Marib: Hell on earth – Infant deformities – Hunger crisis – Yemen war and international politics – Houthis and Iran – Saudis aerial war and war crimes – Women in Yemen – Yemen’s banking problems – Third anniversary of Saudi aerial war against Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
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
25.3.2017 – 3rd World (** A H)
The Trip to hell on earth
Our humanitarian NGO Mona Relief planned a short trip to Hareeb al-Qaramish district in Marib Governorate, where 10,710 people (including 6,426 children) live. The purpose of the trip was to conduct a survey to assess what relief aid the people there would need. Located in eastern Yemen, Hareeb al-Qaramish district is 72 Kilometers from the capital Sana’a. The situation there is horrifying beyond description. We noted on this trip that more than 200 people are in dire need of basic amenities.
Intense battles are being fought in the district itself between the two opposing sides in Yemen. Due to the conflict there, hundreds of families have been forced to flee from the luxury of their homes to caves in the countryside, to save their families from being caught under the crossfire from both the warring sides.
During our visit to the district, we met many families living in the same situation because they have no other options. They had the choice to live in the caves without any amenities or die in a crossfire of bombings and get buried in the rubble of their houses.
Abdul Qader, a father of eight children told us about his daily sufferings in the cave that he along with his family chose to move to for safety. “Ten months ago, I came to this place leaving behind my own house after it was hit by a mortar shell and half of my house was destroyed” he said. He added, “thank God! I still alive and none of my family’s members were injured.’’
“Looking for a suitable place to live in is hard especially when destiny puts your life at risk and you are left with no choices,’’ Saleh commented. He is a farmer and used to live near the al-Saleb mountain, where clashes are going on presently. He has two wives and twelve children. Now he lives with them in a cave that lack any basic amenities.
During our visit, I entered the cave of Abdul Qader trying to find some food in his new house, I mean cave. But I couldn’t find any. When I asked him how do you get the food for your family, his answer shocked me. “Don’t say me how, as you see yourself. We have no food, we are just trying to stay alive by eating one meal every two days’’.
I had seen a truck loading wheat while on the road to Hareeb al-Qaramish months ago. It was rumored to have been hit by an airstrike during its trip to the area. I didn’t believe it then but I later saw broken parts of the a truck myself. While on our way back to Sana’a, fighter jets of the Saudi-coalition hit a vehicle on the road but thank God we weren’t hit – By Fatik al-Rodaini, Founder of Humanitarian NGO in Yemen- ‘Mona Relief’(with photos and film)
https://3rdworld.in/2017/03/25/trip-to-hell-on-earth/ and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIHA42Euefs
24.3.2017 – RT (** A K)
Infant deformities in Yemen linked to Saudi-led bombardment (GRAPHIC VIDEO)
Doctors in Yemen have reported an increase in children born with deformities as a result of the two-year war that has left the country on the brink of famine.
The al-Sabeen Maternity and Child Hospital in the capital, Sana’a, has seen an increase in babies being born prematurely and with deformities, which doctors say is a result of the war and the Saudi-led coalition’s bombs.
“These cases of deformities have drastically increased over the past two years, due to the assault on Yemen, the rockets and the cluster bombs,” Doctor Abdulkarim al-Najjar said Wednesday.
Video footage taken from al-Sabeen hospital shows babies brought in from Al-Hudaydah coastal area, which has been targeted by airstrikes. The children have abnormally large skulls and painful-looking swollen heads covered in veins.
Al-Najjar described seeing “unprecedented” deformities in “brains, backbones, throats, digestive and nervous systems,” in babies born in Yemen.
Parents are struggling to get their children the treatment they need. "We urge the organizations and the good-doers assisting us with this case, since we have not found anyone to treat him [his son] in al-Sabeen Hospital due to the lack of means and the wars and the full blockade," one father said.
Doctors in Yemen have been warning about the rise in stillbirths and deformities as a result of the war for some time.
“Fetal malformations could occur due to several reasons, including mothers’ diseases and subsequent viral infection of the faction and/or poor nutrition,” Wafa al-Mamari, an obstetrician at al-Rahma Hospital in northern Sana’a, told Press TV in July.
“The strange thing is that the rate of fetal abnormalities is growing and doctors cannot explain the causes, meaning that the phenomenon could be attributed to war and ordinances, given the fact that a great proportion of women with deformed fetuses hailed from bombarded areas in the provinces of Sa’adah, Sana’a, Ta’izz and Hudaydah,” she said.
https://www.rt.com/news/382224-yemen-deformed-babies-saudi/ and Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGm-tn0_0fM
Remark: Frühere Berichte in YPR 284, cp1 / Earlier reporting look at YPR 284, cp1. More photos https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1653815668247754 = https://www.facebook.com/nafisa.alharazi/posts/10155103540782790
24.3.2017 – The Nation (** B P)
Famine Could Kill 20 Million in Africa and Yemen—Why the Deafening Silence?
As with the threat to kick 24 million off health care here, unchecked power is bringing humanity to a grave crisis.
It has been remarkable to note public responses to these reports. Plenty has been said and written about soon-to-be-uninsured Americans, as plenty should be. I question how many of us intend to do anything about it, and I will return to this point in a sec. When the extent of the breathtaking humanitarian crisis was breaking last month, The New York Times published a curtain-raiser on it, and good for the Times. After O’Brien’s stunning presentation, I think I heard a pin drop on First Avenue just north of the Secretariat.
Do we make no connection between these two developments? The two stories just outlined concern the same thing. In a single word, they are about power. They are about people who have power, how they exercise it, and what happens to those who do not. Power is nakedly in evidence in all four of the countries on O’Brien’s list: These crises result from one or another kind of armed conflict. Do we entertain the fantasy—or delusion, more likely—that another manifestation of power does not animate America’s ridiculous, irrational discourse on health care, claiming millions of victims with the same spotless indifference? Do we think one thing obtains beyond our borders and something else within them?
Or—a painful question to pose—are most Americans dimly aware, somewhere within themselves, that they are dependent on—indeed, lent a hand in creating—the world order that has produced the crisis of 20 million? More than this, I cannot escape wondering if the same line of inquiry, yet more uncomfortably, applies in the case of the millions of Americans that could soon join the 29 million—yes, count them—already deprived of health care, ACA or no. How many of “us,” the properly covered, plan to act in behalf of those at risk? I have briefly noted two recent news stories, but to achieve a true understanding of either, they must be taken as one. Written and read that way, one can recognize that irresponsibly wielded power now brings humanity to an epochal crisis, and Americans are not immune from its consequences. I take this to be the case. Let me make an attempt, and if I get partway up the mountain it will be better than nothing. It is no longer a question of two worlds meeting, for the simple reason that there is only one. The wretched of the earth are not over there, or beyond our shores, and we, the more fortunate, safe and sound over here. That “stupendous delusion”—Baldwin’s phrase—is at last worn out. A lot of people will continue entertaining it, no doubt, but the cost of doing so, from here on out, will be unforgivably high – by Patrick Lawrence
23.3.2017 – Politico (** B K P)
The Forgotten War: The Conflict in Yemen and the Crisis of Global Leadership
The civil war in Yemen, although one of the most pressing humanitarian situations, with over 80% of the population in some need of aid, has received little international attention, both from the media and from politicians. As Yemen crumbles, the world looks away. The question is, why?
As the poorest country in the Middle East and a historically isolated society, Yemen is often viewed solely through the prism of counterterrorism. Thus, it has been easy, and even convenient, for the West to dismiss Yemen’s internal politics. The Pentagon authorized support for Operation Decisive Storm, and later Operation Renewal of Hope, without fully considering the implications.
The situation in Yemen isn’t getting the attention it deserves, explained NYU Professor Michael Posner, who worked in the State Department during the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013, in an interview with The Politic.
“The region is overwhelmed,” he said. “Those focusing on Middle Eastern strategy are overwhelmed.”
This disoriented policy planning coupled with the US’ tendency to support, often blindly, the actions of Saudi Arabia has proved consequential. The international community’s negligence towards Yemen has led the country to be torn apart by a proxy war waged by a state with questionable motives and expertise.
Saudi Arabia began Operation Decisive Storm under the claim that it was a “war of necessity, not of choice.” The Gulf Cooperation Council saw in Yemen the possibility of a full state collapse and launched the military intervention to re-establish Hadi’s authority, eliminate Saleh’s influence, and demilitarize the Houthi fighters. But the Saudi-led intervention soon became a direct violation of the international laws of war, and as the airstrikes continue, Saudi Arabia’s role and intentions in the Yemeni conflict have become difficult to discern.
In an interview with The Politic, Professor Abbas Amanat, of the Yale History Department, explained that Saudi Arabia sees a chance to solidify its regional power in Yemen. After all, Saudi Arabia rose to prominence during the oil-age, powered by its immense petroleum wealth, and is still defining its role as a power player in the region. Up until the 1970s, the US and UK’s strongest hold in the Middle East was Iran, but after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they turned to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia became, as Amanat pointed out, the “darling” of the US.
But Saudi Arabia’s regional power was never truly solid. The country has historically faced criticism for its promotion of Wahhabism—a puritanical stand of Sunni Islam, and to the east, Iran’s Shi’a government has consistently contested Saudi authority and influence.
Things got more complicated in 2015.
The war Saudi Arabia is now waging in Yemen is largely a quest for legitimacy. Saudi Arabia seeks to prove that it can be a regional leader and that it can do so independently from the US. “It’s an adventurist war,” Amanat explained. Essentially, they want to prove that “they are not the lackeys of the Americans.”
Saudi Arabia claims that the airstrikes are important for its national security, claiming that Iran is backing the Houthis.
There is mixed evidence regarding Iran’s role in Yemen, yet, Saudi Arabia and its allies have continued to advance bold claims about Iran’s involvement. Meanwhile, Iran welcomes the idea that it is playing an important role in Yemen, seeing in the conflict yet another opportunity to counter Saudi influence. Thus, Yemen has become a proxy war, the stage in which Saudi Arabia tries to consolidate itself and fight Iran at the same time.
According to Amanat, the worst error of the Obama administration was to allow Saudi Arabia to engage in Yemen, something the Saudis would have never dared 50 years ago. But now, with the benefit of US support, Saudi Arabia believes itself capable of anything. US military aid in Operation Decisive Storm, and later Operation Renewal of Hope, has mostly come as weapons sales. The US has been selling billions of dollars in weaponry to Saudi Arabia: “They’ve armed them to the teeth,” Amanat explained.
There is obviously an economic factor at play. The financial deals—military and otherwise—the US and Canada have been making with Saudi Arabia are worth billions of dollars. There is also the question of oil access and security. But, as Amanat contends, these reasons aren’t enough to explain why some of the most influential countries in the world are choosing to support an extremely dangerous war.
Overall, it seems like the entire international community is allowing the Saudi coalition to conduct unjustified air strikes on Yemen without a qualm. And it’s not because of inability to contain the crisis. According to Iona Craig, a freelance journalist that has covered Yemen since 2010, the US has the power to limit Saudi aggression in Yemen.
Yet, they likely won’t. In the past, as Craig outlined, the Saudis have threatened to stop providing the US and UK with intelligence pertaining to terrorism operations. With the recent events concerning the Islamic State, whose presence has been growing in Yemen, and AQAP’s continued offensive, the West seems so intent on battling terrorism to even consider the fate of countries like Yemen.
Indeed, it is a fatal mistake to believe Yemen is an isolated conflict, that other countries’ interests aren’t entangled in crisis, and that the global community is powerless to stop it.
The US recently called upon all parties to cease aggressions and look for diplomatic solutions. But, it failed to address the fact that it too is party to the conflict. The UK has also skidded around the matter of condemnation.
No country has been willing to be open about what is occurring in Yemen because recognizing the entirety of the situation would also mean recognizing their guilt.
So Yemen is shoved aside, the complexity of the situation explained as another religious sectarian war—something the UN Security Council can blame on history, not themselves. And they get away with it because Yemen, a historically isolated country, the poorest in its region, has never held the world’s interest. – by Isabel Del Toro Mijares
http://thepolitic.org/the-forgotten-war-the-conflict-in-yemen-and-the-crisis-of-global-leadership/
24.3.2017 – Observer Research Foundation (** B K P)
Why the conflict in Yemen remains an unspoken war
Such a shift led to a change in tactics led by al-Houthi, who in 2004, started to challenge the Saleh government on two arguments, first being the pro-US and pro-Saudi stance, and second the government allowing Salafist organization to setup influence zones in north of the country, the region traditionally a Houthi stronghold. The Houthis saw this as an ‘intrusion’ and ‘threat’, politicizing the arguments between the two sides, which eventually led certain prominent Houthi groups to bear arms.
Nevertheless, the Houthis were not alone in this as the unification of Yemen in 1990 had also caused long-standing friction amongst tribal belts in the newly formed country, opposition towards which led to the civil war of 1994 between dissenting socialist factions in the south and pro-union forces of the north. Even as Saleh and the then leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) Ali Salem al-Beidh managed to successfully unify the state, divisions within the country, specifically between tribes, remained prolific. This, mixed with deep economic troubles, created a vacuum in the country over time, slowly aggrandizing the multitude of problems it has faced since.
Saleh’s blind eye towards the rise of Salafist ideologies in north of the country gave space to the likes of Al Qaeda to build base. Al Qaeda’s offshoot, the Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), announced its arrival in 2000Despite the history, till a certain extent, managing the clout of AQAP in Yemen and the current civil war that languishes at the bottom of the world’s ‘to solve’ pile of grievances, Yemen has not benefitted from its own region’s power play. Today it is the unfortunate scene of Saudi Arabian efforts to displace an Iranian backed militia, while Iran, like always, takes up the Saudi challenge by providing financial and military backing to the Houthis. Oddly, both Riyadh and Tehran who on a good day vehemently oppose America’s military intrusions in the region openly back their military moves in Yemen, not mincing words that the operations are to undermine Shiite militias by one argument, and the Arab-Sunni led government that is spreading Salafism on Riyadh’s backing on the other argument. In midst of these blatant power plays, it is the people of Yemen who suffer the consequences, with the humanitarian situation magnified with chronic poverty, destruction and now even a famine. Saudi Arabia has an upper hand in the conflict, as it uses its Air Force and advanced armaments procured from the West to assert its dominance over the Iranian – Houthi narrative. Riyadh, as per reports and opinions in scholarly circles, has also until now, with blessings of Washington, managed to thwart the setting up of any international inquiry to study violations of humanitarian laws in Yemen. Any such inquiry, in all possibility, would not just indict Saudi Arabia for its direct military role, but also its Western partners for supplying the weapons. To counter any global narrative against it, including at the United Nations, the Saudis put-together a coalition of partners, which included countries from Africa and the Gulf, to stage-manage any such moves. To sum up the infinity cycle of the predicament that is Yemen, one of the partners’ active on behalf of Riyadh is Sudan, whose government dispatched 850 troops and saw their first fight against the Houthis in 2015, while the country continues to fight legal battles over its alleged role in the bombing of USS Cole 17 years ago.
Yemen today remains the most prominent example of an escalation of ideological battles between Tehran and Riyadh, as both countries fight on similar lines in Iraq and Syria as well, with the House of Saud’s backing of Sunni militias fighting against the Assad regime to Iran’s deployment of its specialized forces, such as the shadowy Quds Force and its deployment of Hezbollah. Despite the dynamics, and the Saudi – Iran rivalry, Yemen remains the only conflict in the region, which can be brought to a peaceful status-quo position with relative ease. However, the unwillingness of Tehran and Riyadh to compromise, and the criminal lack of urgency showed by the international community has pushed the people of Yemen in the dystopia they find themselves in today – by KABIR TANEJA
http://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/why-the-conflict-in-yemen-remains-an-unspoken-war/ = http://www.eurasiareview.com/26032017-yemen-why-the-conflict-remains-an-unspoken-war-analysis/
25.3.2017 – PRI (** A K P)
If Yemen's Houthis weren't Iranian proxies before, they could be soon
Leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Washington, DC long argued, without much evidence, that Yemen's Houthi rebels are puppets of Tehran. Those arguments, which many saw as exaggerated, are now beginning to ring true.
The notion of a proxy war in Yemen is not new. Saudi Arabia and the US State Department cited the Iran/Houthi connection to justify the launch of a massive military operation designed to drive the group from power. They argued that Iran would turn Yemen into a Shiite stronghold on Saudi Arabia's southern border, enabling Tehran to exert influence there as it does in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
But beyond the shared rhetoric, there is scant evidence that the Houthis aim to project Iranian power on the Arabian Peninsula.
Reporter Iona Craig: “Certainly at the beginning of this war it was Saleh who was really the driving force behind the Houthis and, yes, they were politically aligned to Iran but there was very little evidence, really, of the Iranians supporting the Houthis.”
There was no need for Iranian weapons in 2014. Saleh may have been out of office, but he still controlled much of the well-stocked, American-supplied Yemeni arsenal.
And while claims of Iranian weapons deliveries were seen to be groundless in the opening months of the Yemen war, there is evidence now that the Iranians are assisting the Houthis militarily.
“In the last few months — as you know we're going into the third year of war now in Yemen — there has been growing evidence of Iranian involvement on the weapons front,” says reporter Craig. “Ballistic missiles … have clearly been modified, and new missiles have been built in Yemen to fire over the Saudi border — long-range missiles that did not exist in the Yemeni arsenal before this war have been used.”
If Iran’s influence in Yemen was hard to detect before, it is unmistakeable now. In the first months of 2017, the Houthis — and Tehran — have boasted of a newfound ability to attack Saudi Arabia. And as the war drags on, Iranian influence may grow.
“This is the risk and this is the danger,” says Craig. “The longer this war goes on, the likelihood is of more Iranian involvement rather than less.” That, says Craig, could drive Washington to step up its already significant material and logistical support of the Saudi-led military coalition.
And, Craig adds, it might even inspire the US to assume a more active role in Yemen. “The Trump Administration [could start] their own proxy war with Iran by bombing the Houthis,” she says, “and that's the real danger now.” – By Stephen Snyder
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-25/if-yemens-houthis-werent-iranian-proxies-they-could-be-soon
26.3.2017 – Human Rights Watch (** A K)
Yemen: Attack on Refugee Boat Likely War Crime
Failed Investigations into Abuses as War Turns 2
An apparent Saudi-led coalition attack on a boat carrying Somali civilians off the coast of Yemen highlights the need for accountability on the second anniversary of the Yemeni armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. Several witnesses reported that on March 16, 2017, a helicopter fired on the boat, killing at least 32 of the 145 Somali migrants and refugees on board and one Yemeni civilian. Another 29, including six children, were wounded, and 10 more remain missing. Photos of the boat taken the next day show damage consistent with gunfire from an aerial attack.
All the parties to the conflict denied responsibility for the attack. Only the Saudi-led coalition has military aircraft. The Houthi-Saleh forces do not. Somalia, which supports the coalition, called on the coalition to investigate. But the coalition has repeatedly shown itself unable or unwilling to credibly investigate its own abuses.
“The coalition’s apparent firing on a boat filled with fleeing refugees is only the latest likely war crime in Yemen’s two-year-long war,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Reckless disregard for the lives of civilians has reached a new level of depravity.”
One of the boat’s four Yemeni crew members told Human Rights Watch that the boat was about 50 kilometers off the coast of the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, traveling away from Yemen, when it was attacked. That evening the captain had told the passengers to be quiet as they were transiting through “a very dangerous place,” two people onboard told Human Rights Watch. Earlier in the journey a vessel had approached and told the crew to stop the boat, but the boat continued.
Four people aboard the boat said that at about 9 p.m. they saw a helicopter repeatedly shoot at the boat. A Somali woman refugee, 25, who was wounded in the attack, said, “All of a sudden, I saw a helicopter above us. ... They attacked abruptly. … When they kept firing at us, those of us who spoke Arabic kept saying, ‘We are Somalis!’” Another woman said that she was hit by a fragment from an explosive weapon. A crew member and others said a large naval ship also fired on the boat.
