Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Zuerst: Verschleppte der Huthis / At first: Houthi detainees
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b Huthi-Raketen / Houthi missiles
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Libanon / Lebanon
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Zuerst: Verschleppte der Huthis / At first: Houthi detainees
(* B P)
Film: Journalist @yosef_ajlan was captivated by Houthis for over a year, recently released as part of prisoner exchange. In this video he described conditions in custody & brutal torture he & other POW were subjected to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXjsnmmg40
(** B P)
In Houthi-controlled Yemen, silence, exile, or detention; at least 13 journalists held
Torture. Denial of medical care. Repeated interrogations and accusations of collaborating with enemies: Yemeni journalist Youssef Ajlan's story of his detention, which lasted over a year, hews closely to those of many journalists imprisoned for their work.
Yet the Houthis have detained dozens of journalists and are currently holding at least 13, according to CPJ research. If the Houthis were considered a governing authority, Yemen would have the fifth highest number of journalists in jail in the world, after Eritrea and ahead of Azerbaijan and Vietnam.
The effect on the climate for media, and the flow of information to the public, is the same, whether the entity enforcing such brute censorship is an internationally recognized government or not. The Houthis' detentions of journalists has silenced those who wouldn't toe the line, according to one freelance Yemeni journalist who asked not to be identified for security reasons.
"My colleagues and I think that there [is] no real reporting from inside the capital or anywhere Houthis are controlling," the freelance journalist said.
CPJ has documented how all sides in Yemen's conflict commit abuses against journalists, and how the disintegration of state structures and accountability have further amplified the threats.
On June 9, 2015, nine journalists were detained at the same time when Houthi fighters raided a Sanaa hotel where they had gathered because it offered electricity and internet access:
According to Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, an independent human rights NGO based in Sanaa, these nine are being held in a Sanaa prison run by the Political Security Organization and their cases were transferred to a criminal court on June 17, 2017.
Since then, the Houthis have detained four more journalists, including:
CPJ was not able to determine the status of those four cases under the Houthi-controlled institutions.
Ajlan said he was held in six different locations, and suffered from stomach ailments and urinary tract infections but was denied access to medical care, forcing his family to bring him medication prescribed by doctors outside of prison. Houthi authorities often barred his family from visits, he said.
Aside from the arrests, there is the disappearance of journalist Waheed al-Sufi, the editor-in-chief of the Yemeni weekly al-Arabiya.
https://cpj.org/blog/2017/12/in-houthi-controlled-yemen-silence-exile-or-detent.php
(* A P)
Houthis conduct mass arrest of citizens in Saadah
The Houthi rebel militia has been conducting a wide campaign of arrests of suspected oppositionists in Razeh and Haydan districts of Saada province, local sources said.
"Members of the militia have stormed houses in al-Ghawr area of Razeh and abducted 20 people taking them to jails," said one source.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14134
Remark: By Islah Party media, with a heavy anti-Houthi propaganda bias.
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K)
More Than a Thousand Days of War in Yemen
[36 photos]
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/more-than-a-thousand-days-of-war-in-yemen/549329/
(** B K)
It's time to get real about the death toll in Yemen
There is no way of knowing the number of dead from Yemen's civil war, but it is likely to be much higher than official estimates.
10,000 people have died as a result of the war in Yemen, over 5,000of them have been civilians.
Except we've been hearing that statistic for close to a year now, one that was conservative to begin with. Now, after 1,000 days in conflict have passed, it's time to get real about the true impact of the war as it goes far beyond 10,000 and here's why.
Getting accurate information from Yemen's war zone is undoubtedly difficult. In fact, statistics often come from those health centres that count their dead, but there are many other hospitals and facilities that don't.
Casualties include combatants and civilians - victims of direct aggression, though many others have fallen foul of the conflict and the actions of the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi forces, even if they weren't directly caught up in the fighting or branded as collateral damage.
Many have perished due to starvation, or a lack of access to healthcare and medical aid.
Indeed, there is much more to the death toll than we hear of, and repeating '10,000' over and over again does nothing but dilute the true scale of devastation to the country – by Sophia Akram
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2017/12/29/its-time-to-get-real-about-yemens-death-toll
(** B K)
Audio: Sleepless in Yemen amid the sound of Saudi fighter jets
For almost three years now, Yemeni aid workers Anas Shahari and Sukaina Sharafuddin have gone to bed hearing Saudi fighter jets circling over their city, Sanaa. Through WhatsApp voice messages, they tell our host Jasmin Bauomy what that's like.
