enter with the mentality of negotiating for power. When dealing with Yemen, the UN must dramatically change its approach.
Rather than using actors with the most power, who have proven to be seeking a political monopoly, the UN must use alternative actors and must learn to understand and work with the organic socio-political structure of Yemen. Tribal politics must not be undermined in the peace talks and need to be more heavily involved. Local authorities must also be granted a more inclusive role in the national reconciliation process.
Defenders of the UN would argue that negotiating with the most powerful actors is the most efficient way for the UN to achieve a peace deal. This argument, however, is not only redundant because it has been proven that this model does not work for Yemen, but it also reflects a wider problem in the UN’s overall model of conflict resolution. There is no point in attempting to broker a ceasefire if it will be broken within minutes, as has repeatedly occurred in Yemen. Negotiating ceasefires must be inclusive – the UN cannot expect the delegations to implement its ceasefires and wait for the effects to trickle down.
A more palpable model for Yemen would be to completely abandon using Houthi, Saleh and Hadi as delegates in the talks. Instead, it would make more sense to split the delegates geographically, with each region being represented by either a tribal elder or a local governor. Though this would be more expensive, tedious and harder to implement, there is a higher chance of success in the long-term because there would be a nation-wide discussion through local actors that would be more likely to invest time and effort in reaching stability and security – by Diane Alghoul
Comment: Interesting idea, but could it really work? Would those in power (politically, and, still more important, militarily) give way to others? – And, I do not think that the peace plan implies a fixed division of 1/3 1/3 1/3 for each party. There are other actors who also should be involved (Islah and Hirak and local tribes). Anyway, just keeping 1/3 of the government reflects the maximum of power and support Hadi still has in the whole of Yemen; in reality much less. These simply are the facts. If he wants to rule alone for himself – what seems to be his real goal – he can try to get mayor of Aden.
4.11.2016 – Oxford Analytica (not rated A P)
Yemen push may bring talks but not peace
The UN envoy is promoting his roadmap to end the conflict [subscribers only]
https://dailybrief.oxan.com/Analysis/ES214753/Yemen-push-may-bring-talks-but-not-peace
5.11.2016 – Saba Net (A P)
Saleh: Either honorable peace or confrontation until victory
President of the General People's Congress (GPC), Ali Abdullah Saleh, said either honorable peace or continuing confrontation until victory.
"The steadfast Yemeni people in repelling the aggression, no matter how much they suffer or present sacrifices, they are today more ready to comprehensive peace but not surrender," the former president of the republic said in a post in his official Facebook seen by Saba on Saturday.
"We are extending our hand to peace for us, our neighbors and the peoples of the world..not in submission to the will of the enemy or to its dictation, but peace of brave men," Saleh wrote.
He said the new UN-proposed peace roadmap is a "good basis for negotiations, but it should be including ceasing the aggression leading by Saudi Arabia, lifting blockade, stopping financing mercenaries and terrorist groups and pulling out foreign forces."
The GPC president also called on all national parties for unifying efforts to force "the Saudi aggression to respect the will of the Yemeni people, the independency of Yemen and end its aggression war."
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news445811.htm = http://nationalyemen.com/2016/11/05/saleh-either-honorable-peace-or-confrontation-until-victory/
4.11.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Yemen's former president Saleh welcomes U.N. peace proposal
Yemen's powerful ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key ally of the country's dominant Houthi movement, on Friday welcomed a U.N. peace proposal to end the country's 19-month war as a "good basis for negotiations".
Saleh made his comments as U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheickh Ahmed held meetings in the capital Sanaa with Houthi rebels and negotiators representing forces loyal to him.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN12Z1QF = http://news.trust.org/item/20161104133221-q05xf/?source=reOtherNews2
4.11.2016 – AP (A P)
UN Envoy Discusses Peace Plan in Yemen
The United Nations' special envoy for Yemen is discussing a peace plan with both sides in the conflict during his second visit to the capital Sana'a in less than a week.
The U.N. said in a statement Friday that Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived in the capital on Thursday and that he will meet with members of the diplomatic corps and others to discuss ways to alleviate the humanitarian suffering and assess the best ways to address the country's economic crisis.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/envoy-discusses-peace-plan-yemen-43312971
5.11.2016 – Almasdar Online (* A P)
Yemen ambassador in Washington determine 3 objections in Ould Cheikh roadmap
Yemen's ambassador in Washington, Dr. Ahmed Awadh ben Mubarak, identified three points in Ould Cheikh's roadmap seen by the Yemeni Government as contradictions between the new UN settlement deal and the National Dialogue Conference three references.
Ben Mubarak said that the three contradictions are found in the powers given to the vice president, dividing the withdrawals, and relying on Kuwait talks as a ground to any peace deal.
Ambassador ben Mubarak added that the Ould Cheikh's settlement draft "suffers from methodological issues and is not based on the reality nor on all the previous efforts, which formed the political transition in Yemen".
The first point, according to ben Mubarak in an interview for the "Asharq Alawsat", is the change in the presidency. Ben Mubarak said it was totally contrary to all of the Gulf Initiative, outcomes of NDC, and the UN Resolution 2216, and in particular the appointment of a new vice president empowered with all the President's powers.
The second thing the ambassador considers as "unrealistic in the roadmap" is dividing the withdrawals, saying: " it is a mistake to think that the withdrawal from Sana'a will bring about security for the return of state institutions without withdrawal from Hodeida and Taiz at the same time."
http://almasdaronline.com/article/86030
Comment: Look also at following articles. – The base fault and base illusion of these Hadi government representatives is that there would exist any possibility just to draw history back to 2012/2014. After all what has happened, after this terrible war, after interference of Saudi Arabia, there is no way back to the political setting of the 2012/2014 National Dialogue Conference as to the 2012 Gulf Initiative to resettle Yemen after the Saleh regime. – very weak are Mubaraks objections against the change in presidency, his point one. This difficult construction of a vice president given more power just was a try of Ould Cheikh to circumnavigate “president” Hadi’s clamping to his “presidency”. This whole maneuver what not be necessary at all, if Hadi simply gives way to someone else and resigns. It is just bullshit that Hadi’s resignment would be “totally contrary to all of the Gulf Initiative, outcomes of NDC, and the UN Resolution 2216”. No initiative, outcome, resolution ever is depending on a special person in a special office, but just the presidency in general is dealt with, whoever will hold this office, whether Hadi, Saleh, Bahah, al-Houthi, or the man from next door.
