Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 331 - Yemen War Mosaic 331

3.8.2017 – Save the Children (** A H P)

Petition: DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH KILLING CHILDREN

Children’s lives have been torn apart after two years of brutal armed conflict in Yemen. Children like 1 year old Zuhoor* who had her fingers amputated after being crushed by debris and badly burnt in an airstrike.

The Saudi-led coalition have been responsible for dozens of bombings. They must be held to account for their actions, along with all of Yemen’s warring parties. Don’t let them use their political influence to get themselves off the hook.

Take action now and sign our petition to the UN Secretary General.

https://action.savethechildren.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=7&ea.campaign.id=74305 and films: https://twitter.com/savechildrenuk/status/893143183508385792 and https://twitter.com/savechildrenuk/status/893849445275754496

4.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (** B K)

Yemeni mercenaries fight and die to protect Saudi border

Thousands of poorly trained Yemenis have been hired to fight Houthis advancing on Saudi Arabia, as Saudi troops sit miles behind the front

Thousands of desperate Yemenis are being recruited by Saudi Arabia to defend its borders against Houthi rebels, Middle East Eye can reveal, as Saudi forces sit away from the fighting orchestrating air attacks on Yemeni targets.

Returned mercenaries told MEE how they were given only a few weeks of training, deployed into Saudi-funded border defence regiments staffed almost exclusively by Yemenis, and paid an average of $800 a month to fight far superior Houthi forces.

The practice lays bare the Saudi government's inability, or unwillingness, to put its citizens in the firing line in a war in which it has contributed to the worst humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

Ahmed, 29, who fought on the Najran border as a mercenary, told Middle East Eye how after two years of war, he had the choice of either fighting for the Saudis or living in penury in his village in Taiz province.

Before arriving at the Saudi front lines by the end of September 2016, Ahmed had thought he would be fighting shoulder to shoulder with Saudi forces - he had regularly heard in the news that Saudi troops were mowing down the Houthis by the dozen.

But when Ahmed arrived at Najran, the Saudi troops were nowhere in sight. "I only found Yemenis fighting on the front lines," said Ahmed.

"Saudi Arabia wants to fight the Houthis using Yemeni forces while the Saudis avoid the fight on their own front lines. They [the Saudis] want to live while we Yemenis die," Tawfeeq told MEE.

Most regular troops employed by the Saudi coalition in Yemen are also foreigners, according to reports.

When Ahmed tried to flee, the border defence teams prevented him and others from leaving unless they had been injured or had fought for at least six months.

While some leaders within the pro-Hadi resistance movement support the idea of sending Yemenis to fight on the Saudi borders, others oppose it, believing that such fighters are needed inland.

According to the report, most Yemeni fighters were recruited from the south Yemen provinces, which are controlled by pro-Hadi forces and Saudi-led coalition.

Official Saudi sources denied the allegations at the time, while the Yemeni government has not commented on the issue.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemenis-fight-saudi-arabia-s-war-return-pennies-1458536939

4.8.2017 – Lima Charlie News (** A P)

Wag the Dog: Has Reuters been had? An Iran story questioned

A recent Reuters news piece, relying primarily on unnamed sources, has reported that Iran is currently violating both a United Nations embargo and the territorial waters of Kuwait by aiding in the illicit trafficking of arms and by sending military assistance to al Houthi forces in war torn Yemen. Lima Charlie News has investigated the story’s controversial claims.

A critical review of the facts as reported shows that it relies heavily on alleged first-hand observations and admissions from unidentified sources. The story also makes no mention of physical evidence to substantiate its claims.

Principal among the unnamed sources is an anonymous senior Iranian official. This source is given little context and raises a few questions. While the anonymity of the source is understandable and must be protected at all costs, it does leave the source’s statements open to question. Is it safe to assume that this Iranian official has insight into the matter? How was he connected to Reuters, or did Reuters even have direct access to him?

If Reuters did not have direct access to this source, and instead received information from an intermediary entity as part of an information package, then the information is suspect. The package could have been contaminated, or created to further a particular context and direction. However, as Reuters is a professional news entity of long standing, it must certainly have heavily vetted and validated its source.

Lima Charlie News has received segments of the originating classified report, written by an outside monitoring entity. This originating report was relied on heavily by the United Nations report, to which the Reuters piece refers. While investigations are still ongoing, the originating report reveals several links between Iran and the al Houthis. Backed by evidence collected, that report details how Iran is shipping weapons and military advisers either by boat or plane through Somalia to Yemen, or directly to Yemen.

The story also described the methods that were used during transportation. Once the larger Iranian vessels carrying arms and personnel were in or near Kuwaiti territorial waters, they were transferred to smaller dhows at the northern end of the gulf. These, so called, transshipments allegedly often took place during Kuwaiti coast guard watch changes.

However, this process is questionable as regional geographics and heavy Kuwaiti security presence in the area of the Iranian and Kuwaiti territorial waters make operations as described in the story seem needlessly dangerous and complicated. They involve running an immense risk of exposure. Considering the high quality of IRGC operators and their indepth knowledge in the region, what is described appears uncharacteristically reckless and unlikely.

The timely release of the Reuters exclusive is well aligned with the current US administration’s mantra and interests in disrupting Iranian influence in the Middle East region. The previous US administration pushed hard to open, and reach, diplomatic discourse with Iran before the end of its term. These diplomatic inroads culminated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, in July 2015. The deal was panned by the Obama administration’s opposition.

Lima Charlie contacts inside the US Intelligence Community say that members from the US State Department have been conducting a low key media campaign in recent months. The campaign aims to create an environment that is receptive to US actions against Iran - by John Sjoholm

https://limacharlienews.com/mena/reuters-iran-wag-the-dog/

Remark: More reporting YPR 330, cp1b.

3.8.2017 – Lobelog (** B T)

The Reinvention of Al-Qaeda’s Most Dangerous Branch

n Yemen, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has emerged as a formidable force. It has been able to exploit the security vacuum created by the country’s ongoing civil war to reinvent the al-Qaeda brand and rebuild the group’s ability to attract funding, recruits, and ideological support.

As the Yemeni security situation deteriorated and Houthi militants geared up for war in the north, AQAP was claiming control over an increasing amount of territory in the country’s southeast.

After the government offensive to oust the group from its strongholds in 2012, AQAP reverted to its earlier patterns of operation. It cultivated connections with local councils, militias, and tribal groups, and when the Houthi rebels moved on the Yemeni capital the group was well positioned to reassert control over large areas of the southeast.

As the Yemeni civil war began to heat up in early 2015, AQAP proved that it had learned crucial lessons from its failed attempt to establish an emirate in 2011.

Around the same time, AQAP also made a concerted effort to become an indispensable part of the constellation of anti-Houthi militias quickly forming in the south as a Houthi advance on the port city of Aden seemed increasingly inevitable. AQAP provided material support to these militias and sent fighters to the front lines of the battle against the Houthi advance. In this way, the group became a key part of the growing southern militant movement and an important power center in the fragmented country.

Back in their traditional power centers in the southeast, AQAP took a similar approach to governance. Instead of imposing a new style of government or system of law, AQAP leaders embedded themselves into pre-existing government structures to operate behind the scenes.

This shrewd transformation AQAP’s political arm has paid massive dividends in recent years.

Although many in the West portray al-Qaeda and its various branches as a cohesive group solely focused on attacks on European and American soil, this simply is not the case. AQAP can no longer be simply characterized as a terrorist group. Instead it’s a hybrid group that operates as an insurgency in the territory it holds while simultaneously planning and executing international terror attacks.

In understanding its failures, AQAP has become a group that can wear many masks, and is able to deftly navigate conflict, political power, and international operations in sophisticated ways. The group, along with its militant arm Ansar al-Sharia, has become a key actor on the ground in Yemen’s civil war, making inroads with the various Islamist factions combatting the Houthi rebellion in conjunction with the Saudi-led coalition. AQAP has been able to provide these militias with weapons, fighters, and training in ways that the Saudi-led coalition has not, especially in the early days of the civil war.

Looking forward, the new structure of AQAP has troubling implications beyond the borders of Yemen – by Maximilian Beauchene

http://lobelog.com/the-reinvention-of-al-qaedas-most-dangerous-branch/

2.8.2017 – Crisis Group (** B K P)

A Dangerous Gulf in the Horn: How the Inter-Arab Crisis is Fuelling Regional Tensions

The Gulf crisis and the scramble for military outposts in the Horn of Africa are exacerbating regional tensions that risk triggering a conflict. In this Q&A, Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa Project Director Rashid Abdi untangles the complex web of relations that tie the Horn and the Gulf.

The Gulf and the Horn are intricately intertwined regions that face common threats and vulnerabilities: armed conflict, transnational jihadism and organised crime, including piracy, human trafficking and money laundering. The current crisis comes at a difficult moment for the historically conflict-prone Horn, much of which is either politically unstable, mired in internal armed conflict or still in a state of fragile post-conflict recovery. Turmoil in the Gulf has sharply escalated the region’s already dangerous militarisation as governments are pressed to side either with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or with Qatar (and, indirectly, Turkey). This has been profoundly destabilising, sowing new regional divisions and rekindling old hostilities. Perhaps most alarmingly, the Gulf crisis potentially could put Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti on a path toward armed confrontation, inflaming the Horn’s most dangerous three-way territorial dispute.

The Yemen conflict and the Gulf’s internal crisis have catapulted Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991, into a position of geopolitical prominence. Both developments enhanced its strategic importance to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which means that even as Mogadishu faces the prospect of a potentially crippling cash crunch, Somaliland stands to reap a hefty financial windfall.

The self-declared republic has secured a raft of lucrative military, commercial and infrastructure deals with the UAE. Under a deal to upgrade the port of Berbera, Somaliland will get $442 million from the UAE’s port logistics conglomerate, DP World. Under a separate agreement, Somaliland has granted the UAE a 25-year lease to build a military base and use the Berbera airport. This is expected to spawn some $1 billion in investments to develop and modernise infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have signed military cooperation agreements that significantly scale up and diversify their military presence in Eritrea, Djibouti, Somaliland and Somalia. Their primary motive is the war in Yemen, especially efforts to take control of the Yemeni coastline, cut off rebel supply routes, and increase naval and aerial attacks against the Huthi and Saleh forces via a southern flank.

The two Gulf states initially set up a logistics hub in Djibouti’s Haramous facility near Camp Lemonier, stationing specialised troops there to help prosecute the war in Yemen.

Eritrea has obvious appeal to Gulf military strategists: it has well-developed military facilities, experienced armed forces and is close to Yemen’s important southern flank. The two Arab states signed an accord with Eritrea in 2015 that granted them a 30-year lease to use the port of Assab, a military airfield close to the port and other facilities on Eritrean-owned islands in the Red Sea. The UAE can use these sites to launch naval and aerial strikes deep inside Yemen. Hundreds of Eritrean troops and special forces back the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, in addition to other troops from Sudan and Somalia.

It is worth noting that three Horn states are now actively engaged in the Yemen conflict: Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia – by Rashid Abdi

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/dangerous-gulf-horn-how-inter-arab-crisis-fuelling-regional-tensions

30.7.2017 – World Health Organization (** A H)

WHO EMRO Weekly Epidemiological Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 31 (30 July 2017): Meningitis in Yemen

The Ministry of Health in Yemen, in collaboration with WHO, are closely monitoring the epidemiological pattern of the ongoing reported cases of meningitis in Yemen. Since the beginning of the year up to 8 July 2017 (Epidemiological week 27), a total of 2,146 suspected cases have been reported through the electronic early warning surveillance system (eDEWS) in the country (Please see the graph).

Editorial Note

In 2017, cases of suspected meningitis have been reported in nearly all governorates of Yemen. Nearly two-thirds of the total number of reported suspected meningitis cases, 1413 are in the under five year age group compared to 733 in the over five year age group. The highest number of cases have been reported in Amana, Taiz, Al Hodeida governorates. This has been attributed to the fact that these leading governorates have referral hospitals that received most suspected meningitis cases including referrals from other sites in the country.

