Appeal for help – Saudi fear of decline (German) – “Victory” and Hodeida assault – Infants and war – Cholera is spreading – Houthi-Saleh relationship and tensions –Tensions between Saudis and Emirates – Houthi unfair trials – Letter to UN – Saudis, Wahabism and terrorism – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
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
10.5.2017 – Jamila Hanan (** A H)
Update on baby Sohor, thread starts here: https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/858230451810574336 we got cost down + @AhmadAlgohbary sent $300 to family (now back with baby)
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/862452801250746368
...for family to stop with baby for the duration of her treatment another $400 in total will be needed, that we hope we can raise soon.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/862453266399064064
2 ways to donate, either Moneygram (accepts online payment) or Western Union (you have to call in to a branch for Yemen donations)....
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/856058363477733378
details for payment: to: Ahmed Abdulatef Hasan Al-ghabri country: Yemen city: Saada Tel: 00967772393839 DM trans. no. to @AhmadAlgohbary
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/856059026056065024
10.5.2017 – Qantara (** B K P)
Riads Abstiegsangst
2015 begann Saudi-Arabien eine Militäroffensive gegen seinen südlichen Nachbarn Jemen. Offiziell wollte man mit der Invasion den abgesetzten jemenitischen Präsidenten wieder an die Macht bringen. Doch stattdessen hat der Krieg das ärmste arabische Land an den Rand einer Hungersnot getrieben.
Es stellt sich die Frage, warum Riad vor diesem Hintergrund unvermindert an der Militäroffensive im Jemen festhält. Grundsätzlich ist es ein emotionaler Krieg, den das Königreich im Affekt aus Frust über seinen regionalen Abstieg führt, während der Erzrivale Iran eine aufsteigende Macht ist und an Einfluss gewinnt.
Demonstration der Stärke gegenüber Teheran
Die Militäroperation begann im Zuge der multilateralen Atomverhandlungen zwischen dem Iran und den Weltmächten während der zweiten Amtszeit des ehemaligen US-Präsidenten Barack Obama. Die Saudis beschuldigten die USA, sie zugunsten einer Annäherung an den wiedererstarkenden Iran fallenzulassen.
Auch wenn die Huthis eine potenzielle Gefahr für die nationale Sicherheit Saudi-Arabiens darstellen, haben sie Riad weder den Krieg erklärt, noch gibt es irgendeinen Hinweis darauf, dass sie den jemenitischen Bürgerkrieg nach Saudi-Arabien tragen wollen. Die saudische Intervention ist also kein Akt von Selbstverteidigung. Sie dient lediglich dazu, Stärke zu demonstrieren, und zeigt Wut und Frustration über die aktuelle Lage im Nahen Osten.
Es ist sehr zynisch, dass die Saudis laut Augenzeugen absichtlich auch zivile Ziele wie Fabriken und sogar Beerdigungen und Krankenhäuser bombardieren. Riad folgt nicht dem Beispiel Israels, Bedrohungen aus dem Gazastreifen durch Land- und Seeblockaden in Schach zu halten.
Außerdem sollte die Invasion Jemens den saudischen Nationalismus und die Popularität des Königshauses Saud stärken, das durch die großen wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und politischen Probleme im Land angekratzt ist.
Auf nationaler Ebene hat die Intervention Saudi-Arabiens geholfen, seine Führungsstellung in der arabischen Welt zu stärken, vor allem in Ländern mit sunnitischer Mehrheit. Die Erfolge der Huthi im Jemen haben die Wahrnehmung Riads von seiner Stellung in der Welt angegriffen und eine "ontologische Unsicherheit" und Angst vor Identitäts- und Statusverlust hervorgerufen.
Der von Saudi-Arabien geführte Krieg im Jemen scheint dazu zu dienen, die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Expansionspolitik des Erzrivalen Iran zu lenken. Saudische Diplomaten haben rund um die Welt große Anstrengungen unternommen, zu zeigen, dass Teheran und seine nichtstaatlichen Alliierten weiterhin eine Quelle internationaler Unsicherheit und Instabilität sind und deshalb in ihre Schranken verwiesen werden müssen.
Mit diesem Wissen im Hinterkopf hängen eine Beendigung des Krieges und die Lösung der Jemenkrise zu einem Großteil von einer Entspannung der saudisch-iranischen Beziehungen ab. Eine Politik der Anerkennung der saudischen Stellung als Regionalmacht könnte den Weg dafür ebnen – Von Maysam Behravesh
https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/saudische-militaerintervention-im-jemen-riads-abstiegsangst
Mein Kommentar: Kurz und prägnant, dabei genau den Kern getroffen.
10.5.2017 – Lobelog (** B K P)
What Does Victory in Yemen Look Like?
The location for that decisive effect is understood to be the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, with “Saudi-backed Yemeni forces ready for offensive on key port.” This attack involves a pincer-move, with Saudi-led coalition forces advancing simultaneously from the north and the south, possibly with an amphibious assault by Emirati forces. Official estimates of the operation’s duration are from four to six weeks.
The Problems of the Hodeidah Offensive
The first, and most pressing, problem with this operation is that even if everything goes as hoped, it is likely to have a very severe impact on the flow of food to the majority of Yemen’s population. Putting Hodeidah—through which nearly 90% of Yemen’s food imports pass—out of action even for the minimum four weeks would be catastrophic, let alone if the plan is at all disrupted. Further, even after displacing the Houthi-Salehis from the ports of Aden and Mokha, it has taken a long time for the coalition to provide or enable food supply: those areas held by the coalition are now the worst affected by famine. Given the slow going to capture Aden, Mokha, and Ta’iz, even six weeks is probably not accurate. Mosul, a town of similar population, has taken the Iraqis six months so far, required the active involvement of UK and US Special Forces, and is still far from secure.
Militarily, there is little need to take Hodeidah, and there is certainly no need for a risky amphibious assault (although this much telegraphed move may be a deception plan.)
Despite claims of Hodeidah being “the Yemeni terminus of the arms-smuggling route that begins in Iran,” the smuggling routes that Conflict Armament Research found went via Puntland, three of the four landfall sites in Yemen were in areas not under Houthi-Salehi control, and the Red Sea terminus was not in Hodeidah but in Mokha, which the coalition captured in January. The UN Panel of Experts “has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms from the Government” of Iran,
Who will be involved in the attack on Hodeidah is unclear
There is also the question of whether taking Hodeidah will be a sufficient “victory” for the Saudis.
U.S. Interests
If, as Mattis said, “In Yemen, [the US] goal is to push this conflict into UN-brokered negotiations to make sure it is ended as soon as possible,” the US will need to push both the Saudis and the transitional president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, into genuine negotiations. Although the Houthis and Salehis—who have much to gain—are currently prepared to negotiate, Hadi and the coalition—who have something to lose—are adamantly opposed to negotiation. Rather they continue to re-iterate their maximalist demands, which the Houthis and Salehis have already rejected:
There are but three conditions for these talks — the same three as before, and the same three that shall remain should these proposed talks now fail: That Al Houthis adhere to previous agreements and the terms of UN Resolution 2216; that they disarm; and that they allow the government of Yemen to return to Sana’a.
The question now is what the coalition and Hadi want victory to look like: a workable compromise and a chance to rebuild Yemen or a fading hope of victory and more starving children? – by James Spencer
http://lobelog.com/what-does-victory-in-yemen-look-like/
Comment by Judith Brown: A very thoughtful article and well worth a read.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505387443641
Comment: This is a must read. It is from a military point of view (James Spencer is a retired infantry commander who specialised in low intensity conflict. He is a strategic analyst on MENA political, security and trade issues, and a specialist on Yemen) yet, interesting.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1367226363330390
and on this subject, read also this here:
10.5.2017 – Reuters (* A K P)
Arab coalition says preparing alternatives to Yemen port for urgent aid
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it was determined to help its government retake all areas held by Houthi militia, including the key port of Hodeidah, but would ensure alternative entry routes for badly needed food and medicine.
The United Nations has warned the Arab alliance fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis against any attempt to extend the war to Hodeidah, a vital Red Sea aid delivery point for millions of Yemenis in danger of slipping into famine.
Around 80 percent of Yemen's food imports arrive via Hodeidah, and the United Nations said last month a surge in fighting there would only cause "more displacement, more institutional collapse, and more suffering".
In a statement sent to Reuters, a coalition source said that military operations were progressing well as part of Yemeni government efforts to recapture territory seized by the Houthis since 2014.
"Hodeidah and its port will remain an unwavering demand for regaining legitimacy in Yemen and extending the legitimate government's authority over all lands of the Yemeni republic," the source said, referring to the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"With determination and insistence from the (Hadi government), and with support from the coalition forces, all Yemeni territories will be liberated from the coup forces," the source added, referring to the Houthis.
The source said the coalition was preparing facilities in Aden and Mukalla in south Yemen as an alternative in the event that Hodeidah port was affected by military operations.
"The leadership of the coalition is working on the rehabilitation of ports and border crossings for the entry and transportation of food and medical supplies to all Yemeni cities," the source said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-port-idUSL8N1IC1UD?rpc=401&
My comment: In fact, this report is no “news”. It is little more than a repition. It makes clear that the Saudi coalition still is determined to assault Hodeida, that the US still is willing to support them, that both do not care at all for humanitarian concerns and for the safety of civilians. – The claims that the “coalition was preparing facilities in Aden and Mukalla in south Yemen as an alternative in the event that Hodeidah port was affected by military operations” is propaganda nonsense as a) these harbours lack the capacities, which cannot be installed overnight, b) the fact that from harbours in southern Yemen hardly any humanitarian relief, food, medicals, cargo ever will reach Houthi-held northern Yemen. This just is propaganda for the preparation of the assault against Hodeida.
9.5.2017 – Anonhq (** B H K)
Yemen: U.S-Backed Saudi Airstrikes Cause Shocking Infant Deformities, Child Dies Every 10 Minutes [Graphic]
Americans remain ignorant of their leaders aiding a complete genocide by mass starvation in Yemen. The Western media have deliberately avoided reporting on the war. Doing so would expose the U.S. and other Western nations to the guilt of war crimes – who are backing and selling arms to Saudi Arabia to commit the Yemeni genocide.
According to the rights groups, many Yemenis are dying of perpetual hunger, lack of medical supplies, as well as being at risk of chemical and heavy weapons attacks. These threats are brought upon the people, directly as a result of Saudi Arabian aggression. Saudi Arabia controls the airspace and seaports of Yemen. It has put a heavy blockade on the seaports, preventing basic supplies such as food and medicines to reach the devastated civilian population. On top of this cruelty, Saudi Arabia is pounding the country with airstrikes.
The fallout resulting from this barbarity committed by the Saudi coalition is heartbreaking. Medics who are risking their lives to save vulnerable civilians in the country, have provided evidence clearly documenting that the bombardments by Saudi Arabia are causing devastating effects on new born babies.
Doctors in the capital Sana’a say there has been an increase in children born with severe deformities. Sana’a is among the places the Saudis have dropped large amounts of bombs.
According to officials at the al-Sabeen Maternity and Child Hospital in Sana’a, the facility has seen an increase in babies also being born prematurely. Doctors themselves provided video footage taken from the hospital showing babies brought in from Al-Hudaydah coastal area, which has been targeted by Saudi airstrikes. The babies have abnormally large skulls and painful-looking swollen heads covered in veins.
Al-Najjar also described seeing “unprecedented” deformities in “brains, backbones, throats, digestive and nervous systems,” in babies born in Yemen.
Apart from what is happening at the al-Sabeen hospital, doctors in other hospitals have also recorded similar occurrences. They have also warned about the rise in stillbirths and deformities as a result of the bombardments.
“Fetal malformations could occur due to several reasons, including mothers’ diseases and subsequent viral infection of the faction and/or poor nutrition. 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,” Wafa al-Mamari, an obstetrician at al-Rahma Hospital in northern Sana’a, told Press TV in an interview.
According to the UN children agency UNICEF, the war in Yemen has left many parents with the tough choice of treating a sick child or feeding a healthy one. In the end, parents become confused, trying to divide the little money they have on both, leading to the death of their children (with photos)
9.5.2017 – AFP (** A H)
Gesundheitsorganisationen warnen vor rasanter Cholera-Ausbreitung im Jemen
Im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen droht eine rasante Ausbreitung der Cholera. Seit Ende April wurden bereits 34 Todesfälle durch Cholera und mehr als 2000 Verdachtsfälle registriert. Die WHO und Ärzte ohne Grenzen schlagen Alarm.
Gesundheitsorganisationen warnen vor rasanter Cholera-Ausbreitung im Jemen - Lesen Sie mehr auf:
"Wir machen uns große Sorgen, dass sich die Krankheit weiter ausbreitet und außer Kontrolle gerät", sagte der Leiter von MSF im Jemen, Shinjiro Murata. Er rief zu einer schnellen Unterstützung der Gesundheitseinrichtungen im Land auf.
http://www.donaukurier.de/nachrichten/panorama/Jemen-Gesundheit-Krankheiten-Gesundheitsorganisationen-warnen-vor-rasanter-Cholera-Ausbreitung-im-Jemen;art154670,3371770
8.5.2017 – AFP (** A H)
Hilfsorganisation vermutet hunderte Cholera-Fälle im Jemen
Im Jemen sind hunderte Menschen mutmaßlich an Cholera erkrankt. Ein Sprecher der Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen (MSF) sagte der Nachrichtenagentur AFP am Sonntag, in den vergangenen drei Wochen seien mehr als 570 Menschen behandelt worden, bei denen der Verdacht auf Cholera bestehe. "Wir haben die Sorge, dass die Krankheit sich zu einer Epidemie ausweiten könnte", sagte Sprecher Ghassan Abu Tschaar.
Nach zwei Jahren Krieg sei das Gesundheitssystem des Jemen zusammengebrochen, sagte der Sprecher weiter. Viele Krankenhäuser seien zerstört.
Die schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen sprachen indes von mehr als 1600 Cholera-Fällen in zwölf Provinzen, wie es auf dem Nachrichtenportal Sabanews hieß.
Ein Sprecher des jemenitischen Gesundheitsministeriums bestätigte, dass die Cholera im Jemen wieder ausgebrochen sei. Demnach wurden in zehn Provinzen Fälle gemeldet. In der Hauptstadt Sanaa seien zwei Todesfälle durch die Cholera bestätigt worden, sagte Sprecher Abdelhakim al-Kahlani AFP. Drei weitere Todesfälle gab es demnach in der Provinz Ibb und vier in der Provinz Hodeida.
Erst im vergangenen Jahr waren im Jemen 99 Menschen an einem Cholera- und Durchfall-Ausbruch gestorben. Mehr als 15.000 mutmaßliche Cholera-Fälle wurden gemeldet.
Im Jemen sind hunderte Menschen mutmaßlich an Cholera erkrankt. Ein Sprecher der Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen (MSF) sagte der Nachrichtenagentur AFP am Sonntag, in den vergangenen drei Wochen seien mehr als 570 Menschen behandelt worden, bei denen der Verdacht auf Cholera bestehe. "Wir haben die Sorge, dass die Krankheit sich zu einer Epidemie ausweiten könnte", sagte Sprecher Ghassan Abu Tschaar.
Nach zwei Jahren Krieg sei das Gesundheitssystem des Jemen zusammengebrochen, sagte der Sprecher weiter. Viele Krankenhäuser seien zerstört.
Die schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen sprachen indes von mehr als 1600 Cholera-Fällen in zwölf Provinzen, wie es auf dem Nachrichtenportal Sabanews hieß.
Ein Sprecher des jemenitischen Gesundheitsministeriums bestätigte, dass die Cholera im Jemen wieder ausgebrochen sei. Demnach wurden in zehn Provinzen Fälle gemeldet. In der Hauptstadt Sanaa seien zwei Todesfälle durch die Cholera bestätigt worden, sagte Sprecher Abdelhakim al-Kahlani AFP. Drei weitere Todesfälle gab es demnach in der Provinz Ibb und vier in der Provinz Hodeida.
Erst im vergangenen Jahr waren im Jemen 99 Menschen an einem Cholera- und Durchfall-Ausbruch gestorben. Mehr als 15.000 mutmaßliche Cholera-Fälle wurden gemeldet.
https://www.gesundheit.de/news/urn.newsml.afp.com.20170508.doc.o746m und siehe auch http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/welt/weltchronik/890827_Im-Jemen-droht-Cholera-Epidemie.html
9.5.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (** A H)
Yemen: Increased Response Needed as Cholera Spreads
A growing cholera outbreak in Yemen is threatening to spread further in the war-torn country, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today, reporting a drastic increase in the number of patients its teams are treating in recent weeks.
In response to the outbreak, MSF set up cholera treatment centers in five hospitals and is supporting other structures run by health authorities. MSF teams have received or treated more than 780 patients since March 30 in the governorates of Amran, Hajjah, Al-Dhale', Taiz, and Ibb, with a sharp increase in the past two weeks.
In addition, the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health and Population has reported about 310 cases in Sana'a.
With the Yemeni health system severely weakened by war, MSF fears that health authorities alone will not be able to deal with the outbreak.
"We have patients coming from many different districts, tens of kilometers away," said Shinjiro Murata, MSF head of mission in Yemen. "We are very concerned that the disease will continue to spread and become out of control. A smooth collaboration between health actors and relevant authorities is needed to provide prompt support to health facilities and local communities in the affected areas. Humanitarian assistance also needs to be urgently scaled up to limit the spread of the outbreak and anticipate other potential outbreaks."
Since the end of April, MSF teams have treated 276 patients with cholera and acute watery diarrhea at Al-Nasr Hospital and Al Salam Primary Health Care Center, in Al-Dhale' governorate. Since March 30, MSF has treated 263 patients in the Abs Hospital, Hajjah governorate, 168 of whom were received in the last two weeks. Al-Salam Hospital in the Amran governorate, Thi As Sufal General Rural Hospital in Ibb governorate and Mother and Child hospital in Al-Houban, Taiz governorate, also collectively received hundreds of patients in recent weeks.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/yemen-increased-response-needed-cholera-spreads
9.5.2017 – AFP (** A H)
34 dead, 2,000 sick with suspected cholera in Yemen: WHO
Thirty-four people have died of cholera-related causes and more than 2,000 have been taken ill in less than two weeks in Yemen, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
"There have been 34 cholera-associated deaths and 2,022 cases of acute watery diarrhoea in nine governorates, including Sanaa, during the period of April 27 to May 7," a WHO official told AFP.
This is the second wave of cholera-associated deaths in a year in Yemen, where a deadly war has destroyed hospitals and left millions of people struggling to access food and clean water.
The WHO now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world alongside Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq.
http://www.france24.com/en/20170509-34-dead-2000-sick-with-suspected-cholera-yemen-who and by Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw.com/en/dozens-dead-in-drastic-uptick-of-cholera-in-yemen/a-38777328 and by New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/world/middleeast/cholera-yemen-war-humanitarian-crisis.html?_r=1
8.5.2017 – Reuters (** A H)
Yemen cholera outbreak kills 25 people in a week: WHO
A cholera outbreak in Yemen killed 25 people this week, the World Health Organization said, as two years of war continues to wreak havoc on the impoverished country's health and sanitation system.
The deaths from the diarrheal disease which is carried in food and water tainted by human faeces are among 1,360 cases that the United Nations agency reported since April 27.
Some severe cases can kill within hours unless treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
"(This) is extremely alarming. We are facing a reactivation of the cholera epidemic," Nevio Zagaria, the WHO's representative in Yemen, told Reuters.
"The cause is that there is two years of war in Yemen. There is a huge impact on the infrastructure, the electricity power is on and off, the water pumping stations are not functioning regularly and this has an impact on the quality of water."
