Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 317 - Yemen War Mosaic 317

Yemen Press Reader 317: Krieg gegen Kinder–Saud. Propaganda–Menschenhandel–ARD–Foltergefängnisse in Jemen u. Eritrea–Saudis u. Erpressung der UNO–Saudis, Katar u. Krieg–Trump u. Drohnen–Cholera

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Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

War against children (Film: German) – Saudi humanitarian aid propaganda – Trafficking in Yemen – German ARD TV unreporting on torture prisons in Yemen (German) – Emirati torture prisons in Yemen and Eritrea – Saudi plans to blackmail UN – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and threat of war (German) – Drones and Trump doctrine – Cholera – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1a Cholera

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks

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

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp13a Flüchtlinge / Refugees

cp13b 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

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

29.6.2017 – ORF (*** B H K)

Film: Jemen - der Krieg gegen Kinder

Im Konflikt zwischen Sunniten und Schiiten schaut die Welt auf Syrien, doch im Jemen, im Süden der Arabischen Halbinsel, bahnt sich eine Tragödie ähnlichen Ausmaßes an.
Seit drei Jahren tobt ein Bürgerkrieg zwischen schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen und der sunnitischen Regierung, die von Saudi Arabien mit Luftangriffen und Flächenbombardements unterstützt wird. Teile des Landes liegen in Schutt und Asche, die Infrastruktur und die Gesundheitsversorgung sind zusammengebrochen. Millionen Menschen wissen nicht, woher sie ihre nächste Mahlzeit bekommen, 500.000 Kinder drohen zu verhungern.
Die UNO, Ärzte ohne Grenzen, und Hilfsaktionen wie ´Nachbar in Not´ haben Spendenaufrufe gestartet, um zumindest die Lebensmittel- und Trinkwasserversorgung wiederherzustellen. Das WELTjournal zeigt eine Reportage über den dramatischen Alltag der Kinder im Jemen, die die größten Leidtragenden des Krieges sind und deren Leben von Bomben, Hunger und zuletzt auch noch dem Ausbruch von Cholera geprägt ist

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5s5zls_jemen-der-krieg-gegen-kinder_school

27.6.2017 – Medium (** B H P)

From Saudi Arabia to Yemen: generous donations and continued destruction

Coalition members are not truly invested in Yemen’s security and stability

Recently appointed crown prince Muhammad bin Salman pledged on Friday to donate $66.7 million to UNICEF and WHO, the full amount requested by aid organizations to combat an expanding cholera epidemic in Yemen.

However, no matter how helpful this donation may be for organizations fighting to contain an outbreak that has already claimed over 1,300 lives and infected 200,000 others, the motives behind this announcement should be met with skepticism.

Saudi Arabia and other members of the military coalition have responded to a number of aid appeals during two and half years of conflict, but have refused to lift blockades and cease bombing campaigns that are the source of the humanitarian strife they claim to be alleviating.

Aid organizations attribute the outbreak to a disruption of public health, collapsing basic services, displacement, and inadequate sanitation conditions, all of which are the result of the ongoing war.

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre’s pledged donation will reportedly be used to respond to the cholera situation through a combination of water, sanitation and health care activities. A statement by the WHO says that these efforts will save thousands of Yemeni lives.

It will not, however, be a lasting cure for the cholera outbreak in Yemen, nor for the numerous other health hazards that have arisen as a result of the devastating war and blockades maintained by both the Houthis in the country’s interior and by the opposing military coalition from Yemen’s airspace and Red Sea ports.

Much of the reconstruction needed in Yemen is the result of coalition attacks, which have destroyed and damaged homes, hospitals, and factories across the country.

Continual bombardment and blockade by the coalition has been punctuated throughout the war with announcements of substantial donations. Just three weeks after the coalition began their airstrikes in Yemen, the kingdom donated $274 million “to provide emergency assistance to the millions affected by the conflict.”

The continued destruction and destabilization caused by Saudi and Emirati military engagement seems to counteract the billions of dollars these countries have pledged to humanitarian initiatives in Yemen. But there are benefits to publicly writing checks

Yemen’s catastrophic war has brought a considerable amount of criticism and unwanted media attention to the member states of the coalition.

If writing a check for a few hundred million dollars (a mere drop in the bucket for most Gulf states) can provide Saudi Arabia and the UAE with good press and an opportunity to charge the Houthis with Yemen’s collapse, then they will gladly loosen the purse strings.

Bringing to close an unwinnable war and admitting failure, however, would for them be too costly – By Hannah Porter

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/recently-appointed-crown-prince-muhammad-bin-salman-pledged-on-friday-to-donate-66-7-45745700387f

6.2017 – US Department of State (** B H P)

2017 Trafficking in Persons Report

SPECIAL CASE: YEMEN

Yemen remains a Special Case for the second consecutive year. The civil conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen deepened during the reporting period, and information on human trafficking in the country has become increasingly difficult to obtain since March 2015 when the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) had to leave and relinquished control of substantial portions of territory. NGOs reported vulnerable populations in Yemen are at an increased risk of being subjected to trafficking due to large-scale violence driven by protracted armed conflict, civil unrest, and lawlessness. Migrant workers from the Horn of Africa who remained in Yemen may have endured intensified violence, and women and children may have become more susceptible to trafficking. The few international organizations and NGOs remaining in Yemen focused primarily on providing emergency assistance to the local population and lacked adequate resources to collect reliable data on trafficking. A local NGO estimated more than 80 percent of Yemenis need broad assistance and basic social services have collapsed. For the purposes of this report, Yemen retained special case status since the government continues to lack control over a significant portion of its territory while it remains outside the capital, Sana’a, in Aden, and Saudi Arabia.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

Due to the tenuous political situation, the government faced serious challenges to combat trafficking, including substantial internal security threats, weak institutions, systemic corruption, a shrinking economy, limited territorial control, and poor law enforcement capabilities. The government made no discernible anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Government efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders were hampered by the absence of a law criminalizing all forms of trafficking and the government’s conflation of trafficking and smuggling.

The government did not have the access to identify and provide adequate protection services to trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as women in prostitution and foreign migrants.

Due to its broad lack of access and governance capacity issues, the government was unable to make efforts to prevent trafficking during the reporting period.

Since the escalation of armed conflict in March 2015, human rights organizations reported all parties to the conflict have increased their recruitment and use of child soldiers. As a result of its limited capacity and the ongoing conflict, the Yemeni government has not implemented a 2014 UN action plan to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

According to an international organization, between April and June 2016, armed groups recruited and used at least 168 children, compared to 140 the previous reporting period. The majority of incidents were attributed to the Houthis, followed by the YAF, Popular Committees, and AQAP.

SCOPE AND MAGNITUDE

Yemen is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination, for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking. The ongoing conflict, lack of rule of law, and the deteriorating economy have likely disrupted some trafficking patterns and exacerbated others. Past reports suggested some Yemeni children—mostly boys—were subjected to forced labor in domestic service, begging, or in small shops after migrating to Aden or Sana’a or to Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Oman. Traffickers, security officials, and employers also forced some of these children into sex trafficking in Saudi Arabia, while others were forced to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia.

Prior to the Yemeni government’s departure, it and international NGOs estimated there were approximately 1.7 million child laborers under the age of 14 in Yemen, some of whom were subjected to forced labor. Yemeni and Saudi gangs transported African children to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of exploitation. Traffickers abused and abandoned in Yemen some refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa who voluntarily transited Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Yemeni children have been subjected to sex trafficking within the country and in Saudi Arabia. Girls as young as 15 years old have reportedly been exploited in commercial sex in hotels and clubs in the Governorates of Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz. Prior to the conflict, most child sex tourists in Yemen were from Saudi Arabia, with a smaller percentage originating from other Gulf nations, including the United Arab Emirates.

Additional sources alleged the practice of chattel slavery, in which human beings are traded as property, continued in Yemen in 2016, citing a “prevalence rate” of 1.13 percent. While no official statistics exist detailing this practice, a 2014 study by a human rights organization documented 190 cases of slavery in three directorates of Hajjah governorate. Sources reported there could be several hundred other men, women, and children sold or inherited as slaves in al-Hodeida and al-Mahwit governorates.

https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271314.htm and reused by Qatari Gulf Times: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/555011/How-Yemen-has-become-a-haven-of-human-trafficking

My comment: The “government” mentioned here is the Hadi “government”, mostly sitting in Riyadh luxury hotels and even not having much authority in its own capital city Aden.

27.6.2017 – Ständige Publikumskonferenz (** A P)

Programmbeschwerde: Kein ARD-aktuell-Bericht über US-geführte Folterungen im Jemen

Am 8. Juni legte der britische Journalistenbund The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, TBIJ, die Ergebnisse wochenlanger Nachforschungen über Verschwundene im Jemen vor: Von den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten unterhaltene "Elite Forces" verschleppten seit Jahren jemenitische Männer in ein Geheimgefängnis auf dem Militär-Flughafen Riyyan im Südosten des Jemen. TBIJ fand weitere Geheimgefängnisse und erfuhr von üblen Folterpraktiken.
Quelle: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/s ... e-in-yemen.
ARD-aktuell brachte nichts davon in ihren Sendungen.
Am 13. Juni berichtete RT Deutsch, gestützt auf Informationen von Menschenrechtsgruppen, über die Vorgänge in Riyyan, zitierte TBIJ und schilderte u.a., die Verschleppten würden z.B. in metallene Schiffscontainer gepresst und diese würden in der tropischen Sonne auf Temperaturen um 50 Grad aufgeheizt.
Quelle: https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/5 ... ter-jemen/
ARD-aktuell verlor weiterhin kein Wort darüber in ihren Sendungen.
Am 21. Juni berichtete die US-Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch, es gebe hunderte von Entführten, die Milizionäre der VAR ließen viele nach den Folterungen einfach verschwinden.
Quelle: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/22/yem ... cal-forces.
ARD-aktuell brachte noch immer nichts dazu in ihren Sendungen.
Am 22. Juni lieferte die größte US-Nachrichtenagentur Associated Press, AP, eine umfassende Reportage: Mindestens 18 Geheimgefängnisse im Südosten des Jemen. Grauenhafte Foltermethoden: Unter anderem würden die Opfer an Gitter gekettet und in einem Feuerring geröstet. Die VAR-Milizionäre hätten die Rolle der Folterknechte inne, die Befrager seien jedoch reguläre Soldaten der US-Army. Ohne deren Zustimmung und Mitwrkung geschehe nichts. Die Foltergefängnisse befänden sich nicht nur in Kasernen, sondern auch auf einigen Flug- und in Seehäfen und sogar in privaten Villen und würden vom jemenitischen Marionetten-Regime geschützt und getarnt; zwei stünden unter alleiniger Kontrolle der VAR-Miliz, doch auch dort seien US-Soldaten anwesend.
Quelle: https://apnews.com/4925f7f0fa654853bd6f ... th-torture.
ARD-aktuell brachte nichts davon in ihren Sendungen – und verschweigt die Ungeheuerlichkeiten bis heute.
Ein paar Motivlagen für diese unfassliche „Informationspolitik“ lassen sich leicht erkennen und benennen: Regierungsfrommer Konformismus der Redaktion, denn das Auswärtige Amt Berlin definiert die VAR verharmlosend als „patriarchalisches Präsidialsystem mit traditionellen Konsultationsmechanismen“, obwohl es sich um Despotien handelt, es keine Parteien und Opposition im sogenannten Parlament gibt und einige Mitglieder der Herrscherfamilien sich gelegentlich auch persönlich an Folterungen beteiligen; Kanzlerin Merkel unterhält schließlich beste Beziehungen zu den arabischen Despotien. Transatlantische Verformung der Redaktionsprogrammatik, denn schließlich verhalten sich die deutsche Bundesregierung und viele MdB doch meistens ebenfalls nur kriecherisch gegenüber Weißem Haus und Kongress in Washington. Das gehört nicht erst seit Bekanntwerden des Umgangs mit den NSA-Schnüffeleien in der BRD zum Allgemeinwissen.
Was wir von der hier angegriffenen Art Nachrichtengestaltung halten, ist auch Ihnen bekannt. Uns interessiert nur noch, ob Sie gegen diese Zustände bei ARD-aktuell endlich etwas zu unternehmen gedenken – und, gegebenenfalls: was.
Volker Bräutigam, Friedhelm Klinkhammer.

https://publikumskonferenz.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2072

Mein Kommentar: Danke. Aber die ARD steht hier nicht allein. Zumindest was die Veröffentlichungen im Internet angeht: die deutschsprachigen „Mainstream“-Medien haben bei diesem Thema samt und sonders auf „Lückenpresse“ gemacht und samt und sonders überhaupt nichts berichtet. Es gibt nur zwei deutschsprachige Berichte: Von Telepolis und RT.

29.6.2017 – Paste Magazine (** B P)

The U.S. Helps Run Secret Prisons in Yemen: What we do in the shadows

The image in the AP article depicts an assembly line, like in a packing plant. And it reflects the principle of the division of labor: the United Arab Emirates handle the torture, the Americans handle the interrogations. You know how it is; this is how friendship works, between people, and between nations. When your buddy needs your help moving his couch, he calls you. And when your geopolitical confederate needs help breaking human rights in dark corners, you rush in where angels fear to tread.

It is not enough for the American state to back the Saudi-led coalition, which has caused the death of ten thousand people, aided a cholera outbreak, and is helping to starve two million children. We must compound misery with our own special brand of hypocrisy. Did you know the UAE was a big-time participant in the CIA’s old torture and rendition plans? Did you know that after Obama ended the black sites, the UAE underground prison system was set up during his administration? It was.

America is the leader in outsourcing. We outsource our factories to the developed world. We outsource our wars to proxy forces. And now we outsource oppression, too. We used to run torture sites directly, under our own frameworks, on foreign land—Gitmo, of course, but also our bases in Iraq. But now, we have gone one step further, and are outsourcing our production of misery to independent contractors. How ingenious, how American it is to insure that the models of late capitalism are applied with rigor and managerial competence to the agony of the human face. I wonder if Henry Ford and Adam Smith could have foreseen the day that their practices would be applied to extracting screams from foreign throats, to drawing the rictus of agony from a prisoner’s mouth.

If modern industry is the story of our increasing alienation from work, and modern eating is the story of our increasing distance from the barnyard, then the so-called rise of human rights in the West is the story of our increasing alienation from oppression. Let me be clear: we have not stepped oppressing people. We just do it at an arm’s length now. We keep our slaughterhouses at a distance, thank you very much. No need to get our hands dirty. The right hand does not know what the left hand is making another right hand do.

To put it another way, governments used to publicly execute people, and factory towns used to make things. We still do a little of both, in America. But mostly we keep it away from the front lawn. We don’t need to do it ourselves. We have the help for that. Vietnam makes our shoes, and the UAE tortures our enemies.

Obama made peace with detaining prisoners forever, but he preferred to do it in Cuba. American boardrooms still want the production of goods, they just prefer them to be distant from actual Americans. The American state still wants the oppression of human beings, it just prefers it be distant from cameras and watching eyes. Laundering oppression is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. Our tax dollars and our flag fly overseas, to strengthen cages for lonely faces we will never see – By Jason Rhode

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/the-us-helps-run-secret-prisons-in-yemen.html

29.6.2017 – Human Rights Watch (* A P)

United States, Gulf Allies, Must Own Up to Their Role in Yemen’s Human Rights Abuses

In June 22, Yemen’s president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, took a tentative step toward providing Yemenis whose loved ones have been forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained the answers and accountability they seek. He issued Decree No. 115, which establishes a committee to investigate reports of abuse, make recommendations, and develop means to address similar issues in the future.

The United States has closely supported the UAE’s military. According to a recent report by the Associated Press, it has interrogated UAE-held prisoners in Yemen, shared questions with UAE officials, and read transcripts from their interrogations. As UAE’s ally, the United States should have immediately called upon it to cooperate with the new Yemeni committee and grant access to all detention facilities.

Unfortunately, the Hadi government has given the committee a 15-day deadline and failed to include representatives of local organizations among the committee’s members. The government has not made clear whether the committee will be given the space to operate independently, to access formal and informal detention facilities, or to recommend prosecutions against the people responsible for abuses.

Bottom line: The committee will only be able to provide helpful answers to worried Yemeni families if the UAE and the United States cooperatively investigate alleged abuses.

That’s a tall order. The UAE has flatly denied responsibility for abuses, blamingthe Yemeni government for detaining people and mistreating them. These denials fly in the face of our research.

U.S. officials, including Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA, have billed the UAE as a “model” counterterrorism partner. Since evidence of UAE abuses and potential U.S. complicity came to light, the Trump Administration has not indicated whether it will investigate the role of U.S. personnel or press the UAE and its allies to desist from torture.

Compelling governments to help investigate their own abuses is a hard sell. But the Yemeni committee can at least begin the long process of holding abusers responsible, and demanding concrete action to provide freedom, compensation, and justice for the many Yemenis mistreated in detention – by Kristine Beckerle, Human Rights watch

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/29/us-gulf-allies-must-own-their-role-yemens-human-rights-abuses = http://progressive.org/dispatches/united-states-gulf-allies-must-own-up-to-their-role-in-yemen/

My comment: I think this Yemeni committee is just another Hadi government propaganda fake. It consists of high government officials, and just will be an instrument of whitewashing the Hadi government and of putting all blame on the Emirates – since there are growing tensions between Hadi and the Emirates.

28.6.2017 – Center for American Progress (* A P)

The United States Must Stop the UAE’s Abu Ghraib in Yemen

Even before this alleged torture came to light, the United States had a lot of questions to answer for its role in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. But turning a blind eye, or worse, to another torture scandal in the Middle East would undermine American national security and potentially expose U.S. officials to legal jeopardy.

Neither the AP’s nor Human Rights Watch’s investigations allege direct involvement by any U.S. personnel in the abuses. The AP reports, however, that detainees say U.S. personnel are present at the interrogation centers where abuse occurs “at times only yards away.”

Unfortunately, the United States does not have a deep well of credibility to draw upon in this episode. The tragedy of horrific torture of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War has left an indelible mark on the United States’ human rights record.

Following this catastrophic policy, Congress and the Obama administration took corrective measures to ensure that the United States did not return to torture. President Donald Trump, however, campaigned on bringing back waterboarding—or worse—and has said since assuming office that he believes “torture works.” Trump only refrained from reinstituting torture because of the objections of Defense Secretary James Mattis. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, sees U.S. support for human rights as an “obstacle to our ability to advance our national security interests.” Given those views, it is not surprising the United States finds itself in this position and that Pentagon denials may lack some credibility.

The United States learned an extremely costly and painful lesson during the Bush administration: Torture and abuse is counterproductive, providing only fuel for our enemies and bad information.

We cannot make that same mistake again.