4.11.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Yemen’s Legitimate Government Refuses Dialogue with Putschists
Yemen’s legitimate and internationally-backed government led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi reaffirmed its refusal to discuss fundamental national topics concerning the future of the presidency office and the government with putschists.
In a press statement, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Civil Service Abdulaziz Jabbari, following a meeting on Friday with the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew H. Tueller, said that talks about the institution and presidency cannot be accepted, except through the ballot box and popular will, reported the Saudi news state agency SPA.
The Yemeni official’s remarks came, in response to recent peace roadmap presented by the U.N. Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh, which was rejected by the Yemeni government for proving flawed and granting the coup political advantage.
The coup is largely composed with Iran-aligned militiamen and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh loyalists.
Jabbari underscored reinstating state institutions to power, turn in of all illegal arms and showing respect for the Yemeni people’s will that had elected the president.
He also pointed out that the rejection of the presented road map reflects the fact that the initiative is deemed unfair as it aims to legitimize the coup and reward it.
Legitimizing the coup in Yemen is a matter which loudly violates the UN Security Council resolution no. 2216, adopted under Chapter VII and to circumvent it and the Gulf initiative as well, culminating in demolition of the outputs of the national dialogue, which various Yemeni political forces, social and youth groups have taken part.
Comment: This article almost tells the same strange Hadi governments approach to the problem. See my comments to previous and to following article. – Extremely strange, here: “Yemen’s Legitimate Government Refuses Dialogue with Putschists”; “refuses dialogue”: we will not take with you; such a statement would make senseless any further peace talks. What is that?
3.11.2016 – Almasdar Online (A P)
Government says it accepts Ould Cheikh's roadmap in form but rejects content
Ahmed Ben Daghr, the Prime Minister of the Government of Yemen, said that Yemen government accepts the roadmap presented by the UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh, that aims at stopping the war in Yemen in form but rejects it in content.
During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller, the Yemeni PM said that the international community is responsible for implementing the United Nations resolutions, in reference to the UN 2216 Resolution, which the government says Ould Cheikh's roadmap has overstepped it.
The PM stressed that any peace deal outside the three NDC references will be a temporary peace that does not serve the interest of Yemen and the region, adding that it is illogical that the Houthis retain heavy and medium weapons to impose their views on the rest of the Yemenis by force.
"Even if the government accepts the UN envoy's roadmap in form it rejects it in content as it conflicts with national references which were the bases of the National dialogue Conference," said PM Ben Daghr.
"The peace way is clear, and no one can take over power by force and at the same time keeps it. All aspects of coup must end, as well as all grounds that could lead to a coup against the legitimate leadership of the country, whatever leadership it might be."
http://almasdaronline.com/article/86011
Comment: Please, what is the difference between “accept in form” and “reject in content”?? – Daghr’s statement clearly shows: The Hadi government simply wants to turn back history. Saying “any peace deal outside the three NDC references” refers to the 2012/2014 national Dialogue Conference, but there has been a disastrous war later on. The NDC had failed in 2015, greatly due to Hadi’s intrigues, now the NDC cannot be the base for a peace agreement. – UN 2216 Resolution: From April 2015, totally outdated by what happened later. And this resolution, from the start, was totally one-sided, mainly dictated by Saudi and US, giving a total advantage for the Saudis and the Hadi government. Of course the Hadi government always insists in this resolution – base for any peasce only could be a new resolution, which this time must be really neutral. – “that the Houthis retain heavy and medium weapons to impose their views on the rest of the Yemenis by force”, what please?? Others do not “retain heavy and medium weapons to impose their views on the rest of the Yemenis by force”?? What about the Saudi daily airstrikes, are they executed with toothpicks, or what?
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
4.11.2016 – Mrbrary (A P)
Saudi Arabia: Books in a Riyadh coffee shop are confiscated (photos)
https://twitter.com/Mrbrary/status/794523122162601984 and https://twitter.com/Mrbrary/status/794536558883966976 and https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/794717535191134209
cp9 USA
4.11.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Clinton's charity confirms Qatar's $1 million gift while she was at State Dept
The Clinton Foundation has confirmed it accepted a $1 million gift from Qatar while Hillary Clinton was U.S. secretary of state without informing the State Department, even though she had promised to let the agency review new or significantly increased support from foreign governments.
Qatari officials pledged the money in 2011 to mark the 65th birthday of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton's husband, and sought to meet the former U.S. president in person the following year to present him the check, according to an email from a foundation official to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta. The email, among thousands hacked from Podesta's account, was published last month by WikiLeaks.
Clinton signed an ethics agreement governing her family's globe-straddling foundation in order to become secretary of state in 2009. The agreement was designed to increase transparency to avoid appearances that U.S. foreign policy could be swayed by wealthy donors.
If a new foreign government wished to donate or if an existing foreign-government donor, such as Qatar, wanted to "increase materially" its support of ongoing programs, Clinton promised that the State Department's ethics official would be notified and given a chance to raise any concerns.
Clinton Foundation officials last month declined to confirm the Qatar donation – By Jonathan Allen
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-foundation-idUSKBN12Z2SL
and
4.11.2016 – Zerohedge (*A P)
Hillary Accepted Qatar Money Without Notifying Government, While She Was Head Of State Dept
Three weeks ago, when we first reported that Qatar had offered to pay the Clinton Foundation $1 million after a hacked Podesta email disclosed that the ambassador of Qatar “Would like to see WJC [William Jefferson Clinton] ‘for five minutes’ in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC’s birthday in 2011”, we said that in this particular case, the Clinton Foundation may also be in violation of State Department ethics codes.
As we said in early October, while this has been seen by critics of the Clinton Foundation as yet another instance of influence pandering and "pay-to-play", this time there may actually be consequences for the Clinton Foundation: according to the State Department, the previously undisclosed donation suggests there may be an ethics violation by the foundation, even though the State of Qatar is shown on the foundation's website as having given at least that amount. There is no date listed for the donation.
Underscoring the potential flagrant abuse of ethical guidelines if the Qatar payment is confirmed, Hillary Clinton promised the U.S. government that while she served as secretary of state the foundation would not accept new funding from foreign governments without seeking clearance from the State Department's ethics office. The agreement was designed to dispel concerns that U.S. foreign policy could be swayed by donations to the foundation.
Of course, US foreign policy could be very easily swayed if Hillary accepted money and simply did not report it the receipt of such money – by Tyler Durden
http://www.zerohedge.com/node/576566
4.11.2016 – Tag Neu (A P)
US-Truppen könnten für Jemen Kriegsverbrechen verfolgt werden: Gesetzgeber
Ein US-Kongressabgeordneter hat gewarnt, dass amerikanische Truppen für die militärische Unterstützung des saudischen Krieges gegen den Jemen verfolgt werden könnten.