A previous outbreak subsided last winter, Zagaria said, and the country has experienced a total of around 27,000 cases including 130 deaths during the conflict.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-cholera-idUSKBN1841CT and by AFP: http://www.france24.com/en/20170507-hundreds-suspected-cholera-cases-yemen-msf
Comment by Judith Brown: Oh dear more deaths when will the world take note of what they are doing to Yemen? The news today was pathetic - headlining Trump sacking head of FBI. Who will die because of that I wonder? No one at all. This fake emphasis on news gets worse every day.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505305368641
6.5.2017 – Aljazeera (* A H)
Film: New cholera cases emerge in Yemen
More than 200 new cases of cholera have been registered at a hospital in Yemen's capital, Sanaa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tSh49060g and photo: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/861721971637317632 and films (Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxksNLMMVZg and (Al-Masirah channel took the field to the seventeen hospital, which received dozens of cases of cholera epidemic, with limited capacity and lack of medical personnel, and the concerned authorities in the Government of the Rescue appealed to the hospital administration and the families of the injured to move quickly to find the medicine and open centers to accommodate the increasing number of injured) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2SNgaenBVw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ad0ycIXlU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Filrxdmf1tI
and
8.5.2017 – International organization for Migration (* A H)
Suspected cholera patients in the Republican Hospital received 400 health bag provided by the International Organization for Migration Through the Mona Relief Organization (photos)
https://twitter.com/iom_yemen/status/861474563091308546 and https://twitter.com/iom_yemen/status/861118083578122241
8.5.2017 – Abna (** A H)
Over 1,600 cholera cases detected in Yemen
Yemeni health minister says some 1,700 cases of cholera have surfaced in the country, as Saudi Arabia's deadly aggression rages on against the poorest Arab nation.
Sabanews.net cited Mohamed bin Hafedh as saying that 1,681 cases of cholera have been detected in 12 provinces of the war-torn country, including in the north and west of the country.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also reported on Sunday that more than 570 suspected cases of cholera have been treated in Yemen during the past three weeks, some seven months after the outbreak of the infectious disease was declared in the conflict-plagued Arab country.
"There are fears that the disease could turn into an epidemic. Two years into the war, the healthcare system has collapsed, hospitals are destroyed... and government employees' salaries have not been paid," said Ghassan Abou Chaar, the spokesman for the international medical charity.
He added that the MSF had witnessed a marked increase over the past week in suspected cholera cases in five provinces across the country.
Abdelhakim al-Kahlani, the spokesman for Yemen's Ministry of Health, said the bacterial infection had resurfaced the previous week in the impoverished country, with reported cases in 10 provinces. He added that two cholera-related fatalities had been confirmed in the capital Sana'a, three in the central province of Ibb and four in the western province of Hudaydah.
http://en.abna24.com/news/middle-east/over-1600-cholera-cases-detected-in-yemen_828587.html
Remark: Sanaa government health ministry.
8.5.2017 – Yemen Press (** A H)
No Access to Medicines Due to Saudi Seige:Yemen Cholera Epidemic 1670 Cases with 21 Deaths
The Director of Child Health Program Dr. Najib al-Qubati pointed out that the conditions are deteriorating due to the siege and war imposed on the Yemen and the inability of having access to medicines has also increased the epidemic. He also pointed that the first case of cholera was reported on 27th May.
He called on the rescuing institutions of government and all health centers to assume responsibilities in such situation and called all citizens to pay more attention to hygiene.
Al-Sabeen hospital in the capital Sana’a on Sunday called on all the hospitals of the country to increase the intake capacity of the patients keeping in view the increasing numbers.
The Deputy Director of the Sabeen Hospital Hilal al-Bahri said in statement that there is need of more than ten centers to address the epidemic.
http://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/cholera-epidemic-in-yemen,-21-deaths-and-1670-infections-reported.html = https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/photos/a.1434086430220680.1073741828.1434084576887532/1674396102856377/?type=3
8.5.2017 – Yemen Updates (* A H)
Cholera outbreak in Dhamar, 5 dead, 65 affected and 110 suspected cases! (photo)
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/861674033405976576
8.5.2017 – UNICEF (* A H)
@UNICEF delivered over 7 tons of urgent medical supplies to Sanaa health facilities responding to the cholera outbreak. More coming (photo)
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/861636376290263040
11.5.2017 – Indrastra (** B P)
The Houthi-Saleh Alliance of Convenience
During 2014, Yemen observers suspected former President Ali Abdullah Saleh of facilitating, if not orchestrating, the Houthi military expansion into the Governorates of Amran and Sana’a.
Although the Houthi-Saleh alliance was implicit at first, it was formalized in early August with the formation of the Supreme Political Council (SPC). The anti-Hadi coup had achieved its goal.
Deeply Rooted Conflict
Between 2004 and 2010, Saleh’s government waged six brutal military campaigns, known as the Sa’da wars, against the Houthis.
Tensions Flaring
Almost ten months have passed since the formal political agreement between the GPC and the Houthis that resulted in the creation of the SPC. Under the new political agreement, the constitutional declaration announced in February 2015 by the Houthi-backed Supreme Revolutionary Committee (SRC) - the de facto ruling body ever since President Hadi fled to Aden – would be nullified. The new agreement would restore the state's institutions by evacuating all stationed SRC “supervisors”. Additionally, the SPC agreement specified that both sides (Houthis and GPC) would alternate the presidency of the SPC every four months. The facts on the ground have differed with the SRC supervisors still exercising power, and the Houthis refusing to relinquish their hold on the SPC’s presidency. The shortcomings of the SPC agreement have been a source of constant frustration to Saleh and his political allies.
On November 28, 2016, both sides announced the formation of a National Salvation Governmen
The SRC continues to harass Saleh allies through lawsuits, physical threats, and assault, in addition to the methodical exclusion of long-term bureaucrats and officials associated with Saleh from both government and security services. Several GPC ministers have complained of physical harassment by the PCs or their deputies (Houthi appointees), with several of them refusing to go back to work under the current situation. At the same time, the Houthis have been apointing their supporters, many of whom lack any experience, to positions of influence.
Another source of contention has been the Houthis' systematic changes to the education curriculum of the country, with an emphasis on sectarian ideologies that until recently were alien to Yemeni society. As for the state media, the Houthis, through their Minister of Information, are conspicuously ignoring any news or speeches by Saleh or the GPC ministers while giving extensive coverage to their leader and ministers.
The Future of the Houthi-Saleh Alliance
The Houthis' actions display an obvious lack of political experience and trust in Saleh, who, in return, mistrusts the Houthis. This mutual suspicion will probably lead to an abrupt end to the alliance as soon as the war is over, if not sooner. The alliance has not been ideological; it is, rather, a temporary marriage of convenience created to face the challenge of the Saudi-led war.
How the marriage ends depends on who manages to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia.
There have been many recent armed skirmishes between Saleh and the Houthis that have threatened to escalate the war into a full-blown military confrontation between both sides. Each time, Saleh has worked on de-escalating, knowing full well that any dispute would currently harm him more than it would the Houthis. That being said, and despite the friction, the military alliance seems relatively cohesive due to a shared sense of danger. Yet, reports indicate that the majority of the fighting is being conducted by Saleh's Republican Guards, while the Houthis seem more preoccupied with maintaining influence on population centers. Although the Saleh and Houthi alliance has withstood a two-year conflict, the depletion of resources, international pressure, and loss of territory, the cracks in their alliance are as large as ever. Both sides have openly criticized each other, especially throughout recent weeks, pointing to an alliance that is crumbling. That said, there are still no signs that any party in the ongoing conflict is willing to abdicate or yield. This article was originally published by Gulf State Analytics on May 10, 2017 – by Loaai Al-Akwaa , advisor at Gulf State Analytics
www.indrastra.com/2017/05/OPINION-Houthi-Saleh-Alliance-of-Convenience-003-05-2017-0027.html = http://www.eurasiareview.com/11052017-the-houthi-saleh-alliance-of-convenience-analysis/
9.5.2017 – Al Bab (** A P)
Yemen war puts strain on Saudi-Emirati relations
For the last two years a Saudi-led coalition has been waging a war in Yemen to restore the "legitimate" government headed by Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. But that goal is now in doubt because Hadi's lacklustre performance has opened up a rift between Saudi Arabia and its key ally in the conflict, the United Arab Emirates.
In the "liberated" areas of the south, however, divisions are more apparent. One fragmentation line is between those who want a united Yemen (assuming the Houthis are eventually defeated) and those who want a separate state in the south. Another is between protégés of Saudi Arabia and protégés of the UAE.
There have been signs of Saudi-Emirati friction for some time. Hadi is seen as firmly in the Saudi camp and last year when he abruptly dismissed his prime minister, Khaled Bahah – ostensibly in a dispute about ministerial appointments – there were claims that the real reason was Bahah's Emirati connections.
Between the Saudi-backed and Emirati-backed elements in Yemen, however, the disagreements are increasingly obvious and it's difficult to see how they might be resolved.
In February there was a tussle over Aden airport.
According to the website Rai al-Youm, Hadi later flew to the Emirates to complain but was given short shrift.
The situation escalated further at the end of April when Hadi dismissed and replaced the governor of Aden along with four ministers who were regarded as affiliates of the UAE – triggering protest demonstrations.
Since then, two senior Emirati figures have publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Hadi.
Politically, however, getting rid of Hadi would be extremely tricky. Slender as Hadi's legitimacy may be, any replacement would have even less. In the current circumstances there's no prospect of holding an election and there would still be questions about whether his successor's loyalties lay more with the Saudis or the Emiratis.
An even bigger question is how these Saudi-Emirati machinations will affect Yemen's long-term future. While the Saudis continue bombing in the north, the Emiratis have been working more quietly, but with limited success so far, to establish a semblance of order in the south. Over time, this could have the effect of creating a de facto partition of Yemen – which, whether or not the Emiratis intend it, is exactly what the southern separatists want.
In a book due to be published later this month, Yemen expert Ginny Hill writes:
Riyadh might wish to play the winning hand but the decisive cards could well be in the hands of the Emiratis. By deploying special forces to Aden in 2015 (and later, during 2016, in Mukalla), the Emiratis have already shaped the facts on the ground, and as a result of their outreach to grassroots groups across the south, they have also established significant ties with local powerbrokers, including southern separatist groups. Depending on the future stance taken by the Emiratis in relation to southern independence, Yemen’s recent experiment in unification could yet turn out to be an aberration in the country’s long and intricate history.
Aside from the negative effects of partition on Yemen’s already shattered economy, creating a separate state in the south would also create a separate state in the north – one which is currently under the control of the Houthis. In other words, it could allow the Houthis to consolidate their position and present the Saudis with a hostile state permanently on their southern border.
But whether the Emiratis can ever stabilise the south is still an open question, as a recent report in the Economist explained:
The Emiratis, the Economist continued, "are beginning to tire of their bickering wards". But now that they are in Yemen pulling out could make things worse:
"Officials who hoped that Aden would be a model for the rest of Yemen now fear that leaving the south on autopilot might only condemn the country to instability. And that might engulf the whole Arabian peninsula." – by: Brian Whitaker
http://al-bab.com/blog/2017/05/yemen-war-puts-strain-saudi-emirati-relations
8.5.2017 – Yemen Extra (** A P)
Media War between #UAE and #Saudi Arabia because of #Yemen
In a sign of the extent of the dispute between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over Yemen, social networking sites have caught hundreds of comments among the political elites in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Twitter, for example, has become a real battlefield and mutual accusations.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash commented on his Twitter account: “Every action has a reaction. If the act is reckless, it is natural that the reaction frees pent-up feelings and transfers the scene to another level.”
“I declare my popular recognition of the south state as a sovereign independent state,” said Dhahi Khalfan, former deputy head of Dubai police.
While the UAE political science professor Abdul Khaleq Abdullah attacked the runaway Hadi violently and commented on the recent decisions by saying: “The right of the important UAE partner has the right to know the hasty decisions of Hadi and it has the right to respond according to his inconvenience about his confused decisions.”
In response to the statements of the United Arab Emirates, the preacher of the Saudi prominent Awad al-Qarni considered what happened in Aden as rebellion, and commented on his account in Twitter, saying: “The support of the rebellion of Aden is a sinister projection of what he called the legitimacy of the Arab alliance , the storm of firmness and its aftermath .
While the Saudi academic known as Abdel Aziz said, “The announcement of the declaration of” Aden “is very similar to what the Saudi led coalition media describes, calls and against Yemen as a coup, and the state that supports the statement will overtake the storm.”
The Saudi writer Khalid Al-Mahoush condemned the demands of the people of South Yemen to secede from the rest of the Yemeni state and said in a tweet through his account on the site of “Twitter”: “mercenary demonstrations backed by money ,demanding with the secession of southern Yemen, show their plan ,oh Allah keep Yemen safe, Aden declaration .”
http://www.yemenextra.net/2017/05/08/media-war-between-uae-and-saudi-arabia-because-of-yemen/
9.5.2017 – Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (** A P)
Yemen: From Enforced Disappearance to Unfair Trial
36 Yemeni civilians captured by Houthi groups and forced into disappearance for two years have since been treated with cruelty and now with injustice at illegal courts, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and Sam for Rights and Liberties have documented in a recent investigation.
Signs of physical torture were seen on the bodies of these Yemenis during their first trial session in court," says Inas Zayed, a Euro-Med Monitor legal researcher. "Some of them reported that the alleged confessions were forced under torture, violating the basic codes of the United Nations Convention against Torture". Between courtly sessions, the detainees were denied their right to counsel and any access to the outer world. The Houthi group kidnapping them only announced their place of detention on the first day of their trail, April 8th, which amounts to a crime of enforced disappearance.
"The Houthi group has the real power on the ground, and they control the court in which the trial of these Yemeni civilians is taking place," says Tawfiq Alhmidi from Sam orgranization. "Following detention, these civilians were accused of collaborating with the Arab coalition against the Houthis, of perpetrating assassinations and of providing assistance to violent resistance."
Not only were these accusations untrue, but they were given by a court continues to operate illegally. Abdul Aziz Al-Baghdadi, the prosecutor appointed by Houthis, was denied his position by the Administrative Court in Sanaa; thus, all rulings by him are repealed. Even more illegally, the trial is taking place in the National Security Court, whose judicial body is of military judges, but the detainees are civilians, who cannot be tried in military courts – in addition to its operation in a way counter to constitutional rules as well as to codes of fair trials included in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights.
During the courtly session, other violations were committed.
http://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/1875/Yemen:-From-Enforced-Disappearance-to-Unfair-Trial and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVcbbF0nFUQ
8.5.2017 – Article 19, Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights First, Open Society Foundations, Human Rights Watch, PAX (** A P)
Joint Letter to Ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council
Re: Urgent Action Needed to Protect Yemeni Human Rights Advocates and Civil Society
The undersigned human rights and civil liberties organizations write to raise serious concerns about recent efforts by the Government of Yemen to silence renowned Yemeni human rights advocates and civil society leaders. These efforts undermine much-needed human rights work in Yemen; threaten connections between Yemeni civil society and the international community;put the safety and lives of Yemeni advocates at risk; and undercut government commitments, expressed in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, to respect the work of human rights advocates. The organizations also write to express serious concern regarding continued arbitrary arrests, detentions, and harassment of advocates and activists by the Houthi-Saleh forces in northern Yemen.
It is essential that all parties to the conflict in Yemen fulfill their obligations to respect the independence and rights of human rights defenders and civil society members. International law protects the rights to freedom of association and expression, and Yemen is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
We write to request that you raise the concerns outlined in this letter withthe Government of Yemen and the Houthi-Saleh forces. We ask that you take action to support Yemeni advocates—and their work to advance the human rights of all Yemenis—by urging the Government of Yemen to uphold its international commitments and protect Yemeni citizens and civil society.
To be a human rights advocate in Yemen has entailed significant personal risk for many years. Recently, the Government of Yemen, through its embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote a letter to U.S. lawmakers lashing out at prominent Yemeni human rights advocates. As reported in Foreign Policy, “Yemen Lashes Out At D.C.
Briefing By Human Rights Activists” (March 30, 2017), Yemen accused the human rights defenders of “a political ‘agenda’ tied to Iran-backed Houthi rebels” and of “covertly supporting the Houthis.
These accusations are baseless. One of the advocates criticized in the letter is Mrs. Radhya Almutawakel, the Chairperson of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, a pre-eminent Yemeni civil society organization, globally recognized for its independent and comprehensive human rights investigations.
Mwatana has provided invaluable reporting, without bias or political agenda, about allparties to the conflict, on extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, women’s rights, enforced disappearances, and many other human rights issues in Yemen. Without Mwatana’s work, information about the effects and dynamics of many of these issues would be unknown to the international community, making it substantially harder for the international community to understand and respond to one of the most under-reported armed conflicts in the worldtoday.
Mrs. Almutawakel is internationally-recognized for her work and her expertise on the human rights situation in Yemen. She has previously worked with the Open Society Foundations to document civilian casualties in Yemen, and has also assisted Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. She has been invited to present her work at numerous international events and forums, including at a hearing of the European Parliament. This month, Mrs. Almutawakel was awarded the “Global Advocate Award” from the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute and invitedto be a “Practitioner-In-Residence” at Columbia Law School.
Mrs. Almutawakel has devoted her life to improving the human rights of all Yemenis.
Because of this work, Mrs. Almutawakel and her colleagues at Mwatana have been beaten, harassed, and detained numerous times by the Houthis—the group the Yemeni Government now claims Mwatana are “covertly supporting.” This pattern in which the Houthis and allied forces have curtailed freedoms of association, expression, and liberty has been well documented over the past two years by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Since late 2014, the Houthis and allied forces have arbitrarily arrested and detained critics and opponents as well as journalists, human rights defenders, and members of the Baha’i community, subjecting scores to enforced disappearance. Since 2015, the Houthi forces also curtailed freedom of association, raiding the offices of and closing down NGOs in Sana’a and threatening their directors and staff.
Although the Yemeni Government’s accusations are without any foundation and are contradicted by the record, by publicly linking independent human rights advocates with armed groups and one side to the conflict, they undermine the work of Yemeni human rights organizations and put the freedom and lives of advocates at risk. Since the Yemeni Government’s false accusations, media and groups in Yemen have launched a significant public attack against Mrs Almutawakel, exposing her and her colleagues to personal, physical risk and making it more difficult for them to safely conduct their work.
These actions of the Government of Yemen are unacceptable and stand in stark contrast to government commitments outlined in The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-letter-ambassadors-united-nations-security-council and https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/6196/2017/en/ and https://www.justsecurity.org/40764/civil-liberties-human-rights-groups-urge-ambassadors-security-council-support-yemeni-civil-society/
5.2o17 – Sanaa Center fpr Strategic Studies (** B H K P)
Yemen at the UN - April 2017 Review
Summary:
In April, the Saudi-led military coalition’s proposed assault on the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hudaydah, and the likely humanitarian catastrophe it would precipitate, was again the focus of most international policy discussions regarding Yemen. By month’s end, however, widespread opposition to the operation within the US, at the UN, within the humanitarian community and elsewhere appeared to gain purchase with both the Saudi-led coalition and American policy makers contemplating United States military support for the action, with these latter two groups apparently re-evaluating Saudi-led coalition plans for an offensive and exploring political alternatives to the attack.
On the ground, tensions amongst armed groups and political factions supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemen repeatedly arose. The most notable instances were in the governorates of Aden and Hadramawt. In Aden, “Security Belt” forces back by the United Arab Emirates were involved in an armed standoff with forces loyal to President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi, eventually leading Hadi to sack both the head of the Security Belt and the governor of Aden. In Hadramawt, local power brokers seeking greater autonomy from the central government held the “Hadramawt Inclusive Conference”, under the implicit patronage of the UAE.
The World Food Program (WFP) announced it was scaling up operations in Yemen to help address the country’s food crisis – 17 million people are in need of food assistance in Yemen, with 7 million of these facing a food security emergency. WFP officials stressed, however, that the success of such operations was dependent “immediate sufficient resources from donors.” To spur funding efforts, the governments of Sweden and Switzerland co-chaired with the UN the “High Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Response in Yemen” in Geneva on April 25, with pledges amounting to $1.1 billion – more than half the UN’s humanitarian appeal for Yemen for 2017. While the event was deemed a success, UN officials have emphasized that donors must quickly convert their pledges into cash deposits if a famine this summer is to be averted.
Despite increased US counter terrorism activity and drone strikes in Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) remained active last month, carrying out assassinations and attacks against both Houthi rebels and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as well as UAE-back pro-government forces. On the frontlines, however, despite an intensification of the conflict in various areas, no party made substantial territorial gains.