Even though the number of suspected meningitis cases in the first half of 2017 is coming close to the total number of reported suspected cases in 2016 (2,649 reported cases of meningitis in Yemen in 2016) (Please see the table), this maybe due to the fact that eDEWS population coverage has increased by nearly two-thirds from 700 sites in 2016 to 1,982 reporting sites currently.

A total of 920 cerebrospinal fluid samples have been tested by gram stain and culture; 5 samples have tested positive for Streptococcus Pneumoniae; 2 for Neisseria Meningitidis; and 11 samples were positive for other bacteria. The low number of CSF samples that have tested positive could be due to excessive self medication with antibiotics given restricted access to health care due to insecurity; and possibly due to sample handling and limited capacity of local laboratory capacity given the current status of health infrastructure in the country.

Despite the challenges of the humanitarian crisis, the occurrence of meningitis in Yemen has not reached unexpected levels and the risk of spread to neighboring countries remains low. This situation may change at any time; therefore surveillance must be enhanced to ensure effective monitoring and preparedness and response capacities should be strengthened at all levels.

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-emro-weekly-epidemiological-monitor-volume-10-issue-31-30-july-2017 and in full http://applications.emro.who.int/docs/epi/2017/Epi_Monitor_2017_10_31.pdf andd film by Yemen Today TV (Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y2yh7laOR0

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Cholera / Most important: Cholera

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

5.8.2017 – Deutsche Welle (** A H)

Die Cholera-Epidemie im Jemen, einem der ärmsten Länder der Welt, breitet sich weiter aus. Viele Menschen sind durch Hunger geschwächt. Und im Bürgerkrieg wurden viele Kliniken zerstört.

http://www.dw.com/de/cholera-epidemie-im-jemen-immer-bedrohlicher/av-39978383

4.8.2017 – Aktion gegen den Hunger (* A H)

Cholera-Epidemie weitet sich rasant aus

Die Cholera-Epidemie im Jemen weitet sich rasant aus: Internationale Hilfsorganisationen sprechen inzwischen vom größten je dagewesenen Ausbruch. Aktion gegen den Hunger hat die Hilfe in der Hafenstadt Hodeidah weiter aufgestockt. Im Al Thowra-Behandlungszentrum kämpfen 70 Krankenschwestern und -pfleger sowie drei Ärzte Tag und Nacht um das Überleben ihrer geschwächten Patientinnen und Patienten.

"Wenn die Menschen bei uns eintreffen, untersuchen wir als erstes, wie dehydriert sie sind. Kinder, die nicht nur an Cholera erkrankt, sondern auch unterernährt sind, bekommen von uns Spezialnahrung und werden besonders intensiv betreut", sagte Elise Lacan, Notfall-Koordinatorin für Wasser und Hygiene im Jemen.

Aktion gegen den Hunger hat seit Ende Mai fast 22.000 Frauen, Männer und Kinder erfolgreich behandelt. "Wir haben in dem Behandlungszentrum neue Toiletten gebaut, Fußbodenbeläge ausgewechselt, und einen Außenbereich geschaffen", sagte Lacan. Hygienemaßnahmen haben bei Cholera-Ausbrüchen oberste Priorität.

Damit sich die Cholera innerhalb des Behandlungszentrums nicht weiter ausbreitet, werden kranke und geheilte, aber noch geschwächte Patientinnen und Patienten räumlich getrennt. Außerdem werden alle Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter fortlaufend zu Hygienemaßnahmen weitergebildet.

Jeden Tag infizieren sich im Jemen weitere 7.000 Menschen mit der Cholera,

http://www.epo.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14017:jemen-cholera-epidemie-weitet-sich-rasant-aus&catid=52&Itemid=100 = https://www.pr-inside.com/de/update-jemen-erschoepfte-helferinnen-und-helfer-ka-r4622818.htm

4.8.2017 – PBS (* A H)

PHOTOS: How aid groups are tackling Yemen’s cholera outbreak

As Yemen struggles to contain a cholera outbreak that has taken nearly 2,000 lives since last fall, doctors and nurses are working around the clock to treat the sick, and community volunteers are going door to door telling people what they can do to protect themselves. - by Larisa Epatko

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/photos-aid-groups-tackling-yemens-cholera-outbreak/

4.8.2017 – Emirati News Agency (* A H)

Deaths from cholera in Yemen have decreased since late July: Yemeni Health Minister

The number of deaths caused by cholera in Yemen have decreased since late July due to the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council, stated Dr. Nasir Baoum, Minister of Public Health and Population of Yemen.

''Most cases of deaths were reported in the governorates of Hajjah, Sana'a, Al Hudaydah, Amran and Ibb,'' added Dr. Baoum, in a statement to the official Yemeni News Agency.

''A total of 1,890 people have died from cholera between 27th April and the end of July,'' he further added.

http://www.wam.org.ae/en/details/1395302625929

My comment: I doubt that the peak already has been reached. But hope never dies.

3.8.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (* B H)

Yemen: Urgent need for aid in remote areas to stop cholera deaths

Many people in remote areas are still dying needlessly four months into Yemen’s cholera outbreak, warns international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The number of new cases may have started to slow, but unless levels of aid are urgently increased and a preventive approach taken at the community level, people will continue to die from this disease.

“Some weeks ago, one of my neighbours suffered from severe diarrhoea and vomiting,” says Zayed Al Goidi from Beit Al Ghwadi, a village in Osman valley, one of the most remote areas of Amran governorate. “He died the same day, but no one knew the reason. We don’t have televisions or phones, and few of us have a radio, so it took a long time before we understood it was cholera.”

But being able to identify the disease is not enough to save the villagers, most of whom cannot afford to travel for medical care. “The nearest health facility is several hours from the village and the journey costs up to US$60,” says Al Goidi. “We’re poor and we have almost no means of making a living, so how can we pay so much money? To save our lives, we have to pledge our property: our land, our wives’ jewellery.”

“Our epidemiological data shows that the Osman valley is one of the areas most affected by cholera,” says Ghassan Abou Chaar, MSF head of mission in Yemen. “Its remote location, people’s poor living conditions and their lack of knowledge about cholera have all contributed to the spread of the disease and the number of deaths caused by it. We can’t simply wait and treat only those patients who manage to reach our cholera treatment centres. If we don’t reach locations such as the Osman valley, people will keep dying.”

Dr Mohamed Musoke, MSF’s emergency coordinator for cholera, travelled to Beit Al Ghwadi from MSF’s hospital in Khamir, 2.5 hours’ drive away. “The road is very difficult and this place is almost completely cut off,” says Dr Musoke. “On our way here we crossed the river, the main water source for the community. We saw animals drinking from it, people washing their clothes in it and mothers giving their children water from it to drink.”

In mid-July, MSF teams distributed hygiene items to hundreds of households in the Osman valley and organised awareness sessions on cholera.

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-urgent-need-aid-remote-areas-stop-cholera-deaths and also with photos https://www.facebook.com/MSF.Yemen/posts/1403642806410670

My comment: This clearly shows that the official figures of affected and killed people are much too low.

Comment by Haykal Bafana: One word : Airdrops. That is the solution for the distribution of #Yemen humanitarian aid & emergency medical supplies. Airdrops.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893158914421927937

Comment to comment: Haykal is certainly right. But we all know that this would not happen, because Saudi Arabia is ruling the air space of Yemen and never would admit that. The only things which are dropped over Yemen are Saudi coalition bombs (made in US, UK, Brazil, Germany/Italy), and in the first phase of the war had been arms for Saudi-backed militia and terrorists.

3.8.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (* B H)

Yemen: crisis update – July 2017

Although the number of registered cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea fell in July for the first time since April, the outbreak has further weakened a health system seriously affected by the war and limited financial resources.

A smooth collaboration between UN agencies, NGOs and the health authorities will be vital in stopping the spread of the epidemic and preventing further outbreaks that the health system will be unable to respond to.

Outreach activities, including the chlorination of infected water sources and supporting local communities with the provision of hygiene kits, are key to limiting the spread of the disease. It is important for aid agencies to become involved in these activities, as well as in the management of treatment units. MSF is providing patients with hygiene kits and disinfection kits for themselves and neighbouring households.

NGOs (in addition to the Ministry of Health, WHO and donors) should ensure that there are no shortages of essential materials in the health facilities they are supporting. The importation of drugs must be facilitated and not limited to UN agencies, MSF and the ICRC.

In addition to treating patients, MSF teams are focusing on hygiene promotion in hard-to-reach areas

http://www.msf.org/en/article/yemen-crisis-update--july-2017

3.8.2017 – Save the Children (* B H)

Why Cholera is Spreading in Yemen

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The rapid spread of cholera has been caused by a deadly combination factors:

Near-famine rates of malnutrition and food insecurity.

No access to safe drinking water for two-thirds of the population (according to the UN).

An effective block on resources, including medical supplies, from entering the country - Few working medical facilities, and medical staff who haven’t been paid for months

https://blogs.savethechildren.org.uk/2017/08/yemen-cholera-spreading/?hootPostID=56a26dc767d6df56bc96dcba289a5b1a = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/why-cholera-spreading-yemen

2.8.2017 – PLOS (** A H)

Cholera in Yemen: Why are vaccines not being used?

PLOS Medicine Specialty Consulting Editor Lorenz von Seidlein urges the WHO to act in response current cholera outbreak in Yemen

Despite the availability of an efficacious vaccine through a global stockpile, it wasn’t until nearly three weeks after the start of this epidemic wave (15th June) that the WHO and Ministry of Health announced that vaccine would be delivered to Yemen, although only 1 million doses, compared to the millions of people at high-risk. On 10th of July the UN and its daughter-organisation the WHO announced that the Yemen Ministry of Health, in consultation with the WHO had decided to cancel cholera vaccination plansdespite 500,000 doses sitting at the airport in Djibouti due to arrive in Yemen that week. WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic made the surprising announcement that vaccines were no longer a priority given the rapidly evolving epidemic and that officials would instead focus on ‘scaling up access to clean water and sanitation, treatment to people affected and working with communities to promote hygiene, sanitation and cholera prevention.’ ‘Experience shows that vaccinating once a cholera outbreak is established in a community has little or no impact on preventing further spread.’ Further, the UN cited concerns that providing the limited vaccine to some areas and not others may cause disputes.

While fighting such a large cholera outbreak in the middle of a conflict is surely complicated, not using all effective and available tools at our disposal to fight the disease is short-sighted. The limited supply of vaccine, equity issues and the myth that cholera vaccinations have no impact once an outbreak has started were also used as an excuse in Haiti not to use vaccine. It is unacceptable that 7 years later, despite evidence showing vaccine can play an important role in protecting people, that there is insufficient supply to cover all those in need. Perhaps if more vaccine was available (the vaccine demand exceeds supply every year since the oral cholera vaccine stockpile has been initiated in 2012), a nation-wide campaign may have been under way as early as last month. Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions alone can’t be relied on when the infrastructure to provide safe water and sanitation is actively being destroyed. Vaccinations can protect the most vulnerable populations until a more permanent solution has been found. In a paper published in PLOS Medicine last year Azman and colleagues showed that “Reactive vaccination campaigns using a single dose of OCV may avert more cases and deaths than a standard two-dose campaign when vaccine supplies are limited, while at the same time reducing logistical complexity.” The paper applies directly to the current situation in Yemen where 500,000 doses could protect 500,000 people - by Lorenz von Seidlein

http://blogs.plos.org/speakingofmedicine/2017/08/02/cholera-in-yemen-why-are-vaccines-not-being-used/

4.8.2017 -Le Monde (A H)

Le Yémen, un pays prisonnier du choléra

La guerre occultée (5/5). Dans ce pays ravagé par la guerre entre Nord et Sud, où les structures de santé sont chancelantes, l’épidémie de choléra est une menace de plus pour les Yéménites (registered only)

http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2017/08/04/le-yemen-un-pays-prisonnier-du-cholera_5168461_3218.html

4.7.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (A H)

Infographic: Yemen: MSF update on Cholera (4 Jul 2017)

MSF has 18 cholera treatment centers (CTC) and units (CTU) In 9 Yemeni governorates. Between 30th March and 2nd July, MSF has received 60,631 patients for cholera & acute watery diarrhea.

