Humanitarian situation report – Grievances in Southern Yemen – Interview with Southern Yemeni leader – Rift within Saudi coalition – Houthi killings at Taiz – Cholera – Saudi Arabia: Awamiya siege –and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Cholera
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp12 Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
14.8.2017 – Humanitarian Response (** B K)
Protection Cluster Yemen Update
Protection of Civilians
The volatile security situation and military operations along conflict lines continues to impact civilians throughout Yemen. According to UN and open source reporting, through the first half of 2017, the number of reported airstrikes has already exceeded the total for all of 2016, with the monthly average almost three times higher in 2017. The pace of reported armed clashes in 2017 is also 56% higher per month in 2017 compared to 2016. Taizz, Sa’ada, Hajjah, Sana’a, Al Jawf and Marib remain the most affected by military operations, clashes and airstrikes, while major incidents resulting in civilian casualties have occurred recently in Taizz (July) and Sa’ada (June and August).
Internal Displacement
As of June 2017, there were 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 946,000 IDP returnees in Yemen, representing 10.4% of the population either displaced or facing the immediate challenges of return.1 Since the beginning of 2017, conflict has resulted in 104,658 IDPs newly displaced, mostly from Taizz (46%) and Sa’ada (25%), while other governorates with new displacement include Al Hudaydah, Al Bayda and Al Jawf. New internal displacement surged early in 2017 during the escalation of conflict in Mokha, declining in the months thereafter but increasing again in May. Among IDPs, some 23% reside in collective centres or spontaneous shelters, for which a baseline assessment is currently being conducted by the Shelter-NFI-CCCM Cluster to identify inter-cluster needs, including protection.
Vulnerability and Persons with Specific Needs
Conflict and displacement, compounded now with cholera and famine, have created new vulnerabilities as a result of, among others, loss of heads of households, family separation and the breakdown of community structures, increasing resort to adverse coping mechanisms as well as increasing the mental health and psycho social support needs of the population. The most recent multi-cluster location assessment identified more than 1 million IDPs and host community members with specific needs, including malnourished children (27%), elderly (22%), pregnant / breastfeeding women (18%), chronically ill (8%), female heads of households (6%), minor heads of households (6%), persons with disabilities (7%) and separated and unaccompanied children (3%).2 An updated multi-cluster location assessment is currently underway
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Taizz has continued to be the governorate most contested along conflict fronts, with civilians being severely impacted by intense, armed clashes, rocket fire and shelling and air strikes connected with military operations around the besieged city of Taizz as well as westward in Maqbanah, Mawza and Mokha Districts, not least the worsening humanitarian conditions due to lack of access to basic needs and services.
https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/protection_cluster_yemen_situation_update_august_2017_0.pdf and shorter reporting: https://thinkprogress.org/airstrikes-cholera-in-yemen-a2b465a05cb2/ and http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN1AW1HK
14.8.2017 – Lobelog (** B P)
The Trump Administration Must Not Ignore Grievances in Southern Yemen
As Yemen’s gruesome civil war bogs down into a stalemate, with millions of civilians suffering from catastrophic humanitarian and food security crises, only a diplomatic settlement can offer hope for a resolution to the conflict. For any roundtable talks to have a realistic chance of bringing peace to this Arab country, all parties must take seriously the legitimate grievances of Yemen’s major communities. This not only includes the Houthis concentrated in the north but also the southerners who live in the territory the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (aka South Yemen) governed from 1967-1990. In Aden and parts of southern Yemen, longstanding grievances against central rule and Yemeni factions from elsewhere in the country are re-fueling a separatist movement seeking to recreate an independent nation-state in the south amid the chaos of the civil war.
In this part of the country, many Yemenis feel economically and politically marginalized and believe that the 1990 reunification has not improved their lives. Ultimately, these growing calls for southern independence illustrate Yemen’s increasingly complicated and multifaceted civil war, in which separatist demands threaten to foment new divisions and hostilities within the loose coalition of Yemenis that have fought the Houthi rebel movement since it usurped control of Sana‘a in 2014.
During Yemen’s Arab Spring of 2011-12, there was optimism in the south that when former President Ali Abdullah Saleh relinquished power, his successor would do a better job of addressing the southerners’ grievances and improve life in Aden and elsewhere. Yet the sense of economic and political marginalization has not gone away under Hadi. A common complaint in the south is that the natural resource wealth of the territory has gone to other regions of the country.
Since many Yemenis outside the country’s south have a vested interest in maintaining access to the south’s hydrocarbon wealth, there would be strong opposition to any breakaway effort. Another factor that has weakened the southern movement is its political fracturing. Shared grievances have not translated into unifying leadership.
Yemen’s ongoing crisis has encouraged secession tendencies directly as a result of the aggressive, short-lived Houthi occupation of the south.
Armed secessionists such as the Aden Security Belt forces and Hadhramaut Elite forces, supported by Abu Dhabi and the Sudanese Janjaweed, have waged an impressive military campaign to counter AQAP in the major cities. Initially, they succeeded in capturing South Yemen’s major cities. But the fight has subsequently evolved into a low-intensity conflict, with AQAP and other extremists relying on insurgent hit-and-run tactics.
Today, the Southern Movement’s loyalists have de factocontrol of much of the land that once encompassed South Yemen, with its members serving as governors, military commanders, security officials, and low-ranking soldiers. The Saudi-led coalition, already dealing with allegations of significant human rights abuses, would need further ground support to achieve their military goals. Furthermore, while Hadi wrestles with his political opponents, his inability to unify political differences only exacerbates the partial capability of security promotion, leading to patches of security and stability across South Yemen.
The UAE’s Involvement
Beginning in 2015, many southerners aspiring for independence fought along with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) militaries against Houthi militants. Zubaidi and other leaders in the south have received backing from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), raising speculation that Abu Dhabi—despite joining the other five GCC capitals in officially supporting a unified Yemen—backs South Yemen independence.
The southern secessionists are opposed to the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood, al-Islah,whose political figures and militants have received Saudi support in their fight against the Southern Movement. Hadi, who also received Saudi backing, has said that the STC “targets the country’s interests, its future and social fabric.” Such tensions between Yemeni factions fighting the Houthis could exacerbate cracks in the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. A key variable has been and will continue to be how, in practice, the STC and Hadi’s loyalists interact with each other on the ground.
If fighting between the southern movement and its opponents exacerbates turmoil in southern Yemen, extremist forces such as AQAP may, again, be able to exploit the chaos.
For Washington, the stakes are high in southern Yemen - by Giorgio Cafiero and Matthew Hedges
http://lobelog.com/the-trump-administration-must-not-ignore-grievances-in-southern-yemen/
15.8.2017 – Al Monitor (** A K P)
South Yemen leader vows to continue fight against 'rebels' in north
Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the South Transitional Council (STC), told Al-Monitor that the council stands with the Saudi-led Arab coalition against what he called the “rebels” in North Yemen, referring to the alliance between Ansar Allah (Houthis) and former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who leads the General People's Congress.
After his return from a tour that included Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of Yemen's South Transitional Council, talks to Al-Monitor about pressing local and regional issues.
He said that he has forces fighting in areas in North Yemen alongside the coalition to defeat what he called the “Iranian project.” Zubaidi noted that the establishment of the council has nothing to do with his dismissal from his position as governor of Aden, saying that the idea of establishing the council came up a year ago. He asserted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has no goals and plans in South Yemen and that there is no disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the UAE regarding the war in Yemen. He also said that he was the first to uncover Qatar’s involvement in supporting terrorist groups in Aden and a number of areas in South Yemen.
Al-Monitor interviewed Zubaidi via email, on July 31, almost a month after his return from a tour that included Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
The text of the interview follows.
Zubaidi: Our declaration of the STC is the culmination of a struggle ongoing for many years. This step aims to unite the southern leadership and find a just political solution to the southern issue.
The UAE’s support to our people is a sincere and enlightened position stemming from the UAE’s long history in supporting vulnerable peoples in the face of injustice. When the UAE offered our people all this generous support — in terms of money and forces — it was not expecting anything in return. We have nothing to offer but our gratitude. Our people will never forget those who stood by them and offered them a helping hand in their ordeal. They will always appreciate the UAE’s support.
Many rumors shroud the UAE’s intervention in South Yemen. Indeed, this country is helping rebuild our national army and working to secure the international waterway from the rebels’ coups and terrorist groups. This is a priority for the world, for the Arab coalition and for the region.
Al-Monitor: How do you respond to those who say that your move reflects Saudi-UAE disagreements on the war in Yemen?
Zubaidi: There are no disagreements and we do not plan on exploiting and betting on any disagreements between our Arab coalition brethren countries. The last position on the crisis with Qatar confirms the solid relationship between Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab countries.
Al-Monitor: President Hadi’s loyalists and the groups that are said to be linked to Saudi Arabia began to move in Aden. Fighting erupts from time to time, even at Aden airport. How do you explain this?
Zubaidi: These are the post-war repercussions. It is only normal for militias to emerge during this period and Aden is no exception. The coalition has been working for two years to bring back normal life to Aden, without resorting to violence and through understandings that led to the handover of the airport to the Aden Security Directorate. These sporadic events are usually blown out of proportion by the parties that are against the south and the coalition. At the end of the day, we are in times of war.
Al-Monitor: You say that you are still part of the Arab coalition in the Yemeni war. Does that mean that you are still fighting in the north against the forces of Ansar Allah, i.e., the Houthis, and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh?
Zubaidi: Yes, our soldiers remain stationed on many fronts — such as in Mocha in Taiz province — making sacrifices. They are also fighting side by side with the coalition forces on other fronts like Karash in Lahij governorate and Beihan in Shabwa governorate.
Al-Monitor: Why are southerners fighting in the north?
Zubaidi: Because we are part of the Arab coalition forces. There are strategic goals for this coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The STC supports the coalition to defeat the rebels, which is a key objective. One should not forget that the rebels are the ones who invaded, destroyed and killed in the south. We want to make sure that this will never occur again at the hands of these murderous groups. - by Mohannad Obeid
14.8.2017 – AP (** B P)
CASH CRISIS EXPOSES RIFT WITHIN SAUDI-LED COALITION IN YEMEN
At the heart of the dispute is Hadi's alliance with the Islah party, the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Arab organization that the UAE and other Gulf countries view as a threat.
The wrangling began when Hadi removed his onetime vice president and prime minister, Khaled Bahah, who was seen as an advocate of reconciliation with the Houthis and who was backed by UAE. Hadi replaced him with Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a powerful military commander who is closely linked to Islah.
At a recent meeting with Yemeni tribal leaders in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Hadi accused the Emiratis of "dictating" candidates for security and military posts, according to two tribal leaders and a security official who attended the gathering. Hadi said he used to comply with UAE wishes, but began to oppose them after their "meddling crossed all lines," including attempts to remove Islah figures from the government and military, the attendees said.
Hadi said he complained to the Saudis, who have led the intervention on behalf of his government, but received no response, according to the attendees, who agreed to discuss the closed-door meeting on condition of anonymity – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-08-14-07-07-14 = http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/aug/14/cash-crisis-exposes-rift-within-saudi-led-coalitio/#/0
Remark: Earlier reporting on the Central Bank and cash crisis: YPR 334, cp6. Another report by Aljazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/central-bank-saudi-led-coalition-strips-yemen-cash-170814195550017.html – More reporting below cp13c.
Comment: Saudis are having a row with Emiratis, Saudis are tired of Emiratis, Emiratis are fed up with Saudis.
Hadi has no power in hand, nobody has liberated anything from anyone (from one 'oppressor' to the other is not a liberation) and Yemenis pay the price.
(note: Houthis are no 'Shiite')
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1467909753262050
16.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (* *B K PS)
Human Rights report says Houthis kill 64 civilians, wound 25 in Taiz last July
The Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) announced that 64 civilians were killed and 25 others wounded, mostly women and children, by Houthis-Saleh forces last July in Taiz.
The center said the deaths of 48 men, 6 children and 10 women, are documented noting that two of the dead were run over by a Houthi group, 12 sniper operations, and one was killed as a result of torture.
''The continuous shelling of various types of heavy missiles and anti-aircraft and Katyusha rockets resulted in dozens of dead, wounded, damages, and destruction in public and private buildings''.
The report referred to the forced displacement of dozens of families because of the intensive shelling and the siege that was imposed by the Houthis on the villages, the Superb, and various areas in the city.
"The militia continues to plant landmines in the streets, houses they occupy and other buildings, as well as farms, forests, workshops and others, causing civilian casualties," the monitoring team confirmed.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93358
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Cholera / Most important: Cholera
15.8.2017 – Spiegel Online (* B H)
Choleraepedemie im Jemen: "Dramatischer als alles, was ich je gesehen habe"
Film: Seit April sind fast 2000 Menschen im Jemen an der Cholera gestorben. Der Bürgerkrieg hat die Gesundheitsversorgung fast gänzlich zum Erliegen gebracht. Und die Lage wird immer schlimmer, warnt Astrid Nissen vom Deutschen Roten Kreuz.
16.8.2017 – The Interpreter (* B H)
Cholera in Yemen: A totally preventable catastrophe
So why is Yemen a record-breaking cholera epicentre? The International Committee of the Red Cross is blunt in its assessment. ICRC President Peter Maurer issued a statementafter a visit at the end of July that made clear his view this outbreak is manmade. He described the outbreak as 'a direct consequence of more than two years of warfare.
The UN has also identified those it holds responsible for the cholera travesty. 'This cholera scandal is entirely man-made by the conflicting parties and those beyond Yemen’s borders, who are leading, supplying, fighting and perpetuating the fear and fighting,' said the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien.
Money too seems to be an issue. At the Yemen emergency donors conference in Geneva in April, the international community pledged US$1.1 billion. This was half the amount that the UN estimated was needed to avert the humanitarian catastrophe. By mid-July, only a fifth of what was needed to respond to the cholera epidemic had been received.
And here's the nub. So far the supporters of the Saudi-led coalition that has wrought so much destruction on Yemen and thus contributed to this cholera scandal are the same countries that have been the most generous in their aid pledges. Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait, along with the UK, the US and the European Commission, are among top six donors to the UN-led relief effort - by Annmaree O’Keeffe
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/cholera-yemen-totally-preventable-catastrophe
My comment: Overview article. Please keep in mind what the real relationships are: What those countries which are “ most generous in their aid pledges” really are giving just is peanuts compared to what they spend on military, warfare and dstruction. And this relationship actually shows what the real priorities are.
16.8.2017 – The National UAE (* B H)
Yemen humanitarian crisis: How cholera outbreak is adding to country's woes
The disease is endemic to Yemen but began spreading rapidly as disruption to medical services and infrastructure in the country increased.
[Short overview]
16.8.2017 – Oxfam (* B H)
Yemen: catastrophic cholera crisis
[Short overview]
https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/yemen-catastrophic-cholera-crisis = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-catastrophic-cholera-crisis
15.8.2017 – The Independent (** B H)
The biggest global cholera outbreak is happening in Yemen and, disgracefully, it's manmade
We saw the impossible conditions that health workers face day in day out; 30,000 have not been paid their salaries in nearly a year
Two weeks ago in Yemen, we met a young boy at al-Sabeen Hospital in Sana’a. Less than five years old, he was breathing heavily on a hospital bed, an IV attached to the veins of his small hands to help him battle cholera and malnutrition. We were so focussed on his desperate condition that we almost missed his mother, sitting nearby, who was also very ill, and needed attention.
Their suffering is mirrored many thousands of times over across the country.
While in Yemen, we talked with the sick, their families and the health workers caring for them.
We saw the tragic state of a health system in ruins, with less than half of its facilities able to offer the most basic medical care.
We saw the impossible conditions that health workers face day in day out; 30,000 have not been paid their salaries in nearly a year.
But we also saw that coordinated action can save lives and bring an end to this epidemic.
More than 99 per cent of people sick with suspected cholera or severe acute watery diarrhoea who can access health services are now surviving.
To reach all the people at risk, we are working side by side – establishing Emergency Operations Centres where health, water, food, sanitation and communication partners pool resources and jointly deliver the emergency services that will save the most lives.
We call now on the international community, and especially those with the power and the ability to bring pressure to bear on both sides of the conflict, to help bring an end to the suffering – by bringing an end to the conflict – by General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director of WHO, David Beasley, Executive Director of WFP, Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF
15.8.2017 – Aljazeera (** B H)
Film: Who is to blame for the world's worst cholera outbreak?