Ted Lieu machte die Warnung in einem Brief an US-Außenminister John Kerry und Verteidigungsminister Ashton Carter, sagte die US-Regierung die Verweigerung der Ziel-Auswahl für saudische Luftangriffe in Jemen nicht entschuldigen Washington von rechtlichen Verantwortlichkeiten.
"Ich finde es zutiefst beunruhigend, dass die USA offenbar keine erweiterte Kenntnis davon haben, welche Ziele von Jets, die von US-Personal mit US-Tankern betankt werden, getroffen werden", sagte Lieu in seinem Brief.
"Die USA scheinen LOAC [Gesetze des bewaffneten Konflikts] und internationale Standards zu verletzen, indem sie sich an solchen direkten militärischen Operationen beteiligen, wenn das US-Personal nicht weiß, ob es sich um zivile oder militärische Ziele handelt, wenn der Verlust von Leben und Eigentum unverhältnismäßig ist oder wenn Die Operation ist sogar militärisch notwendig ", bemerkte er.
"Das US-Personal hat nun rechtliches Risiko, für Kriegsverbrechen untersucht und möglicherweise verfolgt zu werden. Nach dem Völkerrecht kann eine Person schuldig befunden werden, Kriegsverbrechen zu unterstützen und zu bekämpfen. Nach US-Recht kann eine Person schuldig befunden werden, weil sie sich verpflichtet hat, Kriegsverbrechen zu begehen ", schrieb Lieu.
4.11.2016 – The Independent (** A P)
Julian Assange: Isis and Clinton Foundation are both funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar
‘This is the most significant email in the whole collection’
Wealthy officials from Qatar and Saudi Arabia who donated money to Hillary Clinton’s charitable foundation also provided financial support to Isis, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has claimed.
In an extended interview at the Ecuadorian embassy in London with documentary maker John Pilger for RT, Mr Assange said the same Saudi and Qatari officials could be seen to be supporting both the Clinton Foundation – founded by Mrs Clinton’s husband Bill – and funding the activities of Isis.
Mr Pilger asked if Mr Assange believed that “this notorious jihadist group, called Isil or Isis, is created largely with money from people who are giving money to the Clinton Foundation”
“Yes,” Mr Assange replied.
The WikiLeaks founder pointed to an email exchange between presidential hopeful Ms Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta, leaked by his organisation last month, which he believes “is the most significant email in the whole collection”.
In the email sent on August 17 2014, Ms Clinton asked Mr Podesta, who at that time worked under president Barack Obama, to help put “pressure” on Qatar and Saudi Arabia regarding the countries’ alleged support for the terrorist group Isis.
“We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to Isil and other radical Sunni groups in the region,” Ms Clinton wrote.
Mr Assange noted the US government had never acknowledged governments of Middle East nations had financially supported Isis, instead arguing such support was isolated to “some rogue princes using their cut of the oil money to do whatever they like, although the government disapproves”, according to the WikiLeaks founder.
According to the Clinton Foundation, the Saudi Arabian government has donated between $10m (£8m) and $25million since the foundation was set up in 1997. Last month it was reported the government of Qatar offered to donate $1m to the foundation in celebration of Bill Clinton’s birthday – by Gabriel Samuels
and
4.11.2016 – RT (** A P)
'Clinton & ISIS funded by same money' - Assange interview w/John Pilger (Courtesy Darthmouth Films)
In the second excerpt from the John Pilger Special, to be exclusively broadcast by RT on Saturday, courtesy of Dartmouth Films, Julian Assange accuses Hillary Clinton of misleading Americans about the true scope of Islamic State’s support from Washington’s Middle East allies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9xbokQO4M0
Comment: That's fine. "Pay for play", and so far, Hillary did.
4.11.2016 – Dr. Jill Stein (A P)
Just a reminder, see image
4.11.2016 – Boston Globe (* A P)
Yemen’s war, fueled by outsiders, needs peace effort
Some in Congress, including Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, have voted against arms deals in an effort to bring attention to a conflict that most Americans, unfortunately, know little about — unfortunate because regional proxy wars waged in the name of “limited self-defense” have a disturbing history of mutating. In Yemen, there is ample evidence of war crimes — both sides have targeted civilians — and the chaos has allowed extremists to gain a foothold. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and a newly formed ISIS affiliate are growing threats, General Lloyd Austin told a Senate hearing in March.
There’s a powerful precedent for a political solution, which the United States should revisit. In 2013, an initiative in Yemen known as the National Dialogue Conference drew 565 delegates — young people, Houthis, women, and Islamists. According to one senior official, delegates came up with 2,000 recommendations that could have formed the basis for a constitution and elections. As one former senior official put it: “The country wobbled and it muddled, but it functioned.”
Although that effort stalled, the conference should be resurrected. A political solution could guarantee a secure border for the Saudis, perhaps with a demilitarized zone. The Houthis should be recognized as part of the Yemeni social fabric and should be part of some form of shared governing structure. A settled government would allow the massive humanitarian intervention necessary to rebuild the country. That, finally, is what will keep extremist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from making further gains. The United States should flex its moral muscle and push for a political solution. To do otherwise will only allow extremist groups to gain the upper hand — with potentially ominous consequences – Editorial
Comment: Just this does not make sense: “Indeed,there’s growing evidence to support Saudi fears of Iranian involvement. Five weapons shipments, which American officials say were bound for the Houthis, have been seized in the last 18 months”. The “growing evidence” just was a reminder of former incidents: and in the most of these case the US just claimed that the ships headed for Yemen, without having any proof. And even if, what do 5 little ships delivering arms compared to US $ 115 billion, the sum for which the Saudis had bought weapons from the US during Obamas term, not mentioned arms bought from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and many others??
3.11.2016 – Shadowproof (* A P)
US Condemnation Of Yemen Slaughter Backfires As World Blames US
Once called the world’s greatest purveyor of violence by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the US government has made a habit of issuing vapid self-serving and hypocritical statements about humanitarian crises all over the world.
In some cases, a flack standing behind a government podium will give a boilerplate condemnation of the violence and horrors, while in many cases a simple press release will do.
So it was the normal routine on Tuesday, when UN Ambassador Samantha Power issued another typical empty condemnation of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where thousands have been killed and thousands more are starving to death. But the bullshit did not stand long.