http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-msf-update-cholera-4-jul-2017 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/msf_cholera_yemen_0.pdf

28.6.2017 – UN Children Found (* A H)

Maps, Cholera Attack Rate with Population and Functionality of Water Source (28 Jun 2017) for all governorates:

Aden: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-aden-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Abyan: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-abyan-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28-0

Al Bayda: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-al-bayda-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source

Al Dhalee: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-al-dhalee-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source

Al Hudaydah: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-al-hudaydah-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water

Al Jawf: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-al-jawf-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Al Maharah: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-al-maharah-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source

Dhamar: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-dhamar-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Hadramaut: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-hadramaut-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source

Hajjah: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-hajjah-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Ibb: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-ibb-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28-jun

Lahj: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-lahj-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Marib: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-marib-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Raymah: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-raymah-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Saada: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-saada-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Sanaa: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-sanaa-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Shabwah: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-shabwah-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Socotra: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-socotra-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

Taizz: http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-taizz-governorate-cholera-attack-rate-population-and-functionality-water-source-28

My comment: The figures are outdated now, the crisis is much worse.

cp2 Allgemein / General

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

4.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)

Yemen Security Brief

U.S. SOF support Yemeni counter-AQAP operation in Shabwah governorate, southern Yemen; AQAP militants attack al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen; Hadi government forces continue offensive in Hajjah governorate, northwestern Yemen; Hadi government forces seize junction in western Taiz governorate, western Yemen; Saudi-led coalition warplanes strike civilian areas in Sa’ada governorate, northwestern Yemen

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-august-4-2017

3.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)

Yemen Security Brief

Reported U.S. airstrike targets suspected AQAP militants in Ma’rib governorate, central Yemen; AQAP militants kill Emirati-backed security forces in Shabwah governorate, southern Yemen; UN Special Envoy for Yemen discusses Yemen negotiations with Omani Foreign Minister in Muscat; Hadi government-aligned forces resume offensive in Taiz governorate, western Yemen; Hadi government forces clash with al Houthi-Saleh fighters in al Jawf governorate, northern Yemen

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-august-3-2017

5.8.2017 – NTH (* B K)

An American Report Reveals the Daily Financial Cost of Saudi Arabia in War Against Yemen

The site “Monitor” American specialist in the Middle East, published an article, written by US politician Bruce Riddle, on the war in Yemen.

The Middle East and South Asia adviser to the National Security Council said in his article that the war was costly for Saudis. According to a new Harvard study, the war in Yemen costs $ 200 Million daily to Saudi Arabia.

In the report published on the American website, he pointed out that “there is no better place than the Yemeni battlefield to sink the Saudis further after an indefinite period. If the United States can also be plunged into the crisis, why not?

http://en.nthnews.net/2017/08/04/yemen-war-costs-200-million-a-day-for-saudi-arabia/ = http://newnewss.net/?p=9504 referring to http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/08/iran-saudi-arabia-war-yemen-houthis-outflanking.html

5.8.2017 – Suhf Net (* A K PS)

Legitimacy is completing its preparations for a decisive battle to control Hodeidah

source close to the Yemeni presidency that government forces are preparing for a military battle separator under which government forces restore the city and the port of Hodeidah after the rejectionists of the United Nations plan to hand over Hodeidah to a neutral party.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted the source as saying that "all military plans are ready to move towards Hodeidah, especially after the strategic Khalid bin Walid camp was controlled west of Taiz ."

He stressed that «after the failure of the United Nations to accept the offer of the Arab coalition and the legitimate government in the management of the port, and after the failure of the plan of the United Nations envoy Ismail Sheikh Ould Sheikh in the recent port neutralization, the Yemeni government is convinced, and with the Arab coalition forces the need to restore the city of Hodeidah to facilitate the introduction of relief aid , And to prevent the smuggling of arms from Iran to the coupers at home ».

"There is a trained military force from the resistance and the army under the supervision of the fourth military zone linked on the west coast waiting for a political decision to go to Hodeidah."

He pointed out that the intention was to go to Hodeidah before the end of last Ramadan, but he was born Sheikh succeeded in persuading the government and coalition forces to abandon the plan to allow the political efforts to hand over the city of Hodeidah and its port of peace, which was rejected by the Houthis and their ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh .

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/255583 and also at https://www.suhf.net/yemen/255566

My comment: The Hadi government again is planning an assault on Hodeida city and port – what will mean a lot of bloodshed and also that the supply of all needs to northern Yemen still will become much worse than it already is at the moment. - „Legitimacy“ is used here as synonym for the Hadi government, really a funny wording.

4.8.2017 – New News (A K)

Aggression Coalition Involves Women in Monitoring and Tracking Yemeni Army and Popular Committees in Taiz

A security source in the province of Taiz confirms that the agents’ cell working in favor of aggression recognized the role to women, of monitoring of the positions of the Yemeni army and the Popular Committees and tracking their movements in the province in favor of aggression.

The source revealed in a statement to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) the presence of two women working within the cell… He stressed that they are members of the alliance of aggression.

The cell have admitted that two women had been recruited and involved in monitoring and tracing in each cell.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9420

4.8.2017 – New News (A K PH)

Saudi-Emirati Confused Over Surprises of Chairman of Yemeni Supreme Revolutionary Committee

Military experts confirmed that the coalition forces participating in the aggression on Yemen, declared something like a state of alert to face the imminent threat, on Thursday evening, in all air bases and military centers and vital installations and oil positions in Saudi Arabia, after the publication of Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Supreme Yemeni Revolutionary Committee on Twitter, “God willing, surprise at the level of the event.”

The experts attributed this to several previous experiments in which coalition forces were hit through land and sea missile strikes that resulted in heavy losses in equipment, soldiers and officers inside Saudi territory or in Yemeni territorial waters or in oil installations.

Hostages: The coalition forces are taking these tweets seriously, resulting in great confusion in the programs and plans of military operations of the coalition in Yemen, accompanied by a state of panic in the royal family make many of its leaders warn of the presence in those bases and facilities and change whereabouts and loss of sleep for fear of targeting , and at the same thing began to happen in the UAE after the Yemeni army and the Popular Committees to target the refineries of Saudi Arabia, one of their ballistic missiles, a thousand kilometers, which means the possibility of exposure vital targets within the UAE to similar strikes.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9418

3.8.2017 – The Canary (* B H K P)

If Theresa May had any decency she would cut her holiday short over this shameful scandal

If Theresa May had any decency, she would cut her holiday short right now. Because some absolutely revolting news has surfaced about one of her close global ‘mates’.

UK ally Saudi Arabia is allegedly blocking humanitarian planes from accessing fuel in Yemen. And the move is leaving the planes stranded, unable to deliver the aid desperately needed by millions in the country on the brink of famine.

It’s an act that Saudi Arabia surely knows could result in the deaths of countless civilians. Yet the UK continues to sell masses of weapons to this regime and views it as a friend. With friends like that, however, we should be asking: what the hell does the UK stand for?

Of course, there is one way for countries to help wind that war down. Countries that sell arms to Saudi could stop. And the UK is one of the biggest culprits. But there appears to be nothing that will stop the Conservative government from doing so. When Saudi allegedly commits a war crime, the UK government sells it weapons. When parliament humiliates the government in front of the whole country over arms sales to the regime, it sells Saudi weapons. And when a report emerges that people suspect will implicate Saudi in terrorism funding, the government buries it and keeps selling it weapons.

But in doing so it is making the UK complicit in Yemen’s destruction. And now we learn it’s ensuring we associate with those who are actively stopping starving people accessing food - by Tracey Keeley

https://www.thecanary.co/2017/08/03/theresa-may-decency-cut-holiday-short-shameful-scandal/

My comment: It' not just Theresa May and th UK government. That's the same for the US and all it's Western allies.

2.8.2017 – Alternet (* B H K P)

A Million Children Are at Risk of Death by Cholera in Yemen

These deaths are not tragedies, they are crimes.

Last Thursday, the head of the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), Anthony Lake, arrived in Amman, Jordan after a heart-wrenching tour of war-ravaged Yemen. ‘Stop the war,’ said Lake. It was a clear message. No subtlety was needed. ‘All of us,' he said, 'should feel ‘immense pity, even agony, for all of those children and others who are suffering, and they should feel anger, anger that this, our generation, is scarred by the irresponsibility of governments and others to allow these things to be happening.’

Lake’s message has gone unheeded.

The war in Yemen, prosecuted by Saudi Arabia and its allies and backed with weaponry from the West, has destroyed the country’s food, water and health infrastructure. In January 2016, Saudi aircraft bombed a water desalination plant north of al-Mocha. This bombing run, which lasted minutes, left the million residents of the Yemeni city of Taiz without water. Piped water is no longer an option for most Yemenis. They rely upon water tankers; this water has become more expensive as fuel prices have skyrocketed.

Aid groups, from the UN and elsewhere, as well as citizens groups across Yemen have tried to address the crisis, but the scale of this human-made disaster is enormous.

Terrible stories come from the edge of the cliff, including that desperate Yemeni families have begun to sell their children for food.

Saudi Arabia’s war aims can never be met in Yemen. That is now clear. It simply cannot bomb the country into submission and it does not have the ground forces to enter Yemen and defeat the various rebel groups that defy it.

Meanwhile, the West continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, offering these arms sales as a way to sanctify the war. The West with these sales is utterly complicit in the Saudi-led war.

The West’s complicity extends to the manner in which it has allowed Saudi Arabia to yoke this obscene war with its paranoia about Iran. Saudi Arabia argues that the rebel Houthi group in Yemen is a proxy of Iran and that Houthi capture of Yemen cannot be permitted. It is the impetus for this war. What is needed, however, is not a war to destroy Yemen, but the opening of a serious process for Saudi Arabia and Iran to talk about their broad disagreements.

How to prevent the atrocity that is taking place in Yemen? The war must end. That is now a consensus position among the humanitarian community. Arms sales by the West must be stopped. Pressure for a grand bargain between Saudi Arabia and Iran must increase. A million to two million Yemeni children’s lives are stake. - by Vijay Prashad

http://www.alternet.org/world/yemeni-children-are-dying-cholera

3.8.2017 – Washington Post (* B K P)

UAE’s drive for regional influence tests its military alliance with the United States

As a vicious civil war erupted in Yemen two years ago and triggered international alarm, the United States warned the combatants to step back. But its efforts were quietly undermined by one of the most trusted U.S. regional allies: the United Arab Emirates.

Already, the UAE’s rise as a top-tier U.S. military ally had set it apart from other Arab nations, enhancing its outsize ambitions and regional clout. Now, the two nations appear poised to expand their partnership even further under President Trump, as his administration’s “America First” doctrine translates into a more aggressive stance against Iran and an expanded campaign against al-Qaeda militants on the Arabian Peninsula.

But tensions in the alliance were brought to the fore last month when American intelligence officials said that the UAE had orchestrated the hacking of a Qatari government website — a move that inflamed a longtime rift between America’s Persian Gulf allies and thrust the White House into the uncomfortable role of mediator.

UAE and American interests have also diverged in Libya, where U.S. officials complained that the UAE was thwarting peace efforts. Yemen’s brutal conflict has exposed the United States to accusations of complicity in war crimes because of its support for the UAE and its gulf allies.

Emirati officials say it was the perceived threat from Iran that jump-started their drive to build a modern military and test their forces beyond their borders. They also have seen the need to counter the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and any political or armed groups they see as an extension of that movement.

But the Emirati view of stability, its critics say, has included a troubling embrace of autocratic leaders who share its antipathy to Iran or Islamists and its intolerance of any political dissent.

The UAE joined the Saudi-led coalition after a Shiite rebel group known as the Houthis ousted Yemen’s government. The UAE, like its Saudi partners, viewed the Houthis as an Iranian proxy force — a characterization that American officials at the outset of the war said was exaggerated.

“We feared that this was not a war that was destined to end quickly,” Malley said. “The region has had ample experience with nonstate actors like the Houthis — clearly inferior militarily, yet prepared to fight on and unwilling to give in.” The Saudi-led coalition risked getting “dragged in more and more, at great humanitarian cost,” he said.

The Yemen operation has illustrated the risks to the United States in backing, even indirectly, operations by foreign forces.