"It's late and and cold - I'm going to bed. It's quiet. I can't hear cars, I can't hear anything, except for the sound of fighter planes screaming in the sky"
This episode has been made in collaboration with Save the Children Yemen.
and just a reminder, from June 2017:
(** B K)
Empire of Information: The War on Yemen and its Agricultural Sector
Comment: Wow this is important - very important. It gives clear evidence that food production and distribution have been targets in the Saudi campaign - this is a war crime surely as this is not a military target. It talks about this being a war experiment. The toll on the people of Yemen is the result and this clearly demonstrates that Yemen is not starving but is being starved for military reasons. Really really important information.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156245382683641
(** B H)
The climate-conflict nexus
Yemen and South Sudan are, in many ways, worlds apart.
But, despite vast differences in history, tradition, and culture, both countries share one painful feature: their people are now bearing the brunt of two of the most devastating manmade crises: violent conflict and climate change.
Yemen, for its part, is considered among the clearest examples of the tangible consequences of climate change.
According to the World Bank, since 1970, irrigation in Yemen has increased by a factor of 15, as rain-fed agriculture has declined by nearly 30%. The country faces both heavy rains and deadly floods – in 2008, floods in southeastern Yemen resulted in losses equivalent to 6% of GDP – and, at the other extreme, devastating droughts.
The global health community is now increasingly recognising the extent to which the traditional consequences of war – such as injury, trauma, and displacement – are being compounded by the effects of climate change, which undermines nutrition and development.
For example, conflict can, as in Yemen, result in the contamination of water resources, which are already being depleted by climate change.
In fact, researchers are now concerned that conflict and climate change are mutually reinforcing, with economic and agricultural losses, as well as water shortages, triggering conflicts that then undermine health and livelihoods further.
In such an environment, outbreaks of an old disease (such as cholera) or a new one may lead to new regional and global pandemics.
The reality is that confronting the interconnected challenges associated with conflict and climate change demands comprehensive solutions.
Of course, influential countries – including China, France, and Germany – have a role to play in filling the gap left by the Trump administration’s retreat from global leadership.
But the scientific and public-health communities must also step up and rethink how to manage diseases and handle water shortages in conflict environments – by Mohamed Hamid Zaman, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and International Health at Boston University.
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/576414/The-climate-conflict-nexus
(** B K)
Film: How Italian Bombs Killed Yemeni Civilians
We followed shipments of bombs from a holiday island in Italy to Saudi Arabia, then found those bombs at the scene of civilian deaths in Yemen. Is Italy capitalizing on a brutal conflict or just doing business?
By MALACHY BROWNE, BARBARA MARCOLINI and AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000005254317/civilian-deaths-yemen-italian-bombs.html and on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2Fxnbvk0I and also https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1599915183394839/
and part (41 sec) https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/946885294120423426
and
- For more than half a year, @babimarcolini and I have worked with tipsters in Italy and Yemen to follow bombs made in Sardinia to Saudi's Air Force and attacks on civilians in #Yemen.
- The story combines Facebook videos and satellite images, Twitter photos and vessel trackers. We worked with professional photographers and drone operators, Yemeni activists, former employees and shipping insiders.
- The story is a glimpse inside the shadowy workings of the global arms trade. It builds on a 2015 story I did at @reportedly (now offline) and reveals a huge increase in bomb sales that can now trace directly to civilian deaths
https://twitter.com/malachybrowne/status/946744838376099840
and Italian media report:
(** B K P)
New York Times: “In Yemen bombe prodotte in Italia usate sui civili”
«Bombe italiane, morti yemenite»: così titola il New York Times, che ha pubblicato online un video reportage sulla vendita all’Arabia Saudita di armi prodotte in uno stabilimento della Sardegna dall’azienda RWM, di proprietà della tedesca Rheinmetall Defence. Bombe della serie MK8, identificabili dalle matricole A4447: il quotidiano ha trovato tracce di queste bombe in almeno 5 attacchi in Yemen,contro i combattenti Houthi sciiti. In un bombardamento, gli ordigni hanno colpito una casa disabitata ma in un altro caso è stata sterminata un’intera famiglia, madre, padre e quattro figli, sorpresa dal bombardamento nel sonno.