Activists immediately pointed out it was the government for which Power was speaking that was leading the slaughter, providing the very weapons the Saudis were using to bomb civilians and damage the food supply.
Saudi Arabia received the weapons as part of one of the biggest arms deals in US history, negotiated by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton completed the historic arms deal despite telling John Podesta in a private email that she knew Saudi Arabia was financing and arming ISIS.
The Saudis appeared quite appreciative of Clinton’s work and even made millions of dollars worth of donations to Hillary Clinton’s favorite charity, the Clinton Foundation.
So, yes, no one is going to take the US condemnations of Saudi war crimes in Yemen seriously when the US is knowingly supplying the weapons used to commit them. Ambassador Power can point her blood-soaked finger at herself – by Dan Wright
https://shadowproof.com/2016/11/03/us-condemnation-yemen-war-backfires-world-blames-us/
3.11.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)
US military members could be prosecuted for war crimes in Yemen
Members of the US armed services could be prosecuted for war crimes for providing midair refueling and other military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the Obama administration has been warned.
In a letter to secretary of state John Kerry and defence secretary Ash Carter, Congressman Ted Lieu, a former air force lawyer, said the administration’s insistence it is not taking part in target selection for coalition sorties – many of which have hit hospitals and schools – does not excuse the US from legal responsibility.
“I find it deeply troubling that the US apparently has no advanced knowledge of what targets will be struck by jets that are refueled by US personnel with US tankers,” Lieu said in his letter. “The US would appear to be violating LOAC [laws of armed conflict] and international standards by engaging in such direct military operations if US personnel are not aware if targets are civilian or military, if the loss of life and property are disproportional, or if the operation is even militarily necessary.”
Lieu, who lectured in the laws of war during his service as an air force judge advocate general (jag) said: “US personnel are now at legal risk of being investigated and potentially prosecuted for committing war crimes. Under international law, a person can be found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes.”
And he said the absence of a tribunal should not mean the laws of armed conflict should be ignored.
“That’s an awful dangerous game to play,” Lieu told the Guardian. “That we’re going to violate the laws of war because no one is going to prosecute us.” He said a future administration might take a different view of the US involvement in Yemen.
A legal advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Tristan Ferraro, has argued that refueling represents one of the elements of support that would make the supporting nation a party to a conflict – byJulian Borger
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/03/us-military-members-war-crimes-yemen
Comment by Haykal Bafana: It may interest you to know US & UK military staff have been signing on Saudi airstrike approval orders since the start of the war.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/794304598521630720
3.11.2016 – Zerohedge (A P)
Leaked Emails Expose Clinton Foundation 'Pay-To-Play' With Oligarch "To Show Support For Ukraine"
Foreign Donors to Clinton Foundation by Ranking:
Ukraine: $10.0 million
England: $8.4
Saudi Arabia: $7.3 million
Germany: $6.7 million
Ireland: $6.5 million
India: $5.0 million
Canada: $4.5 million
Argentina: $2.0 million
United Arab Emirates: $1.4 million
China: $1.3million
Source: Wall Street analysis of Clinton Foundation disclosures – by Tyler Durden
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
4.11.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)
MoD seriously misled me on Saudi arms sales, says Vince Cable
Former minister says he only agreed to missile exports after he was told UK would enhance oversight of targets in Yemen
The Ministry of Defence has been accused of “seriously misleading” a cabinet minister in a desperate effort to get export licences for British-made missiles for use by Saudi Arabia in its controversial bombing campaign in Yemen.
The former business secretary Vince Cable has told the Guardian he was given specific assurances by the MoD about oversight of potential targets – which he deemed an essential safeguard to minimise the risk of civilian casualties in the increasingly bloody conflict.
He says he was told that the UK would enhance its oversight to the level given by the Saudis to the US – which would include involvement in decisions about what was being bombed.
It was on this basis, Cable says, that he agreed to sign licences for a consignment of laser-guided Paveway IV missiles, which he had blocked amid concerns about civilian deaths.
However, the MoD has told the Guardian it has no military personnel in the “targeting chain”, and has denied ever offering Cable such assurances last year.
Cable said: “That is categorically contrary to what I was told was going to happen. If what they are now saying [is] I was not offered oversight on an equivalent level to the Americans, and that this would involve oversight of targeting, then I was seriously misled. That is total fabrication because that was very specifically stated. That is not something that I would have made up.”
A second source who was involved in the discussions at the time has corroborated Cable’s account. “Mr Cable was told we would have oversight of targeting. He wouldn’t have agreed to the licences without this,” the source said.
The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, said: “It is extremely disturbing to discover the sale of arms for use in Yemen was approved by Vince Cable on the basis of a lie, and it provides yet more evidence that limiting civilian casualties in this conflict has been the least of the government’s concerns – by Nick Hopkins
Comment by Judith Brown: Another very important article - very important indeed. This shows what goes on inside the British government over arms sales to Saudi Arabia. But despite the shocking nature of this account, it has not been mentioned on the mainstream media at all.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154877479273641
Comment: Question: the people who are so easily misled do not read the papers? Where do they live?
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1155832587803103
3.11.2016 – World Socialist Web (* A P)
Labour als Kriegspartei und die Rolle der britischen Pseudolinken
Der brutale, seit 18 Monaten wütende Krieg Saudi-Arabiens gegen den Jemen wurde am letzten Mittwoch vom britischen Parlament mit Unterstützung der Abgeordneten der Labour Party befürwortet.
Am letzten Mittwoch hatte Schattenaußenministerin Emily Thornberry im Auftrag von Jeremy Corbyn einen kläglichen Antrag im Parlament eingebracht, der eine „vollständig unabhängige Untersuchung der Uno“ über die „angeblichen Verletzungen des internationalen humanitären Völkerrechts im Konflikt im Jemen“ fordert. Der Antrag schlug vor, die Regierung solle „ihre Unterstützung für die von Saudi-Arabien angeführten Koalitionsstreitkräfte aussetzen bis feststeht, ob sie für derartige Menschenrechtsverletzungen verantwortlich sind“.
Der Antrag wurde mit 283 zu 193 Stimmen abgelehnt. Die Mehrheit der herrschenden Konservativen stimmte gegen den Antrag. Sein Scheitern wurde jedoch durch 102 Labour-Abgeordnete herbeigeführt, die sich entweder der Stimme enthielten oder der Abstimmung fernblieben. Der Antrag wurde mit einer Mehrheit von nur 90 Stimmen abgelehnt, was bedeutet, dass der Antrag angenommen worden wäre, wenn die 102 Labour-Abgeordneten für Corbyn gestimmt hätten Das sind fast die Hälfte der der Unterhausabgeordneten von Labour.