Ryan Goodman, a former Pentagon official who teaches law at New York University, co-authored a recent report that concluded that the United States, because of its support for UAE operations in Yemen, may hold legal responsibility for illegal detention practices.

“Is this really a productive way of achieving the long-term goal of combating AQAP or ensuring stability in Yemen?” Goodman wrote. - by Kareem Fahim and Missy Ryan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/uaes-drive-for-regional-influence-tests-its-military-alliance-with-the-united-states/2017/08/03/448683ee-6bd2-11e7-abbc-a53480672286_story.html = https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/the-uae-s-hunt-for-its-enemies-is-challenging-its-alliance-with-the-united-states-1.481589#.WYVA5Ijyi00

My comment: Interesting, but a typical US whitewashing article: We are the modest force asking for end of fighting and want to end wars, but our bad bad allies do not listen and commit their bad bad wars and human rights violations... Odd.

Comment: Paranoid United Arab Emirates fighting Iran in Yemen.

Though we disagree on many points relating to Yemen, in this article, this is a must read on what money, ambition and paranoia can lead to while Lybians and Yemenis are paying the highest price. The citizens, of course

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1457852347601124

3.8.2017 – AlMasirah TV (A P)

Film (Arabic): The testimonies of some fishermen after their abduction and torture by the freedom of aggression, Hodeidah

With all its arrogance and arrogance, the invading invaders continue their brutal and criminal operations against all human principles and values ​​in Yemen. They see insulting the dignity and torture of Yemeni fishermen as false pretexts and false accusations in return for their failure and failure and to justify their horrific crimes and repeated violations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59-b5gx69I = https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1602709166426808/

3.8.2017 – Hassan Al Haifi (A K P)

This brave martyr was BURIED ALIVE by UAE led mercenaries because refused to abide by their persistent demand to curse AM Houthis & AA Saleh (photo)

https://twitter.com/commonsense575/status/893311426244337665

2.8.2017 – Deutschlandfunk (* B H)

Die humanitäre Katastrophe im Jemen: Verdrängt und nicht wichtig genug

Im Jemen entfalte sich lautlos eine menschliche Tragödie, die außerhalb des Landes kaum auf Interesse stoße, kommentiert Jürgen Stryjak im Dlf.

Vertreter von den Vereinten Nationen oder vom Roten Kreuz veröffentlichen immer neue Zahlen, um mit apokalyptischen Statistiken die Welt aufzurütteln.

Ein Superlativ jagt den nächsten, leider ohne große Wirkung. Die Weltgemeinschaft hat erst ein Fünftel der Gelder bereitgestellt, die nötig sind, um die Cholera-Epidemie zu bekämpfen, und erst ein Drittel jener Summe, die für die humanitäre Tragödie im Jemen insgesamt gebraucht wird.

Immer wieder feiert man die Errungenschaften der Zivilisation in Wissenschaft und Technik - und vergisst dabei, dass die Toten im Jemen - zynisch formuliert - ebenfalls eine "Errungenschaft" der Zivilisation sind. Denn die Tragödie dort ist keine Folge einer Naturkatastrophe. Sie ist von Menschen gemacht. Und von Menschen kann sie auch beendet werden.

Aber die Empathie ist offenbar aufgebraucht. Nach Jahren der Kriege in Syrien und anderswo herrschen Abstumpfung und Ratlosigkeit. Bloß gut, dass die Jemeniten nicht auch noch in großer Zahl als Flüchtlinge in Europa landen.

An Krieg und Elend im Jemen sind zwar alle Konfliktparteien schuld, aber die Luftangriffe der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition spielen eine besondere Rolle. Denn mit dem Königreich bombardiert eines der reichsten Länder der Welt eines der ärmsten. Das bringt die internationale Politik, auch die des Westens, in eine Zwickmühle.

Die Menschen im Jemen haben also das Pech, dass ihr Leid kaum noch jemanden aufrüttelt und dass sie für eine handfeste Interessenpolitik, die ihnen hilft, leider nicht wichtig genug sind. - Von Jürgen Stryjak

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/die-humanitaere-katastrophe-im-jemen-verdraengt-und-nicht.720.de.html?dram:article_id=392592

2.8.2017 – Deutsche Welle (* B H)

Film: Humanitäre Lage im Jemen immer schlimmer

Fast zwei Millionen Kinder sind im Jemen von akuter Mangelernährung betroffen. Nach UN-Angaben brauchen 80 Prozent der Kinder sofortige humanitäre Hilfe. Das Land leidet unter einem Teufelskreis aus Krieg, Armut und einer Choleraepidemie.

http://www.dw.com/de/humanit%C3%A4re-lage-im-jemen-immer-schlimmer/av-39943313

2.8.2017 – SWR 2 (* B H)

Audio: Hoffnungsloser Fall - Krieg und Cholera im Jemen

Es ist die schlimmste Cholera-Epedemie aller Zeiten, heißt es in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung des Weltgesundheitsorganisation WHO und des Welternährungsprogramms. 400 000 Menschen haben sich im kriegsverheerten Jemen bereits infiziert, tausende sind gestorben und überall im Land fehlen Lebensmittel und Medikamente. Das alles ist die Folge eines Krieges, der im Süden der Arabischen Halbinsel seit dem Frühjahr 2015 geführt wird. Die internationale Politik schaut auf Syrien und den Irak. Die Jemeniten aber leiden unter Ausschluss der Weltöffentlichkeit – von Martin Durm

https://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendungen/kontext/hoffnungsloser-fall-krieg-und-cholera-im-jemen/-/id=4352076/did=20024386/nid=4352076/1ti4znk/index.html

3.8.2017 - 3sat (* B H)

Experten: Im Jemen-Konflikt Appell von Intellektuellen nötig

Angesichts der Lage im Jemen hat die Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (GfbV) der internationalen Gemeinschaft Versagen vorgeworfen. Die Menschenrechtler appellierten am 3. August 2017 in Göttingen daher an "Europas und Amerikas Intellektuelle, sich engagierter für ein Ende des Massensterbens im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen einzusetzen".

Es seien Rüstungslieferungen aus diesen beiden Kontinenten, "die den Bürgerkrieg immer neu befeuern, und der hemmungslose Waffeneinsatz auch gegen zivile Ziele, der die Cholera schürt. Nur politischer Druck aus dem Ausland kann das Morden stoppen", erklärte Nahostreferent Kamal Sido.

5.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (* A P)

Houthi-Saleh militias commit 185 crimes in al-Mahweet during July

Human Rights Organization in al-Mahweet has revealed that the Houthi-Saleh militias committed 185 crimes and violations against civilians in al-Mahweet province during July,2017.

The report cited that the governorate witnessed four cases of murder and one case of suicide due to deteriorated living standards.

The report also monitored 21 cases of abduction, 11 cases of forced disappearance , 14 cases of pursuits, harassments and incitements against 25 social figures.

The report also mentioned that Houthi-Saleh militias raided two villages, stormed into three houses and deported two families.

The report affirmed that the militias continue recruiting children and involve them in warfronts, pointing out that they also created new checkpoints in different areas.

The report signaled out that the militias still occupy 30 government facilities and nine private others and use them as weapon depots, military barracks and centers to spread their ideologies.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9104

My comment: This report and the following are by a Hadi government propaganda organization (look at cp15). The Houthi militia are committing crimes – thus these reports are placed here and not at cp15 Propaganda. – But keep in mind that there does not exist anything like “Saleh militia”. What Hadi propaganda labels as such simply is the larger part of the regular Yemeni army which stayed loyal to ex-president Saleh and which is allied to the Houthis.

5.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (* A P)

Houthis commit 53 crimes in Hajjah during July

A human rights report has revealed that Houthi-Saleh militias committed 53 crimes in Hajjah during July, affirming that one civilian was murdered and another one was tortured until death.

The report said that the militias committed crimes of abduction and forced disappearance, pointing out that a member of Hajjah's local council Ahmed Qahtan was abducted and forcedly disappeared.

The report affirmed that the abductee Masoud al-Bakili was brutally tortured until death and that Abdul-Kareem al-Sakbi was murdered.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9105

5.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (A K P)

Yemen’s Ansarullah warns of repercussions of support for Saudi crimes

The Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement has cautioned the international community against providing a cover for Saudi Arabia’s atrocities in Yemen, as the death toll from the Saudi-led war on the impoverished country increases by the day.

Ansarullah spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam wrote on his Facebook page on Friday that more Saudi crimes would only lead to greater steadfastness on the part of the Yemenis in support of their dignity and the sovereignty of their homeland.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/05/530757/Yemen-Ansarullah-Saudi-Arabia-

4.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Al-Houthi and Al-Makhlouh militia storm the house of the commander of the border guards and loot their contents in Ibb

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/254278

4.8.2017 – New News (* A P)

Any Targeting for the Parliament , Its Members is Condemned , Can not be Accepted : Saleh Al-Samaad

The head of the highest political council , Salah Al Samaad , expressed his confidence of the parliament members and its heading as well their aptitude, integrity, and the nationalism of this foundation. He said ” any targeting to this foundation or its members is condemned behavior ” .

That came when he met the head and members of the parliament . In the meeting , the parliament’s members expressed about their confidence of victory in battle where Yemeni population will not give up their principles after all that sacrifices.

Al-smaad glanced at the real political change that came of constitutional legitimacy and parliamentary as well the aggression attempting of seizing Yemeni people right to free from dominance that aggression wants to impose strongly.

The head of Parliament revealed to the head of the highest political council about parliament program, and its priorities in coming days that suits the phase as well its continuance of foreign connection to break down the political siege.

In relevant news ,The aggressive media has discussed the news of the fugitive Abdu Ruboo Hadi return to Aden to start the parliament Sessions.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9455

Remark: This seems to refer to propaganda like this one:

4.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Saleh's lawyer reveals the Houthis' alternative to parliament and their demands from members

The private lawyer of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh revealed what he described as very confidential information about what is happening in the halls of the House of Representatives in Sana'a.

"They asked the members of the House of Representatives to go to Riyadh to attend the meeting of parliamentarians with Hadi and his party, and when they refused .. and hold on to what he called" the fixed national position, "he said, in a circular on the social networking site" Facebook ": They accuse them and punish them .. They are trying to close the parliament and pressure them to get them out of the country to say all the congressmen traitors and fled Riyadh .. There is no longer a parliament and no constitutional quorum.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/254277

My comment: This is totally odd. Even if the majority of this parliament are GPC members loyal to ex-president Saleh, this parliament is the best proof and base for the legitimacy of the Houthi / Saleh „Salvation“ government at Sanaa. The Houthis certainly never would try to dissolve it – or even to push the MPs to join the rival government of „president“ Hadi, who could claim parlamentarian legitimacy when having the parliament under his control. - In the moment, Hadi tries to get the MPs to join his government at Aden – it could be quite probable that it had been Hadi who had tried to push and threaten the MPs to join him.

3.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Houthis and Saleh's forces loot the equipment of the Al-Barh cement factory in the west of Taiz

A source at the law said that gunmen of the Houthis and Saleh's forces, looted on Wednesday, equipment factory cement Al-Barh in the Directorate of Mukabna west of Taiz province (south-west of Yemen ).

According to a statement issued by the legal director of the factory, Ahmed al-Wasali, the Houthis dismantled workshops and factory equipment, loaded them onto trucks and transported them to an unknown destination. They were unable to obtain orders from the Ministry of Defense in Sana'a.

He pointed out that the Huthis looted the equipment and workshops, despite the continued management of the plant with their leaders.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/253445

My comment: Whatever they want to do with that stuff, all cement factories in Yemen had been destroyed by Saudi air raids.