and more:
https://www.iene.mediaset.it/2017/news/l-italia-ha-le-mani-sporche-di-sangue_188.shtml (four films; in Italian)
My comment: This is not only a case for Italy: “armi prodotte in uno stabilimento della Sardegna dall’azienda RWM, di proprietà della tedesca Rheinmetall Defence”. Germany is to blame as well:
(** B K P)
Eine deutsche Firma und das Töten im Jemen
Rheinmetall und Jemen: Das deutsche Unternehmen Rheinmetall lässt auf Sardinien Bomben produzieren und verkauft sie an Saudi-Arabien. Die saudische Luftwaffe verwendet sie im Jemen
“Wie italienische Bomben Zivilisten im Jemen töteten” – so lautet der Titel zu einem kurz vor Jahreswechsel auf der Webseite der New York Times veröffentlichten Film.
Malachy Brown schreibt dazu:
„Für über ein halbes Jahr haben Babi Marcolini und ich mit Informanten in Italien und im Jemen gearbeitet, um dem Weg der in Sardinien produzierten Bomben zur saudi-arabischen Luftwaffe und Angriffen auf Zivilisten im Jemen zu folgen. Die Geschichte verbindet Facebook-Videos und Satellitenbilder, Twitter-Fotos und Schiffsrouten-Sucher. Wir arbeiteten mit Berufsfotografen und Drohnennutzern zusammen, mit Aktivisten aus dem Jemen, mit Angestellten und Insidern aus dem Schiffsgeschäft.
Die Geschichte ist ein Blick auf das schattenhafte Geschäft des internationalen Waffenhandels […] und deckt eine starke Zunahme bei dem Verkauf von Bomben auf, der nun direkt mit dem Tod von Zivilisten in Verbindung gebracht werden kann.“
In fünf Fällen haben die Filmemacher Reste der Bomben der Serie M8, die durch die Kennnummer A4447 identifizierbar sind, an den Orten von saudischen Luftangriffen auf Ziele im Jemen nachweisen können. Darunter findet sich der Fall einer fünfköpfigen Familie, Eltern und drei Kinder, die nachts im Schlaf Opfer einer solchen Bombe wurde“.
Die Bombenfabrik auf Sardinien gehört dem deutschen Fahrzeug- und Rüstungsunternehmen Rheinmetall. Es sind zwar italienische Arbeiter, die die Bomben zusammenbauen, es ist die Fluggesellschaft des Präsidenten von Aserbeidschan, die die Bomben von Sardinien nach Saudi-Arabien bringt, es ist die italienische Regierung, die über die Ausfuhrgenehmigung nach Saudi-Arabien entscheidet, aber es ist ein deutsches Unternehmen, das dahinter steht.
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/eine-deutsche-firma-und-das-toeten-im-jemen
And there is even more, here an article I missed when it was published in October 2016:
(** B K P)
Italy’s dirty war in Yemen
The bomb dropped on a Yemeni funeral was that of an American company, but the manufacturer and exporter is unknown. Because of murky arms sales reporting, there’s a good chance they were Italian.
It is possible that Italian-made bombs were the ones that hit the building in Sana’a in Yemen on Saturday. At this location, a funeral was in progress. There were 155 casualties and more than 530 wounded. The correspondent for the British TV channel ITV Neil Connery, who entered the building shortly after the bombing, posted via Twitter the photo of a component of a bomb that, according to a Yemeni official, was the Mark 82 type (MK 82).
Other images published via Twitter are more accurate: They report the tag detached from a bomb with the inscription: “For use on MK82, FIN guided bomb.” The serial number follows: 96214ASSY837760-4. The device was manufactured under license of the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon for use on a MK82 bomb. But it is not clear which company actually made it and which country exported it. It could have been Italy.