The United States currently provides much of the weaponry and the airborne refueling support for Saudi and Emirati aircraft flying missions in the Yemen war. That provides the United States with substantial leverage over the actions of the UAE.

It matters little if Americans are doing the torturing or are complicit with our allies. Either way, it provides fuel for the propaganda, radicalization, and recruitment campaigns of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda. If these allegations are true, and the UAE does not address them quickly and in a transparent manner, the United States has the power to stop it. Doing so should become an urgent priority – by Ken Gude

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/news/2017/06/28/435174/united-states-must-stop-uaes-abu-ghraib-yemen/

My comment: It’s not just Yemen, not just Abu Ghraib – the US took advantage from torture prisons worldwide, brought prisoners for torture and interrogation to their allies, various European states and even to Assad’s Syria!

And another abridged article: https://off-guardian.org/2017/06/28/us-uae-operate-network-of-torture-chambers-in-yemen/

28.6.2017 – Voice of America (** A P)

Reports: UAE Sends Yemeni Terror Suspects to Eritrean Prison

The United Arab Emirates has transferred terrorism suspects from Yemen to a secret prison in Assab, Eritrea, according to former detainees and Yemeni officials.

The facility on the Red Sea coast is part of a regional network of prisons in which torture and abuse are rampant, independent investigations by the Associated Press and Human Rights Watch have revealed.

Beckerle's team discovered some prisoners had been taken to Assab, where the UAE has operated a military base for nearly two years. She said certain details, including how many prisoners the UAE is holding in Eritrea, are difficult to verify due to lack of access to the facilities and denials by UAE and Eritrean officials.

"There's been absolutely no transparency or communication either with the families or with independent monitors," she told VOA. "We've got a whole bunch of prisons that nobody has access to, other than the forces that are running them and detainees that are in them."

Without direct access, HRW relied on interviews with former detainees, family members, lawyers and Yemeni officials. The Associated Press employed similar methods and reached the same conclusions about the scope of the network, the treatment of detainees and the use of the facility in Assab.

Reached by phone, Eritrea's Minister of Information, Yemane Gebremeskel, denied the accusations and referred to a Twitter message in which he called the reports "patently false." – by Salem Solomon

https://www.voanews.com/a/united-arab-emirates-sends-yemeni-terror-suspects-eritrean-prison/3919965.html

My comment: Also with an abridgment of the whole UAE torture story. – Of course, there are always official denials. As from the UAE also from Eritrea, itself known for its terrible Human Rights violations.

22.6.2017 – Democracy Now (* A P)

Film: U.S. Tied to Torture in Network of Secret Yemen Prisons Run by UAE

Human Rights Watch and the Associated Press have just published explosive new reports on a secret network of prisons in southern Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates and Yemeni forces. Dozens of people, including children, have been "arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, tortured, and abused" in these prisons, according to Human Rights Watch. American forces reportedly participated in interrogations of detainees who were abused, a potential violation of international law. For more, we speak to Kristine Beckerle of Human Rights Watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIR2CPze6cs

29.6.2017 – Suhf Net (** B H P)

Yemen: The Brotherhood in Taiz: Royalty and secret prisons and torture

The streets of the city of Taiz on the morning of the third day of the Eid were empty except for the slight movement of some vehicles, but soon multiplied by noon.The khat markets were the busiest, (a green herb that Yemenis chewed daily on public and private boards).Vehicles driven by gunmen roam the streets of the city at crazy speed.

A military vehicle (4WD) stopped in front of a small shop before a young man in his thirties, with brown skin and long hair and a black headband, shouted loudly at the shopkeeper: "Give us cold water." The gunman took the cans of water and then left, without paying the bill. "With all due respect, what is in the money we are guarding you?" The shopkeeper did not respond with any words.

Control of the coup

Most neighborhoods in the city of Taiz are relatively quiet, despite the fall of shells fired by pro-Iranian Islamists who control large parts of the city.

The Al-Mustaqbalis and Saleh's forces control the Al-Hoban junction, the Republican Palace, the Patrol Camp and rural towns, but they receive heavy blows in western Taiz and the vicinity of the Khalid base in a distressed town.

The imposition of royalties

A security officer in Taiz said that "the gunmen who roam the streets of Taiz impose a charge on citizens and shops, while if the payment of these funds to the fronts to make a change in the course of battles."

"He did not visit the police department where he worked two years ago, and the center became the headquarters of a faction of the resistance of the Islah Party," the officer added.

"We were without police headquarters and without pay, they robbed us of everything. Those armed men roaming around you. Some of them were detained on criminal and other charges. They used the war to get out of jail and turned into prisoners."

Recruiting predecessors
"The reformist party mobilized criminal record holders in Ta, to rule the city with iron and fire, they brought Taiz badly, the people did not countenance their city to become like the Islamic Emirate," the officer said.

"Reform, Salafists, Hadash and al-Qaeda share the liberated areas in Taiz, but most of these factions do not participate in any front against the coupists. They rule markets and impose royalties on people and shopkeepers."

The secret prisons of the Brotherhood
Yemeni activists and detainees held by the Muslim Brotherhood in Taiz revealed secret prisons run by terrorists linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar.

The activists say that "armed militias control the neighborhoods and cities in Taiz, after being taken away from the grip of the coupists, are practicing terrorism against the people of the city," asserting that "the killings and arbitrary arrests practiced by these militias to those who violate it or to those who refuse to pay money, Houthis in areas under their control. "

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191574 and translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191574

My comment: Illegitimacy in all forms: That’s life at Taiz which is “liberated” und is said to be under control of a “legitimate” Government (which according to the constitution since February 27, 2015 is as illegitimate as Taiz street life).

28.6.2017 – Inter Press Service (** B P)

Did Arab Coalition Threaten to Pull Out of UN in Protest?

When Saudi Arabia – which has been spearheading a coalition of Arab states in a devastating war against Yemen since 2015 – was accused of bombing civilians, and particularly children caught up in the conflict, the government in Riyadh threatened to cut off humanitarian funding to the world body.

As a result of the looming threat, Saudi Arabia was de-listed from the “offending” annex to a UN report last year, by then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, largely in order to appease the Saudis.

But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of Jordan, with close links to the Jordanian royal family, has cited a report that nine Arab states – the Saudi coalition fighting the Houthi/Saleh rebels in Yemen – made the “unprecedented threat of a withdrawal from the UN if they were listed as perpetrators in the annex of the Secretary General’s report on children and armed conflict.”

The new revelation by Zeid– a former Jordanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a former Ambassador to the United States – has shed new light on a hitherto unknown threat by the Arab coalition, coordinated perhaps by the Saudis.

Besides Saudi Arabia, the nine-member Arab coalition includes Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait and Qatar (whose role in the coalition has been suspended since the emergence of a new crisis among Gulf nations early this month).

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics & Coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, told IPS “this threat by Saudi Arabia and its allies may indeed be unprecedented. Personally, I say call their bluff.”

“It’s important to stick to principle, particularly in regard to international humanitarian law. The reason more countries haven’t actually withdrawn is that they recognize that being part of the United Nations is on balance to their advantage, so it would be their loss and they would eventually return,” declared Zunes.

He said that “countries have threatened, and at times actually pulled out of certain US committees and agencies in protest, but pulling out of the UN itself is almost unprecedented.” –By Thalif Deen

http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/06/arab-coalition-threaten-pull-un-protest/ = https://www.juancole.com/2017/06/saudi-blackmailed-rights.html

Comment by Beatrice De Filippis. Question: what would be worse? Having them bribing and whitewhashing crimes or them out of the equation?

https://twitter.com/Bilquis66/status/880179709929295873

27.6.2017 – Justice Now / Der Freitag (** B P)

Saudi-Arabiens absurder 13-Punkte-Plan

Regime Change in Katar Die 13 Forderungen der Saudis sind kein schroffes Diplomatiegeplänkel, sondern ein Kriegsultimatum. Ein Krieg, der das Potential zum Dritten Weltkrieg hat.

Am vergangenen Donnerstag übersandten Saudi-Arabien, Ägypten, die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) und Bahrain – über Kuwait als Mediator im Konflikt – schließlich ihre Liste mit 13 Forderungen, die Katar innerhalb von zehn Tagen bedingungslos erfüllen muss, um das gegenwärtige Embargo aufzuheben. Die katarische Regierung hatte jedoch bereits vor Tagen klargemacht, dass sie erst bereit für Verhandlungen ist, nachdem die Blockade aufgehoben wurde. Eine Pattsituation.

Die 13 Punkte in Gänze:

„Diese Liste repräsentiert einen Übergang“, schreibt Galip Dalay auf Middle East Eye, „von einem Zustand des Wahnsinns zu einem Zustand der Absurdität.“ In der Tat kann kein mit nur einem Funken Vernunft gesegneter Mensch diese Liste ernst nehmen.

Der erste Punkt ist gleichzeitig der zentrale Punkt der Liste: Katars hervorragende Beziehungen zum Iran – dem Erzfeind der Saudis – sollen geschwächt werden. Diese Forderung ist besonders schizophren, da bis auf Saudi-Arabien auch alle anderen Golfstaaten gute bis sehr gute Beziehungen zum Nachbarn Iran pflegen

Weiterhin wird gefordert, die Unterstützung von Terrororganisationen einzustellen – die Krönung der Absurdität, ist es doch wohl belegt, dass Saudi-Arabien selbst der größte Terrorunterstützer überhaupt ist.

Besonders verurteilenswert ist der saudische Angriff auf die freie Meinungsäußerung und die Pressefreiheit. Die Schließung einer Vielzahl von Medienhäusern wird gefordert, die Katar direkt oder indirekt unterstützt, darunter das globale Medienflaggschiff der arabischen Welt, Al Jazeera, das linksliberale Netzwerk The New Arab und die progressive Seite Middle East Eye.

Saudi-Arabiens ultrabrutale Außenpolitik der letzten sechs Jahre lässt vermuten, dass auch in Katar zum Brechen des freien Willens der Einsatz militärischer Gewalt das finale Ziel ist. Die Bedeutung des absurden 13-Punkte-Plans kann daher kaum genug betont werden: er ist kein schroffes Diplomatiegeplänkel, sondern ein Kriegsultimatum.

Es liegt mir fern, an dieser Stelle das Blame Game zu spielen – die Schuld für die Katar-Krise liegt vordergründig bei den Saudis, ihrem Hass auf den Iran, ihrer ultrabrutalen Außenpolitik und ihren Allmachtsfantasien der Unterwerfung der arabischen und gar muslimischen Welt unter das Haus Saud –, doch dürfen wir die zentrale Rolle der mächtigen westlichen Regierungen in der Katar-Krise nicht vergessen: nicht als aktive Player, sondern als diplomatische, politische und nicht zuletzt moralische Rückendeckung für das verbrecherische Handeln der Saudis.

Kein neuer Krieg im Nahen Osten!

Die Welt stolpert gerade in ihren nächsten Krieg hinein. Und die internationalen Player, die die Macht haben, diesen Krieg zu verhindern, tun nichts dergleichen, beziehungsweise befeuern sie die Kriegsvorbereitungen sogar.

Nachdem US-Außenminister Rex Tillerson am 14. Juni offen einen Regime Change im Iran forderte, muss auch die gegenwärtige Eskalation der Saudis gegen Katar im Kontext der zum Scheitern verurteilten Regime-Change-Strategie des Westens und seiner Alliierten gesehen werden. Afghanistan, Irak, Libyen – hat sie je ein Land nicht in Flammen aufgehen lassen? Alle Zeichen deuten darauf hin, dass Saudi-Arabien einen Einmarsch in Katar plant. Ein Krieg gegen Katar hätte jedoch mit an 1 grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit einen Krieg gegen den Iran zur Folge. Ein Krieg gegen den Iran – mit seinen Partnern Syrien, Russland und auch Nordkorea und China – hat wiederum das Potential, zum Dritten Weltkrieg zu eskalieren.

Wir stehen so nah an einem umfassenden Krieg im Nahen Osten mit sämtlichen globalen Playern involviert wie noch nie zuvor in der Geschichte. – von Jakob Reimann

http://justicenow.de/saudi-arabiens-absurder-13-punkte-plan-ziel-regime-change-in-katar/ = https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/saudi-arabiens-absurder-13-punkte-plan

Kommentar von Bernd Murawski: Bei der Beurteilung potentieller Kriegsgefahren vermisse ich im Artikel ein Eingehen auf die türkische Position. Würde die Türkei bei einem drohenden Einmarsch Saudi-Arabiens in Katar tatenlos bleiben? Und wie wäre es um die Reputation der USA bestellt, wenn sie bei einer Wiederholung der Ereignisse von 1990, als Saddam Hussein Kuwait besetzte, diesmal nicht intervenieren würden?

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/saudi-arabiens-absurder-13-punkte-plan#1498598423258881

29.6.2017 – E-International Relations (** B K P)

Drone Technology and the Trump Doctrine

January 29 when thirty U.S. Navy Seals, together with local and regional allies, attacked the village of Ghaylil in Bayda province, close to the front lines of Yemen’s civil war. Apparently, no one at the dinner thought to ask if the United States had any legal right to attack Ghaylil or to fight Yemen anywhere.

Ironically, the operation likely had nothing to do with the civil war. Journalists suggest it was a targeted killing or assassination mission to find and kill a terrorist suspect, Qassim al Rimi. Al Rimi is high on the current U.S. kill list as a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. If Al Rimi was ever in the village, he was alive after the raid, taunting the U.S. on the internet. As many as thirty other people, however, were killed, including ten children under the age of 13, women, elderly, and a Navy Seal.

Trump reacted quite differently to the tragedy in Ghaylil. Rather than demanding an investigation into how it went so terribly wrong, his administration attempted to assert it had been a major success, resulting in the collection of important intelligence. That claim was quickly abandoned in the cold light of facts revealing the ‘important intelligence’ were old propaganda videos. Trump then followed his now common practice of moving on to the next headline grabbing distraction and handed Yemen to the military by designating it a ‘zone of active hostilities.’ The designation permits the military under U.S. law attack without White House approval. Again, international law does not seem to come into Trump’s calculus.

Trump also loosened the Obama administration’s goal of zero civilian casualties in counter-insurgency operations.

Trump’s first six months in office have been characterized by a florid, scattered approach to most issue areas, including security. Still, the new administration has reflected some consistency in using greater lethal force than predecessors and paying no attention to international law. In both respects Trump is not breaking new ground. He is moving in the same direction begun by President Bill Clinton at the end of the Cold War. Trump has simply taken the direction to its logical conclusion.

Targeted killing, excessive force, and wars without end defy law, morality, and pragmatism. Explaining why such practices have taken root requires examining the role of technology.

Technological Imperatives

Since the first use of a drone in lethal operations in 2001, the U.S. has moved inexorably beyond the agreed limits on official use of deadly force. One former CIA lawyer has observed: ‘People are a lot more comfortable with a Predator strike that kills many people than with a throat-slitting that kills one.’

Thanks to the drone, the U.S. has returned to practices banned after Vietnam and the dirty wars of Central America.

The Clinton administration acquired the first weaponized drones from defense contractor, General Atomics. He then tasked the CIA with using the drone to hunt and kill Osama bin Laden in 2000. Clinton modified the executive order of President Gerald Ford banning assassination. He could not, of course, modify the international law prohibiting assassination as murder or the use of military force on the territory of another State, outside the terms of the United Nations Charter.

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama criticized the mad policy of Bush’s ‘global war on terror.’ Drones per se were not widely discussed at that time because their use was still classified. U.S. officials said little about them. That changed in 2009 under Obama when he dramatically increased drone attacks.

In a 2011 UK military report on drones, the authors raised concerns over a technology that weakens psychological barriers to killing: That attacks are “carried out by unmanned aircraft […] and that the use of ground troops in harm’s way has been avoided, suggests that the use of force is totally a function of the existence of an unmanned capability—it is unlikely a similar scale of force would be used if this capability were not available.”

Throughout history as new weapons technology has appeared, legal or moral barriers to its use are set aside.

In this context of weakened respect for law and moral principles, new weapons are appearing that relieve humans of the kill decision entirely.

Recovering Law and Morality on Killing

Perhaps the presidency of Donald Trump will bring about such change. His law free military policy may be the final straw that brings the world back to the ancient principles of law and morality restricting resort to lethal force to all but true exigent circumstances. It is not the technology that should dictate those circumstances but the actual need to save life immediately. The law on the use of lethal force begins with the human right to life. Lives may lawfully be taken in certain restrictive situations—but the right itself and the conditions it sets for the lawful taking of life are absolute.

These facts about the right to life have significant implications for interpreting the law regulating the use of lethal force.

Even with a lawful basis for using military force, it is unlawful in armed conflict to hunt down and kill a named individual for past actions or some hypothetical future crime.

If targeted killing is restricted on the battlefield, it is a fortiori unlawful away from an armed conflict zone. Under customary international law an “armed conflict” exists if and only if organized armed groups are engaged in fighting of certain intensity.

Some object that it is too difficult to comply with these legal restrictions when challenged by lawless criminal organizations like ISIS. Nothing, however, is easier than not killing.

For decades, the United States has been engaged in continuous armed conflict, spurring extraordinary investment in defense industries and the development of new weapons. Such investments have given rise to the use of concepts like “security” and “military necessity” to overcome legal and moral barriers to using new weapons.

Yet international humanitarian law’s restrictions on killing, which have developed to incorporate fundamental, universal moral principles, still remain. Restrictions on killing in war require that combatants never intentionally target civilians; that they attack only as required by military necessity; and that the death and destruction caused not be disproportionate to the value of the military objective.

These international legal principles compel seeking non-lethal solutions to conflicts. Killing is never the only option. Its use by the United States as a first option has burgeoned, fostered by the false assumption that lethal force is an effective tool to achieve all sorts of goods – by MARY ELLEN O'CONNELL AND BRIAN BOYD

http://www.e-ir.info/2017/06/29/drone-technology-and-the-trump-doctrine/

and, in the case of Yemen drone strikes, the following also is extremely relevant:

29.6.2017 – Just Security (** B K P)

Pentagon Admits Major Investigation Flaw: They Rarely Talk to Air Strike Witnesses or Victims

In a transcript of a Pentagon Press Briefing, released this week by Airwars, n.S. Central Command’s Deputy Director for Operations made a striking admission about U.S. investigations into civilian casualties in Syria:

Q: Okay. So, you didn’t talk to anybody on the ground and nobody visited the site. Is that — that correct, right?

GEN. BONTRAGER: That is correct, Bill, and that’s common. It’s a rare thing with strikes like this that we can get on the ground in person, or that we can talk to anybody on the ground is not uncommon at all.