After the attack, the boat docked at Hodeida port at about 4:30 a.m. The head of the fishing port, Daoud Fadel, said, “We couldn’t find a place to put the bodies, so we had to put them in the place where we store the fish.” Another witness said that, in addition to those who had been taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, about 15 men were wounded from bullets or fragments during the attack.
Both the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi-Saleh forces denied carrying out the attack. The official state news agency of the United Arab Emirates reported that a UAE military source denied that its forces had been involved and welcomed an international investigation into the incident. Coalition members have naval vessels patrolling access to the Hodeida coast, while Houthi-Saleh forces maintain control over the port. The US, which has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also denied carrying out the attack.
Under the laws of war, attacks against civilians that are deliberate or reckless are war crimes.
On March 23, 2017, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an international, independent commission of inquiry into allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by all sides in Yemen, a call repeatedly made by national, regional, and international organizations over the past two years.
The UN Human Rights Council fell short of establishing a full stand-alone inquiry in September 2016, but passed a resolution mandating the UN human rights office to deploy additional human rights experts to investigate abuses by all sides. Governments should fully support the office’s expanded investigative mandate in the absence of a standalone international inquiry, Human Rights Watch said.
The Saudi-led coalition-appointed Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) has failed to meet international standards. It has absolved the coalition of responsibility in nearly all of the 17 incidents it has so far investigated and released findings that differed drastically from those of the UN and others.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/26/yemen-attack-refugee-boat-likely-war-crime
25.3.2017 – Mwatana (** B K)
Mwatana: The Saudi-led Coalition Has Been Targeting Civilians in Yemen for Two Years
An Immediate Embargo on Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Must be Enforced and an International Independent Investigation Mechanism Must Be Established
Mwatana Organization for Human Rights declared that the Saudi-led Arab coalition must immediately stop apparent targeting civilians and civilian objects in Yemen.
In a statement on the second anniversary of the start of the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s military operations in Yemen, Mwatana appealed to states that support the coalition, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, to enforce an embargo on arms due to their possible use against civilians and civilian objects. Instead, Mwatana urges states that support the coalition to support civilian victims through putting pressure to establish an international independent mechanism to investigate the coalition’s violations.
Mwatana has documented at least 132 attacks launched by the Saudi-led Arab coalition between March 2015 and March 2017 in 13 Yemeni governorates: Sa’ada, Hajja, Hodeida, Mareb, Jawf, Sana’a, Amran, Ibb, Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Shabwa and al-Bayda. Theses attacks killed at least 1630 civilians including 418 children and 192 women. At least 1872 civilians were injured including 308 children and 168 women.
Also, Mwatana documented cases where the coalition targeted 12 civilian industrial facilities in Sana’a, Hajja and Hodeida governorates. In addition, the coalition targeted 13 historical and archaeological sites in seven Yemeni governorates: Jawf, Mareb, Sana’a, Mahweet, Sa’ada, Aden and Taiz.
On this occasion, chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, Radhya al-Mutawakel, says: “ For two years now, civilians in Yemen have witnessed, the reckless conduct of the Saudi-led coalition in many of its attacks that resulted in thousands of Yemeni victims among whom are women and children. The attacks also destroyed civilian objects as well as historical and archaeological sites. Justice must take its course against those responsible for such violations that may amount to war crimes. The world must open its eyes to this forgotten blood.”
Al-Mutawakel added: “States that support the coalition and those that conduct arms sales deals with Saudi Arabia share responsibility with the coalition for its contrary to the International Humanitarian Law blind airstrikes. The United States and the United Kingdom must present themselves to Yemenis through knowledge and science and not through the bombs and missiles the coalition throws on the heads of innocent civilian Yemenis.”
In its report titled “Blind Airstrikes”, published in December 2015, Mwatana documented 44 incidents of airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition in 9 Yemeni governorates
The Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT), which includes member states in the Arab coalition, issued a statement on 4 August 2016 that includes the coalition’s response to 8 different incidents including the one where the residential compound in Mokha was attacked. The team mentioned that the attack on the residential compound was “unintentional and based on inaccurate intelligence information.” The team recommended “providing compensation to the families of the victims after they submit their official and documented claims to the Reparations Committee.” Until this moment, victims are still not provided with any reparations.
JIAT mentioned that Khamis Mastaba market was targeted based on trusted intelligence information, which stated that, a militant gathering of Ansar Allah armed group (Houthis) was at the location. However, the interviews Mwatana conducted did not point to any militant gathering or military targets in the area.
On 15 October 2016, JIAT issued a statement regarding targeting the Grand Hall saying that the target’s information was provided by members of the Yemeni military general staff. The information mistakenly indicated that leaders from Ansar Allah armed group (Houthis) were present at the location. JIAT stated that the targeting took place without obtaining approval from the coalition’s leadership.
Attacks on Factories and Civilian Facilities:
Attacks on Historical and Archaeological Sites:
Mwatana for Human Rights documented incidents of airstrikes launched by the Saudi led coalition on 13 historical and archaeological sites in 7 governorates in Yemen in the period between April 2015 and September 2016.
The coalition’s airstrikes caused grave damage to the “Tourists’ Pavement” located in al-Bingsar in Tawahi district in Aden governorate in July 2015. On 16 July 2015, the coalition targeted the historical mosque known as “al-Husaini Mosque” in Sirah district in Aden governorate and destroyed it completely.
On 12 April 2015, the coalition targeted the archaeological city of Baraqish “Aythel”, located in Majzar district, al-Jawf governorate. The same site was hit again by the coalition on 1 July 2015, 8 August 2015 and 6 March 2016. The airstrikes resulted in grave damage to the archeological temple and fence. The historical city of Baraqish is considered one of the oldest historical cities in Yemen as it is dated to 1000 years B.C.
The coalition’s airstrikes targeted the historical site of al-Hadi mosque and tomb in Bab al-Yemen in Sa’ada governorate on 9 and 10 May 2015 and caused medium damage to the site. Also in Sa’ada governorate, the coalition targeted al-Obala’a, an archaeological site also known as “al-Sunara” in the village of Rahban on 5 October 2015. Al-Qofl’s archaeological site in Saqayn district in Sa’ada governorate was targeted and gravely damaged by the coalition on 15 June 2016.
Attacks on Hospitals and Schools:
Since it began its operations in March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition’s attacks did not spare schools and hospitals. Mwatana for Human Rights documented incidents where the coalition targeted 34 schools in 10 Yemeni governorates between March 2015 and March 2017.
Mwatana also documented the coalition’s attack on MSF’s hospital in Abs in Hajja governorate on 15 August 2016. The attack resulted in killing 19 people and injured 24 others according to MSF’s internal investigation, which was released on 27 September 2016.
Weapons Used by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition:
Mwatana for Human Rights documented the Saudi-led coalition’s use of various types of weapons in its attacks in Yemen among which are US and UK manufactured weapons.
http://mwatana.org/en/2432017608
24.3.2017 – Tasnim News (** B K P)
UN, US, Britain Complicit in Saudi War Crimes in Yemen: Canadian Analyst
A Canadian political analyst said the United Nations Security Council, Washington and London are all complicit in Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen as they directly or indirectly support the Riyadh regime in its relentless aggression against the impoverished country.
US and UK support for the illegal KSA position is a concession, or, if you prefer, a ‘gift’ to the Saudi regime although clearly the war also serves the interests of both the US-led Atlantic World and Israel as well. If that is not horrible enough, the very few Americans and British who understand that their governments fully support a belligerent war on Yemeni civilians have been conditioned by decades of propaganda to not identify in any way with Yemenis and they, therefore, do not see themselves as having any personal interest in the matter. Dead Yemeni women and children are even less newsworthy in America and the UK than dead Syrian refugees who wash up on the shores of Greece.
As for the belligerent war on Yemen itself, it is important to understand that as biased as the UN is, no related Security Council Resolution actually conferred authority on the KSA or any other nation to use forces against Yemen or the Houthi. It is also worth pointing out that the Security Council’s hypocrisy in citing concerns about al Qaeda in the Peninsula to in part justify Resolution S/RES/2014, since, unlike the Hadi government, the Houthi were already then actively in conflict with al Qaeda. Indeed, at the original UN-sponsored Yemen peace talks, the UN and US warmly welcomed a senior member of the Hadi negotiating team who had long been designated by the USA as an al Qaeda terrorist.
Moreover, it was very clear from the beginning of the KSA war on Yemen that the original premise for attacking the Houthi was to reinstall Mansur Hadi as President after he had resigned before fleeing Yemen for the safety of Saudi Arabia. Before “cutting and running”, he had overstayed his two-year term of office - which was won in an unopposed election - by a full year without announcing any plans to hold another election. Yet even now, the Western Press continues to refer to Mansour Hadi as Yemen’s President although he is no more Yemen’s incumbent President than Barrack Obama is the serving President of the United States.
Of course, anyone with even a sophomoric understanding of such matters recognizes this. All others need only consider the position taken by the US and its allies about the Ukraine and the status of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych after he resigned and fled the Ukraine during the US-backed Maiden Protests. Indeed, it is impossible to reconcile the US position on the Ukraine with its position on Yemen.
That being the case, in order to create some alternative justification for the hostile intervention in Yemen, the press has from the start also spoken loosely about supposedly imminent threats presented by the Houthi- Ansarullah movement to the KSA’s border security when, in fact, the Houthi only took action against Saudi territory after the KSA launched its belligerent war on Yemen with full US, UK and UN support. In that regard, the order in which things happened is every bit as important as what actually happened.
The KSA led war on Yemen is by any measure illegal under international law and the fact that there is no competent court in which Yemen can make its case only confirms what I have already said; that is, that we now longer have anything that might be called an International System or the Rule-of-Law, so much as a runaway Corporatist system which relies for its existence on US hegemony and exceptionalism.
Since the humanitarian crises in Yemen is the direct result of the UN’s illegitimate embargo on Yemen and the KSA-led war, basic principles of justice dictate that the UN, the US and the UK are every bit as culpable as the KSA in this humanitarian disaster which they all clearly once again see as a “price worth paying” to advance a regional geopolitical agenda that, above all else, targets Iran. There is not enough water in the world to wash the blood off the hands of decision makers who not only allowed but encouraged this ongoing massacre of Yemeni civilians to happen.
24.3.2017 – Morocco World News (** B H)
The Scourge of Gender Inequality, Underage Marriage in Yemen
In Yemen, discrimination and violence against women are endemic, and have destructive consequences. Women’s rights are regularly bounded and that is due to Yemeni tribal practices along with their deaf legislation. These customs Yemenis have, classified women as a lower rank in society and therefore making them an easy target.
Yemeni women are not free to marry whomever they want. Some of these girls are yet children, sometimes only nine years old, when they are forced to marry. When a wife is forced into marriage so young, she must follow her husband’s orders and even obtain his authorization for every little thing including leaving the premise.
Even before a judge, the testimony of a woman is worth half as much as that of a man; the allowance received by the family of a murder victim varies from simple to double in the case of a woman or of a man. Equality of treatment does not happen in inheritance; women often find themselves deprived of all the right to succession.
Women accused of “immoral” acts are punished more severely than the men, and the latter are entitled to indulgence when they kill women from their family for questions of “honor”. These laws and practices are purely discriminatory and encourage violence against women. These are currently common within families and the whole of society.
However, women’s rights have recorded some progress these years, with, for example, the establishment of the Commission in 1996 National Women’s Forum, a quasi-Government, along with the appointment of the secretary of State for Human Rights in 2001 which moved to the statute of minister. (National Women’s Forum)
In addition, the government has a dialogue with intergovernmental organizations and reports to the UN Committee that is responsible for ensuring the application of the convention that focuses on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
Underage Marriage
In Yemen, particularly in the early marriage of underage woman is a common practice; the girls are generally younger than the boys when they are married. Number of them is leaving schools. They are likely to become pregnant and to give birth very young, thus putting their health and that of their child in danger. Deprived of complete schooling, they become completely dependent on their husbands, both financially and socially.
Local NGOs told Amnesty that often, girls are forced to marry men that are much older than them, especially the girls who are still attending school; these marriages are frequently accompanied by domestic violence. (Amnesty International 1)
Parents living in disadvantaged conditions in rural areas often marry their daughters when they are all young because they see them as a burden to the household. The wedding is accompanied by a dowry (mahar) intended for the bride, but often taken entirely or in part by the father.
Gender based violence
In Yemen, there exist absolutely no law that prohibits gender-based violence. We all know rape is a crime, which is the case also under Yemeni law, but marital rape is not considered rape. Yet, it comes under domestic violence. When it comes to Honor killings, the judicial branch is quite lenient towards men, which make crime as such spread even more. The penal code also includes other discriminatory provisions: article 273 criminalizes “shameful” or “immoral” acts. This law makes women vulnerable to arrest for reasons such as being alone with a man who is not her relative. (Unicef)
Female genital mutilation
This is quite scandalous in societies in the 21st century. Yemen holds the 2nd position in the Middle East for the highest percentage of female genital mutilation. There exists no law against female genital mutilation in Yemen. But it is still a tradition carried on by most traditional families.
Women ‘s political participation
There have been efforts to include women within the judicial system. Which has them to the enrollment of women in the judicial institute to later become judges and serve.
When Yemen was divided into north and south Yemen. The systems differed, North Yemeni women fought for the right to vote by 1983 whereas south Yemeni women gained it by 1970’s.
Police Protection
A 2003 country reports argued that spousal abuse is rarely reported to police, although it is common, and that is due to the social norm that puts a male relative to be the one to report to in such incidents. He is believed to provide protection. (25 Feb. 2004, section 5).
However, women victims of violence tend to not report such incidents because they are scared that the attacker will come after them (Yemen Times 17-21 July 2000). According to an article in the Yemen Times, even doctors rarely report cases of assault. Assaults reported to the police rarely receive priority attention, especially when the assailant is a family member.
Non-governmental activities
Current Status of Women
According to Amnesty International’s 2003 report, “the humanitarian crisis exacerbates gender inequalities”, and one-quarter of Yemeni women aged 15-49 say that “access to food, employment and security” is at the top of the list. Women use “desperate and destructive means” to feed their families, reducing “their own consumption and nutrient intake – By Rawiya Ouedghiri
24.3.2017 – Washington Institute (** A E P)
Yemen's Banking Problems Could Have Dire Humanitarian Implications
Clarifying the Central Bank's authority, resuming the payment of public salaries nationwide, and addressing currency shortages could help the Hadi government avert a looming famine.
Last year, the internationally recognized government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi relocated the Central Bank of Yemen from the Houthi-controlled capital of Sana to Aden. Yet questions about the CBY's authority persist, hindering its access to Yemen's limited reserves. Likewise, the bank has struggled to pay public salaries countrywide, putting government workers and their dependents, over 8 million people in total, at risk.
BACKGROUND
Last August, the Hadi government sought to change the CBY leadership when the terms of sitting board members expired. And in mid-September, amid the UN General Assembly meetings in New York, President Hadi issued orders to move the bank's headquarters to Aden.
DWINDLING FOREIGN RESERVES
At the time of its relocation, the CBY was already facing formidable challenges. Without regular oil exports, it had been unable to replenish its foreign reserves. A $1 billion Saudi deposit made in 2012 had provided some stability to the bank and the Yemeni rial, but Riyadh was unwilling to provide additional funds to an institution perceived to be financing its opponents in the conflict.
Since moving to Aden, the CBY has struggled to take on many of the duties of a central bank. Several of its foreign accounts reportedly remain out of reach due to continuing uncertainty over its claim to Yemen's foreign exchange reserves. While the IMF lists the bank's new governor, Munasar Saleh al-Quaiti, as Yemen's primary representative to the fund, former governor Muhammad bin Humam continues to be listed as the alternate.
BANKNOTE SHORTAGES
The CBY and other Yemeni banks have also faced shortages of physical currency since well before the Aden relocation.
Once the CBY was relocated, it finalized arrangements for the new currency to be delivered exclusively to Aden. Goznak recently made its first delivery there, and the bank is dispersing the cash in Hadi-controlled territory through its branches and post offices. To help with salary payments in rebel-controlled areas, the CBY is relying on select private banks and exchange houses that have been able to retain adequate levels of physical currency.
Nevertheless, the salaries of many public employees have gone unpaid since the Hadi government decided to stop providing ministries with lump sums for distribution
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Yemeni officials have repeatedly sought U.S. and international support for the relocated CBY, in part to support their wider claim that they are capable of governing the country and stabilizing the economy. Given the country's crisis-level economic and humanitarian conditions, Washington should urge the Hadi government to live up to its promises and pay public salaries countrywide.
Washington should also urge the government to address liquidity problems throughout the country, including outside its areas of control.
Ultimately, addressing the CBY's capacity will only go part of the way toward mitigating Yemen's humanitarian problems – by Katherine Bauer and Eric Pelofsky
My comment: A reasonable article, but not taking into account that the relocation of the Central Bank (or, more exact: the creation of a new Central Bank at Aden) simply is illegal according to the Yemeni Central Bank Law (http://www.centralbank.gov.ye/App_Upload/law14.pdf)
cp2 Allgemein / General
25.3.2017 – Norwegian Refugee Council (* A H K P)
Yemen: Left isolated and starving
Two years of full-scale war has driven Yemen to the verge of famine. 17 million people, or two out of three Yemenis, do not know from where they will get their next meal.
“People have started dying quietly in their homes,” said the Norwegian Refugee Council's Secretary General, Jan Egeland. “We are witnessing ruthless war tactics against civilians by both parties to the conflict, resulting in civilians starving.”
Mohammed (15) starved to death
More than three million women and children are already suffering from acute malnutrition in the poorest country in the region. Earlier this month, hunger took the life of 15-year-old Mohammed in Taiz. From being one of almost half a million children at immediate risk of starvation, he became one of the tens of thousands making up the grim statistics of the silent deaths in the poor country. Mohammed died alone in his room while his father was out looking for some odd jobs to get food for his children.
“I would rather be killed”
Fatima, a displaced mother of five children living in an abandoned building in Amran said: “I would rather be killed by an airstrike than see my children die slowly of starvation,” she told NRC.
Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food. Restrictions on imports mean that food is not coming in in the volume needed. Severe food shortages and a complete collapse of the economy have left humanitarian organisations trying to fill the gap left by a crumbling commercial sector Aid is difficult to deliver on the ground, with organisations facing constant bureaucratic constraints and regular interference by authorities as they try to provide assistance.
Deadly blockade
“We as humanitarians are faced with a blockade imposed by the Saudi-led Coalition that hinders aid from reaching Yemen, in addition to security and bureaucratic barriers to deliver lifesaving assistance within the country. We are ready to respond, but without an end to the fighting, Yemenis will continue to suffer, and it will only get worse,” Egeland said.
There are now mounting concerns that the ongoing fighting could halt the supply of lifesaving goods through the country’s main port in Al Hudaydah at the Red Sea coast. A staggering 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports enter through the port, making it the most important lifeline for commercial and humanitarian supplies into the country.
“Now we are also extremely concerned that the country’s main port will cease functioning and Yemen’s last lifeline will be lost. Suggestions that adequate alternative routes could be found if Al Hudaydah port were to be closed are just fantasy,” Egeland said. “Closing that port will literally mean cutting off a lifeline for millions of Yemenis.”
The Security Council shamefully silent
Governments that have the influence and leverage to change the situation are also to blame for their tacit, and at times direct, complicity. It has been more than one and a half years since the UN Security Council produced a meaningful new resolution on Yemen
“The UN Security Council has been shamefully absent on Yemen,” Egeland said. “While children die, world leaders appear to be sitting idly by, as if this was inevitable. This is all man-made. Some governments that should have concentrated more on promoting peace have rather poured fuel onto the fire. They must insist on a political solution to the conflict and on keeping land, sea and air routes into Yemen open. A continuation of the blockade will starve an entire nation.” – by Alvhild Strømme (with photos)
https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/march/yemen-left-isolated-and-starving/
25.3.2017 – Yemen Conflict Map (A K)
Full Yemen Control map
https://twitter.com/YemConfMaps/status/845728631213244416 and maps also at http://www.dw.com/en/two-years-on-saudi-intervention-in-yemen-leaves-trail-of-death/a-38111507
25.3.2017 – CNN (* B K)
Yemen: 2 years, 50,000 casualties and 1 disastrous food crisis
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/25/middleeast/yemen-war-2-years-trnd/
Remark: Photos and figures. The figures of victims (as always) are much too little.