In economic and financial developments, the new Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) headquarters in Aden was connected - six months after the previous headquarters in Sana'a was disconnected - to the SWIFT network for international money transfers; the connection will remain inoperable, however, until the necessary CBY staff return from Dubai, where they are undergoing training to operate the SWIFT connection (which would allow the CBY to access international support funds). In Sana’a, the Houthi-Saleh authorities initiated a food voucher system for public servants, in an attempt to compensate for their inability to pay the almost one million government workers living in areas under Houthi-Saleh control who have not received a paycheck since September 2016. Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced that livestock protection, through vaccinations and other treatments, was a key emergency response priority for 2017, given plummeting livestock numbers amongst the 1.5 million Yemeni households dependant on agriculture.
Meanwhile, reports of human rights violations and war crimes by all belligerent parties to the Yemeni conflict continued unabated, among them being: the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights stated last month that the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade of the Yemen “involves grave breaches of the most basic norms of human rights law, as well as of the law of armed conflict”; meanwhile in Sana’a, a Houthi-Saleh security court sentenced 62-year-old journalist Yahya al-Jubaihi to death for allegedly spying for the Saudi-led coalition, in a closed-door court trial in which al-Jubaihi was denied regular access to a lawyer.
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/item/99-yemen-at-the-un-april-2017-review.html
31.1.2016 – Geopolitical Monitor (** B P T)
Wahhabism, ISIS, and the Saudi Connection
In order to conceptualize the mentality of ISIS and its motivation, look no further than inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to examine how its puritanical Wahhabi doctrine has enabled the ideology of ISIS and terrorist groups alike, and will continue to do so for potential Islamic extremist groups in the future.
It’s all too obvious that the theology of ISIS is reciprocal to the Wahhabi religious doctrine that has governed Saudi Arabia from its inception to this very day.
A Brief History of the Deal at the Heart of Saudi Society
Wahhabism refers to the Islamic doctrine founded by Muhammad Ibn’ Abdul-Wahhab
Saudi Arabia Back in the Spotlight
The Saudi religion was slowly forgotten by the international community as a correlative issue with Al-Qaeda due to the political focus toward ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it has since subtly entered back into the international spotlight since the Syrian civil war outbreak in 2011. With the uprising against Bashar Al-Assad, many Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, have used the conflict as a proxy war for Sunni vs Shia supremacy by funneling millions of dollars to Wahhabi militant factions to assist in the overthrow.
The biographies of Al-Baghdadi and others in ISIS leadership positions show how they’ve absorbed the Wahhabi doctrine and mastered its details. Documents reveal the groups explicitly stated goals of, “establishing the religion and dissemination monotheism, which is the purpose and calling of Islam,” — this is the same rhetoric in Abdul-Wahab’s interpretations of Islam. Their main goal is nothing more than to create a Wahhabi state that is inherently identical to the theology of Abdul-Wahhab, and Al-Baghdadi has resorted to the teachings of Abdul-Wahhab for his arguments to support the means of creating that state.
His stated principles are practically replicas of Wahhabi sources such as “the need to demolish and remove all manifestation of polytheism and prohibits its ways,” and “the need to resort to the law of God through seeking adjudication in the Islamic courts of the Islamic State.” Al-Baghdadi’s process of establishing an Islamic State is conducted in the same manner that Abdul-Wahhab and Ibn Saud used in the 18th century by conquering territory and ruthlessly forcing the conquered to conform or die. ISIS’s brutal tactics of beheading and flogging, the banning of smoking and music, and dress codes enforced on women, along with the continual circulation of Wahhabi books and documents among the schools it controls is extremely reflective of the Wahhabi ideology — these same books and documents being circulated can currently be found in Saudi Arabia.
This all has created a deleterious consequence for the House of Saud. As ISIS has garnered further international publicity and continues to become a security concern for the West and Middle East, it has also created a situation where Saudi Arabia’s image is becoming severely damaged. As more and more investigations delve into the ideology of ISIS and the stark similarities and principles of ISIS and Saudi Arabia are discovered, one may ask why the royal family in Saudi Arabia does not distance itself from the religious establishment as a whole? Herein lies the paradox behind the Saudi state: without the House of Shaykh using the Wahhabi ideology to legitimatize the religious duty of the House of Saud to rule, the royal family will no longer have a substantial claim for political power over the kingdom. Therefore, the House of Saud is constantly oscillating between condemning ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and any other Sunni militant groups that live by the creed of Wahhabism (that is essentially one-in-the-same with the religious authority in Saudi Arabia), appealing to the global community that Saudi Arabia is not a state that supports ISIS’s ideology, and not upsetting the religious Ash-Shaykh establishment in Saudi Arabia. The damage-control mode taken by Saudi Arabia in recent months is evident by their foreign policy actions, with Saudi Arabia now part of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.
It is blatant that the state religion in Saudi Arabia has both directly and indirectly led to the formation of ISIS. The Wahhabi ideology taught, enforced, and supported in Saudi Arabia is essentially a mirror image of the religious establishment ISIS is implementing in its attempt to form an Islamic state, with both the House of Shaykh and Al-Baghdadi adhering to the same teachings and theology of Wahhabism.
As long as the Wahhabi ideology prevails as the religious authority in Saudi Arabia, the potential will always remain for additional Sunni groups to emerge with the same pious philosophies and inclinations as ISIS – by Lincoln Clapper
https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/wahhabism-isis-and-the-saudi-connection/
cp2 Allgemein / General
10.5.2017 – Intelligence Online (unrated A P)
Pro-Saleh clan in Paris to drum up support for ex-president
Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh is increasingly isolated in Sanaa, much to the satisfaction of Saudi Arabia, leader of the Arab coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels [payment only]
Comment by Judith Brown: An interesting article describing tensions between the Houthi-Saleh alliance and between Saudi Arabia and UAE. Which was ever likely to happen as neither side can win this dreadful war.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505424548641
Remark: On this subject (Saleh-Houthi tensions): below cp5; cp15; on Hadi-UAE tensions: cp1, cp6.
10.5.2017 – Iran Daily (A K P)
Dep. FM dismisses Riyadh claim over Tehran’s arms shipment to Yemen
Majlis Speaker Special Aide for International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday that Saudi regime’s claim about transfer of arms from Iran to Yemen is completely unfounded.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a meeting here with Chinese Ambassador to Iran Pang Sen.
“Saudi Arabia has contributed to the uncontrolled growth of terrorism in the region by attacking the impoverished Yemen. Therefore, international waters are being threatened by terrorist groups in southern Yemen,” Amir-Abdollahian noted, IRNA reported.
He said that the existing developments in the region have made it clear that wrong military and security approaches are no help to solve complicated regional problems.
http://iran-daily.com/News/192536.html
10.5.2017 – Middle East Monitor (A P)
Hadi discusses Yemen crisis with Saudi, US, UK
Yemeni President Abed Rabbuh Mansur Hadi yesterday discussed the crisis in his country in separate meetings with the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the United States and Britain.
The Yemen news agency Saba reported that Hadi met with Saudi Ambassador, Mohammed Bin Saeed Al-Jaber, American Ambassador Matthew Tueller and British Ambassador Simon Shercliff separately in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
During the three meetings, the Yemeni president expressed his government’s keenness to achieve peace in the country, according to the principles and references of the Gulf initiative, the outcomes of the national dialogue and the relevant UN resolutions.
Hadi praised the efforts of the three countries to support Yemen and “end the coup and eradicate extremism and terrorism”.
For his part, the US ambassador praised Hadi’s efforts to save Yemen, stressing Washington’s support for the country and its constitutional legitimacy “to move forward in combating extremism and terrorism”.
The British ambassador is reported to have renewed London’s support for Yemen and its constitutional legitimacy. He also affirmed the continuation of his country’s ongoing efforts in this regard.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170510-hadi-discusses-yemen-crisis-with-saudi-us-uk/
My comment: These three states are his main backers, after the Emirates fell away. – That’s a lot of fact-free propaganda nonsense bubbles: “the Yemeni president expressed his government’s keenness to achieve peace in the country” – “Hadi praised the efforts of the three countries to support Yemen and “end the coup and eradicate extremism and terrorism” – “the US ambassador praised Hadi’s efforts to save Yemen” – “The British ambassador is reported to have renewed London’s support for Yemen and its constitutional legitimacy”
10.5.2017 – Press TV Iran (* B H K P)
Film: ‘Saudi actions in Yemen amount to war crimes’
West Chester University professor Lawrence Davidson says Saudi Arabia’s actions in Yemen amount to war crimes but there seems to be no “enforceable law” to hold Saudi officials accountable.
“The Saudis are aware that if they destroy the infrastructure of a state, all kinds of preventable diseases, including cholera, are going to break out,” Davidson told Press TV on Wednesday.
“So the only way you can kind of contextualize it is by saying what the Saudis are waging is the equivalent of a total war … The object of the game is not just to destroy the other military force but to essentially reduce the landscape to rubble. That is total war and that is what the Saudis seem to be doing,” he added.
9.5.2017 – Fars News (A P)
UAE Prepares for Leaving Saudi-Led Anti-Yemen Coaliti
According to the Yemeni news website, Naba'a, the UAE is attempting to strengthen its military presence in Yemen by supporting the allied Salafi groups to preserve its influential role in the war-hit country even after leaving the Saudi-led coalition.
Based on the report, Brigade 7 of the forces affiliated to fugitive president Mansour Hadi has given over control of al-Kadhah front's bases to Abu al-Abbas brigades to focus on Moqbenah front in the Southwestern parts of Ta'iz province.
An informed source close to Abu al-Abbas brigades revealed that they have received more weapons and equipment from the UAE in the past two days, adding that they have been sent from Aden and the coalition's command center.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960219001225
My comment: I am in doubt. Wait and see.
8.5.2017 – The Real News (* B H K P)
Film: U.S. Deepens Support for Saudi War on Yemen Even as Al-Qaeda Benefits
In part two of our interview, Professor Sheila Carapico of the University of Richmond says that while the U.S.-backed Saudi-led war on Yemen has caused a humanitarian crisis for civilians, two beneficiaries include the U.S. weapons industry and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4um5wQDD5R8
8.5.2017 – Ammar Aulaqi (A P)
Leaked lists show extensive abuse of power through appointing relatives of high gov officials in good paying jobs. Both in Sanaa & Aden!
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/861617669929410560
5.5.2017 – Libertarian Institute, Scott Horton Show (* B H K)
Audio: 5/5/17 Nasser Arrabyee on the Yemeni casualties of war
Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist and film-maker, discusses Saudi Arabia’s apparently imminent attack on the port of Hodeida, where much of Yemen’s desperately-needed humanitarian supplies come from; why the UAE no longer supports Saudi-backed President Hadi; the separatist forces that defy the popular will of Yemenis to remain a united country; and why the continuing war’s only beneficiary is Al Qaeda/ISIS.
https://www.libertarianinstitute.org/scotthortonshow/5517-nasser-arrabyee-yemeni-casualties-war/
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
11.5.2017 – Living in Yemen on the edge (A H)
Photos: What i just met beside the house's gate. Hussam, 11 years, was selling eggs in order to get money to feed his family that has displaced from Taiz city to the capital of Yemen, Sanaa. "I'm not able to study because I'm so busy with selling eggs to purchase food items for my family", Hussam said.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1367799776606382
10.5.2017 – Al Arabiya (* B H)
How I have seen the health system collapsing in Yemen
It is never easy to meet the medical needs of a population, and even more so in a poor country. The health system is precarious, and the situation can deteriorate overnight. As a Yemeni doctor, there is unfortunately no better example than that of my own country. Every day, I see the difficulties encountered by doctors and patients. In Yemen, you can die from malaria, or your child can die from measles if you do not get to the hospital on time. The problem is that there are not many hospitals left.
Before the conflict broke out in March 2015, the health system was able to provide free medical care in the emergency rooms of public hospitals, and to provide the drugs needed to treat diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, or leishmaniosis. Within a few months, the situation changed: bombed hospitals, power cuts, lack of medicines and money, insecurity and difficulty of access, and excessive gasoline prices effectively preventing any movement. Virtually all medical facilities have been affected by the war.
Every day, many patients are unable to get to the hospital for treatment. The violence of the conflict, the absence of functional medical facilities in many areas, and moreover the costs to reach them and to find accommodation nearby prevent an increasing number of Yemenis from receiving treatment. When patients with chronic illnesses arrive at the hospital after several hours on the road, they often discover that there is no bed available. People die because they can’t be admitted. Those who do get a bed must also find accommodation for relatives who have made the journey with them.
Without his uniform, the medical practitioner has the same needs as the patient. He must feed and take care of his relatives. But how can that be done in a context where ambulances are targeted, as in Taiz or Aden, and where medical structures are directly targeted? Many health workers lost their lives as they tried to rescue others: like the ambulance driver who worked at the Al-Jomhouri hospital in Sa’ada who lost his life in an airstrike, and my colleagues who died in the airstrike that hit Abs hospital in August 2016.
In such circumstances, the health system can’t work and save lives. The support of organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Red Cross or the World Health Organization is important, but it is not enough; more needs to be done – by Dr. Abdullah Radman, the deputy medical coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen.
My comment: This Saudi media publishes this 100 % propaganda-free realistic report by a Yemeni doctor, even mentioning two of the Saudi air raids against hospitals in Northern Yemen. Thank you for this.
6.–8.5.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (* B H)
The invisible death in Northern Yemen
Report by a doctor from Haydan in Northern Yemen, where Doctors Without Borders restarted to work in February 2017. Only in Italian and Spanish (with photos). After a general explanation, one day at the hospital is described.
Nell’estate del 2016, i violenti bombardamenti nel governatorato di Sa’ada hanno costretto l’équipe di MSF ad abbandonare Haydan, lasciando l’ospedale con servizi medici ridotti. Gli attacchi hanno avuto conseguenze tragiche per MSF. Un attacco all’ospedale di Abs, il 15 agosto, ha ucciso 19 persone e ne ha ferite 24. Nei giorni successivi, altre équipe di MSF sono state costrette ad abbandonare diversi altri ospedali della regione, lasciando migliaia di pazienti senza medici e senza cure.
La partenza di MSF è stata un duro colpo per la popolazione di quest’area povera e rurale, dove l’ospedale più vicino, nella citta di Sa’ada, è a un’ora e mezza di strada. Molti pazienti che avevano bisogno di cure d’emergenza, materne o pediatriche non potevano permettersi né il viaggio né le medicine, la loro situazione era drammatica. “Qui le persone muoiono in silenzio”, diceva il capo di una comunità. “Sono invisibili perché non si possono muovere. Ci sono decine di persone in questa situazione, in maggior parte donne e bambini.”
Sei mesi dopo, MSF è tornata a Haydan con un’équipe permanente di tre operatori internazionali – un medico, un infermiere e un coordinatore – che lavorano insieme a 15-20 operatori yemeniti.
http://www.medicisenzafrontiere.it/notizie/blog/la-morte-invisibile-nel-nord-dello-yemen (Italian)
http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-muertos-invisibles-norte-yemen-20170506083547.html (Spanish)
10.5.2017 – Norwegian Refugee Council (* B H)
“They are like family to me”
Mouad Abdu (29) works for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sana’a, Yemen, and is responsible for coordinating food assistance to 140,000 people in the city. Those who receive assistance are displaced from their homes elsewhere in the country.
“I am proud to work for NRC, and I consider myself lucky to be able to help people get what they need the most, namely food,” says Mouad. “I am grateful to be part of that assistance”.
We join Mouad to the Bani Alharit neighborhood where NRC is handing out food vouchers to people displaced by war.
“This is one of the places where help families that really need it,” Mouad says. “They receive a ration to get the family through the coming month.”
Mouad coordinates food distributions in Sana’a. 20,000 families who have been identified as especially in need, get vouchers from NRC in the Yemeni capital every month. The vouchers can be exchanged for flour, cooking oil and beans at some warehouses.
The distribution today is at a school after school hours. Lists with names and numbers are put up on walls. People look for their names, note down their numbers, and line up to receive their voucher.
“Mouad is a great man, he has helped us a lot,” says Ali. Ali is from Nehem, a few hours away, but fled when their home was hit by an airstrike. The family now receives food vouchers every month – by Alvhild Strømme (with photos)
https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/may/they-are-like-family-to-me/
9.5.2017 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Infographic: Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan - Funding Status (As of 09 May 2017)
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-funding-status-09-may-2017-enar and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/yemen_funding_snapshot_20170509_en_final.pdf and https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/node/145282
9.5.2017 – Your Abilities (A H)
@Yourabilities_o helped several families and provided them medicines along with a little amount of money for each family today (photos)
https://twitter.com/Yourabilities_o/status/862028004666593280
https://twitter.com/Yourabilities_o/status/862025522209058816
https://twitter.com/RiseUp75/status/862036333258321921
9.5.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A H)
In defiance of US-Saudi starvation, Yemenis make their food by voluntary work in agricultural places in Razeh Saada north May 9, 2017 (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862166625394597888
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862166228512759809
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862165963386609665
9.5.2017 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (* A H)
Yemen Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 23 | 9 May 2017
Highlights
124 humanitarian partners are delivering assistance in all the 22 governorates
49 districts have no qualified doctor
$75 m is being provided through pooled funds
Seven food insecure governorates are under emergency, IPC Phase 4
Figures
Total population: 27.4 m
Total people in need of humanitarian assistance: 18.8 m
Total people in acute need of humanitarian assistance: 10.3 m
# of people displaced (IDPs & returnees): 3.0 m
# of deaths (WHO): 8,010
# of injuries (WHO): 44,538
Humanitarian partners are operating in all 22 governorates
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-bulletin-issue-23-9-may-2017 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/humanitarian_bulletin_issue_23_-_09_may_2017.pdf and https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/node/145218
9.5.2017 – International Organization for Migration (* A H)
UN Migration Agency Supports Yemen’s Struggling Health Care System
On 4 May 2017, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) donated over three tons of medicine and medical supplies to the Al-Jumhori Hospital in Sana’a, Yemen. The medicines and medical supplies are mainly for treating acute diarrheal disease.
The donation was part of IOM’s urgent response – that is, implementation within 24 hours – to the formal request from the hospital for support in managing the growing number of patients arriving at the hospital with acute watery diarrhoea, or AWD.
Yemen’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 45 per cent of health facilities in Yemen are fully functional and accessible, 38 per cent are partially functional and 17 per cent are non-functional, and at least 274 of those facilities have been damaged or destroyed during the current conflict.
http://www.iom.int/news/un-migration-agency-supports-yemens-struggling-health-care-system = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/un-migration-agency-supports-yemen-s-struggling-health-care-system
9.5.2017 – Air Cargo News (* A H)
Airfreight industry rallies round to help Yemen kids
Customers of Coyne Airways and Air Charter Service are helping life-saving support from War Child UK get through to the children of Yemen.
Money raised goes towards the charity’s vital work, for example providing some of the most vulnerable households with food vouchers.
"The funds contributed by Coyne Airways and ACS are based on Coyne's idea of a Structured Donation Plan (SDP), which gets companies to make a small donation based on a fixed amount per transaction every time one of their customers makes a purchase from them,” explained Coyne chief executive, Larry Coyne.
“The SDP is designed to get the freight industry to donate painlessly to good causes particularly those around families and children caught up in war zones.”
Coyne and ACS are hoping to persuade more companies to use the SDP to contribute to good causes like War Child in 2017.”
War Child has been working in Hajjah, in the north-west of Yemen, and Sanaa, the largest city in Yemen, to reach approximately 6,000 people since it was granted a licence last December. Its chief executive, Rob Williams, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Coyne and ACS. Support like theirs has meant that as soon as we were granted our licence, we could invest in setting up our operations in Yemen to respond to the unfolding humanitarian disaster.” said
Family-run Coyne Airways and ACS launched the initiative to back War Child last autumn, donating one US dollar to the charity from every booking.
Customers have the opportunity to match the donation on a quarterly basis and, so far, thousands of dollars have been raised through the programme.