More than half a million infected and almost 2000 dead in just four months in war-torn Yemen.
It has been called the "Forgotten War", but it has caused the largest single-nation humanitarian crisis in the world in the poorest Arab country, Yemen.
Two and a half years of war have killed more than 10,000 people and has left two-thirds of the population in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
If that was not enough, a cholera epidemic, which began in April, is spreading fast in a country where the health system has collapsed.
And a million malnourished children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable.
Plus, the United Nations has accused the Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi fighters of stopping fuel supplies to aircraft trying to deliver aid into Yemen.
So who's to blame for the outbreak and spread of cholera? And what's being done to stop it?
Presenter: Sohail Rahman
Guests:
Suze Van Meegen - Advocacy Adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Yemen
Baraa Shiban - Yemeni human-rights activist and researcher for the human rights organisation Reprieve
Afshin Shahi - Senior Lecturer in Middle East politics and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Bradford
14.8.2017 – World Health Organization (** A H)
Cholera count reaches 500 000 in Yemen
The total number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen this year hit the half a million mark on Sunday, and nearly 2000 people have died since the outbreak began to spread rapidly at the end of April.
The overall caseload nationwide has declined since early July, particularly in the worst affected areas. But suspected cases of the deadly waterborne disease continue to rage across the country, infecting an estimated 5000 people per day.
The spread of cholera has slowed significantly in some areas compared to peak levels but the disease is still spreading fast in more recently affected districts, which are recording large numbers of cases.
Yemen's cholera epidemic, currently the largest in the world, has spread rapidly due to deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions and disruptions to the water supply across the country. Millions of people are cut off from clean water, and waste collection has ceased in major cities.
A collapsing health system is struggling to cope, with more than half of all health facilities closed due to damage, destruction or lack of funds. Shortages in medicines and supplies are persistent and widespread and 30 000 critical health workers have not been paid salaries in nearly a year.
"Yemen’s health workers are operating in impossible conditions. Thousands of people are sick, but there are not enough hospitals, not enough medicines, not enough clean water. These doctors and nurses are the backbone of the health response – without them we can do nothing in Yemen. They must be paid their wages so that they can continue to save lives," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/cholera-yemen-fiftythousand/en/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/cholera-count-reaches-500-000-yemen
15.8.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A H)
Yemen started today an anti-cholera campaign from house to house, targeting 1,300,000 houses all over Yemen. Educating.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/897354881245249536
13.8.2017 – Reuters (** A H)
More Than A Half Million People Struck By Cholera In Yemen
More than half a million people in Yemen have been infected with cholera since the epidemic began four months ago and 1,975 people have died, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
"The spread of cholera has slowed significantly in some areas compared to peak levels but the disease is still spreading fast in more recently affected districts, which are recording large numbers of cases," it said, reporting a total of 503,484 cases – by Stephanie Nebehay
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-cholera-idUSKCN1AU12C?rpc=401&
Comment: Reuters needs to be more precise:
- it is not a civil war, but an aggression.
- 'Iran-backed armed Houthi group' is yet to be found in #Yemen(where is the backing?)
- 'economic collapse' is to be expected when the country is under siege, bombed day in, day out and when Yemen was already a more than struggling prior to the aggression.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1468836599836032
14.8.2017 – NTH News (* B H)
Film: IUVM TV Exclusive Report on Yemen's Cholera Epidemic
https://twitter.com/en_NTHNEWS/status/897102842464489472
14.8.2017 – ABC News Radio (** A H)
War-torn Yemen now wracked by cholera, with thousands dead and 500,000 sick
As she sat silently in the back seat of the car with her hands around her bowed head, Lena Rabasi listened to her father’s voice while he drove: "God willing, we’ll get there, God willing you’ll get better.’"
Lena, 15, didn’t know if she could believe those words. The drive to the hospital felt too long. She was dizzy, had diarrhea, and felt a penetrating pain in her stomach – her mother next to her had the same symptoms.
“I was scared we wouldn’t be able to get treatment and would die. I knew from our symptoms that we had cholera,” Lena told ABC News via phone from her home in Yemen. “I was scared of the hospital because it was the first time I was going to a hospital. I was scared of needles. I was trying to imagine the doctors because I didn’t know what they would be like.”
Lena and her family were able to rent a car and drive to a health center supported by Save the Children for treatment, but many others never reach the hospital.
“And if people are lucky and find a hospital the most simple medicine and equipment will be missing," Anas Shahari, Save the Children’s communications manager in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, told ABC News.
"Most hospitals have no oxygen supplies and medicine. Sometimes the sick sleep on the ground in the hallways,” said Shahari, who has visited hospitals in the country.
Shahari said she has seen children receiving treatment in tents, some sitting in chairs because no beds were available. In other cases, patients sleep under trees with their IVs hanging in the branches, he said.
“Many people have to borrow money from friends or sell their belongings to afford the transportation to the hospital,” Shahari said. “Others have sold their cows just for the treatment.”
At one hospital, Shahari met a mother and child with cholera who were almost unconscious when they arrived because they were so dehydrated. The family lived six hours away from the hospital in Sanaa and one child died on the way. Shahari didn’t meet the father – he had just heard that his mother had died and had to return for her funeral. The mother had stayed behind although she also had cholera symptoms.
The crisis is hitting the elderly and children the hardest. About 30 percent of those who have died are over the age of 60 while more than 41 percent of those with suspected cases and a quarter of those who have died are children, according to the U.N.
Like many other Yemenis, Lena's family doesn’t have nutritious food – the family's diet consists mainly of bread and sometimes beans. They don’t have water at home and have to buy water that isn’t sanitized. Lena’s parents currently have no income which means that paying for medicine and transportation is not easy. But the family managed to rent a car and then buy medicine that Lena and her mother needed to get better after they got sick in June.
Days later Lena’s 8-year-old brother contracted the disease too. He had diarrhea, felt dizzy and suffered from pain in his stomach just like his sister and mother had. So the family rented a car again and took him to the treatment center.
“I was very worried for him,” said Lena. “He was crying from the pain in his stomach.”
Her brother recovered, but the family wasn’t free from the disease for long. Lena said she got cholera again last week. She was treated, but still feels frail and scared.
“I still feel weak from the disease,” said Lena. “I’m scared that I’ll be sick again because I'm tired of disease.” (with film)
13.8.2017 - World Health Organization (* A H)
Map: Yemen: Cholera Attack Rate (%) Population (From 27 April - 13 August 2017)
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-attack-rate-population-27-april-13-august-2017 and in full https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/130817_attackrate_who_color.pdf
13.8.2017 – Jordan Times (* A H)
Yemeni NGO sounds alarm on cholera outbreak
Although “the world’s worst cholera outbreak is entirely preventable”, the Yemeni ministry of public health and population has recently reported a total of 408,583 suspected cases of cholera, and 1,885 confirmed associated deaths, the non-governmental organisation Innovative Yemen (IY) said in an interview with The Jordan Times.
The Amman-based organisation on Saturday held a “hackathon”to raise awareness and spread knowledge on the cholera outbreak currently faced by Yemen.
“According to Oxfam, a person dies from cholera every hour in Yemen,” said IY communication leader Maali Jamil, adding “we wanted people to realise how pressing this issue is, not only in Sana’a, but all over the country”.
The idea of a “sprint-like event where people learn about the crisis from subject-matter experts and then work collaboratively to come up with out-of-the-box solutions”, or a “hackhaton”, emerged in early July, when Jamil and her team launched a public appeal to speakers willing to share their knowledge and expertise on the subject.
The NGO searched for Yemeni-based speakers with medical, engineering, science and humanitarian backgrounds to offer an “on-the-ground” analysis of the situation.
“It wasn’t easy,” remembered Jamil, noting “most of the time, the power is off in Yemen, and, when it is not, the signal is hardly reliable.”
Eleven experts from across Yemen were chosen to share their perspectives on combating the epidemic in the conflict-ridden country.
Abdulhakeem Alkohlany, the first speaker of the day, outlined the governmental response to the cholera outbreak, using his daily experience as a paediatrician and community medicine specialist with his local organisation Relief and Sustainable Humanitarian Development. Marije Broekhuijsen, a Dutch national working as Yemen’s WASH cluster coordinator, covered health-related topics, such as desalination or food safety programmes.
Experts in specific governorates, like Sunita Sharma, from International Medical Corps, touched upon the holistic responses provided across Sana’a, Taiz, Adan, Al Dahale’e and Lahj, all heavily affected by the epidemic.
Others speakers, like Abdulsalam Mutahar, project manager at the Yemen national strategy for small and micro enterprise (SMEPS), shared less-commonly spread views of the situation, stressing that the focus should not only be put on humanitarian emergency, but rather on a long-term response – By Camille Dupire
http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/yemeni-ngo-sounds-alarm-cholera-outbreak
cp2 Allgemein / General
16.8.2017 – World Socialist Web (* B H K P)
Krieg im Jemen: Eine halbe Million Cholera-Fälle
Die Voraussetzungen für die tödliche Epidemie hat der brutale Krieg geschaffen, den Saudi-Arabien und eine Koalition aus Golf-Monarchien nun schon das dritte Jahr führen. Sie haben dabei die volle Unterstützung der Vereinigten Staaten, welche die Aufklärung und die Betankung der Flugzeuge in der Luft zur Verfügung stellen.
Es wird immer deutlicher, dass der Ausbruch der Cholera im Jemen nicht etwa eine unbeabsichtigte Folge des Kriegs der Saudis ist, sondern dass die Koalition sie als Waffe benutzt, um das Land zu unterwerfen.
Die Vorherrschaft über den Jemen ist entscheidend für die Kontrolle über die Straße von Bab el Mandeb, einem geostrategischen Schifffahrtsweg, über den der größte Teil des weltweiten Öltransports verläuft.
Die Luftangriffe und Bombardierungen der Koalition zielen bewusst auf zivile Wohngebiete, Krankenhäuser, Schulen, Märkte, die Kanalisation sowie andere wichtige Infrastruktureinrichtungen ab. Diese ständigen Angriffe machen es unmöglich, ein vernünftiges Abwassersystem zu organisieren und den Müll zu entsorgen, der sich in den Straßen stapelt.
Die Menschen infizieren sich mit Cholera, indem sie Wasser trinken, das durch Fäkalien verunreinigt wurde.
Mit Unterstützung der US-Marine wurde eine Blockade gegen den Jemen verhängt. Dadurch könnte der Import von Grundnahrungsmitteln ganz zusammenbrechen. Der Jemen ist für mehr als 90 Prozent seiner Getreideversorgung von Importen abhängig.
Die Situation wird noch dadurch verschlimmert, dass der wichtigste internationale Flughafen in Sanaa seit letztem Jahr geschlossen ist, seitdem die saudische Koalition eine Flugverbotszone über den Jemen verhängt hat.
Die Kriegsverbrechen sind ungeheuerlich. Umso furchtbarer ist das Schweigen der Massenmedien, des politischen Establishments und der Pseudo-Linken. Während sie Baschar al Assad der Kriegsverbrechen beschuldigen und einen Regimewechsel in Syrien fordern, lassen sie es stillschweigend zu, dass die Vereinigten Staaten und Saudi-Arabien eine ganze Gesellschaft zerstören und im Jemen eine der schlimmsten und dauerhaften humanitären Krisen der jüngsten Geschichte anrichten. - von Niles Niemuth
https://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2017/08/16/jeme-a16.html
16.8.2017 – Jerusalem Post (* B H K P)
YEMEN’S HUMANITARIAN DISASTER ACCELERATES AMID INTERNATIONAL INDIFFERENCE
A conflict with no visible hope of resolution and world indifference threaten to make an already disastrous humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse.
“The Yemeni people have been lost in the shuffle,” said Barak Barfi, a Middle East specialist at the New America Foundation in Washington.
Barfi said the cholera outbreak is fueled by Saudi bombing of infrastructure necessary for clean water and sanitation, and that bombing made roads unsafe for food distribution. But he, too, does not absolve the Houthis, saying they want to be in control of every aspect of government in their areas.
“They oversee a lot of the aid and they put bureaucratic steps in the way that slow it down to a certain extent. It compounds an already difficult situation,” he said.
“The people of Yemen cannot bear it much longer. They need real peace to rebuild their lives and country.”
But that is not in the offing, according to Barfi.
Governments, he said, view Yemen through two prisms.
One of those is the need to combat al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is active in parts of the country. The other prism is the Sunni-Shi’ite battle and the perceived need to contain Iran, he said. Humanitarian imperatives don’t really factor in at present.
“Western governments are more likely to back the Saudi- led coalition. They want to pressure the Iranians, they don’t want Iran to win another country in the region,” he said.
What is really needed, in Barfi’s view, is to bring the Saudis to the negotiating table under UN supervision with a cease-fire so the Houthis will join talks.
Through these negotiations, an attempt should be made to reach a division of power between the Houthis and the Hadi government in order to have a unified cabinet that can deal with Yemen’s problems, he said.
With US President Donald Trump forging ever closer relations with the Saudis, however, it is highly unlikely Washington would press Riyadh to halt the bombing campaign.
“The Saudis have money to continue an open-ended conflict. Without facing any repercussions in the international community for the humanitarian crisis and collateral damage they’ll continue. I don’t see any end in sight especially with the Trump administration opening up the military warehouses to the Saudis,” Barfi said.
My comment: An overview, quite sound and remarkable for an Israeli website. - Anyway, again: the Houthis are not „Iranian-backed“.
16.8.2017 – Aljazeera (* B K P)
The growing militarisation of the GCC
The Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) countries are some of the most heavily armed in the world.
With an estimated annual budget of $60bn, Saudi Arabia is projected to become the fifth biggest arms buyer by 2020.
Qatar is also home to the largest US military base in the Middle East, which hosts more than 10,000 American soldiers.
The US has approximately 35,000 personnel based across the region and the UK has about 1,200 service personnel.
Adding further military might to the regional equation, Turkish forces have since June arrived in Qatar to create Ankara's first ever Middle East military base.
The importance of the strategic location is amplified by its oil and gas reserves. The GCC countries sit on 30 percent of the world's total crude oil reserves and 21 percent of the world's natural gas.
[look at infographics]
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2017/07/growing-militarisation-gcc-170712144644207.html
16.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* B K P)
How Saudi Arabia trapped itself in Yemen
So long as Riyadh insists on a Houthi defeat in Yemen that won’t benefit Al-Islah, the kingdom’s operation is doomed to fail. But there's another way to end this war
From the beginning and until now, the Saudi problem in Yemen is that it committed itself to two contradictory conditions for a strategic victory. It wanted to defeat the Houthis, but without benefiting its rival Al-Islah.
Indeed, Riyadh could have coordinated with the group at the beginning of the operation to lead an uprising in Sanaa which would have liberated the capital from the Houthis, but chose not to. So the first opportunity to win the war was quickly lost.
With these conditions in place, Saudi Arabia made its success much more difficult, if not impossible, and also prolonged the war. Therefore, to get out of the predicament it finds itself in, Riyadh must either modify or drop one of these conditions.
A peace deal in Yemen can be reached if four major actors agree and none of these actors is sidelined.
The first of these four is the Houthis, who call themselves "Ansar Allah".
The second actor is the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his political party, the People's Congress. Saleh and his party represent the old regime who refuse to abandon power because they fear accountability for their past and are also unwilling to let go their share of the gains.
After the recent developments in Saudi Arabia, which drew Riyadh and Abu Dhabi even closer, Saudi Arabia may resort to restoring the old Arab order, just as they both preferred and pushed forward in Egypt - and are considering in Syria and fiercely fighting for in Libya.
The third actor is the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Al-Islah), which is often linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and has considerable popular cadres. The group participated actively in the youth revolution in 2011 and can actually compete in its popularity with the Houthis.
However, Saudi Arabia wants to weaken the group and Abu Dhabi is fighting it. Thus, contrary to the condition the Saudis have set themselves in Yemen, the group would still benefit if the Houthis were defeated.
In fact, after Riyadh chose not to coordinate with Al-Islah to take back Sanaa in 2015, the security forces of the Houthi militias and Saleh turned their anger on Al-Islah and arrested hundreds of members. So Al-Islah found itself in the weirdest possible position: persecuted in Sanaa, marginalised in Riyadh and under pressure in Abu Dhabi.