26.3.2017 – Deutsche Welle (* B K P)
Seit der saudisch geführten Militärintervention vor zwei Jahren steht der Jemen am Abgrund. Ein Bürgerkrieg und geopolitische Rivalitäten beherrschen das Land. Eine Hungersnot droht. Und ein Ende ist nicht in Sicht
Ein kaputter Staat, zermürbende Kämpfe und eine drohende Hungersnot: Zwei Jahre, nachdem eine von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition im Jemen interveniert hat, steht das Land vor dem völligen Zusammenbruch.
Kriegszweck: Einfluss in Nahost
Was als weitgehend innenpolitischer Konflikt begann, ist inzwischen ein breiter regionaler Machtkampf zwischen Saudi-Arabien und dem Iran. Und ein Ende ist nach Einschätzung von Experten nicht abzusehen: "Das wahrscheinlichste Szenario ist, dass wir auch in zwei Jahren noch einen Konflikt im Jemen haben werden", sagte Adam Baron vom Think Tank "European Council on Foreign Relations" (ECFR) in London. "Im Jemen spielt sich die größte humanitäre Krise der Welt ab. Alle Zeichen deuten darauf hin, dass es schlimmer wird."
Die Hauptlast des Krieges im ärmsten Land der arabischen Welt tragen die Zivilisten. Wie hat alles angefangen?Wer sind die Huthis?
Iran, IS, Al-Kaida
Saudi-Arabien beschuldigt die Huthi, Stellvertreter des Iran auf der Arabischen Halbinsel zu sein und in Verbindung mit der libanesischen Hisbollah zu stehen. Aber die Beziehung der Huthi zu Teheran ist komplexer. Der Iran versorgt die Rebellen zwar mit finanzieller und militärischer Hilfe, doch Analysten sagen, dass die Beziehung eher aus Zweckmäßigkeit bestehe: "Nur weil die Huthi weiterhin eine Beziehung mit dem Iran pflegen, bedeutet das nicht, dass sie eine iranische Marionettengruppe sind", sagt ECFR-Mann Baron. Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Iran-Experte am Belfer-Zentrum der Harvard-Kennedy-Schule, sagt, dass Saudi-Arabien die Rolle des Iran im Jemen übertreibt, um seine Intervention zu legitimieren.
Für Saudi-Arabien war die Intervention im Jemen weitgehend ein frei gewählter Krieg. Der stellvertretende Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman begann den Krieg, kurz nachdem er zum Verteidigungsminister ernannt wurde. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt war der Iran gerade dabei, seine internationale Isolation wegen seines Atomprogramms hinter sich zu lassen – von Chase Winter
http://www.dw.com/de/jemen-krieg-hunger-und-fremde-mächte/a-38126682
and English version:
25.3.2017 – Deutsche Welle (* B K)
Two years on, Saudi intervention in Yemen leaves trail of death
Civil war and geopolitical rivalries have brought Yemen to the brink of collapse two years since a Saudi-led intervention against Houthi rebels. With famine looming, all signs point to the situation getting worse.
Facing destructive fighting, hollowed out institutions and a looming famine, Yemen is on the verge of irreversible collapse two years since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened to restore the internationally recognized government.
"Two years in we are looking at a situation where the most likely scenario is that two years from now we will be looking at continued conflict in Yemen," said Adam Baron, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Yemen is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, and at this current period and looking forward all signs are pointing to it getting worse."
Civilians in the Arab world's poorest country have borne the brunt of the war.
How did it start?
Who are the Houthis?
Iran's role
Saudi Arabia accuses the Houthis of being an Iranian proxy akin to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, but their relationship with Tehran is more complex.
While Iran provides some financial, military and media help to the Houthis, analysts say the relationship is more one of convenience and not one of direct control.
"Just because the Houthis maintain a relationship of mutual convenience with Iran doesn't mean they are an Iranian puppet group," Baron said.
Ali Fathollah-Nejad, an Iran expert with the German Council on Foreign Relations and Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, said Saudi Arabia overexaggerates Iran's role in Yemen to "legitimize its heavy hand there."
The Houthi uprising is driven by domestic factors, but Fathollah-Nejad noted Tehran's regional policies are run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has viewed Yemen as an area to project power for over a decade.
"It cannot be denied that Iran tries to bog down the Saudis in a quagmire that is Yemen," he said.
War of choice
For Saudi Arabia, intervention in Yemen was largely a war of choice. Its young defense minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, launched the war shortly after coming to power at a time Iran was moving towards ending its international isolation over its nuclear program – by Chase Winter
http://www.dw.com/en/two-years-on-saudi-intervention-in-yemen-leaves-trail-of-death/a-38111507
25.3.2017 – Green Left (* B K)
Yemen: Amid growing bloodshed, Saudi war enters third year
This month marks two years since the start of the Saudi-led, US-supported war on Yemen. Involving a blockade of Yemen and the consequent collapse of the nation’s economy, the war has made the prospect of famine very real.
US-backed war
Let us be clear: this tragic situation is a direct consequence of the Saudi offensive against the country of Yemen, and this military campaign is fully supported by the United States and Britain.
It is relevant to remember that the Saudi offensive, which involves the heavy aerial bombardment of Yemen, has escalated in recent months.
Saudi Arabia and the associated Gulf petro-monarchies, have been waging a military campaign in Yemen to support their preferred politician, Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The Saudi-led coalition, with the full backing of Washington and London, has been carrying out this war to suppress the rebel Houthi movement, a militarised Shia politico-military force that has seized much of the country.
The US has assisted this war, since former US President Barack Obama threw in his lot with the Saudi kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has received a constant supply of weapons and munitions from the US.
In fact, Obama has the dubious distinction of actually increasing weapons sales to the monarchist dictatorship in Riyadh, thus ensuring that the Wahhabist kingdom could launch and continue its offensive in Yemen.
The naval blockade of Yemen, enforced with the assistance of the US Navy, has contributed to bringing that nation to the brink of famine.
The support for Saudi Arabia from the United States, in the form of logistics, intelligence-gathering, aerial refuelling and military resupply, exposes the predatory aims and ambitions of US finance capital and undermines its claims to be a force for peace in the world.
Drone strikes
The US began its own war on Yemen in 2009, when Obama authorised the use of aerial drone strikes in the country.
This drone warfare was notionally launched to combat the presence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP); however, the main targets have been Yemeni civilians.
Obama escalated and perfected the tactic of drone strikes during his administration, and he gave himself the right to order the assassination of anyone he deemed to be a member of, or associated with, AQAP.
Trump
While the United Nations has been warning that Yemen, along with countries in the Horn of Africa, constitute the gravest humanitarian crisis faced by the world since 1945, Trump has increased US support for the Saudi war.
Australia’s role
Australia’s studious silence about the US-supported destruction of Yemen has to be broken — the Malcolm Turnbull government, through the person of foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, has been a cheerleader for Saudi Arabia for far too long.
The false equivalence of condemning both the Saudi regime and the Houthi rebel opponents must also be abandoned.
The Shia Houthi movement — the Ansar Allah — have been dishonestly stigmatised as proxies of Iran. The Houthi rebels have received support from Tehran, but it has been largely rhetorical.
The culpability of Riyadh, Washington and London for bringing Yemen to the brink of famine cannot be disguised by allegations of Iranian perfidy – by RUPEN SAVOULIAN
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/yemen-amid-growing-bloodshed-saudi-war-enters-third-year
25.3.2017 – Yamanyoon (* A K)
Ministry of Health : More than 4541 children and 3551 women killing in two Years
Ministry of Health: More than 30 thousand between the martyrs and wounded the toll of the victims of aggression during two years of aggression
Moreover , more than 412 health facilities and units targeted by the aggression ,and 4541 children and 3551 women and about 20619 men the average of martyrs and wounded aggression in two years.
http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=69020&lang=en
My comment: Figures from the Sanaa government. All official figures are much too low.
25.3.2017 – Tasnim News (* B K P)
West True Perpetrator of Yemen Genocide: Pundit
Soraya Sepahpour Ulrich, an American political commentator said the West is using the Riyadh regime as a tool to advance its political agenda, stressing that certain Western countries, which claim to be champions of human rights, are in actual fact the perpetrators of the ongoing genocide in Yemen.
I tend to think of the “international community’ as the US and its allies and differentiate between the term ‘international community’ and global community. The indifference toward the plight of the Yemenis is owed to several factors one of which is the media.
There are 6 corporations that own and dominate the media. It is important to note that what was once known as the military-industrial complex has become the ‘military-industrial-media complex’. Media magnates and people on the boards of large media-related corporations have close links with the military industry and Washington’s foreign policy. This industry not only informs the public but frames issues.
This complex fails to inform the public of the plight of the Yemenis. Since the internet has managed to curb the monopoly of the media industry (alternate news sites and social networking), from time to time, the media industry is forced to acknowledge the horrors of Yemen, but it frames it in such a way so as to change the narrative. For example, it falsely presents the conflict as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Through repeated lies, the ‘international community’ has been indoctrinated to see Iran as an aggressive country and the Yemenis resisting the invasion of the Saudi-led war as the assailants, putting the blame on the victims.
In addition to the blame game, the international community is being distracted with news on its domestic front. The best example of this are the refugees in Europe and the pending elections there, and in the United States, it is the Donald Trump presidency that occupies the airwaves and censors all other news.
But censorship, framing, and propaganda do not mean that the governments in these countries (international community) are not aware. They are fully complicit either through their actions or inaction.
Human rights is simply another tool in the arsenal of these nations used to justify their policies. (War on terror being another useful tool of theirs).
What is undeniable is the fact that those who ‘promote human rights’ are the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, including the Genocide in Yemen. To deny their complicity is to deny humanity.
It is important to recognize that Saudi Arabia is not solely responsible nor is it the country that is independently fueling and promoting this conflict. One country often ignored is the UAE. As the world turns its anger and hatred towards the Saudis (with help from Western media which points their fingers at the Saudis for their actions in Yemen), UAE is kept above the fray.
The Saudis, on the other hand, are being used by the West and sadly for them (and their victims), they continue to play the role of gladiators.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/03/25/1363709/west-true-perpetrator-of-yemen-genocide-pundit = http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-nato-is-using-saudi-arabia-the-west-is-the-true-perpetrator-of-genocide-in-yemen-genocide/5581737
25.3.2017 – Haykal Bafana (A K)
Shocking. #KSA military spox Gen Assiri : "#Saudi Arabia has launched 90,000 airstrikes so far in #Yemen since 26 Mar 2015."
#Saudi war on #Yemen : Average of 123 airstrikes daily, for the last 2 years. That's one airstrike every 12 minutes.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/845553878082957312
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/845557221513740288
25.3.2017 – BBC (* B H K)
Yemen conflict: How my country has changed
Here the BBC's Yemen-born Mai Noman, who has returned to her homeland to film short documentaries, reflects on how her country has become.
It's been over two years since I was last here. The only place I call home.
A lot has happened and much has changed. It's hard to keep my feelings in check.
Beside the physical destruction, memories of what once was are buried under the heavy weight of emotional rubble.
As a Yemeni journalist working in international news, I have had to monitor every twist and turn of the civil war in my country, even when I wanted to look away.
Truthfully, the thought of coming face-to-face with the new reality shaped by the furious conflict in Yemen has terrified me.
But living through the war from outside Yemen was isolating.
As we make our way to the capital, Sanaa, on a rugged 10-hour car journey from Aden, I think back to the number of times I quietly broke down after hearing news coming out of Yemen. Working in a newsroom, this happened often.
This trip takes me from the south to the north - two parts of a country divided by more than mere miles.
In simple terms, the south is under government control, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, and the north is controlled by the Houthi rebels. But the reality is more complicated.
Same city
I've imagined arriving back home hundreds of times in the last few years. But on the day I was totally unprepared for what I found.
Unlike the southern city of Aden, where life seems to be at a standstill, waiting in fearful anticipation of more fighting, Sanaa - apart from the obvious damage - appears the same as ever.
Our lives have become more different than ever.
Over the course of three weeks in Yemen, I reconnect with old acquaintances and hear stories of separation, loss and incredible examples of the tight bonds that keep a community together.
But something else weighs heavily on my heart. There is one place I wasn't able to visit.
Ruined lives
It's the place where I was born and where a more utopian notion of Yemen was engraved in my mind.
My grandmother's house in Taiz.
But sadly my grandmother is no longer with us and Taiz today is unrecognisable, sitting as it does on the frontline of the conflict. I wonder if I'd even know the house.
On arriving I fell into a false sense of relief that the people were still here; home was, in some form, still here.
In the days which followed though, it became clear that war damage isn't just the craters and the bombed out buildings.
It is the suffering of a population watching helplessly as their lives are being torn apart.
Thinking of the time I spent fearing what I'd find when I returned home, I know that regardless of the pain of seeing my country at war, the sense of longing to be part of Yemen, for good or bad, will always draw me back – by Mai Noman
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39365164
25.3.2017 – Telesur (* B K)
‘7 of My Cousins Were Killed’: Yemeni Activist on Saudi War
Ahmed Al Moaiad, a London-based Yemeni activist, managed to survive the ongoing war. But his family members weren’t so lucky.
“Seven of my cousins were killed and more than 20 were injured,” Al Moaiad told teleSUR in a recent interview.
“They were killed in direct targeting or disease which results from this war. They lived in Sa'dah in the north.”
Al Moaiad’s relatives, like thousands of other Yemenis, are victims of Saudi Arabia’s war against against Shiite Houthi rebels.
Al Moaiad believes the Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition is hypocritical for condemning “Houthi terrorism,” when they themselves support radical Wahhabi terrorist groups across the world.
“The same books used to teach ISIS villages in Aleppo and Raqqa are the same books they are teaching everyday in Saudi Arabia in the schools and universities,” Al Moaiad told teleSUR.
“All the Western countries know that Saudi Arabia is the main source of the extremist religious ideas in the world.”
To combat the current war on Yemen, Al Moaiad believes anti-war activists based in the Western countries financing Saudi Arabia should put pressure on their governments. This pressure includes not only sending aid and resources to Yemen, but also calling for an end to the Saudi blockade on Yemeni ports.
Cities like Hudaida, located on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are intentionally being attacked and blocked by Saudi armed forces, preventing food and medicine from coming in.
24.3.2017 – Just Security (* A K P)
Did U.S. Provide Helicopter Used in Attack of Somali Refugees in Yemen?
A military craft and helicopter reportedly engaged in an attack on a boat carrying over 140 Somali refugees killing upwards of 42 people on board. Despite initially conflicting accounts, the evidence points to the Saudi-led coalition. On March 24, the UN reported that according to survivors’ accounts, the vessel “was hit by shelling from a Coalition warship, without any warning, followed by shooting from an Apache helicopter overhead.” What has not received adequate attention is the potential role of the United States.
It will take time to sort out the details of what exactly occurred, but this potentially brazen attack comes just as the White House is considering increasing its involvement in the Saudi-led operations against the Iranian-back Houthi militia in this Middle East nation.
So, how might the United States be implicated given that it didn’t come anywhere close to pulling the trigger? The United States provides not only attack helicopters for the leading members of the coalition, the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates. Official records reveal that the United States also provides parts and technical support that presumably attaches to the life of the helicopters. The Defense Department’s public notification of a $1.9 billion sale of multi-purpose helicopters used in maritime operations to Saudi Arabia in 2015, for example, includes a guarantee of “U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services.” This is a boilerplate part of the agreements for U.S.-manufactured Apache and Blackhawk helicopters sold to the Saudis. (The same holds true for US-manufactured helicopters sent to the UAE.) The Department of Defense has also had a substantial military presence in Saudi Arabia to help them use the equipment.
Back in 1994 the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel warned US officials that they could be found guilty of aiding and abetting an offence by providing intelligence information to foreign governments who used that information to shoot down civil aircraft.
Even if we were not operating in the realm of criminal activity, under international law one State can be held legally responsible for assisting another in internationally wrongful acts. Those legal risks increase if the recipient is engaged in continuing and widespread violations. As a policy matter, this is the reality facing the US decision of how close to get to the Saudi-led operations in Yemen.
But how do we know the attack on the refugees was carried out by the Saudis or Saudi-led coalition? We don’t for sure. But the real question is how much the U.S. government knows.
Several eyewitness accounts describe the helicopter attack on the boat, including video of survivor statements after they came ashore.
The UAE, a more prominent member of the coalition who has been active in the area, in an unprecedented step called for international investigation into the incident. This may serve the UAE’s effort to cast themselves as the more responsible partner compared to the Saudis.
The UAE statement implicitly contradicts the spokesperson for the coalition who denied that the coalition was even operating in the area. That denial is, in any case, hard to square with the coalition’s continuing and increased naval operations around the Hodeida port. It would also not be the first time that categorical denials of wrongdoing by the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesperson have proven false.
The Saudis have not supported an international inquiry into the matter. In the past, Riyadh has worked – with the acquiescence of the US – to block efforts at the UN to form an international body tasked with investigating the entire conflict – By Ryan Goodman and Samuel Oakford
https://www.justsecurity.org/39210/united-states-implicated-helicopter-somali-refugees-yemen/
25.3.2017 – La Marea (* B H K)
Hakim Almasmari: “Las Naciones Unidas contemplan la masacre de civiles en Yemen sin hacer nada”
Entrevista a Hakim Almasmari, director del Yemen Post, cuando se cumplen dos años del inicio de la intervención militar saudí en su país.
Hace unos meses había diferencias, pero hoy, todas las provincias del país viven esta hambruna. Incluso la gente que tiene trabajo está sufriendo, porque no se han pagado salarios en los últimos seis meses. Los precios de la comida han subido un 300% en comparación al año pasado. Es insoportable.
Insisto: Hay niños muriendo de hambre cada día. El aeropuerto sigue cerrado, los puertos también, y no puede entrar ayuda humanitaria. No hay ningún país, en los últimos 70 u 80 años, que haya sufrido una hambruna como la que Yemen está pasando ahora.
El bloqueo significa que muy poca comida y otros materiales entran en el país. Eso hace que los precios se multipliquen por 3 o 4. Y además, no hay salarios, no hay dinero, no hay trabajo. Incluso si se abren los puertos y los aeropuertos, la situación seguiría siendo extremadamente trágica, pero al menos los familiares de los civiles que están aquí en Yemen podrían ayudar enviando algo de dinero. También podría entrar algo de comida y suministros médicos.
http://www.lamarea.com/2017/03/25/hakim-almasmari-ningun-pais-ha-sufrido-una-hambruna-la-yemen/
24.3.2017 – Southfront (* A H K)
VON SAUDI-ARABIEN GEFÜHRTE KOALITION ZERSTÖRTE IM JEMEN 2.000 SCHULEN
Laut dem jemenitischen Bildungsministerium hat die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition seit Beginn ihrer militärischen Operation im Jemen 2.306 Schulen und andere Bildungseinrichtungen zerstört. Die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition hat mehr als 2.000 Schulen im Jemen zerstört, sagte der Direktor für Informationen im Jemenitischen Bildungsministerium, Ismail Zeidan, zu der Nachrichtenagentur RIA Novosti am Freitag. “Das Ausmaß des Schadens, den die Bildungsinfrastruktur durch saudische Aggressionen gegen Bildungseinrichtungen erlitten hat, die Anzahl von 2.306 Schulen und andere Bildungseinrichtungen die entweder vollständig oder teilweise zerstört wurden erreicht” so Zeidan, der das Ministerium in der von Rebellen-besetzten Hauptstadt Sana’a repräsentiert.