8.5.2017 – Wiener Zeitung (* A H)
"Wir sind hier wie lebende Tote. Wenn wir zu Bett gehen, wissen wir nicht, ob wir morgen noch leben", sagt Um Said und schaut ihren Säugling an, der in ihren Armen endlich eingeschlafen ist. Der Bub ist vier Monate alt - und völlig abgemagert. Auch seinen drei Geschwistern und der Mutter sieht man die Mangelernährung deutlich an. "Ohne Spenden wären wir bereits verhungert", sagt die 25-Jährige. Wie hunderttausende andere ist die Familie innerhalb des Bürgerkriegslandes Jemen geflüchtet. Sie lebt jetzt in Sanaa. Doch die humanitäre Lage ist überall prekär, auch hier in der Hauptstadt.
http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/welt/weltchronik/890827_Im-Jemen-droht-Cholera-Epidemie.html
8.5.2017 – Your Abilities (A H)
With Skills Development Foundation sponsor . Your Abilities Org in cooperation with Elaf concluded Health Program, which included (100) (photos)
https://twitter.com/Yourabilities_o/status/861659056561369089
Join us: We believe that everyone can work together to ensure no child dies of hunger (mages)
https://twitter.com/Living_Yemen/status/861623031021621248
https://twitter.com/Yourabilities_o/status/860991809828388864
8.5.2017 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A H)
Film: Plz dont be shaked! Here is what we have seen today during our visit to 1 of #Yemen hopital in Sanaa. Our children is under Saudi blockade
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/861627442729021440
7.5.2017 – Mona Relief (A H)
Mona Relief delivering Hygiene kits funded by IOM Yemen to 400 patients at al-Jumhuri hospital in Sana'a, May 7, 2017 (photos)
Mona Relief and Khalsa Aid distributing food aid for first time in Sana’a (photos)
7.5.2017 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen (* A H)
Statement on behalf of the humanitarian coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick on the need to ensure funding and humanitarian access into and throughout Yemen
Humanitarian funding is urgently needed to save lives across Yemen. With urgency, I call on Members States to fund the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. All commitments made during the pledging conference in Geneva need to materialize at once. While Yemen awaits for peace, humanitarian action is saving lives every day across the entire country.
All ports and roads must be available to humanitarians to properly address the current threat of famine and the resurging cholera outbreak and to facilitate the timely delivery of life-saving assistance to vulnerable people throughout Yemen. Giving the United Nations and humanitarian partners safe and unimpeded access to those in need would be a strong demonstration by the warring parties of their concern for the Yemeni people. It is imperative that humanitarians reach people in need without obstacle, wherever they may be.
I am particularly concerned about reports that medicine and medical supplies are not reaching people in need in a timely manner due to administrative delays at ports, checkpoint road hurdles, and aid delivery interference. Recent information suggests that medicine supplies are being delayed from reaching Taizz City, where the need of the people is urgent. I call on the authorities in Sana’a to allow trucks carrying medicines into Taizz City without delay.
I echo the call of the United Nations Secretary General at the pledging conference to all warring parties for safe, unconditional, and sustained access by humanitarians to people in need across the country. I continue to request parties to the conflict and those influencing and arming the parties, to return to peace negotiations and to bring this conflict to an end.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/statement-behalf-humanitarian-coordinator-jamie-mcgoldrick-need-ensure-funding-and = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/HC%20Statement%20on%20funding%20and%20access-%2007May17%20-%20EN.pdf and
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56705#.WRF3RtLyiUl
5.5.2017 – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (* A H)
Famine response and prevention in Northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen (May 2017)
FAO is on the ground, working around the clock in these countries to deliver emergency livelihood assistance to kickstart food production. This assistance includes inputs like crop and vegetable seeds, fishing and dairy kits – which are crucial for providing highly nutritious food. In parts of South Sudan, the fishing kits are the only lifeline to food for many families, while in Yemen, dairy kits are helping to provide life-saving milk for children.
To avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the four countries over the coming months, we need to scale up livelihood support and income opportunities to aff ected families. Supporting agriculture now is not only investing in food production today, but food security tomorrow.
http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/854239/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/famine-response-and-prevention-northeastern-nigeria-somalia-south-sudan-and-1 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/FAOFamineResponse%26Prevention4may17.pdf
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
11.5.2017 – AFP (* A K)
Yemen war threatens millennia-old mummies
A collection of millennia-old mummies at Sanaa University Museum in the Yemeni capital could face destruction as a result of the fighting.
With electricity intermittent at best and the country's ports under blockade, experts are fighting to save the 12 mummies in the face of heat, humidity and a lack of preservative chemicals.
Some of the remains, from pagan kingdoms that ruled the region around 400 BC, still have teeth and strands of hair.
"These mummies are tangible evidence of a nation's history," said Abdulrahman Jarallah, head of the archaeology department at Sanaa University, but "even our mummies are affected by the war."
"Mummies need a suitable, controlled environment and regular care, including sanitisation every six months," he told AFP.
"Some of them have begun to decay as we cannot secure electricity and the proper preservative chemicals, and we're struggling to control the stench."
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1966420
Remark: Already reported earlier, here with some more photos.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
10.5.2017 – PEN International (* A P)
PEN International is deeply concerned about the death sentence issued by a Houthi court in Sana’a against Yahya al-Jubaihi, a prominent Yemeni writer and journalist, after a grossly unfair trial. He had been arbitrary detained since September 2016. PEN International fears that al-Jubaihi’s detention and death sentence are related to his articles criticizing Houthi insurgence.
Our Organisation calls for Yahya al-Jubaihi’s death sentence to be quashed. Yahya al-Jubaihi should be released or retried in proceedings that conform to international fair trial standards and without the possibility of a death sentence.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
Yahya al-Jubaihi, 61 years-old, is a writer and journalist. He is member of the Arab Journalists’ Association and Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate. He published research studies and articles and wrote regular columns in many Yemeni and other Arabic newspapers such as Okaz and al-Madina. He particularly published an article in December 2015 in which he sharply criticized the Houthi raids and invasions of some regions in Yemen. According to news reports, this article has led to his arrest and conviction. Al-Jubaihi studied media at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia and obtained a Master’s degree in International Media in 1986 from the US Indiana University. He worked as media director at the Council of Ministers in Yemen between 1987 and 1997 and lectured “media and development” at the University of Sana’a/Faculty of media.
On 6 September 2016, Al-Jubaihi was arrested by Houthi uniformed security agents in front of his house in Yemeni capital Sana’a; they also broke into his home and confiscated his electronic devices, books and other documents. According to his family, Al-Jubaihi was transferred to several prisons and detentions centres before being sentenced to death on 12 April 2017 by a Houthi rebel court in Sana’a. According to news report, the verdict has been issued without respect of the principles of fair trial
http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/yemen-death-sentence-against-prominent-writer/
10.5.2017 – Yemen Updates (A P)
Mother of abductees,Mansur al-Adeni,has died. #Houthis denied her of the right to temper her longing for seeing her son for last time
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/862397694169554944 referring to https://twitter.com/abduteesmothers/status/862342363510972416 (photos)
10.5.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)
Yemeni southerners organize a march from Sanaa toHodeida on May20to refuse US-Saudi aggression& occupation of south. (Food, medicine March) (photo)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862533970877194241
My comment: These seem to be southerners siding with the Houthis and Saleh. I fear there will be bloodshed when they meet with Hadi supporters and southern separatists.
10.5.2017 – Yemen Extra (A P)
Not to US Terrorism on Yemen” is the Title of the Public Rally
The Organzation Committee for the events calls the Yemeni people to participate in the mass rally “No to US Terrorism on Yemen” next Friday in the capital Sana’a.
The organizing committee emphasized that participation in the mass rally is really important to deliver the voice of the Yemeni people and their suffering to the world opinion and rejecte the American terrorism. The place will be determined later.
http://www.yemenextra.net/2017/05/10/not-to-us-terrorism-on-yemen-is-the-title-of-the-public-rally/
10.5.2017 – Al Arabiya (* A P)
Alia al-Shaabi, the human rights minister of the Houthi cabinet, submitted her resignation after gunmen affiliated with Houthi militias assaulted her.
According to well-informed sources, Shaabi and her son were assaulted by Houthi gunmen while she was reviewing the work of the Criminal Investigation Department in Sanaa to check on the situation of detainees in rebels’ prisons.
This is not the first time Houthis attack ministers and officials. A week ago, Houthi members attacked Hisham Sharaf, the minister of foreign affairs in the rebels’ cabinet. Sharaf, who supports ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, was attacked because they wanted to prevent him from entering the ministry of planning after the prime minister of the coup cabinet assigned him to perform its tasks.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/05/10/Houthi-minister-quits-after-she-was-beaten-up-by-militias-.html = http://www.arabstoday.net/en/39/houthi-minister-quits-after-she-was-beaten-up-by-militias-072538
Remark: Alia al-Shaabi, ahuman reights defender, mentioned in 2015: http://www.gc4hr.org/report/view/36
9.5.2017 – Al Masirah TV (B)
Film: Security situation and business activity in Taiz governorate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058PtJbPCE0
My comment: This looks so normal, but…
9.5.2017 – Ahmad Alghobary (A)
As workers haven't received salaries, garbage has been piling up. Today, youth took the initiative to clean up #Sanaa (photos)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/862056250758103040 and film (Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLI-hjflvAQ and photos: https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1367315613321465/?type=3&theater and https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1367017650017928
10.5.2017 – AFP (* A P)
Yemen strongman Saleh open to negotiations with Saudi
Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh is open to negotiations with rival Saudi Arabia, two years into a deadly war between Saleh's Huthi rebel allies and the Saudi-backed government.
"We have no choice but dialogue," Saleh said at a meeting of his General People's Congress party in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday.
"We are ready to go to Riyadh, Khamis Mushit, Muscat or elsewhere to start dialogue and to reach an understanding," Saleh said, referring to cities in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Oman.
Saleh however reiterated his rejection of the government of internationally recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and said Saudi Arabia would have to find "new leadership".
Members of Saleh's circle have been meeting unofficially with Saudi delegates for weeks in Berlin, a Yemeni government official told AFP Wednesday.
The Yemeni leader also said he hoped to "form an alliance with Iran that would serve the interests of Yemen".
Shiite-dominated Iran is a key supporter of Yemen's Huthi rebels and the main regional rival of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia.
Saleh, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, has repeatedly said he was open to talks with Saudi Arabia.
http://www.france24.com/en/20170510-yemen-strongman-saleh-open-negotiations-with-saudi = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4491640/Yemen-strongman-Saleh-open-negotiations-Saudi.html and this is the text by an Emirati media with minor, but interesting propaganda changes: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-strongman-saleh-open-to-negotiations-with-riyadh-1.2024910 and mostly unchanged by Press TV Iran: http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/05/10/521383/Yemen-Ali-Abdullah-Saleh-Saudi-Arabia-negotiations-Abd-Rabbuh-Mansur-Hadi-Saudi-aggression
and what propaganda makes of it:
10.5.2017 – Yemen Updates (A P)
Sudden change in the position of the ousted Ali Abdullah Saleh by announcing his readiness to leave #Yemen to Saudi Arabia or Oman!
https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/862208274275467264
My comment: What Saleh tells here is nothing really new. He again and again had claimed direct negotiations between the Saudis as the main player and the Houthi / Salehi coalition. And there also already had been secret talks by the Saleh side and the Saudis before. The Saudi propaganda tells a story of a fundamental rift between Saleh and the Houthis (look at cp15), and Al Araby accomplishes the amazing feat of combining both stories – the Saudi propaganda one and what Saleh really seems to have said – in one and the same report: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/5/10/houthi-saleh-divorce-yemens-former-president-reaches-out-to-saudis
Comment by Judith Brown: Well it's a pity that all those fighting in Yemen didn't come to the same conclusion 2 years ago. Yemen really is a mess and it will take decades to recover.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505397633641
Comment by Judith Brown: The flawed UN resolution 2216 has directly led to an increase in Saleh's power, as it took one 'side' in the conflict between Hadi and Saleh that had been a major cause of Yemen's downfall. Had the resolution recognised that, Saleh and Hadi would have been censured and the will of the Yemeni people for freedom from dictatorships could have carried the day. As it is, the international community sided with Hadi - who never was very popular - and that left Saleh in Yemen able to play his position as victim of Western interference and Western backed military attacks and occupation. It worked. He is now in the driving seat in Yemeni politics once more - sadly. But let's hope he at least works to end the terrible war that benefits no one.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505344258641
10.5.2017 – Anadolu (* A P)
‘No shame’ in maintaining ties with Iran: Yemen’s Saleh
Former president’s General Congress Party remains closely allied with Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia group
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday called on Iran to "extend its hand” to his General Congress Party (GCP), which is closely allied with Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia group, saying there was “no shame” in maintaining ties with Tehran.
Saleh made the assertions while delivering an address to female members of his GCP, the text of which was later published on the party’s official website.
"Iran currently maintains relations with certain individuals [in Yemen], not with the Yemeni people,” Saleh said, without identifying the “individuals” to whom he was referring.
“These relations aren’t military, political or economic, but merely reflect the Iranian people’s sympathy regarding the war [in Yemen]," he added.
Saleh, whose GCP has remained closely allied with the Houthis since the latter overran capital Sanaa in 2014, went on to thank Iran for "sympathizing with Yemen”.
"As the head of an opposition party, I call on Iran to extend its hand to us in friendship,” the ex-president said.
“I am prepared to ally with Iran for the sake of my country, just as [Saudi Arabia’s anti-Houthi coalition] allied with Israel and the U.S. against us," he added.
"Relations with Iran -- a major Islamic state -- are no cause for shame," he asserted, stressing that his party did not currently have any military ties with Tehran.
Saleh also reiterated calls for Saudi Arabia to halt its aggression in Yemen and engage in dialogue with the Houthis.
"We call on [Saudi] King Salman to enter into dialogue with the Yemeni people,” he said. “There has been enough bloodshed; let us agree on the appointment of a new president."
Saleh-Houthi rift?
On Tuesday evening, the official Saudi Press Agency quoted “informed sources” in Sanaa as saying that Saleh -- at a meeting with GCP members -- had threatened to “sell the Houthis out to the [Saudi-led] coalition” if the Shia group failed to meet his demands.
The news agency, however, refrained from saying what Saleh’s alleged “demands” consisted of.
The unnamed sources went on to quote Saleh as describing his Houthi allies as “extremists”.
The news agency provided no further details about the meeting in Sanaa – By Zakaria Kamali
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/-no-shame-in-maintaining-ties-with-iran-yemen-s-saleh/815571 and this is Saleh’s speech at the organizational meeting of the women leaders conference, May 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnBjFKsOmuU (Arabic)
And the mentioned Saudi propaganda on a Saleh-Houthi rift, doubted by Anadolu, at cp15 below.
And this is a more serious article on Houthi-Saleh relations and tensions at cp1:
9.5.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)
Yemen ex-president Saleh: We call for equivalent &direct dialogue with Saudis, & no dialogue with runaways& beggars & mercenaries
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862156570410590210
9.5.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee / Hona Almasirah (A K P)
New Yemen fighters In maneuver ( Agitated Sea), May 9, 2017, in secret place, readying for defeating US-Saudi invaders in western coast (photos; film)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862161215954595841
https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/862073923508330499
9.5.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)
Yemen foreign minister Sharaf Met 2day with Russian acting ambassador in Sanaa over latest developments of US-Saudi aggression on Yemen (photo)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/861948131797340160
9.5.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
President briefs on processes to return electricity in Hodaida
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464235.htm
9.5.2017 – Living in Yemen on the edge (A P)
From #Sanaa, where people's patience is coming to an end, a lawyer posted that he, along with colleagues, will rent a truck, carry some garbage and put it in the front gates of the houses of useless officials.
Garbage could soon become the n 1 killer in the Capital as cholera cases are skyrocketing (photo)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1365874816798878/?type=3 and more garbage photos: https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/861892513308848128 and https://twitter.com/yemen_updates/status/861891005448146944
8.5.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Houthis torture education official until death in Saadah
The Houthi militias in Saadah governorate have tortured former director of Saadah Mujlai Farhan until death inside their custodies in the capital Sana'a.
Farhan was abducted from Sahar district in Saadah two year year ago prevented his family from visiting him and disappeared him until he was brought back to his family this weak as a dead body .
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6666
8.5.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
FM meets Head of World Humanitarian Forum
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464129.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
10.5.2017 – Almasdar Online (A P)
Hadi invited by Saudi King to participate in the Arab Islamic American summit
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi received an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to participate in the Arab, Islamic, American summit, which will be attended by state’s leaders and will be held in Riyadh, the official Saba news agency reported on Tuesday.
“The meeting will be attended by the US President Donald Trump.”
“King Salman is making sincere efforts to unite the Arab and Islamic nations, and raise their prestige in various forums,” said President Hadi during a meeting to receive the KSA Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Saeed Al Jaber.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/91070
My comment: This summit will become a low point of politics and diplomacy and a climax of propaganda, president Trump playing the role of Saudi’s useful idiot.
10.5.2017 – Almasdar News (A P)
Saudi, UAE proxy war continues in southern Yemen
The Saudi and Emirati regimes are currently engaged in a proxy war in southern Yemen, as both Gulf nations clash over control of the Aden Governorate.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni National Army and Hadi loyalists have attempted to bully the UAE-backed Southern Resistance and Hadhrami forces in southern Yemen, causing a heated conflict that recently intensified after the Emirati government’s release of Ahmed ‘Abdullah ‘Ali Saleh (Yemeni ambassador to the UAE and son of former president), an enemy of the Al-Saud regime.
Adding fuel to the fire in southern Yemen, the Saudi-backed Yemeni National Army has aligned with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the UAE-backed Hadhrami forces claimed on Tuesday.
With the Houthi forces attempting to recover the Mocha Port in southwest Yemen, the Saudi-backed Hadi loyalists could find themselves in a world of trouble if the Southern Resistance and Hadhrami forces withdraw their support in this region.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-uae-proxy-war-continues-southern-yemen/
9.5.2017 – Risk Advisory (* A P)
Domestic and regional implications of Aden independence calls
Southern separatists announced on Friday the process by which they intend to secede from the north.
They issued a statement which activists are calling the 'historical Aden declaration', at a a mass rally in the port city on the morning of 5 May. Organisers also named Aydarus Al-Zubaidi as a 'southern leader'. The move risks aggravating existing rivalries between southern Yemeni groups – including those currently fighting against the Houthis in the west – and between their backers the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And for organisations still working there, it will probably make Aden even more dangerous, particularly for national staff from the north.
The declaration late last week was not surprising, as it had been widely trailed in the Yemeni press. And the southern provinces have been effectively self-governing since the Saudi-backed coalition pushed out Houthi forces from Aden in July 2015, while activists have been intensively lobbying for separatism for years. But it seems that the announcement came on Friday because the previous week the president-in-exile Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi issued a decree removing Zubaidi from his position as governor of Aden.
Aden-based separatists claim to have the support of all southerners, but we doubt that this is the case. Activists and politicians from the resource-rich province of Hadramout have repeatedly voiced their opposition to independence declarations of this kind and seem to prefer a political solution in which they can retain autonomous control of their oil resources as part of a united Yemen. There are also deep divisions between different southern separatist movements along ideological and personal lines that make it improbable that they will all get behind this move towards independence.
Adding to these divisions in the south is that President Hadi is himself a southerner from Abyan. Even though he is currently based in Saudi Arabia, he retains strong support from tribal and other militia groups in the the province, which neighbours Aden to the east.
There are also wider implications for Gulf relations. Zubaidi is close to the UAE, and Yemeni observers in the press and social media have described the Aden declaration as being Emirati-backed. Images of the demonstrations circulating online show large posters of both Emirati and Saudi political leaders displayed in Aden, and the activists’ statement is partly addressed to the Saudi-led coalition. But since its intervention in the conflict in March 2015, Saudi Arabia has consistently supported Yemeni unity. This is most clearly demonstrated by Saudi support for Hadi.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have differed on other issues relating to their intervention in Yemen, including which local militia to back.
9.5.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (* A P)
The Separation of South in Yemen
In Yemen, there are two political parties who are trying to seize opportunities during the Yemeni crisis: Brotherhood and secessionists. Both are fighting via proxies and depend on others to fight on their behalf. They are allies despite the enmity and media wars.
Muslim Brotherhood believes the separation of the South is acceptable since it will provide a better chance to dominate the political arena in the North, knowing that rebels are weary of the war with Houthis and former President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s party.
Southern secessionists also believe that separating from the North is better for them. It reduces area and population and enhances their chances in governing Aden.
In principle, a region’s separation from its original state is not achieved unless its citizens decided so, even if it came with consensus. Otherwise, many countries in the world would have been dismantled. There is an international law which rules those things.
There are dozens of separation requests around the world presented by regions that couldn’t succeed in achieving independence because the international system won’t recognize it even if they succeeded.
Surely, the southern separatists can achieve their separation when a suitable circumstance arise and not amid the absence of a state because of the war, as the case is now.