Die Abstimmung gab der willkürlichen Bombardierung der Zivilbevölkerung des ärmsten Landes des Nahen Ostens durch Saudi-Arabien grünes Licht.
Peter Oborne, der Mitherausgeber der rechten Zeitschrift Spectatorveröffentlichte auf der Web-Seite des Middle East Eye einen Artikel über die Bedeutung der Abstimmung. Er schrieb, Corbyn habe die Debatte zu einem Zeitpunkt ausgelöst, als „Großbritannien sich an Massenmord mitschuldig gemacht hat, weil unsere saudischen Verbündeten den Jemen aus der Luft bombardierten, dabei Tausende unschuldige Menschen abgeschlachtet haben und die humanitäre Katastrophe noch weiter vergrößert haben“.
Oborne bezeichnete die Tatsache, dass die Labour-Abgeordneten „dem Fraktionszwang in Fragen der britischen Politik gegenüber dem Jemen“ nicht gefolgt sind, als „Illoyalität von epischem Ausmaß“.
Er schloss daraus: „Die Abstimmung über den Jemen verdeutlicht etwas, das schon seit der Abstimmung von 18. März 2003 zur Unterstützung der Invasion des Iraks erkennbar ist: Die Partei des Kriegs besitzt eine Mehrheit im Unterhaus“ und sie umfasse „die gesamte Konservative Partei und den Blair-Flügel von Labour“.
Oborne stellt weiter fest, dass die Fraktion, die für den Krieg stimmte, den größten Teil der Führungskräfte umfasst, der an dem jüngsten Putsch zur Absetzung Corbyns beteiligt war – von Robert Stevens
https://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2016/11/03/labo-n03.html
Kommentar: Bericht auf Deutsch über die Vorgänge im britischen Unterhaus. Im weiteren wird in diesem Artikel Corbyn „von links“ heftig kritisiert – dem muss man ja nun nicht zustimmen.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
4.11.2016 – Bonboing Net (* B P)
UAE surveillance contractor is recruiting an army of foreign hackers to break into its citizens' devices
The world's most sophisticated security experts have been bombarded with recruiting offers from UAE-based company Darkmatter, which bills itself as a major state security contractor -- but people who've taken the bait say they were then told that they were being hired to weaponize huge arsenals of zero-day vulnerabilities so that the UAE can subject its own population to fine-grained, continuous surveillance – by Cory Doctorow
http://boingboing.net/2016/10/24/uae-surveillance-contractor-is.html
2.11.2016 – Worldwide Movement for Human Rights (A P)
BAHRAIN: Court postpones verdict for human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, facing up to 15 years in jail
Bahrain’s most prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab remains jailed for his alleged tweets and his human rights activities in violation of his right to freedom of expression after a judge postponed his trial on 31 October 2016 but did not free him on bail despite his illness.
Following a joint trial observation mission, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), FIDH & the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Front Line Defenders call for him to be freed immediately and unconditionally.
cp13 Finanzen / Finances
4.11.2016 – Aljazeera (* A E H)
Government workers go unpaid as Yemen war rages
The fighting in Yemen has led to chronic shortages of food, medicine and money. Public servants in Sanaa haven't been paid for the past two months. Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom reports. http://video.aljazeera.com/channels/eng/videos/government-workers-go-unpaid-as-yemen-war-rages/5196519089001;jsessionid=D19A333549D42585A5390315E55F6991
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
4.11.2016 – Site Intel Group (A T)
IS Division in Yemen Claims Killing Five Houthis Amidst Clashes in Qifa
Qifa area. In a communique issued on November 4, 2016, the group reported that the Houthis attacked IS fighters’ positions in Qifa, sparking a clash between the two sides [subscribers only]
https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/is-division-in-yemen-claims-killing-five-houthis-amidst-clashes-in-qifa.html and also https://twitter.com/Terror_Monitor/status/794877247605776384
Comment: In Qifa region in Al Bayda province there occurs fighting between the Houthis and their allies against pro-Hadi forces: ISIS fighting side to side with hadi troops and militia against the Houthis there?
4.11.2016 – Elisabeth Kendall (A T)
#alQaeda #Yemen posts photos of its outreach truck touring Ta'iz, containing Qur'ans, lectures, songs, films, books, CDs.
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/794199188179451904
Comment: That’s in Hadi’s “freed” part of Yemen. Congratulations.
Comment by Judith Brown: Here we have a photo of AQAP trucks in Taiz. Taiz is suffering horribly and on one side there is Saudi Arabia, Al Qaeda, Islah, and other Salafist militias - and on the other the Houthi-Saleh alliance. I am sad that Yemen is so divided but many people of Taiz are polarised towards Sunni exceptionalism and compromise is not on their agenda and that is why it is so hard to find compromise here. It is in a key location so both sides put all their efforts which means it is a military stalemate that never ends. All sides are behaving horribly in Taiz and civilians are suffering inherent ongoing brutal violence.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154878779353641
3.11.2016 – Reuters (* A T)
Boat that attacked gas tanker off Yemen carried explosives: shipowner
Unknown assailants who opened fire on a gas tanker last week off the coast of Yemen were also carrying a "substantial amount of explosives", the vessel's owner said on Thursday, and a maritime source said it may have been an attempted suicide attack.
Security experts said the new details of the Oct. 25 incident would heighten concerns for shipping in the narrow Bab al-Mandab waterway at the entrance to the Red Sea, a major choke point in the world oil trade.
In an initial statement last week, shipping group Teekay said its LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker Galicia Spirit had "experienced a suspected piracy attack" but no one had managed to board it.
In an update on Thursday, Teekay said it had now conducted an investigation with security experts. This indicated that "the skiff (small boat) that engaged in an attack on the Galicia Spirit using small arms was also carrying a substantial amount of explosives".
It added: "While the intentions of the attackers and the use of the explosives is unknown, the investigation findings indicate that the explosives would have been sufficient to have caused significant damage to the vessel.
"It appears, however, that when the skiff was approximately 20m (meters) from the vessel, the explosives detonated, destroying the skiff and ending the attack."
No details have emerged of how many attackers there were, or what happened to them, but maritime sources said the information to date indicated this was probably not piracy.