The southerners are the fourth significant actors, although they may even be removed from the equation of power when a peace agreement is reached, since the real battlefield threatening the security of Saudi Arabia is just northern Yemen.
With more patience, the winds might blow again on their sails and friendships may change in their favour according to the rule "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Perhaps Riyadh is convinced, thanks to Abu Dhabi, that the Houthis and Saleh are better than a democratic pluralistic Yemen with Al-Islah in it.
Just as Riyadh changes its position now in Syria, and moves closer and closer to the Cairo and Moscow camp, which is ironically also Tehran’s camp, Saudi Arabia’s position in Yemen can change.
Only then might the inscrutable Saudi equation become solvable with the following modifications: allow the Houthis to win, eliminate Al-Islah and let Yemen’s stability and Saudi Arabia’s long-term security go to hell – by Ahmad Salah El Din, a Saudi writer.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/how-saudi-arabia-trapped-itself-yemen-1582010456
My comment: A 100 % pro-Saudi position taking for granted that Saudi Arabia might and should be the force setting the conditions in Yemen.
14.16.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
AQAP magazine instructs followers to derail trains; reportedU.S. airstrike targets AQAP militants in Abyan governorate, southern Yemen; al Houthi-Saleh forces attack Emirati ship in Mokha port, Taiz governorate, western Yemen; UN Special Envoy for Yemen holds meetings in Iran; ISIS and AQAP militants attack al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen; Saudi-led coalition helicopter crashes in Shabwah governorate, southern Yemen; Yemeni political parties in Cairo form new coalition
Suspected AQAP militants attempt to assassinate Yemeni brigade commander in Lawder city, Abyan governorate, southern Yemen; ISIS militants shell al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen; rogue security forces assassinate Abyan security director in Aden city, southern Yemen
UN Envoy urges Iran to facilitate negotiations with the al Houthi-Saleh faction; Emirati-backed soldiers clash with Islah party supporters in Ma’rib governorate, northern Yemen; Yemeni parliament nominates new speaker during meeting with Saudi officials in Jeddah; AQAP shells al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen
16.8.2017 – Index on Censorship (* B P)
Yemen: "Nobody is listening to us"
Yemeni journalist Abdulaziz Muhammad al-Sabri details the dangers of reporting in his country. Interview by Laura Silvia Battaglia
since the beginning of the war, the working environment for Yemeni journalists has progressively deteriorated.
Many journalists have disappeared or been detained, and media outlets closed, in the past few years.
“The media industry and those who work in Yemen are coming up against a war machine which slams every door in our faces, and which controls all the local and international media bureaus. Attacks and assaults against us have affected 80% of the people employed in these professions, without counting the journalists who have already been killed, and there have been around 160 cases of assaults, attacks and kidnappings. Many journalists have had to leave the country to save their lives. Like my very dear friend Hamdan al-Bukari, who was working for Al-Jazeera in Taiz.”
Al-Sabri wanted to tell his story to Index on Censorship without leaving out details “because there is nothing left for us to do here except to denounce what is going on, even if nobody is listening to us”. He spoke of systematic intimidation by the Houthi militias in his area against journalists in general, and in particular against those who work for the international media: “In Taiz they have even used us as human shields. Many colleagues have been taken to arms depots, which are under attack from the [Saudi-led, government-allied] coalition, so that once the military target has been hit, the coalition can be accused of killing journalists.”
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2017/08/yemen-nobody-listening-us/
My comment: The same is happening in all parts of Yemen; there is no difference between the Houthis, the Hadi government, or other rulers.
14.8.2017 – Spiegel Online (* B H K)
Internationales Rotes Kreuz: "Die Lage im Jemen gerät außer Kontrolle"
Bürgerkrieg, Hungerkatastrophe und die größte Cholera-Epidemie der Geschichte: Der Jemen versinkt im Chaos. Die bevorstehende Regenzeit könnte die Situation noch verschärfen, warnt Alexandre Faite vom IKRK.
Faite: Die Lage im Jemen gerät außer Kontrolle. Das gesamte Gesundheitssystem ist kollabiert, die nationalen Blutbank-Reserven sind fast aufgebraucht. Das Besondere an diesem Konflikt ist: Viele Menschen sterben nicht aufgrund direkter Kampfhandlungen, etwa durch ein Bombardement, sondern an den indirekten Folgen.
Dieser Konflikt hat bereits heute einen unglaublichen Tribut gefordert - und eine politische Lösung ist leider, so scheint es, bislang in weiter Ferne. Nur eine Waffenruhe würde das Leiden beenden. Ohne diese werden die Menschen im Jemen weiter Tag für Tag leise sterben.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/jemen-das-internationale-rote-kreuz-ueber-die-cholera-epidemie-a-1162427.html und Fotos: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/jemen-humanitaere-katastrophe-bedroht-hunderttausende-fotostrecke-151196.html
15.8.2017 – The American Conservative (* B K P)
The Horrifying War on Yemen Continues
One of the ongoing difficulties in changing the U.S. policy of support for this war is that relatively few Americans seem to know that there is such a policy, and even fewer know what effects the war is having on the civilian population. Fewer still consider stopping this policy a priority, and so far there aren’t enough members of Congress among them to demand an end to support for the war.
One reason for this is the failure to give the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen the attention that it deserves, and another is the failure to show the connection between U.S. and coalition policies and the disaster unfolding on the ground. When the war on Yemen is covered in Western media, it is often presented simply as a regional proxy war and/or as a sectarian conflict. Both are misleading and inaccurate in important respects, and both minimize or ignore the role of the U.S. in enabling and backing one side of the war.
Americans still seem to be largely unaware of the role their government has had in wrecking and starving Yemen for over two years, but Yemenis are keenly aware that they are attacked with U.S.-made weapons dropped from planes sold by the U.S. to our client regimes and refueled by our military. They know how destructive the blockade has been to their country, but even reasonably well-informed Americans could manage to read quite a few reports about the war and never see any mention of it. One of the worst humanitarian crises of the current century is unfolding in Yemen, and it is entirely man-made and caused in large part by U.S.-backed governments with Washington’s blessing. We should be horrified by the terrible toll this is taking on the people of Yemen, and we should also be alarmed that our government can be complicit in such a horror while facing so little opposition at home – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-horrifying-war-on-yemen-continues/
15.8.2017 – The News (* B H P)
Profit over people
The profit over people approach is, however, not limited to human traffickers. This is the same approach that the EU and the world’s wealthiest countries are using. The EU deal with Turkey to shift migrants who land in Greece is part of the same cold, rational logic, which is – almost literally – pushing migrants into the sea.
In Europe, the migrant crisis has led to a documented rise in modern slavery. Romania, Italy, Cyprus and Bulgaria have been identified as key risk points for the rise in this abominable practice. But the tragedy is that the migrants who become slave labour in Europe are better off than those who drown in the sea. Humanity has been reminded of the shallow calculus it has undertaken to ignore the plight of millions ravaged by war and famine. The human traffickers who pushed the migrants off the boat are no worse than the rest of us. - by Editorial Board
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/223618-Profit-over-people
15.8.2017 – RT (* B P)
"Raus aus dem Jemen": Saudischer Kronprinz will angeblich Kriegseinsatz im Jemen beenden
Laut geleakten E-Mails will der saudische Kronprinz am liebsten den Krieg seines Landes gegen den Jemen beenden. Öffentlich hat Mohammed bin Salman einen Rückzug stets zurückgewiesen. Mit einem baldigen Ende des Massensterbens ist dennoch nicht zu rechnen.
Im April tauschten der ehemalige US-Botschafter Israels, Martin Indyk, und der amtierende Botschafter der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate in den USA, Yousef Al Otaiba, ihre Ansichten über den saudischen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman per E-Mail aus. Indyk bezeichnete darin den Kronprinzen als "pragmatischen Führer", der sich in Gesprächen mit ihm und dem ehemaligen Nationalen Sicherheitsberater der USA, Stephen Hadley, klar geäußert habe, dass er "aus dem Jemen raus" will. Al Otaiba pflichtete Indyk bei:
Ich denke, Salman ist viel pragmatischer, als es die offiziellen saudischen Verlautbarungen vermuten lassen.
Middle East Eye hat die Gesprächsinhalte der geleakten E-Mails am Montag veröffentlicht. Gegenüber dem Nachrichtenportal erklärte Indyk, dass er sich nicht zu den Inhalten eines privat geführten Gesprächs äußern will. Auch Al Otaiba wollte die Angelegenheit nicht weiter kommentieren.
Sollte Mohammed bin Salman diese Aussage wirklich getätigt haben, dann wären das ganz neue Töne des saudischen Verteidigungsministers. Er gilt bislang als treibende Krafthinter dem seit März 2015 geführten Krieg gegen den Jemen.
https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/55724-raus-aus-jemen-saudischer-kronprinz-will-angeblich-kriegseinsatz-beenden/ und auch http://www.gegenfrage.com/saudi-arabien-jemen-beenden/
Mein Kommentar: “ ganz neue Töne”: das ist leider eine Fehleinschätzung. Solche Andeutungen kamen schon öfters; die Saudis wollen den Krieg natürlich nur zu ihren eigenen Bedingungen beenden.
14.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* B P)
EXCLUSIVE: Mohammed bin Salman wants out of Yemen war, leaked emails reveal
US officials say Saudi heir told them he wants to end conflict, and that he was okay with Washington engaging with his arch-foe Iran
Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the Saudi throne, confessed to two former US officials he "wants out" of the brutal two-year war he started in Yemen, and added that he was "okay" with Washington engaging with his arch-foe Iran, according to leaked emails obtained by Middle East Eye.
The 31-year old revealed his intentions to Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel and Stephen Hadley, a former US national security adviser, at least one month before the kingdom accused Qatar of undermining its campaign in Yemen and colluding with Iran.
Details of the meeting were contained in an email thread between Indyk and Youssef Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador in Washington, which was obtained by the Global Leaks campaign group.
Indyk and Otaiba were discussing the Saudi prince's "pragmatism" and where it deviated from the public positions the kingdom adopts.
At 10.17am on 20 April, Otaiba wrote: "Sometimes foreign ministers have to raise the bar a little higher. And I think MBS is far more pragmatic than what we hear is (sic) Saudi public positions."
By return some 27 minutes later Indyk wrote: "I agree on that. He was quite clear with Steve Hadley and me that he wants out of Yemen and that he is OK with the US engaging Iran as long as it is co-ordinated in advance and the objectives are clear."
Otaiba replied: "I do not think we will ever see a more pragmatic leader in that country. Which is why engaging with them is so important and will yield the most results we can ever get out of Saudi."
"We're doing our best to do that," said Indyk, who is perhaps better known for a career championing pro-Israel policies rather than Saudi ones.
Bin Salman's doubts about "Decisive Storm" further undermines the position of the Yemeni president in exile Abd Rabbuh Hadi, in whose name the Saudi-led campaign was launched.
Otaiba's emails also reveal that as early as April 2015, the Emirates treated the former Yemeni dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, only as a "subversive element" in the Yemen conflict, as opposed to the Houthis, whom they publicly branded a "strategic threat".
This emerged in a private email exchange with the CIA's former deputy director, Michael Morell, in which they discussed a recent share of intelligence between the UAE's foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, and Barbara Leaf, the US ambassador to the UAE.
According to a summary of the meeting minutes, Gargash "stressed the importance of differentiating between the Houthis as a strategic threat, and Saleh which is basically a "subversive element" that does not impose a strategic threat".
Gargash highlighted "the importance on working on holding Saleh away from the Houthis as a first step, and eventually supporting divisions in the GPC party and Saleh."
Otaiba is clear in private correspondence about his country's ambitions to lead the region and the splits emerging within the Gulf Cooperation Council – by Clayton Swisher
14.8.2017 – The Intercept (* B K P)
Leaked E-mails: Saudi power behind the throne wants „out of Yemen“
THE KEY SAUDI official in charge of the catastrophic ongoing war in Yemen wants it to stop, he told two influential foreign policy figures in Washington this spring.
Mohammed bin Salman, a member of the Saudi royal family who effectively rules the country, made the comments to Martin Indyk and Stephen Hadley. Indyk was a high-level diplomat during both the Clinton and Obama administrations and Hadley a top adviser to former President George W. Bush.
Indyk relayed the conversation to Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, and the man most responsible for aiding bin Salman’s rise in Washington.
“I think MBS is far more pragmatic than what we hear is saudi public positions,” Otaiba wrote to Indyk on the morning of April 20.
Indyk replied quickly. “I agree on that too. He was quite clear with Steve Hadley and me that he wants out of Yemen and that he’s ok with the US engaging Iran as long as it’s coordinated in advance and the objectives are clear,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever see a more pragmatic leader in that country. Which is why engaging with them is so important and will yield the most results we can ever get out of saudi,” Otaiba confided.
The messages between Indyk and Otaiba, first reported Monday by the Middle East Eye, were obtained independently by The Intercept. The exchange was discovered in a cache of correspondence pilfered by hackers from Otaiba’s Hotmail account, which he used regularly for official business – by Ryan Grim
https://theintercept.com/2017/08/14/leaked-emails-saudi-power-behind-the-throne-wants-out-of-yemen/ and by Aljazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/saudi-crown-prince-mbs-yemen-war-170814163237314.html
Comment: Words without actions have zero significance
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1468807179838974
Comment by Peter Salisbury: Diplos and Saudi officials have been saying KSA wants out of Yemen war since 2015. Issue then and now: wants out on its own terms
https://twitter.com/peterjsalisbury/status/897149432482942976
16.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* B K P)
'I don't care who wins, I want it to end': Yemeni joy at Saudi exit plans
Saudi Arabia's crown prince is said to 'want out' of the war he created. Yemeni civilians say they just want killing to end
Yemenis celebrated on Tuesday at the news the heir to the Saudi throne Mohammed bin Salman had confessed to two former US officials he "wants out" of the Yemen war.
According to the emails obtained by Middle East Eye, 31-year-old Mohammed bin Salman revealed his wish to Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel, and Stephen Hadley, a former US national security adviser.
Yemenis believed the reports could mean a peaceful resolution to the conflict may soon be in the works. Such a result could not come soon enough for millions trapped in a conflict that has killed thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation and in the grip of the world's worst cholera epidemic.
"I do not care who wins the battle, but if Saudi Arabia pulls out, the war will come to an end and then we can go back to our regular life," Mohammed al-Mahwiti, a teacher in the capital, Sanaa, told MEE.
Meanwhile, many Houthi supporters seem positive about reports that Saudi Arabia wishes to end the conflict.
"If Saudi Arabia stops the offensive against Yemenis, then we can negotiate and find a peaceful solution," a Houthi supporter told MEE on condition of anonymity.
The leaked emails gave Tareq al-Mallah, a Yemeni journalist and activist, hope about a peaceful solution to the war in Yemen.
"Away from the details, those emails indicate that Saudi Arabia wants to end the Yemen war and… we may be hearing something about that in the next months," Mallah said.
While many Yemenis were happy to receive the reports, some believe that the country would remain under Saudi "guardianship" even if the country ended its war.
"Yemen does not have security forces to prevent arms smuggling or the intervention of Iran," Yemeni journalist Amgad Khoshafa told MEE.
While many Yemenis were positive about the reports, some fighters have been worried about the news.
"If Saudi Arabia pulls out of the war without enforcing radical solutions, there won't be coalition fighters in Yemen which will result in the Houthis and Saleh's forces taking over the whole country," said Imran al-Rofaidi, a fighter with the pro-government forces in Taiz.
Comment: A voice from non-Houthi/Saleh supporters.
People who believed the Saudis would bring change in Yemen, and not only arms to fight the above or help (as one claimed: Saudi Arabia 'helped only the South').
It is a power struggle in Yemen and the halting of air raids will not bring the country together. But it would represent a start.
War, like any given war, has proven one thing: that the only solution to any problem is not war itself but talks, peace building, working hard for a nation called homeland giving voice to everyone in total respect.
With a basic reminder: Yemen belongs to Yemenis and only they have the right to decide their future.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1469586969760995
My comment: There is no reason for any joy that Saudi Arabia would be interested in ending the war. Peter Salisbury hits the spot: They just want it on their own terms. The whole news is no news.