Human rights groups have long voiced concerns about the inadequacy of U.S. investigations into the consequences of U.S. strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere, but it is rare to see such an open and general acknowledgement from the Pentagon that its investigators rarely conduct site visits or speak with witnesses and other people on the ground.

But the U.S. government’s failure to regularly interview witnesses is a critical flaw in their investigation methodology. A lack of on-the-ground networks, security concerns and/or issues related to impartiality are not insurmountable and can all be addressed if they are considered to be necessary to a robust investigation.

The U.S. government’s investigations regularly exclude one of the most important sources of evidence, and are at odds with international fact-finding best practice, developed over the past decades by researchers and investigators with human rights NGOs, the United Nations, and international criminal tribunals. It would be unthinkable in those contexts to maintain a regular practice of “investigating” human rights or humanitarian law violations without site visits where possible and without actually speaking with witnesses, victims, and family members. Interviewing is so essential that it has been described as the “bedrock” of human rights fact-finding, and every major guide to or principles for human rights fact-finding contains significant sections on witness interviewing (see here, here, here, here).

Human rights investigators have developed techniques to conduct on-the-ground investigations and witness interviews all around the world, in highly insecure and conflict areas including in Afghanistan, the Philippines, the Central African Republic, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Sites are visited to observe first-hand physical damage, and witnesses and survivors are interviewed to obtain essential information about what happened, how, when, and where.

Speaking to victims, witnesses, and other people on the ground also helps provide these investigations a degree of transparency. Without this, affected communities often criticize these investigations as being secretive and incomplete.

In some cases, NGOs and the UN face difficulties in visiting or interviewing at the sites of an alleged abuse—because of extreme insecurity, denial of access by a government or non-state actor, or concerns about retaliation to witnesses or families if they are seen with investigators. In such cases, human rights researchers have found other ways to obtain evidence.

When NGOs or the UN have not conducted site visits or interviews, governments lambast them. The U.S. government, for example, heavily criticized a 2006 report of UN Special Rapporteurs in these terms:

The U.S. government accused the UN investigators of not doing “any meaningful investigation,”

Human rights investigators have demonstrated that the hurdles are not insurmountable. The U.S. government’s failure to speak to people on the ground demolishes Bontrager’s claim that his investigation left “no stone unturned.” – By Sarah Knuckey, Ole Solvang, Jonathan Horowitz and Radhya Almutawakel

https://www.justsecurity.org/42675/pentagon-admits-rarely-talks-air-strike-witnesses-victims/

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Cholera / Most important: Cholera

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

29.6.2017 – FAZ (** A H)

„Was muss eigentlich noch passieren?“

Zwei Wendungen tauchen immer wieder auf, wenn Helfer oder UN-Funktionäre angesichts der Cholera-Epidemie im Jemen Alarm schlagen: die von einer „menschengemachten Katastrophe“ und die von einem „Wettlauf gegen die Zeit“. Seit Monaten breitet sich die Seuche im Land aus.

Fernsehbilder aus den medizinischen Einrichtungen zeigen ausgezehrte Menschen und erschöpfte Ärzte. Viel Zeit haben sie nicht. Die Erkrankten leider unter heftigem Durchfall und Erbrechen, ihnen droht der Tod durch Dehydrierung.

In den ländlichen Regionen ist die Versorgung noch schlechter. Vielerorts müssen die Kranken und ihre Angehörigen stundenlange Fußmärsche hinter sich bringen, um die überlasteten medizinischen Einrichtungen zu erreichen.

Schon lange hungern die Menschen, weil die saudisch geführte Koalition mit einer Blockade des Landes Druck auf ihre Gegner ausüben will – und so die Lieferung von Hilfsgütern behindert. Jetzt kommt noch die Cholera-Epidemie dazu. Appelle, die Zivilisten besser zu schützen und ihre Not zu mindern, verhallen ungehört.

Der Krieg hat die jemenitische Verwaltung auf zwei entscheidenden Feldern massiv geschwächt: Die Wasserversorgung hat ebenso gelitten wie der Gesundheitssektor, der kurz vor dem Kollaps steht. Cholera wird vor allem durch verseuchtes Trinkwasser verbreitet. Die Funktionäre beider Lager im Gesundheitsministerium arbeiten nur widerwillig zusammen. Seit etwa zehn Monaten hat der bankrotte Staat seine Angestellten nicht bezahlt. Dazu gehört auch das medizinische Personal in den staatlichen Gesundheitseinrichtungen. 274 medizinische Zentren sind zerstört worden – durch Luftangriffe der saudisch geführten Koalition oder durch Plünderungen.

Ähnliches gilt für die Trinkwasseraufbereitung und die Abwasseranlagen.

Auch die Logistik ist deutlich erschwert. Helfer verbringen viel Zeit damit, Lastwagen mit medizinischen Gütern durch die vielen Checkpoints zu lotsen. Wegen der ausbleibenden Zahlungen hatte auch die Müllabfuhr gestreikt, der Unrat stapelte sich, Regengüsse hatten zugleich die Straßen geflutet. – von CHRISTOPH EHRHARDT

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/gesundheit/krieg-im-jemen-verschaerft-cholera-epidemie-15083329.html

29.6.2017 – Deutschlandfunk (** A H)

Kein Ende der Cholera-Epidemie in Sicht

Im Jemen grassiert die Cholera: Ärzte berichten, dass sie in ihren überfüllten Kliniken alle drei bis vier Minuten neu erkrankte Patienten aufnehmen. Die Ursachen für diese katastrophale Epidemie liegen auf der Hand: Seit Jahren herrscht Bürgerkrieg, viele Regionen sind abgeschnitten und ohne Trinkwasserversorgung.

Im Sab’een-Krankenhaus in Sanaa stehen überall Betten. Nicht nur in Schlafräumen auch auf den Fluren muss jeder verfügbare Platz genutzt werden, um Cholera-Patienten unterzubringen. Meistens sind es alte Menschen und Kinder, auffallend viele Babys. Etliche der Patienten tragen Atemmasken und erhalten Infusionslösungen.

"Wir arbeiten hier rund um die Uhr", sagt der Kinderarzt Ismail al-Mansouri. "Alle drei, vier Minuten kommt ein neuer Cholera-Erkrankter zu uns. Wir haben nicht genügend Medikamente."

Cholera trete besonders in Kriegsgebieten auf, erklärt Aref al-Da’ari, der stellvertetende Leiter vom Kuwait University Hospital in Sanaa, aber auch überall dort, wo Gebiete aufgrund von Blockaden schlecht erreichbar seien. Viele der Binnenflüchtlinge würden in überfüllten Zeltlagern leben, wo sich eine große Menge von Abfällen und Fäkalien ansammelte.

Am schlimmsten sind jene Regionen betroffen, die von den Houthi-Rebellen kontrolliert werden. Saudi-Arabien hat eine Seeblockade verhängt, um Waffenlieferungen zu verhindern. Aber auch in den Gebieten der international anerkannten Regierung des Jemen erkranken Menschen. Inzwischen seien 20 der 22 Provinzen des Landes betroffen, sagt Ilan Abdel Haq vom Gesundheitsamt in Taezz:

"Allein in der Provinz Ibb gibt es 19.000 Fälle, 200 Menschen starben. Überall mangelt es an sauberem Trinkwasser. Organisationen schätzen, dass über 14 Millionen Jemeniten keines haben."

"Die gute Nachricht ist", sagt Ahmed Zouiten von der WHO, "dass die Zahl der neuen Ansteckungsfälle ein wenig zurückgeht. Wir haben den Höhepunkt leider noch nicht erreicht, aber wir spüren eine leichten Rückgang der Verdachtsfälle."

Es gibt also keinen Grund zur Entwarnung – Von Jürgen Stryjak

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-kein-ende-der-cholera-epidemie-in-sicht.1773.de.html?dram:article_id=389842

28.6.2017 – Euronews (* A H)

Film: Jemen: Kampf gegen die schlimmste Cholera-Epidemie der Welt

Der Jemen wird immer stärker von der Cholera erfasst. Im Kampf gegen die Epidemie hat das UN-Kinderhilswerk Unicef 36 Tonnen Hilfsgüter in das Bürgerkriegsland gebracht. Über 200.000 Menschen sind bereits infiziert. Jeden Tag kommen 5000 neue Fälle hinzu. Hilfsorganisationen sprechen vom schlimmsten Cholera-Ausbruch weltweit und warnen, dass die Zahl der Kranken bis Ende August auf über 300.000 steigen könnte.

Ismail al Mansoury, Kinderarzt in der Hauptstadt Sanaa, sagt: “Unzählige Patienten kommen jeden Tag in unsere Cholera-Station. Wir arbeiten rund um die Uhr. Es kommen zwei bis drei Patienten pro Minute an, also unglaublich viele.”

Cholera lässt sich eigentlich gut behandeln. Doch der Jemen versinkt im Bürgerkrieg, in den Straßen türmt sich der Müll. Es gibt nicht genug sauberes Wasser, nicht genug zu essen. Das Gesundheitssystem ist zusammengebrochen. Beste Bedingungen für die Cholera, sich rasend schnell auszubreiten.

http://de.euronews.com/2017/06/28/jemen-kampf-gegen-die-schlimmste-cholera-epidemie-der-welt

29.6.2017 – World Health Organisation (** A H)

Weekly update - cholera in Yemen, 29 June 2017

The Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen has recorded a total of 39 688 suspected cholera cases and 183 associated deaths during the period 22 to 27 June 2017. A cumulative total of 224 989 suspected cases of cholera and 1416 associated deaths have been recorded as of 27 June during the outbreak which started in October 2016.

The overall case-fatality rate is 0.6% although it is higher in some areas and among certain age groups. While cholera is endemic in Yemen, the country has experienced a surge in cholera cases since 27 April 2017, with nearly 5000 cases reported per day. Ongoing conflict, destroyed health, water and sanitation infrastructure and malnutrition have caused the people to be more vulnerable to diseases, including cholera.

WHO and health partners are actively supporting the Ministry through a cholera task force to improve cholera response efforts at the national and local levels. This includes the establishment of diarrhoea treatment facilities, oral dehydration centres, training of health workers to manage cases, water purification in communities, deployment of rapid response team to manage cholera cases investigations and respond to the outbreak, enhancement of Yemen’s disease early warning surveillance systems, and provision of emergency medical supplies to treatment facilities.

http://www.emro.who.int/surveillance-forecasting-response/outbreaks/weekly-cholera-yemen-29-june-2017.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/weekly-update-cholera-yemen-29-june-2017

29.6.2017 – BBC (** A H)

Film: Yemen hospital battles world's worst cholera outbreak

Yemen is now facing the world's worst cholera outbreak, according to the United Nations.

The water-borne disease has rapidly spread across the country since April, with more than 220,000 suspected cases reported.

More than 1,300 people have died - one quarter of them children - and the death toll is expected to rise.

Produced by Faisal Irshaid

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-40443989/yemen-hospital-battles-world-s-worst-cholera-outbreak

28.6.2017 – Science (** A H)

Cholera vaccine faces major test in war-torn Yemen

Imagine a poor, war-ravaged country the size of Spain where more than 20 million people are threatened by a deadly disease that’s spreading fast from city to city. You have 1 million doses of a vaccine at your disposal. Who would you try to protect?

That’s the question facing public health experts and international groups fighting an explosive cholera outbreak in Yemen. On 15 June, a group managing the modest global reserve of cholera vaccine decided to dispatch 1 million doses to the country, about half of what it had in stock; vaccination is set to begin in early July. It will be one of the biggest tests yet for the vaccine. But where to deploy it is still under debate, says Dominique Legros, a cholera expert at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Health workers have limited experience with the vaccine—which consists of killed bacteria and is given orally—in large emer­gency situations. The global stockpile was created only 4 years ago and has been used mostly for smaller campaigns. “How do we use the vaccine to stop an outbreak from spreading? We’re still learning,” says Melissa Ko of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva, which funds the stockpile. Experts have decided to stretch the supply by giving just one rather than the recommended two doses but are still debating where to target their efforts. And some caution that, because of the vaccine’s limited efficacy, even a plentiful supply might have only a modest impact on the massive epidemic.

The vaccine is a relatively new weapon, and until recently it was hardly used in emergencies. Many worried that immuniza­tion might distract aid workers from treat­ing patients and providing clean drinking water. Production capacity for the vaccine was limited as well, and the need to give two doses 2 weeks apart for optimal protection created extra logistical problems. The speed at which cholera spreads made targeting the vaccine tricky: “We have seen on several occasions that we were too late or not in the right place,” Legros says.

But acceptance began to build after the vaccine was successfully deployed during Haiti’s massive cholera outbreak in 2012.

Yemen’s government has asked for 3.5 mil­lion doses, more than ICG had in its stock and more than three times the number it granted.

But surveillance data are unreliable. Some of the 200,000 reported cholera cases may be other types of diarrhea, whereas some places reporting fewer cases may just be missing many of them. Other factors figure in the decision as well, says Legros, such as access and whether local partners can help.

To stretch supplies, the campaign will use only one dose per person. A two-dose regimen can yield up to 80% protection, but mounting evidence suggests that a single dose does a reasonable short-term job, says Louise Ivers of Partners in Health in Boston.

For Yemen, it may simply be too little, too late, warns Renaud Piarroux, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Aix-Marseille in Marseille, France. By the time the vaccines are distributed, cholera may be everywhere, Piarroux says. “I will not say ‘Don’t do it,’ but I will not hope that it changes the course of the epidemic either.” – by Kai Kupferschmidt

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/cholera-vaccine-faces-major-test-war-torn-yemen

28.6.2017 – Aljazeera (* A H)

Map: Yemen: 'World's worst cholera outbreak' mapped

A look at where the worst-hit areas are located in the war-torn country.

[by provinces and districts]

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2017/06/yemen-world-worst-cholera-outbreak-mapped-170627110239483.html

27.6.2017 – Aljazeera (* A H)

Film: The worst case of the outbreak of the cholera epidemic in the world Today in Yemen # 30 people are being killed by the epidemic every day, according to a British organization .. Who is responsible for this disaster? (in Arabic)

https://twitter.com/AJArabic/status/879939937591631873

29.6.2017 – Yemen Today TV (* A H)

Film: Cholera takes lives in Beni Haidan with a jerk in Hajjah and the patients are lying in front of the hospital 29 - 6 – 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FChWCRJdPJ0

29.6.2017 – Suhf Net (* A H)

President of a human rights organization describes the health situation in distress and makes an urgent appeal

The head of the Sahar organization for human rights, Mahmoud al-Shuaibi, issued an urgent call for relief to local and international medical and humanitarian organizations, describing the situation in the province ofDhala as catastrophic.

Shuaibi said that the cholera epidemic has become widespread in the province of Dhala, pointing out that the hospitals in the province can not absorb cases of cholera due to lack of the simplest therapeutic, medical and accommodation.
He appealed to all local and international organizations to intervene quickly in the face of the pandemic, which is spreading and taking lives in a frightening and frightening and without interruption.
He announced the province of Dhala has become a devastated province after the epidemic affected all nine directorates.

He revealed that the epidemic is no longer confined to the main cities, but arrived in rural areas and villages of the province. He pointed out that the number of registered cases officially registered with the Health and Population Bureau amounted to 10448 cases, of which 52 were fatal.
The head of a health organization visited the medical camp of Médecins Sans Frontières, in which the doctor confirmed that the camp at times can not receive all cases or extension due to lack of space and lack of all medical and therapeutic possibilities.

The head of the Human Rights Organization briefed the ministers on the situation of a number of private clinics and hospitals, whose officials confirmed that they received over 2000 cases.
He said some of the clinics she inspected had refused to receive cases of "cholera", citing her refusal to have no rooms for quarantine.
Shuaibi said that one of the main difficulties facing the province is the lack of the basic possibilities that enable it to reach rural districts and to combat the sources of the spread of the epidemic.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191943 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191943&edit-text=

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (* A H)

Yemen Security Brief

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghir declared a public health state of emergency in numerous southern governorates on June 27 in response to the growing cholera crisis. Bin Daghir raised states of emergency in Abyan, Aden, al Dhaleh, Lahij, and Shabwah governorates to enhance cholera reporting and treatment. [6]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017

28.6.2017 – DPA (* A H)

Jemen: Unicef bringt tonnenweise Hilfsgüter in Cholera-Gebiete

Im Kampf gegen die Cholera-Epidemie im Jemen hat das UN-Kinderhilfswerk Unicef 36 Tonnen Hilfsgüter in das Bürgerkriegsland gebracht. Darunter seien 750.000 Beutel eines Salzes, um den Flüssigkeitshaushalt von Erkrankten wieder ins Gleichgewicht zu bringen. Dies sei genug, um 10.000 der bislang etwa 200.000 Betroffenen zu behandeln, teilte Unicef heute mit. Auch Vorrichtungen zur Säuberung von Wasser und andere sanitäre Güter seien geliefert worden. Unicef kündigte weitere Lieferungen an.

http://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/index.php?id=70148 = http://www.n-tv.de/ticker/UN-liefern-36-Tonnen-Hilfsgueter-in-Krisengebiet-article19910453.html

28.6.2017 – UN Children's Fund (* A H)

UNICEF airlifts lifesaving supplies to Yemen to combat cholera as cases surpass 200,000

Three UNICEF charter planes have delivered 36 tons of lifesaving medical and water purification supplies to Yemen to scale up efforts to combat the world’s worst cholera outbreak.

The supplies included, 750,000 sachets of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) enough to treat 10,000 people, 10.5 million water purification tablets and other sanitation items.

“We are in a race against time. Our teams are working with partners not only to provide treatment to the sick and raise awareness among communities, but also to rapidly replenish and distribute supplies and medicines ”, said Dr Sherin Varkey, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Yemen. “More airlifts of critical supplies will continue in the coming days”.

Since the outbreak was reported on 27 April, UNICEF has distributed over 600,000 ORS sachets and 20,000 Intravenous (IV) fluids to oral rehydration points and at homes. With partners, UNICEF has supported the establishment of 488 oral rehydration therapy points and more than 20 Diarrhoea Treatment Centres across the country.

https://www.unicef.org.uk/press-releases/28-june-2017-three-unicef-charter-planes-have-delivered-36-tons-of-lifesaving-medical-and-water-purification-supplies-to-yemen-to-scale-up-efforts-to-combat-the-worlds-worst-cholera/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-airlifts-lifesaving-supplies-yemen-combat-cholera-cases-surpass-200000 and photos: https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/879984756313772033

28.6.2017 – Oxfam (* A H)

Cholera outbreak in Yemen

The agency is calling for a massive aid effort and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers tackle the cholera outbreak.

Some 39 tonnes of vital water and sanitation equipment will be loaded from Oxfam's emergency warehouse in Bicester between 10am and 2pm on Thursday 29 June, bound for Yemen as Oxfam steps up its efforts to tackle what is the world's worst cholera outbreak.