Ihm zufolge wird der Schaden auf 400 Millionen Dollar geschätzt. Er fügte hinzu, dass Dutzende von Lehrern und Studenten der Bildungseinrichtungen Opfer der militärischen Aktionen wurden.
https://de.southfront.org/von-saudi-arabien-gefuhrte-koalition-zerstorte-im-jemen-2-000-schulen/
and English version:
24.3.2017 – Southfront (* A H K)
SAUDI-LED COALITION DESTROYED 2,000 SCHOOLS IN YEMEN
According to the Yemeni Ministry of Education, the Saudi-led coalition has destroyed 2,306 schools and other educational institutions in Yemen since the beginning of its military operation there. The Saudi-led coalition has destroyed more than 2,000 schools in Yemen, director of information at the Yemeni Ministry of Education, Ismail Zeidan, told the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday. “The extent of damage, suffered by the educational process as a result of the Saudi aggression against educational institutions, has reached 2,306 schools and other educational institutions, including complete and partial destruction,” Zeidan, who represents the ministry in the rebel-captured capital of Sana’a, said.
According to him, the damage cost is estimated at $400 million. He also added that dozens of teachers and students of educational institutions became victims of the military actions.
https://southfront.org/saudi-led-coalition-destroyed-2000-schools-in-yemen/ and by Sputnik News: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703241051929498-yemen-coalition-schools-saudi-arabia/
24.3.2017 – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (* B H K)
Over 100 civilians killed in a month, including fishermen, refugees, as Yemen conflict reaches two-year mark
Two years and more than 13,000 civilian casualties later, the conflict in Yemen continues to rage, with an intensification in hostilities over the past three months that has exacerbated the entirely man-made catastrophe, with children starving and refugees and fishermen bombed, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said today.
Sunday, 26 March, will mark two years since the escalation of the current conflict in Yemen. Since 26 March 2015, at least 4,773 civilians have been killed and another 8,272 injured by the violence – a total of 13,045 civilian casualties. These figures reflect only those deaths and injuries that the UN Human Rights Office has managed to corroborate and confirm to be civilians. The actual death toll is certainly considerably higher. Another 21 million Yemenis – 82 per cent of the population – are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
Over the past month alone, 106 civilians have been killed, mostly by air strikes and shelling by Coalition war ships.
The UN Human Rights Office has also documented a number of incidents where fishermen’s boats were hit, as well as airstrikes that struck four trucks carrying food items, and an airstrike at a marketplace, among others.
The Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis and former President Saleh have continued to encircle densely populated areas in Taizz Governorate, preventing civilians from leaving and restricting humanitarian access to Taizz city. The UN Human Rights Office has heard accounts from people inside Taizz city of desperate shortages of food, water and milk for infants. Children, pregnant women and elderly people, especially those with chronic illnesses, are at particular risk and directly endangered by the lack of medicines.
“The violent deaths of refugees fleeing yet another war, of fishermen, of families in marketplaces – this is what the conflict in Yemen looks like two years after it began…utterly terrible, with little apparent regard for civilian lives and infrastructure,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “The fighting in Al Hudaydah has left thousands of civilians trapped – as was the case in Al Mokha in February – and has already compromised badly-needed deliveries of humanitarian assistance. Two years of wanton violence and bloodshed, thousands of deaths and millions of people desperate for their basic rights to food, water, health and security – enough is enough. I urge all parties to the conflict, and those with influence, to work urgently towards a full ceasefire to bring this disastrous conflict to an end, and to facilitate rather than block the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
The UN Human Rights Office continues to provide support to the Yemeni National Commission, as mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. High Commissioner Zeid however stressed the need for an international, independent investigative body to look into the hundreds of reports of serious violations in Yemen. “The international community cannot allow those responsible for thousands of civilian deaths to continue to enjoy full impunity.”
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21444&LangID=E = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/over-100-civilians-killed-month-including-fishermen-refugees-yemen-conflict-reaches-two
My comment: I do not know why the UN still does not omit this ridiculous figure of 4.773 killed civilians. Nobody was killed since summer 2015? In summer 2015, UNs Mc Goldrick spoke of at least 10.000 killed; half a year later, McGildrick still mentioned at least 10.000, but told certainly the figure should have been much higher. It certainly is, as many victims are unrecorded.
24.3.2017 – Reuters (* B E H)
Decline of ancient trade route deepens Yemeni food crisis
Captains of small wooden dhows are carrying food and wares from the United Arab Emirates to war-torn Yemen. But supplies are falling even from this centuries-old Arabian sea route that is one of the last lifelines to a country on the brink of famine.
A two-year-old civil war has severely restricted the flow of food into the main Yemeni cargo ports of Hodeidah and Salif on the Red Sea, where all the large grain silos are located.
The small wooden boats sailing from souks in the UAE are moving small but vital supplies by making for the smaller ports to the south coast that are of little use to larger vessels - and often sidestepping military inspections that choke traffic by dropping anchor at secluded coves nearby.
The deals originate in the sprawling Al Ras Market, a collection of dusty alleyways near the Dubai Creek where an array of food and spices are on display including colorful sacks of Pakistani and Indian rice.
The dhows - plying the ancient trade route that once carried the likes of pearls, frankincense and myrrh - supply 14,000 to 18,000 tonnes of foodstuffs a month to Yemen, according to traders. That represents a drop of about 30-40 percent over the past year because of problems with payment, as well as adverse sailing conditions.
"The Yemeni currency is destroyed, sometimes we can't get paid enough. We can only go once a month because the seas are too rough," said trader Mohammed Hassan, at a docking station at nearby Port Khaled in Sharjah
"Sometimes we have to wait 40 days."
The volumes of food carried on this route represent a small fraction of the supply to Yemen, which relies on imports for 90 percent of its food. But it has become increasingly important as fighting has raged, the economy has collapsed and Yemen has needed all the help it can get.
While vessels seeking access to Houthi-held areas must face inspections for smuggled weapons, the government-controlled south has less restrictions.
Food imports into Hodeidah have fallen relentlessly, with only a few ships arriving each week - compared with dozens before the war - and more shipping lines pulling out due to the growing risks, according to aid and shipping sources.
In recent weeks damage to infrastructure in the neighboring port of Salif has also cut food deliveries, aid officials said.
"The country is living on its reserves," said Robert Mardini, International Committee of the Red Cross regional director for the Near and Middle East in Geneva this week.
"There is a lack of liquidity, no payment of salaries, which means that the spending power has collapsed and that the price of food is soaring whenever it is available."
'PAY THUGS'
UAE-based dhow captains avoid these snarl-ups by steering clear of the big Red Sea ports and instead ply their trade to the south, often docking at informal inlets – By Maha El Dahan and Michael Georgy
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uae-yemen-imports-idUSKBN16V1UJ
24.3.2017 – Press TV Iran (* A K P)
Saudi Arabia threatens to attack Yemen’s Hudaydah port
The head of Saudi-led coalition in the war on Yemen has warned that the military alliance will attack Yemen’s western port city of Hudaydah unless the United Nations intervenes.
On Thursday, Ahmed al-Asiri claimed that the coalition seeks to transfer humanitarian assistance to Yemen from the Red Sea port city of Mokha.
The United Nations has already rejected a call by Saudi Arabia and its allies to supervise Hudaydah, where tens of refugees were killed last week in an aerial attack blamed on Riyadh.
When the Saudi regime started pounding the crisis-hit country, Hudaydah turned into a primary entry point for humanitarian aid and fuel meant for areas inside Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a.
If the city falls under the control of Saudi forces and mercenary soldiers, the flow of humanitarian assistance toward those areas would be blocked.
On March 13, Moscow also warned about the critical situation of the port city in providing its people with much-needed humanitarian aid.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/03/24/515446/Yemen-Saudi
24.3.2017 – Press TV Iran (* B K)
Film: Saudi Arabia steps up using cluster bombs in Yemen
Saudi Arabia has been carrying out deadly airstrikes on Yemen since March 2015. The kingdom has also been using internationally-banned weapons such as cluster bombs on the people of Yemen. Our correspondent Mohammad al-Attab has traveled to the province of Sa’ada where many of its residential areas have been targeted by such bombs.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/03/24/515401/Saudi-Arabia-cluster-bombs-Yemen
24.3.2017 – The American Conservative (* B H K)
The Enduring Shame of Two Years of U.S. Support for the War on Yemen
This weekend will be the second anniversary of the start of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, and it has been even more disastrous and harmful than opponents feared it would be:
As it usually does, outside intervention in Yemen’s local conflict greatly intensified and prolonged the war. It has also caused enormous suffering for the civilian population through an indiscriminate bombing campaign and the systematic devastation of the country’s economy and infrastructure. The war and the coalition blockade have predictably produced a horrific humanitarian crisis that now threatens to claim the lives of millions of people if nothing is done to prevent famine. The failure of the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led intervention was both likely and foreseeable from the start: the coalition was pursuing highly ambitious and unrealistic political goals, but lacked the means to achieve them. After two years of senseless carnage and destruction, the coalition has clearly failed in all of its stated goals, and the only thing it has accomplished is to ruin Yemen and starve its people.
Throughout this disgraceful campaign, the U.S. has been unstinting in its assistance as the Saudis and their allies destroy their poorer neighbor. No American interest has been served by this, and none could be, since the people being targeted by the coalition’s bombs and blockade have never done anything to us and posed no threat to us. The U.S. has enabled a shameful and atrocious war, and it has all been for nothing. Worse still, the U.S. did this despite having no obligation to aid any of the governments waging this war. This was not something that our government was bound by treaty to do, but something that the previous and current administrations have chosen to do because they could.
The Saudi-led war on Yemen has always been indefensible and unjust because it was always much more likely to cause greater evils than it prevented (it and has caused some truly great evils), and it was always unnecessary. It has also proved to be a disastrous miscalculation by the Saudis and their allies, who are frittering away their resources on a war they can’t win but are too embarrassed to quit. Far from countering a serious threat to Saudi security, the intervention has created one by triggering retaliatory strikes inside Saudi territory. The Saudis didn’t face an “existential threat” from Yemen, but plunged recklessly into a war without considering the pitfalls of intervention, and the U.S. stupidly helped them to do that. Uncritically backing our reckless clients leads to disaster for the clients and enduring shame for us, and millions of innocent civilians are paying the price so that our government can “reassure” a few despots and indulge their paranoia – by Daniel Larison
23.3.2017 – The American Conservative (* B H K)
Starving Yemen to Death
Yemen’s civilian population faces the most severe and widespread crisis. It is in Yemen where outside intervention and blockade have done the greatest harm. As a result, seven million people are on the verge of starving to death and another ten million people are not far behind. It can’t be emphasized enough that this is something that has been done to the people of Yemen on purpose by the Saudi-led coalition with the political and military support of the U.S. and Britain. All of these governments are not merely allowing millions of Yemenis to starve to death, but have worked to cause their starvation.
If Yemen’s war has generally been neglected by the rest of the world, its humanitarian crisis has been similarly ignored. Appeals to fund relief efforts have gone unfulfilled, and the sheer scale and severity of the crisis has been overlooked by most. Even now that the crisis is beginning to receive some attention, it is almost too late. By the time that famine is officially declared in Yemen, it will be too late for millions of people, many of whom will have already died. Unlike in some other conflicts where U.S. influence is limited or non-existent, our government has the leverage to make the coalition halt its campaign and lift its blockade of the country, but it has to be willing to use it. There is no hint that the new administration would even consider this course of action, but if they don’t they will go down along with the previous administration as enablers of one of the worst man-made famines in modern times – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/starving-yemen-to-death-2/
23.3.2017 – Amnesty International (A K)
MENSCHENRECHTSVERLETZUNGEN IM JEMEN STOPPEN!
Der seit zwei Jahren andauernde bewaffnete Konflikt im Jemen hat zu einer humanitären Katastrophe im Land geführt. Zahlreiche Länder tragen dafür mit anhaltenden Waffenlieferungen eine Mitverantwortung. Allein die USA und Großbritannien haben seit 2015 für über fünf Milliarden US-Dollar Waffen an Saudi-Arabien geliefert - mehr als das Zehnfache der von ihnen im gleichen Zeitraum zugesagten oder budgetierten Hilfsgelder. In den vergangenen zwei Jahren hat Amnesty International im Rahmen verschiedener Untersuchungsmissionen vor Ort zahlreiche Verstöße gegen das humanitäre Völkerrecht und mutmaßliche Kriegsverbrechen aller Konfliktparteien dokumentiert, so mindestens 34 Luftangriffe der saudisch geführten Koalition auf zivile Ziele, bei denen mindestens 494 Zivilpersonen ums Leben kamen, darunter 148 Kinder.
Sowohl die Huthi-Kräfte und ihre Verbündeten als auch ihre Gegner sind für wahllosen Artillerie-, Mörsergranaten- und Raketenbeschuss von Wohngebieten in den Städten Aden und Taiz verantwortlich. In den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten rekrutierten die Huthi-Kräfte zudem Kindersoldatinnen und -soldaten und brachten Kritikerinnen und Kritiker durch willkürliche Festnahmen, Verschwindenlassen und Folter zum Schweigen.
Unabhängige internationale Untersuchung dringender denn je
Diese lange Liste von Verstößen zeigt die Dringlichkeit, mit der die Staatengemeinschaft nun, zwei Jahre nach Beginn des Konflikts, endlich eine unabhängige, internationale Untersuchung über mutmaßliche Kriegsverbrechen sämtlicher Konfliktparteien durchsetzen muss.
Waffenlieferungen gehen ungebremst weiter
Bei den von Amnesty International dokumentierten Luftangriffen auf zivile Ziele durch die saudisch geführte Koalition kamen auch Waffen aus US-amerikanischer, britischer und brasilianischer Produktion zum Einsatz - darunter auch die wegen ihrer verheerenden Wirkung auf die Zivilbevölkerung völkerrechtlich verbotenen Streubomben
Waffenembargo dringend geboten
Amnesty International ruft die Staatengemeinschaft dringend auf, ein Waffenembargo zu verhängen und die Lieferungen von Rüstungsgütern, die im Konflikt im Jemen eingesetzt werden können, an alle im Jemen-Konflikt aktiven Kräfte unverzüglich zu stoppen.
https://www.amnesty.de/2017/3/23/menschenrechtsverletzungen-im-jemen-stoppen = https://www.amnesty.ch/de/laender/naher-osten-nordafrika/jemen/dok/2017/zwei-jahre-krieg-waffen-statt-hilfsgelder/ und Audio von SRF: http://www.srf.ch/sendungen/4x4/in-den-jemen-geht-zehnmal-mehr-geld-fuer-waffen-als-fuer-nothilfe
23.3.2017 – The Economist (* B K P)
Beggar thy neighbor: Yemen’s war enters its third bloody year
Two years on, Saudi Arabia’s war is a study in futility and self-harm
As Yemen’s formal economy collapses, a war economy has taken its place. For a fee, any truck can pass checkpoints without inspection, no matter what it carries. Weapons-smuggling is rife; particularly, says a diplomat, of Saudi-supplied arms. So cheap and plentiful are hand-grenades that Yemenis throw them to celebrate weddings. Sheikhs offer their tribesmen as fighters for neighbouring countries willing to pay for regional influence.
For a further fee—call it performance-related pay—they might even advance. Ending the conflict might cost the warring parties their livelihoods, so they have stopped talking to the UN’s special envoy. When the unfortunate diplomat arranged a ceasefire-monitoring centre in Saudi Arabia, the Houthis bombed it. “They and their sons make millions at the expense of hungry Yemenis,” says a frustrated mediator.
Outsiders have added greatly to the fragmentation of Yemen. Iran has long backed the Houthis with weapons, but ideas are just as lethal an export. Yemen’s population is comprised of roughly equal numbers of Shafii Sunnis and Zaydi Shias, inclusive sects whose followers once prayed side-by-side in the same mosques. But after Iran’s Shia revolution in 1979, ayatollahs in Iran’s holy city of Qom paid for hundreds of Zaydis to enroll in their seminaries. Many returned to preach the virtues of Iran’s more mainstream Shiism, and hung portraits of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in their homes.
Saudi Arabia countered by exporting its own Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam. Radical preachers, such as Muqbil al-Waddai, opened retreats in the desert, where at prayer-time trainees bowed down to Kalashnikovs laid in front of them. With Sunnis concentrated on the coast and in the east, and Shias predominating in the highlands of the north-west, their rival creeds prised the country apart.
Such are the animosities that Yemen, stitched together in 1990, is now disintegrating. The south seethes at the northern bullies who bombarded their roads and sniped at their citizens when they briefly conquered Aden in the early months of the war. The north decries the southern traitors who invited Saudi and Emirati forces to drop bombs on them and isolate them by land, air and sea after the outsiders joined the war in March 2015.
The fact that gains on the ground are often secured by tribal understandings and payments rather than by fighting accounts for the high share—three-fifths—of all casualties that are caused by air strikes. Reluctant to take risks, Saudi pilots fly high, out of range of anti-aircraft fire. That spares Saudi lives, but imprecise bombing increases Yemeni civilian casualties. The UN says over 7,000 Yemenis have been killed in the two years of war. Hospitals were attacked 18 times in 2016.
Saudi Arabia insists all this is a price worth paying for reinstating the president the Houthis chased out of the capital in 2015.
War has only exacerbated the manageable threat that Saudi Arabia faced at the start. No matter how often its loyal press report victorious advances, the front lines have in fact changed very little. But Saudi Arabia now looks more vulnerable and Iran looms larger than ever. As a war it predicted would quickly end enters its third year, Saudi Arabia seems without an exit strategy. “Yemen [is] in danger of fracturing beyond the point of no return,” said a recent UN report.
The UAE, which masterfully captured Aden with an amphibious landing in August 2015, had vowed to make the city a model for the rest of the country. A year and a half on it still refuses to let in journalists, so it is hard to measure its success. Security has improved, say locals, but governing institutions remain sorely lacking. Destitute refugees from Aden arriving in Djibouti insist they have seen no evidence of the billion dollars the Emirates claims it is investing in reconstruction.
23.3.2017 – Amnesty International (* B H K)
730 Days of Conflict in Yemen - In Pictures
Over the course of five field missions to Yemen between May 2015 and November 2016, Amnesty International has documented violations by all parties to the conflict. Below is a series of photos, taken mostly during these missions, capturing the stories of civilians bearing the brunt of the country’s forgotten crisis. The al-Shaymeh Education Complex for Girls in Hodeidah was struck multiple times by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in August 2015. According to witnesses, at least two people were killed in the strikes.
“I felt that humanity has ended. I mean, a place of learning, to be hit in this way, without warning, I said, where is humanity? Places of learning are considered sacred. It is supposed to be illegal, in any war, to strike such places.” (- Director of al-Shaymeh School)
On 24 July 2015, a coalition airstrike on the residential compound of the Steam Power Plant in Mokha killed at least 63 civilians and injured 50 others.
“We were all at home celebrating the birth of my granddaughter Alaa’, with neighbours and family. I was about to enter the house when suddenly the door came off as the whole house shook. It was like an earthquake. The first bomb hit the maintenance equipment store, the second bomb hit the cafeteria. There was a moment of silence, which I took advantage of to rescue my family. That is when the third bomb landed. The electricity had gone off, I tried to go inside the house to look for a torch and for my family. I was screaming for my daughters, I could hear others screaming in search of their families. But all I saw was my wife and daughters drowning in their blood. Only my daughters Lina (16) and Samar (26) survived as they had run away to the coast when the strikes happened. Three of my daughters, my wife, my daughter’s husband and my granddaughter Alaa’ were killed.” (Qaed al-Sabri, a technician at the plant, who lost most of his family in the airstrike.)
On 1 March 2016, an 11-year-old was hurt by a cluster bomb submunition in al-Safra, Sa’da governorate, losing three of his fingers and breaking his jaw. His eight-year-old brother was killed as they were carrying and playing with submunitions for several hours.
“We go down every day to the valley to herd goats, where there are many small bombs. We found four of them in the morning… they were cylindrical with a red ribbon. We carried them with us while herding. At around 1pm, I started to take the red string with my right hand and pull and [my brother] pulled on the other end of it and then it went off and I fell back. [My brother] was hurt in his stomach and he had fallen down too. We didn’t know it would hurt us.” (- 11-year-old survivor of a submunition incident in Sa’da)
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/03/yemen-photoblog-2017/
22.3.2017 – Oxfam (*B K)
There was a time in Yemen...