14.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
Five Yemeni political parties based in Cairo, Egypt announced the formation of a new political coalition on August 13. The coalition consists of members from the Socialist Party, the Nasserite Organization, the Justice and Building Party, the Union of Popular Forces, and the Unionist Rally Party. The coalition seeks to rally support behind the internationally recognized government led by President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The Secretary-General of the Unionist Rally Party denied his party’s participation in the new political coalition.[7]
Comment by Haykal Bafana: Major split in the pro-Saudi war Yemen political parties group : Socialists & Islah have parted ways. New coalition announced in Cairo.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897506154150055936
14.8.2017 – AFP (* B K)
Yemen air raids exceed rate last year: UN
The number of air strikes on Yemen in the first half of 2017 has already exceeded the total for 12 months last year, according to a UN report released Monday.
Since 2015, Yemen has been the site of a devastating war between the Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels allied with Iran.
The country is also regularly targeted by US drone strikes aiming for Al-Qaeda cells that have flourished in the chaos of the conflict.
The monthly average of air raids on Yemeni provinces for 2017 is almost three times higher than that of last year, according to a report released by the Protection Cluster Yemen.
The cluster is part of the Global Protection Cluster, which is headed by the UN refugee agency UNHCR and coordinates inter-agency aid work within the United Nations.
The report, which is based on a compilation of UN and open source data, also estimates the number of armed clashes between government forces and the Huthi rebel alliance per month has more than doubled compared with last year.
While the report does not specify who is behind the air raids, the Saudi-led Arab military coalition allied with the government largely controls Yemen's airspace.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4789950/Yemen-air-raids-exceed-rate-year-UN.html and by Press TV Iran: http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/08/14/531768/yemen-un-saudi-airstrikes
14.8.2017 – CBC News (* B H)
'Nobody's bothered': Toronto human rights advocate pleads for peace in Yemen
The head of a Toronto-based organization is pleading for the world to help Yemen, a country ravaged by famine, disease and war.
Zaid Al-Rawni, CEO of Islamic Relief Canada, was born in Yemen and fears for his family and friends still living there. He spoke to CBC's Metro Morning about one of the world's worst — and most under-recognized — humanitarian crises.
Is it fair to say this is happening in front of our eyes and people aren't seeing it?
Absolutely. You have a situation where you have an entire nation blockaded by air, sea and land, where humanitarian supplies are being frustrated, where normal supplies are being frustrated, where there has been a three-year bombing campaign by the Saudis and their coalition on Yemen.
It seems that nobody cares too much. Nobody's bothered.
The saddest thing about this humanitarian crisis is it's the result of human choices being made by people living in air-conditioned palaces not too far away from Yemen. This is the reality. People are making the choice that these children will die, that these people, the entire nation, will suffer starvation.
Ultimately what happened after the Arab Spring, you had a whole bunch of countries that had power vacuums. In Yemen specifically, you had a transitional government that was holding power after the former president, who had been president for decades, was deposed.
This coalition, this transitional government, people either saw it as an extension of the former regime or were frustrated by its lack of progress. So Houthi rebels from the north of the country came in and effectively took control of the capital city, which, by default, means you control the rest of the country, and there was resistance to that internally.
But ultimately, the tipping point for the humanitarian crisis was the Saudi decision, because you have the Saudis and Iranians vying for control and influence in the region. So they decided, along with the UAE and other nations, to blockade Yemen, to stop goods from coming in and out, to stop economic activity and make the people of Yemen pay a very high price for choices they had no say in.
Why isn't this on the radar of well-meaning, internationally-thinking Canadians, people who pay attention to the news of the world?
This really gets to the heart of the point. One of the main perpetrators and belligerents is an ally, our friends. The UAE (United Arab Emirates), the Saudis. They buy billions of dollars' worth of arms, they buy services left right and centre. That buys them, sadly, space and impunity. So people turn a blind eye.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/yemen-relief-toronto-1.4246068
14.8.2017 – Sputnik News (* B P)
Western media 'ignore the humanitarian catastrophe' in this country
journalist Islam Ozkan in an interview with Sputnik Turkey said that Western countries that support Saudi Arabia, since it is in their own interests, ignore the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.
Ozkan pointed out that the reason for the media vacuum surrounding the conflict in Yemen is related to the significant financial hegemony of Saudi Arabia over the Middle East and Arab media.
The journalist noted that the West and the US have adopted a pro-Saudi position, and the most important factor that broke through the blockade in the media was the crisis in the Persian Gulf basin in the relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“Even if they are not directly allied with Saudi Arabia, those countries that just want to get along well with the Saudis and not have tense relations with them, tried not to publish news stories about Yemen and the events taking place over there,” Ozkan said.
He further said, “If we talk about such large forces as the US and the EU, which largely form international public opinion, then in the war in Yemen, which Saudi Arabia initiated, they took the side of the Saudis. Therefore, in the Western media there is less material about Yemen,” the journalist said.
According to him, the crisis with Qatar is an important turning point in bringing to light the Yemeni conflict because Qatari news channel Al Jazeera began broadcasting information on Yemen and that became one of the reasons for the Qatari crisis.
According to him, the United Nations and its officials do not adhere to neutrality; therefore in the near future the issue will not be resolved peacefully.
“The UN and, in particular, the UN representative in Yemen, unfortunately, do not demonstrate a neutral position. They are largely influenced by Saudi Arabia. The previous representative was a native of Algeria, and in his actions he adhered to greater independence,” the journalist said.
However, the current representative is from the United Kingdom and is heavily influenced by Saudi Arabia, according to Ozkan.
He further stressed that the resolution of the Yemeni crisis without an institution of neutral mediation and the absence of serious international pressure is impossible.
“If Saudi Arabia faces a serious financial crisis, and signs of this have already begun to manifest, and if such a process continues, then just as the United States was forced to withdraw from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia will be forced to leave Yemen,” Ozkan said.
He further said that the figures vary greatly, but judging by the data provided by the Yemeni Army, about 10,000 militiamen who fought on the Saudi side have been killed.
“There are two factors that can stop Saudi Arabia and its coalition in the Yemeni conflict – either serious international pressure or a real threat of a financial crisis,” the journalist concluded.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708141056448328-western-media-ignore-yemen-war/
My comment: I agree. But: the figure of 10,000 pro-Saudi fighters killed is fancy, might-be got by adding the figures of all Houthi / Saleh exaggerated victory reports.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
siehe / Look at cp1, cp1a
16.8.2017 – Radio Canada International (* B H)
Yemen pounded by airstrikes, withered by cholera and famine
The bloody pace of war in Yemen quickened in 2017 increasing the number of civilian deaths and forcing more people to flee their homes, even as the war-torn country deals with the world’s largest cholera outbreak, according to back-to-back reports by United Nations agencies.
Deadly cholera outbreak
Healthcare collapse
‘The people of Yemen cannot bear it much longer’
[Overview]
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2017/08/16/yemen-pounded-by-airstrikes-withered-by-cholera-and-famine/
16.8.2017 – Huffington Post (* B H)
Yemen, The World’s Forgotten Conflict
The crisis in Yemen has been playing out in the shadows of ongoing regional conflicts — its victims' suffering largely hidden from public view.
[Overview]
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/ebrahim-lababidi/yemen-the-world-s-forgotten-conflict_a_23077371/
16.8.2017 – Giles Clarke (B H)
Giles Clarke wrote on Instagram:
SANA'A, YEMEN. Mohammed Ghalib Ahmad is 75 years old and from Taizz, a city now cut off from the rest of the country and locked in fierce fighting. Mohammed was displaced to the capital Sana’a in early 2016 after his neighborhood was hit by airstrikes. He was recently evicted from the premises where he had been staying for the past year and now shelters in a small shop in Sana’a with his son and his son’s family. I photographed him at a UNHCR community center in late April 2017. #photo@clarkegiles
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1469876423065383
16.8.2017 – Reuters (* A H)
Red Cross to send test shipment of rice to stricken Yemen
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to send a test shipment of rice to Yemen this month in its first attempt since February to deliver food aid via the port of Hodeidah, which is held by Houthi fighters allied to Iran.
The port has been repeatedly hit by air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting in Yemen since 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. It normally handles some 80 percent of Yemen's food supplies as well as humanitarian aid,
"A certain number of maritime companies are starting to use Hodeidah port," ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said. "We are going to test the waters, so to speak, and send a cargo of rice from Pakistan."
The shipment was expected to leave Pakistan next week and arrive at the Red Sea port the week after, she said.
The ICRC suspended stopped using Hodeidah port in February. Jaquemet said it had been bringing in supplies to Yemen by land from Jordan via Saudi Arabia and Oman - By Stephanie Nebehay and Abduljabbar Zeyad
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-hodeidah-idUSKCN1AW1YK
16.8.2017 – Suhf Net (* B H)
American news channel sheds light on the horror of rape victims in Yemen
Local and international reports indicate a marked increase in incidents of sexual violence against children, but official officials say the cases are "still limited," says Abdul Latif Hamdani, director of studies and research at the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood (a government organization).
Senior Interior Ministry officials under the authority of the Huthis in Sanaa refused to disclose their latest figures on the grounds that they were "sensitive information," but a senior officer, who preferred not to be identified, told my free website that they were receiving " Between five to 10 cases of this type per month, "before the outbreak of bloody conflict that entered a dangerous turn with the launch of operations led by the Saudi-led end of March 2015.
However, Ahmad al-Qureshi, head of the Siyag organization for the protection of children, said that "the available statistics are far less than the actual numbers due to the silence of the victims and the people."
He adds to my free / raise your voice that "the crimes of rape of children are obscured and reserved for fear of shame," pointing out that the incidence of rape of children "has increased exponentially under the current war and insecurity."
This human rights activist confirms that his organization has been following multiple cases of rape of this kind.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268622
15.8.2017 – Red Cross (* B H)
Film: Less than 45% of hospitals are functioning, staff go without pay for months, and medicines are scarce: This is #Yemen's health system today.
https://twitter.com/ICRC/status/897498236709216260
15.8.2017 - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Infographic: Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan - Funding Status (As of 15 August 2017)
Just 39 % funded...
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-funding-status-15-august-2017 and in full https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/ocha_yemen_funding_status_20170815.pdf
14.8.2017 - World Health Organization (A H)
Infographic: Yemen: Electronic Disease Early Warning System (eDEWS) Cholera Response Daily Epidemiological Update 2017-08-13
11.8.2017 - UN Children's Fund (A H)
Yemen | Nutrition Cluster Dashboard (January to July 2017)
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-dashboard-january-july-2017
8.-10.8.2017 - UN Children's Fund (A H)
Map: Yemen Nutrition Cluster SAM, MAM etc. Gap Analysis (as of 31 July 2017)
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-sam-gap-analysis-31-july-2017
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-mam-gap-analysis-31-july-2017
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-iycf-gap-analysis-31-july-2017
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-bsfp-gap-analysis-31-july-2017
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-mnp-gap-analysis-31-july-2017
31.7.2017 - World Food Programme (A H)
Yemen mVAM Bulletin #23: July 2017 - Food security deteriorates in governorates worst hit by cholera
There is a high risk that the cholera epidemic will continue to spread, because of the crippled health, water and sanitation sectors; the ongoing conflict that prevents millions of people from accessing clean water; the onset of the rainy season; and people’s weak immunity levels due to food insecurity. The land preparation and cropping season is underway, but the spread of cholera among the population, including the agriculture labour sector, will most probably have future implications on agriculture activities.
The crisis now requires much more assistance from the international community. Humanitarian organizations continue to face restrictions on the movement of supplies and people to and from Yemen. Al Hudaydah port – the main entry point for humanitarian supplies – is operating at reduced capacity because of damage sustained from attacks. In Sana’a, the main airport is closed to commercial traffic, thus preventing people from travelling abroad for medical treatment that is not available in Yemen. Access constraints in conflict areas such as Taiz, AlJawf and Marib impact on delivery of humanitarian assistance in some districts.
31.5.2017 - Save the Children, Government of Yemen (A H)
Nutrition and Mortality Assessment Report: Emergency WASH & Nutrition for conflict-affected people in Yemen - Taiz Governorate, March 2017
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents findings from a survey conducted by Save the Children (SC) in Taiz Governorate from 18 to 30 March 2017. The Standardized Monitoring & Assessments of Reliefs & Transitions (SMART) methodology was used. The survey was conducted in 7 accessible districts in Taiz Highland (THL) zone.
Surveyed districts were AL-Mawaset, Samea, Al-Selw, Al-Misrakh, Saber Al-Mawadem, Khadeer and Al-Maafer.
A two-staged cross sectional survey was conducted. The study population in the seven districts was 571,889 people living in 345 villages. A total of 563 households (HHs) and 624 U5 children were enumerated. The survey aimed to determine the nutritional status of U5 children, IYCF practices and crude mortality rate in the study population.
A few indicators on Infant and Young Child Feeding were explored. Early initiation of breastfeeding in the surveyed population was found to be 36% that is to say only one in every three newly born infants was receiving breastmilk within the first hour of birth. Exclusive breastfeeding rate in the population was found to be 41% thus one in every two infants aged 0 to 6 months were receiving exclusively breastmilk and nothing else from birth to 6 months. The proportion of children 12 to 15 months of age who were still receiving breastmilk at the time of the assessment was 66%. The proportion of young children who were receiving a diet with minimum diversity (minimum dietary diversity) was 9.2%, thus one in every 10 children aged 6 to 23 months old were receiving a diet of minimum quality (at least four food groups per day).
The crude death rate (CDR) is defined as the number of people in the total population who die over a specified period of time1. Crude death rate (CDR) was assessed for a period of 90 days prior to the survey dates. CDR was found to be 0.09 deaths/ 10,000 people/ day. Similarly U5 death date is defined as the number of children aged from birth to 5 years who die over a specified period of time in relation to the total number of children below 5 years of age in the population (based on the SMART methodology, April 2006). U5 death rate (allcause mortality) was found to be 0.19 deaths/10000 children under five/ day for the same recall period as CDR.
The poor IYCF practices are a contributing factor high malnutrition rates in THL zone. There is need to support optimal IYCF practices, provide lifesaving interventions to support and manage acute malnutrition and provide preventative services to curb further deterioration of the current situation. It is well documented that malnutrition is the major underlying factor for 35 and 55 percent of all childhood deaths, and this situation is worse during emergencies.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nutrition-and-mortality-assessment-report-emergency-wash-nutrition-conflict-affected and in full https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/system/files/documents/files/taiz_highlands_7_districts_smart_survey_report_march_2017.pdf
11.8.2017 - UN Children's Fund (* A H)
Children under attack in Yemen: Hameed’s story
Twelve-year-old Hameed is lying on a bed at the Thula Public Hospital north of Sana'a. This is the second time he has been hospitalized in the last few weeks, both times to receive treatment for cholera.
Doctors are giving him oral rehydration solution at the UNICEF-supported cholera treatment unit, while Hameed and his father both hope that this bout of cholera will be his last.
Although his cholera infections are recent, Hameed has been in and out of the hospital for the past several years. In late 2014, he was electrocuted when a high-voltage cable fell from a transmission tower during armed clashes in Amran governorate. The shock was near fatal, but he survived.
Hameed had to undergo 23 surgical operations and the amputation of his left arm. The electrocution left his face and body covered in scars, and caused severe damage to his nervous system. It also weakened his immune system, leaving him more susceptible to diseases.
His father, Faraj Abdulla, believes this is the reason behind Hameed’s repeated cholera infections, as none of his five siblings have been infected.
“Hameed gets easily exposed to simple diseases because of his weak immune system. There is little we can do to prevent him from falling sick," says Faraj. - By Bassam Ghabr and Bismarck Swangin
https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/yemen_100672.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/children-under-attack-yemen-hameed-s-story
31.7.2017 - UN Population Fund (A H)
UNFPA Response in Yemen: Monthly Situation Report #07 - July 2017
Key Figures
20.7 million People in need
9.8 million People in acute need
14.8 million People lack access to basic health services
[and more]
Situation Overview
The humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate. Driven by food insecurity and a cholera outbreak caused directly by the conflict, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased by two million and now stands at 20.7 million. Some 9.8 million people are in acute need of assistance to save or sustain their lives while 10.8 million people need assistance to prevent them from slipping into acute need.
A hundred and twenty-four humanitarian organizations have reached 36 per cent of the 2017 humanitarian target working in a coordinated manner across Yemen’s 22 governorates. The 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan has received 44 per cent funding against the 2.1 billion appeal.