"If the circumstances are as described, it was an ambitious attempt carried out by people who didn’t expect to survive," said one source with detailed knowledge of the area – By Jonathan Saul
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-shipping-attack-idUSKBN12Y2L3
cp15 Propaganda
5.11.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Iran admits to arming Houthis with missiles
Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said Friday that Houthi missile units pounded the Yemeni forces’ military positions in the capital city of Sanaa on Friday with the ballistic “Zalzal-2” missile.
It added that forces’ gathering in the center of the Malah region of Sanaa came under attack by the ballistic Zalzal-2 missile, according to the news agency’s army source.
“It was a precision missile strike and [it] hit the target,” the source said without expanding on the damage and toll inflicted.
The agency quoted “a prominent analyst” Seyed Sadeq al-Sharafi as saying that militias “are developing their missile power to target Riyadh and Dubai in the future, after they increased their missile and military capabilities and expanded the range of their military operations against the enemies.”
The Zelzal-2 is an Iranian developed long-range unguided rocket in use by the Iranian military, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Previously, Iran’s foreign minister repeatedly rejected the reports confirming that his country supplied the Shiite militias in Yemen with missiles.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying these are “baseless accusations.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/11/05/Iran-admits-to-arming-Houthis-.html
and
5.11.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Iran Owns up to Arming Coup Militias in Yemen
Fars News Agency, a “semi-official” news agency of the Government of Iran, reported Houthis fighters bombarding national army positions with Iran-manufactured rocket artillery, despite Iran top officials refuting accusations on directly interfering in Yemen’s civil conflict.
Iran’s incumbent Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had denied any claims on his country arming the Houthi-led coup in Yemen.
Many precedents have revealed the extent of Iranian involvement in Yemen. The Saudi-led Arab coalition had exposed numerous warehouses stockpiling Iran-made arms in Yemen, in addition to intercepting frequent weapons shipments sent to coup militiamen.
Washington announced last week that at least four Iranian arms shipments were apprehended en route to Yemen. The confiscated cargo reportedly included state-of-the-art arms.
http://english.aawsat.com/2016/11/article55361518/iran-owns-arming-coup-militias-yemen
Comment: That seems to be quite a weak evidence – Yemenis claim to rebuild these missiles now. So what? – The Houthis might have a lot of weapons (in “numerous warehouses”) – it stays an open question where they actually come from and how long they already are in the country. – “intercepting frequent weapons shipments”: which is told that it were four. And, as reported otherwise, in most of these 4 cases it actually stays doubtful whre the weapons really should go to. US- and Saudi propaganda quickly stated Yemeni Houthis, although there would be strong evidence for Somalia as well. See more in cp1, article of The Real News.
4.11.2016 – Saudi Gazette (A P)
Houthis and Saleh responsible for Yemen war
This fast and brave confession made by the Coalition was a rare act in time of war, and it shows that the Coalition respects and abides by the rules of engagement, which protect civilians. This admission of fault clearly shows the difference between countries and militias. The Kingdom and its allies that form the Coalition love the Yemeni people and Yemen and never wanted this war in the first place.
However, the Houthis and Saleh opposed the legitimate government in Yemen and breached all of the agreements they had signed to solve this political dilemma. They showed no respect for the Gulf Initiative or the recommendations of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference. What is worse, they planned to hand over the Yemeni people and the country to Iran’s mullah regime, which does not care about Yemen and is anxious to see more bloodshed so that the Arab world is torn apart.
We all know that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz ordered that relief efforts in Yemen be intensified. At the beginning of the war, the King ordered the establishment of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to ensure constant and regular supplies of aid to Yemen.
Although the Coalition was not directly responsible for the air raid, it admitted its responsibility. Have the Houthis and Saleh ever admitted the crimes that they have committed? They have bombed hospitals, demolished mosques and stolen relief provided by the Kingdom for the displaced. They have even prevented aid from being delivered to the needy and the most badly hit areas to which the legitimate government could not provide aid.
The Houthis and Saleh’s group have bombed residential areas and killed civilians on a daily basis near the Saudi-Yemeni border. Dozens of innocent Saudis have been killed needlessly and senselessly and have lost their property.
Even after the war broke out, the Coalition used all diplomatic means to stop it. One of the attempts was the UN Security Council resolution number 2216 issued on April 14, 2015.
Things can go wrong during wars to the extent that even friendly forces may suffer from mistakes. This is known as friendly fire.
I am sure that the Yemeni people realize that the Saudi leadership and people love Yemen and its people. The Kingdom offered condolences to the victims’ families – by Muhammad Yehya Al-Faal.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/opinion/houthis-saleh-responsible-yemen-war/
Comment: LOL.
4.11.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Asiri: Coalition Protects Yemen’s Legitimate Government
Arab Coalition and Saudi Defense Ministry Spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri said on Thursday that the coalition continues to support a political solution to the crisis in Yemen.
During a news conference held at the Saudi Embassy in London, Asiri said that the Arab Coalition was currently working to achieve two main goals, represented by reaching a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Yemen, through the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and protecting the country’s population, legitimate government and army.
He added that the Arab Coalition forces were assisting the Yemeni army by providing necessary support and training.
Asked by Asharq al-Awsat newspaper about the recruitment of children and women, the Arab Coalition spokesperson said that the Yemeni legitimate government has informed international organizations about the recruitment of children and women by Houthi rebels, adding that the United Nations has condemned such acts, describing them as violations to the International Law.
For his part, Maher HADRAOUI, Executive Director of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRELIEF), said that Houthi militias were hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged population.
He added that KSRELIEF was facing two main obstacles in Yemen, represented by constraints imposed by Houthi rebels on the delivery of relief assistance, and the hard geographic conditions in the country.
Comment: The Houthi recruitment of children still is a great subject for propaganda. Well, actually both sides do that… And in many cases now, recruitment of men and children is the only way to keep a family alive … for which reason economy (and many jobs) is destroyed? Did anyone hear of relentless bombing factories, farms, companies, markets, infrastructure by Saudi air raids? – Yes, Houthis seem to have hampered the delivery of humanitarian aid – there is a case at Taiz. Elsewhere? This is little more than propaganda. Apart from one time, the Saudis and their ominous KSRELIEF did not bring any aid to Houthi-held north, only to the south of Yemen and to Taiz.
3.11.2016 – BBC (* A P)
Saudi Arabia rejects responsibility for Yemen's woes
To put their side of the story forward, the Saudis have sent their top coalition Spokesman, Maj Gen Ahmed Al-Assiri to London, accompanied by a senior Yemeni foreign ministry official and a representative from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief effort.