When the situation is settled and a permanent government is chosen or a legitimate elected parliament, then a separation can be legal if Yemenis of both sides agree.
The South has its own problems that were developed during Saleh’s regime and there are several parties fighting over the power. There are no guarantees that the South will be stable once it gets separated from the country. It might even open the door to more conflicts. Like the North, there are several rival tribes and local leaders who disagree with one another in the South.
There is no doubt that the majority of people of the South actually want the separation, even since Saleh’s ruling.
The unity was imposed via a coalition between the defeated Southern party’s alliances with Ali Saleh’s regime in the North. Their tragedy began with a conspiracy and ended with a charade called unity. Saleh impoverished the South, just as he did with the North.
Yet, Southern people shouldn’t rush into celebrating the separation because it is ruled by the international laws and not the will of Aden.
When the situations stabilize in Yemen, and in case the separation was not an option, there are other choices just as good with wide administrative independence like the federal or even the con-federal systems – by Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, former general manager of Al-Arabiya television
http://english.aawsat.com/abdul-rahman-al-rashed/opinion/separation-south-yemen
My comment: From a main Saudi media, this article will reflect the official Saudi position on separation of Southern Yemen. – As they back “president” Hadi, the Saudis of course disagree to separation. They also might fear separatists in their own country, in the Shiite regions in the east of their country.
8.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A P)
Gulf of Aden Security Review May 8, 2017
A political contest continued in Aden in the wake of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s decision to remove prominent Emirati-backed Southern Movement officials from his government on April 27. Abdulaziz al Muflahi, whom President Hadi chose to replace Aden governor Aydarus al Zubaidi, made his first trip from Riyadh to Aden under the protection of Saudi-led coalition and Hadi government forces on May 6. Muflahi held a press conference in Aden and called for deeper investments in energy and clean water for the city before returning to Riyadh on May 8. Emirati-backed al Hizam security forces reportedly reached a deal with Saudi-backed Presidential Protection forces to allow Muflahi to land in Yemen in exchange for control of a main security checkpoint in eastern Aden. Former Aden governor Aydarus al Zubaidi held several meetings with local leaders and will travel to Riyadh on May 9 to discuss opportunities for political cooperation with Muflahi. The Yemeni Journalists Union spokesman accused a number of Hadi government politicians, including Foreign Minister Abdul Malik al Mikhlafi and Interior Minister Hussein al Arab, of corruption for accepting $8,000 monthly salaries from Saudi Arabia on May 8.[1]
10.5.2017 – AFP (A T)
Suspected Qaeda suicide bombing kills Yemeni soldier
A suspected Al-Qaeda suicide bombing on Wednesday killed a Yemeni soldier in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, a security official said.
Six other people, including three civilians, were wounded when the assailant detonated his explosives at a checkpoint in the village of Duaan, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) northwest of the port city of Mukalla
http://www.france24.com/en/20170510-suspected-qaeda-suicide-bombing-kills-yemeni-soldier and by Al Sahwa: https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6770
8.5.2017 – Anadolu (A P)
State of emergency declared in Yemen’s Hadhramaut
Move is accompanied by large deployment of military reinforcements to Al-Qaeda-plagued coastal province
The Yemeni army on Monday declared a temporary curfew and state of emergency in a part of the eastern Hadhramaut province, according to a statement issued by military commanders and local authorities in Hadhramaut.
The move, which applies to Hadhramaut’s Dawan directorate, also reportedly involves the deployment of fresh military reinforcements to the area.
On Monday morning, substantial military reinforcements -- trained by a Saudi-led Arab coalition -- arrived on Dawan’s outskirts, according to a local government official who spoke to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to the issue’s sensitivity.
Recent months have seen an uptick in attacks -- said to have been claimed by Al-Qaeda -- in Hadhramaut’s Dawan and Al-Dulayah directorates.
The latest of these occurred Sunday night when an army camp in the latter directorate was attacked by militants. No casualties were reported as a result of the attack – By Mubarak Mohamed
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/state-of-emergency-declared-in-yemen-s-hadhramaut/814038
9.5.2017 – AWD News (A)
Gewaltsame Zusammenstöße zwischen koalitionsgestützten terroristischen Gruppen in der Provinz Taiz von Jemen
Die Taiz-Stadt zeigte am Samstag, den 6. Mai 2017 die heftigen Konfrontationen und den Kampf zwischen den saudischen geführten Terrorgruppen in dieser Region des Jemen. http://de.awdnews.com/politik/gewaltsame-zusammenstöße-zwischen-koalitionsgestützten-terroristischen-gruppen-in-der-provinz-taiz-von-jemen
8.5.2017 – Haykal Bafana (A)
Shabwah governorate : Electricity supply cut in all districts tonight due to tribal blockade on diesel supplies.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/861646835571732480
8.5.2017 – Haykal Bafana (A P)
Aden governor has left, headed to Riyadh.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/861644930246209537
Hadhramaut province governor has left, headed to Abu Dhabi.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/861644828521705472
10.45.2017 – Elisabeth Kendall (A)
Smugglers caught at dawn in Mahra .. but on way TO #Oman FROM #Yemen with: 7 gold bars SAR 3,959,000 $178,846 AED 150k QAR 107,409 £5,429 (photo)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/862311473091137536
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
10.5.2017 – Pars Today (* A P)
UN-Sondergesandter für Jemen reist nach Saudi-Arabien
Der UN-Sondergesandte für den Jemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed wird heute zu Gesprächen mit saudi-arabischen Verantwortungsträgern nach Riad reisen. Geplant sind Gespräche über die Jemenkrise. Er wird zudem mit Vertretern der ehemaligen Regierung des zurückgetretenen und geflüchteten jemenitischen Präsidenten Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi zusammentreffen.
9.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A P)
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced renewed ceasefire talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a planned meeting with al Houthi-Saleh representatives in Muscat, Oman. Ould Cheikh Ahmed seeks a humanitarian truce that would begin at the start of Ramadan on May 26 and lead to political negotiations in Kuwait or Geneva on October 6. He did not disclose the terms of the negotiations. President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s Foreign Minister, Abdulmalik al Mikhlafi, stated that negotiations were unlikely to succeed. Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed al Jaber stated that any ceasefire is contingent on UN oversight of al Hudaydah, a port controlled by al Houthi-Saleh forces in western Yemen.[2]
9.5.2017 – Ammar Aulaqi (A P)
Tribal mediators in Yemen have released far more hostages, war prisoners and detainees than the UN envoy and all NGOs combined. Fact! (photos)
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/861901990976266240
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
10.5.2017 – Huffington Post (* B K P)
Is Saudi Arabia and Iran on a Collision Course?
What is one to make out of the enduring tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia in light of the ongoing proxy wars in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, among others? The answer is more chaos and further tensions.
Yet, ongoing conflicts underscore the profound rivalry between the Sunni and Shiite power. It does not help matters when the inexperienced Saudi defense minister, Prince Salman, 31, issues belligerent comments that there would be no dialogue with Iran given its religious aspirations to control the Muslim world. While I can understand why Prince Salman will issue such proclamation, though it lacks rationality, the purpose of his assertion is to not only silence critics who argue that the role the desert kingdom plays in the Middle East is waning, but also to divert attention from his failed military strategy in neighboring Yemen.
Conversely, Security analysts are perplexed as to Prince Salman’s choice of words when he said that the Saudis would not sit and wait for war but would work so that it becomes a battle for them in Iran and not in Saudi Arabia.
Iran did not waste time when, in a strong language, defense minister, Gen. Hossein Dehghan responded to the Prince’s combustible statement. Apparently, Prince Salman has not learned yet from his failed strategy in Yemen; a conflict that demonstrates how resilient the Houthis are despite the support of the US and the UK. Further, Saudi Arabia’s ground and air strikes on rebel-held areas could not defeat the rebels. These strikes, however, are contributing to the displacement of more than three million Yemenis in addition to the spread of famine.
What Saudi Arabia needs to understand is that it cannot defeat Iran given the latter’s military strength, intelligence apparatus, and public support that perceive the kingdom as a corrupt and western puppet.
Using history as my guide, I argue that tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran go back to 1979
Let’s assume for a moment that Saudi Arabia engages Iran militarily (which I do not foresee), such confrontation between the two rivals will only heighten regional instability. Both countries understand the ramifications of an armed conflict which will eventually involve major powers. Russia and China will inevitably support Iran while the US and UK back their traditional ally and main weapons’ customer, Saudi Arabia. France and Germany will remain neutral as to not jeopardize their economic ventures in both Iran and Saudi Arabia – by
David Oualaalou
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe / Look at cp1
9.5.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (* A)
Film: #Saudi clansmen forces attack civilians #Awamya using #German & apartheid era weapons
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/862138175065608192
Film: #Saudi clansmen forces still firing at civilian targets. Possible civilian deaths & injuries
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/862155878539177984
Remark: Awamya (Al-Amawiyah), a small town in Eastern Saudi-Arabia, with Shiite population.
And this is the way events are going on (full text, translation from Arabic by Google translator):
10.5.2017 – Mirat Aljazeera (** A P)
Awamiya: A suffocating siege and a ban on ambulance and smoke withdrawals
Martyrs and wounded as a result of the security forces continue to destroy the wall of Awamiyah
The neighboring towns of Awamiya and Qudayr are living in a state of suffocating siege from Wednesday noon until the moment of writing.
About 5 hours after the start of the military attack on the neighborhoods of Awamiya, the authorities expanded the siege to include the nearby town of Qudah. Security forces of various MOI agencies are involved in imposing a tight security cordon on all entrances and exits leading to the two towns.
Security forces have closed the towns with concrete blocks guarded by dozens of armored SUVs. The main streets leading to Awamiya are empty of passersby in a ghost town similar to the traffic police armored vehicles in the process of enforcing the security cordon. Al-Murr has been involved in the implementation of raids in the region since the beginning of the peaceful movement in early February 2011.
The large security operation paralyzed the residents of the town, where security forces prevented most of the staff from leaving the town since the early hours of the morning, while the buses prevented the students from entering the town to transfer students to schools in the neighboring towns for the first day of the exams of the end of the school year, For sending their children to the remaining two schools in the town for fear of being exposed to the risk of random bullets.
The shops were forced to close their doors, followed by some government departments because of warnings sent by the security forces to prevent staff from approaching the area.
Dozens remain stranded outside their homes without being able to approach the city's inner streets. Traffic has almost completely stopped along the main road due to the closure of secondary roads and the use of dirt roads by farmers to break the siege.
Residents of Awamiya, towns and neighborhoods, including the town of Safwa, 2 km north, live in a state of panic and panic in a climate similar to the wars, where the loud and very loud voices of the convoy of bullets and machine guns without interruption since dawn today, where security forces continue shooting hysterically with each Call for prayer.
Activists in the town of Awamiya continue to try to publish pictures and videos from inside the besieged town in an attempt to convey the suffering of parents and children by the continuous and indiscriminate firing to cover the demolition of the historic neighborhood in the town. The security forces summoned dozens of heavy vehicles to continue demolishing the rest of the neighborhood.
At dawn of the day, at the beginning of the security operation, angry citizens began shooting at the security forces in an attempt to prevent them from advancing in the process of demolishing the neighborhood in full, but the process stopped quickly after the use of artillery shells to houses hiding behind the angry.
Activists inside the town posted pictures of a person who was said to have been killed this morning by security forces targeting him near his home on the grounds that he belonged to peaceful demonstrators whom the Saudi government calls "masked terrorists."
Other photos obtained by "Mirror of the Island" showed that a number of citizens were injured by indiscriminate bullets flying near or inside their homes. The pictures show the injury of a young girl and an elderly man who was said to have been wounded inside his house after trying to confront the security forces and prevent them from entering his house. Another injured by foreign residents, one of them seriously injured, according to preliminary reports of the government hospital in the area of Qatif, who denied the killing of a resident who turned out to be a Bangladeshi nationality.
Activists sent an appeal to the international community to intervene with the Saudi government to stop the recklessness and the barbarity of the security forces to remove the historic neighborhood. Pictures and videos posted on social media sites showed footage of soldiers shooting in sectarian expressions and vowing revenge. In a separate report .
Heavily armed soldiers and bullet-proof vests stormed several houses indiscriminately using live bullets and grenades in the raids, apparently desperate attempts to find some of the wanted men listed by the Interior Ministry on separate lists over the past five years.
Injured citizen resisted attempts by troops to storm his house
Activists warned of the worsening humanitarian situation of the population by preventing the wounded from access to hospitals and health centers for treatment, and the increase in the incidence of obstructive and psychological collapse, especially among children, women and the elderly due to the sound of bullets pouring around the clock, and the sound of repeated explosions shook by neighboring towns (with film)
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirataljazeera.org%2F%D9%A7%D9%A4%D9%A6%D9%A5&edit-text= and original Arabic: http://www.mirataljazeera.org/7480
My comment: Well, the Wests closest ally and friend in the region. Trump coming soon to visit this friend of him. Well, this is also “Western style, as experienced in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Argentine, Uruguay, Dominican Republic (which omitted?; to stay at one continent only).
9.5.2017 – The Independent (* A P)
Saudi Arabia is building an entertainment city almost as big as Las Vegas near Riyadh
Project will host safari park and Six Flags theme park
Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build an entertainment city almost as big as Las Vegas in the capital of Riyadh.
The 334 square km (129 square mile) city would be 50 times the size of Gibraltar once complete, the BBC reports, and will offer cultural, entertainment and sporting activities.
It will also host a safari park and a Six Flags theme park.
The kingdom's Public Investment Fund will be the main investor in the project, which is set to begin early next year and the first stage is expected to be finished by 2022.
"This city will become, by God's will, a prominent cultural landmark and an important centre for meeting the future generation's recreational, cultural and social needs in the kingdom," deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud said.
But developing a leisure sector is fraught with difficulties in the Islamic kingdom, which adheres to a strict social code where women are required to wear loose-fitting robes, cinemas and alcohol are banned and public spaces are gender-segregated.
It remains to be seen how a theme park such as Six Flags will work as women and men remain largely segregated – by Samuel Osborne
9.5.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (A P)
Lol, now Saudi Embassy and the Saudi consulate to #Yemen are located in Jeddah (text in image)
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/862045007066386437
I can understand why they do not open their embassy in Sana'a, but what about the consulate in Aden, the "liberated city".
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/862045274050527232
My comment: Well, their Yemeni puppet “president” mostly is in Riyadh, why they do not locate this embassy & consulate at Riyadh? Would be a nice story for The Guinness Book of Records (Oh sorry, no beer allowed in Saudi Arabia).
9.5.2017 – Human Rights Watch (* A H)
Saudi Arabia: ‘Unofficial’ Guardianship Rules Banned
Authorities Should Abolish Entire System
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued an April 17, 2017 order to all government agencies that women should not be denied access to government services because they do not have a male guardian’s consent unless existing regulations require it, Human Rights Watch said today. Government agencies will have to provide a list within three months of procedures that require male guardian approval.
The order, if adequately enforced, could end arbitrary guardian consent requirements imposed on women by government officials. But it appears to keep in place regulations that explicitly require guardian approval, such as for women to travel abroad, obtain a passport, or get married. It also does not address areas where private individuals and entities ask women for guardian permission such as before they are employed or undergo medical procedures, Human Rights Watch said.
“Saudi Arabia has a tremendous opportunity to root out all vestiges of the guardianship system, and should use the three-month review period King Salman ordered to immediately declare all guardian consent requirements null and void,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/05/09/saudi-arabia-unofficial-guardianship-rules-banned
Comment by Kenneth Roth: Saudi Arabia may ease "guardianship" restrictions on women but leaves many in place including for travel & marriage.
https://twitter.com/KenRoth/status/861903902308016129
8.5.2017 – The Duran ( B P)
4 reasons why Saudi Arabia may cease to exist
Saudi Arabia's wealth and arrogance are build on a oil-black house of cards.
Saudi Arabia considers itself as the leading nation of the Arab world and at times the entire Muslim world. Most Arabs and most Muslims do not agree. Saudi Arabia is indeed a country that many Arabs hate and many Muslims have grown to reject because of the extreme and intolerant religion called Wahhabism which is practised in the Kingdom. Wahhabism bares little resembles to the peaceful, brotherly religion that is mainstream Islam.
In spite of its wealth, Saudi Arabia might not be around forever. Here’s why:
1. Oil Dependency
Oil prices continue their downward spiral. When the oil loses its value, Saudi Arabia loses its economy. It would become Yemen with much more debt.
2. Growing Isolation in the Arab World
Although deeply compromised, Iraq is dominated politically by Iran leading Shi’a Arabs. Saudi Arabia’s funding of the ISIS and al-Qaeda militants that have ravaged Iraq has made Saudi increasingly hated in Iraq. This is especially the case in the southern Shi’a provinces of Iraq in places like Basra.
Syria’s secular Republic has come under direct attack by the same Saudi funded militants that ravaged much of Iraq and as a result, the vast majority of Syrians loathe the Saudi regime.
Consider Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in Yemen. No other Arab country has come to Saudi’s aid.
3. Iran would destroy Saudi Arabia In A War
Saudi Arabia’s recent threats against Iran are not only foolish but they border on the insane. Iran’s military is vastly superior to that of Saudi Arabia.
4. Silent Internal Sectarian Problems
Although hardly reported in the west, Saudi Arabia is home to around 3 million Shia’s Muslims. They face high levels of discrimination in housing, education and employment in addition to severe religious persecution.
The treatment of Saudi’s Shi’a minority is simply appalling. It is a human rights disaster that the world shuts up about because the Saudi money is doing much of the proverbial talking – by Adam Garrie.
http://theduran.com/4-reasons-why-saudi-arabia-may-cease-to-exist/ = http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/05/08/four-reasons-why-saudi-arabia-may-cease-to-exist/
My comment: This article is not convincing. A) The oil price could rise gain. B) Still, most Arab countries follow the Saudi propaganda and leadership. C) “Yemen. No other Arab country has come to Saudi’s aid”: What about the Saudi “coalition”? D) “Iran would destroy Saudi Arabia In A War”: Uncertain. Iran has much more soldiers, Saudi Arabia spends a lot more for military equipment.
1.–4.5.2017 – Various (A H)
Somali maids raped and called Abeed daily in Saudia call a radio pleading 4 help
https://twitter.com/TerrorFreeSomal/status/860329178922668032
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTPC7u7FvQ&feature=youtu.be
26.4.2017 – Clean Chicks on Youtube (A P)
Film: #Saudi @KingSalman listens to anti-Jewish slur live on official TV (Arabic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvE71GskB0w&feature=youtu.be
cp9 USA
10.5.2017 – Fars News (* B K P)
UN Should Class US Raids and Drone Strikes as War Crimes
The international civil society, the United Nations in particular, should also join in and seek international accountability as civilians are still being killed by the US military in the name of “War on Terror” in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and beyond.
We all know how the Trump White House and the Pentagon regime officials call their drone strikes and bungled operations a "success" despite the fact that they authorize them without sufficient intelligence, ground support, adequate backup preparations, or even UN authorization. We also know how easy it is to dispute their claims that few civilians are being killed. Here, even one innocent civilian killed is one too many. As maintained by Human Rights Watch, international aid agencies, and several journalists, the death tolls from bungled US raids and drone attacks in the Middle East could be in their thousands.
As is, many civilians are still being killed in the name of America’s “War on Terror.” US officials responsible for these bungled raids and secret CIA drone campaigns have committed, and continue to commit, war crimes and crimes against humanity. They should stand trial because they have broken international laws designed to protect civilians. As maintained by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, “America’s missile and drone strikes contravene the laws of armed conflict, and must end.”
No doubt consecutive US governments have never been clear about their views on the legal basis for their bogus “War on Terror” and drone campaigns. For instance, they never say whether the drone program is a part of the ongoing war against ISIL and Al-Qaeda, or is it somehow a separate counterterrorism effort outside the law of armed conflict with no particular rules and policies.? They also never explain whether the law of armed conflict applies to drone strikes that take place in Yemen and Syria.
These relevant legal questions determine beyond any doubt that America’s “War on Terror” is bogus, only designed to protect its own illicit interests; its drone warfare is illegal because it is not authorized by the United Nations; and its drone strikes are illegally and indiscriminately killing civilians, and must be classed as war crimes. Evaluating the legality of these strikes must begin at the UN with an understanding of how the law of armed conflict applies - not how the US administration views its applicability. The more serious questions raised by the use of drones are their illegality rather than their effectiveness.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960219001844 = http://newnewss.net/?p=5309
My comment: Iranian point of view, but simply true in this case. The US, always pummeling Iran, should put its own house in order first.