The number of suspected cases of cholera continues to rise with 453,175 cases of suspected cholera/acute watery diarrhoea and 1,930 associated deaths, reported as of late July 2017.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-response-yemen-monthly-situation-report-07-july-2017 and in full http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/UNFPA_Yemen_-_Monthly_SitRep_07_July.pdf
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
16.8.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
President marks 1st anniversary of Yemen's peaceful transfer of power
President Saleh al-Sammad on Tuesday night marked the 1st anniversary of peaceful transfer of power from the Supreme Revolutionary Committee to the Supreme Political Council.
The event took place in a big ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in the capital Sanaa, in which senior state officials attended.
In the ceremony, the president delivered a speech to the nation, saying that "the historical political agreement between the Ansarullah movement and the General People's Congress one year ago to run the country came at the demand, aspiration and desire of the Yemeni people."
"Our fellow Yemeni people have provided the most precious and greatest sacrifices for the sake of the nation's dignity and freedom, and we must be at the level of our people's sacrifices to achieve the independence from the foreign guardianship and meet the demands of our people," said the president.
"We also continue to extend the hand of peace to those who seek a just peace from all parties," Mr. president said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471993.htm
16.8.2017 – Al Sahwa (AA P)
Houthi leader abducts lawyer from inside court
A Houthi leader on Sunday kidnapped a lawyer, Abdul-Raqeeb al-Shuaibi, from a court in Ibb governorate because he defended his brother and other persons who were previously abducted by Houthi-Saleh militias.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9409
15.8.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
UN Chief Security Advisor thanks Yemen Interior Ministry
United Nations Chief Security Advisor Johannes Jacobs highly commended the leadership of the Yemeni Interior Ministry for their efforts in securing the staff and work of the UN missions, humanitarian organizations in the country.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471863.htm
14.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (A P)
Houthis storm villages, abduct 4 civilians in Dhamar
The eyewitnesses told Almasdaronline that the Houthis have stormed Bani Dhibayn village with many armed military vehicles and surrounded Saleh al Kulaibi's house, then kidnapped him and took him to an unknown destination, hours after kidnapping three other civilians from al Shoroq and al Dhaihi villages in Otuma district.
In al Bayda province, central Yemen, the Houthi-Saleh militias had burned Sabber Mosque library in Burkan area of Makiras district, damaging parts of the Mosque and burning all the books.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93344
14.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (A P)
House of tribal leader blown up in al-Bayda
Houthi-Saleh militias on Sunday exploded a house of a tribal leader, Ali al-Tayabi, in the village of Tayab of al-Bayda governorate.
Local sources affirmed that Houthi-Saleh militias broke into the village of Tayab, forced children and women to go out of it and then blew up it.
The militias blew up the house of al-Tayabi because his brother is a political foe who the militias had previously blew up his house.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-9378 and also http://almasdaronline.com/article/93333
14.8.2017 – The Independent (A P)
Yemeni man publicly executed for raping and murdering four-year-old girl as crowd film on smartphones
A Yemeni man convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl has been executed in front of crowds of onlookers in the second such death sentence in the capital, Sanaa, in the last fortnight.
Hussein al-Saket, 22, was shot several times by a police officer in the city's Tahrir Square.
His body was then hanged from the top of a crane for the crowd to see.
Rajeh Ezzedine, a judge who attended the execution, said he was found guilty of abducting, raping and murdering the young girl – by Chloe Farand
14.8.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
Court executes man for rape, murder girl
The court of Appeal and judicial authorities in the capital Sanaa on Monday executed Hussein Abdullah al- Saket after convicted him of raping and killing five-year-old girl Safa Mohamed Taher al-Matari.
The execution of the 22-year-old al-Saket was carried out in a public place in Tahrir Square in central Sanaa where thousands of people witnessed the scene.
The execution was also attended by judicial representatives, members of the family of the victim child and media outlets.
This is the second of its kind executions in the capital in less than a month against men convicted of raping children.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471777.htm
and photos
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/897019143890907136
14.8.2017 – Emirati News Agency (A P)
Houthi militias prevent departure of thousands of Yemeni pilgrims to perform Hajj
Authorities in Yemen have said that Houthi militias have obstructed the departure of thousands of pilgrims wanting to perform Hajj this year.
Mukhtar al-Rabash, Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Awqaf and Guidance, said that the militia had retained the passports of more than 2,000 pilgrims and obstructed the departure of hundreds of others, the official Yemeni news agency has reported.
Al-Rabash said in a statement carried by the agency that coup militias confiscated the passports of many pilgrims at checkpoints and hindered the departure of others at the port of Wadiah in Hadramout province.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302627341
My comment: This report smells like propaganda.
14.8.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
Security services arrest Saudi-paid mercenary cell in Taiz
The official said the arrested cell members was headed by a judge who used his job to recruited youths and manage the cell.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471801.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
16.8.2017 – Suhf Net (* A P)
The expert Ali Al-Zahab reveals the hidden alliance strategy in Yemen and the role of Saudi Arabia in plotting to demonize some of the legitimate forces
Yemeni political expert Dr. Ali Al-Zahab said that the role of the UAE in Yemen exceeded the concept of supporting the legitimate authority to dominate the areas where the forces are loyal to it.
He pointed out in an exclusive interview to Al-Khobar that this hegemony is not absent in Saudi Arabia , pointing out that they share the areas of influence, especially oil wealth areas, coasts, islands and ports, but the share of the UAE is a little more, .
On the targeting of the forces of February, Al-Zahab explained that the Arab region is in a situation similar to what happened in the fifties and sixties of the boiling of the people, followed by tensions between regimes seeking freedom and tyranny, pointing out that what is happening today in Yemen, Conspiracies against the forces of the Arab spring revolution, represents a natural extension of what is happening in the whole region.
He pointed out that the forces of the revolution of February 2011, political, military and tribal, are today and yesterday, as well, the main objective of the regional forces opposed to this revolution, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as the forces of the interior, The Conference and its allies, who lost power in this revolution, supplemented by supporting the Houthi coup, which were part of the February forces, but not in favor of superiority, but rather to restore this power, albeit in a twisted way.
He pointed out that in this context, it is possible to distinguish between conciliators. The first is a Saudi position that deals with the forces of the February Revolution and claims to support the return of the legitimate authority and preserve Yemeni unity.He was able to divide these forces between North and South, as he managed to contain most of these forces and disperse their consensus, including some of the forces of the South itself, and even became some of the leaders of these forces as if in detention.
The second is the position of the United Arab Emirates, which is dedicated to emptying the south of any northern influence and creating separate, independent federations that allow colonial projects benefiting from it, to regain control of the south as a field of wealth and control of Bab al-Mandab and other relevant geopolitical values. Factors of economic and military power acquisition.
On the reformist party, expert Ali al-Zahab said that the biggest force in the face of these projects is the Reform Party, which falls under the revolutionary forces of February, and as a result of its rejection of these projects, In endless battles of attrition. These forces were alerted only after the loss of many of their prominent men on the front lines and in the mysterious assassinations that continue to this day.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268431
16.8.2017 – Critical Threats (A P)
Yemen Security Brief
Yemeni parliamentarians nominated Yemeni Ambassador to Jordan Ali Ahmed al Amrani for speaker of the House of Representatives during a meeting with Saudi officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 15. The Yemeni parliament announced on August 11 that it will elect a new speaker during an upcoming session in Aden city. The parliamentarians also called on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to support the internationally recognized Yemeni government’s effort to restart parliamentary sessions in Aden. Yemen’s internationally recognized parliament has not met since 2015. The al Houthi-Saleh faction formed a rival parliament in Sana’a in August 2016.[3]
My comment: President Hadi at Aden tries to get more legitimacy by pulling more members of parliament at his side to establish a parliament at Aden. It seems they hardly will meet the quorum required by the constitution.
16.8.2017 – Saudi Gazette (A P)
Crown Prince meets Yemeni MPs
On Tuesday, the Crown Prince received a group of the Yemeni members of parliament loyal to the legitimate government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sheikh, speaker of the Yemeni Shoura Council, praised Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for exerting great efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, saying that the Kingdom tops the list of donor countries to Yemen, over the past 30 years.
He also noted that the Kingdom ranked first in the world in provision of relief and humanitarian assistance to Yemen, since the outbreak of the recent incidents, and referred to the special treatment of Yemeni nationals living in the Kingdom.
On behalf of fellow MPs, Yemeni member of parliament Al-Shaddadi delivered a speech in which they thanked the Kingdom for supporting their brothers in the Republic of Yemen, through leading the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen.
He stressed that the efforts of King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Work have the greatest impact in the hearts of Yemenis because of the difficult conditions experienced by Yemen as a result of the coup.
Al-Shaddadi strongly condemned the intervention of some countries in the internal affairs of Yemen and continuation of some international organizations and personalities with taking the side of the pro-coup forces.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/515224/SAUDI-ARABIA/Yemeni and by Asharq Al-Awsat: https://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/news-middle-east/saudi-arabia/crown-prince-meets-yemeni-mps-loyal-legitimacy and photo: https://twitter.com/Arab_News/status/897514179002871808
My comment: “President” Hadi still trying to get a parliament by pulling enough MPs to his side. And these just repeat the odd Hadi government propaganda of hailing and praising Saudi Arabia. - Anyway, as the photo shows, up to now, these MPs are just a few.
14.8.2017 – Alomanaa Net (A P)
Financial inducements for deputies
According to parliamentary sources, the Yemeni government has promised to pay money including payment of all dues of members of the House of Representatives for the past periods, and provide financial benefits and allowances and the cost of travel and accommodation and provide housing in the city of Aden.The Special Committee, which follows the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Saudi Arabia and is interested in Yemeni affairs, has paid 100 thousand Saudi Riyals per month to each member in response to the legitimate government's invitation to return and participate in the meetings of the Yemeni Parliament of Aden.
My comment: Hadi tries to get enough MPs to form his own parliament.
15.8.2017 – Haykal Bafana (A K P)
A UK Navy delegation visited Aden navy base in southern Yemen to assess Yemeni navy rebuilding needs (photos)
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897578685187973124
16.8.2017 – Critical Threats (A P)
Yemen Security Brief
Emirati-backed southern Yemeni forces reportedly clashed with fighters loyal to the Qatari-backed Islah (Reform) party in Ma’ribgovernorate, northern Yemen on August 15. The Islah party is an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood. [2]
and
16.8.2017 – Alomanna Net (A K P)
Armed clashes between southern soldiers and reformist militants in Marib, killing one person and wounding four, including an officer
15.8.2017 – Critical Threats (A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
Suspected AQAP militants attempt to assassinate Yemeni brigade commander in Lawder city, Abyan governorate, southern Yemen .[1] Rogue security forces assassinate Abyan security director in Aden city, southern Yemen [3]
14.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (A)
Aden security forces kill a security official
A security source in the interim capital Aden city, southern Yemen, said that the security forces attacked on Monday a hotel where the security director of Rasad district, Hussain Ahmed Qumata was staying and opened fire in the district of Abyan province, which caused him dead and wounding his four companions.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93340
14.8.2017 – APA (* A T)
13 Tote bei Explosion im Jemen
Bei der Explosion einer Bombe im Südwesten des Jemens sind mindestens 13 Menschen getötet worden. Die Detonation an einer Straße in der Stadt Katabah verletzte am Montag zudem drei weitere Personen, berichteten Sicherheitskreise der Deutschen Presse-Agentur. Die Region wird von Truppen der international anerkannten, sunnitischen Regierung des Landes kontrolliert.
http://www.salzburg.com/nachrichten/welt/politik/sn/artikel/13-tote-bei-explosion-im-jemen-260606/
14.8.2017 – AFP (* A T)
Roadside bombing kills 12 civilians in south Yemen
A roadside bomb killed 12 civilians and wounded four in southern Yemen on Monday when a blast targeting a military car hit their vehicle instead, a security source said.
Two other people, including a soldier, were killed Monday in separate attacks also in southern Yemen, where the army has launched an offensive against Al-Qaeda.
The deadliest attack was in Daleh province.
"The bomb was planted on a road in the Qaataba district of Daleh and hit a civilian vehicle instead," killing 12 civilians, said a security source on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to brief the press.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4789510/Roadside-bombing-kills-12-civilians-south-Yemen.html and by AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN_VIOLENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-08-14-12-50-55
16.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (* A K PS)
Al Dalea: 11 people killed in landmines explosion
It was a gloomy day in Qataba city of al Dalea province southern Yemen where 11 Qat vendors were killed when a landmine device, planted on the highway at the entrance of the city, explode their transportation car.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93371
14.8.2017 – Nasser Arrabyee (A T)
Police officer Hussein Kamata Yafe'e was killed today in his hotel in Aden&dragged from 4th floor downstair2lobby by UAE forces, locals say (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/897030177804496898
14.8.2017 – Fars News (A P)
Yemeni Official: UAE Plotting to Gain Control over Oil, Gas Fields in Shabwa
Deputy Governor-General of Shabwa province Ahmed Mohammed al-Hamzah explained about the UAE's dangerous plots to exacerbate tensions and discord among people in Shabwa province.
The UAE has recruited young people in the name of elite forces from the three tribes of Bani Hilal, Al Bal'iedeh and al-Wahedi, he told the al-Arabi news website on Sunday.
Al-Hamzah said the UAE is misusing unemployment and poverty in the region to extend its presence in Shabwa, but it keeps certain tribes away from the plan and conducts the recruitment of tribal forces through a selective method.
This will eventually cause clashes and a bloody future full of tribal clashes in Shabwa, he warned.
"The UAE aims to take control of the oil and gas resources in Shabwa under the pretext of supporting Mansour Hadi against al-Qaeda," al-Hamzah said, explaining the UAE's ultimate objective in the region.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960523000604
My comment: Dep. governor appointed by the Houthi / Saleh government.
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
16.8.2017 – Foreign Policy (* A P)
Confidential U.N. Report Accuses Saudi Coalition of Killing Hundreds of Yemeni Kids
Top U.N. advisor to recommend coalition should be put on the black list of countries that kill and maim children in war.
A Saudi-led military coalition conducting airstrikes in Yemen committed “grave violations” of human rights against children last year, killing 502, injuring 838, according to a draft report by the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
“The killing and maiming of children remained the most prevalent violation” of children’s rights in Yemen, according to the 41-page draft report obtained by Foreign Policy. “In the reporting period, attacks carried out by air were the cause of over half of all child casualties, with at least 349 children killed and 333 children injured.”
The chief author of the confidential draft report, Virginia Gamba, the U.N. chief’s special representative for children abused in war time, informed top U.N. officials Monday, that she intends to recommend the Saudi-led coalition be added to a list a countries and entities that kill and maim children, according to a well-placed source. The decision will have to be taken by Guterres, who will make the final report public later this month.
The Saudi-led air coalition was responsible for inflicting the largest number of child casualties, 683, with Houthi rebels killing or injuring 414. In contrast, the Islamic State was responsible for six child casualties and Al Qaeda one.
Coalition aircraft also destroyed 28 schools – by Colum Lynch
My comment: Same procedure as every year? Last year, Saudi Arabia was removed from the list due to Saudi blackmailing.
and look:
16.8.2017 – Saudi Arabia UN mission (A P)
Clarification statement issued by the mission of Saudi Arabia in relation to an article published by Foreign Policy on 16 August 2017 (text in image)
https://twitter.com/ksamissionun/status/897976002051178497
Comment by Nasser Arrabyee: Over & over again, Trump-emboldened Saudi terrorists would try to force UN to remove it from blacklist as a killer of Yemen's children (text in image)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/898037566808743936
My comment: And Saudis certainly will start blackmailing again.
and
16.8.2017 – Haykal Bafana ( A P)
This allegation, if true, on UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres disgusts me. He wanted to give Saudi jets time, despite killing kids, to improve (text in image)
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897910594430480385
16.8.2017 – Fars News (* A P)
Arab Daily: Saudis Sent UN Envoy to Iran for Yemen War Despair
A leading Arab daily said Riyadh had demanded UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Walad Sheikh Ahmed to visit Tehran after it felt strongly desperate in war on Yemen.
"The recent moves by the UN envoy and the Saudis to find a way to come out of the crisis in Yemen are the result of the failure of the Arab coalition's aggression against the country," al-Ray al-Youm wrote on Wednesday.