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

Anti-Terror-Operation: cp14

5.8.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)

The Saudi-appointed governor of Aden Maflahi says he survived 4 assassination attempts. &Till now he's not allowed to get in his office

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/893856038214131712

His office is still seized by UAE-appointed governor Zubaidi who refuses him&does not recognize legitimacy of Saudi puppet Hadi (photo)

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/893857002836905984

5.8.2017 – New News (* B P)

A dangerous development on the southern Yemeni border… Omani letters to the Emirates: The limits of your influence are not here

The UAE’s moves in the province of Al-Mahra, east of Yemen, raise concerns among the Omani authorities, which consider this province part of its vital area. In an indirect attempt to alert Abu Dhabi to the sensitivities of the skilled and the need to keep them out of the cycle of conflict, Muscat has taken a number of political steps that are not unlikely to escalate in the next stage

Since the outbreak of the Saudi aggression on Yemen in March 2015, the Sultanate of Oman has entered a state of anticipation and apprehension about the steps of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in the southern part of this country. Muscat’s political and security eyes were carefully monitoring the expansion of terrorist organizations, the proliferation of armed groups, and the expansion of the UAE’s influence in most southern provinces.

Until recently, the UAE began to walk through the gates of Al-Mahrah, which until recently remained far from the conflict.

For Oman, approaching the skilled, the second largest governorate (82,405 square kilometers), is a direct threat to its interests and national security. The Sultanate sees in this province, with which it has extensive borders, a protective shield from the repercussions of Yemeni reactions, Instability. It also regards it as a barrier between its homogenous and oppressive social fabric, and between the Salafi and Wahhabi invitations coming from the center of the Arabian Peninsula.

Thus, Abu Dhabi strives to attract social figures, tribal faces and active political actors in the skilled, hoping to reach out to the popular segments. Attempts accompanied by systematic work under the banner of the human eye in Aden and Hadramout and others: the UAE Red Crescent. The latter are tasked with targeting the public through “pensions”, in-kind and physical assistance. Young men are also drawn to a camp set up by the UAE in the city of Al-Ghuhaida, where conscripts are subject to training. The latter is thought to be a military arm similar to the “security belt” , The “urban elite” in Hadramout, and the “Shaban elite” in Shabwa, all of which owe allegiance to the UAE. These moves complement Abu Dhabi’s efforts to expand its power beyond the Strait of Hormuz, specifically in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, which limits the province of Al-Mahra from the south.

Abu Dhabi strives to attract influential figures in the skilled.
These efforts seem to be very attentive to Oman, and its recent moves along the line of Hadramout and Mahrah provinces are only part of its letters to the Al Nahyan that your plans have begun to go beyond red lines laid by rectangular contracts of time

http://newnewss.net/?p=9516

4.8.2017 – Haykal Bafana (A T)

Shabwah province, #Yemen : Car bomb blew up in province capital Ataq late night, targeting province security chief Gen Al Awlaqi. Unhurt.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893614595620851715

4.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)

Southern leader warns separatists of holding the House of Representatives in Aden

Southern secessionists leaders warn to hold parliament in Aden

A leader of the southern movement on Friday issued a statement as a warning about what it means to hold a parliament in the interim capital of Aden , which has affected the demands for secession.

The leader of the southern movement Ali Mohammed al-Saadi said that if the Yemeni government could hold a meeting of the House of Representatives in Aden, it would then be lost to any southern political party to talk about the south and independence from the north.

Al-Saadi explained that this requires the southerners to abide by Yemeni unity.

Saadi stressed that southerners must preserve their political gains or leave Aden to the Yemeni legitimate government.

The government is making extensive moves to resume parliamentary sessions in Aden this month, amid doubts about its ability to provide a quorum, given the control of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the majority of seats in the oldest parliament in the world, where the members were elected more than 14 years ago

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/254296/

3.8.2017 – New News (* A P)

One dead and 20 wounded in armed clashes in Aden

A suicide bomber was killed and 20 wounded Wednesday when gunmen attacked an armed group in southern Yemen.

Local sources in Aden said clashes broke out between armed men wearing military uniforms who attacked the police station in the Sheikh Osman district of northern Aden on Sunday morning and security forces. The clashes lasted for about an hour and caused panic among the neighboring residents.

A jewelry shop in the same neighborhood was attacked last Sunday by unidentified armed men wearing military uniforms, who looted the shop and fled on two cars they used to carry out the operation.

The city of Aden and the southern provinces are experiencing a state of security chaos and the spread of the Takfiri groups and gangs of murder and robbery under the powers of invasion and occupation.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9360 = http://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/one-dead-and-20-wounded-in-armed-clashes-in-aden.html

and

3.8.2017 – New News (* A P)

Clashes broke out between a subversive gang in the Sheikh Osman district of northern Aden and security forces

The NewNewss website details the reasons for the clashes on Tuesday night which took place in Sheikh Osman area of Aden province ,and continued all night . The clashes happened after the arriving of the northern parliament’s members, which represents the majority of the Islah Party .
A political source told NewNewss that the clashes were created by terrorist gangs living in Almashiq Palace which under the presidency of Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr . The clashes were after the southern components’ have issued a warning of provoking the southern citizens with the presence of parliament’s members to Aden to hold their meeting, which is rejected by the southern people.

As source added, the activists and the southern street had talked about a protest in front of Almashiq Palace to refuse staying the members of Hadi parliament as well refusing to hold their meeting in Aden.
So the armed gangs had created the night clashes which led to kill many citizens and soldiers .
The gangs aim to make the activists busy with clashes and forget the issue of Parliament. The plan carried out in the normal way as always have fabricated by Almashiq gangs .
The source explained the political method to carry out the game .He said that on Tuesday night ,they made an ambush against one of the military vehicle for the security service to create the clashing which continued till dawn ,so the talking about the protest have lost and forgotten.

Almashiq Palace gangs have continued to fabricate and create battles and clashes through their leading the armed gangs They use them in times of need in order to disturb the tranquility and cancel issues that oppose them and harm their political and economic interests.

The source said that the session to be held by Hadi’s Parliament in Aden will issue resolutions allowing them to confront the south constitutionally

http://newnewss.net/?p=9377

4.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A T)

A martyr and a number of wounded in an explosive device attack targeted a bus transporting a number of soldiers returning from the hideout to Aden

A suicide bomber and a number of wounded were killed Friday by a roadside bomb targeting a bus transporting soldiers in the coastal city of Al-Makhha, west of the Yemeni city of Taiz . According to a local source, an explosion planted by unknown persons on the road near the new area targeted a bus carrying a number of soldiers returning from the tent to Aden . The explosion resulted in the death of a martyr and a number of wounded, and were taken to a hospital in the capital Aden

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/254306 and a somewhat different story here: https://www.suhf.net/yemen/254289

3.8.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (* A T)

Yemen Qaeda/ISIS killed 17UAE-hired soldiers by suicide attack on security training camp in Shabwah, 1 day after similar attackNAbyan south (photos)

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/893091396592316416

remark: Reporting YPR 330, cp6. Only 7 killed.

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

5.8.2017 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A K P)

I am deeply concerned about reports of airstrikes on civilians in Sa’ada Governorate received from humanitarian partners on the ground. Attacks on a house in As Safra District and on a private vehicle in Razih District have reportedly resulted in the death of at least twelve civilians, including women and children and the injury of ten more people.

While these new incidents are still being investigated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, they are an example of the brutality in which the conflict is being conducted. All parties to the conflict continue to show a disregard for the protection of civilians and the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants in the conduct of hostilities. As I have said before, even wars have rules and such rules must be respected.

I once again urge all parties to the conflict and those who influence and support them to uphold their responsibility under international humanitarian law to ensure the safety of civilians. Furthermore, the people of Yemen deserve peace and it is imperative that there is a return to the negotiating table to put an end to the suffering of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict.

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/statement-humanitarian-coordinator-yemen-mr-jamie-mcgoldrick-reported-attacks-civilians

My comment: “All parties to the conflict continue to show a disregard for the protection of civilians”… You realize that the Saudis never are directly mentioned by the UN even if “deep concern” is claimed for Saudi air strikes???

3.8.2017 – The National UAE (A P)

UN Yemen envoy asks Oman to play larger role in resolving 'catastrophic' conflict

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met with the Omani foreign minister in the hope of seeking a “speedy” solution a year after a breakdown in talks in Kuwait.

The UN’s special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, wants Oman to take a deeper role in ending the conflict as he pushes for a restart of peace talks.

Mr Cheikh Ahmed met with the Omani foreign minister, Yusuf bin Abdullah Alawi, in the hope of seeking a “speedy” solution a year after a breakdown in talks in Kuwait to end the war that has killed 8,000 people and displaced millions.

“The UN Yemen envoy would like Oman to go deeper in its mediation to seek a speedy solution between the Houthis and the Yemeni president,” an Omani government official told The National. “He wants Oman to use its influence to bring the two sides for talks to solve their differences in an amicable way.”

Mr Alawi said Oman would “fast track” its mediation role in the hope of persuading the two sides to agree to a UN plan to end the conflict and resume peace talks, official added.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/un-yemen-envoy-asks-oman-to-play-larger-role-in-resolving-catastrophic-conflict-1.616718

My comment: The Omanis certainly should do that... but for success they would urgently need a new frame: a new UN SC resolution which would really be neutral and which would replace the resolution 2216.

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

4.8.2017 – New York Times (* A P)

An Ally Is Set to Execute Critics. Will Mr. Trump Be Silent?

Mujtaba al-Sweikat was a bright 17-year-old student on his way to visit Western Michigan University when he was arrested at King Fahd Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2012. Since then, Mr. Sweikat has been in Saudi custody, subjected to torture, including beatings so severe his shoulder was broken, in order to extract confessions that sealed his fate: condemned to death, likely by beheading. Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has upheld Mr. Sweikat’s June 2016 death sentence, as well as those of 13 other Saudi citizens tried with him — including a disabled man and two who were juveniles when sentenced — after a mass trial that made a mockery of international standards of due process. Now, the only person who can prevent these barbarous executions is King Salman, who must ratify the death sentences.

As was the case with many members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority condemned to death in recent years, Mr. Sweikat’s crime was attending political protests in the heady months following the 2011 Arab Spring.

Hope is slim, though. During his trip to Saudi Arabia in May, Mr. Trump basically told the Saudi regime that the United States would look the other way on human rights abuses, saying, “We are not here to lecture.” Since then, Mr. Trump has sided with Saudi Arabia and other gulf states in their dispute with Qatar

Mr. Trump could take advantage of his new friendship with the Saudis and make an immediate appeal to King Salman to halt these horrific executions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/opinion/saudi-executions-salman-trump.html

My comment: The Editorial Board is right – but: The NYT is one of th newspapers which always had backed the imperialist US foreign poliy – which included mking friends with allies like Saudi Arabia and other tyrannies violating Human Rights.

4.8.2017 – The Independent (** B P)

Inside the Saudi town that's been under siege for three months by its own government

In rare interview with Western media local activists in Awamiyah tell The Independent of shocking conditions faced by civilians in a secretive battle between Riyadh and armed Shia protesters

the Saudi government had just begun a war on a town in the country’s restive east – a battle that is still raging despite receiving very little media coverage both within the conservative Kingdom and outside it

Traditionally Shia, Awamiyah – a 400-year-old town in the eastern Qatif province home to around 30,000 people – has been surrounded by siege barricades put up by the security services since attempts to evict residents turned violent on 10 May.

Since then, the situation has rapidly deteriorated. Locals report at least 25 people have died in shelling and sniper fire, and pictures purportedly of streets covered in rubble and sewage look more like a scene from Syria than an oil-rich Gulf city.

Information from Awamiyah is difficult to verify; foreign media are not being allowed near the area without government chaperones, which means the world is reliant on heavily-controlled Saudi state media, unreliable Shia-focussed news sites and social media from inside the city for even the smallest glimpse into what is going on.

Grisly pictures of wounds inflicted by snipers and the destruction of homes and shops cannot be independently verified.

But the picture painted by several researchers and Saudis The Independent spoke to – one armed protester inside the besieged city, and two peaceful pro-Awamiyah activists now living outside the country – is of an untenable humanitarian situation.

Awamiyah was sealed off with roadblocks three months ago after the local population refused to comply with security forces bringing in bulldozers and other construction equipment on orders to demolish and redevelop the ancient area. - by Bethan McKernan

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-siege-town-own-citizens-government-kingdom-military-government-awamiyah-qatif-a7877676.html

4.8.2017 – Zerohedge (** A P)

Shocking Footage Of Saudi Siege Against Own Citizens

The Saudi regime is in the midst of an extreme and brutal crackdown against its own citizenry in the country's Eastern province - a situation now spiraling out of control with rising civilian deaths, entire neighborhoods turned to rubble, and new reports that water and electricity have been cut to the now completely besieged town of Al-Awamiya. Though local activists continue to upload shocking ground level videos to social media revealing that entire districts have been leveled, international and US media have remained largely silent.