9.5.2017 – Sputnik News (A P)
Trump Maintains National Emergency Status for Yemen
US President Donald Trump notified Congress on Monday that he intends to uphold a state of national emergency for Yemen that was issued by his predecessor in 2012.
"The actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Yemen and others continue to threaten Yemen’s peace, security, and stability, including by obstructing the political process in Yemen and the implementation of the agreement of November 23, 2011, between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provided for a peaceful transition of power that meets the legitimate demands of the Yemeni people for change," Trump wrote in a letter to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, according to a White House statement.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705091053402116-trump-yemen-national-emergency/ and here the statement by the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/05/08/notice-regarding-continuation-national-emergency-respect-yemen
My comment: What the hell is an US “emergency status” for Yemen?? It’s a sign that the US just takes the right to interfere everywhere in the worild.
9.5.2017 – The Nation (* A P)
Congress Is Drawing a ‘Red Line’ Over Trump’s Support for the Saudi War on Yemen
Millions are threatened by famine, as Riyadh prepares an assault on the country’s key port.
In Congress, opposition to administration plans to further assist Saudi Arabia in the wholesale destruction of Yemen is growing.
“In moments like this,” continued [Congressman] Pocan, “it’s essential that Congress assert its constitutional authority to oversee, debate, and declare war before the US becomes involved in a catastrophic military action overseas.” Citing the horrific nature of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Pocan said he could “hardly think of anything worse than the US military participating alongside the Saudi military in destroying the lifeline to food for 7 million people already on the brink of starvation.”
Pocan told The Nation that none of Trump’s actions in Yemen have “been authorized by Congress, and yet the White House wants to ratchet up direct US military engagement.” And so, in their push to prohibit US support for a Saudi-led assault on Hodeida, the House will “look to the precedents of the 204 members of the House who voted last year to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia over its conduct in Yemen; or the 192 members of the House, Rep. Amash and myself included, who wrote to President Obama in August 2013 insisting that he come to Congress for authorization before bombing Syria.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one congressional source involved in the House effort to thwart Trump and Mattis’s plans for Yemen told The Nation that “several staffers” are in the process of “preparing language with legislative counsel to use the War Powers Act of 1973 in order to introduce a privileged resolution to withdraw US forces from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, with Hodeida as a Congressional ‘red line.’”
The successful passage of such a resolution would represent a significant and welcome obstacle to the administration’s plans to provide further support to Saudi Arabia’s savage war on Yemen – By James Carden
8.5.2017 – US Department of State (A P)
Secretary Tillerson's Meeting With Qatari Foreign Minister Al Thani
Specifically, the Secretary thanked the Qatari Foreign Minister for the ongoing security cooperation between the United States and Qatar. He also thanked Qatar for its critical support to the global coalition to defeat ISIS
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/05/270732.htm
My comment: LOL. Qatar is one of world’s great sponsors of terrorism.
8.5.2017 – RT (A P)
US-Einsatz im Jemen: Bürgerrechtler wollen Herausgabe von Dokumenten erzwingen
Die Bürgerrechtsorganisation ACLU will die Regierung von US-Präsident Donald Trump gerichtlich zur Herausgabe von Dokumenten über eine umstrittene Bodenoperation des US-Militärs im Jemen zwingen. Bei dem Einsatz waren am 28. Januar mehrere Zivilisten, Mitglieder eines al-Kaida-Ablegers sowie ein US-Soldat getötet worden.
Die Organisation ACLU reichte am Montag Klage bei einem Gericht in New York ein. Sie will damit nach eigener Aussage herausfinden, welche rechtliche Grundlage die Kommandoaktion hatte und welche Entscheidungen ihr vorausgingen.
https://deutsch.rt.com/newsticker/50321-us-einsatz-im-jemen-burgerrechtler/
8.5.2017 – AP (A P)
ACLU sues for documents in Yemen raid that killed Navy SEAL
A civil rights group asked a court Monday to force the U.S. government to divulge more information about a January raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a U.S. Navy sailor and Yemeni civilians.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, saying it wants to learn the legal basis and decision-making process that preceded the Jan. 28 raid on an al-Qaida compound. It said in the lawsuit that the raid "raised deep concerns about the legal and factual basis, planning and execution of the operation."
The nonprofit organization said it filed Freedom of Information Act requests in March with the Central Intelligence Agency and the departments of defense, justice and state after the government released scant information about the raid following its internal investigation. It said it has received no documents in response, although some of the agencies have agreed to handle the request in an expedited manner.
The ACLU said more information is needed, in part, because of conflicting facts that emerged after the raid. The ACLU said the military has claimed between four and 12 civilians were killed, while others, including a human rights organization and independent journalists, say as many as 25 died. The raid also resulted in the deaths of over a half dozen militant suspects.
It said the raid's outcome and the conclusions of subsequent investigations have "raised serious concerns about the legal and factual basis for the raid – By LARRY NEUMEISTER
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/aclu-sues-documents-yemen-raid-killed-navy-seal-47274797
and
8.5.2017 – The Intercept (* A P)
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS SUED BY ACLU FOR FILES ON BOTCHED SEAL RAID IN YEMEN
DONALD TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION is trying to close the book on its first major military operation — a botched Navy SEAL raid in Yemen that turned into a village-wide massacre, killing as many as 25 people, including 10 children.
President Trump has insisted the raid was “highly successful,” but his administration has provided very few details about how the raid was authorized and who was killed. On Monday, the ACLU filed suit against the Trump administration to try and uncover basic information about the raid — who was killed, how the raid was approved, and its legal basis.
“We have seen that this White House cannot be trusted to give the public accurate information, which is especially critical when the president authorizes military action that kills civilians,” said Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The administration’s explanations have little credibility, and the documents we seek are essential for public accountability when civilians are killed in the name of our national security.”
The Trump administration has been reluctant to share details about the raid.
The ACLU is looking for information about how the White House is loosening civilian casualty rules put in place by President Obama in 2013, when he adopted guidelines requiring “near certainty non-combatants will not be injured or killed” before conducting drone strikes – by Alex Emmons
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
10.5.2017 – The Independent (* A P)
Michael Fallon says Saudi Arabia is 'just defending itself' by bombing Yemen
'Saudi Arabia is fully entitled to defend itself and its fully entitled to call on its friends in so doing,' says Defence Secretary
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said Saudi Arabia is simply “defending itself” by bombing Yemen in a campaign of air strikes that has been widely condemned by international observers.
Speaking on the Today Programme, Sir Michael said the Middle Eastern kingdom was “fully entitled” to defend itself from Houthi rebels who, he said, had spilled over the border.
He refused to criticise the country, saying it was an “enormously important trading partner” to the UK. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, is understood to be in favour of banning arms sales to repressive regimes.
Asked whether the Conservatives would consider stopping arms exports to the country, he said: ”Saudi Arabia is being attacked by Houthi rebels across its Southern border with Yemen. It's had its towns and villages shelled by the Houthis.
“Saudi Arabia is fully entitled to defend itself and it's fully entitled to call on its friends in so doing."
When quizzed about the fact the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson himself said the country was “puppeteering and playing Proxy wars”, Sir Michael argued that Britain "gains" from the relationship with Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia is a key partner of ours — an enormously important trading partner, a commercial partner, but also a defence partner," he said.
My comment: It’s hardly believable in which way the british government makes itself a useful foll of its arms industry and of a headchopping, terrorism-linked suppressive foreign regime.To make it clear, again and again: This war is NOT a Saudi defensive war. Saudi Arabia started its bombing campaign in Yemen 10 weeks BEFORE the Houthis began attacking Saudi territory. And further on, Fallon openly shows what matters for him: and this are no lifes anywhere in the world.
10.5.2017 – The Guardian (* A P)
BAE chair fails to confirm whether staff are loading bombs on to Saudi jets
Sir Roger Carr claims BAE is ‘not involved in any military action’, despite the company’s job ad for a weapons loading technician in Saudi Arabia
The chairman of arms manufacturer BAE Systems repeatedly declined to say whether the company’s employees are loading bombs on to Saudi Tornado jets involved in the conflict in Yemen.
Sir Roger Carr was confronted by activists at the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday over BAE Systems’ operations in Saudi Arabia and its recently announced £100m jet deal with Turkey.
“We supply equipment and we maintain equipment, but we are not involved in any military action,” he said. BAE Systems staff in the country are “looking after the aircraft to make sure they can perform to the specification”.
The activists, from Campaign Against the Arms Trade, cited a job ad posted by BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia for a weapons loading technician for the Tornado jets the company maintains for the Saudi air force.
Carr said all war is “terrible” and quoted Theodore Roosevelt’s maxim about diplomacy: “It’s best to speak softly but talk with a big stick,” he said. “We provide the stick, but we hope that these talks succeed and the politics resolve the crisis [in Yemen] ... war helps no one. The sooner it stops, the better.” –by Alice Ross
My comment: Well, at first Carr definitely lied (as was revealed by this job ad), then he as the head of a company making billions with weapons, war and killings added a statement on war, weapons, talks and Yemen oozing with hypocrisy and (unwanted) cynicism. Read it!
And more details here:
10.5.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A P)
BAE offers no clarity on company bombs used in Saudi war in Yemen
To the dismay of anti-arms trade campaigners, Sir Roger Carr also refused to comment on whether the world’s third largest defence firm had taken steps to prevent British-made Tornado fighter jets - in service with Saudi Arabia’s air force - from being used to drop cluster munitions.
In a heated exchange, Carr denied the company was involved in “military action”, but repeatedly swatted away questions on whether BAE staff loaded or armed weapons used in strikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.
“We are not involved in military action. We do make sure that the equipment we supply under contract performs to specification,” he said.
The firm has repeatedly said that all its sales are in accordance with rules and regulations set out by the UK government, but Carr refused to be drawn on the specific work carried out by the company in Saudi Arabia.
“You must separate one thing from the other, war is a terrible thing and terrible things happen in war,” he added, to scornful laughter from activists.
The jobs advert, which was brandished by activists but has since been removed from the BAE Systems website, listed duties such as loading, arming and de-arming munitions on Tornado aircraft, prompting outrage from rights groups who say this makes BAE Systems complicit in the bombing of Yemen.
When later pressed by questioners on the case of a “double-tap airstrike” by Saudi Arabia on a funeral gathering in October 2016 and the possible use of BAE produced aircraft or munitions, Carr said he couldn’t comment and suggested that the questioner be at the site of the strike to describe what happened.
Campaigners at the event said his answer was “extremely evasive” and “failed to clarify whether it was possible that BAE staff had loaded munitions onto the plane that was used in that airstrike”.
When later asked about the capability of BAE-produced Tornado aircraft to deliver banned cluster munitions, he said that the company does not support the use or creation of cluster bombs.
“We do not support cluster munitions. We do not manufacture cluster munitions. That is the end of the story,” he said.
But when pressed further, he said that the firm would “not comment on operations” and refused to confirm or deny whether the firm had approached the Saudi air force about modifying the fighter jets to make the use of cluster munition impossible.
Carr then went on to offer a general defence of the firm’s ethical standing and said that while he was not personally “without a value system”, he made “no apology” for the firm’s actions and stressed that the AGM was “not a court of human rights”.
At another point, Carr said his ethical justification was that BAE could be a “force for good in the world” – by Jamie Merrill
My comment: certainly this is not a singular case. That looks like the typical moral hypocrisy and blankness of arms producers, arms sellers and all politicians promoting the arms sales of their countries.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
9.5.2017 – Pax Christi (A P)
Der Opfer von Rheinmetall im Jemen gedacht
Kundgebung vor der Rheinmetall-Hauptversammlung in Berlin
Heute fand in Berlin eine starke Kundgebung vor der Rheinmetall-Hauptversammlung statt. Das Bündnis „Legt den Leo an die Kette“ und „Aktion Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel!“ hatten dazu aufgerufen. Es beteiligte sich auch Campact mit seiner Petition „Keine Panzer für Erdogan“.
In Zusammenarbeit mit den Kritischen Aktionären sprach pax christi-Generalsekretärin Christine Hoffmann auch in der Aktionärsversammlung. Sie äußerte dort ihre große Sorge über die fatale Wirkung der Internationalisierungsstrategie des Rheinmetall-Konzerns, weil den in alle Welt gelieferten Waffen nachgewiesenermaßen viele Zivilisten zum Opfer fallen. Am Beispiel des Kriegs im Jemen stellte sie dies dar und hielt mit der Aktionärsversammlung eine Gedenkminute für diese unschuldigen Opfer ab.
„Wir setzen uns dafür ein, dass die Bundesregierung Konzerne wie Rheinmetall stoppt, statt sie zu unterstützen. 2014 ging der frühere Entwicklungshilfeminister Dirk Niebel als Lobbyist zu Rheinmetall. Heute soll der ehemalige Verteidigungsminister Franz Josef Jung in den Aufsichtsrat des Rheinmetallkonzerns gewählt werden – das ist ein Riesenskandal!
Genauso ein Skandal wie die Reisegruppen, mit denen Kanzlerin Merkel sich immer dann umgibt, wenn sie in Länder mit schlechter Menschenrechtsbilanz fährt: Die Rüstungsindustrie ist dann ganz vorne mit dabei und die Kanzlerin öffnet ihnen die Türen für tödliche Geschäfte – auch dagegen stehen wir hier.“
9.5.2017 – Deutschlandfunk (A P)
Vom Bundestag in den Rüstungskonzern: „Eine Frage der persönlichen Integrität“
Es sei „ein Stück weit instinktlos“, sagte Timo Lange von der Anti-Korruptions-Organisation Lobbycontrol im DLF, dass Ex-Bundesverteidigungsminister Franz Josef Jung sich in den Aufsichtsrat des Rüstungskonzerns Rheinmetall wählen ließe. Auch wenn Jung die Vorgaben des Transparenzgesetzes einhalte, bestehe die Gefahr eines Interessenkonflikts. (…) Timo Lange: „Mit Herrn Jung geht ja nun dann ein weiterer ehemaliger Minister zum Rüstungskonzern Rheinmetall, nachdem der ehemalige Entwicklungshilfeminister Herr Niebel ja auch bereits dorthin gewechselt ist. Beide Fälle sind sicherlich anders zu bewerten, da bei Herrn Jung ja nun doch einige Jahre seit seiner Ministerzeit vergangen sind. Zugleich ist er ab 2015 stellvertretender Vorsitzender seiner Fraktion für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik und insofern auch politisch mit Dingen beschäftigt, die Rheinmetall ganz konkret interessieren dürften, und wie Rheinmetall gesagt hat, wurde Herr Jung durchaus auch aufgrund seiner besonderen Expertise im Rüstungsbereich dort in den Aufsichtsrat berufen beziehungsweise vor der Berufung vorgeschlagen.“
http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/vom-bundestag-in-den-ruestungskonzern-eine-frage-der.766.de.html?dram:article_id=385741
9.5.2017 – RT (A P)
Merkel’s former defense minister joins arms corp with links to Saudis, USAF & Erdogan
The former German defense minister, Franz Josef Jung, has joined the board of the military hardware supplier Rheinmetall, linked to the sale of weapons used by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen through nebulous subsidiaries.
Jung, a member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, will sit on the company’s supervisory board after being elected by company shareholders at its AGM in Berlin on Tuesday.
Rheinmetall has been accused in the past of using subsidiary companies to bypass German export controls. Its South African subsidiary, Rheinmetall Denel Munition has built ammunition factories in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Jung served as head of the Ministry of Defense under Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government from 2005-2009.
An April 2015 investigation by Reported.ly found bombs manufactured by Rheinmetall’s Italian subsidiary were used by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Germany announced it would stop the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia in January that year due to “instability in the region.”
https://www.rt.com/news/387793-merkels-defense-minister-arms-dealer/
My comment: How nice. These are the figures the world really has waited for.
9.5.2017 – Fars News (A K P)
The German government in April approved more arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is assisting Saudi Arabia in its deadly military campaign against Yemen.
Berlin had approved the sale of 203,448 detonators for 40-mm mortar shells to the Arab kingdom as well as 134 million dollars worth of armor-plating for military vehicles.
The move indicated that Germany was continuing its policy of supplying arms to countries directly involved in the Middle East conflicts and disregarding the vetting process of the deal for potential humanitarian impact.
“Once again, the government is waving through the delivery of military equipment to a war participant in the [Persian] Gulf region,” the opposition Green Party spokeswoman, Agnieszka Brugger said.
“Instead of finally stopping all arms dealing with the states participating in the bloody war in Yemen, the CDU and SPD [Germany’s governing coalition parties] are ignoring Germany’s arms export guidelines once again,” she added.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960219001225
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
10.5.2017 – Egypt Today (A P)
Yahya Saleh: Egypt has “leading” role in ending war in Yemen
Yahya Saleh, a nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and member of the General People’s Congress, emphasized deep mutual relations with Egypt as he concluded his visit to Cairo on Wednesday.
“We hope that our beloved Egypt will have a major role in ending the war in Yemen, while working on bringing back peace and harmony,” Saleh added, pointing out that Egypt’s leading role is the cornerstone of peace in the region.
10.5.2017 – AWD News ( A K P)
Consequences of appointing Pakistani Gen. to anti-Yemen coalition
My comment: This article is basicly wrong, because this Pakistani general was appointed head of the Saudi-initialised Muslim “coalition” against terrorism, up to now merely a propaganda affair allowing Saudi Arabia to play the role of a head of the Muslim world – and to exclude Iran from it, which was not invited to this “coalition”. This “coalition” has nothing to do with the Saudi “coalition” fighting in Yemen. – Another point is that Pakistan really will send 4.000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia, just for border defense, not for fighting in Yemen – as is claimed. – However, it is quite ridiculous that a country like Saudi Arabia, spending as much as Russia for its military, needs external help for defending its border against (mostly) tribal warriors who in comparison are poorly armed.
10.5.2017 – De Redactie (* A P)
Keine Waffenexporte mehr nach Saudi-Arabien?
Die Koalitionspartner in der belgischen Bundesregierung haben sich auf eine gemeinsame Haltung zum Thema Waffenembargo gegen Saudi-Arabien geeinigt. Damit bezieht Belgien auch Stellung zum Krieg Saudi-Arabiens mit Jemen, der eine bittere Hungersnot in diesem Land ausgelöst hat. Bundesentwicklungshilfeminister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD - Foto) kritisierte unlängst noch, dass unser Land zur Hungerhilfe im Jemen aufruft und gleichzeitig Waffen nach Saudi-Arabien liefert.
Doch für Waffenexporte in Belgien sind die Länder und Regionen zuständig. De Croo ruft jetzt die Regionen dazu auf, sich der Haltung der Bundesregierung anzuschließen und auf Exportlizenzen für Saudi-Arabien zu verzichten.
Reaktion aus Wallonien: Paul Magnette (PS), der sozialistische Ministerpräsident des belgischen Bundeslandes Wallonien, reagierte umgehend negativ auf den Aufruf De Croos und der Bundesregierung. Er wirft der Bundesregierung vor, die Länder und Regionen für die eigenen diplomatischen Fehler zahlen zu lassen. Dies sei ermüdend, so Magnette. Die Lütticher Waffenschmiede FN exportiert viele Waffen nach Saudi-Arabien. Pikant dabei ist, dass die Wallonische Region zu 100 % Eigner der Herstal Group ist und FN ist ein Tochterunternehmen dieser Gruppe.
http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.deutsch/nachrichten/1.2974576
Mein Kommentar: Selbst einem „Sozialisten“ sind die Waffenproduzenten im eigenen Land näher als Menschenleben wonanders. Noch so ein Humanist wie Carr und Fallon (cp10) und Jung (cp11). Pfui Teufel.
9.5.2017 – Le Vif (A P)
La majorité fédérale prête à imposer un embargo sur les armes vers l'Arabie saoudite
[Belgian media (in French): Federal government is ready an embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia]
Les partis de la majorité fédérale sont prêts à imposer un embargo belge sur les ventes d'armes à l'Arabie saoudite, ressort-il des amendements déposés mardi à une proposition de résolution d'Ecolo. Pour ce qui est du commerce des armes et des biens à usage militaire, la majorité propose d'y mettre un terme en concertation avec les entités fédérées. La demande pourrait également être relayée sur la scène européenne et aux Nations unies sur la base d'un accord avec les Régions.