There was a time when hearing airplanes flying used to put a smile on my face
Now, when I hear airplanes hovering in the sky, I get scared of what might come next. I pay attention in case there is an airstrike to follow and I start counting the number of airstrikes, even those far away: One… Two… and with the third strike we are herded to the basement, usually in the middle of the night. Sometimes there are only two strikes, but that is even worse as I cannot go back to sleep, waiting for the third to come.
Some of the airstrikes are so strong that they shake the house, we can feel it even when we are in the basement. The truth is no matter how much we would like to think that we are safe, we never know if and when we will end up to be counted as ‘collateral damage’ or just ‘a mistake’ of those well trained jetfighters!
There was a time when seeing armed people was a rarity, a novelty.
There was a time when the idea of child soldiers was an academic concept, a topic of research that stemmed from my strong belief in children’s rights and the need to protect children from harm. But here in Yemen, it is a daily reality when you pass one of the many checkpoints along the road that are ‘manned’ by child soldiers.
There was a time when the concept of war was a theoretical one
There will be a time… for peace in Yemen – by Sylvia Ghaly, Head of Policy and Campaigns, Oxfam Yemen
https://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/17-03-22-there-was-time-yemen
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
25.3.2017 – BBC (* A H)
Film: The little boy who lost his legs while playing at home
How children are bearing the brunt of the war in Yemen.
http://linkis.com/www.bbc.co.uk/news/v/8bgVq = https://twitter.com/bbcstories/status/845331391847972866
25.3.2017 – Press TV Iran (* A H)
World must assist families displaced by Saudi war: Yemeni Red Cross
Two years into a bloody Saudi war on Yemen, the Red Crescent Society in the violence-hit country calls on the international community to provide more humanitarian aid to the Yemeni families displaced in the wake of Riyadh’s military campaign.
Head of the Society Hussian Saleh told Press TV on Friday that over 20,000 families are currently in urgent need of basic aid, and food donations are quickly running out amid rising demands to mitigate hunger.
“We call on international organizations to help Yemeni internally displaced people as they cannot meet their basic needs due to the Saudi-imposed blockade and airstrikes on the region. We have been able to provide humanitarian assistance to 500 families, but the figure of families in need is estimated to be much higher,” Saleh pointed out (with film)
25.3.2017 – Qatar Red Crescent Society (A H P)
QRCS Provides Oncology Medicines in Yemen
Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS) has delivered cancer medications to Yemen's National Oncology Center. The $118,630 medical supplies were donated by Qatar's Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/qrcs-provides-oncology-medicines-yemen-enar
My comment: Bomb them, spend some peanuts for relief, and drive attention on it.
24.3.2017 – Oxfam (* A H)
Revisiting Yemen in the midst of conflict
Jonathon Puddifoot reflects on a recent visit to the country he knows so well.
Its 30 years since I first fell in love with Yemen the country and Yemen the people. Now, 10 years since I was last here, bumping along the sandy path to Beni Hassan and the other places that Oxfam is supporting in the north eastern governorate of Hajjah, all sorts of memories of things come flooding back.
The car comes to a halt and we all clamber out. Walking through the dust in a spontaneous settlement of displaced families, we are invited into a small hut of sticks and grass. The mother of a baby boy, who looks to be about 18 months old, explains that her husband has been killed, and she had to run away from the fighting with her baby. She is living here now, with her father in law and his family. She says the baby reminds her father in law of his son…. her husband, and that’s why he looks after them. She is anxious, living in a precarious situation, with the responsibility to bring up her children in the best way possible. The huts in this settlement are spread out, big gaps between them, and she tells me that no, she doesn’t know her neighbours and no, they don’t help each other, it’s everyone for themselves here…
But leaving this family, I feel very sad, there is a lot that can go wrong – by JONATHAN PUDDIFOOT
24.3.2017 – World Food Programme (A H)
Infographic: Facing Famine Dashboard, March 2017
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/facing-famine-dashboard-march-2017 and in full: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ep/wfp291233.pdf = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/wfp291233.pdf
24.3.2017 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (* A H)
In Yemen, UNHCR reaches embattled Mokha with emergency aid
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
After weeks of intense negotiations, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has reached the embattled district of Mokha in Yemen’s western governorate of Taizz, where hostilities between the warring parties have escalated since January.
Intensified fighting has led to more than 48,000 people being displaced from Taizz in the past six weeks alone. Humanitarian access to Mokha, a flashpoint of hostilities and one of the worst affected areas within the governorate, has been particularly challenging owing to ongoing clashes and movement restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict.
UNHCR teams went on mission to Mokha this week and started distributions on Monday in an area close to the frontlines. More than 3,416 individuals affected by the conflict received non-food assistance from UNHCR, which included mattresses, sleeping mats, blankets, kitchen sets and wash buckets.
The majority of those displaced by hostilities in Taizz have fled to other parts of the governorate. UNHCR’s distributions in Mokha were provided to people who were displaced from other villages in the district.
UNHCR’s field staff reported many were traumatised and living in desperate conditions, lacking water and sanitation and sharing limited resources with local host communities. Those displaced were being accommodated by local families or living out in the open, without any protection. Many informed UNHCR that this was the first time they had received humanitarian non-food assistance.
This latest distribution supplements UNHCR’s previous distributions to those freshly displaced from intensified violence in Taizz. More than 18,151 individuals recently displaced from the Red Sea governorate were also reached by UNHCR assistance in nearby governorates of Al Hudaydah and Ibb. With the military situation remaining highly volatile on Yemen’s western front and hostilities extending, UNHCR has also secured access in six other districts in Taizz and will reach more than 42,000 people with emergency assistance in the coming days in Dhubab, Al Wazi’iyah, Mawza, Al Ma’afer, Maqbanah and Mawiyah.
Separately, in central Yemen, where 13,900 people were displaced by a recent flare up in hostilities in Utmah district, Dhamar governorate, UNHCR has also started distribution of aid to those now returning home. UNHCR distributions in Utmah started on Wednesday to assist more than 7,700 conflict-returnees.
With March marking two years since the beginning of the current conflict in Yemen, 11.3 per cent of Yemen’s population has been forcibly displaced by the war. There are two million people displaced across Yemen and one million have returned home to precarious conditions.
As conflict in Yemen drags, 84 per cent of those uprooted from their homes have now been displaced for more than a year, struggling to meet basic needs including food and shelter.
http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2017/3/58d4e9794/yemen-unhcr-reaches-embattled-mokha-emergency-aid.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-reaches-embattled-mokha-emergency-aid
24.3.2017 – Emirati News Agency (A H)
UAE assistance to Yemen reaches AED7.3 billion (US$2 billion)
The total UAE foreign assistance provided to Yemen, between April 2015 and March 2017, within the framework of the UAE’s efficient humanitarian and development role and its rebuilding projects to support the Yemeni people, amounted to AED7.3 billion (US$2 billion).
The assistance aims to reduce the suffering of the Yemenis and is in compliance with the UAE’s humanitarian and development approach and its desire to establish development, security and stability in the country.
The UAE’s aid targeted about 10 million Yemeni people, including four million children. It provided polio and measles vaccines to 488,000 children, including 130,000 infants under the age of one, and 358,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5, in 11 Yemeni governorates.
UAE assistance included humanitarian, development and charity assistance, and urgent humanitarian assistance reaching AED1.97 billion ($536million), representing 26.9 percent of the total assistance to Yemen during the stated period.
Its humanitarian assistance included food aid totalling 172,000 tonnes and more than 111 tonnes of medication and medical supplies, as well as the provision of ambulances and medical devices, while 235.8 tonnes of food were sent on a daily basis.
The UAE’s development assistance to Yemen, during this period, reached AED5.3 billion ($1.45 billion), while its foreign development assistance, which was distributed to several sectors, reached AED985.58 million ($268.33 million) in support of the power generation sector. The operational costs of generating electricity and providing electricity supply services were also covered. Diesel and fuel generators were supplied to the governorates of Aden, Abyan, Hadramout, Marib and Mahra.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/03/uae-assistance-to-yemen-reaches-aed7-3-billion-us2-billion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uae-assistance-to-yemen-reaches-aed7-3-billion-us2-billion = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/uae-assistance-yemen-reaches-aed73-billion-us2-billion
My comment: That seems to be quite a lot. But the UAE is the second important partner in Saudi Arabia’s coalition bombing Yemen, having caused up to now a (vague estimated) damage of US $ 180 billion.
24.3.2017 – Reuters (* A H)
Aid reaches Yemen's Mokha district where thousands are displaced by war
Aid has reached the embattled district of Mokha in Yemen, where fighting in a two-year-old civil war has been escalating since January, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
Intensified fighting has led to more than 48,000 people being driven from their homes in Taiz governorate - where Mokha is located - in the past six weeks alone, UNHCR said.
Humanitarian access to Mokha has been particularly challenging due to clashes and movement restrictions imposed by the warring parties.
Distribution, which began last Monday, was allowed after weeks of negotiations, UNHCR said.
"UNHCR's field staff reported many (people) were traumatized and living in desperate conditions, lacking water and sanitation and sharing limited resources with local host communities," the agency's spokesman, Matthew Saltmarsh, told reporters in Geneva.
At least 3,416 people received wash buckets, sleeping mats, blankets and mattresses and other essential items, Saltmarsh said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-aid-idUSKBN16V2D9
24.3.2017 – Luzerner Zeitung (A H)
Schweiz organisiert Hilfskonferenz für Jemen
Die Schweiz organisiert zusammen mit Schweden eine internationale Geberkonferenz für den Jemen. Ziel der für den 25. April in Genf angesetzten Konferenz ist laut Bundesrat Didier Burkhalter, das Leiden der Zivilbevölkerung zu lindern.
Die Konferenz komme auf Anfrage von UNO-Generalsekretär António Guterres zustande, sagte Burkhalter am Freitag in Bern an der Jahrestagung der Humanitären Hilfe des Bundes und des Schweizerischen Korps für Humanitäre Hilfe (SKH).
Er erinnerte gemäss Redetext an die kürzlichen Appelle der UNO, wonach gegen 20 Millionen Menschen in Nigeria, Südsudan, Jemen und Somalia von einer Hungerkatastrophe bedroht seien.
http://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/nachrichten/schweiz/Schweiz-organisiert-Hilfskonferenz-fuer-Jemen;art46447,995897 = http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/burkhalter-kuendigt-jemen-konferenz-in-genf-an/43056966
24.3.2017 – DPA (* A H)
Hungerkatastrophe in Afrika und im Jemen - kaum Spenden
Das Elend ist groß, die Appelle sind dramatisch: Ohne milliardenteure Hilfsprogramme werden Millionen Bürgerkriegsopfer in Afrika und im Jemen sterben. Aber die Spenden fließen spärlich.
Spätestens seit Februar ist klar: in mehreren Regionen Afrikas und im Jemen ist die Hungersnot ausgebrochen. Auf Fernsehbildern sieht man Kinder wimmern. Ausgemergelte Menschen schleppen sich mit letzter Kraft in Nothilfestationen.
20 Millionen Menschen in vier Ländern sind vom Hungertod bedroht - neben Südsudan, Nigeria und Somalia auch im Jemen. UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres schickte im Februar einen dringend Appell in die Welt: Die Vereinten Nationen brauchten bis Ende März vier Milliarden Euro, um die schlimmste Not zu lindern. Aber es hat wenig gefruchtet. Ganze zehn Prozent waren bis zum 20. März zusammengekommen. Wie funktioniert das mit den Spendenaufrufen eigentlich?
An wen genau richtet sich so ein Spendenaufruf?
Sowohl an Regierungen als auch Wohltätigkeitsorganisationen und Privatleute
Was, wenn Regierungen nicht reagieren oder nicht genug überweisen?
Das kann Menschenleben kosten und macht Hilfe langfristig aber auf jeden Fall kostspieliger – Von Christiane Oelrich
24.3.2017 – AFP (* B H K)
Yemen children dream of school as war keeps them out
The slender 12-year-old, who loves painting and dreams of becoming a teacher, is one of 3.5 million Yemeni children out of school, according to the United Nations children's agency UNICEF.
The fighting has halted the education of nearly two million children on top of the 1.6 million already out of school before the conflict, it said.
"If Yemen's current generation misses out on school, the long-term consequences will be another generation that is likely to perpetuate the cycle of violence," it warned in a November report.
As a result, "an entire generation of children risk losing out on their future," said Shabia Mantoo, Yemen spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency UNHCR.
The fighting has put 1,640 Yemeni schools out of service, with 1,470 destroyed or damaged and others converted into refugee shelters or barracks for fighters, it said.
Meanwhile, in a country on the brink of famine, necessity has forced many children to beg or seek informal jobs to support their families.
Some end up joining armed groups -- the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights says nearly 1,500 children have been recruited as fighters, mostly by the Huthis.
Ahmed Salem has lived in a camp for displaced people in Marib, east of Sanaa, since fleeing the nearby town of Sarwah. Instead of going to school, the 16-year-old spends his days trying to provide for his siblings.
"I left my education the day the fighting started in our area," he said. "Now, I go out every morning to try to get food for my family. I go to organisations again and again to try to get aid."
Although schools do operate in some areas, their work is hampered by overcrowding and frequent staff strikes over unpaid salaries. Many parents cannot afford stationery for their children.
People also fear air raids. One strike attributed to the Saudi-led coalition hit a school in northern Yemen in August, killing 10 children.
"The students are traumatised," said Abdullah al-Ezzi, a teacher at Al-Hussein school in Sanaa. "They get scared when warplanes fly over their neighbourhoods. They are scared of air strikes."
Those who drop out of school are easy prey for extremists, who have taken advantage of the conflict in Yemen to strengthen their hold on parts of the south and east.
"In the best case, (dropouts) go to unregulated, religious study centres or training courses at mosques, thinking they offer an alternative to a formal education," said Ibrahim Nagi, a teacher in Taez.
But many fear that such places are used by jihadists to radicalise and recruit young people – by Jamil Nasser with Mohammed Ali Harisi
24.3.2017 – RT (* A H)
7mn people face starvation as Yemen heads towards man-made famine – Oxfam
The situation in war-ravaged Yemen is starting to resemble a man-made famine, with almost seven million people “knowingly” pushed towards starvation, the latest report from the international humanitarian organization Oxfam says.
https://www.rt.com/news/382157-yemen-famine-starvation-oxfam/
Remark: This Oxfam statement already linked at YPR 284.
22.3.2017 – UN Development Programme (* A H)
UNDP and the Government of Japan renew partnership to support stabilization of conflict-affected communities
UNDP and the Government of Japan launched today an emergency 12-month Yemen Stabilisation Programme aimed at providing critical recovery support to stabilise conflict-affected districts of Attawahi, Crater and al-Mualla, in Aden Governorate.
Over 2 million people have been displaced since March 2015 and 1 million former internally displaced persons (IDPs) have recently returned to their area of origin. Four out of the five districts hosting the largest numbers of returnees are in Aden Governorate.
“It is very important to bring back normalcy to the lives of citizens in Aden. UNDP works to improve economic livelihoods, provision of basic services of the most vulnerable populations to stabilise their communities,” said Auke Lootsma, Country Director. “The launch of the Japan-funded activities marks the beginning of the roll-out of our stabilisation programme in Aden, Abyan, and Lahj governorates,” he continued.
A joint task force on Population Movement led by IOM and UNHCR revealed that 31 % of returnees place financial support (19%) or access to income (12%) as their top priority pointing out to dire living conditions and disrupted livelihoods. Perceived security, access to income and the availability of services play a leading role for decisions over returning, and where to return to. In 83% of areas surveyed, longer-term intentions of IDPs were conditional upon the prevailing security situation. Similarly, security and safety represented the main factor affecting returnee livelihoods in 75% of areas, influencing over their decision to stay (75%). They need to find quick ways to reintegrate in their communities, reconnect and recover trust.
A rapid integrated assessment led by UNDP in 2015 established that confidence between the citizens and state institutions ranked low. In Aden, over 70% of surveyed citizens reported low trust in formal institutions. Exposure to violence and fighting was reported by Adenis in similar proportions.
“Security and stability top the list of priorities. If there is security and stability, there will be prosperity”, said one focus group respondent in Aden as early as September 2015.
In partnership with the Government of Japan, UNDP will work closely with local authorities and community partners to tackle the multi-dimensional aspects of stabilisation that can address root causes and prevent conflict reoccurrence.
http://www.ye.undp.org/content/yemen/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2017/03/22/undp-and-the-government-of-japan-renew-partnership-to-support-stabilization-of-conflict-affected-communities.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/undp-and-government-japan-renew-partnership-support-stabilization-conflict-affected
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
25.–26.3.2017 – Soraya Tebbani (A P)
Sanaa: AlSabaeen Square tonight.Yemenis getting ready for the protest tomorrow ! KSA can bombard all the road they want . The people will be there (photo)
https://twitter.com/2flamesburning1/status/845760842587103232
25.3.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Film: Al-Houthis’s speech in TV
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1316736058379421
and
25.3.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Ansarullah leader: Saudis failed to reach their goals in Yemen
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has stressed that Saudi Arabia has not reached any of its goals despite its relentless attacks against its impoverished neighbor.
Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi made the comments during a speechon Saturday, the second year anniversary of Riyadh’s war against his country.
He stressed that the kingdom’s almost daily airstrikes against civilians in Yemen are nothing short of war crimes.
Houthi added that the Saudis, backed by several regional and international countries, were using some of the most lethal armaments against the people in Yemen.
Ansarullah’s leader also slammed Saudi Arabia’s constant destruction of Yemeni infrastructures such as schools and hospitals. While noting that Saudi Arabia’s aggression only served Israel's goal of creating instability in the region, Houthi praised the people of Yemen for their resilience and for safeguarding the country's dignity. http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/03/25/515603/yemen-ansarullah-houthi-speech
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
Anti-Saudi parties call for rally to mark 2nd anniversary of steadfastness
Anti-Saudi aggression Political parties, including the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and Yemeni non-governmental organizations called on Saturday the Yemeni people to participate in Sunday rally in Sabeen square in the capital Sana'a to mark the second anniversary of steadfastness against the Saudi aggression war.
In statements to Saba, the political parties, NGOs and governors stressed on the importance of participating in the mass event to send a message to the world and the aggression that the Yemeni people are steadfast and will not back down until near victory is achieved.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460079.htm and also http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460076.htm
25.3.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Fears Militias Will Transfer Hodeidah Detainees to Yemen Coalition Target Areas
Houthi and Saleh militias have started transferring Hodeidah city detainees into unknown locations, according to informed sources in the western Yemeni city.
They expressed fear that Houthis will turn these areas into targets for coalition forces, which usually strikes military bases and arms warehouses.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi militias felt threatened as national army and Arab coalition forces advanced on the coastal city and have started preparing to liberate its port from these militias, who abruptly transferred their detainees to unknown places without informing their relatives.
Houthi militias told the relatives, who used to be allowed to visit their loved ones in the political security prison, that the detainees are no longer in the facility, refusing to divulge their new location, according to the sources.
The parents of the detainees in Hodeidah, one of the largest port cities in Yemen, fear that Houthi militias will use the detainees as military targets for the coalition’s airplanes, especially following the debate over the liberation of the city by the Yemeni army and coalition forces.
26.3.2017 – RT (* A P)
Huthi-Gericht verurteilt Jemens Staatschef zur Todesstrafe
Ein Gericht der schiitischen Bewegung Ansar Allah, die momentan die jemenitische Hauptstaat Sanaa kontrolliert, hat den Staatschef Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi zur Todesstrafe verurteilt. Nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters wurde der jemenitische Präsident wegen Hochverrats und Beihilfe für den „Aggressor“ Saudi-Arabien und dessen Verbündete angeklagt. Die höchste Strafe bekamen neben Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi sechs weitere Beamte seiner Administration. https://deutsch.rt.com/newsticker/48218-huthi-gericht-verurteilt-jemens-staatschef-zur-todesstrafe/
25.3.2017 – Reuters (* A P)
Pro-Houthi court sentences Yemen president to death for treason
A Yemeni court in territory controlled by the armed Houthi movement sentenced the group's enemy in a two-year-old civil war President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and six other top officials in his government to death for "high treason" on Saturday.