The £360,000 worth of aid will fly from Stansted airport on Friday bound for Djibouti in Africa then onto Yemen.

It includes water storage tanks, buckets, tap stands, hand washing water dispensers, water testing and purifications kits, oral rehydration sachets, insecticide sprayers, pipes and fittings.

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/oxfam-aid-being-flown-out-worlds-worst-cholera-outbreak-yemen

27.6.2017 – The Lancet (unrated A H)

Cholera in Yemen

With a fragile health-care system, war-torn Yemen now faces a second wave of cholera amid famine and lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan reports (please register)

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30352-3/abstract

27.6.2017 – Prensa Latina (* A H)

UN Reiterates Concern by Progress of Cholera in Yemen

The United Nations reiterated its concern because of the progress of cholera in Yemen, a country where more than 200,000 cases and 1,300 fatal victims, have been reported.

In his statements to the press, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned on the sitiation in Yemen, affected by a conflict that seems to have no end.
Dujarric echoed the joint declaration issued on last weekend by the UN Fund for Children (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), which regarded the outbreak of cholera in Yemen, as 'the world' s worst epidemic right now.'
Dujarric reported on the arrival of a plane with 24 tons of smedical supplies in Yemen, sent with financial resources by the UN Central Fund for Response to Emergencies.
Because of such a serious epidemic humanitarian agencies have activated 400 oral rehydration points and the WHO is training local public health workers on handling the control of the mortal disease.
However, UN insists on the urgency of a political solution for the conflict between the Yemeni government and the Shiite rebels from the Huti tribe.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=14819&SEO=un-reiterates-concern-by-progress-of-cholera-in-yemen

cp2 Allgemein / General

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

29.6.2017 – Xinhua (* B P)

News Analysis: Peace in Yemen requires all sides to drop own interests

Peace in Yemen requires efforts from local peacemakers and foreign peace backers, observers said, as all are "investing" in war for their own interests at the expense of peace.

Peace in Yemen does not require miracles, observers said, arguing that the international community at least has the decision to end a war it has authorized here.

"Internal warlords have come together with external arms sellers to serve their own interests at the expense of peace," said Adil Al-Shuja'a, a politics professor at Sanaa University.

Observers also pointed out that regrettably, foreign players don't deal with the situations in conflict zones from humanitarian aspects but rather through the prism of their own interests and deal primarily arms sales.

The UN-sponsored peace talks have always failed, and even at the last round of talks, the UN could not bring the Yemeni factions around one table.

Also, the Yemeni factions are setting tough conditions for each other.

Fuad Alsalahi, a political sociology professor at Sanaa University, said contradictions of the international community and proxy wars should be addressed to help Yemen achieve permanent peace.

"Contradictions of key foreign and regional players toward peace are so obvious. The United States and Britain for example have been involved in creative chaos and destruction in the region and at the same time are saying they working for peace," Alsalahi said.

"The other thing is that UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has been proposing arbitrary peace roadmaps and approaches that practically can't solve the crisis in accordance with the references backed by the people and the international community," Alsalahi said, adding "hence the UN is supposed to reconsider its peace mechanisms."

Yaseen Al-Tamimi, a political writer and analyst, said the Saudi-led coalition has deviated from its main goal of restoring the legitimacy of the Yemeni government and stability to other goals including the war on terror and deepening disagreements with some of its members and considering them as enemies.

"More importantly, it seems that prolonging the war is part of the plan of the Saudi-led coalition in order to exhaust the country and in the end to impose solutions that first serve the interests of regional and international players," Al-Tamimi said.

"Moreover, the failure to achieve a decisive military victory coinciding with horrible consequences of the war is apparently forcing regional and international players to resort to ugly options," he said – by Fuad Rajeh

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-06/29/c_136404808.htm

29.6.2017 – Al Madaniya (* B P)

Seeds of Civil Society Due to the current war, Yemenis can no longer count on the state in realizing their dream of establishing a ‘civil state’.

Placing the responsibility for and leadership of the country in civilian hands, while military and security personnel remain on the sidelines, is the minimum indicator of a civil state.

Today, we see combatants leading the scene, imposing their vision of the state, which is by nature a military one. It uses civilians as tools only to enable its power and to keep the status quo.

What is our role then, as intellectuals? How can we create balance between the military and the civil state? One possible solution is for us to unite and develop a civil society.

A civil society can reverse the equation and form a powerful challenge to the de facto authority by creating a civilian-led state, if it demonstrates effective cohesion and a unity of opinion and speech.

At the moment society is fragmented, and intellectuals, as the vanguards of the desired ‘civil society’, need to be involved in organizing and bringing our society together.

Intellectuals are the most solid element of civil society, and the striking force that can take Yemen out of the cycle of conflicts and wars, to a path of peace, prosperity and development.

Just as society is polarized and communities are lost to one another, so it is the case that Yemeni intellectuals are enmeshed in issues that do not concern them.

Intellectuals should set aside all political issues of dispute, and focus solely on wider culture: arts, literature and science.

The intellectual should not follow crowds, who are driven by emotion rather than a combination of emotion and reason.

Politicians engage in games and are skilled in manipulating the public, but it is unbefitting for the intellectual to follow suit and cheer on.

Thankfully, we have an abundance of individuals who are already engaged in politics. Therefore, you intellectuals are not needed. If you seek politics, you will not add anything; your natural role, where you are needed most, is to create and establish a civil society.

Civil society will not simply happen, it needs more than a thousand cultural institutions, distributed throughout the country from corner to corner – by Wajdi Al-Ahdal

https://www.almadaniyamag.com/english/2017/6/25/seeds-of-civil-society

29.6.2017 – Atlantic Council (* B P)

Is the Status Quo Approach to Yemen Insane?

If the definition of insanity is doing something repeatedly and expecting a different result, then the world’s approach to the Yemen conflict amounts to insanity. While the purgatories of the Syrian civil war, global terrorism, and Iraqi sectarianism persist, it is clear that the West has become exhausted with crises in the greater Middle East. However, assuming that the international community is serious about ending the conflict, it is reasonable to ask why an innovative resolution remains out of reach.

Yet the true insanity is continuing down a path with little expectation of success.
The conflict is usually presented as a complicated power struggle.

As the new US administration reportedly weighs a new Yemen strategy, it is worth considering the end game. The ultimate objective of policymakers should be a peace settlement that relieves the suffering of Yemen’s civilians.

Why not peace?
First and most importantly, policymakers need to recognize that the war in Yemen continues because the belligerents do not yet believe that peace is in their interest. This is why successive peace dialogues since the 2011 political transition have all failed. The Houthis and the Islah Party (the Muslim Brotherhood’s Yemen affiliate)—not to mention Saleh and Hadi—see a potential defeat in existential terms. They each view the war as a zero-sum game.

Second, an additional zero-sum game at the regional level further complicates peace efforts. In the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Yemen is another battle field, both politically and militarily.

The deep historical roots of the social, economic, and political incentives to fight negate a military-only solution to the conflict. No matter how much effort is devoted to standard UN-led negotiations, peace will require a complete reimagining of the negotiating parameters.

Having their pie and eating it, too
Future negotiations need to focus on changing the local and regional belligerents’ calculus. At both levels, there are three options: raising the cost of conflict, reducing the costs for peace, or some combination of both.

If the regional and international players are serious about bringing peace to Yemen, neither history nor prejudice ought to preempt any opportunity. Rather than allowing Yemen to spiral into another Syria, all sides must reject complacency and repetition. Peace will only result when all these disparate actors have both the incentive and the assurance of security to lay down their arms and participate in a national reconciliation that is accepted and supported by regional powers. By this point it is clear that only creativity will be sufficient to bring the parties together. And while detractors may deny the rationality of new negotiations, it should be clear that the only insanity would be to prolong the suffering of millions of Yemenis trapped in civil war – by Abdulwahab Alkebsi

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/is-the-status-quo-approach-to-yemen-insane

28.6.2017 – Suhf Net (* A P)

US-Gulf agreement to end the war in Yemen before September and its separation into two regions!

Yemen's ambassador to Washington Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said that the US administration and some of the countries of Aruba, China, Egypt and the Gulf countries are seeking to end the war in Yemen before September this year.

The sources claimed, quoting Ibn Mubarak, that these countries agreed in principle to turn Yemen into two northern and southern regions and disarming heavy weapons of all armed individuals and groups outside the Yemeni army and the return of all southern leaders who were sentenced to death during the summer war in 1994.

It is noteworthy that we have not been able to verify the validity of these leaks, especially since the Yemeni ambassador to Washington, "Ben Mubarak" has not issued any comment until the moment on what was quoted on his tongue, denial or proof.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191265 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191265

My comment: This does not sound probable anyway

28.6.2017 – Press TV Iran (* B K P)

Film: Saudis may have US permission to kill Yemenis: Analyst

The Saudi kingdom has a green light from the United States and its allies to inflict death and destruction on Yemen, says an analyst.

“The Saudis were given literally permission by the United States and the rest of the international community ... to do whatever” they want in Yemen, Catherine Shakdam told Press TV on Wednesday.

“We are in a situation where criminality has been actually legitimized, rationalized and excused by the international community,” the director of the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies said.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/28/526785/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US

My comment: Of course they have (UN Security Council resolution 2216 from April 2015 shows this without doubt). Otherwise, the bombing war would have been at its end for long. And even worde: The Saudis do not only have US “permission”, but a heavy US support.

28.6.2017 – Global Voices (* B P)

Caught Between Saudi Coalition and Houthi Rebels, Yemeni Journalists Face Challenges on All Sides

Yet, this conflict has come to be known as the “forgotten war“, and what exacerbates the lack of media coverage are the risks journalists and media in Yemen face. At a time when the voices of Yemeni journalists and media are most needed, they are instead being silenced by the different warring parties.

“In light of the war, journalists have been targeted deliberately and systematically because of their work”, Sweden based Yemeni blogger and journalist Afrah Nasser told Global Voices in an e-mail interview.

“The armed group of Ansar Allah (Houthis) and the forces of the former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh top the list of violations of press and media freedom in the country,” Taha Yaseen, media and communication officer at the Yemen based Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, told Global Voices. Mwatna documented violations that include arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, raids against media offices, the closure and confiscations of newspapers, unfair trials, and the blocking of websites.

Houthis impose Internet censorship

Days after Saudi Arabia began its airstrike campaign against Houthi rebels in March 2015, state-owned Yemen Net, the largest internet service provider in the country, blocked several news and search websites. YemenNet and other government buildings and institutions including the ministry of communication and information have been under the control of Houthi militias since January 2015, making it easy for them to censor and block websites that challenge their narrative.

Blocked websites include online media sites that have been critical of the Houthis and their rights abuses such as Yemen Press and Mareb Press. Later, the Houthis also blocked websites of the Saudi-onwed Al-Arabiya, and the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera.

For two years, the Houthis have been arbitrarily detaining nine journalists without charge or trial.

On 9 June, nine organizations including Amnesty International, Article19 and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GC4HR), released a joint statement calling for the journalists’ release.

Yet, Houthis rebels are not the only group responsible for violations against journalists and media. Several journalists were killed by Saudi-coalition airstrikes. On 17 January 2016, freelance journalist Almigdad Mojalli was killed by a Saudi-led coalition airstrike outside the capital Sanaa. Almigdad was on assignment for Voice of America, but he also covered the conflict for The Telegraph and the humanitarian news and analysis agency IRIN. Few days later, 17 year-old cameraman Hashim al-Hamran died in hospital after he was seriously injured by another coalition airstrike. Al-Hamran was reporting for the Houthi-affiliated al-Masirah TV, in the town of Dahyan, in Saada province.

In areas that are under the control of Hadi and his forces, journalists are also targeted, detained and even tortured, Yaseen said. His organisation also documented the kidnapping of at least two journalists by jihadi groups affiliated with the Popular Resistance, formed to defend Taiz against Houthis’ advances.

These violations and pressures are having a disastrous impact on independent media in Yemen and the coverage of the war.

“There is no independent media covering the reality of the situation in Yemen”, Fatima al-Aghbari, a Yemen based editor at the Yemeni Media Center, who covers politics and human rights, told Global Voices. She adds:

If there is a journalist in one area, he/she raises suspicions and could be at risk unless they report what any party from the [warring] parties would like to see reported

For Nasser, the war's coverage has turned into a “battle-zone”. She says:

Each side in the war portraits only its “truth” [and its] totally incomplete picture of the situation. As a result, you find a great deal of war propaganda. No middle ground for any other type of media; local independent press suffers a great deal and it has collapsed.

In a statement published on the occasion of Word Press Freedom Day, Mwatana warned that press freedom in Yemen is facing “eradication”

As there is no end in sight to the war in Yemen, journalists will continue to face risks that threaten their safety and freedom – by Afef Abrougui

https://globalvoices.org/2017/06/28/caught-between-saudi-coalition-and-houthi-rebels-yemeni-journalists-face-challenges-on-all-sides/

28.6.2017 – AP (* B H K P)

FROM DESTRUCTION TO CHOLERA, YEMEN WAR BRINGS DISASTERS

More than two years of civil war have led to continually compounding disasters in Yemen. Fighting rages on in a deadly stalemate. The economy has been bombed into ruins. Hunger is widespread, and a new misery has been added: the world's biggest current outbreak of cholera, with more than 200,000 cases.

Here is a look at the multiple levels on which the war has devastated the country of 26 million, which even before the conflict was the Arab world's poorest nation.

HUMANITARIAN DISASTER

Dealing with cholera is pulling away resources and food meant to go to battling famine, warned the U.N. humanitarian chief in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick.

Yemen long struggled with malnutrition. But the coalition embargo and the fighting have wrecked distribution systems and tipped the country into near famine.

A child under the age of five dies every 10 minutes of preventable causes, and 2.2 million babies, boys and girls, are acutely malnourished with almost half a million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a 63 percent increase since late 2015

DEVASTATED NORTH

Coalition warplanes have pounded the north relentlessly

SOUTHERN DIVISIONS

Billboards and posters praising the UAE are all around the streets of the southern city of Aden, ostensibly the headquarters of Hadi's government. Often pictured on the posters as well are leaders of Emirati-backed security forces alongside flags of the former independent nation of South Yemen, which secessionists dream of creating once more.

After the Houthis were pushed back, the UAE created security forces such as the Hadramawt Elite in the city of Mukalla and the Security Belt in Aden, better armed and trained than Hadi's forces.

Many of the UAE-backed officials belong to the Southern Movement, or Hirak, which seeks the south's independence. That has fueled tension with Hadi, an advocate for a six-state federation in Yemen – BY MAGGIE MICHAEL

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN_COMPOUNDING_DISASTERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-06-28-12-17-06

My comment: A good short overview.

27.6.2017 – Vox (* A K P)

The shocking cynicism of Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war, in one quote

During a roundtable briefing with reporters Tuesday, I asked Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir about how he would justify the enormous human toll. His answer, delivered in the calmest of tones, managed to be both accurate and strikingly cynical.

“The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a tragedy,” Jubeir told me. “We have been the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in the world, by far, to Yemen.”

This appears to be, in a very technical sense, true. The Saudi government has donated about $848 million in humanitarian aid since its war in Yemen began in late March 2015 perSaudi government figures. The UAE, which is part of a multinational coalition assisting the Saudi bombing campaign, is insecond place(donating about$500 millionin the past two years).

Yet this talking point is, on a more fundamental level, absurd.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have imposed a blockade on imports to Yemen both overseas and via air, only allowing the food and medicine they decide to let in. This blockade, combined with bombing raids targeting civilian infrastructure, is the key reason why the humanitarian situation is so dire.

The cholera outbreak is an especially clear and grim example. Cholera is spread through dirty water; in January of last year, Saudi jetsblew up the desalination plantserving the large city of Taiz, forcing people to turn to dirtier water. Cholera is fairly easy to treat with antibiotics; the Saudi blockade ensures that there’s a shortage, allowing the disease to spread.

So you can see why Jubeir claiming credit for funding humanitarian relief efforts in Yemen is so unconvincing. It’s like someone burning down your house, leaving a sack of cash on your doorstep, and then claiming they’ve done more to get you through the catastrophe than anyone else – byZack Beauchamp

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/6/27/15881136/saudi-arabia-foreign-minister-yemen-humanitarian

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1a

29.6.2017 – EU Observer (* A H)

UN: Over half a million children risk dying of hunger

Over half a million children will soon die in northeastern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen, if food is not delivered.

"We are not talking about fake news here, we are talking about 600,000 children who are literally going to die in the next three to four months," David Beasley, who heads the World Food Programme (WFP), told EUobserver earlier this week.

The stark warning comes ahead of a WFP funding shortfall that risks further aggravating what Beasley has described as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.

Beasley, who was in Brussels as part of a tour to raise funds, said that the Rome-based humanitarian organisation needs just under €1 billion for the next six months to feed 17 million people in all four countries.

Of those, around 1.4 million are severely malnourished children.

Cuts in funding in 2015 among EU states to the organisation, a branch of the United Nations, are said to have deepened the problem.

Saudis should fund aid to Yemen

The EU and member states are starting to pay more, but other countries around the world are falling behind, Beasley said.

"If you are not going to give us the money we need to feed the children, the people, then stop the conflict," he said, referring to a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

To fund all aid for Yemen, Beasley said he would be launching an appeal to Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States.

"The Saudis ought to be funding 100 percent of the humanitarian needs there, no question. The Gulf States need to be stepping up more," he said.

"I'm not talking about pledging, I am talking about writing the cheques," he added – by Nikolaj Nielsen

https://euobserver.com/migration/138380

My comment: “Saudis should fund aid to Yemen”: Oh well. – But do they really not realize that Saudi Arabia even could do much better by spending no more Cent on Yemen? By simply stopping the aerial war and by ending the Yemen blockade???

28.6.2017 – Casa Arabe (B H P)

Film: Women and political resistance in Yemen (ENG)

Casa Árabe invited the journalist and blogger Afrah Nasser to analyze the ties linking gender, culture, Islam, power and social change in Yemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkAIlToMwTA

27.6.2017 – SRF (* A H)

Bomben, Hunger, Cholera

Die humanitäre Lage im Bürgerkriegsland wird immer unerträglicher. Ein Mitarbeiter des Roten Kreuzes zeichnet ein düsteres Bild.

Dominik Stillhart war vor rund einem Monat im Jemen, als die Behörden den Notstand ausriefen. Stillhart besuchte zwei Spitäler in der Hauptstadt Sanaa, und er zeigt sich erschüttert: «Hunderte Menschen kamen rein, die Spitäler waren völlig überwältigt vom Ansturm: Bis zu vier Patienten lagen in einem einzigen Bett, darunter lagen weitere.»