9.5.2017 – Israel Defense (* B P)
The Strategic Relations Between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti
In recent years, Riyadh and Djibouti have signed several agreements aimed at enhancing military cooperation to counter Iranian influence in the region. Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Shay discusses the strengthening ties between the two states
The strategic cooperation between the two countries started with the visit of President Ismail Omer Guelleh in Saudi Arabia. On October 15, 2015, King Salman and President Ismail Omer Guelleh held talks in Riyadh on bilateral relations and on the developments in the region, including Yemen.
On January 6, 2016, Djibouti has cut diplomatic connections with Iran after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was attacked by violent protesters in retaliation for the execution of Sheikh Nimr. The move by Djibouti intended to exhibit solidarity with Saudi Arabia, which cut ties with Iran on January 3, 2016.
Djibouti is cooperating with Riyadh to monitor any military intervention or weapons smuggling from Iran to Yemen. In mid-February 2016, Saudi intelligence officials, tracking the flow of munitions from Iran to its Houthi proxy militia in Yemen, discovered that the Islamic Republic was using Djibouti as a waystation.
Saudi Arabia's soft power activity in Djibouti serves to intensify the ties between the countries. Saudi Arabia, a prominent donor to Djibouti’s public works, has spent generously on social welfare projects for the country’s poor.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to counter what it regards as Iranian interference in conflicts in the Arab world, ranging from Syria to Yemen. The Saudi Arabian military base in Djibouti, therefore, is an attempt to open up a new front against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and thus counter Iran’s influence in the region.
Riyadh’s closer ties with Djibouti coincide with its goal to take a more assertive approach to regional security, and Saudi attempts to bring fellow Sunni nations into a grand alliance to project power and rely less on Western military backing – by Shaul Shay
http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/29542
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp10, 11, 12.
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
10.5.2017 – APA (* A H)
Wachsende Sorge vor weiterer Verschlechterung der humanitären Lage
Angesichts der dramatischen Lage im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen befürchten die Vereinten Nationen die Vertreibung hunderttausender weiterer Menschen. "Zwischen 100.000 und einer halben Million Menschen könnten vertrieben werden, während sich der Konflikt und die humanitäre Situation weiter verschärfen", sagte Shabia Mantoo, Sprecherin des Uno-Flüchtlingshilfswerks UNHCR, am Mittwoch in Hodeida. "Die humanitäre Situation verschlechtert sich, selbst wenn sich der Konflikt nicht verstärkt", sagte Mantoo. In Hodeida seien vermehrt bettelnde Kinder und Frauen auf den Straßen zu sehen. In die Hafenstadt im Westen des Landes waren in den vergangenen beiden Jahren vor allem Menschen aus den weiter südlich gelegenen Städten Tais und Mokka geflüchtet. –
http://derstandard.at/2000057346105/Uno-warnt-vor-Vertreibung-hunderttausender-Menschen-im-Jemen = http://diepresse.com/home/ausland/aussenpolitik/5215696/Jemen_Eine-ganze-Generation-verhungere
10.5.2017 – AFP (* A H)
UN warns of massive displacement in Yemen
A UN official warned Wednesday that up to half a million people could be displaced as conflict escalates and the humanitarian situation worsens in Yemen's southwestern Taez province, mainly in Hodeida.
"Between 100,000 and half a million people could be displaced as the conflict and humanitarian situation continue to worsen,? said Shabia Mantoo, Yemen spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR.
"The humanitarian situation alone continues to worsen even without the conflict intensifying," Mantoo told AFP from the Red Sea city of Hodeida.
Fears of large-scale displacement are exacerbated by rampant food insecurity in Hodeida that the UNHCR says has reached critical levels.
Mantoo said more women and children were begging in the streets of Hodeida, where people displaced mainly from southwestern Mokha and the city of Taez have for two years sought refuge.
http://www.france24.com/en/20170510-un-warns-massive-displacement-yemen
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
8.5.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (* A E)
1-6 Last September Hadi said at the UN General Assembly meeting "We decided to move the central bank to the interim capital of Aden.
2-6 Last September Hadi said at the UN General Assembly meeting "Central Bank will meet all its national & international obligatiing"
3-6 The 'Legitimacy gov " announced 2day it will pay 4 months salaries -out of the arrears 7 months- in the Pro-Hadi public servants
4-6 The other public servants outside Pro-Hadi controls are still without pay for over 7 months respectively
5-6 The decision to pay 4 months salaries, confirms that the gov has enough cash to distribute equitably to the public servants in #Yemen
6-6 The government's refusal to do so confirms that it uses salaries as a political & military pressure and its breaching the ICERD
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/861702217237245958
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
Siehe / Look at cp1
10.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A T)
Suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)militants conducted a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) attack targeting Emirati-backed Hadhrami Elite Forces in Hadramawt governorate, eastern Yemen, on May 10. Militants detonated the SVBIED near a base in Daw’an district, western Hadramawt. Hadhrami Elite Forces deployed additional forces to Daw’an on May 10 in response to a series of AQAP attacks in the area.[2]
AQAP militants attacked al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen. AQAP militants attacked al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Quraiyshah district on May 8 and in nearby al Zuwab village on May 10. AQAP also released a fifteen-minute video on its operations in al Bayda on May 10. The video highlights a March 24 battle to seize territory from al Houthi-Saleh forces in western al Bayda. This is the sixth video AQAP has released since May 1.[3]
9.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A T)
Reported U.S. warplanes struck al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants north of Ma’rib city in Ma’rib governorate, central Yemen, on May 8. The airstrikes targeted an AQAP camp near a Hadi government military base, Camp Sahn al Jin, and a Saudi-led coalition air base, Camp Tadawin, according to local news sources. Reported U.S. strikes also targeted AQAP positions in Shabwah, Abyan, and Ma’rib governorates on April 29 and 30.[1]
8.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A T)
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) emir Qasim al Raymi called for supporters to conduct lone-wolf attacks in the West in a statement released on May 7. He called for supporters to commit “eye for an eye” attacks in response to injustices committed against Muslims.
AQAP released a 12-minute video on its operations in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen, on May 8. The video featured several clips of AQAP militants clashing with al Houthi-Saleh forces in western Yemen.
9.5.2017 – KAP / KNA (* A T)
Verschleppter Priester im Jemen bittet Familie um Hilfe
Von dem seit über einem Jahr im Jemen entführten Priester Tom Uzhunnalil gibt es angeblich ein neues Lebenszeichen. In einem Video, das auf der Internetseite der "Aden Times" (Dienstag) veröffentlicht wurde, bittet der aus Indien stammende 68-jährige Geistliche seine Familie um Maßnahmen zu seiner Freilassung. Sein Gesundheitszustand verschlechtere sich rasch; er benötige "so schnell wie möglich stationäre Behandlung".
Kontakte der Entführer mit der indischen Regierung und mit dem Bischof von Abu Dhabi seien ohne ermutigende Antwort geblieben. In wessen Gewalt sich der Salesianerpater befindet und welche Forderungen die Entführer stellen, bleibt im Dunkeln.
Kommentar: Er ist 58, nicht 68.
9.5.2017 – Reuters (* A T)
YEMEN: KIDNAPPED INDIAN PRIEST PLEADS FOR HELP IN VIDEO
An Indian priest kidnapped after an attack on a care home in Yemen's southern port city of Aden last year has appealed for help in a video recording carried by a Yemeni news website.
"They are treating me well to the extent they are able," the white-bearded Uzhunnalil said, speaking slowly in English.
"My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible," he added in the recording carried by Aden Time news website.
The date April 15, 2017, was written on a piece of cardboard pasted on his body.
Uzhunnalil said his kidnappers had contacted the Indian government and the Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates with their demands, but the response was "not encouraging".
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-priest-idUSKBN1850LT and some more information: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/indian-priest-abducted-in-yemen-makes-fresh-appeal-for-help/20170509.htm and this is the video: https://twitter.com/aveeksen/status/861666419414454273
8.5.2017 – Terror Monitor (A T)
Al-Qaeda claims to have destroyed the police station in Al-Dali'a district in Hadramout.
https://twitter.com/TerrorMonitorAR/status/861656069621379072
8.5.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (A P T)
Great: former #Alqaeda recruiter & Osama bin Laden decibel praises #Saudi clansman MBS son of @KingSalman
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/861611273502552065 referring to https://twitter.com/abuabdelelah/status/861163466584801283
cp15 Propaganda
11.5.2017 – Baghdad Post (A P)
Houthis killed 37, 000 civilians in Yemen, govt. says
Yemen's legitimate government on Wednesday called on Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to list Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis as a terror group.
Yemen is suffering the woes of a new kind of terrorism, deputy chair of the Yemeni Parliament's human rights committee told Saba news agency, adding 'it is the terrorism of the Houthis and Saleh militias.
During the 11th session of a forum held by the OIC's body on human rights held in Saudi Arabia, the lawmaker called for condemning the Iranian meddling and terror in the Arab region.
Houthis, in partnership with militias loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, killed 37, 888 civilians in Yemen.
http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/10352/Houthis-killed-37-000-civilians-in-Yemen-govt-says
My comment: The figure is odd – as if all the vicims of the Saudi aerial war should be ascribed to the Houthis; and, even according to moderate UN estimates, the Saudi bombings are responsible for 60 % of killed civilians in Yemen. – And the Houthis certainly are no “terrorists” – if you would like to label them as such, the Saudi and US army, all Hadi’s “popular resistance” also must be labeled as “terrorists”.
11.5.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Saudi official: SA pays attention to Yemen's humanitarian situation
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulalh al-Jidan has said that Saudi Arabia pays considerable attention to Yemen's humanitarian situation.
In a press conference, he said that Saudi Arabia works with brotherly and friendly countries to support the reconstruction and recovery in a variety of ways.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6771
My comment: LOL. And continuation:
10.5.2017 – Kuwait News Agency (A P)
Saudi Arabia hosts meeting to reconstruct Yemen
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday hosted a preliminary meeting on efforts to rebuild Yemen, with Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmad Obeid bin Daghr.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2610320&language=en
My comment: That’s Saudi politics: Setting a house in fire, letting it burn down and then appearing with a fire-extinguisher.
10.5.2017 – AP (A P)
YEMEN MINISTER SAYS 60 PERCENT OF POPULATION IN DIRE POVERTY
Yemen's planning minister says 60 percent of the country's population is in dire poverty more than two years since the Shiite rebels forced the country's internationally recognized government and president out of the capital.
Mohamed El-Saadi says 22 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian relief, a figure that exceeds the U.N.'s recent estimate that 19.8 million in Yemen need assistance.
My comment: Nice propaganda: to connect poverty to a coup (change in government) and not to war, aerial bombings, blockade.
Comment by Judith Brown: Well well well as if this is a surprise. Hadi is as responsible as anyone else for this appalling man made tragedy.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505391423641
10.5.2017 – Al Riyadh (A P)
UN Rapporteur disregards more than $ 1.7 billion spent by the coalition to enable UN programs to relieve Yemenis
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Ben Emmerson alleged that the Arab coalition was responsible for some 60 percent of deaths amongst Yemeni civilians in 2015. He further claimed that there is a scarcity of credible information about human losses amongst civilians. He cited reports issued on Yemen claiming that one-third the total strikes launched by the coalition between March 2015 and August 2016 hit civil targets including 58 hospitals.
These allegations go contrary to the outcome of investigations conducted by the joint incident investigation team, an independent body evaluating war performance in Yemen. The team refutes allegations made by organisations against the Arab coalition since the launch of Saudi-led Decisive Storm and Operation Restore Hope two years ago.
It is clear that the UN rapporteur does not have sufficient information that the coalition forces did not deal with the Houthi and Saleh groups as Shias nor did the coalition classify them on a sectarian basis. Rather, it dealt with them as an outlawed rebellion group spreading terror and death amongst the civil society in Yemen.
In his report, the rapporteur shut his eyes to the efforts exerted by the Kingdom for the benefit of the Yemeni people. – By: ASMAHAN AL-GHAMDI
My comment: Nice propaganda, but fact-free. The Saudi coalition “joint incident investigation team” is not at all “independent”, as always claimed (here as well), it is little more than a propaganda affair for whitewashing the Saudi coalition and for giving Western politicians a fig leaf for not being obliged to install a really independent international investigation. – Looking at the Saudi air raids, it is quite absurd when a Saudi media objects “spreading terror and death amongst the civil society in Yemen” to anybody else on the Yemeni scene.
10.5.2017 – Saudi Press Agency (A P)
"Cholera" Scandalizes Coup Militias Vileness in Yemen
Cholera has become one of the factors scandalizing the wickedness and evil of the coup militias in Yemen and discrediting the falsity of their deceptive claims.
The disease, which returned to Yemen after having left its territories more than 40 years ago, forms one of the challenges facing what they are calling as the "Rescue Government" formed by Al-Houthis in partnership with the ousted Saleh, as a result of mismanagement and negligence that deepen daily in areas being controlled by the coup militias, topped by the capital Sana'a.
The accumulation of piles of garbage and rubbish in the streets of Sanaa and other cities, is considered as one of the causes of epidemics and diseases, especially after the lack of cleaning workers to do their work in protest against the suspension of their salaries for months.
The war waged by Al-Houthis and their ousted ally Saleh has led to the closure of several hospitals in the country, the inability of Yemeni citizens to obtain medicine, the obstruction of access to aid, and exacerbating the deteriorating health situation in the country.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1626113
My comment: A misuse of the cholera for a primitive anti-Houthi propaganda – while neglecting the war, the Saudi blockade, the lack of medical equipment due to this blockade, the destruction of medical facilities by the Saudi aerial war, the Hadi government’s maneuvers regarding the Central bank and the impact on the payment of state employees.
9.5.2017 – Yemen Embassy in USA (A P)
Film: House bombing, a systematic #Houthi policy to terrorize their opponents.
https://twitter.com/YemenEmbassy_DC/status/862104780486963201
My comment: Yes, the Houthis have bombed house of opponents. The whole film is a bad joke anyway when taking into account the Saudi aerial war against Yemen, officially required by this Yemeni government which mocks the Houthis by such a film.
9.5.2017 – Voice of America (A P)
Helping to Alleviate Hunger in Yemen
Yemen’s two-year conflict between the Houthi rebels and the country’s elected government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, has left the people of Yemen facing famine.
The United States is one of Yemen’s largest donors of aid. In late April, the U.S. government announced nearly 94 million dollars in additional humanitarian assistance to help the people of Yemen. This brings the total U.S. humanitarian contribution to Yemen to nearly 526 million dollars since the 2016 fiscal year.
The United States calls upon all parties to ensure unimpeded access for commercial and humanitarian goods throughout the country. We also urge other humanitarian donors to increase their level of support during this critical time of need – by Editorial Board
http://editorials.voa.gov/a/helping-alleviate-hunger-yemen/3844878.html
My comment: The famine in Yemen is taken for US propaganda: The US is described as humanitarian donor – the mayor role of the US in causing this crisis by heavy support for the Saudi war and blockade is totally kept secret.
8.5.2017 – Saudi Press Agency (A P)
Saleh Orders His Media to Discredit Al-Houthi Chief, Prepares A Plan for Sana'a Restoration
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Chairman of the General People's Congress, has given the green light to his media to discredit Al-Houthi militia leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi and expose him to Yemeni citizens.
The move came following reports pointed to Abdulmalik Al-Houthi's intention to kill Saleh, so he instructed Al-Houthi media to work on the distraction of the charge of assassinating Saleh from the militias.
Informed sources in Sana'a said that Saleh has, during a recent meeting with a number of members of the General People's Congress, threatened to sell Al-Houthi to the Arab coalition if his demands were not met, describing Al-Houthis as extremists.
Saleh also gave the green light to Yemen Al-Youm TV channel to attack Al-Houthi group, host its opponents and victims and expose it before the Yemeni citizens with its relationship with Iran and that it sold Yemen to Tehran cheaply in addition to the assertion that Al-Houthi militia is just a band of thieves seeking spoils, posts of Ministers and funds, which is a clear sign that he becomes ready to fight Al-Houthi militia if he has a deal from whatever party to stop the war.
This is first action from Saleh against Al-Houthi coup militia after the group's escalation against him and his followers, which asserted that Abdullah Saleh is currently studying a plan to regain control of Sana'a from the grip of Al-Houthi group.
http://sites.alriyadh.com/en/article/1158852/Saleh-Orders-His-Media-to-Discredit-Al-Houthi-Chief-Prepares-A-Plan-for-Sanaa-Restoration and by Asharq Al-Awsat: http://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/news-middle-east/away-coup-ranks-saleh-orders-yemeni-media-expose-houthis
My comment: That is certainly no love and honeymoon between Saleh and the Houthis. It’s a purpose alliance, which could break when the general situation is changing. But, because of the many external threats, this is unlikely to happen now. – Thus, this article certainly is little more than propaganda; furthermore, it would be quite odd if Saleh now would exactly repeat the Saudi propaganda phrases on Iran. A serious article on Houthi-Saleh tensions in cp1, more reporting in cp5.
And, somewhat more cautious:
10.5.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Has Saleh turned against the Houthis?
Recent reports have claimed that a dispute erupted between ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis. This is good news and was also expected for a while now.
In response to the insults which the Houthis have hurled against the General People’s Congress, Saleh said: “No one will twist the other’s arm. Twisting arms is rejected and its consequences are unhealthy.” He also voiced the importance of communicating with the leaders and members of the General People’s Congress to unite the ranks.
Saleh also called for preparing for what is coming, adding that “they’ve been patient from 1962 until 1970” in reference to confronting the two imams in the wake of the September 26 revolution.
In all cases, we must not trust these reports a lot as it may just be disputes among the alliance especially that media outlets affiliated to Saleh, such as Yemen Today television channel, continues to heavily criticize Saudi Arabia and the Arab coalition.
However, we must also keep in mind that Saleh is the man of sudden transformations. Wasn’t Houthi his enemy? During the six wars they fought, hasn’t Saleh accused Houthi of being Iran’s agent and of belonging to the backward Imamate rule? – by Saudi journalist Mashari Althaydi
and a continuation of this propaganda story:
11.5.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Saudi newspaper: Houthis tightly restrict moves of Saleh
The Saudi newspaper of Okaz has revealed that the Houthi Movement tightly restricted the moves of Saleh, affirming that the newspaper obtained a document confirming that.
The newspaper said that Saleh appealed to the Houthis through some of his aides to give financial amounts to his party, underling that they refuse the meet his demands.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6768
8.5.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Yemeni Pro-Government Forces Spot 16 Hezbollah Militants in Tihama
Yemen’s Popular Resistance, made up of tribesmen backing the government, sent reconnaissance information on 16 Hezbollah militants, among which are three Iranian nationals, present in the Red Sea coastal plain of Arabia.
Intelligence was handed over to the military command present in the fifth zone.
The 16 militants have been located within Tihama province between Hodeidah and Hajjah, as well as militias’ headquarters in all governorates.
In a telephone conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat, Deputy Governor of Hajjah Nasser Daqin, tasked with supporting the popular resistance in Tihama, said pro-government tribesmen have registered the presence of 16 foreign militiamen and reported to respective authorities immediately.
After locations and logistics of the militiamen were verified, tribesmen swiftly cooperated with military present in the area to tackle the threat as soon as possible.
Despite persistent attempts by the militias, pressured by army advancement on several axes, to flee the region toward Sanaa, they failed because main ports inside Tihama are controlled and secured by Arab coalition forces, Daqin added.
Multiple factors prompt militias to flee urgently, one of which is the rapid progress made by national army troops supported by Arab coalition aircraft. Efforts carried out by local popular resistance members are also one of the key factors.
At least 16 senior militia commanders have been killed as a result of these efforts. Popular Resistance members diligently track Houthi militiamen movements, providing valuable intelligence prior to operation launch.
My comment: And Hezbollah spotted again, an already well-known old propaganda story.
8.5.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Houthis sold Yemen to Iran ‘cheaply,’ says Saleh party official
Adel al-Shuja, a member of the General People’s Congress which was the party of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused the Houthis of selling Yemen to Iran for a cheap price.