The decision by a court in the capital Sanaa, reported by the state news agency Saba, which is run by the Houthis, may render more remote the resumption of stalled peace talks to end the conflict which has killed at least 10,000 people.
Saba quoted the Sanaa criminal court as having convicted Hadi of "incitement and assistance to the aggressor state of Saudi Arabia and its allies." The death sentence for high treason was also passed down on several senior government officials including the ambassador to the United States Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak and the former foreign minister Riyadh Yassin.
"With great pride my name is on this list of honour," bin Mubarak wrote on his official Facebook page, calling his convicted colleagues his "brothers".
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-court-idUSKBN16W0UF = http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-court-idUKKBN16W0UA?rpc=401&
25.3.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K P)
On eve of 2nd anniversary of US-backed Saudi aggression, Millions of Yemen prepare to make unprecedented historic rally March 26. (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845583741179346944
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845583510555574272
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
26.3.2017 – Almasdar News (A T)
Al Thawra Public Hospital in Taiz closed after a patient’s murdered – security source
Al Thawra Public Hospital in central Taiz city, central Yemen, was closed after the murder of one of its patients by masked gunmen.
A security source told Almasdaronline that masked gunmen stormed on Friday the hospital and murdered a patient called Ishaq Fare before fleeing the area.
The gunmen stormed the hospital half an hour after the withdrawal of its security guards appointed by the Deputy Governor Aref Jamil.
The Presidency of the al Thawra Public Hospital Authority in Taiz took a decision to close the hospital, including the emergency department, until the investigations are conducted, the culprits exposed, and new security elements appointed in the hospital.
It is noteworthy that the medical staff of the hospital authority had declared a strike early last week, after three of its members were assaulted by the hospital security guards.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89855
25.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A T)
High-ranking leader of Taiz's resistance killed
Unidentified gunmen on Saturday assassinated a high-ranking leader in Taiz, a source of Taiz's resistance told Al sahwa Net
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead Abdullah Saeed al-Sharabi, a leader of Abi al-Abbas faction.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5321
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
24.3.2017 – UN Multimedia (* A P)
Zeid had "no choice" but to repeat Yemen probe call
Ongoing grave rights abuses in Yemen linked to the war have left the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with "no choice" but to repeat his call for an international probe there.
That was the message delivered to the Human Rights Council by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein's deputy, Kate Gilmore.
She told Member States meeting in Geneva that in the last two years, conflict between the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and Houthi opposition forces have killed or injured nearly 13,000 civilians.
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore told the Human Rights Council that conditions in Yemen have become "miserable, deplorable and untenable".
Latest data gathered by her office indicated nearly 5,000 civilian deaths from the conflict, most likely a very conservative estimate, she said.
Amid the destruction and suffering Kate Gilmore implied that there was little prospect of serious abuses being investigated, in light of what she called the "under-performing" Yemeni national commission for human rights.
This situation had left the High Commissioner for Human Rights with no choice but to reiterate his call for an international probe, Ms Gilmore said, adding that it could work alongside Yemen's existing commission of inquiry.
"The violations allegedly committed in the ongoing conflict are of such gravity that continued impunity cannot be accepted. In the absence of credible mechanisms for national remedy, international and independent alternatives are essential "
In her update on Yemen to the Council, Kate Gilmore told Member States that ongoing fighting in and around the port cities of Mokha and Hodeida has left thousands of people "trapped in the crossfire".
Remark: The whole session here, with a plenty of odd statements by Saudi coalition backers: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21440&LangID=E (linked YPR 284). And, what will happen now; when this international probe finally will come? Saudis and US always blocked it.
23.7.2017 – Andreas Kindl (A P)
1/2 #KateGilmore rather straightforward: #Yemen one of world's worst humanitarian crises - entirely man-made. #HRC34
2/2 #KateGilmore #Yemen #HRC34 National Commission failed to live up to standards; call for international independent commission of inquiry.
https://twitter.com/AmbSanaa/status/845072877485461504
https://twitter.com/AmbSanaa/status/845072920766500864
My comment: The German ambassador to Yemen … he really got it.
23.3.2017 – Government of the Netherlands (A P)
Joint Statement Yemen
I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of a group of 29 states. The statement will be made available on the HRC extranet.
We are deeply concerned about the grave deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen. Moreover we remain deeply concerned about the continued allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights and applicable international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.
We continue to support independent investigations into all alleged violations and abuses, with a view to ending impunity for crimes committed by all parties to the conflict, in line with HRC resolution A/HRC/33/16 and the EU General Comment.
We call on all parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the National Commission of Inquiry as well as the enhanced OHCHR Yemen Office and to allow them full access to all parts of Yemen.
We call on the National Commission to proactively engage with and seek out the required substantive technical assistance provided by the Office of the High Commissioner so that national investigations will be completed in accordance with the highest international standards.
The additional international human rights experts and investigators - as mandated by the 2016 Yemen resolution – should begin their work swiftly. The independent investigatory work carried out by the OHCHR Yemen Office remains essential in order to establish the facts and circumstances of all alleged violations in Yemen.
Both the final report by the National Commission of Inquiry as well the written report of the High Commissioner are essential ingredients for further discussions by the Human Rights Council in September. Ultimately these investigatory reports must provide a basis for starting a process of accountability.
We strongly call on all relevant parties to facilitate the swift resumption of salary payments in all of Yemen. We emphasise the importance of Hodeida port as a point of access for essential supplies, and the particular need to ensure that it is able to function effectively. We also urge the immediate reopening of Sana’a Airport for commercial flights.
https://www.government.nl/documents/media-articles/2017/03/23/joint-statement-yemen
My comment: What a coward statement this is. Remember – once the Netherlands asked for an independent international investigation, than quickly turned tail as there came resistance by Saudi Arabia and the US. And now, they really support the odd idea of “national investigations”, that is: the accused should investigate his own case (with photos)
17.3.2017 – UN Democracy Fund (A P)
Enhancing Youth Participation in Peacebuilding and Democracy in Yemen
An UNDEF-funded project has just begun in war-torn Yemen to assist peacebuilding and promote democracy by empowering youth to participate more in civic life.
This project addresses challenges posed by ethnic and religious tensions. Implemented by the Khadija Foundation for Development, the project aims to build youth capacity by involving them in advocacy campaigns and raise civic awareness by creating youth networks. The goal is to engage youth on how to build peace beyond the life of the project.
During the project’s launch event in Ibb Governorate on February 5, 2017 (pictured), President of the Khadija Foundation Roma Al Damasi highlighted the important role Yemeni youth initiatives can play in strengthening peacebuilding since youth tend to be less entrenched in old ways of thinking and have more flexibility in reaching out to the local communities. He underscored that young people need to understand the sources of conflict and take an active role as agents in peace dialogues.
The project will train 300 youth initiative members in three governorates of Sana’a, Ibb and Dhamar. The members will work through the established youth network, Youth Pledge 4 Peace, to develop a vision that will be adopted in the nation’s peacebuilding agenda.
http://www.un.org/democracyfund/news/enhancing-youth-participation-peacebuilding-and-democracy-yemen = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/enhancing-youth-participation-peacebuilding-and-democracy-yemen
cp9 USA
25.3.2017 – Reuters (A P)
U.S. senators set bipartisan bill to tighten sanctions on Iran
Iran would face tighter U.S. sanctions over ballistic missile launches and other non-nuclear activities under a bill announced on Thursday by a bipartisan group of senators, echoing a harder line on Tehran espoused by Republican President Donald Trump.
The bill has seven Republican and seven Democratic sponsors, and aides said it has a good chance of eventually becoming law.
It would set mandatory sanctions for anyone involved with Iran's ballistic missile program. And it would apply sanctions to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), putting into law sanctions imposed via executive order on individuals tied to what the bill's sponsors describe as Iranian support for terrorism.
The IRGC, an elite military body, is powerful in Iranian politics and the economy.
The legislation would also require the U.S. president to block the property of any person or entity involved in specific activities that violate the U.N. arms embargo on Iran.
Iran has suggested about past proposed sanctions bills that they would violate the international nuclear agreement reached during the administration of former President Barack Obama – By Patricia Zengerle
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-sanctions-idUSKBN16U2VI
24.3.2017 – MbKS15 (A K P)
#RSAF F-15SA 12-1001, but clean this time, during flight testing at Palmdale, CA on 03/23 — by: @ShorealoneFilms (photos9
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/845351387496140802
My comment: US-Saudi complicity in pictures.
24.3.2017 – New News (* A P T)
Saudi Arabia faces $6 billion US lawsuit by Sept. 11 insurers
Saudi Arabia is facing a $6 billion lawsuit by dozens of American insurance companies which are trying to hold Riyadh responsible for business and property damage caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks. The lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Manhattan on Thursday is the latest effort to hold the kingdom accountable for the attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people — mostly Americans — and caused about $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage.
Other lawsuits include those filed on Monday by families of about 800 attack victims, as well as the 1,500 injured people after responding to the New York attack.
Insurance companies, including Liberty Mutual, Safeco, Wausau and many Lloyd’s syndicates, blamed Saudi Arabia for providing funding and other material support to al-Qaeda terrorists, who they said, carried out the attacks.
23.3.2017 – National Interest (A K P)
America's Hands Are Tied in Yemen
Trump was right to choose the policy option that best protected U.S. interests, though imperfect.
The United States must balance between problematic actors in order to protect its own interests. However, by supporting to the Saudi campaign while at the same time battling AQAP, the United States is striking the appropriate balance between fulfilling its commitment to protect its allies in the region and coping with the Sunni jihadist threat.
On the humanitarian level, the argument against the United States providing precision-guided munitions rings hollow, because of the reality that the Saudis will continue in what they see as an existential struggle against the Houthis whether or not they have U.S.-supplied precision munitions, the choice in Washington is not whether or not a Saudi campaign should or will take place, but rather whether it is conducted with precision-guided weapons or dumb bombs. It does not take a munitions specialist to figure out which of those would have a higher civilian death toll.
Therefore, despite the clear tensions between his current policies, Trump was right to choose the policy option that best protected U.S. interests, though imperfect; that is certainly preferable to abandoning America’s allies and allowing its enemies to flourish – Ari Heistein, Special Assistant to the Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Israel.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-hands-are-tied-yemen-19882
My comment: A very strange article; it could be understand that you consider that for the author it is legitimate to start and lead wars (at all points in the world, as it seems) to achieve your own interests – whatever these actually are. – read in full to fully understand this sort of cynism.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
25.3.2017 – james Melville (* A P)
Infographic: If the government is serious about stopping terrorism, it should stop selling weapons to areas that are connected to terrorism.
https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/845412684011130880
24.3.2017 – Mark Curtis (A P)
Look at which UK minister again rejects independent probe into massive UK-armed #Saudi war crimes in #Yemen (look at image)
https://twitter.com/markcurtis30/status/845232765452926976
23.3.2017 – The Shields Gazette (* B K P)
Emma Lewell-Buck: Government duty to step up over Yemen
Last week I met with some members of our Yemeni community at the Al-Azhar Mosque to discuss the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I came away from this powerful and emotive meeting with one clear message, no matter what side of the conflict people supported or identified with they were all united in wanting peace and for the fighting to stop.
Britain has sold over £3bn of of arms to Saudi Arabia since the airstrikes on Yemen began and despite strong calls from the Labour benches for a suspension of arms sales, until there is a ceasefire in Yemen and all alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law have been fully and independently investigated, our Government’s position is that it is up to a Saudi-led Joint Incident Assessment Team to assess whether or not there have been any breaches. In short, our Government is refusing to act until the Saudis have given their own verdict. Furthermore, the UK is the ‘pen –holder’ when is comes to drafting UN resolutions on Yemen (We are the UN members whose job it is to draft and present any new proposals to resolve the conflict), so we are not powerless. Yet despite a draft resolution being produced in October last year which called for an immediate ceasefire and the prioritisation of humanitarian relief, no progress has been made in securing a ceasefire and the UK has still not presented the resolution to the UNSC (United Nations Security Council). The continuing conflict and its consequences on the population are devastating and we, as part of the international community, have a legal and moral duty to take urgent steps to alleviate these appalling levels of human despair. It is time for our Government to step up.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
25.3.2017 – Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei (A P)
PhotoJournalist @MazenMahdi was targeted by Bahrain security forces while covering Funeral of #Martyr Hamdan 18 -killed by police- #Bahrain (photos)
https://twitter.com/SAlwadaei/status/845793533902688256
23.3.2017 – Government of Italy (A H P)
Famine risk, Alfano: "Emergency assistance from Italy for Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen"
"Responding to the appeal made by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, we have arranged, through Italian Cooperation, a package of humanitarian aid worth 10 million euros in response to the very serious food crisis that is endangering the survival of 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia, including 1.4 million children under 5 with acute malnutrition problems".
This statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano,
http://www.esteri.it/mae/en/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/comunicati/2017/03/rischio-carestie-alfano-dall-italia.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/famine-risk-alfano-emergency-assistance-italy-somalia-south-sudan-nigeria-and-yemen
My comment: Keep in mind that the Italian government was keen to keep up the export of bombs from Italy to Saudi Arabia – for bombing Yemen.
23.3.2017 – New Mathilda (* A P)
Scott Ludlam On The War On Yemen, The Need For An Arms Embargo, And The Greens Earlier Silence
A frank discussion with Michael Brull about an international conflict supported by our nation that has drawn precious little Australian interest.
I asked the Australian Labor Party and the Greens to respond to the criticisms I made of them for their silence on the war in Yemen. Senator Scott Ludlam, the Greens spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, agreed to a phone interview on the war in Yemen.
They’ve proceeded with effectively the destruction of an entire country’s basic infrastructure
I began by asking Senator Ludlam about his view on the Saudi led coalition’s invasion of Yemen:
“Oh god, where to even begin. I don’t think there’s any doubt at all that there are war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated, there appears on a first reading, it looks as though there’s been indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets in Yemen. But on closer examination it’s actually extremely discriminating. They are targeting water extraction plants, ports, transport infrastructure, hospitals, schools. There’s systematic destruction as far as I can tell, of an entire country’s civilian infrastructure… that is well and truly illegal under international law.”
I was disappointed Senator Ludlam wouldn’t come out and condemn the invasion.
Senator Ludlam went on:
“I’m just saying, that’s the pretext, you know, that’s the legal authority that they claim. It’s an identical legal authority to the United States and Australia being invited back into Iraq by what was considered the government at the time. So I’m not excusing it. I’m just saying that that’s the pretext on which they’re there. Even if they were legitimate, which it clearly isn’t, it doesn’t excuse what has happened since then.”
I asked, “So you think it’s clearly not legitimate?” Senator Ludlam: “I think it would be very difficult to make the case that it was. Like I say, accounts differ, but I don’t contest the basic point that you’re making, no.”
The need for a broad based arms embargo
There’s an extreme double standard operating around foreign fighters of Australian origin
The Greens silence on Yemen
Julie Bishop cheerleading the Saudis – By Michael Brull
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
25.3.2017 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (B K)
Sellers and buyers of weapons, Infographic
25.3.2017 – the Sydney Morning Herald (* A K P)
Australia selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia during brutal Yemen conflict
Defence has approved four military exports to the kingdom in the past year and the Australian government has led the push for more.
But the government is refusing to release details of the approved military sales, citing commercial-in-confidence rules.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne visited Riyadh in December to promote Australian materiel to senior government figures including Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the head of the National Guard.
"The minister received a very positive reception, as did the business representatives who visited," a spokeswoman for Mr Pyne said.
Asked about Australian military exports to Saudi Arabia, Dr Phillips said: "I would find that deeply concerning, with the ways in which previous assistance from other Western nations has been used upon the civilian population."
Greens Defence spokesman Scott Ludlam said an Australian minister soliciting military contracts from Saudi Arabia was "hideous".
"They are bombing hospitals, schools, agricultural areas, the port, bridges, power infrastructure, water infrastructure, attempting to starve an entire country into submission," Mr Ludlam said. "These are the sorts of crimes arms embargoes are for."
Australia has called for a ceasefire but neither Mr Pyne nor Foreign Minister Julie Bishop would comment on Saudi Arabia's use of force.
Mr Pyne said military export applications were subject to "strict controls" and assessed against five criteria: international obligations, national security, human rights, regional security and foreign policy.
Mr Pyne would not comment on the value of materiel exports to Saudi Arabia or say whether the market was growing. He declined to name which businesses accompanied him to Riyadh.
The shipbuilder Austal told Fairfax Media it joined the trip and had held preliminary talks about providing Saudi Arabia with high-speed support vessels. Thales Australia would not comment on whether it attended or exports to the country – by
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
23.3.2017 – International Organization for Migration, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (A H)
Yemen: Task Force on Population Movement | TFPM - 13th Report - March 2017
DISPLACEMENT OF 2 MILLION IDPs AMID CONTINUED RETURN MOVEMENTS
The Task Force for Population Movement (TFPM), co-led by IOM and UNHCR is a Technical Working Group of the Yemen Protection Cluster. The TFPM implements an information management tool that gathers data on the status and location of displaced persons across Yemen.
As of 01 February 2017, the TFPM has identified, 1,991,340 internally displaced persons (IDPs) (331,890 house-holds) who have been displaced due to conflict since March 2015, dispersed across 21 governorates. For the same period, the TFPM has identified 1,048,896 returnees (174,816 households), across 19 governorates.
As a result, 11.3% of the total population of Yemen has experienced the shock of displacement due to conflict in the last 23 months.
N.B. The most recent large scale displacement seen along the Western Coast of Yemen and in Dhamar gover-norate as a result of Operation Golden Spear is not fully reflected within this report as the data collection for this report concluded before major displacement from the operation.
KEY FINDINGS
Through December 2016 and January 2017 the TFPM has observed a overall decrease in the conflict-related displacement of 15,876 individuals (-0.79%). At the governorate level the most significant decreases have been observed in Hajjah and Sana’a (16,386 and 10,284 individuals, respectively).
On the other hand, there has been an overall increase in the conflict-affected return population by 21,222 individuals (+2%). In particular, increased return movements have been ob-served in 11 governorates, with over 18,426 new returnees identified in Al Hudaydah.
It remains that 87% of the population who have returned from their displacement in the last 23 months have returned to 33 districts. Geographically this represents just 10% of the 333 districts in Yemen, and therefore suggests that clear pockets of return, in areas of relative stability, may be materializing.
Of the total returnee population, an estimated 86% (or 959,540 individuals) have returned from displacement areas situated within their governorate of origin.
Indicative data collected by the TFPM at the community level through key informants show that the number one priority need among IDPs are: food (75%), access to income (8%), shelter/housing (6%) and cooking/washing water (4%).
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-task-force-population-movement-tfpm-13th-report-march-2017 and in full: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0bVFxKZ1OnlTVRJc3ZZMFB0dFE/view = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/draft_tfpm_13th_report_feb2017_v4.pdf
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
Siehe / Look at cp1
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A E P)
Gov't suggests forming joint committee to address state employees' salaries
Prime Minister Abul Aziz bin Habtoor confirmed that the National Salvation Government has been doing the best to address payment of state employees' salaries in all over the country, based on available possibilities.
The prime minister suggested the formation of a joint committee of specialists in financial and banking sectors from the Government of National Salvation and the outgoing President's government as soon as possible to address the obstacles that blocked the payment process.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460076.htm
Remark: From Sana Net at Sanaa, here: Sanaa government.
And by the other side:
26.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A E P)
Houthi group ready to form joint salaries-committee with the government
The Houthi group and the General People’s Congress, former president Saleh’s party, declared on Thursday readiness to negotiate and resolve the salaries issue with the pro-Hadi government, after the salaries have not been paid since six months.
The PM of the so-called Salvation Government, formed jointly by the Houthis and Saleh’s party, Abdul Aziz ben Habtor said that he is ready for the formation of a joint committee by the two sides. According to the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.