Die Krankheit grassiert vor allem in den nördlichen Provinzen sowie in der Hauptstadt Sanaa. Millionen Menschen haben keinen regelmässigen Zugang zu sauberem Trinkwasser und Kanalisation mehr, berichtet der IKRK-Mitarbeiter, und «viele Spitäler mussten ganz einfach schliessen, weil es keinen Treibstoff und keine Medikamente mehr gibt.»

Dafür trafen die Bombardements oft die Infrastruktur des Landes: «Der Konflikt hat das Gesundheitssystem, ja das ganze Land an den Rand des Zusammenbruchs geführt», sagt Stillhart. Rund die Hälfte der Gesundheitseinrichtungen wurden wegen der Kämpfe zerstört.

Das IKRK versucht so gut es geht, Hilfsgüter und Medizin in das kriegsgeschundene Land zu bringen. In siebzehn verschiedenen Behandlungszentren gegen die Cholera-Epidemie sei das Rote Kreuz mittlerweile tätig – auch in allen zentralen Gefängnissen: «Sie sind Horte der Infektion, und sie dürfen auf keinen Fall befallen werden», sagt Stillhart.

Die Arbeit im Bürgerkriegsland gestaltet sich gefährlich: «Der Krieg wird brutal geführt. Es ist extrem, vor Ort zu arbeiten.»

«Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass sich die Zahl der Infektionen von derzeit 200‘000 noch verdoppeln wird. Die Situation für die Jemeniten ist extrem schwierig, denn zusätzlich haben zehn Millionen Menschen nicht genug Nahrungsmittel.» (mit Audio-Interview)

https://www.srf.ch/news/international/bomben-hunger-cholera

26.6.2017 – World Food Programme (A H)

Infographic: Fighting Famine Dashboard, 26 June 2017

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/fighting-famine-dashboard-26-june-2017 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/wfp292421.pdf

31.5.2017 – UN Children's Fund (* A H)

UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report (May 2017)

Highlights

• By the end of May, over 65,000 suspected cases of cholera and at least 532 deaths have been reported, the number of cases increases by the minute*. The outbreak is making an already dire situation for children in Yemen much worse. Almost half of the suspected cases are children.

• The situation is overwhelming for what remains of Yemen’s conflict-battered health system. Hospitals and health facilities are struggling to cope. There is a shortage of health workers, many of whom have not been paid for months.

• UNICEF and partners have been able to support nearly 2.5 million people in cholera-affected or at-risk locations by airlifting essential supplies for treatment, providing safe water through rehabilitation and disinfection of water sources and containers, as well creating awareness among the public on how to prevent cholera.

• With the Health system working at the limits of its capacity, the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme becomes even more critical to treat and prevent malnutrition. Over 16,500 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in May and nearly 7,000 received micronutrient supplementation.

• The Tetanus Toxoid (TT) vaccination round launched on 29 April was completed on 11 May in 46 High Risk Districts, reaching 36,774 pregnant women and 323,140 women of child bearing age.

• Over 70 per cent of teachers in Yemen have not received their salaries in the past eight months. The situation forced the early closure of the school year in 13 governorates, affecting nearly 4.5 million students.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

The humanitarian situation in Yemen is appalling and continues to deteriorate. In addition to the protracted conflict, the nutrition and food security crisis, and the economic and institutional collapse; the cholera outbreak keeps spreading at an alarming pace further stretching the already limited public systems capacities.

UNICEF and humanitarian partners, in coordination with authorities at all levels, have scaled up the integrated emergency response

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-may-2017 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Yemen%20Humanitarian%20Situation%20Report%20May%202017.pdf

25.6.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (A H)

Dr Ali Mahioub, MSF surgeon at Al-Salam hospital in Khamer, Amran governorate , tells us about a patient’s story:

"One day while I was checking my Facebook, I came across a post about a six-year-old child called Naser. He had an accident in which his body suffered from third degree burns. The person who posted about Naser was asking people to help and provide medicine for the child. As a doctor, I knew that medicine will not benefit him as the burns were deep. Only a skin graft surgery will end his suffering. I felt sorry for him and contacted our project coordinator right away to discuss the possibility of performing the operations for him here at the hospital where I am working. After I received permission, I contacted the family on the phone number that was provided in the Facebook post. I told the person who answered the phone that I am a surgeon working at Al-Salam Hospital in Khamer and that we could do skin graft operations for Naser. Finally, Naser arrived from Anss district, Dhamar to our hospital. When Naser and his mother arrived, we got to know that he had been suffering from the burns for three months already. Today, Naser is undergoing surgical treatment. We have done several operations for him to clean the wound as well as some skin graft operations. I am glad he is recovering now.

MSF has been working on AL-Salam Hospital in Khamer, Amran governorate since 2010. MSF teams provide emergency medical care and treat patients from Amran and the surrounding area (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/MSF.Yemen/posts/1361501880624763

6.2017 – Wikipedia (* B H)

2016–17 Yemen cholera outbreak

In October 2016, an outbreak of cholera began in Yemen.[1] By mid-March 2017, the outbreak was in decline,[2] but it has resurged since 27 April 2017[3] – reportedly after the sewer system in the capital of Sana'aceased functioning[4] – and remains ongoing as of June 2017.[5][6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Yemen_cholera_outbreak

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

28.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Houthi gunmen blow up a house in Asilan district, west of Shabwa

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191795 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191795

28.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Houthi elements resort to kill a 10-year-old boy threatened to reveal Houthis stole the stores of Camp K 16

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191797 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191797

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Siehe / Look at cp1

30.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Reformist leader: Saudi Arabia has turned itself into a travesty because of its opportunism, ordering its allies and betraying them

A leader of Yemen's Yemeni Reform Party (YSP) attacked the Saudi government, accusing it of trying to occupy Yemen instead of liberating it.

Khalid al-Ansi launched a fierce attack on the Saudi administration, claiming that the Yemenis gave Saudi Arabia a historic opportunity to save itself and to go beyond its mistakes, but missed that opportunity when dealing with it as an opportunity to control Yemen instead of liberating and liberating it.

He added: "Two years of war, where # Saudi Arabia was unable to resolve the battle and not even protect itself from the shells of the militias ..!

She [Saudi Arabia] turned herself into a joke because of her opportunism and ordered her allies and betrayed them ..!

We have warned them of tampering with the war in Yemen, and that tampering with it is not like tampering with the war in Syria, but it is arrogant and has only listened to the voices of hypocrisy that lead to failure and destruction.

This is the first such statement by a Brotherhood leader attacking Saudi Arabia in such a violent manner.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/192075 and in translation https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F192075

29.6.2017 – Gulf News (* A P)

Yemen’s president dismisses three governors

Men had joined a separatist council

Yemen’s internationally-recognised president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Wednesday dismissed three leaders of liberated provinces who recently joined a separatist council as his forces made new territorial gains in the province of Marib. Hadi issued a presidential decree, firing the governors of Hadramout, Shabwa and the remote island of Socotra, a move that could worsen his government’s strained relationship with south Yemen separatists who played a pivotal role in driving Al Houthis out of southern Yemen in late 2015.

Major General Ahmad Saeed Bin Bourek, the governor of Hadramout since UAE-backed forces regained control of the province’s capital in April 2016, was replaced with Major General Faraj Salmeen Al Bahsani, the commander of Mukalla-based 2nd Military Region. The other two governors were replaced with less known officials.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-s-president-dismisses-three-governors-1.2050883 and also https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/06/29/Yemen-s-president-appoints-new-governors-for-Shabwa-Hadramout-and-Socotra-.html and by Critical Threats: https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-29-2017

and

28.6.2017 – Suhf Net (* A P)

Urgent: President Hadi ousts three members of the separatist council from their posts in the state after giving them a deadline to retreat

President Hadi ousts three members of the separatist council from their posts in the state after giving them time to retreat

President Abdurbo Mansour Hadi was ousted in the early hours of Thursday by three governors of southern provinces who were named as members of the so-called southern transitional council after giving them a previous presidential statement to withdraw from the council.

President Hadi issued republican decrees, deposing the governor of Hadramout Ahmed Said Ben Brik, governor of Shabwa Ahmed Hamed Lemels and governor of Socotra Salim Abdullah al-Saktari, about two months after they endorsed the declaration of the southern transitional council headed by former governor ofAden , Major General Idruss al-Zubaidi .

The Presidency of Yemen has rejected the formation of a so-called transitional southern council to administer and represent the south. In a presidential statement, the presidency called on all officials and others named in the council to declare a clear and clear position.

The statement came after he announced in the city of Aden in southern Yemen the formation of the so-called "Presidency of the Southern Transitional Council" of 26 personalities headed by the governor of Aden, Idruse Zubaidi, and his deputy Hani Ben Brik.

On Thursday, President Hadi issued three republican decrees appointing Maj. Gen. Faraj Salmin al-Behesni as governor of Hadramout while remaining commander of the second military zone, appointing Ali bin Rashid al-Harithi as governor of Shabwa governorate and appointing Ahmed Abdullah Ali al-Sakhtari as governor of Socotra.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191547 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191547 andHadi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HadiPresident/status/880185211136475136

and

30.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Council of secession of the south presents serious threats to legitimacy in response to the decisions of President Hadi (text of the statement)

The Council of the secession of the South presents serious threats to legitimacy in response to the decisions of President Hadi (text of the statement)

The so-called southern transitional council, headed by the governor of Aden, Idruse al-Zubaidi, issued a statement to respond to the decisions of President Abdurbo Mansour Hadi to dump the governors of Hadramout, Shabwa and Socotra who refused to give up their membership in this council, which seeks to secede the south and the coup against the legitimacy and the Arab alliance led by Saudi Arabia .

The Council's statement considered these decisions as targeting the southern issue and the aspirations of its legitimate people, stressing its rejection of any previous and subsequent decisions aimed at isolating the southern leaderships.

The " Yemeni scene " published the text of the statement issued by the so-called Southern Transition Council "

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/192059 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F192059&edit-text=

30.6.2017 – Suhf Net (* A P)

The Southern Transitional Council declares its rejection of Hadi's decisions and calls for a new mass rally

The statement of the Southern Transitional Council rejects the resolutions of the legitimacy of the removal of the conservatives and call for May 7 May in Aden.

The leadership of the Southern Transitional Council, with your mandate and in response to your calls, affirms its categorical rejection of the presidential decisions issued this morning on the 29th of June and consider them as if they were not and will not deal with it and the situation will remain the same with the conservatives.

On this occasion, we called upon our southern people to join the millions in the capital Aden on July 7, 2017, condemning the military occupation of the south on July 7, 1994 and expressing the rejection of the people of the south to the leaders of the south. They are still working against their will to reoccupy them.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/192074 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F192074

and also

29.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

The southern movement of Shabwa threatens escalating measures in response to the decision to sack the governor Meles

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191941 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191941

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A P)

Yemen Security Brief

Taiz-based militias protested over the Hadi government’s distribution of salaries on June 27. Protesters started fires in the streets of central Taiz city, demanding payment and the reinstatement of their names on the government payroll. The Hadi government has delayed many salary payments for nearly 10 months despite allegedly importing billions of Russian-printed riyals on June 1.[5]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri opened an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)-released nashid (chant) on June 27. Zawahiri began the video by encouraging jihad and praising al Qaeda martyrs. AQAP is acting as a primary conduit for al Qaeda global propaganda.[1]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017

28.6.2017 – Press TV Iran (A T)

Qaeda attack kills three Hadi loyalists in Yemen's Hadhramaut

At least three militiamen loyal to Yemen's resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have been killed when suspected members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) launched an attack against a military zone in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadhramaut.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that three Hadi loyalists “were killed in the attack on the first military zone in Qatn district, and the gunmen managed to get away.”

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/28/526790/Qaeda-terrorists-kill-Yemeni-militiamen-loyal-Abd-Rabbuh-Mansur-Hadi

and

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Suspected AQAP gunmen assassinated Yemeni Colonel Qasim Ahmed Ghazi and his assistant Zakaria Hussein Ghazi at al Qatn market in central Hadramawt governorate on June 28.

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017 and photos: https://twitter.com/TerrorMonitorAR/status/880093894364581889

28.6.2017 – Fars News (A P)

UAE Agent Returns to Yemen in Light of Mohammed Bin Salman's Succession to Power in S. Arabia

Former Deputy of fugitive Yemeni president, Khaled Mahfouz Bahah, who is affiliated to the UAE returned to Yemen as one of the first aftermaths of the dramatic changes in Saudi Arabia.

The plane carrying Bahah, Mansour Hadi Abdrabbuh's former deputy, landed in Yemen's al-Rayan airport which is merely open to the Saudi-led coalition aircraft.

The UAE is making new efforts to return Bahah to Yemen's political scene and raise him to higher ranks among the Yemeni mercenaries who are supported by Doha and Riyadh.

The UAE hopes that such attempts would also further marginalize Mansour Hadi, who is residing in Riyadh, after the recent developments in Saudi Arabia.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960407001005

30.6.2017 - Critical Threats (A P)

Yemen security brief

Members of Aden’s counterterrorism team assaulted and detained traffic officers in Adencity on June 29. A widely circulated video of the incident depicts the soldiers forcing the traffic officers to lie down on the street before taking them to an unknown area. A commander in Aden’s counterterrorism unit announced that the soldiers were relieved from their duty, denied pay, and sentenced to four months imprisonment on June 29.[4]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-30-2017

and

28.6.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

A painful video of gunmen in the heart of the capital of legitimacy!

Gunmen insulted and humiliated a traffic policeman in the city of Aden , the temporary capital of legitimacy, in broad daylight, in a scene that aroused widespread public condemnation.

Local sources told al-Mashhad al-Yemeni that the traffic policeman prevented an officer from one of the armed groups in the city from passing by in a different way in the tour of the "Gold Moore", which was the latter but returned to the place after he summoned other armed elements, who assaulted a policeman Passing through the eyes of passers-by and forcing him to lie down on the ground in an attempt to persevere in insulting and humiliating him.

The video was highly repugnant to social networking leaders, who called for the arrest of the "gang cell" as they were described and the most severe punishment.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/191437 and in translation: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=ar&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suhf.net%2Fyemen%2F191437 and also at https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/880188556748226560 and https://twitter.com/yossif181/status/880213884057124865

27.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A P)

Yemen Security Brief

Khaled Bahah, former Yemeni prime minister and vice president, traveled to al Mukalla city, Hadramawt governorate on June 26. He announced the reopening of the al Rayyan Airport, which had been closed since the start of Saudi-led coalition operations in Yemen in March 2015. Bahah recently held a meeting in Saudi Arabia with southern political leaders and is reportedly close to Emirati leadership. President Hadi removed Bahah from his government positions in April 2016.[2]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-27-2017

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

29.6.2017 – UN Special Envoy (A P

Discussed new initiatives to move forward with the peace process with French Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne

https://twitter.com/OSESGY/status/880520243550072832

My comment: Unless there is no real new approach treating all parties oft he conflict as equal – which would require a totally new UNSC resolution also – all this is void activity. He could discuss this with Russian, Brazil, Spanish, South African, Swiss and other ministers, Yemen still would be the field of sincere ativity.

cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran

30.9.2017 – Australian Strategy Police Institute (* B P)

A Cold War turning hot in the Middle East

The Cold War in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran is coming to a head. So far carried out with the help of proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere, it’s in danger of turning into a military confrontation between the two regional powers.

A number of factors indicate that the Great Game is entering its most dangerous phase. First, the battle against the Islamic State has reached its final phase. As the territory under IS control has shrunk and as the fall of the IS appeared imminent, it has set off a fierce competition among various players, not just Saudi Arabia and Iran, to take control of strategically important vacated territories, not least in eastern Syria.

While this may be an exaggeration, the increasingly frequent reports of Americans bombing Iranian backed militia and Assad forces in eastern Syria indicate that Washington takes that assessment seriously. Since the Saudis have little direct military presence in Syria other than their material support to rebel groups that have increasingly proved ineffective, anti-Iranian American actions in Syria can be interpreted as protecting Saudi interests in the Middle East in addition to advancing American objectives directed at containing Iran.

As if the escalations in Syria wasn’t enough, Saudi Arabia, increasingly nervous about losing ground to Iran in its own backyard, orchestrated a crisis in the Gulf this month by imposing a blockade on its small next-door neighbor Qatar with the help of UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and the ineffectual governments of Yemen and Libya – by Mohammed Ayoob

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/cold-war-turning-hot-middle-east/

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/cold-war-turning-hot-middle-east/

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

Siehe / Look at cp1

29.6.2017 – Telegraph (* A P)

Deposed Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Nayaf 'confined to his palace'

The former crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who was deposed last week to make way for the king’s ambitious 31-year-old son, has reportedly been confined to his palace and banned from leaving the country.

According to the New York Times, bin Nayaf has now been told he cannot leave his palace in the coastal city of Jeddah and must stay inside Saudi Arabia. His personal bodyguards have reportedly been replaced by forces loyal to the new crown prince.

If confirmed, the move appears to be a palace intrigue by bin Salman aimed at constraining his deposed relative and giving himself space to consolidate his own power in Riyadh.

The report undermines a narrative of unity put forward by Saudi state media, which was at pains to show unity between the two princes and to stress that there was no resentment from bin Nayaf towards the man who had taken his place in the royal line of succession – by Raf Sanchez

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/29/deposed-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-nayafconfined-palace/

28.6.2017 – Tagesspiegel (* A P)

Muhammad Bin Salman - der Alleinherrscher

Die neue Thronfolgeregelung in Saudi-Arabien und macht aus einer Oligarchie eine Autokratie. Eine Gastanalyse

Formal läuft alles auf den Übergang der Macht auf die unmittelbaren Nachkommen des heutigen Königs hinaus – und damit von einer Oligarchie zu einer Autokratie.

Mit dieser Neuregelung wird eine grundlegende Veränderung des politischen Systems zementiert, die sich in Saudi-Arabien in den letzten zwei Jahren bereits angedeutet hat. Salman und sein Sohn Muhammad setzen ihre Entscheidungen rasch und mit immer weniger Rücksicht auf den Rest der Familie durch, so dass der vorher sehr träge und langsame Regierungsbetrieb viel effektiver wurde. Gleichzeitig wurde er auch unberechenbarer, vor allem da Bin Salman, der keine Qualifikation besitzt, außer der Lieblingssohn des Königs zu sein, weitgehend freie Hand bekam.

Die Ähnlichkeiten zwischen der "Vision 2030" und der Politik der VAE kommt nicht von ungefähr, denn der Kronprinz von Abu Dhabi und starke Mann der VAE, Muhammad Bin Zayed, gilt als politischer Mentor des jungen Saudis. Auch in der Außen- und Verteidigungspolitik folgt Bin Salman dem Vorbild Abu Dhabis.