Tensions have been simmering in the heavily Shia populated Qatif governate throughout the past year, especially after the January execution of prominent Shia cleric and Al-Awamiya native Nimr al-Nimr. Additionally, 14 Shia citizens, among them young Mujtaba al-Sweikat - a student enrolled at Western Michigan University - currently await execution upon the signature of King Salman. The torture and mass trial of the group, charged with "protest-related" crimes has further inflamed tensions in the region. Large protests against the Saudi monarchy and security services have been frequent in Qatif going all the way back to the start of the so-called "Arab Spring" - though major international media outlets have tended to ignore such protests occurring under US/UK friendly regimes.

This week, things have escalated dramatically as Saudi authorities have concentrated a barrage of fire on Awamiya's four-hundred year old walled historic Al-Mosara neighborhood, including reported use of air power, heavy artillery, RPGs, snipers and armored assault vehicles in the area. Earlier this year the Saudi regime announced plans to demolish the neighborhood and hand it over to private developers in a kind of Saudi version of "eminent domain"; however, the presence of Shia militants hiding amidst its narrow roads and concealed alleyways appears the be the real motive for razing the district. Though sporadic fighting has occurred throughout the summer, the siege began in the last week of July when bulldozers and armored vehicles poured into the town to initiate demolition while security forces simultaneously attempted to root out Shia militants. Multiple Middle East based news outlets reported at least 5 civilians killed during the initial entry of Saudi forces - online activist accounts are now reporting many dozens slain since the start of the recent incursion – by Tyler Durden (photos, films)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-04/shocking-footage-saudi-siege-against-own-citizens?page=1

3.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (** B P)

Saudi bulldozers reduce Shia town to rubble as residents flee carnage

Hundreds of Shia Muslims in Awamiya are forced from their homes amid fighting and compulsory evictions

The Saudi government has been forcibly relocating residents of the restive city of Awamiya as clashes continue between soldiers and militant groups in the old city.

Hundreds of people have fled or been evacuated from Awamiya since the beginning of the current troubles which have killed at least seven people, including two police officers. According to al-Hayat newspaper, the government received requests from residents and farmers around Awamiya to help them flee the violence.

However, activists say that residents have been driven out of their homes and their properties seized by private development companies, primarily in and around the historic Almosara district.

An image sent to Middle East Eye by an Awamiya activist showed a requisition order pinned to a house in the district of al-Shweikah, about 6km south of Almosara.

Awamiya has long been a flashpoint for protests by Saudi's Shia minority - the influential cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed by the Saudi government in 2016, came from the town and demonstrations and unrest has been frequent.

Al-Hayat quoted Falah al-Khalidi, the governor of Qatif province, as saying contracts had been signed "for a number of furnished apartments in the city of Dammam to shelter those interested in leaving neighbourhoods near Almosara".

However, according to social media reports and activists, many of those displaced have yet to be rehoused.

"What I see from the first day there is a collective punishment... there is a plan for forced displacement," said Ameen Nemer, a Saudi activist originally from Awamiya.

"It doesn't matter where these people will end up."

He told MEE that the depopulation and destruction of the town was ultimately politically motivated, rather than driven by development or terrorism.

Confirming precise details about the situation in Qatif has long been difficult due to tight controls over media scrutiny imposed by the Saudi authorities.

Much of the city has been left without electricity, water, rubbish collection or fire services.

Andrew Hammond, a consultant on Middle East politics, said that the emptying of Awamiya could be part of a strategy to enact demographic change in the disruptive Shia region of Saudi Arabia.

"It fits that pattern," he told MEE. "It's something that's happened in the Gulf, in Bahrain, it's something that's happened outside the Gulf in Israel-Palestine.

Other governments, including the UK and US, have yet to comment on the situation in Qatif – by Alex MacDonald

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/awamiya-clashes-624393888#sthash.CZnmpdXT.uxfs

My comment: This is the way Saudi Arabia oppresses opposition... And the „West“ stays silent and keeps on selling arms.

3.8.2017 – New News (* A P)

Saudi Regime Forces Kill Civilian in Awamiyah as Clashes Continue

Saudi police forces have killed a civilian during their latest raid on the besieged Shia-majority town of Awamiyah.

The man died on Wednesday as the Saudis opened fire on a bus transporting people who were trying to flee the town located in the restive Eastern Province.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9399

3.8.2017 – Al Mayadeen News (* B P)

Film: .@AlMayadeenNews report on #AwamiaSiege with English subtitles talks about the dire situation in the Shia town in the Qatif region

https://twitter.com/walid970721/status/893074602351616002

2.8.2017 – Angry Qataifi (** B P)

Film: Early today in #Mosawarah of #Awamia, #Qatif.

https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/892840942339862528

My comment: Looking like Mossul, Aleppo or Hajja in Yemen...

3.8.2017 – Various (* A P)

Awamia siege in social media:

https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/893935731948888064

https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/893935136886194176

https://twitter.com/QatifRev/status/893930021341016069

https://www.facebook.com/NotoWahabism/videos/1295824637212782/

https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/892981678217601025

https://www.facebook.com/NotoWahabism/videos/1295823297212916/

3.8.2017 – New York Times (* A P)

Saudi Arabia begins work on bikini-friendly beach resort

Plans for a new beach resort by the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia are making waves after the announcement that women who vacation there will be allowed to wear bikinis. Normally, women in Saudi Arabia are required to cover themselves from head to toe — in July, a woman was arrested after being filmed wearing a miniskirt — but the Saudi government has said that the new resort will instead be “governed by laws on par with international standards.” In a further move to court tourists, most foreign visitors will reportedly be allowed to fly straight into the resort without a visa.

Attempts to court tourism aside, Saudi Arabia remains one of the worst places in the world in terms of women’s rights.

http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/08/03/saudi-arabia-begins-work-on-bikini-friendly-beach-resort/

and by The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/02/saudi-arabia-open-luxury-beach-resort-women-can-wear-bikinis

My comment: LOL, LOL. Saudi Arabia wants to make money by tourism now.

Comment by Haykal Bafana: So : Saudi women cannot wear miniskirts, but can wear bikinis once they reach (not by driving themselves) this planned Saudi beach resort.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893179368113135616

Saudi tourism agencies can even craft special packages : 14 day haj or umrah to Mecca, plus 3 day bikini beach stay. Give free suntan oil.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893183559200104449

Wait : What am I thinking? The sinning should come first : Bikini beach resort, and THEN haj or umrah in Mecca to seek God's forgiveness.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893185292282277888

Hell, I#M going to saudi Arabia (photos)

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893230260787056646

My comment to comment: I think, Saudi women will not be allowed there.

and

30.7.2017 – Los Angeles Times (** B P)

For some Saudi women facing strict male authority and even abuse, there's only one answer: Run

In Saudi Arabia, fleeing even an abusive home is a crime for women. Their male relatives wield vast power under the kingdom’s guardianship system, which prohibits women from running away from male guardians, including fathers and husbands, and gives those relatives control over their ability to obtain passports and travel. If runaways are caught, they can be jailed until their guardian allows them to be released.

Guardianship can be particularly onerous for women who are divorced, widowed or who delay marriage. Some mothers are forced to defer to their sons as guardians.

But Saudi women are increasingly risking imprisonment to flee, not just within the country, but overseas as well. They are coordinating those efforts with a network of supporters via social media, sometimes arranging marriages, vacations and study-abroad programs as a cover.

A list of proposals for reforming the guardianship system was submitted this spring to King Salman, who signaled after he took the throne in 2015 that he was open to lifting some of the most oppressive restrictions on women.

In the meantime, some women say they have no recourse but to run.

More than 1,750 women fled their homes in 2015, the latest year of figures released by the Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development and many were domestic violence victims. The ranks of such women are growing, according to Mansour Askar, a sociologist at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University in Riyadh.

Activists who aid runaway women said one reason more are able to flee is because they have access to help through social media - by Molly Hennessy-Fiske

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-saudi-runaways-2017-story,amp.html

3.8.2017 – Bloomberg (A E P)

Saudi Oil Minister Met With Top Commodity Hedge Funds

Khalid Al-Falih held private talks in London in July

Minister met with Andurand, BBL Commodities hedge funds

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-03/saudi-oil-minister-is-said-to-have-met-top-commodity-hedge-funds

cp9 USA

Siehe / Look at cp14

4.8.2017 – PRI (* B P)

'We don't have leverage.' Why the US can't stop the Yemen war.

In 2014, Matthew Tueller, a career US diplomat, had barely settled into his new post in Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen, when a civil war began. Tueller is still the US Ambassador to Yemen, but his embassy is now located more than 500 miles away in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, far from the fighting — and an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

“What we largely are doing is engaging with all of the elements of Yemeni society that are in exile,” he says, “and we devise unique and creative means in order to stay in contact with allies ... inside Yemen. And then, of course, we also engage regularly with the governments of the Arab coalition, Saudi Arabia and the [United Arab] Emirates particularly."

Meanwhile, Tueller stays on the job, trying to guide the key players in the war toward renewed negotiations.

Part of Tueller's job is to determine America's role in this murky conflict and to defend the interests of its key ally in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia.

"We certainly are a major partner in Saudi Arabia and the security, we provide weapons," he says. "But the conflict in Yemen is not a conflict between Saudis and Yemenis," he is quick to add. "It is a conflict between Yemenis. The Saudis have intervened on behalf of the Yemenis who feel that they have a weaker military position and who want to try to resume that peaceful transition."

Tueller says, the US is not in a position to enforce a ceasefire.

“We simply don't have leverage over the groups that are actually fighting on the ground,” he says. “This is a civil war. This is Yemenis fighting against Yemenis. And until we have some mechanism to get the Yemenis to step back and make political compromises the conflict is going to go on.”

Not everyone agrees that the US is without leverage.

“The United States is choosing not to have influence over the warring parties in Yemen,” says Katherine Zimmerman, who follows events in Yemen for the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “We are constraining ourselves ... in terms of who we're talking to and how we are engaging with them.”

But the diplomatic effort is incomplete, says Katherine Zimmerman. “Our Yemeni embassy ... is understaffed for the task ahead of it. And so we don't have enough people to meet with Yemenis,” she says. “We should be engaging with all parties and understanding what they want.”

By being headquartered in Saudi Arabia, the US may be signaling its support for one side in a civil war that has divided the country dramatically. "As we're looking at how the United States is moving forward with the conflict, we're moving forward in lockstep with the United Nations political process — and also with Saudi Arabia," Zimmerman says.

And that may distort how the United States engages with the civil war writ large because, she says, "Saudi Arabia is a belligerent."

Zimmerman wants the US to engage more directly with more parties to the conflict, people outside the powerful elites who tend to dominate Yemeni politics – by Stephen Snyder

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-08-04/we-dont-have-leverage-why-us-cant-stop-yemen-war

My comment: Tuellers statements are odd and whitewashing the US role and interference. Citing Tueller for long and just opposing one (quite soft) critic is whitewashing the US role in Yemen by the author as well. The US is party of war itself and a close ally to Saudi Arabia. The US interference is making possible that war – otherwise the Saudi coalition would not be able to lead its war in Yemen – a war Tueller calls a Yemen civil war which it is no more since more than two years now. If really just a civil wat, there would not have been any reason for Saudi and US interference. - Thus already the headline is a lie: The US simply could – if it would stop its political and logistic support for Saudi Arabia in this war, and if it would stop selling arms to saudi Arabia, of course.

4.8.2017 – Human Rights Watch and other NGOs (* A P)

Letter to Secretary of Defense James Matti and al.