"Therefore, the visit by Sheikh Ahmed to Riyadh, Masqat and finally Tehran could have been made at the demand of the Saudi crown prince to come out of the Yemen quagmire because the Houthis consider the UN envoy as Saudi Arabia's agent and avoid interaction with him," it added.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960525001184
15.8.2017 – Ahram (* A P)
New mediation efforts in Yemen
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismaïl Ould Cheikh Ahmed is making visits to Cairo and Tehran in an attempt to step up mediation efforts in the Yemeni crisis
The new approach has become the cornerstone of recent UN efforts in Yemen. It entails handing the management of the country’s ports to a third and neutral party which would then submit their revenues to the Yemeni Central Bank. The legitimate government of Yemen would then pay the salaries of government employees living in areas under the control of the rebel Houthi-Saleh alliance who have not received their salaries for over a year.
These proposals have been greeted by diverse reactions on the part of local and regional parties, but Ould Cheikh Ahmed is banking on factors that he believes will increase his chances of success.
New players are now participating in the mediation efforts for whom the peace process is in their interests. The EU has also furnished significant support for Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s efforts through its envoy to Yemen, Antonia Calvo Puerta, who visited the Yemeni capital Sanaa earlier this month where she met with leaders of the Houthi-Saleh alliance.
The UN envoy is also counting on international pressures on Saudi Arabia, notably from international human rights organisations. Fifteen international relief organisations have urged the warring parties in Yemen to reopen Sanaa Airport, saying in an open letter that the closure of the airport has led to untold numbers of deaths because it has prevented the arrival of urgent humanitarian relief.
The relief agencies’ plea, coming a year after the Saudi-led Coalition closed the airport, added that the closure had also prevented thousands of Yemenis from leaving the country for urgent medical treatment.
Riyadh is also coming under pressure from Washington
Ould Cheikh Ahmed has seen an opportunity to step up pressures on the local parties, and he has taken advantage of the weakness of the internationally recognised Yemeni government to compel it to listen to new initiatives. He has also taken advantage of the polarisation in Sanaa in order to win support for these initiatives, even if he has only gained partial support thus far.
The UN envoy’s actions have worked to redraw the map of political alliances in Yemen and around the Yemeni crisis. Cairo and Brussels have positioned themselves as supporters of his initiatives, while the US administration has departed from the course taken by the former Obama administration and aligned itself with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which have tried to undermine UN efforts.
The Houthi reception of the UN envoy has been conspicuously frosty. Saleh Al-Sammad, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, said that Ould Cheikh Ahmed was “not welcome” in the Yemeni capital and that he “could no longer be trusted,” and it was for this reason that the council rejected the proposed initiatives.
However, the Houthi rejection runs up against Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s scepticism and the lack of trust between the Houthi Movement and the GPC. It is noteworthy that the GPC’s call for a mass rally on 24 August to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the party was not greeted warmly by Houthi leaders.
Deep down, the Houthis fear that the UN initiative is intended to usher in an extensive solution that will close off opportunities for them to extend their influence in Yemeni governmental institutions, something which would have occurred had it not been for the war.
The Houthis also fear the return of the GPC as the largest, most effective and best-organised political force in the country, giving that party’s leadership the upper hand. Up until now, the Houthis have had the upper hand in the Sanaa-based alliance.
The recent exchanges of flatteries between Saleh and Mohamed bin Salman have increased Houthi suspicions and augmented fears that they will emerge weaker when the war is over.
In the face of Houthi intransigence, the UN envoy has embarked on the bold step of a visit to Tehran in the hope that Iran will now put pressure on its allies in Yemen. However, it is doubtful that this visit will be as positive as the one to Cairo – by Hossam Radman
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/22187.aspx
My comment: From Egypt, having a quite positive look at Ould Sheikh. Anyway, he is hardly neutral, as he is bound to the one-sided UN resolution 2216. - And the Houthi / GPC rift is mentioned often but seems to be exaggerated – at least as long as the threat of the Saudi coalition against the Houthi / Saleh alliance does prevail.
15.8.2017 – Save the Children (A P)
More than 37,000 signed our petition asking the UN to name & shame all parties in Yemen - today we handed it to @antonioguterres office
https://twitter.com/SaveUKNews/status/897154014986547201
14.8.2017 – Sputnik News (A P)
Iran supports for effort to resolve Yemen conflict 'remain strong'
UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said that Iran's support to de-escalate the crisis in Yemen remains strong as well as their commitment to a political solution.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708151056466433-iran-yemen-efforts-strong/
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
16.8.2017 – New News (* A P)
Iranian Message to Saudi Arabia about Aggression on Yemen .. No Signs for Solutions
Iranian Foreign Ministry has sent a letter to Saudi Arabia on aggression against Yemen and announcement by Iraqi Interior Minister of recent mediation between Tehran and Riyadh.
Iran has not received clear Saudi signals of its desire to improve relations, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi said, hoping Saudi Arabia would stop the war on Yemen and accept facts on ground, according to (Mehr )news agency.
According to Iranian agency, Qasimi, described the declaration of Iraqi Interior Minister, Qassim Araji, mediation between Tehran and Riyadh as a positive, welcome any mediation to achieve security and stability in region.
15.8.2017 – Aljazeera (* B P)
Is the time right for Saudi-Iran rapprochement?
A proposal for Iraq-led mediation could benefit both sides politically and economically, analysts say.
Reports of potential Iraq-led mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia come as the latter leads the third year of a costly, intractable war across its border in Yemen.
A rapprochement with long-time rival Iran, which is backing opposing forces in the Yemen proxy war and in Syria, could ease political and economic pressures on both sides, analysts say. Although the struggle for regional supremacy has long defined Saudi-Iran relations, the extent of the turmoil in neighbouring countries might have led to the realisation that both would benefit from a thaw.
"There is a political dilemma where the Saudis are playing a role in Syria and Yemen ... It is straining Riyadh politically and economically, and [in both] places, Iran is playing an important role," said Mahjoob Zweiri, an associate professor of contemporary Middle East history at Qatar University. Oil production is also a factor, he noted.
"Both countries are important producers of oil, and any mediation efforts that lead to reducing the tension between them will affect oil prices positively," Zweiri told Al Jazeera.
Earlier this week, Iraqi media reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had asked Iraq's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to lead mediation with Iran. According to a report from the Iraqi Alghadeer channel, citing information from Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji, Iran was looking at the request "positively" – by Megan O'Toole
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/time-saudi-iran-rapprochement-170815083034894.html
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
16.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A P)
Agency reports that the Saudi authorities executed 3 Yemenis Taizira (names)
Three Yemeni nationals have been executed on charges of smuggling drugs and banned khat in the country, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported Tuesday.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268631
16.8.2017 – Gulf Times (A P)
Mohamed bin Salman to appoint his brother as Saudi FM: report
Prince Khaled bin Salman will succeed Adel al-Jubeir as the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia in near future, an informed source at the Saudi Arabian embassy in the United States has told the Atlantic.
After King Salman ousted his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef from power to name his son as first in line to throne, now Mohamed bin Salman intends to remove the current Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir and name his brother as the next Foreign Minister.
Prince Khaled bin Salman is the younger brother to current Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. Recently, he has been appointed as Saudi ambassador to the US, replacing Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki.
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/560372/Mohamed-bin-Salman-to-appoint-his-brother-as-Saudi
My comment: Until now, a rumor. Wait and see.
16.8.2017 – The Peninsula Qatar (* A P)
Gulf crisis and failure in Yemen push Saudi to seek help of Iraqi cleric Sadr
The hypocritical foreign policies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE unveiled before the whole world when both blockading countries after asking Qatar in its notorious 13-point demands to cut off relations with Iran themselves engaged the influential Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr to mend their relations with Tehran.
Al Sadr, who made a rare trip to Saudi Arabia recently — first in 11 years— did so upon an official invitation from the Saudis. Although no information has been leaked about the reason of the visit as Saudi is seeking way to get out of the war in Yemen, Al Sadar has been asked to mediate with Houthi militias.
In an interview with Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper last Friday, Al Sadr, commenting on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, said that their visions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were identical and they discussed many hot issues of the region including the war in Yemen, Syria and situations in Bahrain, Al Quds and relation between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
According to a statement issued by Sadr’s office, Riyadh had agreed to pay Baghdad $10m purportedly as aid to rebuild Iraq. According to London-based The New Arab news website, Saudis also awarded special visas to members of Sadr’s office for this year’s Haj pilgrimage.
16.8.2017 – Saudi Gazette (A P)
Crown Prince meets US presidential envoy, Yemeni MPs
Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, held separate meetings with the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS (Daesh), and the Yemeni parliament members at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Tuesday evening.
During the meeting, the Crown Prince and the US Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk discussed the latest developments in the Middle East region, and the efforts made in dealing with them, especially the existing coordination between the Kingdom and the US, within the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/515224/SAUDI-ARABIA/Yemeni
14.8.2017 – Yemen Press (* B P)
Newspaper: Saudi Arabia enters the most dangerous period in its history
There have been reports of growing instability in the Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, which faces many challenges at the moment. On this basis, the next few months may be the most dangerous and unpleasant period in Saudi modern history. As described by the newspaper “Baath” Syrian.
Reports indicate that many members of the extended royal family want to get rid of the young crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to the newspaper.
This is due to their dissatisfaction with his rapid rise to power and his almost absolute control of the economy and the Saudi army with the support of his father, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. The kingdom may also experience internal turbulence among rival clans.
According to the facts, in the next few months, Mohammed bin Salman may take over, due to the deteriorating health of his father, who left the kingdom for Morocco on vacation. Under the current circumstances, some see that the Crown Prince undergoes a test during this period.
According to reports, according to the Baath, the factors contributing to the worsening of the dangers facing the Kingdom, most notably the Yemeni war, and the terrorist threat by the young Saudis who adopt the ideas of extremist groups, such as a sympathetic organization, as well as the intensification of tension in the eastern region.
It was reported that the war in Yemen represented the first test failed by Mohammed bin Salman, since it is the first blame for the Kingdom’s involvement in this war, it is made this decision while he was the Minister of Defense.
14.8.2017 – Project Syndicate (* B P)
The Crown Prince’s New Clothes
The latest Saudi-Qatari contretemps is hardly an example of the “Thucydides trap,” in which an incumbent hegemon is tempted to suppress a rival whose power is approaching its own.
Instead, at the heart of the matter is a semi-paranoid conviction among Saudi Arabia’s Sunni Arab leaders that Iran – which is predominantly Shia and non-Arab – is vying for superpower status in the Middle East. The Saudis are convinced that Qatar is aiding Iran in this quest, even though Qatar’s leaders share the Saudis’ Wahhabi brand of Islam.
It is worth asking whether MBS is misreading political and economic realities. Having been invested with unprecedented powers as the favorite son of King Salman, has he bitten off more than he can chew?
Given the problems abroad and grumbling at home, where some in the Saudi royal family resent his meteoric ascent, MBS now needs to prove that he has the maturity and experience to lead. Here, he may receive help from an unlikely source. At the end of July, MBS hosted Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq’s most powerful Shia militia, for his first visit to Saudi Arabia since 2006. And earlier this year, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, just after the Saudi foreign and energy ministers made trips to Baghdad.
These trips – the first such delegations between the two countries in decades – suggest that Iraq and Saudi Arabia might be forging a new, mutually beneficial relationship.
Still, many questions remain. It is unclear when the disastrous operation in Yemen will end, or whether Iran and Turkey will continue undermining the blockade on Qatar.
In any case, none of these developments seems imminent, so the 31-year-old crown prince will have to learn to temper his impetuosity. - by John Andrews
14.8.2017 – AP (* B P)
Death sentences of Shiites point to limits of Saudi reform
Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince hopes to transform the kingdom and modernize society, but the planned execution of 14 Shiite protesters charged with violence against security forces suggests the government’s handling of sectarian tensions and unrest remains unchanged.
The country’s supreme court recently upheld the death penalty in the case, raising concerns among rights activists that the group could be executed at any moment.
Human rights groups allege the trial was unfair, saying the defendants’ confessions were extracted under duress and that some did not have lawyers present in court. Three of the defendants were 17 years old when the alleged crimes were committed.
A defense lawyer contacted by The Associated Press declined to speak, saying he is officially barred from talking about the case with the media.
The mother of one of the defendants said her son’s lawyer was pressured to quit his defense and so withdrew from the trial, leaving her son to represent himself.
Scholars of Islamic law, or Shariah, hold vastly different views on the application of the death penalty. Under the kingdom’s interpretation of Shariah, judges have wide discretion to rule and hand down death sentences for lethal as well as non-lethal offenses. The kingdom has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. Last year, 47 people were executed on one day, including a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric convicted for his role in violent protests. The cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, denied the charges of sedition. His supporters say he was punished for being an outspoken government critic and a key leader of the Shiite protests in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012.
The group of 14 were charged for their role in those same protests.
Reprieve, an advocacy group that opposes the death penalty, said it has established that at least one of the defendants was never permitted to see a lawyer. In al-Adam’s case, no evidence against him was presented at trial, said Reprieve.
Activists say there is growing cause for concern after the kingdom executed four Shiites in July convicted on charges of terrorism for their role in the same protests and violence with security forces – By AYA BATRAWY
13.8.2017 – Reuters (A P)
Saudi top prosecutor summons Twitter users for harming public order
A group of Twitter users will be indicted in Saudi Arabia on charges of harming public order for threatening the "safety and moderate ideology of society" through extremism, according to a statement on state news agency SPA.
The country's chief prosecutor summoned the Twitter users on Sunday, the statement said, without naming them or specifying how many were accused.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Culture and Information had earlier tweeted that a radical Sunni cleric, Ali al-Rabieei, had been referred to a "publication crimes" committee for unspecified violations.
Ministry officials did not respond to requests for comment on whether Rabieei was among the group.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to muffle political dissent in recent years, using tough new cybercrime laws to sentence offenders to prison terms for online posts deemed insulting to rulers or threatening to public order.
In a separate statement, Public Prosecutor Sheikh Saud bin Abdullah al-Muajab said he respected freedom of opinion but asserted his office's power to pursue cases against those who promote hatred or sectarianism, or mislead public opinion.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-rights-twitter-idUSKCN1AT0QN
15.8.2017 – Press TV Iran (* A P)
Al-Musawara neighborhood totally destroyed, Saudi Arabia says
Saudi Arabia has completed the demolition of al-Musawara neighborhood in the Shia town of Awamiyah, says a local official.
According to Eastern Province’s secretariat on Tuesday, the demolition of the neighborhood has been fully completed in preparation for the commencement of removal work.
Local reports claim that some 60 bulldozers were engaged in the operations.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/08/15/531893/saudi-arabia-awamiyah-musawara-demolished = http://newnewss.net/?p=10114
14.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (** B P)
Western complicity in Saudi Arabia’s destruction of Awamiya
The Saudi government’s ongoing military operation in the Eastern Province city has been sustained by the arm sales, military training and silence of Western governments, particularly the US
The pictures show a town ravaged by conflict, rubble-filled streets alongside empty husks of buildings framed against a smoke-streaked sky.
This is the Saudi town of Awamiya, a Shia-majority city in the Eastern Province of the kingdom. Since 10 May, Awamiya has been engulfed in violence as government security forces battle armed Shia residents resisting the demolition of the historic and culturally significant Almosara neighbourhood.
In December 2016, the Eastern Province government announced it would demolish the Almosara neighbourhood, which, at 400 years old, is one of the oldest areas of Awamiya with a rich history as a centre of regional trade that spanned the Arabian Gulf. Its architecture is reminiscent of the era of Ottoman dominance of the area and it is characterised by narrow streets, clay buildings, historic houses and Shia mosques and religious centres.
To facilitate the demolition, authorities called on the residents to leave the area. When residents refused, citing the lack of adequate compensation for their evacuation, the government took steps to force people from their homes.
The Saudi government’s ongoing military operation in Awamiya is buttressed and sustained by the complicity of Western governments, in particular the US.
For a long time, the US has provided weapons and training to Saudi Arabia’s security forces, including its special operations and counter-terrorism forces, both of which are engaged in Awamiya. The US has also sold Saudi Arabia billions of dollars' worth of weapons, underwriting the kingdom’s military.
It’s not just the US, though that has played a part in arming the kingdom.