Shuja said on his Facebook page that the Houthis are linked to Iran as their statements scandalize them, adding that the slogan “death to America” is an Iranian tune.
He also said that the slogan represents a ritual of the Khomeini culture and it has transferred from Tehran to Beirut’s southern suburb and then to Sanaa.
Shuja also said that the practices of Houthi militias are based on a racial and extremist ideology as the Houthis believe that there is no other way for them persist unless they rely on their dogmatism.
My comment: Who ever this Shuja is, this is typical Saudi propaganda. Neither did anyone “sell” Yemen to Iran, nor Iran did buy / receive Yemen. – And it’s quite funny that in a Saudi media there are objections to anyone else because of an “extremist ideology”.
8.5.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Politicians: Islah pays the price of its stands against Iranian ambitions in Yemen
The Yemeni Congregation for Reform party, known as Islah, pays the price of its stands against the Iranian ambitions in Yemen and its alignment to the national projects, Yemeni politicians told Alsahwa Net.
Yaseen al-Tamimi, a Yemeni politician, affirmed that Islah's headquarters and centers are attacked, stormed and burnt due to Islah's support to the 2011 revolution, pointing out that the Houthi-Saleh militias backed by Iran retaliate against Islah.
Al-Tamimi said that the burning of the Islah party's quarters in Aden aimed at plunging the port city of Aden into further violence and chaos.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6665
My comment: The attack at the Islah headquarter at Aden cab be ascribed to supporters of the southern separatist movement Hirak, for Islah’s backing of “president” Hadi. – This statement here is hunting Iranian ghosts at Aden.
8.5.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
FM underestimates UN Envoy's trip to region
Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik al-Mikhlafi on Monday underestimated the trip of the UN Special Envoy Esmail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to the region, anticipating that it will not achieve its goals as the Houthi-Saleh Movement refuse all international initiatives.
Al-Mikhalafi told the London-based newspaper that he is not optimistic about the trip of Ould Cheikh Ahmed , underscoring that the Houthi-Saleh militias are intransigent.
He reiterated that Yemen's legitimacy will commit to basic terms of references which include the GCC-mediated deal, the UN resolutions and outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6685
My comment: Always the same, again and again. The Hadi government insists on executing the severely unbalanced, Saudi / US dictated “international initiatives”.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
10.5.2017 – Yamanyoon (* A K PH)
Violations and Crimes of Saudi Alliance over 24 Hours (list)
http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=73495&lang=en , by Legal Center Arabic only: https://twitter.com/LCRDye/status/862445455875198976
10.5.2017 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
The Violations and Crimes that are committed by#Saudi_Arabia and its alliance in #Yemen 9/5/2017 (full list):
9.5.2017 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
The Violations and Crimes that are committed by#Saudi_Arabia and its alliance in #Yemen 8/5/2017 (full list):
8.5.2017 – Legal Center (* A K PH)
The Violations and Crimes that are committed by#Saudi_Arabia and its alliance in #Yemen 7/5/2017 (full list):
10.5.2017 – Saudi Press Agency / MbKS15 (* A K PS)
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) today unveiled in Riyadh the strategic drone program (Saqr 1).
Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), stressed the highly advanced techniques used in this aircraft. He stated that Saqr 1 is equipped with a ka satellite communication system that gives superiority and privilege to this aircraft.
It can fly for a range of more than 2500 kilometers with the ability to carry missiles and guided bombs with laser system and launch from different heights from 500 to 6000 km and a range of up to 10 km with an accuracy of less than 1.5 m.
The UAV is capable of flying at an average altitude of 20,000 feet and has a flight time of 24 hours.
and more details, photos, films:
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862508279758508032
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862509988278935552
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862540836487213057
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862544185303470080
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862548973445410817
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862551901543464961
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/862581664366702592
My comment: Good luck, Yemen.
10.5.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
US-Saudi aggression wages five raids on Sa'ada
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464361.htm
10.5.2017 – Al Masirah TV / Yemen Today TV (A K PH)
Films: Saudi Air agression targets tourist park in Al - Durahmi Directorate in Hodeidah 10 - 05 – 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXY0bNTQwBg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK0ucLbt0rc
and
10.5.2017 – Saudi War Crimes (A K PH)
Which was left behind by the bombing of the Saudi airliner on the # swimming pools of the resort / land of the businessman / # Salah_Ishaq, in the region # Necilia, where the flight in the previous two days several violent raids caused severe damage to buildings and killed many animals belonging to the resort (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1675247039437950
and that is what the other side tells:
10.5.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Coalition warplanes bomb Houthis’ sites south of Hodeida - source
The warplanes of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition had launched a number of air raids on the Houthis-Saleh forces’ locations in the al Durihmi district southern the city of Hodeida on the Red Sea coast west of Yemen, a local source said on Monday.
The warplanes launched three raids on the al Nakhilah area in the region”. Said the source to Almasdaronline.
The source speculated that the aerial bombardment had resulted in deaths and injuries among the Houthis-Saleh militants.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/91065
My comment: That seems to be a typical case of pro-Saudi propaganda on air raids.
9.5.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplanes continue heinous strikes on citizens' properties in different provinces
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464204.htm
9.5.2017 – Yemen Press (A K PH)
Two citizens were killed Tuesday in a raid of the Saudi-American airliner targeting a transport vehicle in the west of Taiz province.
The correspondent of YemenPress informed the martyrdom of two citizens following an air raid on the aggression targeted a car on the road of Hamli in Muze directorate.
8.5.2017 – Saba Net (* A K PH)
Ten of women, children killed, wounded in Saudi air strike on Taiz
Ten of women and children were killed and wounded in Saudi air strike on in Maqbanah district of Taiz province, a an official told Saba on Monday.
The strike hit citizens' house in Al Barah area, killing and wounding ten of the women and children, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464123.htm
and with more exact figures:
8.5.2017 – Al Masira TV / Ahmad Alghobary (* A K)
A man and 4 children killed by 2 #Saudi air strikes,the second one was double-tap hit their home and injured 7 in Maqbana area #Taiz #Yemen (photos from film)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/861695080029200385 and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-U-heXBR9w and more photos: https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/861940232555507712
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/862529855270924288
and
8.5.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (A K PH)
List of the victims as follow: 5 Martyrs ( 3 male & 2 female ) 6 People were injured ( 3 male & 3 female ) (photo)
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/861618735987249152
8.5.2017 – Press TV Iran (* B K)
Film: Yemen’s telecommunication infrastructure reeling under Saudi raids
More than two years of Saudi war on Yemen has almost destroyed the country's infrastructure. Our correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sana'a has taken a closer look at Yemen's telecommunication sector and all the damage it has suffered as a result of Saudi airstrikes.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2017/05/08/520973/Saudi-war-Yemen-
8.5.2017 – Sanaa at daytime (A K)
Today from the morning at 7:00AM until now noon 4:30 the #Saudi's warplanes flying and bombing #Sanna #Yemen. Damn (photo)
https://twitter.com/B_yemeni126/status/861571207006756865
Saudi fighter jets screaming thru Sana'a sky at low altitude. My son was like, let's race them to school. That's the spirit
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/861476310555734016
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
10.5.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K)
Hadi government and allied forces clashed with al Houthi-Saleh forces on multiple fronts in Taiz governorate [Details]
Al Houthi-Saleh forces conducted multiple attacks on Saudi military targets in Najran province, southern Saudi Arabia on May 10 [Details]
10.5.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Child permanently disabled by landmine explosion in al Bayda
A child was seriously wounded when a landmine planted by Houthis-Saleh militants exploded in al Bayda province, central Yemen, a local source said.
The source told Almasdaronline that the leg of the child Fahd Ahmed Al-Wahbi was amputated by the explosion, after he was wounded while on a public road near the Houthis sites in Jabra al-Suda area.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/91071
10.5.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Two civilians killed by Houthis shelling, pro-government forces advance in Taiz
Two civilians were killed and two others wounded on Monday evening by artillery shelling launched by the Houthis-Saleh forces on al-Kamb, al-Askari and Wadi al-Salah neighborhoods from their locations in al Silal and Softil hills in al Hoban district eastern Taiz city, southwestern Yemen. http://almasdaronline.com/article/91073
9.5.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A K PS)
Arab Coalition Destroys Missiles Cargo en Route to Insurgents in Yemen’s Saada
Saudi-led Arab Coalition forces backing legitimacy forces in Yemen announced destroying a medium-range missile shipment headed for insurgency militias based in the northeast Saada province in the war-torn country.
Intelligence showed that the cargo was headed for Houthi headquarters.
Saada’s Media Center said in a brief statement published on its social networking “Facebook” page that an Arab-coalition aircraft targeted a truck carrying medium-range missiles for Houthi and coup militias in Saada’s Kitaf district.
My comment: “Cargo”, “shipment” which in reality is a truck in the countryside. And the “cargo” might be claimed – and vegetables instead.
9.5.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Mercenaries shell citizens' houses in Marib
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464209.htm
8.5.2017 – Haykal Bafana (* A K)
More Saudi-paid #Sudan soldiers & militia arrive in Midi & Haradh districts of HAjjah province, bordering #Saudi Arabia.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/861648961060442112
8.5.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Child injured by Houthi sniper a day after another girl was killed – source
A 10-year-old girl, Shatha Abdullah, was seriously wounded when a Houthi sniper opened the fire on her in the Wadi Sala area east of Taiz city in southwestern Yemen, a local source said.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/91014
8.5.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Child wounded by mercenaries' bullets in Jawf
A child was serious wounded by Saudi-paid mercenaries' bullets in Al Maton district of Jawf province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464120.htm
8.5.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A K PS)
Houthi-Cast Naval Mines Threaten International Navigation near Midi, Yemen
Sweeping regional waters, Arab Coalition Forces command said Saudi royal navy joint forces detecting a number of maritime mines on Yemeni coasts near the Red Sea port of Midi.
The port holds great military and strategic significance– it is regularly used for trafficking arms to Houthi militias leading an insurgency in Yemen.
Special forces surveyed the mines, later announcing that they are primitive and poorly placed in a desperate attempt by Houthi militias to compromise the safety of international waters.
Military reports from the Yemeni National Army confirmed Monday that Houthi militias had spread mines across Bab al-Mandab Strait and are responsible for planting mines near Midi port. Iran-backed militias had feared support backing pro-government forces in Yemen docking in Midi.
Saudi-led Arab Coalition military command stressed the danger imposed by the mines, threatening the safety and navigation of international and commercial shipping, relief vessels and aid entering the Yemeni cities and governorates. Naval mines are easily affected by current flow, and have been detected floating towards vital transit waterways – by Asma Al-Ghabiri
8.5.2017 – Emirati News Agency (A K PS)
Arab Coalition navy spots more mines off Yemen coast
Royal Saudi Navy ships operating as part of the Arab Coalition have detected more naval mines off the Red Sea port city of Midi, the command of the Saudi-led Coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government announced, the state Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
Examination by special teams revealed that the mines are rudimentary and were deliberately planted by the rebel militias off the Yemeni coastline, the Coalition said in a statement.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302612804
Pro Houthi / Pro Saleh reports:
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/houthi-forces-capture-saudi-military-base-across-border/
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464363.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464319.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464318.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464317.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464316.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464236.htm
www.sabanews.net/en/news464236.htm
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960219001347
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464212.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464206.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464195.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464191.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464189.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464188.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464187.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464144.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464141.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464139.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464124.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464118.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464115.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464114.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464110.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464109.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news464108.htm
Pro Houthi / Pro Saleh films / photos:
https://twitter.com/maddllock/status/861340896792633345
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/861507128237883392
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/861507126954520576
Pro-Saudi / Pro-Hadi reports:
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-6769
http://almasdaronline.com/article/91072
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
11.5.2017 – Doha News (* A P)
Report: Young Qataris favor equal rights for non-Muslim residents
Non-Muslims should be afforded the same rights as Muslims when living in a Muslim country, the majority (89 percent) of recently polled Qatari youth have said.
They were the most likely in 10 Arab countries to believe this to be true.
The findings concern the report’s authors, who said there is a “dire lack of understanding among young Arabs” about how citizenship and rights work under Islam.
“The view that citizenship is subject to a hierarchy of prominence determined primarily by one’s faith is precisely the frame that extremist groups want normalized,” the report said.
The survey was conducted by the Abu Dhabi-based Tabah Foundation along with Zogby Research, which released the results this week.
The report gauges religious sentiment among youth in Qatar, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.
One reason Qataris might believe in equal treatment is because they were among the most likely to say they have friends or acquaintances who are not Muslim (84 percent).
In Lebanon, 95 percent of young Arabs answered affirmatively to that question.
However, nine out of 10 Qataris polled said it is still important for people they meet to know they are Muslim.
And 71 percent said religion has an important role to play in their country’s future.
Banning content
Perhaps due to their strong religious convictions, the majority of youth in all countries surveyed said they believe cultural content that breaches society’s morals and ethics should be banned.
In Qatar, 67 percent supported that notion, while 33 percent agreed with the idea that if they don’t like it, they don’t have to watch it.
When it comes to Islam, many Qataris (25 percent) said they found Friday sermons to be “bland and boring.” And only a third said they were inspirational.
The numbers may explain why Qataris overwhelmingly (70 percent) supported the idea of reforming religious discourse to make it more relevant to their lives – by SHABINA S. KHATRI
https://dohanews.co/report-young-qataris-favor-equal-rights-for-non-muslim-residents/ and here the full study: http://mmasurvey.tabahfoundation.org/downloads/mmasurvey2_en_web-key-findings.pdf
10.5.2017 – Reuters (A P)
$300 AID PACKAGE AGREED
Saudi Arabia and the World Bank agreed on Wednesday to commit $300 million toward an aid package that would address Yemen's immediate food security needs including rice and wheat, officials told a news conference in Riyadh.
That was about $200 million short of what the World Bank said was needed. A U.N. pledging conference for Yemen last month raised promises of $1.1 billion, about half of what it said was necessary this year to head off a famine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-port-idUSKBN1862CX
and
10.5.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A E P)
World Bank Supports Yemen with $816 Mn
The World Bank has committed $816 million to support emergency projects in Yemen, according to a senior Yemeni official. The announcement comes as Riyadh is scheduled to host an international meeting on Wednesday on ways to provide support for Yemen and unify efforts to achieve a secured future for Yemenis.
The meeting will be organized by Saudi Arabia and the World Bank, with the participation of other donor countries, and it will be entitled: “Recovery and Reconstruction in Yemen.”
Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Dr. Mohammad al-Saadi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the World Bank is currently considered a major supporter for Yemen in areas of humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and budget.
Saadi pointed out that the total budget to be spent on Yemen through the World Bank’s portfolio, according to the fiscal year beginning in June is about $816 million.
He explained that the money will be allocated to the areas of education, health, food, import, and welfare.
The Yemeni Minister revealed the arrangements being made to reopen offices of the World Bank and other international organizations in the interim capital of Aden.
http://english.aawsat.com/abdul-hadi-habtoor/news-middle-east/world-bank-supports-yemen-816-mn
My comment: As a had read somewhere else, this money from World Bank is on loan only.
Comment by Judith Brown: World Bank gives $40 for ONE DAY ONLY for each starving Yemeni civilian. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia spends that same sum of $800 million every four days in destroying Yemen's infrastructure and making each life more precarious.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155505324398641
10.5.2017 – Rasha jarhum (A E P)
Thanks @isdb_group for suspending war torn #Yemen loans, would @WorldBank consider the same? (image)
https://twitter.com/RashaJarhum/status/862379673833136128
9.5.2017 – CARE (B H)
Filmtipp: „I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced“
„Allein die Bezeichnung ist ein Skandal: „Kinderbraut“. Als ob hier jemals ein freiwilliges Jawort gegeben worden wäre. Basierend auf Tatsachen erzählt die Dokumentarfilmerin Khadija Al-Salami in ihrem Spielfilm von einem Mädchen aus dem Jemen (Reham Mohammed), das von ihren Eltern zwangsverheiratet und vom Mann missbraucht wird und schließlich vor dem Richter die Scheidung verlangt. Die Filmemacherin selbst wurde bei Nojoom (der Name wurde für den Film geändert) vorstellig: Sie musste als Elfjährige dasselbe Schicksal erleiden. Sie drehte vor Ort im Jemen unter extremen Bedingungen (der Inhalt des Films musste geheim gehalten werden) eine Geschichte von Unbeugsamkeit und Mut.“
Muhr Award for Best Arab Film 2014
https://www.care.at/news/news/care-filmtipp-i-am-nojoom-age-10-and-divorced/
9.5.2017 – Reuters (* B E)
Yemen war adds to rising fears for ships in Horn of Africa
Yemen's worsening conflict is contributing to a spike in piracy in the region, with Somali pirates taking advantage of a reduced international naval presence and more readily available weaponry to carry out attacks.
"The regional instability caused by Yemen is important," Colonel Richard Cantrill, chief of staff with the European Union's counter piracy mission EU NAVFOR, told Reuters last week.
Fighting between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition has spilled over into the shipping lanes through which much of the world's oil passes.
And attacks on merchant ships in recent weeks by Somali gangs around the Gulf of Aden, the first since 2012, have raised fears of a return to hijackings and crews being taken hostage for long periods.
This is partially driven by the risk of famine and drought in the region, navy officials said, adding that there have been around six incidents involving Somali pirates and international merchant ships in recent weeks – By Jonathan Saul
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-shipping-somalia-idUSKBN1851L3
8.5.2017 – Middle East Eye (* B)
Yemen's worst criminals escape prison and seek revenge on victims
With pro-government forces focused on the battlefields, prisoners exploit Yemen’s chaos to break out of jail
many criminals who have made the most of the collapse in law enforcement during Yemen's two-year war.
In June 2015, an estimated 1,200 prisoners fled the central prison in Taiz city after a Saudi-led coalition air strike targeted the facility: only around 200 have been recaptured.
On 18 April 2017, 11 prisoners including members of al-Qaeda escaped from the central prison in Shabwa's Ataq city.
And on 23 April 2017, 52 prisoners – including Akram’s attacker – escaped the central prison in the al-Turbah area.
All of those prisoners had committed serious crimes including murder, attempted murder and house-breaking: some had been sentenced to death.
Victims like Akram are often left to fend for themselves should the criminal come looking for revenge: the pro-government forces are too busy fighting against the rebels.
Abdulaziz al-Sofi, a guard at the central prison, said: "We arrested 15 escaped prisoners in two days after they escaped the prison but we could not arrest anyone after that.
"We know that they fled to other provinces, but we are doing our best to arrest them."
Sofi said that more than 20 crimes were committed in the two days after the prisoners escaped, as the criminals sought vengeance on those who had landed them in jail.
"The security forces know how dangerous it is that those prisoners escaped. Most of the guards had left to fight the Houthis, so the prisoners took advantage of that."
al-Thobhani said: "When the criminals see prisoners can escape from prisons, they no longer fear the security forces. They then do what they want in the hope they will be able to escape detention.
"To keep society safe is more important than fighting. We need the security forces to work to make society safe from criminals."
Comment: These are stories, fundamentally, of desperation. Of the poor stealing to poor, of the weak trying to survive.
Of a country in ruins where nothing has value and everything becomes too expensive.
This is the abyss.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1365506350169058
Comment by Hussam Al-Sanabani: The well known truth in #Yemen, Pro-government forces recruting prisoners to on help them in the battlefields.
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/861625126395183104
8.5.2017 – Fast Company (B E H)
How A Man With No Coding Experience Built An App That’s Bringing Solar Power To Yemen
With power intermittent in the war-torn country, solar can be a real improvement. PV Solar helps Yemenis get it.
When civil war began in Yemen in 2015, so did the growth of solar power. The crisis took out the already unreliable electric grid and made fuel for generators both scarce and expensive. Solar panels, though also expensive, became a better deal. As people started to turn to solar power, one Yemeni man decided to build an app to help people learn how to install them–which helped solar grow even faster.
“Due to the war and the crisis that is going on in Yemen, the power grid that was supplied by the government is totally disconnected, hence, solar power systems became the main power supply for most homes and businesses,” says Anwar Al-Haddad, who built the app, called PV Solar. Al-Haddad estimates that in 2016, solar grew from roughly 5% of the electricity supply in cities like the capital of Sanaa to more than 50% – by Adele Peters
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-299-yemen-war-mosaic-299
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-299 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-299:
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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