In an interview with BBC News Gen Al-Assiri was at pains to point out that:
Saudi Arabia and its allies did not start the war in March 2015. It began six months earlier in September 2014 when the Houthis marched on the capital and occupied it, arrested ministers, dismantled parliament, imprisoned the president and then attacked his villa with a MiG-29 jet
Saudi Arabia and 10 other countries responded to a request for help by the UN-recognised Yemeni government by launching Operation Decisive Storm with the air campaign on 26 March 2015
The Saudi-led coalition does not oppose the Houthis being in government. But it needs them to transform from an armed militia to a political party. Saudi Arabia "will not tolerate an armed militia on its borders, backed by a foreign power" (Iran)
The Houthis have access to a stockpile of up to 300 ballistic Scud missiles, 36 of which have been intercepted by Saudi Patriot batteries after being launched into Saudi airspace. The most recent one landed near Mecca
The Houthis must hand back the weaponry they "stole" from Yemeni government armouries. They have "hijacked the country and are killing people every day in the streets"
If the UN-recognised Yemeni government no longer needs the support of the Saudi-led coalition then "we will stop"
Saudi Arabia will not allow Yemen to deteriorate into "a failed state like Libya"
The coalition cannot achieve its political goals without first degrading the Houthi militias' capabilities on the ground
What the Saudi-led coalition is doing in Yemen - trying to liberate the population that has been taken over - is no different from what the US-led coalition is doing in Raqqa or the Iraqi government in Mosul
The general's words very much reflect the way the Saudi leadership views the Yemen conflict – by Frank gardner (with film of interview)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37867705
Comment: There have been at least three interviews given by Asiri in London, repeating the standard Saudi propaganda, which just has very little to do with reality. See below the second, the third by CNN was already presented in YPE 223 (http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/03/intv-amanpour-saudi-general-yemen-starvation-ahmed-asiri.cnn/video/playlists/amanpour/ and comments at YPR 223, cp15).
And on the CNN interview, see Al Arabiya again publishing Asiris statement:
4.11.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Asiri reacts to CNN photo of starvation in Yemen
Arab coalition spokesman Ahmed Asiri stressed during an interview with CNN that the bloc’s role was to protect the lives of Yemeni people, as he reacted to a photo presented by Christiane Amanpour portraying the starvation being experienced in Yemen.
Amanpour, the Chief International Correspondent for CNN, asked General Assiri if he had seen the picture, which she said showed an 18-year-old woman on the brink of starvation in Yemen.
Amanpour suggested both sides of the Yemeni war were probably behind blockade-like conditions that prevented aid from reaching those in need.
General Asiri responded, explaining the photo had been taken in Taiz, a city besieged by Houthi militias.
“I'm sure this photo was taken in Taiz, which is a siege by Houthi. Maybe people forget Taiz today,” he told CNN.
“So this is why we move in Yemen, to avoid this picture to come. To give the population in Yemen their right to be treated well, having their rights.”
Asiri added that the humanitarian situation in Yemen was the responsibility of the international community, not just those countries in the coalition.
“This is the international community’s responsibility. If we do not resolve the problem of Yemen, all of us are responsible. We asked all the (INAUDIBLE) to go to Taiz. And, today, in your camera I will say, the one who want to go to Taiz to solve those kinds of picture, tomorrow we receive him. Where they are from Yemen? Unfortunately, they are a distance from Yemen.”
Comment: the photo was taken at Hodeida, exactly spoken at Thawra Hospital at that place. This region is the one which most severely is affected by starvation, for two reasons: a) Saudi blockade and destruction of infrastructure (as all of Northern Yemen), b) Saudi bombing has stopped all possibilities for earning livelihood; the population at the coast are fishermen; they no more can do any fishing as the Saudis relentless have bombed fisherboat. – By just lying that this photo is from Taiz Asiri takes it to blame the Houhtis – as he would take locusts, hurricans and who knows what for blaming the Houthis. This man is telling fancy stories when he opens his mouth for other things than eating and teeth cleaning.
3.11.2016 – ITV (* A P)
Saudi Arabia denies using British cluster bombs in the war in Yemen
Saudi Arabia today denied using British cluster bombs in the war in Yemen claiming weapons seen by ITV News were relics from a previous conflict.
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, who have been fighting a bitter war in neighbouring Yemen for 18 months, admitted using British cluster bombs in 2009 but said claims they were used in the current conflict were "manipulation."
Last week ITV News broadcast photographs taken by a Yemeni rebel fighter showing British-made cluster bomblets which he claimed were dropped on a village in the north of Yemen in March this year.
"This is manipulation. This is what we face in the media, people manipulate these kinds of photos. if we used it we would say we used it...why would we deny it?"
On the detail contained in the Amnesty report Major General Asseri added: "Listen, do you trust this kind of report ?
The problem is these kinds of organisation mix things. We will not argue with Amnesty, we know the way they work and again they are not on the ground, this is important, they are reporting from a distance."
In fact the Amnesty researcher who compiled the report did visit Yemen.
Major General Asseri claimed Saudi stocks of British cluster bombs were obsolete and had been destroyed and that their Tornado strike aircraft were not configured to drop the weapons in any case.
He admitted the British government had expressed concern: "The British are our partners, our allies, we have a long history, this kind of dealing is normal between two countries who are working together for a long time...they gave us their concern and we assured them that it wasn't used and it will not be used." – by Paul Tyson (with film of interview)
Comment: The relentless lies of this man are really hard to stand. Please look at Tyson’s report from last week linked in this article.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
5.11.2016 – MbKS15 (A K PS)
#Saudi Air Force F-15S Strike Eagles while conducting night aerial refueling from an #RSAF K-3 tanker (photos)
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/794891140214521856
Comment: Saudi fighter jets are refueled by US tankers in a great scale. This tweet shows that the Saudis also have tankers by themselves. K 3 are older British planes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10. Once again, thank you, UK, for this support to bomb Yemen.
5.11.2016 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (A K)
Saudi jets scream through sky, drop massive sound bombs on Sana'a, while our kids going to school. Why? Bcz Saudi Kingdom of Terror.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/794820286269030401
4.11.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
4-11-2016
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=718033548347013&id=551288185021551
4.11.2016 – Yemen Today TV (A K PH)
Films: Saudi aggression raids destroying homes and fuel stations in Sahar District Saada 04-11 – 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-QziPPPFB4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8vshKKNiyI
4.11.2016 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
3-11-2016
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=717519161731785&id=551288185021551
2.11.2016 – Alma Offeran (A K)
Film: This man cries while searching for his son's body under the rubble of the prison which was destroyed by Saudi jets killing more than 60 people in Al-Zaidia, Al-Hudaida.
https://www.facebook.com/100003264197140/videos/vb.100003264197140/1082127841906012/?type=2&theater = https://www.facebook.com/groups/tribunalgroup4Yemen/permalink/1123871790982957/
4.11.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
New WAR CRIME: Major food shipment attacked by Saudi airstrikes in #Yemen region Saada while millions sleep hungry in war torn Yemen. (photos)
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/794544897445359616
Comment: Refers to a raid already reported in YPR 223.