The revelation that Saudi Arabia was using Canadian LAVs has led the Canadian government to call for an investigation into the reports of their use, and if necessary a review, of the arms sales.
The Trump administration must halt its arms sales and military support to the kingdom and call on the Saudi government to immediately withdraw from Awamiya. Furthermore, the US should make any future arms sales or weapons transfers to the kingdom contingent upon significant and serious human rights reforms, especially concerning the treatment of its Shia minority in the Eastern Province – by Husain Abdulla
My comment: “The US should make any future arms sales or weapons transfers to the kingdom contingent upon significant and serious human rights reforms, especially concerning the treatment of its Shia minority in the Eastern Province”: That's true of course. But what about the Yemen war?
15.8.2017 – Various (* A P)
Awamiya siege in social media, photos, films
https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/897373916930375680
https://twitter.com/AngryQatifi/status/897530556459737089
15.8.2017 – The Guardian (* B P)
Saudi Arabia: new details of dissident princes' abductions emerge
Documentary broadcasting this week asserts three princes were victims of government scheme to kidnap defectors
New details have emerged about the abductions of three dissident Saudi princes in what appears to be a systematic state-run Saudi government programme to kidnap defectors and dissidents.
The three, all members of the Saudi regime before they became involved in peaceful political activities against the government in Riyadh, were kidnapped and taken against their will to Saudi Arabia between September 2015 and February 2016.
Their story, which was originally reported by the Guardian in March 2016, is the subject of a BBC Arabic documentary to be broadcast this week called Kidnapped! Saudi Arabia’s Missing Princes.
The most senior of the princes, Prince Sultan bin Turki, was kidnapped by the Saudis on 1 February 2016 together with about 20 members of his entourage, many from western countries.
In the documentary, two westerners in the prince’s entourage describe the moment they realised the plane they were travelling on was not landing in Cairo as planned, but had instead been diverted to Riyadh – by Hugh Miles
15.8.2017 – BBC (* B P)
Saudi Arabia's missing princes
In the last two years, three Saudi princes living in Europe have disappeared. All were critical of the Saudi government - and there is evidence that all were abducted and flown back to Saudi Arabia… where nothing further has been heard from them.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40926963
14.8.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* A)
31 Muslim pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia
At least 31 Muslims pilgrims died late Sunday while on the annual Hajj pilgrimage, the official news agency reported.
Authorities did not release information about what caused their deaths but the Saudi Press Agency said the victims were all foreign nationals.
More than 620,000 pilgrims arrived in the kingdom by Aug.12, the agency reported. In excess of 2 million are expected for the Hajj – a major tenet of Islam to cleanse sins and bring worshippers closer to God.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170814-31-muslim-pilgrims-die-in-saudi-arabia/
cp9 USA
15.8.2017 – Huffington Post (* B K P)
Yemen and American Interest
With very little publicity or scrutiny, President Obama made an agreement with the Saudis to supply fuel to Saudi bomber as well as to provide intelligence reports regarding Yemen to the Saudi government. Why did Obama do this? Cheaper oil? Probably not. To help the ousted Yemeni government? Perhaps. To contain Iran’s influence in the region? Probably, yes. Having said all this, does the United States want a failed, starving Yemen where ISIS is backed by the Saudis? The answer from two American Presidents seems to be “yes.”
So then why is the United States in this war, especially since the Saudis are helping ISIS in the north of Yemen and the U.S. is fighting ISIS there as well? It doesn’t make sense.
American wars represent the American people and American interests. The United States has no interest in destroying Yemen. Most Americans do not even know Obama place the U.S. in the middle of this war in Yemen. There is very little coverage of the circumstances there by the American media – by Jack Healey
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-and-american-interest_us_5992d521e4b0ed1f464c0df5
14.8.2017 – MbKS15 (A K P)
Pictures of the RSAF's new F-15SA fighters arrived at Lakenheath on delivery to Saudi Arabia
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897209885196140544
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897200818499100672
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897127992459051008
14.8.2017 – MbKS15 (A K P)
Royal Saudi Air Force Typhoon jets en-route to Nevada
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897132750548770816
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897133314292629506
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897133555448373248
RSAF Typhoon pilots, from the 2nd Wing at KFAB, during the preparation of their 1st deployment to the US
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/897130212911046656
My comment: US-Saudi killer kinship.
cp12 Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
15.8.2017 – Fars News (AA P)
Iraqi PM Rejects Bahrain's Request to Join Boycott on Qatar
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960524000894
14.8.2017 – Middle East Eye (* A P)
Saudi state TV justifies shooting down of Qatari airliners
Al-Arabiya video shows missile attack on Qatar Airways jet, claiming 'international law' allows destruction of flights violating airspace
My comment: Remember earlier incidents of this type in history (the Soviet Union downing a Corean passenger air plain; the US dowmning an Iranian) just to understand insane Saudi mentality.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
4.8.2017 – Macleans (* B K P)
Canada’s abysmal record as an arms dealer
This country’s weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are scandalous, and recent deals with the Kurds are likely to end in disaster too
Indeed, this most recent scandal does not even involve the controversial $15-billion deal the Liberals inked with the Saudis last year. That deal, negotiated by the Stephen Harper Conservatives but ultimately approved by the Liberals, involves the sale of an undisclosed number of armoured vehicles, reportedly including the LAV III, one of Canada’s most powerful domestically-produced land-based armaments. That in itself is cause for concern.
“When Canada sells weapons to countries with awful human rights records or deep internal divisions, the expectation has to be that at some point they will be used in a manner we would not wish,” says Chris Kilford, a fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University.
Canada has been selling armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia in large numbers since the early 1990s, according to a 2015 research paper examining Canada’s arms trade, conducted by the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Up to 2011, the regime had purchased 2,653 of them, catapulting armoured vehicles to the number one spot on Canada’s arms trade list and making the Saudis Canada’s number two customer for military hardware, trailing the U.S.
The logic behind selling arms to an authoritarian monarchy famous for exporting religious militancy and executing critics is difficult to grasp.
From 1990 to 2001, the Saudi monarchy became Canada’s top buyer of military goods, led by its apparent obsession with armoured vehicles. Immediately following the attacks of 9/11, planned and executed by Saudi nationals, the trade bottomed out. But since 2011, it has picked up again—precisely at the time when the democratic uprisings of the Arab Spring put the fear in authoritarian regimes in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Trudeau has argued that the Saudi deal was necessary to prevent Canada from being viewed as a “banana republic” on trade and to protect Canadian jobs. On the other hand, his Liberals seem to enjoy playing the role of world leader on human rights. In the world of arms trading and military assistance, the two ideals often clash.
The time has come for them to choose – by Adnan R. Khan
http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/canadas-abysmal-record-as-an-arms-dealer/
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
16.8.2017 – UN (* A H)
IOM: Überlebende und Opfer am Strand im Jemen gefunden
In den letzten drei Tagen hat die Internationale Organisation für Migration (IOM) weitere Überlebende und Opfer der Tragödie aus der vergangenen Woche gefunden. In zwei Fällen hatten Schlepper hunderte Migranten gezwungen ihre Booten zu verlassen und in das Meer vor der Küste Jemens zu springen.
„Die Anzahl der Menschen, die noch vermisst werden, konnte von 22 auf sechs reduziert werden, davon sind alle Männer aus Äthiopien“, hieß es in einer Pressemitteilung der IOM. „Das bedeutet, dass 35 Menschen bei dem Unglück ums Leben gekommen sind.“ Die IOM stellte den Überlebenden medizinische Versorgung, Nahrung und Wasser zur Verfügung. Weitere Überlende des Unglücks hatten den Strand bereits verlassen, bevor die IOM ankam.
15.8.2017 - International Organization for Migration (* A H)
More Survivors, Remains of Deceased Migrants Found by UN Migration Agency on Yemen Beach
Over the past three days, staff from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, have found more survivors, as well as the remains of more victims, from last week’s tragic incidents. On 9 and 10 August, a total of 280 migrants headed towards the Gulf countries were forced from two boats off the coast of Yemen’s Shabwa Governorate.
IOM assisted 57 survivors on 10 August. Thirteen of the survivors, whom IOM had helped, returned to the beach the following day realizing that they were too weak to make the trek through the desert to Yemen’s land borders. On 13 August, IOM located five more survivors and assisted them with medical support, food and water. In total, IOM aided 65 people who survived the second incident – 62 Ethiopian males and three Ethiopian females. Some 142 people survived the second incident and, as on the previous day, people left the beach before IOM arrived.
Of the 280 people forced into Yemen’s rough seas on both mornings, 226 people survived, 41 are confirmed dead and 12 are still missing. The total number of presumed dead is currently 53.
The surviving Ethiopian and Somali migrants left IOM’s care and are most likely making their way to Yemen’s borders with the Gulf countries, a journey which takes a week or more depending on the route. The migration routes through Yemen are constantly changing due to the security situation in the country.
IOM will continue to patrol Yemen’s beaches to provide assistance to migrants in distress and to search for the migrants still missing.
http://www.iom.int/news/more-survivors-remains-deceased-migrants-found-un-migration-agency-yemen-beach = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/more-survivors-remains-deceased-migrants-found-un-migration-agency-yemen-beach
14.8.2017 – The Guardian (* A H)
Survivors recall how traffickers with AK47s forced dozens into sea off Yemen
At least 51 confirmed dead as survivors tell the Guardian of beatings and threats of shooting if they did not comply
Traffickers used beatings and the threat of shooting to force more than 100 refugees, including children who could not swim, to jump into heavy seas off the coast of Yemen last week, survivors have said. At least 50 people were killed. The incident is the latest in a series in which hundreds, possibly thousands of refugees have died.
Survivors contacted in Yemen told the Guardian that crewmembers armed with AK47s told around 120 men, women and children that they would not be able to land them on beaches in Yemen and forced them to jump into the water while still at least 1km offshore at dawn on Tuesday.
The boat had left Bosaso, a port in Somaliland on the Gulf of Aden, around 16 hours earlier, the survivors said. Fifty-one refugees, mostly Somalis trying to reach Europe, have been confirmed dead, and the toll is expected to rise.
“The smugglers told us it was very risky to approach the shore as Yemeni authorities had arrested smugglers there. So they told us to jump. Some people shouted and begged the smugglers to take us closer, but they refused and started beating people with sticks. They had AK47s, so everyone was afraid to argue, and people started jumping into the sea,” Abdirahim Ilmi Aano, 25, a labourer in Bosasso, told the Guardian.
“Unfortunately, very few survived. I remember some were very young and did not know how to swim, ” Aano said when contacted by telephone in Yemen – by Jason Burke
14.8.2017 – New York Times (* B H)
Fleeing Hardship, Then Pushed Into Sea, They Landed in a Country at War
Those who reached this desolate stretch of beach along the Arabian Sea, in Shabwa Province, last week stumbled into an empty mosque. A United Nations aid worker who found them there said some were ailing from severe diarrhea and aching limbs. Of the 280 people who made the crossing on these two boats, 54 have been confirmed dead or missing, according to the agency.
The International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, says that more than 55,000 Ethiopians and Somalis have made the crossing this year. Last year, 117,000 arrived in Yemen — and that number, said Laurent de Boeck, the agency’s chief of mission in the country, includes only those who could be counted. More than half were under the age of 18.
Mr. de Boeck said he had been stunned to hear the rationale offered by a boy who told aid workers that he didn’t care that Yemen, his destination, was at war. “He responded at 12, ‘I don’t mind because I’m already dead,’” Mr. de Boeck said. “They don’t see a future.”
The smugglers change the routes frequently, more so now because of heightened surveillance on the Yemeni side of the coast. Mr. de Boeck said it was highly unusual to encounter two boats both throwing their passengers into the sea, two days in a row.
The good swimmers made it to the shore. They helped those they could. They buried others whose bodies washed up.
Ms. Momi, who is five months pregnant, recounted being sick throughout the boat journey, and then, early Thursday, being grabbed from behind by a smuggler and tossed into the sea. “I could not resist him,” she said. “I only prayed and I did not know what happened to me afterward.”
She sat in the mosque on Friday, dressed in old clothes provided by the migration agency. She said she could not travel as far as Saudi Arabia in her condition. But she didn’t want to go home — she wanted to go to Aden.
It turned out to be a nightmare. The smugglers on his boat, which arrived on Thursday, took his dates and his bottle of water. They also had guns. “The voyage was frightening,” he said. “I stopped thinking about anything.”
He didn’t have shoes either, but he was still thinking of a more promising destination. “I am dreaming of traveling to Saudi Arabia,” he said. “When I get money there, I will bring my father and mother to Saudi Arabia.”
But for now, he said, “I am planning to work anywhere in Yemen.” - by Saeed Al-Batati
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/world/middleeast/ethiopia-somalia-migrants-yemen.html
14.8.2017 – Inter Press Service (* B H)
Yemen: African Migrants Beaten, Starved, Sexually Violated by Criminal Groups
African migrants who arrive on Yemen’s shores –that’s if they are not forced into the sea to drown—risk to fall in the hands of criminal networks who hold them captive for several days to extort money in exchange for their “freedom,” according to UN sources.
During captivity, the migrants are “horribly treated – beaten, starved, sexually violated, chained to the ground” so they are willing to pay, confirmed to IPS Chissey Mueller, from the International Organization for Migration’s Mission in Yemen.
The released migrants might go to IOM, or other organisations for help, or they might continue their migratory journey at the risk of being abducted and held captive again, informed Mueller, IOM’s Migrants Assistance and Protection Unit in Yemen.
“It truly is a terrible ordeal: crossing the sea is only part of the dangerous journey that the migrants are embarking on,” said Mueller. IOM provides humanitarian assistance, such as medical assistance, food, water, and non-food items, to the most vulnerable migrants.
The smugglers that sail boats between the Horn of Africa profit easily because the distance is short (5 hours or less between Somalia and Shabwa), and the demand is high, said Mueller.
“In addition to the smugglers operating boats, there are smugglers and criminal networks in Yemen who facilitate the movement of migrants between the governorates and into Saudi Arabia.”
And for those who want to return to their home country, the UN specialised body tries to evacuate them by coordinating with the authorities in Yemen and the country of origin for safe passage, she added.
Several thousand Ethiopian migrants have subsequently found themselves stranded in Yemen, trapped by the conflict’s frontlines, she added.
“Once the conflict in Aden ended by July/August 2015, and began to diminish in the southern part of the country, people – Yemenis and Somalis returned to their communities in Yemen. By the end of 2015, it was thought the Somali refugee community in Yemen still numbered 250,000, according to UNHCR estimates. “
According to Mueller, in 2016, despite the conflict’s continuation, but probably because it had begun to concentrate in the Taiz enclave, Hajjah, Sa’adah, etc., the number of Somali refugees and Ethiopian migrants estimated to have come to Yemen was over 117,000, according to the UN Refugee agency UNHCR.
“IOM thinks that the trend of Ethiopian migrants coming to Yemen in 2017, most likely to transit through to Saudi Arabia, is still strong.” - by Baher Kamal
http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/08/yemen-african-migrants-beaten-starved-sexually-violated-criminal-groups/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-african-migrants-beaten-starved-sexually-violated-criminal-groups
14.8.2017 - World Food Programme (A H)
Djibouti: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - Djibouti - Air Transport Services (August 2017)
This document provides an overview of the logistics services to be made available through the Logistics Cluster, how humanitarian actors responding to the crisis in the Republic of Yemen may access these services, and the conditions under which these services are to be provided.The objective of these services is to enable responding humanitarian organisations to establish an uninterrupted supply chain that supports the delivery of relief items to the affected population. These services are not intended to replace the logistics capacities of other organisations, nor are they meant to compete with the commercial market. Rather, they are intended to fill identified gaps and provide a last resort option in case other service providers are not available.
These services are planned to be available until 31 December 2017, with the possibility of further extension.
14.8.2017 – Middle East Monitor (* A H)
UNHCR: Taiz hosts 15% of internally displaced Yemenis
The Yemeni governorate of Taiz hosts 15 per cent of the internally displaced Yemenis, the Anadolu Agency reported the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) saying yesterday.
Om Twitter, the UNCHR wrote: “Taiz hosts 15 per cent of the internally displaced Yemenis. Nearly 303,672 people.”