Das große gemeinsame Projekt ist aber der Krieg in Jemen, der zeigt, wie aggressiv die saudi-arabische Außenpolitik unter Muhammad Bin Salman geworden ist – und welch katastrophale Folgen sie für Jemen, aber auch für Saudi-Arabien hat.

Dass der Krieg in Jemen ein Indiz für eine insgesamt unberechenbarere und aggressivere saudi-arabische Außenpolitik ist, zeigte sich zuletzt an der Krise mit Katar.

Auf diese Weise dürfte Saudi-Arabien in den kommenden Jahren ein noch schwierigerer Partner werden, als es dies ohnehin schon ist. König Salman und Kronprinz Muhammad Bin Salman als uneingeschränkte Herrscher befeuern Konflikte eher, als dass sie sie lösen oder zumindest entschärfen. Das ist weder im saudi-arabischen noch im deutschen Interesse – von Guido Steinberg

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/saudi-arabien-muhammad-bin-salman-der-alleinherrscher/19991230.html

28.6.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* A P)

Saudi official: Relations with Israel will be based on mutual interests

Saudi Arabia will normalise its relations with Israel if the latter accepts the Arab Initiative, the Director of the Middle East Centre for Strategic and Legal Studies, Anwar Eshki, has said.

In an interview with the German channel Deutsche Welle, the former general in the Saudi armed forces, said: “The normalisation of relations with Israel depends on their approval of the Arab Initiative which was launched in 2002 by King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz with the aim of achieving peace in the Middle East and between Israel and Palestine, establishing an internationally recognised Palestinian state in 1967 and guaranteeing the return of refugees and Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights.”

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170628-saudi-official-relations-with-israel-will-be-based-on-mutual-interests/

28.6.2017 – Fars News (* A P)

Bin Salman Orders Royal Guards to Keep Ex-Crown Prince under House Arrest

Sources in the Saudi royal guards revealed that new crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has ordered them to keep the ousted crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, under house arrest.

"The Saudi royal guards have been ordered to permanently deploy at the palace where Mohammed bin Nayef, the former Saudi crown prince, resides in Riyadh," informed royal guards sources told al-Khalij al-Jadid news website.

They added that the order means bin Nayef is house arrest.

Also, al-Ahd al-Jadid news website reported on its twitter page that Mohammed bin Salman has ordered to put 5 Saudi princes and a number of interior ministry officers under house arrest for their continued contacts with bin Nayef after he was dethroned by the Saudi king Salman.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960407000220 = http://newnewss.net/?p=7007

28.6.2017 – Josephjo1221 (A P)
Film: A Saudi cleric on Wesal channel says we will delight in the suffering and siege of the sheikhs, children and women in Saada province.

https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/880173129485737984

26.6.2017 – Bloomberg (A E P)

Why Investors Shy Away From Saudi Arabia

Falling oil prices and a region mired in conflict have made a new economic model more urgent than ever.

As oil prices have slumped into the low $40s per barrel, a new economic model that would offset the losses for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is more urgent than ever, yet multiple Middle Eastern conflicts are making that tougher to achieve. It's clear that oil, gas, refining and petrochemicals alone cannot provide the jobs and diversification that the Middle East needs.

Put simply, a continual stream of bad news and threatened disruptions to business deters new investors, especially those from far away who lack the know-how to pick their way through local complexities. The scale of the challenge is stark, even for Saudi Arabia by Robin M. Mills

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-28/why-investors-shy-away-from-saudi-arabia

cp9 USA

Siehe / Look at cp1

29.6.2017 – Fox News (A P)

Trump foreign policy: American military increasingly involved in Yemen civil war

Some fear the United States is getting sucked into another fight without end.

“The way we're dealing with failed states in the Middle East is on a ‘whack-a-mole’ kind of approach which means we kind of deal with the crisis of the moment,” said former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta in an interview with Fox News.

Panetta worries the U.S. may be bowing too much to pressure from Saudi Arabia to get further involved militarily in Yemen in what is looking more like a proxy war against Iran and the Houthis they are backing.

The former U.S. ambassador, who left Yemen at the start of the Arab Spring in 2010,had this warning:

“There is a proclivity to stumble into these wars, into these conflicts if you will and I think that's the danger,” Seche said. “This is a low level conflict that then grows and our interest and our involvement in it grows and it almost sneaks up behind you until you realize that you are knee deep in the muck, and it's very hard to extricate yourself at that point.” – By Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/29/trump-foreign-policy-american-military-increasingly-involved-in-yemen-civil-war.html

Comment: It is not properly a civil war. It is an aggression.
The narrative of Fox News (Faux-News) is so propagandistic and inconsistent, disconnected from facts, we share this article only as a proof of what propaganda war machine can look like.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1418927831493576

29.6.2017 – Kentucky.com (* B K P)

Arming Saudi Arabia is not best solution for U.S.

How can we Americans allow our government to assist Saudi Arabia in this brutal war by allowing its government to purchase sophisticated weaponry developed using our tax dollars? It’s blood on our hands.

American involvement in this brutal war will come back to haunt us and our children. It is in this sort of humanitarian nightmare of slaughter, starvation and disease that new terrorists are created. And these terrorists will never forget what role the U.S. played.

The counterarguments: Our other Kentuckian in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, acknowledging the loss of civilian life in the war thus far, urges that “precision-guided” weapons are just what the Saudi military needs in order to limit future civilian casualties.

This argument utterly ignores that the Saudi military is pursuing a strategy of starving the population of Yemen into submission. The problem is not so much the munitions, but the lack of respect for international humanitarian law.

Sen. Lindsey Graham put forward the other main argument: The U.S. needs to support the Saudi’s military campaign in Yemen, no matter the bloodshed, because the Iranian government is supporting the Houthi rebels. The U.S. must contain Iran at all costs.

Indeed, Iran is supporting the Houthis, but the Houthis are not Iranian puppets. Iranian meddling in Yemen is hardly sufficient reason to aid Saudi Arabia when it’s committing war crimes on a massive scale.

Accordingly, we must demand that the weaponry our tax dollars develops is not used by the sort of government which targets civilians and civilian infrastructure and attempts to starve a civilian population into submission. Yemen is on the verge of a horrible humanitarian catastrophe, and we Americans must demand that our legislators change course before that happens – by Harry Fogler III

http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article158850424.html

29.6.2017 – Real Clear Defense (* B P)

Options for Avoiding U.S. Complicity for Coalition War Crimes in Yemen

Author and / or Article Point of View: The author is an active duty officer in the U.S. Army. This article is written from the point of view of the United States toward continued support of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni war in light of war crimes allegations made by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Yemen.

Significance: Once the U.S. became aware of the violations, continued support to a Saudi coalition responsible for war crimes could render the U.S. vicariously liable for those crimes. The principle of state responsibility renders states legally responsible for the wrongful acts of others when the state aids or assists in the wrongful act and knows of the circumstances making that act wrongful. Similarly, aider and abettor liability could render the U.S. liable if it knew, or should have known, that the aid it provided could result in war crimes[6]. U.S. liability could take many forms, ranging from international condemnation to the indictment of key U.S. arms-sale decision makers in the International Criminal Court as principles to war crimes. If nothing else, continued support of the Saudi-led coalition in light of the U.N. allegations would erode U.S. credibility as an advocate for human rights and the rule of law and empower other states to ignore international norms protecting civilians in conflict – By Michael R. Tregle, Jr.

http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/06/29/options_for_avoiding_us_complicity_for_coalition_war_crimes_in_yemen_111696.html

27.6.2017 – The American Conservative (* A P)

The Qatar Crisis and the Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy Dysfunction

Mark Perry reports on the internal rifts inside the Trump administration over the Qatar crisis.

The rift between Tillerson and Trump on this issue has been impossible to miss, and it has been the latest in a series of episodes in which Trump publicly undermines or contradicts his own Cabinet officials about what the U.S. position on a given issue is. That dysfunction has been on display for months, but it finally seems to be exhausting the patience of Trump’s top Cabinet members. Under these circumstances, it is hard to see how Tillerson can effectively do his job when he is being repeatedly sabotaged and overridden and everyone in foreign governments knows that he has little or no clout with the president. The role of Kushner in all this helps explain why Trump has so credulously accepted the Saudi-Emirati line, since Kushner has close ties with both Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s crown prince.

The striking thing in Perry’s report is how surprised Mattis reportedly was by the move to blockade and punish Qatar:

I don’t doubt the report that Mattis was shocked, but that shock seems to be a product of believing the administration’s own hype about the supposed success of the Riyadh summit. It was a Trump administration talking point that they had everyone “on the same page,” but that wasn’t the reality and Mattis should have known that. The Saudis and their allies received a very different message from Trump’s visit: they took his gushing praise as proof that they could do no wrong and would be permitted to do as they liked in their region without having to worry about backlash from Washington.

After the last two years of Saudi recklessness in Yemen, I’m not sure why Mattis was so stunned by more of the same. The Saudis and their allies picked an unnecessary, much more costly, far more destructive fight in Yemen, and the result has been disaster and the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. Given that track record, what would make Mattis expect good foreign policy decisions from the Saudi government? Why would foolish and dangerous decisions leave him stunned?

The U.S. has consistently rewarded and encouraged that troublesome behavior for years and has specifically aided and abetted the disastrous campaign in Yemen.

The “trouble” caused by the Saudis has been backed to the hilt by the U.S. under both the Obama and Trump administrations, and until the U.S. starts taking a consistent position of refusing to enable their reckless behavior our support for them contributes significantly to the region’s wars and crises. As long as the Saudis and their allies know that they have Trump in their corner, that isn’t going to change – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-qatar-crisis-and-the-trump-administrations-foreign-policy-dysfunction/

30.6.2017 – AFP (A P)

Umstrittenes Einreisedekret in den USA in Kraft getreten

In den USA ist der von Präsident Donald Trump verhängte Einreisebann gegen Bürger aus sechs muslimischen Ländern in Kraft getreten. Damit gilt seit Donnerstag um 20.00 Uhr (Ortszeit, Freitag 02.00 Uhr MESZ) ein grundsätzliches Einreiseverbot für Bürger aus dem Iran, Syrien, dem Jemen, Libyen, Somalia und dem Sudan. Laut einer Entscheidung des Obersten Gerichtshofs der USA sind aber Ausnahmen für Menschen aus den betroffenen Ländern mit "engen Familienbeziehungen" in den USA möglich.

http://www.zeit.de/news/2017-06/30/usa-umstrittenes-einreisedekret-in-den-usa-in-kraft-getreten-30025003

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

27.6.2017 – Caroline Lucas MP (A P)

Film: Yesterday I asked a bumbling Boris if he was proud of the UK selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. His answer was a little bit defensive..

Caroline Lucas challenges Boris Johnson on arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Caroline: "Are you proud of the UK's arms sales to Saudi Arabia?" .... Boris: "It's a folly and an illusion to say that the humanitarian disaster in Yemen is the responsibility of the UK"

https://twitter.com/CarolineLucas/status/879644628814893057

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

Siehe cp1

29.6.2017 – Auswärtiges Amt (A P)

Anlässlich der heutigen Veranstaltung "Jemen-Krise: Politik und humanitäre Hilfe im Kontext medialer Zurückhaltung" des International Rescue CommitteeDeutschland in Berlin sagte die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Menschenrechtspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe Bärbel Kofler heute (29.06.):

Ich bin bestürzt über die weitere Zuspitzung der bereits dramatischen humanitären Lage in Jemen. Der seit über zwei Jahren andauernde Krieg hat das bitterarme Land in eine menschengemachte humanitäre Katastrophe geführt, die zuerst die Schwächsten trifft: Kinder, Alte, Arme.

Nur eine politische Lösung kann diese menschengemachte Krise beenden. Die wichtigsten Schritte hierfür sind ein umgehender Waffenstillstand, der uneingeschränkte, sichere humanitäre Zugang und die Wiederaufnahme von Verhandlungen unter Vermittlung der Vereinten Nationen. Verletzungen des humanitären Völkerrechts müssen schnell und umfassend aufgeklärt werden. Dies kann am besten durch eine unabhängige internationale Untersuchungskommission geschehen.

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170629-MRHH_Jemen.html

Mein Kommentar: „Menschengemachte Krise“, das sagt sie zweimal. Zu diesen Menschen, die die Krise gemacht haben, gehört auch Deutschland mit seinen Waffenverkäufen an die Saudis, mit einer wegschauenden Politik, die die Saudis für Partner hält, und mit seiner Nibelungentreue zu den USA, die den saudischen Krieg im Jemen von Anfang an mit allen Mitteln unterstützt haben. Solche Erklärungen sind billig – sie kosten weder Geld noch irgendein Engagement – und unter den genannten Umständen Heuchelei.

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

27.6.2017 – Government of the Netherlands (A P)

Ministers Wallström and Koenders express their shock at the latest reports from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) that the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has exceeded 200.000, with an estimated 5000 new cases every day

However, humanitarian aid cannot alone solve the crisis. A political solution, where women are included throughout the process, is the only way to reach long term and sustainable peace and development. It is important to mainstream gender equality as women’s involvement increases effectiveness of humanitarian assistance and changes of successful peace agreements. Sweden and The Netherlands will engage partners to renew the call for an immediate cessation of hostilities to ensure the humanitarian access the country so desperately needs.

Parties to the conflict must allow commercial flights into Sana’a airport and unlock the economic potential of the country and its people. All airports (including Aden) and ports across the country need to function properly, and salaries of civil servants including medical personnel need to be paid. In this regard, both ministers recall the Security Council’s call on all parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy’s latest proposals for increasing commercial and humanitarian shipments through Red Sea ports including new arrangements for the management of Hodeida port and city.

"We remain deeply concerned about the continued allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights and applicable international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.

https://www.government.nl/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/documents/media-articles/2017/06/27/ministers-wallstrom-and-koenders-express-their-shock-at-the-latest-reports-from-unicef-and-the-world-health-organization-who-that-the-number-of-suspected-cholera-cases-in-yemen-has-exceeded-200.000-with-an-estimated-5000-new-cases-every-day

Comment by Beatrice de Filippis: Such a diplomatic statement. Which makes no difference on the ground

https://twitter.com/Bilquis66/status/879731262285651969

My comment: Beatrice is right. “Diplomatic”: stepping onto no one’s feet. A nice blab la which costs nothing. While the Netherlands and Sweden continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

21.6.2017 – Seanator Scott Ludlam from Australia (AP)

Film of speech: Saudi Arabia is engaged in a war on civilians in Yemen. They are targeting markets, hospitals, schools, businesses, mosques, food distribution points, aid depots, railway lines, power stations, water treatment plants and ports. Thousands are dead. Millions are displaced. 17 million people are at risk of famine.

Saudi Arabia, particularly through its charities, is funnelling money to the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Islamic State linked groups and extremists in Syria and Iraq.

And Christopher Pyne travels to Saudi Arabia on Australia's behalf to sell them arms.

https://www.facebook.com/SenatorLudlam/videos/10155549453484470/

Cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

Siehe / Look at cp1

26.6.2017 – Offiziere.ch (* A P)

Unrealistische Forderungen an Katar verraten die wahren Gründe der Blockade
Unter anderem auf Druck der USA wurde letzten Freitag Katar eine von Saudi-Arabien, Ägypten, den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Bahrain zusammengestellte Liste mit dreizehn Forderungen übergeben. Die vier Staaten verlangen eine Umsetzung dieser Forderungen innerhalb der nächsten 10 Tage, um die Aufhebung der seit zwei Wochen andauernde Blockade zu erwirken. Im höchst unwahrscheinlichen Fall, dass Katar bei diesen Forderungen einwilligen sollte, würde die Einhaltung der Forderungen durch die vier Staaten im ersten Jahr monatlich, im zweiten Jahr vierteljährlich und in den darauf folgenden zehn Jahren jährlich überprüft werden. Faktisch käme diesem einen Souveränitätsverzicht gleich und ist nur schon von diesem Aspekt her kaum akzeptierbar. Angesichts dieser weitreichenden versuchten Einflussnahme der vier Staaten auf einen unabhängigen souveränen Staat mutet die aufgestellte Forderung, dass Katar sich zukünftig nicht mehr in die inneren Angelegenheiten der vier Staaten einmischen dürfe schon beinahe zynisch an. Außerdem solle Katar für die Folgen seiner Politik der letzten Jahre den vier Staaten Reparationszahlungen entrichten müssen, wobei keine Summe genannt wird. Die Liste der Forderungen zeigt deutlich auf, dass es den vier Staaten weniger um die Eindämmung des Terrorismus im Sinne westlicher Denkweise geht, sondern mehr um die Ausweitung ihres regionalen Machtanspruchs, der Disziplinierung Katars sowie dem Ausschalten oppositioneller Strömungen und regimekritischen Stimmen. Für den Fall, dass Katar den Forderungen nicht nachkommen sollte, werden jedoch keine weiteren Konsequenzen formuliert. Wahrscheinlich wäre eine dauerhafte diplomatische und wirtschaftliche Trennung — eine militärische Eskalation ist momentan jedoch eher unwahrscheinlich – von Patrick Truffer

http://offiziere.ch/?p=31250

29.6.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (A P)

Social media account run by #Saudi @MOISaudiArabia [MOI = Ministry of Interior] is calling for "liberation of Qatar"

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/880540858549981184 referring to https://twitter.com/saudinews50/status/880509266414755843

29.6.2017 – Ali AlAhmed (A P)

#Egyptian leading daily says a Saudi/Egyptian military base #Bahrain to be established to counter #Qatar

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/880539422902677509 referring to http://arabi.ahram.org.eg/News/116410.aspx

29.6.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A P)

Gulf crisis is leading to difficult choices in the Horn of Africa

With their close links, the standoff in the Gulf is spilling over into the Horn of Africa and will be a big diplomatic test for countries already under strain

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/gulf-crisis-leading-difficult-choices-horn-africa-2121025667

29.6.2017 – Yale Global (* A P)

Saudi Arabia's New Succession Plan Shakes Up the Middle East

Saudi Arabia – along with Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt – abruptly broke off diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, then followed that up with an ultimatum and a 10-day deadline to respond. The first of 13 unreasonable demands targets Iran, Saudi Arabia’s key rival in the region by urging Qatar to curb diplomatic ties with Iran and close its diplomatic missions. Author Dilip Hiro reviews a history of antagonism between two monarchies as Saudi Arabia resists Qatar’s incremental steps toward freedom expression with an elected parliament, funding of Al Jazeera renowned for investigative journalism in the Arab world, and efforts to maintain Sunni-Shia ties by maintaining good relations with Iran. The US has a major base in Qatar, and its divided response does not help: The president throws full support behind Saudi Arabia, and diplomats and military leaders urge mediation. The Saudi king has approved a new line of succession, selecting a 31-year-old son as crown prince. Prince Muhammad bin Salman has a track record of endorsing aggressive moves against Iran, Yemen and now Qatar, and the expectation that other Arab nations will fall in line introduces more instability into a region that is already so volatile and violent.