Dear Secretary Mattis, Director Pompeo, and Acting Director McCabe:

We, the undersigned human rights, civil liberties, and religious organizations, write to urge you to make public to the fullest extent possible without disclosing sources and methods, any reviews conducted by your agencies into allegations that US-allied forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and UAE-backed Yemeni forces have been responsible for serious abuses in Yemen.[1] These include arbitrary detentions, torture, mistreatment, enforced disappearances, and unlawful prisoner transfers.[2] We also ask that your agencies publicly disclose any actions the United States has taken with respect to any UAE or Yemeni forces implicated in serious abuses. For the Defense Department, this would include, but not be limited to, actions with respect to enforcement of the Leahy law.

We are unaware of any similar review being conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or other US government agencies. It is important that these agencies, and possibly others, conduct reviews as well given that the U.S. military denied involvement in some alleged interrogations in which detainees said U.S. personnel were involved.

We are concerned by comments from several U.S. defense officials and military leaders that they had looked into allegations of abuse by UAE and Yemeni forces but were confident no abuses had taken place “when US forces [were] present.”

The United States doubtless recognizes that continued cooperation with forces engaged in serious abuses places U.S. personnel at risk of being complicit in violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. We hope this brings a sense of urgency to U.S. investigations into the alleged abuses and the prompt implementation of necessary corrective action.

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/letter_uae_yemen_coalition.pdf = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1457843960935296/?type=3 and report by Al Araby: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/8/5/us-must-review-abuses-of-uae-forces-in-yemen

Comment by Haykal Bafana: Review? They were part of it.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/894264216747737088

3.8.2017 – The American Conservative (* B P)

The War on Yemen and the Noxious U.S.-Saudi Relationship

It is certainly true that the Saudi-led coalition does not include allies that share our values, and that was true even before their forces murdered these poor refugees. In fact, none of the governments wrecking and starving Yemen can be called real U.S. allies in any sense. None is a formal treaty ally, the U.S. has no obligations to defend any of them, and their interests also increasingly diverge from ours. The U.S. has often justified working with despicable regimes in the past because it supposedly serves some larger strategic purpose, but in this case the U.S. has supported the Saudis and their allies for the last two and a half years in Yemen out of little more than unthinking habit. There is no good reason for it, and the excuses that have been offered in defense of this policy (“reassurance,” weapons sales, etc.) are pathetically weak.

The U.S.-Saudi relationship is noxious and destructive, and the war on Yemen has made that clear to a growing number of Americans. Let’s hope that more members of the Senate have begun to realize that as well – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-war-on-yemen-and-the-noxious-u-s-saudi-relationship/

4.8.2017 – New News (* A K P)

American concern of the Yemeni escalation and developments in the field after the speech of Mr. Houthi!

The American approach to all developments is based on the extent of its reflection on the equations of war against Yemen, after statements by Pentagon officials, which exposed the US concern last week, to extend concern to all the countries of the aggression alliance, the launch of the “post Riyadh” Revolution by rocket (volcano H-2) on refineries in Yanbu Saudi Arabia.

Once again, the Yemeni escalation is taking place in Washington, but this time inside the US Department of Defense in statements by US defense officials to CNN, which included the implications of the strategic dimensions of the war in Yemen, run by Washington, following what was said about the Houthis launched a long-range missile shaved for hundreds Kilometers in Saudi territory until it arrived in a coastal area in the west of the Kingdom, in reference to the province of Yanbu, pointing out that Saudi Arabia failed to shoot down the missile, despite the possession of Riyadh technology is the systems, “Patriot” interceptor-made.

The American concern stems from Mr. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s recent speech, which warned that escalation of the aggression would escalate with the army and the popular committees. Mr. Houthi’s positions and speeches have also had an impact on military and political decision-makers in Washington.

It is considered by military analysts that targeting a Saudi area 1000 kilometers away from the nearest Yemeni point is a message that those who succeeded in developing and manufacturing ballistic missiles will succeed in deterring and repelling the escalation of America and its allies.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9421

2.8.2017 – CNN (* B P)

Mattis advised UAE military before joining Trump administration

Defense Secretary James Mattis received permission from the US military after retiring from the Marine Corps to work as a military adviser to the United Arab Emirates, newly disclosed Pentagon records show.

Mattis, a retired Marine general, was not paid for the advising work, according to the Pentagon, and the advising role was considered informal, a senior UAE official told CNN.

Mattis has not publicly acknowledged his advisory work for the UAE, for which he sought approval in 2015 while he was a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman speaking on the defense secretary's behalf, confirmed that Mattis advised the UAE on rebuilding its military. The work was for free, Davis said, and Mattis was not representing the US government. He was reimbursed by the UAE for his travel costs, Davis said.

Though not previously known publicly, Mattis' work for the UAE was legal as a retired military general, and he properly disclosed the information when he was nominated as President Donald Trump's defense secretary – by Jeremy Herb

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/02/politics/mattis-advised-uae-military/index.html

My comment: LOL.

4.8.2017 – Reuters (A P)

Yemenis, Iranians sue U.S. State Dept, ask for visas to be processed

Dozens of Yemenis and Iranians who won the chance to immigrate to the United States sued the U.S. State Department on Friday for not processing their visa applications after President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban was reinstated.

The ban, which was blocked by lower courts before being partially reinstated by the Supreme Court in June, temporarily bars citizens of Yemen, Iran and four other Muslim-majority countries with no "bona fide" U.S. connections from traveling to the United States – by Riham Alkousaa

http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-immigration-diversity-idUSL1N1KQ1PD

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

5.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Teenage Boys Given Electric Shocks inside Police Station in Bahrain

Two Bahraini teenagers have reportedly been subjected to electric shocks by police during questioning as the ruling Al Khalifah regime continues to target minors, arrest and expose them to various forms of torture irrespective of international calls to stop the practice.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/03/530617/Bahraini-teenagers-given-electric-shocks-police-station = http://newnewss.net/?p=9525

5.8.2017 – Sputnik News (A P)

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held a meeting with Yemeni Socialist Party General Secretary Abdulraham Saqqaf in course of which the parties discussed crisis settlement in Yemen.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708051056202393-russia-yemen-discuss-crisis/

3.8.2017 – Muftah (* A P)

Saudi Crackdown on Civilians Sparks Canadian Probe of Arms Sales

Last week, images were posted on social media showing what appeared to be Canadian-made armored vehicles being used by Saudi forces against civilians in the town of al-‘Awamiya in al-Qatif (Eastern Province). Saudi Arabia is currently conducting a crackdown in the Shi’ite-majority region, which has been under siege since May 2017.

Military equipment experts in Canada confirmed that the pictured vehicles were manufactured by Ontario-based Terradyne Armored Vehicles. Thus, on July 28, the Foreign Affairs department called for a government probe on Saudi military conduct and a vague commitment to “take action” if determined that Canadian-made equipment is being used by Saudi forces against civilians.

In 2014, Canada’s then-ruling Conservative Party announced the sale of weaponized vehicles to Saudi Arabia worth $15 billion. But, it was the Liberal government, which assumed power in 2015, that approved the export permits in April 2016. The contract has been shrouded in controversy ever since, as existing Canadian guidelines place limits onthe sale of military equipment to countries with poor human rights records.

Any challenge to the Canada-Saudi Arabia military relationship should be welcomed, including the proposed government inquiry. But, to ensure accountability, it is incumbent for concerned Canadians to make clear to the ruling Liberals that failure to enact meaningful change will be met with political consequences in the next federal election. Indeed, arguments couched exclusively in human rights and legal terms, which are currently being used by those opposed to the Saudi contract, are not likely to sway the government – by Oscar Jarzmik

https://muftah.org/canada-probe-arms-sales-saudi-arabia/#.WYNMm4jyi01

3.8.2017 – The Arab Gulf States Institute (* B P)

Yemen’s President Invites Closer Ties with Russia

The Hadi government is well aware that Moscow has maintained close relations with Saleh, Hadi’s rival, as it has since Saleh became president of North Yemen in 1978.

Giving Moscow an incentive not to become even more pro-Saleh is said to be part of Hadi’s motive for seeking improved relations with Russia. Another is the belief that Hadi is going to need some sort of compromise with Saleh in order to craft a solution to the Yemeni conflict, since compromise between Hadi on the one hand and either the Houthis in the north or the secessionists in the south appears highly unlikely. Although the UAE had previously been a strong supporter of Hadi, its increased closeness to his secessionist opponents is also motivating him to seek Russian assistance – partly to plead his case in Abu Dhabi, with which Moscow has developed very good relations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly wants to establish a naval base in Aden. This, of course, is not something new, but rather the restoration of the Soviet naval facilities in Aden that Moscow made use of when South Yemen was still independent.

Hadi may calculate that the greater investment Putin has in Yemen (i.e., a naval base in Aden), the greater the likelihood Russia will intervene to preserve the government that made the deal possible. A greater Russian stake in the Hadi government might also result in Moscow seeking to persuade the UAE to support Hadi and not his secessionist opponents. And maybe more Russian involvement in Yemen will prod Washington to pay closer attention as well. Whatever Hadi’s calculations, the swearing in of a new Yemeni ambassador to Russia may be less a sign of increased Russian attention to Yemen and more evidence of increased Yemeni government hope to secure external assistance – by Mark N. Katz

http://www.agsiw.org/yemens-president-invites-closer-ties-russia/ and referring to this article, in very bad English: https://intmassmedia.com/2017/08/06/does-russia-become-a-heavyweight-in-yemen/

2.8.2017 – La Stampa (* B K P)

La fabbrica di bombe divide la Sardegna: “Senza la guerra restiamo disoccupati”

Sulcis, la Rwm rifornisce l’Arabia Saudita per il conflitto in Yemen. Proteste contro il piano di ampliamento. Il sindaco: pensiamo al lavoro

A rafforzare i rapporti commerciali tra l’isola e i sauditi è la guerra: il principale prodotto di scambio sono le bombe. Un affare che non conosce crisi. E infatti per il 2017, gli accordi puntano alla crescita con un contratto già firmato che vale 411 milioni.

http://www.lastampa.it/2017/08/02/italia/cronache/la-fabbrica-di-bombe-divide-la-sardegna-senza-la-guerra-restiamo-disoccupati-jNEtHieO96aMuiCdGSLy1M/pagina.html

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

3.8.2017 – New York Times (* A P)

Qatar Buys Italian Warships as Persian Gulf Crisis Deepens

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/qatar-buys-italian-warships-as-persian-gulf-crisis-deepens.html

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

2.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A E K P)

BAE posts $733m profit weeks after Saudi arms sales review

Britain's largest defence firm posts 36 percent rise in profits, weeks after surviving judicial review on arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Britain's largest defence firm has made $733m in six months, and expects further growth, in results posted weeks after surviving a High Court challenge to its multi-billion-dollar arms deals with Saudi Arabia.

BAE Systems lauded the sale of Typhoon jets to Oman and noted its court victory over anti-arms trade campaigners in the results, saying net profits soared 36 percent to £555m ($733m) in the six months to the end of June, compared with £408m a year earlier.

It said profits were boosted by UK government defence spending and a weak pound following Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Sales forged almost 10 percent higher to stand at £9.565bn.

Charles Woodburn, BAE's chief executive, said: "BAE Systems' performance in the first half was consistent with our expectations and guidance for the year.

"We have a sound platform for medium-term growth underpinned by a clear and consistent strategy.

"With the expected improvement in the defence budget outlook in a number of our markets, the group is well placed to continue to generate good returns for shareholders."

The defence company has criticised for its sales of Typhoon jets and weapons to Saudi Arabia, which rights campaigners say have been used against civilians in Yemen.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bae-records-rise-amid-opposition-to-arms-sales-409065882

My comment: The one's profit is the others' death. And Western politics in most cases decides in favour of the profits, Yemen being an evident case.

Comment: 36 percent rise in profits, thousands of lives gone for UK's greed, lack of morals.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1457854034267622

cp13b Söldner / Mercenaries

Siehe / Look at cp1

5.8.2017 – Hussam Al-Sanabani (B K)

A Sudanese woman sends a message to Bashir: Bring our troops back from #Yemen. (cont 2)

https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/893990887482642433 and translation in following thread

5.8.2017 – New News (B K)

Sudanese Army Between the Jaws of Yemeni Fighters and Gulf Funds….And Saudi Arabia to Disappoint Bashir

the Sudanese government for several reasons had to meet Riyadh’s demands in the aggression against Yemen, including sending fighters to Yemeni territory.