Ben Habtor added that the Salvation Government is willing to engage in a round-table negotiations with the government of the outgoing president Hadi to form a joint committee to address the government staff salaries issue.
“The Supreme Political Council and the National Salvation Government are extending the hand of peace, as long as it will lead to the suspension of the aggression, lifting the siege, and reaching to an inclusive and fair political solution”.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89857
My comment: This sounds quite interesting: negotiations between both Yemeni governments on pending items.
24.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (* A E H P)
Badi: The putschists must shoulder responsibility of paying salaries in their areas
Spokesman of the Yemeni Government Rajeh Badi has said that militias of the Houthis and Saleh must send the resources of the areas under their control to the Central Bank in Aden or shoulder the responsibility of paying salaries of public servants of these areas.
He said that the government spent salaries of public servants and that the militias still reject sending resources to the Central Bank in Aden.
The Yemeni government has directed to pay salaries of all public servants, even those working in areas controlled by the Houthi Movement and ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but it put a condition that the putschists send the resources to the Central Bank of Yemen.
The government cited the payment process will be implemented according to official databases and directions of the Finance Minister.
The public servants in Yemen are complaining that their salaries have been suspended since three months.
Some of public servants started arranging protests, demanding to have their salaries paid, but they were faced with Houthi repressions and crackdown.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5274
My comment: This article clearly reveals the crackdown of “president” Hadis’s economic and financial policy. – For many months, Hadi propaganda relating to his Central Bank policy boasted with the eagerness of his government and his new Central Bank (the foundation of which led to paralyse the Central Bank at Sanaa, without being able to provide a really working new Central Bank. And now, meeting with difficulties to its own claim and running out of money, the Hadi government simply demands the remaining funds of the Sanaa Central Bank. – For what reason the Houthi / Saleh government at Sanaa should admit funding Hadi’s new illegal (according to Yemeni Central Bank law) Central Bank, which had been founded for political reasons only? – The result is, as stated in the article, that state employees had not been paid for many months now. And, as the article tells as well, there have been protests and riots because of this. But – as this article does NOT tell – these protests were all over Yemen, many of them at Aden as well. The Hadi government not even was able to pay at least a great part of its own military.
24.3.2017 – Arab 24 (B K)
Yemen - Antiques shops affected by the War in Yemen
The artisans, makers and lovers of antiques in Yemen are suffering greatly from the repercussions of the war that led many people to abandon the profession, on the other hand, there are still people clinging to the hope of returning to their city in the governorate of Tawahi in the province of Aden to practice their favorite profession (with film)
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
24.3.2017 – Telegraph (A T)
Khalid Masood: Everything we know about the London attacker
Khalid Masood has now been identified as the man shot dead by police after he ploughed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing three people before storming the Parliamentary estate and stabbing Pc Keith Palmer to death.
Here's everything we know about the Westminster terrorist.
By 2005 he was working in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, teaching workers at the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Jeddah, according to The Sun, which says it obtained a copy of Masood's CV.
In the CV he is said to describe himself as “British”, “friendly and approachable” and a good listener and the document reportedly claims he had a economics degree.
In spring 2009, Masood reportedly returned from Saudi Arabia – by Robert Mendick
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/24/khalid-masood-everything-know-london-attacker/
25.3.2017 – AP (A T)
Saudi embassy confirms UK attacker had been in Saudi Arabia
The man who killed four people outside Britain's Parliament was in Saudi Arabia three times and taught English there, the Middle Eastern country's embassy said.
A Saudi Embassy statement released late Friday said that Khalid Masood taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009.
The embassy said that he had a work visa. It said he returned for six days in March 2015 on a trip booked through an approved travel agent.
The Saudi Embassy said that he wasn't tracked by the country's security services and didn't have a criminal record there.
Before taking the name Masood, he was known as Adrian Elms.
The man who killed four people outside Britain's Parliament was in Saudi Arabia three times and taught English there, the Middle Eastern country's embassy said.
A Saudi Embassy statement released late Friday said that Khalid Masood taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009.
The embassy said that he had a work visa. It said he returned for six days in March 2015 on a trip booked through an approved travel agent.
The Saudi Embassy said that he wasn't tracked by the country's security services and didn't have a criminal record there.
Before taking the name Masood, he was known as Adrian Elms. He was known for having a violent temper in England and had been convicted at least twice for violent crimes.
25.3.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (A T)
same as 9/11 #London terrorist received money from #Saudi national before attack referring to:
25.3.2017 – 3 Alyoum (A T)
British police arrested a Saudi doctor in London who had a "study" relationship with the main suspect in the London attack, his wife was arrested for transferring money - research research - to the defendant on behalf of her husband and placed under house arrest outside London , While her husband was released on bail.
My comment: At least many ways of terrorism lead to… Saudi Arabia. Also this one.
Comment by Hussam Al-Sanabani: Uk police want's to know, Why did Khalid Masood do it? & Did any one help him? Well, he went to Saudi, the extremist factory twice
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/845429276971319296
And just a a reminder:
15.2.2008 – The Guardian (* A P T)
BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince
Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.
Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.
Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.
He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family.
The threats halted the fraud inquiry, but triggered an international outcry, with allegations that Britain had broken international anti-bribery treaties.
Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have "rolled over" after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was "just as if a gun had been held to the head" of the government – by David Leigh and Rob Evans
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/15/bae.armstrade?CMP=share_btn_tw
My comment: Saudi Arabia, the Wests’s best ally in fighting terrorism? LOL.
24.3.2017 – Jamestown Foundation (* B T)
Why Islamic State Has Failed to Expand in Yemen
Conditions in Yemen appear to be ideal for the expansion of an insurgent organization like Islamic State (IS).
So why has IS failed to gain a significant foothold in Yemen? First and foremost, it is competing with what is al-Qaeda’s most agile and adaptive franchise — al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Second, the uncompromising and extreme interpretation of Islam that the IS leadership embraces is largely alien to the vast majority of Yemenis. Even those Yemenis whose views fall toward the radical end of the spectrum are unlikely to support the bloody tactics employed by IS. Third, the group’s top-down authoritarian approach to leadership and governance is an anathema to much of Yemeni society, which values collaborative leadership and a respect for traditional forms of governance.
AQAP vs Islamic State
The existence of IS in Yemen dates to the fall of 2014 when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi acknowledged that fighters in Yemen had pledged baya (a formal oath of allegiance) to him. At the time, IS was rapidly expanding across Iraq and Syria and was at the height of its popularity among militant Salafists. At the same time, AQAP was under intense pressure from Houthi and Yemeni Army forces.
Beginning in November 2014, a number of mid-level AQAP operatives defected to IS in Yemen (al-Monitor, November 30, 2015). In March 2015, IS carried out its first attacks in Yemen by targeting two mosques in the capital of Sanaa (al-Jazeera, March 21, 2105). It justified the bombings by stating that the mosques were Zaydi Shia mosques used by the Houthis. In fact, the mosques — as with the vast majority of mosques in Yemen — were used by both Zaiydis and Shafi Sunnis.
The attack on the mosques was an attempt by IS to exacerbate sectarian tensions in Yemen, a tried and tested strategy that it used with considerable success in Syria and Iraq. However, in Yemen, the strategy has not worked nearly so well.
During 2015 and 2016, IS continued to launch attacks on primarily civilian targets in urban environments, including its two most recent and most deadly attacks on retired and active duty Yemeni soldiers waiting to collect pensions and salaries in Aden. AQAP condemned the attacks, which collectively killed more than 100 people, and criticized IS’ excessive use of violence (al-Arabiya, December 18, 2016).
AQAP’s criticism is notable because it shows the group has learned to moderate its own behavior and realizes that such violence will undermine IS in Yemen.
Stirring up Local Tensions
In addition to being mindful of public opinion when selecting targets, AQAP has learned that its survival is contingent on gaining the support — or at least avoiding angering — of the tribal communities that live in AQAP’s areas of operation. To this end, AQAP has modified its approach and has mostly tempered its radicalism by adopting what can be called a gradualist policy. This policy means that AQAP works to gradually and carefully impose its will on those communities that it wants to govern.
Bringing an End to IS in Yemen
IS in Yemen is a small but porous organization that does not possess the kind of skilled operatives that AQAP does. It is likely that AQAP’s own intelligence wing has thoroughly penetrated the group.
IS in Yemen’s future is far from certain. In all likelihood, much of IS in Yemen’s organization will eventually either be co-opted or eliminated by AQAP – By: Michael Horton
https://jamestown.org/program/islamic-state-failed-expand-yemen/
24.3.2017 – The Globe and the Mail (* B T)
Why do we mourn for Britain – but not Nigeria or Yemen?
the world’s media provided wall-to-wall coverage of the attacks. The story led newscasts in Europe and North America and dominated front pages and Twitter. The Eiffel Tower went dark for the evening. There was a moment’s silence at the United Nations.
We’ve come to expect this kind of blanket coverage when an attack happens in Europe – whether it’s Paris or Brussels or Berlin – while much worse terror attacks are carried out around the world with greater frequency and a much higher loss of life, and go largely unrecorded. In the end, we end up with a skewed sense of where the major terrorists threats to civilians lie, and that’s not Europe or North America.
As the Daily Telegraph reported after the Westminster attack, citing statistics from the Global Terrorism Database, “the figures show that Europe is one of the safest areas in the world for terrorist-related incidents.” If you look at Britain alone, 90 people were killed as a result of terrorism between 2000 and 2015; between 1985 and 1999, that number was 1,094.
You wouldn’t know that if you had the TV on or your Facebook page open. You might think, wrongly, that a wave of terror was convulsing Europe. You might also not know that on the same day as the Westminster tragedy, there was an equally deadly terror attack in Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria, where suicide bombers killed several refugees and injured many more in a camp for internally displaced people.
I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why the atrocities in those places are largely ignored. Media outlets aren’t thick on the ground in Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan, the way the are in Berlin or London or Paris. When we see a terror attack in a European city, we might be looking at a place we’ve visited. Acts of terror will continue to happen in Europe, and they should be condemned and mourned when they do. But dwelling on them at length, while ignoring violence in the rest of the world, leaves a false sense of where the danger really lies, and who is actually threatened – by ELIZABETH RENZETTI
24.3.2017 – New News (A T)
London attacker former teacher in Saudi Arabia: Report
The man who carried out a deadly car ramming and stabbing attack near the UK Houses of Parliament was a former English teacher working at the institution controlling Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation, a report says.
24.3.2017 – RT (* A P T)
‘What about Yemen?’ Western hypocrisy in wake of Westminster attack called out on Twitter
The outpouring of grief and solidarity in the aftermath of the Westminster terrorist attack has provided westerners with some modicum of hope, but such reactions are not universal, with many pointing to the lack of response to attacks elsewhere While many online praised the bravery of PC Keith Palmer, who sacrificed his own life to save others at the gates of the Houses of Parliament, others highlighted conflict zones around the world that suffer from terrorism on a weekly basis.
Everyone is asking "what can we do to stop terrorist attacks" the UK has terrorised the middle east for years but ppl seem to forget that?? https://twitter.com/darren_dazmav/status/844638501459152897
Several Twitter users questioned the lack of coverage on digital and social media in response to Monday’s car bomb attack attack in Baghdad which killed 23 people and injured many more, bringing into focus the bloody impact of terrorism in the wider world this month alone.
While people expressed sympathy for those in London, many couldn’t help but compare the reaction to that which follows similar attacks in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and beyond.
Obviously terrible the incident in Westminster but for gods sake, where is the reaction to Syria & Yemen relentless bombing by UK allies?
https://twitter.com/scotsvote/status/844633729561772032
Comparisons were also drawn between the terror attack at Westminster and Syria’s long battle with extremists. Some questioned why the London attacker was called a terrorist while various Islamist groups in Syria are referred to as “rebels.”
https://www.rt.com/news/382100-westminster-attack-yemen-hypocrisy/
22.3.2017 – Bassem (A P T)
The funniest joke is having Saudi Arabia participate in the anti ISIS coalition, so funny (photo)
https://twitter.com/BBassem7/status/844800041755697152
Remark: This conference is organized by the US government. LOL.
cp15 Propaganda
26.3.2017 – Saudi Gazette (A P)
Decisive Storm has come to the help of Yemeni people, says Al-Aswadi
While “Decisive Storm” is completing two years at midnight tonight since its launch by the Arab Coalition Countries to support Yemeni legitimacy, the Minister of Local Administration and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Relief in Yemen Abdulraqeeb Fateh Al-Aswadi told Okaz that “Decisive Storm” has come to the help of the Yemeni people.
He stressed that it is in conformity with clear international laws. He added that it has succeeded in foiling the Iranian scheme, apart from countering the militias’ ambitions and coming to the help of the Yemeni people.
The Yemeni minister confirmed that the Arab Coalition succeeded in recapturing about 87 percent of the Yemeni territories that was under the control of the militias. He added that the Houthi and the deposed Saleh militias have plundered the relief materials and Yemen’s resources and diverted them to fund “the war effort”.
The Kingdom is continuing its great efforts in supporting relief in Yemen with billions of riyals, aside from providing facilities to Yemeni residents in the Kingdom. It is allowing Yemeni students to study in the Kingdom free of charge.
Meanwhile, the adviser to the Saudi Minister of Defense and Spokesman of the Arab Coalition Forces Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said that with air support from the Coalition, the Yemeni legitimacy forces are now on the outskirts of Sanaa. He confirmed that the Houthis will be defeated soon – By Ahmed Al-Shumeiri
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/decisive-storm-come-help-yemeni-people-says-al-aswadi/
My comment: An absurdity which will be hard to beat: A Yemeni minister declaring that bombing large parts of his country to ruins “has come to the help of the Yemeni people”. And the standard propaganda again.
25.3.2017 – Jerusalem Post (A P)
SINO-SAUDI ALIGNMENT IN YEMEN AND ESCALATING CONFLICT
The source of China and Saudi Arabia’s increasing alignment of interests is China’s effort to create its self-declared 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
The Sino-Saudi agreement to collaborate on drone manufacturing signed during King Salman’s Beijing visit serves as another indication that the two countries may be looking to their strategic cooperation to contain Iranian activities in Gulf of Aden-Red Sea corridor.
China’s acceptance of Saudi Arabia’s interventions in a vital sea lane of the MSR and Saudi Arabia’s embrace of China as potential security partner signals a consequential shift in the Middle East-Asia security architecture – by MICHA’EL TANCHUM
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Sino-Saudi-alignment-in-Yemen-and-escalating-conflict-485177
My comment: The author is caught by an anti-Iranian paranoia that he even cannot take such a distance from it not to think China’s politics also most mainly be driven by an anti-Iranian paranoia. I don’t think the Chinese do share this paranoia in any way.
25.3.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Riyadh Calls for More International Experts at UNHRC Office in Yemen
Saudi Arabia called for assigning more international experts at the United Nations Human Rights Council office in Yemen.
The move aims at backing the investigations of the Independent National Committee in identifying violations committed on the ground.
Saudi Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Dr. Abdulaziz al-Wassel recently addressed the 34th session of the Human Rights Council in the European city.
He pointed to the Kingdom’s support for the Yemeni government in backing UN efforts to realize peace and mitigate suffering of the Yemenis.
He reiterated the Kingdom’s unflinching position in calling the international community to support Yemen’s legitimate government in order to resume the peace process in accordance to the Gulf initiative and its execution mechanism, the Yemeni national dialogue and UN resolution 2216.
The Kingdom also stressed the importance of helping Yemenis end their crisis, and reaching stability, unity and security in the country and the region, while urging all parties to avoid dealing with insurgents.
Wassel praised the March 14 release of the first report by the Yemeni Human Rights Ministry, which recorded 37,888 deaths and injuries among civilians at the hands of coup militias within only six months.
All these crimes, he said, were committed by Houthi militias that seized power in Yemen by force.
“The Kingdom reiterates its absolute condemnation and rejection of the Houthi coup in Yemen and all attempts to impose the status quo through targeting civilians,” Wassel said.
“We also denounce all crimes committed by the insurgents, who are targeting worshippers in mosques, which should be listed as a war,” he added.
My comment: Quite a lot to say; remarkable the odd fantasy figure of Houthis’ victims: For 6 month almost the same as the official figures of Saudi air raids of the whole war (which are much too low, anyway). Just odd.
25.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A K P)
Spokesman of Arab Coalition: Hudeidah Port must be liberated
Spokesman of the Arab Coalition Ahmed Asiri said that the rejection of the United Nations to supervise Hudeidah Port left no option but to liberate the port.
Asiri told media outlets on Friday that the Arab Coalition will carry out military operation to restore Hudeidah Port which is currently run by the Houthis.
Asiri said that the Arab Coalition is preparing Mocha Port to receive relief and humanitarian assistance and to be as an alternative of Hudeidah port.
Meanwhile, Yemen Ambassador to the United Nations Khalid al-Yamani has said that the UN rejection to send supervisors to Hudeidah Port is clear-cut disregard of the International law.
In remarks to al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Al-Yamani expressed sorrow as the United Nations has not shouldered its responsibility in Yemen.
He said that the Yemeni government provided evidences that humanitarian assistance brought to Hudeidah are exploited by militias of the Houthis and Saleh and are not given to Yemenis.
He spelt out that the militias use Hudeidah Port for their war operations and the smuggle of weapons.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5322
My comment: “Liberate”: How nice. Attacking and occupying Hodeida really would cut of Houthi-held Yemen from all supplies (food, fuel, medicin) and fuel starvation, death and disaster.
24.3.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Houthis Indoctrinate Sectarianism into Schools, Kill Saudi Soldier in Cross-Border Attack
Yemen’s internationally-backed government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi exposed and is in the process of countering plans by coup militias to hijack the educational system and change the curriculum, in an attempt to indoctrinate pupils.
Iran-allied Houthis and armed loyalists backing Ali Abdullah Saleh, running a foreign agenda, attempt to incite sectarian rifts among Yemen’s youth.
It is vital that the putschists’ attempt to reinvent the national educational curriculum – pumping sectarian ideology into the curriculum – is confronted and stopped, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Hussein Arab stated.
For his part, Yemeni Minister of Education Dr. Abdullah Lamlams said that Houthis have destroyed at least 1,700 schools throughout the civil war they are fighting. All of which were devastated in under two years.
The Ministry of Education is exerting great efforts to develop a program ensuring the comprehensive rehabilitation of students, added Lamlas.
Aden Governor Maj. Gen. Aidaruss al-Zubaidi made remarks on the attention being given to developing an educational curriculum that would encourage creativity and providence for generations to come.
Over the past two years, Houthis and forces loyal to deposed Saleh have denied Yemeni children from education and jeopardized their lives by coercive recruiting.
Houthis have, also, denied over 2.5 million students the right to education by force, in addition to shelling, raiding schools and turning them into military bastions and weapon warehouses.
Furthermore, parents expressed fear of sectarianism incident by Houthis, especially after Yahaya al-Houthi recently declaring the establishment of a so-called ‘National Salvation Government.’
In a report reported by pro-government activists, statistics showed that Houthis and coup forces staged some 279 violations against academic institutions in Sana’a alone last year.
Houthis men had ordered the printing of over 11,000 pocket pamphlets on which were stipulations dictated by Hussain al-Houthi along with coup slogans.
The sheets were distributed at insurgency-controlled schools, sources reported.
More so, Houthi militias in Sana’a had imposed a tariff on all public school students. The fee was labeled for “Community contribution”, and goes against the officially declared free public education.
http://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/news-middle-east/houthis-indoctrinate-sectarianism-schools-kill-saudi-soldier-cross-border-attack and also http://www.arabnews.com/node/1074186/saudi-arabia
My comment: Whatever the Houthis really want to introduce into school curricula – it cannot be worse and more sectarian than what is to be found in Saudi school curricula. These spread the ideology of Saudi Wahabism – an ideology of hatred, as someone had called it: of hatred against Shiites, “heretics” and apostates, against Jews and Christians. This Wahabist school material fits perfectly for ISIS (Daesh), so that they reuse it (with nearly no changes at all) for their “Caliphate’s” schools. Look at: https://twitter.com/RaniaKhalek/status/774689402517938181 . And keep in mind that the Houthi movement originally arose to keep Saudi Wahabist sectarianism out of Northern Yemen: there would not exist any Houthi movement if the Saudis would not have tried to “wahabize” Yemen.