The soaring popularity of Al Jazeera led several Arab governments to allow more leeway to state-controlled or -guided media in their countries. Nonetheless, Al Jazeera remained a thorn for authoritarian regimes, particularly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The most powerful Arab states have more to hide than others.

The list of Saudi-led demands challenges sovereignty, not just of Qatar, but also Turkey. High on the list was “Immediately terminate the Turkish military presence in Qatar and end any joint military cooperation with Turkey inside Qatar.” Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik described the ultimatum as unacceptable interference in Ankara’s relations with Doha.

By moving against Qatar, a Sunni emirate, Bin Salman undermined the success he had in gathering leaders to Riyadh in May to hear Trump speak on countering radical Islamist terrorism.

While Turkey has lined up with Qatar, most Muslim countries have remained neutral. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, called for dialogue between Riyadh and Doha to defuse the crisis. So has Pakistan despite the fact that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has maintained close relations with Saudi royals for many years.

Even within the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, Kuwait and Oman have stayed out of the fray – by Dilip Hiro

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/saudi-arabias-new-succession-plan-shakes-middle-east

29.6.2017 – Gulf News (A P)

Mohammad Bin Rashid poem urges Qatar to 'return to GCC'

Dubai Ruler writes: 'It is time to get united and be one heart and protect each other without any grudge'

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-crisis/mohammad-bin-rashid-poem-urges-qatar-to-return-to-gcc-1.2050616

My comment: Anti-Qatar propaganda, as the following:

28.6.2017 – Gulf News (A P)

Accept demands or it’s goodbye Qatar

New sanctions being considered; trading partners could be asked to chose between us or Doha, UAE says

The officials said they are considering further economic pressure on Qatar, such as reducing commercial links with states that continue to trade with Doha.

UAE Ambassador to Moscow, Omar Gobash, sent a strong message to Doha that it could face expulsion from the Gulf Cooperation Council if it does not meet the 13-point-demands set by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-crisis/accept-demands-or-it-s-goodbye-qatar-1.2050608

My comment: That’s blackmailing like in a schoolbook. And they even want to blackmail their neutral trading partners, as the Saudis think to do.

28.6.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* A P)

Crown Prince of UAE asked Americans to bomb Al Jazeera headquarters Wikileaks reveals

The Crown Prince of the UAE Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan asked the Americans to bomb the headquarters of Al Jazeera during the US war on Afghanistan, Arabi21.com revealed yesterday.

According to the document bin Zayed spoke about a meeting between his father and the former Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

The same document also revealed that Bin Zayed had advised the Americans not to have journalists accompany them during the first attack on Afghanistan so they could not report civilian victims.

In addition, the document revealed a meeting between bin Zayed and the US diplomat Richard Haas two months before the war on Iraq. Bin Zayed offered information to the Americans about Iraq and how to contain the anger people in the Arab world felt about this war.

The document revealed that bin Zayed called on the Americans to put more pressure in Qatar to rein in Al Jazeera’s coverage.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170628-crown-prince-of-uae-asked-americans-to-bomb-al-jazeera-headquarters-wikileaks-reveals/#.WVOYikKIX-0.twitter

28.6.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A P)

UAE ambassador: 'We do not promote idea of press freedom'

Omar Ghobash, the UAE's ambassador to Russia, told the Guardian: "We do not claim to have press freedom. We do not promote the idea of press freedom. What we talk about is responsibility in speech."

"Freedom of speech has different constraints in different places. Speech in our part of the world has a particular context, and that context can go from peaceful to violent in no time simply because of words that are spoken.”

Ghobash also said that the countries imposing the blockade are considering sanctioning those countries that continue to trade with Qatar.

"One possibility would be to impose conditions on our own trading partners and say you want to work with us then you have got to make a commercial choice."

He said that the coalition were not considering a military intervention but that he understood that their position could push Qatar into a closer relationship with Iran.

"We can escalate with more information, because we are not going to escalate militarily. That is not the way we are looking at things,” he said

"Yes we are making demands of Qatar, but it is very important to realise that we are imposing the same standards on ourselves," he said.

"So if we are to ask for the monitoring of Qatari financial transactions and its funding of terrorism then we would be open to the same idea. This is not bullying. This is demanding a higher standard throughout the whole region.

"We have nothing to hide ourselves so we are willing to meet the same standards we are asking Qatar.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-ambassador-threatens-further-sanctions-against-qatar-918691291

My comment: LOL. That is ridiculous propaganda. “This is not bullying”: Oh no, this is exactly what it is. – “we are willing to meet the same standards we are asking Qatar”: LOL. LOL: The Emirates and Saudi Arabia have supported terrorists as did Qatar, so what??? If Ghobash really would be serious, the UAE and Saudi Arabia must blockade and blackmail themselves. – Thus, they just threaten to blackmail their neutral trading partners: "One possibility would be to impose conditions on our own trading partners and say you want to work with us then you have got to make a commercial choice."

27.6.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)

Saudi FM calls Qatar demands non-negotiable, Qatar calls them unrealistic

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/06/27/526722/saudi-qatar-us-jubeir-tillerson

27.–28.6.2017 – Egypt Today (* A P)

Some articles on the Qatar crisis by this Egyptian media, Egypt being party in this conflict:

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/9161/More-Gulf-sanctions-against-Qatar-on-the-way

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/9118/Qatar-refuses-to-admit-consequences-of-boycott-on-tourist-industry

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/9078/Saudi-Qatar-ministers-spar-over-Arab-nations-demands

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/9074/Tillerson-to-meet-Qatari-counterpart-in-Washington

http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/9073/No-negotiations-over-demands-on-Qatar-Al-Jubeir

and they recommend this website on Qatar, of course strictly anti-Qatar and highly propagandistic: https://theqatarinsider.com/

27.6.2017 – The American Conservative (* A P)

Tillerson and Mattis Cleaning Up Kushner’s Middle East Mess

When the burgeoning split between the Saudis and Qataris was mentioned, Tillerson described it as no more than one of “a growing list or irritants in the region” that would not impair “the unified fight against terrorism …”

But while Tillerson’s answer was meant to soothe concerns over the crisis, behind the scenes he and Mattis were scrambling to undo the damage caused by Saudi action. The two huddled in Sydney and decided that Tillerson would take the lead in trying to resolve the falling out. Which is why, three days after the Sydney press conference, Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to ease their anti-Qatar blockade and announced that the U.S. supported a Kuwaiti-led mediation effort. The problem for Tillerson was that his statement was contradicted by Donald Trump who, during a Rose Garden appearance on the same day, castigated Qatar, saying the emirate “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”

More crucially, particularly from Mattis’s point-of-view, the Saudi-Qatar feud not only shattered the anti-Iran coalition the administration cobbled together during the president’s trip to Riyadh, it redrew the geopolitical map of the Middle East. In the wake of the Saudi-Qatar falling out, Turkey pledged its support for Qatar (and deployed troops to a Qatari military base to guard Qatar’s sovereignty), while Iran took steps to help ease the Saudi-imposed blockade – by Mark Perry

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/tillerson-and-mattis-cleaning-up-kushners-middle-east-mess/

27.6.2017 – Lobelog (* A P)

Qatar Crisis Could Lead to War: Veteran US Diplomat

Given the fast-moving events in the Persian Gulf region over the past two weeks, LobeLog decided to consult Chas W. Freeman, Jr., whose occasional lectures on key foreign policy issues have been featured on this site for several years. Washington’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, Freeman has a wide range of contacts in the region. One of the most highly decorated foreign service officers of his generation, he also served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the Pentagon, among many other posts. We conducted this interview by telephone Monday.

Jim Lobe: The rise of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman clearly has major implications for Saudi Arabia? What do you think about his latest elevation?

The king’s son has consolidated his position and now enjoys a monopoly of power under his father.

No one knows the precise reason for the timing of this: whether it has to do with some issue with the king’s health; whether it’s because of a policy difference between the two Mohammeds over Yemen or the crisis with Qatar; or whether it’s a step towards the king’s abdication and his replacement by his favorite son. Nonetheless, this marks an unprecedented concentration of power in the kingdom in the hands of the new crown prince.

This has happened in circumstances of considerable difficulty for the Kingdom

JL: Can we talk about the current confrontation with Qatar in particular?

CF: This has deep roots.

Chas Freeman: So, we now have 13 demands from a group that includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt. These are so extensive that they amount to a demand for the complete capitulation of Qatar to its neighbors and a total rewriting of its foreign policy. There is some suspicion that these demands were formulated to be unacceptable. Qatar’s failure to comply with them would, at a minimum, justify its expulsion from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It might even justify invasion by its neighbors. This is a crisis in Saudi Arabia’s relations with Qatar in which the new crown prince clearly played a leading role.

The Saudi frustration with Qatar is longstanding and has a basis in fact, but whether this particular high-risk approach is sensible or not is another question.

The crisis over Qatar is a complicated thing with too many moving parts to be easily described. It is one of those situations that reminds us that, if you don’t understand the complexities of the past, you cannot hope to comprehend the realities of the present.

JL: Let’s go back a bit to Yemen. This war has gone on for two years now and, until the Qatar crisis, seems to have been Mohammed bin Salman’s major foreign policy initiative. But it’s clearly not going anywhere good. How does it continue?

CF: The Saudi grievances and interests in Yemen are pretty clear, but the way the Saudis have chosen to address them does not include an obvious war-termination strategy.

JL: It’s no secret that the UAE has also drawn closer to Israel, even to the extent of participating in multinational military exercises with the Israeli Air Force. This raises an important question: in the strongly anti-Iranian stances of both UAE and Saudi Arabia, do you see evidence of collusion between them and Israel in maneuvering the US into a conflict with Iran? – by Jim Lobe

http://lobelog.com/qatar-crisis-could-lead-to-war-veteran-us-diplomat/

23.6.2017 – Moon of Alabama (* A P)

The Saudi-Qatar Spat - An Offer To Be Refused

The real issue for Saudi Arabia is the support for the Muslim Brotherhood by Qatar. The MB provides an alternative model of Islamic government to the hereditary kingdoms of the Gulf sheiks. They are a danger to the Saudi ruling family. A second point are Qatar's relative good relations with Iran, the external enemy the Saudis (and Israeli) rulers need to keep their people in line.

The "terrorism" accusation was never the real issue. What the Saudis demand is subjugation. A summary of the thirteen point ultimatum

The Saudi ultimatum ends on July 3, the anniversary of the Saudi sponsored military coup against the Qatari backed Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt. One demand in the ultimatum is for Qatar to end all support for the Brotherhood.

The ultimatum will likely be rejected. Qatar will simply not respond until the Saudis and others lift their blockade of the country. If the Saudis want war they should launch it right away, the Qatari ruler thinks. Doha is sure that the U.S. will not allow that. Ten-thousand U.S. troops are stationed in Qatar.

There is no "or else" in the Saudi ultimatum. The Saudi ruler, the clown prince Mohammad bin Salman, is not a strategist. He likely has not thought through what he could do would if Qatar says "no" to him.

The real issue for the Trump administration is to unite the GCC behind its plans against Iran. There is only a small chance that such can be achieved. Iran is an important commercial partner for Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. Those countries have nothing to win from any war with it.

So far Iran is the sole winner of the GCC spat. Should the Saudi blockade of Qatar continue Iran's farmers will sell over 400,000 tons of food per year to Qatar. Steel and concrete are other potential exports products for Iran. Lucrative air traffic in Iranian air space has increased by 17% since the Saudis blocked Qatar Airlines flights through their airspace. Iran will sell more natural gas should Qatar's gas exports be damaged.

Saudi Arabia as well as Qatar are Wahhabi extremist states. They both spend their huge resources to spread their deadly sectarian and racist believes. Qatar's ideological export is handled by Al-Jazeerah Arabic know for vile sectarianism and support of ISIS and al-Qaeda. The Saudis finance extremist mosques and madrassas all over the world. Let them fight each other and spend their resources against each other. The world can only win from that.

But there is also danger in such a fight. As the historic example of Serbia demonstrates, allies jumping in on either side, each with their own agenda, may spread the fire way beyond the local conflict. What if Pakistan takes the Saudi sides and India, which receives some 90% of its gas imports from Qatar, joins the Qatari one?

The Saudis and Emiratis surely did not think of this when they launched their belligerent plans. They had hoped that Qatar would fold within a day or two. They never though about real fighting or of a possible escalation beyond the local conflict. As both sides have now taken hardened positions it will be difficult for each to climb down. It will now take a year or two, if not longer, for this conflict to end – by Moon of Alabama

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/06/saudi-qatar-spat-an-offer-to-be-refused-.html and abriged http://newnewss.net/?p=6991

16.6.2017 – Moon of Alabama (* A P)

Qatar-Saudi Catfight Unveils "Western" Terrorist Propaganda Outlets

The spat between Saudi Arabia and Qatar gives us some amusing entertainment. Both countries spent billions to arm and supply tens of thousands of brutal Takfiris to fight the Syrian government and people. They also spent millions to buy this or that "western" think-tank and/or writer. Now that the two Wahhabi dictatorships are fighting each other they spill the beans over each others nefarious deeds. Various "western" think-tanks and media, who avidly supported al-Qaeda, ISIS and other criminals in Syria, are the well deserved collateral casualties in this fight.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/06/qatar-saudi-catfight-unveils-western-terrorist-propaganda.html

cp13a Flüchtlinge / Refugees

27.6.2017 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (A H)

Yemen Situation - 2017 Funding Update as of 27 June 2017

79.8 M required for 2017

21.2 M contributions received, representing 27% of requirements

58.6 M overall funding gap for the Yemen situation

All figures are shown in USD

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-situation-2017-funding-update-27-june-2017 and in full: http://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Yemen%20Situation%20Funding%20Update%2027%20June%202017.pdf

22.6.2017 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (A H)

Yemen UNHCR Update, 16 - 22 June 2017

KEY FIGURES

18.8 million people in need

1,988,946 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

81 Percentage of IDPs displaced for more than a year

900,258 IDP returnees

860,061 recipients of NFIs since March 2015

280,096 refugees and asylum seekers

24,559 new arrivals to Yemeni coast since 1 January 2017

FUNDING

USD 114.6 million requested for IDPs and refugees in Yemen for 2017

OPERATIONAL UPDATE

As conflict continues on all frontlines, UNHCR teams across the country worked to respond to the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs), IDP returnees and refugees. Assistance continued to reach families in deeply contested areas, despite the deteriorating situation on the ground in Yemen. Challenges include a vast protection crisis, exacerbated by widespread food insecurity and malnutrition, cholera, crumbling public services and gaining access to assist those most in need as hostilities continue.

IDP RESPONSE

UNHCR’s country-wide efforts to disburse rental subsidies to vulnerable displaced and IDP returnee families is well underway. Assessments and distribution of rental subsidies are continuing with a goal of assisting 9,200 families (64,400 individuals) by the end of July. The subsidy covers three months’ worth of rental costs with a total of US $300 per family. This week, rental subsidies reached 309 vulnerable households in Amanat Al Asmiah, Amran and Dhamar Governorates. A further 2,084 households were assessed in Sa’ada, Hajjah and Dhamar Governorates, with distribution expected shortly.

Ensuring safe and dignified shelter for displaced families remains a core mandate of UNHCR in Yemen

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-update-16-22-june-2017 and PDF http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Update%20Yemen%20Situation%2022%20June%202017%20%28Final%29.pdf

31.5.2017 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (A H)

Somalia Fact Sheet 1-31 May 2017

Arrivals from Yemen: In May, 504 individuals (417 Somalis, 78 Yemenis, eight Ethiopians and one Djiboutian) arrived from Yemen to Somalia by boat. Since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen in March 2015, 37,267 new arrivals were recorded in Somalia: 31,546 Somalis; 5,394 Yemenis; and 327 third country nationals.

http://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-fact-sheet-1-31-may-2017 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/58201.pdf

cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy

29.6.2017 – The Economist (* B E)

A war reporter’s latest scoop: How war-torn Yemen gets ice cream

Baskin-Robbins delivers praline ices behind the battle lines

CHOLERA spreads, with over 200,000 new cases reported. Malnutrition is rife. Government salaries were last paid a year ago. But the customers keep coming at the local franchise of Baskin-Robbins, an American ice cream brand, in Sana’a, Yemen’s rebel-held capital. Since the war erupted, the company has added a new branch to the five it already has in the capital. “Our best-seller is pralines,” says one of the managers, who last month served more than 16,000 customers.

When Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates first began bombing in March 2015, getting supplies quickly became a problem. The tubs are shipped from America, but bombing knocked out the refrigeration units in Aden, the southern port, and the road north was treacherous. So Baskin-Robbins rerouted their orders through Salala, a port in neighbouring Oman. Each month a freezer truck brings its fresh stock of 20 flavours 1,500km (900 miles) through the desert. The journey is expensive and tiresome but mostly safe, so long as the gunmen manning some 60 checkpoints en route are kept happy. For the right fee, they will also refrain from inspections, which in the heat might make the ice cream melt.

Import duties have put up costs.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21724387-baskin-robbins-delivers-praline-ices-behind-battle-lines-how-war-torn-yemen

Comment by Haykal Bafana: This 'business magnate' did not tell reporter his brother runs the Saudi-Yemen border post. Baskin-Robbins icecream : Saudi.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/880669930613616641

25.6.2017 – Al Madaniya (* B E H P)

From Sweet Shops to Festivals: The Women Challenging Yemeni Business Traditions

The business environment in Yemen is complex and male-centric, presenting numerous barriers to women's participation. However, Yemeni women have managed to enter the business field and have quickly been able to prove their abilities despite the country’s traditions and customs – which are obstacles to their efforts – as well as more general complications and practical difficulties.

Many women were able to overcome these challenges and start their own small businesses from home, with few resources available to them because of the tough economic conditions caused by the conflict.

Y emeni women are mostly active in making clothing and food materials, as well as handicrafts, gifts and incense, and working in healthcare. Many small and medium-sized stores that are managed by women have spread in Sana’a and other cities in Yemen, including sweet shops, henna beauty salons, tailors, and incense and perfume shops, alongside clinics and pharmacies.

Economically empowering women

Yemeni women have been able to actively participate in business and have achieved remarkable successes. To build on these achievements and provide Yemeni women with the necessary skills to run their own businesses, the Women Business Owner Training (WBOT) program was put in place to develop their skills and economically empower them.

WBOT is a program tailored for Yemeni women – funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation, organized by the International Labor Organization, and executed by The Small and Micro Enterprise Promotion Service (SMEPS). It was developed by Yemeni experts to raise the managerial and entrepreneurial capabilities of Yemeni women.