But in fact today the Sudanese army is considered the first loser in Yemen from two sides:

The first: the failure to implement the Gulf-US promises received by al-Bashir before the start of military operations.

Second: the human losses received by Al-Bashir in Yemen, which led to his indignation against the Sudanese people.

Bashir has sought to build his government at the expense of the Yemeni people, and sent fighters from Sudan to Yemen on the flimsy promises of Washington by Riyadh, but these promises are still dependent on other promises and can never be implemented, where the Sudanese regime in Khartoum is counting on the Gulf now more than the economic crisis is about to hit, the bailout system after the economic and political problems have accumulated. It needs an economic backlash through improving the Sudanese-Gulf relations. The Gulf countries have the funds available from funds of oil next to the presence of Arab funds that possess stocks of what position to support Sudan.

http://newnewss.net/?p=9422

cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy

5.8.2017 – New News / Yemen Press (* A E P)

UN: No one knows where revenues of the southern provinces go since the Hadi transfer of the bank, doubling the humanitarian crisis

The United Nations said it did not know where the revenues of the southern provinces of Yemen under the control of the internationally recognized government of President Abderbo Mansour Hadi, since the latter moved the central bank from Sanaa to Aden last September, cutting salaries of state employees and doubling the humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) chief in Yemen, Ola Lutsma, said on Tuesday in a satellite briefing for UN peacekeepers in New York.

“We know that the central bank has moved to Aden, and it is not clear where the revenue in the southern provinces of Yemen ends and the sale of any remaining cash,” Lutsma said in the briefing. “It is not clear whether the money goes to the central bank in Aden or to the government accounts abroad, but it is clear that wherever the money goes, the salaries have not been paid by the government in Aden.”

“The United Nations needs to stop the war in Yemen so that it can provide the necessary humanitarian assistance in the country,” he said, noting that the United Nations faces logistical obstacles when it comes to facilitating work, including obtaining the necessary declarations by the coalition to transport fuel Aircraft to Sanaa and facilitate the work of flights. ”

http://newnewss.net/?p=9500 = http://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/un-no-one-knows-where-revenues-of-the-southern-provinces-go-since-the-hadi-transfer-of-the-bank-doubling-the-humanitarian-crisis.html

Remark: I did not find any other report, no statement by UN. Thus, up to now, I wait for further confirmation.

4.8.2017 – Suhf Net A E P)

Yemeni government demands international pressure on Huthis to send state revenues to Aden

The Yemeni government on Saturday evening called on the United Nations, the Security Council, the international community and international organizations to seriously pressure the Houthi group to send all its revenues to the Central Bank of Yemen until the government fulfills its obligations to all the Yemeni people.

This came during a meeting of the Yemeni Council of Ministers in the interim capital Aden, headed by the President of the Council, Dr. Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher.

The council noted during the meeting that the Houthis are using state revenues to finance their wars against Yemen and Yemenis.

https://www.suhf.net/yemen/25765

My comment: This is a typical Hadi government propaganda. – Why the “Houthis” (That’s the northern government at Sanaa) should send its state revenues to their enemies at Aden? – And: The Houthis are “using state revenues to finance their wars against Yemen and Yemenis”: As the Houthis are Yemenis and a part of Yemen, what a nonsense this should be???

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

Siehe / Look at cp1

3.8.2017 – Emirati News Agency (* A T)

Yemeni Special Forces, backed by UAE, US forces, launch assault on Al Qaeda in Shabwa

Yemeni special forces, backed by the armed forces from the United Arab Emirates, UAE and the United States of America, USA, launched a major operation on Thursday against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, in the governorate of Shabwa, according to an official source from the UAE Armed Forces.

The Coalition had, through the UAE forces, been training and preparing the Yemeni special force from the different tribes in Shabwa. The special force's personnel were recruited from the various tribes in the governorate and given training in several disciplines, including weapons and equipment skills. The adequate training resulted in the perfect performance of the troops in Thursday’s operation.

Early in the morning, the Yemeni troops, who were joined by an elite unit from Hadramaut and supported by the UAE and US forces, moved from positions to launch an offensive on terrorist groups, particularly the AQAP, who exploited the situation in Shabwa and expanded thereafter. It was defeated last year in Al Mukalla by the Coalition forces.

The troops were greeted with cheering and singing while entering cities and villages of the Shabwa governorate, forcing the terrorists to flee and seek refuge in other governorates. T

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302625861

Comment: Disturbing on so many levels. Obviously not because of the fight against AQ (though UAE has only - always - 'pushed' AQ somewhere else) but because of the US involvement: to what extent has the US cooperated considering it is already droning, carrying out occasional boots on the ground operations?
Again, the war against Yemen is being called 'civil war' shifting the attention on the aggression.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1458029500916742

and by Reuters:

4.8.2017 – Reuters (* A T)

U.S.-backed Yemeni troops push al Qaeda from southern province

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN1AK1G5

Comment: Amazingly, no one ever gets captured, just 'pushed away'

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1458462360873456

and

3.8.2017 – Fox News (* A K T)

US Special Ops help UAE forces in Yemen anti-terror operation

U.S. special operations forces are assisting Yemeni and United Arab Emirates forces in a major operation in Yemen against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), long seen as the biggest threat to the United States through its development of non-metallic bombs designed to slip through security and bring down commercial airliners.

UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba announced the operation in a statement released by the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C. “Earlier today, Yemeni government armed forces launched a major operation against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants in the Shabwah Governorate of Yemen. The operation is being closely supported by a combined UAE and US enabling force.”

The statement continued, “The UAE is participating in this operation as part of a broader Arab coalition. Today’s action continues the coalition’s sustained counterterrorism mission in Yemen against AQAP, in order to disrupt the terrorist organization’s network and degrade its ability to conduct future attacks.”

A senior defense official tells Fox News the U.S. special operations forces are acting in a supporting role in what the official described as a multi-day “clearing operation” in Yemen against AQAP - By Lucas Tomlinson

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/08/03/us-special-ops-help-uae-forces-in-yemen-anti-terror-operation.html and by The Hill: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/345375-us-ground-troops-helping-yemen-offensive-against-al-qaeda

Remark: The Hadi government seems to be critical to this operation, look at interview with Hadi gov. Ambassador to the US (Fox News), in cp15.

4.8.2017 – US Dep. Of Defense (* A T)

Pentagon Provides Updates on Support for Operations in Yemen, Somalia

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis updated the press here today on U.S. operations with local partners in Yemen against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and in Somalia against al-Shabab.

In Yemen’s Shabwah Governorate yesterday, according to the United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to the United States, Yemeni government armed forces launched a major operation against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula with support from UAE and U.S. forces.

Today, Davis said, a small number of U.S. forces “are supporting our regional counterterrorism partners in ongoing operations in Yemen against [al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula] to degrade the group's ability to coordinate external terrorist operations and to use Yemen territory as a safe place for terror plotting.”

Shabwah Governorate has a heavy al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula presence, he added.

U.S. support in this part of Yemen is a continuation of what U.S. forces have been doing there since Jan. 29, when a raid by U.S. forces killed an estimated 14 al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists.

According to a U.S. Central Command news release at the time, “the raid is one in a series of aggressive moves against terrorist planners in Yemen and worldwide,” and that similar operations have produced intelligence on al-Qaida logistics, recruiting and financing efforts.

U.S. support to the Yemeni people enhances stabilization efforts in the region, he added, noting that eliminating the influence of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the region “will significantly degrade extremist activity in the area and set conditions for stabilization efforts in Yemen.” - By Cheryl Pellerin

https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1269091/pentagon-provides-updates-on-support-for-operations-in-yemen-somalia/

My comment: The main effect of „US support to the Yemeni people“ is directly (by US raids) or indirectly (by supporting the Saudis) killing Yemeni civilians.

4.8.2017 – AFP (* A T)

US special forces supporting ops against AQAP in Yemen

US special operations forces are helping Emirati and local forces as they conduct new operations against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, the Pentagon said Friday.

The operations center on Shabwa province, where Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has an established presence.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the aim was to "degrade" AQAP's ability to coordinate external terrorist operations and plotting.

"Our support there is a continuation of what we have been doing since January," Davis said.

"It involves a very small number of US forces on the ground who are primarily there to facilitate the flow of information," he added, though he noted that "combat can always happen."

The Pentagon announcement came after the United Arab Emirates on Thursday said it was launching a "major" operation.

"The operation is being closely supported by a combined UAE and US enabling force," the UAE embassy said in a statement to AFP.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4761916/US-special-forces-supporting-ops-against-AQAP-Yemen.html

and more:

4.8.2017 – Stripes (*A T)

US troops are on the ground in Yemen for offensive against al-Qaida militants

Aside from intelligence sharing, Davis said that the U.S. is providing midair refueling and overhead reconnaissance for forces involved in the operation. The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, a collection of U.S. Navy ships loaded with Marines, is in the region and is probably assisting the operation with aircraft and personnel. In the past, amphibious groups much like the Bataan's have been integral in supporting U.S.-led operations against al-Qaida in Yemen.

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/us-troops-are-on-the-ground-in-yemen-for-offensive-against-al-qaida-militants-1.481549#.WYVA24jyi00

and

4.8.2017 – The National UAE (* A T)

US role in Yemen-UAE offensive confirmed

The US Central Command confirmed that US special forces are supporting regional counterterrorism partners in ongoing operations in Yemen against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), centred in the area of Shabwa.

Centcom's media operations Major Josh Jacques told The National "US forces are supporting regional Counterterrorism partners in ongoing operations in Yemen against AQAP." The operation is aimed at "degrading the group's ability to coordinate external terrorist operations and use Yemeni territory as a safe space for terror plotting."

Mr Jacques said "U.S. support to the Yemeni people serves to enhance stabilisation efforts in the region" and that "eliminating AQAP, as well as Islamic State influence from the region, will significantly degrade extremist activity in the area to set conditions for stabilisation efforts in Yemen."

Without giving exact numbers, he said "a small number of U.S. forces are present in Yemen to exchange information with capable partners in the region."

https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/us-role-in-yemen-uae-offensive-confirmed-1.616894

My comment: What for word bubbles and lies: "U.S. support to the Yemeni people serves to enhance stabilisation efforts in the region".LOL. For AQAP, reread: https://jamestown.org/program/aqap-southern-yemen-learning-adapting-growing/

4.8.2017 – Haykal Bafana (* A T)

And Friday, all AQAP terrorists disappeared just like that from Shabwah. At UAE request. To the Pentagon: Whose lame wet dream is this?

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893603151000948736

Deal made. AQAP withdraw to mountains, with all weapons. 'US-aided' UAE takes over & declare 'victory'. US general gets promotion.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893605026962096128

This is the Pentagon's war on terrorists in Yemen : Unadulterated prime-time news BS.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893605698218622976

I can confirm there were no clashes at all in the US/UAE'victory' over AQAP in Shabwah province, #Yemen. Not even a single shot fired. Zero.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893606685071245312

As agreed (just like in the UAE Mukalla victory), AQAP militants withdrew from main Shabwah towns to the mountains, with all heavy weapons.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893607418675986433

Is this sort of Pentagon BS, performed in league with Al Qaeda terrorists & their GCC allies, not a capital offence under US military laws?

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893608222711525376

Here's a reminder to the Pentagon stars who think they can do the same shit CIA did in Syria to help Al Qaeda : No, you can't. (text in image)

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893610604015046656

Looking at the UAE deployments in Shabwah so far, it's obvious to me the aim is to secure Total's Yemen LNG pipeline. Not to kill AQAP.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893609740399517697

By @BBCWorld on Shabwah, #Yemen : Locals said Al Qaeda did not put up a fight & simply melted away into mountains.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893613462387142656

See the problem? It is almost positive proof that the UAE directs Al Qaeda in Yemen. Useful, yeah : To fool the Yankees? "Victory".

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893614017855463424

Either the US generals are idiots easily fooled by this lame stage production, or the US is complicit with Al Qaeda in Yemen. Which is it?

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/893615481726410753