In this article, the whole effect of the disastrous war on schools and education is objected to the Houthis – included, as it looks, all the destructions caused by the Saudi air raids – which is the very greatest part of it. It’s mostly due to these destructions that 2.5 million children are out of school now and not due to anything the Houthis would be responsible for.
24.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Yemen prepares rehab program for child soldiers
Deputy Minister of Human Rights Mohammed Askar has said that the Yemeni government is preparing a program for rehabilitating child soldiers who were recruited by militias of the Houthis and Saleh.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5273
My comment: Nice propaganda. “Yemen” is just the Hadi government. They seem just to care for those who were recruited by militias of the Houthis and Saleh. But these children mostly live in Houthi held areas, where the Hadi government can do nothing. And what about the child soldiers who were recruited by the Hadi government and its allied militia? No word about them, no program for them. The Hadi government does not care – although these child soldiers mostly will live in Hadi government territory. Thus, the whole “program” is little more than an anti-Houthi propaganda plot.
23.3.2017 – Amnesty International (A P)
Tawakkol Karman ruft zu einem nachhaltigen Frieden im Jemen auf
Tawakkol Karman ist Friedensnobelpreisträgerin und Menchenreschtsverteidigerin in Jemen.
"Wir leiden unter einem abscheulichen Krieg. Dieser Krieg ist das Resultat eines Putsches des ehemaligen Präsidenten Saleh und seiner Huthi-Milizen. Dieser Krieg muss aufhören. Aber wir werden keinen Erfolg haben, wenn wir keinen nachhaltigen Frieden schaffen." sagt Tawakkol Karman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCVcmWbbBt4
Mein Kommentar: She sided with president Hadi and the Islah party in an extreme way, justifying and ignoring Saudi air raids. Thus, I placed this film here; of course, her plea for a real peace would be right.
23.3.2017 – Gulf News (A P)
Two years on, Arab coalition action in Yemen proven necessary
Gulf states are hopeful the new US administration led by President Donald Trump will be less accepting of Iranian expansionist goals Two years since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen, observers believe the decision to enter the war was prompted by an existential threat.
With Iranian influence extending to Saudi Arabia’s north in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, Gulf states are acting in self-defence against “strategic Iranian planning to surround the Arabian Peninsula”, said Mustafa Alani, a senior adviser to the Gulf Research Centre.
“It’s a war of necessity,” he said.
Iran-backed Al Houthi rebels continue to launch missiles into Saudi Arabia, and short-range rockets are killing people on the kingdom’s southern border despite two years of air strikes.
But Gulf states believe the new US adminstration led by President Donald Trump, will be less accepting of Iranian expansionist goals in the region.
Both Washington and Riyadh accuse Tehran of stoking regional unrest, including by arming Al Houthi militants.
The US military in October voiced suspicion that Iran played a role in firing missiles towards its warships in the Red Sea, forcing the US Navy to strike back against rebel radar sites.
But Yemenis, with support from Emirati soldiers, have made progress along the Red Sea coast with the aim of seizing the main rebel-controlled port of Hodeida.
This would in turn threaten the rebel hold on Taiz city and the capital Sana’a.
“We’re expecting a domino effect,” with Sana’a under pressure in about six months if progress continues, Alani told AFP.
The aim is to make the rebels realise they might lose, forcing them back to negotiations where they will make concessions.
The anniversary comes as Yemeni government forces are leading several offensives across the country — in areas surrounding the capital, in the Al Houthi heartland of Saada, and along the Red Sea coast. – by Layella Saad
My comment: Almost a propaganda roundup, the lies of which I already commented so often. – Only this, again: Houthi / saleh shelling of Saudi territory just behan 10 weeks AFTER the Saudi bombing of Houthi-held Yemen. And: The failure of the peace negotiations is due to the UN’s totally one-sided approach (caused by resolution 2216) and “president” Hadi’s unwillingness to give way to any successor.
23.3.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Bahrain Condemns Systematic Human Rights Violations by Houthis in Yemen
Bahrain’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva and other international organizations, Ambassador Dr. Yusuf Abdul Karim Bucheeri, delivered a statement on behalf of Gulf Cooperation Council countries at a human rights session held in Geneva.
In his statement, Bucheeri focused on the importance of providing technical aid and human rights assistance to countries in need and that are willing to cooperate with the UN’s Human Rights Council.
Bucheeri said that GCC countries, after reviewing content present in the High Commissioner’s report on Yemen, welcomed the cooperation between the Office of the High Commissioner’s and Yemen’s National Investigation Committee.
The GCC representative appreciated moral and logistics assistance provided to the investigative body so that it carries out its mission to the best possible.
The ambassador cited the initial report issued by the Yemeni government covering human rights violations staged between January 1, 2015 and January 31, 2017 that reflected the bitter reality of Yemen today: the organized and systematic violations of human rights by the Iran-aligned Houthi militias and armed loyalists backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh against Yemeni civilians.
Bucheeri also highlighted the government’s humanitarian efforts devoted to alleviate innocent people’s sufferings.
My comment: Cheerleading for the Hadi government and the Saudi coalition, referring to Hadi government’s Human rights report, really the best source for this (irony). And it’s the greatest joke that just Bahrain complains about any Human rights violations by anybody else – Bahrain, where I think there are even more violations of Human rights than in Saudi Arabia, when taking into account the size of the population affected.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
25.–26.3.2017 – Ahmad Alghobary / Hussam Al-Sanabani (A K)
#Saudi jets are over the capital Sanaa now Tomorrow will be a mass protest against 2 years of #Saudi war on #Yemen God save us
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/845738288992399360
Airstrike hit Yasleh Road just now, to try and stop people reaching #Yemen capital #Sanaa tomorrow, for demonstration against 2 years of war
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/845748902833852416
3 Huge explosions rock the capital Sanaa #Yemen God save protesters in Alsabeen area.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/845773783218737152
Sounds of new explosions in Sana'a, a stupid Saudi attempt to stop #Yemenis from participating in the 26 March rally. It won't work.
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/845782540883513344
25.–26.3.2017 – Yemen Updates (A K)
#BreakingNews: A #Saudi-led coalition airstrikes target Aljememah army base in eastern Sanaa city. #Yemen
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/845770688619270144
An explosion was heard in the vicinity of the Cabinet Building in Sanaa.
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/845722840028598272
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
US-Saudi warplanes launch two strikes on Mareb
The US-Saudi aggression fighter jets launched two airstrikes on Serwah district of Mareb province on Saturday, an official told Saba.
The warplanes hit al-Mater hilltop and Wadi alRabe'ah twice.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460105.htm
25.3.2017 – AFP (A K)
Coalition air strikes kill 16 rebels in Yemen: military official
Sixteen rebels have been killed and 24 wounded in 24 hours of air raids by a Saudi-led coalition targeting the insurgents in Yemen, a military official and medics said Saturday.
The Huthi rebels were killed in air strikes on an air base and arms depot in the east of the rebel-held Hodeida province since Friday, the official said.
A source in the coalition supporting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government said Hodeida was one of the areas being targeted since Friday as part of ongoing military operations on areas under rebel control.
The dead and wounded were transferred to Al-Alfi military hospital and Al-Thawra hospital in the Huthi-controlled city of Hodeida, medics at the hospitals said.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/coalition-air-strikes-kill-16-rebels-in-yemen-military-official/article/488783 = http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/coalition-air-strikes-kill-16-rebels-in-yemen
My comment: AFP and other western media often refer just to Saudi / Hadi sources, without any critical investigation.
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (* A K PH)
Roundup: Saudi kills 15 Yemeni civilians in 112 airstrikes on Yemen in 3 days
At least 15 Yemeni civilians were killed, Including two women and a child, and five others wounded, including two women in 112 airstrikes, launched by US-backed Saudi aggression warplanes on several Yemeni provinces over the past three days, officials told Saba on Saturday.
In Sana'a, the aggression warplanes launched three air strikes on Arhb districts.
In Sa'ada, the aggression launched 12 airstrikes on several districts, including Bakim, Razih, Magaz ,Shada.
Ten civilians were killed and four wounded in airstrikes on a vegetable market and citizens' houses in Majaz district.
In Taiz, the aggression fighter jets waged 48 air raids on Mokha city, Mawza district, AL-Nar Mountain, AL-Wazeea , and Al-Omary area.
Also in Taiz, A man and two women were killed by a cluster bomb on Mawza district.
In Mareb province, the aggression warplanes carried out one raid targeting Habbab district.
In Hodeida port city, the aggression launched 39 air strikes on areas of Al-Dorehemy, Hodeidah Airport, Al-Toheta ,and Faqih district.
Also in Hodeida, Aggression aircrafts carried out raids on as bridge linking between Al-Dhuha directorate and Al-Torba area .
In Lahj governorate, the aggression fighter jets launched nine raids on Al-Kahboob district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460088.htm
25.3.2017 – MbKS15 (A K PS)
Stunning photos showing the Royal #Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon performing combat missions during Operation #RestoreHope (photos)
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/845684542254071808
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Update: Saudi airstrike kills 10 civilians in market in Sa'ada
Ten civilians were killed, including a woman and a child, when a US-Saudi aggression warplane hit a popular market and a citizen's home overnight in Sa'ada's district of Majaz, a security official told Saba on Saturday.
The official said one woman was critically injured and several houses and shops were seriously damaged.
This is the latest in a series of war crimes committed by Saudi regime and its coalition against the Yemeni civilians.
The death toll increased from five to ten.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460080.htm
24.3.2017 – Al Masirah TV (A K PH)
Film: The crime of targeting the house The house of "Ali al-Bajwa" in the clandestine Sa'ada
A man and a child were killed and a woman was injured today as a result of a raid by the Saudi-American aggression on the house of Ali al-Bajwa in the area of Al-Rawaa district of the province of Saada province, and saw different areas of the Directorate of Razih missile and a Saudi artillery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5T4WTwwoqE = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1316829991703361
and film, the injured woman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apR25jnO-dI
and photos:
https://twitter.com/maddllock/status/845389732217532418
https://twitter.com/maddllock/status/845392433567412224
24.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi aggression launches 5 airstrikes on Mareb
Saudi aggression warplanes launched five airstrikes on Serwah district of Mareb province, an official told Saba on Friday.
The Saudi aggression warplanes launched two airstrikes on Habab valley and one airstrike on highway and two airstrikes on Hilan Mountain, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460051.htm
24.3.2017 – Saba Net (* A K PH)
Five citizens killed in Saudi aggression 2 airstrikes in Saada
Saudi aggression warplanes launched two airstrikes on a popular market and citizens’ houses in Saada province, killing five citizens and injured others including a child and woman.
Meanwhile, the artillery of the enemy Saudi army shelled many areas in Munbih and Razih districts in the same province, causing heavy damages to citizens houses.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460045.htm = http://newnewss.net/?p=3814 and https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/845336886981857281
photos: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1653753151587339 = https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=226184131190103&id=100013955532558
https://twitter.com/maddllock/status/845387563112288256
23.3.2017 – Ayad (A K PH)
.7 minutes ago Saudi coalition bomb a cemetery in #yemen Aldraihimy district Even the dead can't R.I.P in #yemen
https://twitter.com/maddllock/status/845027042756345857
16.2.2017 – Basha Amar (* B K)
Film. Yemen: The Great Crime
We will not forget the day, Saturday the 8th 2016, when the Saudi coalition bombarded a funeral hall in Sana'a. Where over 600 people gathered to mourn the Family of Al Rowaishan. A day that will never be forgotten by many Yemenis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRhYkssz50M n
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
25.3.2017 – yemen Conflict Maps (A K)
Map: Yemen Front of Bab el Mandab - West Coast. My posts: Maha and Zubab. Map, control and surrounding areas. Updated 25/3/2017
Red: Saudi /UAE / Hadi. Green: Houthi / Saleh.
https://twitter.com/YemConfMaps/status/845742409308884992
25.3.2017 – Yamanyoon (A K PH)
Aggression Batleships Launch Four Rockets in Mokah
In Taiz, aggression battleships launched four raids in Mokah district.
http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=69054&lang=en
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Dozens of mercenaries killed in Taiz
Dozens of US-Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and other wounded when the army and popular forces on Saturday shelled their gatherings in Dhubab district of Taiz province, a military official told Saba.
The shelling hit the mercenaries and bombed two military vehicles in al-Imam hilltop, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460143.htm and http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=69056&lang=en
25.3.2017 – Arab News (A K PS)
Saudi Navy ‘sweeping Yemen shores for Houthi mines’
The Saudi Navy is constantly engaged in mine-sweeping on Yemeni shores, amid warnings over explosives planted by Houthi militias.
Maj. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, told Arab News on Saturday that the sweeps of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline are routine.
“We have warned several times of the threat the Houthi-planted mines pose to the international maritime movements,” he said.
Several of the naval mines were found near the southwestern port city of Mokha aimed at targeting international shipping boats.
“Just a few days ago there was an incident where a fishing boat hit a mine off the Yemeni shores. Seven innocent fishermen were killed in this incident. This signifies the threat of these mines which needs to be addressed,” Al-Assiri said. http://www.arabnews.com/node/1074026/saudi-arabia
25.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
the artillery of US-Saudi-paid mercenaries shelled different areas in Serwah district, Marib province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460105.htm
24.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
The artillery of the enemy Saudi army shelled many areas in Munbih and Razih districts in Saada province, causing heavy damages to citizens houses.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460045.htm
25.3.2017 – New News (B K PH)
South of Saudi Arabia: A Winning card for Yemen
No one ever imagined that the war on Yemen would turn into deep inside Saudi territories? It is true that such experience the Kingdom previously went through with the former Ansar Allah movement, but with such breadth, magnitude and steadfastness on the ground. Saudi Arabia despite all attempts over two years hardly recovered one site after being stormed and captured by Yemeni army.
Saudi Arabia tried in vain to adopt a variety of military strategies over two years of its war with Yemeni army and Popular Committees, to regain scores of military positions and vast areas of its territory and cities captured by Yemeni forces. All it did beside its failure getting back on site, while the Yemeni fighters remained in control and confirmed their presence in all the sites and mountains that fell under Yemeni army control since the start.
Such cities and military sites under the Yemeni army vary in its strategic importance. But in any way, they represent firing points in the event Yemen decides to widen its control and moving forward into the depth of Saudi territories. Yemeni army captured the whole mountain range in Najran surrounding the govern-orate from the west. Keeping Saudi military presence at minimum limit with growing presence of Yemeni fighters, using with great success Saudi military sites and barracks in confronting Riyadh only point of superiority with their warplanes.
25.3.2017 – New News (A K PH)
Yemeni Army’s Triumphs As Riyadh Continues its Deadly Air-raids on Yemen
Yemen :
Victories of the Yemeni army and public committees continue beyond Saudi borders and at the internal battle fronts. These victories came in retaliation for the US-KSA aggression war crimes against Yemen .
Yemeni army and public committees’ operations beyond Saudi borders :
24.3.2017 – Al Araby (A K)
Houthi shelling kills 'several Saudi soldiers'
Cross-border Houthi shelling has allegedly killed several Saudi soldiers, Yemen's rebel-run state news agency said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia's interior ministry on Thursday announced the death of just one soldier who it said was killed on a border post in south Dhahran, contradicting higher death toll claimed by the Houthis. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/3/24/houthi-shelling-kills-several-saudi-soldiers
24.3.2017 – Southfront (A K PH)
HOUTHI FORCES CONTINUE HIT-AND-RUN ATTACKS AT BORDER WITH SAUDI ARABIA
Yemeni Ansarullah [Houthi] forces launched several attacks on Saudi-manned positions in Najran at the Yemeni-Saudi border, according to the Al Masirah TV channel.
Yemeni fighters attacked defensive outposts in Marbah and Al-Dukhan. They also harassed Saudi border guards with sniper fire at several border checkpoints like Al-Faridah.
A separate attack was launched by Houthis at the al-Ewadi hill chain in Najran. A video published by Al Masirah TV shows the destruction of several Saudi vehicles after the escape of the remaining Saudi forces (video here).
Media loyal to the Sana’a government (the Houthi-Saleh alliance) released another video of a series of successful hit-and-run attacks on Saudi positions in Jizan, Najran, and Assir provinces in southern Saudi Arabia.
https://southfront.org/houthi-forces-continue-hit-and-run-attacks-in-the-depth-of-saudi-arabia/
24–25..3.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K PH)
(all with photos)
Yemeni army fighters Taking over Nashama strategic position deeper in Asir south KSA. Seizing or burning advanced weapons. 22.3.2017
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845539072051466240
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845538881382572032
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845538693159047168
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845538549013340160
Yemen army fighters Taking over Mesyal strategic positions in Asir south KSA. Seizing advanced US-made weapons. 22.3.2017
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845496547471167489
Watch Yemeni army fighters Capturing Nasham area, strategic positions in Asir south Saudi Arabia, 22.3. 2017.
https://twitter.com/Abo_kanaan300/status/845326466808209408
Yemeni fighters Arming themselves from Saudi advanced weapons. Achieving victories over Saudi soldiers in Najran south KSA. 22.3.2017
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845475231233953792
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845475069841326081
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845475069681979392
Yemeni fighters Taking new strategic positions in Najran south Saudi Arabia,killing, arresting soldiers,seizing advanced weapons. 22.3.17
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845335517071888384
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845335237563502592
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/845335039206416385
Watch HOW Yemeni fighters kill Saudi soldiers, took new strategic positions, seized advanced weapons south KSA.
https://twitter.com/almuhaqqaq/status/845317886373773312
and reports by Saba Net:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460084.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460140.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460137.htm
and films by Al Masirah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKzU7sJPuY&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSfWDj114o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_tncxNEjuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-4ALfT79A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWdxTTg63HE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59kmfKBxcho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_OZ_3HPhP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5foevbJmLGg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzwThN_FBbk
23.3.2017 – Yemen Conflict Map (A K)
Map: Front of Bab al - Mandab - West Coast of Yemen. My posts: Maha and Zubab
Red: Pro-Saudi / Pro-Hadi; Green: Houthi / Saleh.
https://twitter.com/YemConfMaps/status/844872947668004864
Houthi / Saleh reports:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460055.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460094.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460049.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460048.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news460050.htm
http://newnewss.net/?p=3793 (claiming victories for March, 23)
http://newnewss.net/?p=3778 (claiming victories for March, 22)
Pro-Saudi / Pro-Hadi reports:
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89856
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-forces-make-more-gains-in-saada-1.1999568
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5276
Houthi / Saleh films:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdj8hdQHZJM&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sAALg_V9HY&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMaPGJCbdRc&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTX5-EikAlU&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bLnf4Fv778&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m5O2hWfj7E&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etFJkeR_pcw&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-5jtxaAbpA&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fOGGNGTo78&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YOLgYPwG1w&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WdnHE_l6o0&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7LrmFwbUVM&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aqo5G1zyo4&feature=youtu.be&a
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
24.3.2017 – Reuters (A E P)
U.S. sanctions 30 firms, individuals for aiding Iran, North Korea arms programs
The United States has imposed sanctions on 30 foreign companies or individuals for transferring sensitive technology to Iran for its missile program or for violating export controls on Iran, North Korea and Syria, the State Department said on Friday.
The United States has imposed sanctions on 30 foreign companies or individuals for transferring sensitive technology to Iran for its missile program or for violating export controls on Iran, North Korea and Syria, the State Department said on Friday.
Eleven companies or individuals from China, North Korea or the United Arab Emirates were sanctioned for technology transfers that could boost Tehran's ballistic missile program, the State Department said in a statement.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN16V1XI?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
Comment by Hisham Al-Sanabani: A frenemy, The UAE is fighting Iran in #Yemen, so How come they support Iran missile program?
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/845387828511064064
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-284-yemen-war-mosaic-284
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-284 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-284:
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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