Buthaina al-Subahi, the project officer implementing WBOT for SEMPS, says that Yemeni women need to be empowered, encouraged to know that they can achieve their goals, so they can support their families and provide for their financial needs. With encouragement and training, women can develop and improve managerial skills to sustain their businesses, and eventually achieve a better life that can guarantee them and their families a brighter future.

She points out that this program contributes to the development of opportunities that raise women’s incomes and enable existing women business owners and women with low incomes to switch to profitable business activities.

She explains that the main problem facing women is their inability to pay the loans they take from financing institutions, “because they don’t have enough managerial experience: they open a business and don’t work on developing it which leads to the failure of the business”.

Overcoming difficulties

As well as wider society’s rejection of the notion of women entering the world of business, due to traditions and customs, Yemeni women face other challenges: mainly poverty and the difficulty of finding funds. In order to access funds, women must obtain the national ID card if they don’t already have one, which presents further logistical hurdles.

According to al-Hakimi, Yemeni women were able to achieve a lot in business and entrepreneurship, with this year in particular marking many successes. There are 129,000 beneficiaries receiving funding from the bank, 35 per cent of whom are women – by Amal Al-Yarisi

https://www.almadaniyamag.com/english/2017/6/21/from-sweet-shops-to-festivals-the-women-challenging-yemeni-business-traditions

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

29.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting ORGANIZATIONal Houthi MovementTHE AL HOUTHIS ARE THE DE FACTO RULING FACTION IN YEMEN’S CE...al Houthi-Saleh forces in Mashabah area, north of al Bayda city, central al Bayda governorate on June 28. The attack killed six al Houthi-Saleh fighters, including a commander. AQAP militants targeted al Houthi-Saleh forces in Dhi Na’im, al Bayda governorate on June 27, killing nine.[2]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-29-2017

29.6.2017 – Oxford Analytica (unrated A T)

Deepening southern Yemen divide may help al-Qaida

As al-Qaida steps up operations in southern Yemen, the president has dismissed three state governors (registered only)

https://dailybrief.oxan.com/Analysis/ES221820/Deepening-southern-Yemen-divide-may-help-al-Qaida

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri opened an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)-released nashid (chant) on June 27. Zawahiri began the video by encouraging jihad and praising al Qaeda martyrs. AQAP is acting as a primary conduit for al Qaeda global propaganda.[1]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017

28.6.2017 – Terror Monitor (A T)

Published the organization of the # Islamic_Islam pictures of one of his killers in the province of al-Bayda and was nicknamed "Farouk al-Adani"

https://twitter.com/TerrorMonitorAR/status/880141694108356609

27.6.2017 – Maher Farrukh ( AT)

#AQAP used #drone to monitor Hadhrami Elite Forces camp in Daw'an before attacking it on 12 JUN. Taking a page from #ISIS? (photo)

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/879810582534393856

27.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants killed nine al Houthi-Saleh fighters in Dhi Na’im, central al Bayda governorate on June 27. .[3]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-27-2017

cp15 Propaganda

Siehe / Look at cp1

28.6.2017 – MbKS15 (A P)

#Yemeni Air Force Mi-17sh helicopter drops balloons full of candy for children in celebration of #Eid in Hadhramaut (photos)

https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/879996625254584320

My comment: Really!!! They drop bombs and make propaganda with “president” Hadi’s “air force” dropping candy for kids!

28.6.2017 – Gulf News (* A P)

UAE always a harbinger of hope

The truth in Yemen is that this nation is committed to feeding, helping and aiding our Arab brothers, not incarcerating them

The UAE is not running secret prisons in the south of Yemen, and the allegations of human rights’ abuses are not true. Simply put, the recent report distributed by the Associated Press is wrong. The truth has been hijacked by those intent on misinforming, misleading and maliciously denigrating the proud and distinguished record of the UAE.

The truth about Yemen is that it has been two years now since Iranian-backed Al Houthi militia deposed the legitimate and internationally recognised government, casting our Arab brothers into a state of chaos. And in that state of chaos, dangerous extremist forces have been unleashed while the deteriorating social conditions have allowed illness, malnutrition and other diseases to fester and spread.

Throughout, Al Houthi rebels have failed to join a series of negotiations with sincerity, caring only for their short-term interests in maintaining their illegal regime. And throughout, the rebels have done nothing to ease the suffering of the people of Yemen. Simply put, they are untruthful about the role played by the UAE in providing humanitarian relief to our Arab brothers.

Yes, the UAE has and continues to train an effective force on the ground to combat both Al Houthis and the extremists who have filled the vacuum created by the rebels’ seditious actions. But the UAE is not in the business of running prisons, detention centres, jails, prisons or any other form of place of incarceration. The UAE is in the business of making Yemen a better place for all, rebuilding roads and bridges, providing water and power, ensuring that schools are rebuilt, that hospitals and clinics can provide life-saving and life-enduring support and treatments, ending malnutrition, cholera or other diseases that thrive in places of conflict. That is the agenda of the UAE.

Al Houthis too have an agenda — but it is the one written in Tehran and delivered secretly to its Yemeni vassals in vessels that smuggle arms and weapons or war. And that agenda includes trying to tarnish the UAE’s reputation and international standing.

For aid groups or foreign journalists in need of a paycheque to believe these blatant lies floated by Iranian apologists is disingenuous, deceitful and disgraceful. They should look instead at the labels on the United Nations provisions in their clinics or on the sacks of rice and food, and see the UAE flag there. No, that’s a truth they choose to ignore.

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/editorials/uae-always-a-harbinger-of-hope-1.2050441

My comment: A propaganda sweeping attack as a rather ridiculous and inept reply to the reports about Emirati-Yemeni torture prisons in Yemen, turning from denial to what a great humanitarian benefactor the Emirates are (their most heavy weighing “presents”, bombs bringing death, destruction and despair are of course “forgotten” here), and the bad bad Houthis and of course Iran cannot be missing. What does iran have to do with the Emirati torture prisons? Nothing, eh??

Comment by Kate Kizer: UAE denial here false: UAE has direct control over at least 5 brigades of #Yemensec. forces, backs other militias.

Comment: The reply from United Arab Emirates on the issue of torture and secret prisons in #Yemen.
We guess the PR machine of the Emirates is professing an identity of its own.
The UAE have deliberately been bombing and sieging Yemen along with their allies Saudis and Qataris (at the time), Bahrains, Moroccans, etc.
The UAE have yet to bring HOPE to Yemen. And never will. If you consider they are still claiming Houthis are sponsored by Iran and that what the Emirates are doing is nothing more than good deeds for the wellbeing of Yemeni people, you understand the criminal intent behind their words.
Read, draw your own conclusions.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1416805318372494

27.6.2017 – The Baghdad Post (A P)

Iran's role in Yemen, Bahrain crises

Despite igniting war, sowing the seeds of sedition among Middle East countries and constantly attempting to destabilize the region with its terrorist militias, Iran always attempts to play the role of a peace advocate and terrorism renouncer.
However, the world cannot be fooled by such bids for knowing the truth. The Iranian regime only aims at creating the Shiite Crescent in the region no matter what it costs. The number of innocent civilians killed as a result of Iran's expansion ambitions in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and many other countries gives a clear evidence of Iran's real intentions.
To expose the Iranian regime satanic plots, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmed has asked Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei to remain "silent", "stop his evil deeds" and "cares only about the countless problems Iran is facing".

Iran's support for Houthis had a devastating effect on Yemen, prolonging the war and exacerbated the state of insecurity and humanitarian situation in the country. According to the UN, over 82% of the population needs humanitarian assistance.

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/13616/Iran-s-role-in-Yemen-Bahrain-crises

My comment: odd propaganda by an anti-Iranian website from Iraq, warming up older propaganda articles and ascribing the catastrophic humanitarian situation to Iranian “interference” in Yemen – which is minor by the way, especially when compared to Saudi / UAE / US / UK interference and it’s killing and devastating effect.

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

29.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

The Saudi-led coalition continued airstrikes against al Houthi-Saleh forces in western Taiz governorate on June 29. Coalition warplanes struck Maqabanah district and Mawza’ city, Mawza’ district, killing eight al Houthi-Saleh fighters. Saudi-led coalition warplanes killed 15 al Houthi-Saleh fighters in Mawza’ district, Taiz governorate on June 24. These strikes are components of a larger operation to control Yemen’s western coast.[3]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-29-2017

28.6.2017 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)

S Arabia attacks Yemen on third day of Eid al-Fitr

A new Saudi war crime in Yemen; Warplanes targeted a village of fishermen in the Dhubab District on the coast of the Red Sea. The strike took place as people were celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Yemenis have denounced the attack and the international community’s inaction towards the ongoing Saudi atrocities in their country.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/28/526823/Saudi-Arabia-war-crime-Yemen- and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwNqJunRg1w

and

28.6.2017 – Press TV Iran (* A K PH)

Saudi bombers hit southwest Yemen, kill 10

Saudi Arabia's warplanes have targeted a residential building in southwestern Yemen, killing at least 10 civilians.

The aircraft carried out the attack against Ta’izz Province’s Dhubab District on Tuesday, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network reported. An unidentified number of people also received injuries in the attack.

The television said Saudi airstrikes had also inflicted some damage on the province’s al-Wazi’iyah District.

At least nine civilians, including two women, were killed in Saudi airstrikes on residential buildings in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib last Sunday. The strikes took place as Yemenis were celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/28/526732/Yemen-Taizz-Saudi-Arabia-airstrikes and by Saba Net, speaking of 8 killed at 2 wounded: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467878.htm and film: https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/880193753331445760 = https://www.facebook.com/mohamad.shami.33/videos/vb.687587216/10154825630117217/?type=2&theater

photos and film: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1695219497440704 and https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/880911252230467584

and

28.6.2017 – New News (* A K PH)

US-KSA Air Strikes Killed , Injured Civilians in Taiz Province

Saudi warplanes have continued bombing civilian targets across Yemen, killing eight Yemeni civilians while two injured yesterday in two air strikes . The air raid targeted a house at Alhunishia area of Dhubab district , Taiz province .

Meanwhile, the aggression’s fighter jets launched an air strike on Alahuq area of Alwazyeia district .

http://newnewss.net/?p=6994

28.6.2017 – Sanaa in the afternoon (A K)

NOW 3:33pm Saudi-led coalition jets are flying over Sanaa sky

https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/880041813167439873

My kids just left to play at their friend's. Heart sank when jets screamed through now. They bomb homes. Yet world continues arming.

https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/880044031736258562

27.5.2017 – Yemen Today TV (A K PH)

Film: A martyr and wounded in raids of the Saudi Aggression on the directorates of Razih, Al - Zaher and Saad in Saada 27 - 6 – 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8erashgCCQ

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

29.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Houthi-Saleh forces and Saudi border guards exchanged fire in Najran and Jizan regions, southwestern Saudi Arabia on June 29. [4]

The UAE’s air defense system intercepted multiple al Houthi-Saleh BM-27 Uragan rockets fired towards Saudi-led coalition forces stationed near Ma’rib city, Ma’rib governorate on June 29 [5]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-29-2017

29.6.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (A K PH)

Photo: Breaking: Yemeni rocket strike a military sites in the center of Najran.

https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/880515585335021568 and https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1418380298214996/?type=3&theater

29.6.2017 – AFP (A K)

Yemen troops, rebels killed in battle for central province

Six soldiers were killed in Yemen on Thursday, a military source said, as government forces seek to cement their control over Marib province, east of the rebel-held capital.

The source said 14 Shiite rebels were also killed over the past 24 hours in intense fighting for Sarwah, the last district in the mainly Sunni province still held by the rebels.

The government has been battling since last year to retake the mountainous district which commands the main road to the capital Sanaa.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4650396/Yemen-troops-rebels-killed-battle-central-province.html

Remark: Relying on “president” Hadi army source.

29.6.2017 – Middle East Monitor (A K)

Yemen’s Houthis kill 6 Saudi soldiers

Houthi snipers yesterday killed six Saudi Arabian soldiers near the Hajjar province which lies along the Yemen-Saudi border, reported Al Masdar.

This comes a day after the Houthis conducted an ambush inside Saudi Arabia’s southern border, destroying two military vehicles.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170629-yemens-houthis-kill-6-saudi-soldiers/

28.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A K)

Yemen Security Brief

Al Houthi-Saleh forces launched artillery at Najran city, near the Saudi-Yemeni border on June 27. Saudi sources reported that the shelling wounded two civilians, while al Houthi-Saleh sources claimed that the attack killed several Saudi soldiers. [2]

Forces aligned with the Hadi government gained ground in an offensive against al Houthi-Saleh forces in Sirwah district, Ma’rib governorate on June 28. Military sources reported that Yemeni government soldiers acquired control over most of Marthad mountain. This seven-kilometer mountain range is located between the two main roads leading to Sana’a city. The ongoing offensive in Sirwah is part of shaping operations for a future offensive on Sana’a.[4]

Popular resistance militias aligned with the Hadi government killed Abu Murad, an al Houthi-Saleh commander, in Usaylan district, northwest Shabwah governorate on June 28. Hadi government-aligned militias clash with al Houthi-Saleh forces in Usaylan district on a near daily basis. [7]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-28-2017

28.6.2017 – Yemen Conflict Map (A K)

Map: Yemen Modification of control map in the Directorate of Sarawah - Marib Governorate

With the new update 28.6.2017

https://twitter.com/YemConfMaps/status/880174190682394625

28.6.2017 – Middle East Monitor (A K)

Houthis attack Saudi Arabia

The Houthis conducted an ambush inside Saudi Arabia’s southern border; targeting two military vehicles, Al Masdar reported.

Houthi fighters fired anti-tank missiles on two Saudi Arabian military vehicles outside the Ujbah military base, in the Jizan province.

The number of casualties remains unknown.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170628-houthis-attack-saudi-arabia/amp/

My comment: A really misleading headline.

28.6.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (A K PH)

Clashes continue, Saudi jets still bombardment inside Saudi [in Saudi Najran province]

https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/880021438270513153

28.6.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)

Saudi paid mercenaries shell houses of citizens in Marib

Saudi-paid mercenaries shelled houses and farms of citizens in Harib Al Qaramish district of Marib, an official told Saba on Wednesday.
The shelling caused heavy damage to the houses and farms in Al Hazm village in the district

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467901.htm

28.6.2017 – Fars News (A K PH)

Yemeni Forces Speak of Using Secret Weapon in Recent Saudi Warship Attack

Vice-Spokesman of the Yemeni Army Brigadier General Aziz Rashed said that the country's forces have used an advanced secret weapon in their recent attack on a Saudi-led coalition warship in the Southern waters of Yemen.

Rashed said that the army forces targeted the warship of the Saudi-led coalition carrying Sudanese military men off the coast of Mukha port city, and added, "The Yemeni naval force opened fire at the Saudi-led coalition warship that wanted to enter our waters to transfer Sudanese soldiers to the coast of Mukha port."

"Our forces used a unique weapon whose details and features are secret," the brigadier general disclosed.

Rashed further added that the Sudanese military forces were to join the coalition as reinforcement troops.

He pointed out that the Yemeni forces' missile hit the target (the warship) very precisely.

Military source confirmed on Monday that a Saudi-led coalition warship was targeted by the Yemeni forces off the coast of Mukha port city.

Al-Masireh tv network quoted the military source as saying that the Yemeni navy forces managed to target a warship of the Saudi-led coalition off the coast of Mukha port city in Ta’iz Province.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960407000519 and also at http://newnewss.net/?p=7013

My comment: It is strange that there still is no confirmation or record by the Saudi side and by Western media.

27.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A K)

Yemen Security Brief

President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government deployed nine combat brigades from Aden to the al Houthi-Salehfrontline in south-central Yemen on June 27. Yemen’s military command confirmed that some brigades will move to seize Mukayras city, located on the al Bayda-Abyan governorates border. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is currently the primary force fighting alongside tribal forces against the al Houthi-Saleh bloc in this area. Mukayras is located on a major road network that leads to Sana’a city. Elements of this nine-brigade deployment are also traveling to Taiz governorate to support the ongoing offensive against al Houthi-Saleh forces in Taiz city and northern Mokha district.[1]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-27-2017

27.6.2017 – Critical Threats (A K)

Yemen Security Brief

Hadi government forces continued an operation against al Houthi-Saleh forces in Sirwah district, western Ma’rib governorate on June 27. Hadi government-aligned forces are preparing for an offensive on Sana’a city.[4]

Saudi-led coalition forces targeted al Houthi-Saleh positions in Hajjah governorate, northwest Yemen on June 26 as part of a broader operation to secure the Saudi-Yemeni border. [and more fighting] [5]

Al Houthi-Saleh forces killed five fighters loyal to President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi near al Hazm city in southwestern al Jawf governorate, northern Yemen on June 27. [6]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-june-27-2017

27.6.2017 – Josephjo1221 (A K PH)

Map: The map of the confrontations in Sarawah, Jabal al-Deri, is located between Sarawah and Mount Marthad, which they claim to control.

Green mercenary control, red army and tribes.

https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/879848018807226371

Map: I got the map of Sorouh and Mount Marthad, which they claim to control, as well as a narcotic valley that they claimed to control a few days ago

** Red mercenary control

https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/879823401069817856

Map: Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya talk that after the control of Mount Marthad will be entered into the administrative borders of Sanaa!

The map shows them, great distances and rugged mountains

https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/879848713551794177

Remark: Mercenary: “president” Hadi militia. “Army”: pro-Houthi part of Yemeni army (the larger one).

Pro-Houthi / Pro-Saleh reports:

http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=78521&lang=en

http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=78518&lang=en

http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=78515&lang=en

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/29/526919/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Najran-Jizan

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467907.htm

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467893.htm

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467889.htm

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news467875.htm

http://newnewss.net/?p=6998

Pro-Hadi / Pro-Saudi reports:

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/06/28/The-legitimate-forces-liberate-Al-Mukhadara-district-in-Yemen.html

cp18 Sonstiges / Other

6.2017 – Pinterest

Socotra Island, Yemen

These are picture of the Yemeni Island of Socotra, which lies south of the Arabian Peninsula in the Indian Ocean. This island looks like an extraterrestial environment!

https://www.pinterest.de/stevebeairsto/socotra-island-yemen/

6.2017 – Pinterest

My beautiful country yemen: photos

https://www.pinterest.de/YemeniaY/my-beautiful-country-yemen/

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-316-yemen-war-mosaic-316

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-316 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-316:

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/

War against children (Film: German) – Saudi humanitarian aid propaganda – Trafficking in Yemen – German ARD TV unreporting on torture prisons in Yemen (German) – Emirati torture prisons in Yemen and Eritrea – Saudi plans to blackmail UN – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and threat of war (German) – Drones and Trump doctrine – Cholera – and more

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose

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