Since January, there have been battles in several Yemeni directorates near and inside Taiz between the Houthis and their allies, supporters of ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
Thousands of Yemenis fled the major towns and cities in these directorates to Taiz which has been under siege as a result of a Houthi blockade.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170814-unhcr-taiz-hosts-15-of-internally-displaced-yemenis/
31.5.2017 - International Organization for Migration (B H)
Infographic: Migrants Snapshot, Yemen - IOM, April 2017
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/migrants-snapshot-yemen-iom-april-2017-enar
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
Central Bank and currency crisis: Look at cp1
16.8.2017 – Alomanaa Net (A E P)
A banking expert warns of the risk of continuing to print the currency and clarifies the most important issues
Financial and banking expert Shakib Aliywa was surprised by the statement issued by the Central Bank, which spoke about the obstacles of the coalition forces to prevent the supply of new currency and access to Aden airport, while warned of the danger of continuing to print paper currency without resorting to solving the real problem related to the completion of the financial session Regularity and take out the money in the cashiers' vaults.n a press statement, Aliyo pointed out that one of the most important and urgent issues facing the members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank is the following:
1 - Opening the activation of foreign government accounts that are still being prepared, including the external cash reserve account.
2 - Working to provide sources of funding to feed the balance of external cash reserves in foreign currency.
3 - Working on the opening of documentary credits (import) and the implementation of the work of remittances.
4 - work to provide a reserve in cash from foreign currency domestically in order to control the dollar prices within the country.
5 - Determining the prices of foreign currency to suit the needs of importers of traders who accumulate hundreds of billions of local currency in coordination with exchange companies that replaced the banking sector, which became paralyzed completely paralyzed.
(more)
14.8.2017 – Reuters (* A E P)
Yemen's central bank floats riyal currency - circular
Yemen's central bank has floated the country's currency, instructing banks to use the market rate for the riyal instead of a fixed rate, a[cording to a circular issued on Monday.
The circular said that the decision was taken at a meeting on Saturday, ditching the 250 riyal rate to the U.S. dollar currently in use.
It told commercial and Islamic banks to "use the exchange rate prevalent in the market for the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies in accordance with the exchange rate lists issued by the central bank", adding that a floating rate will be adopted as of Aug. 15.
The currency is changing hands at around 350 riyals to the dollar in the black market, according to traders.
The central bank in April last year devalued the exchange rate to 250 riyals to the dollar from 215 riyals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-riyal-idUSL8N1L10IB
The central bank of Yemen said it had floated the national currency, instructing banks to follow the market rate in a move aimed at shoring up a financial system battered by war.
The move by the internationally recognised authorities based in the port city of Aden is an acknowledgement of the yawning gap between the official exchange rate of the riyal and its black market valuation in an imploding economy.
A circular late on Monday said the Aden bank had ditched the official rate of 250 riyal to the U.S. dollar in favour of "the exchange rate prevalent in the market ... in accordance with the exchange rate lists issued by the central bank".
The statement did not specify a new rate, but the riyal trades for around 350 to the dollar in the black market.
http://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-riyal-idUSL8N1L1138?rpc=401&
Remark: This is the Hadi government's disastrous Central Bank at Aden.
16.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A E P)
A day after the floatation decision, the central bank sets the exchange rate at $ 370 for the dollar and $ 97 for the Saudi
The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) on Tuesday evening set the new exchange rate for the US dollar at 370.71 for sale and 372.46 for buying, one day after the flotation decision, after the official dollar price remained at 250 riyals.
According to a prospectus published on its official Facebook site, the selling price of Saudi riyals is 97 riyals and 96.86 per purchase.
On Monday, the Central Bank of Yemen decided to liberalize the exchange rate of the riyal and set the price of the currency according to the mechanisms of supply and demand, and stressed that the exchange policy will float, and that the state or the central bank will not interfere in its determination.
The banking market in Yemen suffers from the sharpness of the US dollar sharply, as it disappeared from banks, companies and exchange shops since the beginning of August with the exchange rate rising to 372 Yemeni riyals against one dollar, from 355 last July.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/268425
Comments by Haykal Bafana: Yemen's central bank Aden floats Yemen riyal rate US$1=250YR. Amazing idiocy : They'll bankrupt the bank, since Sanaa is today at $1=370YR.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897419809780097024
Traders, exchanges stuck with hundreds of billions of YR. | Aden Central Bank stops fixed rate, floats Yemen riyal
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897446996302331904
After months of not being able to exchange Yemen riyals with the Aden-based, Saudi-set up Central Bank : Now, the businesses get fleeced.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897448093733355526
Free rate : 370YR=$1. 1/3 of the value of Yemen riyals held by Aden traders & exchanges just got wiped out : This will not go down well.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897448541408198656
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
16.8.2017 – Critical Threats (A T)
Yemen Security Brief
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)militants shelled al Houthi-Saleh forces in Jamajim area, al Bayda governorateon August 15. [4]
15.8.2017 – Critical Threats (A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
ISIS militants shell al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Bayda governorate, central Yemen [2]
https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-august-15-2017 and photos https://twitter.com/Terror_Monitor/status/897481189530796034
14.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP) encouraged followers to derail trains in the West in the 17th edition of its English-language magazine, Inspire, on August 13. The magazine featured an article by AQAP’s chief bombmaker, Ibrahim al Asiri, explaining the economic and psychological impact of targeting transportation infrastructure. The magazine provides instructions for building a train derailment device, recommends types of trains to target, and suggests locations for attacks in the U.S., UK, and France. [1]
14.8.2017 – Critical Threats (* A K P)
Yemen Security Brief
The Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham(ISIS) and AQAP continued an offensive on al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Zaharah area, northwestern al Bayda, central Yemen. ISIS Wilayat al Bayda claimed to shell al Houthi-Saleh forces in al Zaharah on August 12 and released a photoset showing an attack on al Houthi-Saleh forces on August 13. AQAP militants captured an al Houthi-Saleh fighter in al Zaharah on August 12. ISIS and AQAP militants are fighting alongside local tribes against the al Houthi-Saleh faction in al Bayda.[5]
cp15 Propaganda
16.8.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Yemeni Prime Minister Says Real Victory against Coup Militias Is Imminent
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghar declared on Wednesday that his country’s army and popular resistance are close to score a real and final victory over coup militias which controls capital Sanaa, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) .
According to the Yemeni news agency, the victory on the Iran-backed Houthi militias and troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh will spark Yemenis aspirations to establish a federal state consisting of six provinces, guarantor of equality and justice in wealth and power.
During his meeting with the governors of Amran and Rima provinces, the Yemeni official praised the heroic role of the people of the two provinces in confronting the coupist militias and their efforts to restore legitimacy and preserve the republic and unity.
My comment: LOL.
16.8.2017 – The National UAE (A P)
UAE launches Zayed's Legacy campaign to support families of fallen in Yemen
The charity plans to provide food, toys, clothes, money and shopping coupons to families in each of the 11 provinces liberated from Houthi rebel control this Eid Al Adha.
emeni families wearied by war and facing a humanitarian crisis can at least be thankful that this Eid Al Adha will be one with food on the table and gifts for children.
Those in the 80 per cent of the country - 11 provinces - liberated by the Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s legitimate government are to benefit from a new drive by the Emirates Red Crescent to ensure they are well looked after during Eid celebrations at the end of this month.
In addition to more than Dh7.5 billion spent by UAE organisations on relief and development projects in the country over the past two years, families are to benefit from the “Zayed’s legacy for the people of Yemen” initiative, which was launched on Wednesday with the aim of spreading joy among families of the wounded and martyred.
“Sheikh Zayed has built many things in Yemen, like a bridge, houses, hospitals since 1970, and his sons will continue the same projects,” said Mohammed Al Falahi, chairman of the ERC.
My comment: One of the greatest international killers and destructors in Yemen presenting relief and benefactor propaganda. Disgusting. Remember the children killed in an air raid, still wearing their Eid clothing, with smashed skulls and visible brains.
15.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Working tirelessly for a political settlement in Yemen, says UK envoy
Simon Shercliff, the British Ambassador to Yemen, based in Saudi and criss-crossing the region, said that UK has been playing a vigorous role in trying to help achieve a political solution in Yemen.
Shercliff, who took over as Ambassador in February this year, told Al Arabiya: “We have never stopped working tirelessly for a political settlement in Yemen. The crisis is Yemeni-inspired, and the solution must, therefore, be Yemeni-inspired. Therefore, it is not for us or any of the international actors to prescribe exactly what the solution will be, but it is very much our role to encourage and coerce all of the different parties to come to the table with an open mind.”
“By definition it is very unhelpful for any party to escalate with further military attacks on the basis of a response to anything, so we, as our prime minister has said often, take Gulf security extremely seriously. Gulf security is our security, so we understand fully the impact on Saudi Arabia’s national security when missiles go over the border and we call upon all parties to deescalate as much as possible, as quickly as possible, so we can get back to the negotiating table.”
Comment by Haykal Bafana: "Crisis is Yemeni-inspired"? I don't really fathom what Riyadh-exiled UK ambas to Yemen Simon Shercliff is saying
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/897482053406646272
My comment: A really odd British self-image: Britain, as it is supporting and arming Saudi Arabia and its allies, is one of the main arsonsists of this war. The rest is hypocrisy. - “ Gulf security is our security”: how often did we hear such sentences, referring to various parts of the world, for justifying western military interference??? - Continuing: “so we understand fully the impact on Saudi Arabia’s national security when missiles go over the border “: British propaganda permanently puts upside down: These attacks against Saudi territory started 10 weeks AFTER the Saudis had started bombing Yemen. - And more: Yemeni security – that means preventing Yemen from being bombed by a foreign country as Saudi Arabia – would not be a part of “Gulf security” as well??
15.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Report: Qatar and Tehran’s conspiracy against Saudi Arabia revealed
Evidence has emerged pointing out that Qatar has been involved in attempting to spark war in the southern borders of Saudi Arabia, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.
The newspaper referred to a conspiracy which Qatar, Iran, Hezbollah militias and Houthi militias have taken part in. This information is according to leaked documents belonging to the intelligence archives of ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The documents hold information regarding Qatar’s relationship with the Houthi militias starting from 2000 to 2013. They shed light on what went on in Yemen's Saada, including Qatar, Iran and Hezbollah intrusions, and Doha’s financial support for the Houthis which were said to be put towards developments in Saada.
The leaked documents also refer to Qatar’s mediation in releasing a large number of Houthi detainees in Saleh's prisons.
15.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
The winner and loser in Qatar standoff
15.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Better for Qatar to know how to lose
15.8.2017 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Indian intelligence says Qatar-backed groups linked to terrorism
15.8.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Yemeni Awqaf Minister Urges Coup Militias not to Politicize Hajj Pilgrimage
Ahmad Atiyyah, head of the Yemeni Hajj mission, urged coup Houthi militias to avoid politicizing Islam’s Hajj pilgrimage and allow for Yemenis en route to Saudi Arabia to pass through or leave their territories, stressing that Saudi Arabia welcomes Hajj visitors to Makkah regardless of the areas from which they come.
“The number of Yemenis who will be carrying out this year’s pilgrimage is about 24,000 pilgrims,” Attiyah said in a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat from Makkah.
The Yemeni official also called on the Houthi militias not to politicize the pilgrimage, coup forces have been said to obstruct thousands of Yemeni pilgrims in areas under their control from visiting Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage.
14.8.2017 – Tasnim News (A P)
Yemeni Forces on Verge of Victory over Aggressors: Official
Head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Samad shrugged off the Saudi- led coalition’s claims about its advances in the Arabian Peninsula country and said the Yemeni forces are “on the verge of victory”.
“With a little determination, we are on the verge of victory, while the enemy believes that it has pushed the Yemeni nation into a state of inability and weakness…,” Samad said in a speech at a graduation ceremony of cadets on Sunday, according to the Arabic-language al-Masirah TV.
He further pointed to the deployment of fresh Yemeni troops to common borders with Saudi Arabia and said the military forces would act as “a battering ram” to enter the depth of Saudi soil and pressure the enemy.
“We are facing an unprecedented aggression and in response, we have shown an unprecedented resistance,” the Yemeni official said.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
14.8.2017 ff – Legal Center (* A K PH)
The Violations and Crimes that are committed by#Saudi_Arabia and its alliance in #Yemen 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Aug 2017 (full lists)
16.8.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi war planes hit Saada province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471968.htm
Saudi aggression hurts civilian in Sa'ada
A civilian was injured on Wednesday in a Saudi bombing attack on Razeh border district of Sa'ada province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news472034.htm
16.8.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplanes hit Taiz province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471964.htm
14.8.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi air strikes continues its criminal attack on Yemen
One citizen was killed by an air strike in Burkan area of Razih directorate in Saada province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471803.htm
14.8.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
U.S.-Saudi warplanes launch three raids on Serwah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471772.htm
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1
15.8.2017 – Suhf Net (A K PS)
A military source reveals the formation of an elite force to storm the city of Saada
The National Army forces are preparing in the northern province of Saada to attack and control areas north of the province in preparation for storming the city of Saada.
A military source, quoted by the site of the National Army "Septent" the formation of an elite force in the axis of Warcraft is preparing to attack and control a number of sites in the Directorate of Baqam in the context of preparations for the storming of the city of Saada.
"The forces preparing for the attack are highly qualified for intrusion, rapid intervention, flash fighting and parachuting," the source said.
He said the battalion would move to the theater soon, according to a military plan.
https://www.suhf.net/yemen/270165
My comment: We heard this several times before.
15.8.2017 – Legal Center (A K)
#Statement_condemnation
The crime of targeting civilians with mortar shells by the armed groups of the Saudi Aggression Coalition.
killing and wounding more than (7) children, in Al-Doha neighborhood Shara'ab junction, #Taiz 8/8/2017
In a horrific crime, groups of mercenaries and allied forces of the Saudi aggression targeted civilians' houses in Al-Doha neighborhood, Shara'ab Junction in Taiz province.
Killed more than (3) civilians, including children, and injured (4) others as a preliminary result. The number of the victims are (children) that prove the violation of the most important principles and rules of war such as the principle of humanity, discrimination, and proportionality, which makes this crime amounts to the description of the war crime, crimes committed by The Saudi Arabia and its alliance against Yemeni people
The Legal Center for Rights and Development Condemns and denounces this heinous crime against humanity. It holds Saudi Arabia and its alliance the responsibility for the crime and its predecessors, and demands the criminal investigation and accountability of Coalition leaders, and all those found to be involved in these crimes
14.8.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Taiz: Houthis kill Two girls and wound their mother
A local source told Al-Masdaronline that Two young women were killed and their mother was injured Sunday evening bya Hawther shell fired by Houthis-Saleh forces on their house in al-Defn village of Al-Maafer districtwestern Taiz province, southwestern Yemen.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/93327
14.8.2017 – New News (B K PH)
Targeting the Enemy Ship in Mukha Port is Beginning of the Large Stages of Escalation: Yemeni Army Spokesman
A spokesman of the Yemeni army, Colonel Aziz Rashid, commenting on the targeting of naval forces of the warship of the alliance of Saudi Arabia’s aggression on the coast of the Mukha that “a qualitative action and hit the target accurately , the ship is the number 13 vessel that has been targeted by the Yemeni Navy and coastal defense “
In an interview with Al-Masirah T.V channel, Col. Rashid pointed out that “the operations will be wide and very large as the defense minister announced previously that the operations will be painful economically and militarily . Now the Yemeni army with the popular committees begins military operations in the land or in the sea as well the rocket power that is targeting the invaders, mercenaries and at the Saudi depth in large stages of escalation by the army and the popular committees ”
He added that the Yemeni popular committees have become the controller of military operations, whether land or sea or at multiple missile force.
Pro-Houthi / pro-Saleh reports:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471995.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news472035.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471963.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471965.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471976.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471983.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471984.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471986.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-riyal-idUSL8N1L1138?rpc=401&
http://newnewss.net/?p=10040 = https://twitter.com/AggressionY/status/897174621090349058 (film)
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471853.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471852.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471806.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471805.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471802.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471773.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news471791.htm
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
15.8.2017 – UNOSAT (A)
Infographics: Yemen - Rainy Season Monitoring - Accumulated Rainfall (Week 32: 07 - 13 August 2017) and Forecast Rainfall (Week 33: 13 - 18 August 2017)
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-334-yemen-war-mosaic-334
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-334 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-334:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm und / and http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
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