Comment by Judith Brown: The food chain seems to be particularly attached by Saudi war planes and here we have photos of a convoy of aid that has been bombed. Why do we not get this in the British media.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154878787313641
4.11.2016 – Shapban (A K)
Photo: #Yemen-i family escaped to mountain running from #Saudi airstrikes
https://twitter.com/shapban/status/794518649243627520
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
5.11.2016 – MbKS15 (A K PS)
This morning #UAE Pantsir-S1 Air Defense System shot down a #Houthi missile fired towards Ma'rib, #Yemen
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/794856317898948608
4.11.2016 – Almasdar (A K PH)
Yemeni Civilians Used as Human Shield by Saudi-Backed Forces in Ma'rib
A commander of popular forces in Yemen warned that the Saudi mercenaries are using the Yemeni civilians in Ma'rib province as human shield.
"After heavy defeats in Ma'rib, the Saudi mercenaries that are part of the Riyadh-led coalition forces have stationed innocent civilians near their military bases to be used as human shields against the Yemeni army and popular committees' attacks," Ali al-Houthi told FNA on Friday.
Noting that the Yemeni forces have started operations to rescue the civilians, he said, "During the fierce clashes which continued until noon, 21 Saudi mercenaries were killed and tens of others were wounded."
He also said that 8 Yemeni army forces were killed in the clashes.
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1881206
5.11.2016 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Coalition Fighters and government forces thwart Houthis and Saleh forces attack in Shabwa
A military source in Bayhan area of Shabwa Governorate, southeastern Yemen, said that the fighters of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition and the government forces have thwarted an attack for the Houthis and Saleh's forces while trying to advance in the area.
The source told Almasdaronline that 12 gunmen from the Houthi group and Saleh's forces were killed and others were injured in the confrontations in Asilan and Bayhan areas.
The Coalition fighters launched more than a dozen air strikes to fend off the Houthis advancement, the source added. The military source noted that the air strikes and the artillery of the government forces destroyed a truck carrying weapons and artilleries for the Houthis and Saleh forces, and thwarted a scheme of the Houthis to advance in the Popular Resistance sites.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/86031
and, the other side reporting from an other place:
4.11.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Missile forces attack Saudi locations in Jizan
The missile forces of the army and popular committees demolished on Friday groupings for Saudi soldiers and targeted a number of military locations in Jizan.
A military source told Saba that the missile forces targeted a grouping for the Saudi army in Samtah Military Camp causing a number of injuries in their lines.
The source also pointed out that the army and popular committees targeted Saudi groupings in Al-Rahah village, achieving direct targets amongst the enemy soldiers.
It also said that the army and popular committees demolished other military locations in Al-Rumail and Al-Dukhan using Katyusha rockets.
The source also pointed out that the army and popular committees targeted Saudi grouping in Al-Qa’im Zabid location, affirming that a number of the Saudi soldiers were killed in Al-Kar military location in Jizan
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news445788.htm
4.11.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)
Yemeni Army Attacks Saudi Forces in Sana'a with Ballistic Zelzal-2 Missiles
The Saudi forces' gathering center in Malah region of Sana'a came under attack by the Yemeni army's home-made ballistic Zalzal-2 missile, an army source said today.
"It was a precision missile strike and hit the target," the source said without explaining about the damage and toll inflicted on the Saudi forces.
The development came after a prominent analyst said that the Yemeni forces are developing their missile power to target Riyadh and Dubai in the future.
"The Yemeni forces have increased their missile and military capabilities and expanded the range of their military operations against the enemies," Seyed Sadeq al-Sharafi said.
Noting that continued war in Yemen will further complicate the situation of the Saudis and make the Yemeni forces stronger, he said, "The range of the army and popular committees' missiles has increased to hit targets in Jeddah, meaning that they are likely to hit targets in Riyadh and beyond as well as Dubai and other sensitive regions soon in future."
Sharafi expressed confidence that the balance of power is changing and the Saudis' failure is imminent, and said, "The Saudis are moving towards full collapse, while the Yemeni nation is going towards victory and gaining more power in the military and defense fields."
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950814000595
4.11.2016 – Yemen Today TV / Almasirah TV(A K PH)
Films: The martyrdom and wounding five, including four children of a shell fired by mercenary aggression on a residential neighborhood in the lounge Taiz 04-11 – 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jp3UnkZx60 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sCC2pGhwUQ
4.11.2016 – Almanar (A K PH)
Yemeni forces reveal capturing group of Saudi mercenaries
Marking a new development, the Yemeni army and Popular committees revealed capturing a group of Saudi soldiers while attacking their posts in KSA in the past months.
The military media posted a video in which four of the Saudi hostages named Moussa Ali Awaji, Hussein Harithi, Badr Atbi and Mohammad Solan appear to say that they were captured by the Yemeni army and Popular committees in various military sites KSA.
http://english.almanar.com.lb/89538 = http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/11/05/789860/story.html
4.11.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee / Almasirah TV (A K PH)
Yemen army media Showed new five Saudi war prisoners Recently arrested in different places south KSA. (1; also 2–5)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/794591038866341888 and https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/794674942155563008 and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F71GDuOuKuU
4.11.2016 – MbKS15 (A K PS)
Photo: During their 1st year of deployment to Ma'rib (#Yemen), the #UAE Patriot batteries have destroyed/intercepted more than 70x #Houthi missiles
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/794481639967641600
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
2.11.2016 – Spiegel Online via Murad Subay (* B K)
Wir sterben still.
Der Streetart-Künstler und Aktivist Murad Subay, 29, über sein Leben im Krieg.
https://muradsubay.com/2016/11/02/00989/
01.2014 – Pixelchrome Phototours
Socotra and Yemen: Photos
http://www.pixelchromephototours.com/socotra--yemen-january-2014.html#.WB35-fnhCUl
Comment: Just to show how beautiful Yemen is.
Vorige / Previous:
http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenPressReader223.pdf
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-222: / Yemen War Mosaic 1-222:
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 / and http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
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