MK82 bombs are, in fact, manufactured in the Domusnovas factory in Sardinia by RWM Italia, a German subsidiary of the Rheinmetall conglomerate –by Giorgio Beretta
https://global.ilmanifesto.it/italys-dirty-war-in-yemen/
(** B P)
Emiratis, Omanis, Saudis: the rising competition for Yemen’s Al Mahra
Al Mahra is one of the most remote regions of Yemen; it has so far not been reached by the civil war, nor has it been infiltrated by jihadi groups. However, regional powers, namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman, are attempting to enhance or maintain their leverage in this governorate, as has already happened in other Eastern Yemen regions (Hadhramaut and Socotra). These players aim to tighten control on Al Mahra’s territory for geopolitical and geostrategic reasons: impeding Iranian arms smuggling destined for the Houthis, and strengthening their commercial and military ties with Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean. But this subtle competition could contribute towards the destabilisation of a region that has until now remained quiet, de facto self-ruled by local tribal councils. Moreover, this intra-Gulf rivalry is further wrapped up with the unresolved Southern question and the quest for autonomy among different local identities and agendas – by Eleonora Ardemagni
Comment: A depressing look at Al Mahra the impoverished and sparsely populated area adjacent to Oman. So far it is the only area of Yemen not involved in the war at all but it looks as if that might be about to change as greedy eyes from afar look at its advantages as a transit route from Oman to Yemen and its coastal potential.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156245373213641
(** B P)
How It Could Finally Be Possible to Prosecute War as a Crime
War is a crime. The International Criminal Court has just announced that it will finally treat it as a crime, sort-of, kind-of. But how can war’s status as a crime effectively deter the world’s leading war-maker from threatening and launching more wars, large and small? How can laws against war actually be put to use? How can the ICC’s announcement be made into something more than a pretense?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) can try individuals for various “war crimes,” but has thus far tried only Africans, though for some time now it has claimed to be “investigating” U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Although the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, Afghanistan is. Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to join the ICC. But what can be done now?
The ICC has finally announced that it will prosecute individuals (such as the U.S. president and secretary of “defense”) for the crime of “aggression,” which is to say: war. But such wars must be launched after July 17, 2018. And those who can be prosecuted for war will be only citizens of those nations that have both joined the ICC and ratified the amendment adding jurisdiction over “aggression.” Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to ratify the amendment on “aggression.” But what can be done now?
The only way around these restrictions, is for the U.N. Security Council to refer a case to the ICC. If that happens, then the ICC can prosecute anyone in the world for the crime of war.
This means that for the force of law to have any chance of deterring the U.S. government from threatening and launching wars, we need to persuade one or more of the fifteen nations on the U.N. Security Council to make clear that they will raise the matter for a vote. Five of those fifteen have veto power, and one of those five is the United States.
So, we also need nations of the world to proclaim that when the Security Council fails to refer the case, they will bring the matter before the U.N. General Assembly though a “Uniting for Peace” procedure in emergency session to override the veto. This is what was just done in December 2017 to overwhelmingly pass a resolution that the U.S. had vetoed, a resolution condemning the U.S. naming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
Not only do we need to jump through each of these hoops (a commitment to a Security Council vote, and a commitment to override the veto in the General Assembly) but we need to make evident beforehand that we will be certain or likely to do so.
Therefore, World Beyond War is launching a global petition to the national governments of the worldasking for their public commitment to refer any war launched by any nation to the ICC with or without the Security Council. Click here to add your name.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/12/finally-possible-prosecute-war-crime.html
My comment: The US has installed a lot of “Stops” for ever being prosecuted (or one of its allies like Saudi Arabia).
(** B P)
Verbrechen der Aggression könnten ab 2018 unter Anklage kommen
Angriffskriege sind ab nächstem Jahr ein Fall für den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof - manche jedenfalls
Angriffskriege sind künftig ein Fall für den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof (IStGH). Ab dem 17. Juli 2018 kann das Gericht in Den Haag, bei Angriffskriegen die Gerichtsbarkeit ausüben. Die entsprechende Resolution wurde auf der Konferenz der Vertragsstaaten des Rom-Statuts, das Grundlage für den Strafgerichtshof ist, im UN-Hauptquartier in New York per Konsens angenommen.
Damit greift die sogenannte Aktivierungsklausel: Nach Artikel 5 Absatz 2 des Rom-Statuts übt der Gerichtshof die Gerichtsbarkeit über das Verbrechen der Aggression aus, sobald "das Verbrechen definiert und die Bedingungen für die Ausübung der Gerichtsbarkeit im Hinblick auf dieses Verbrechen festlegt" ist. Das ist jetzt offiziell geschehen.
Eine Einigung darüber, welche Kriege als Angriffskriege vor Gericht landen könnten, war bereits auf der ersten Revisionskonferenz des IStGH-Statuts in der ugandischen Hauptstadt Kampala im Jahr 2010 gefunden worden.
Die Anwendung von Waffengewalt gegen einen anderen Staat, dessen Souveränität sowie politische und territoriale Unabhängigkeit ist demnach als "Angriffshandlung" anzusehen. Dazu gehören insbesondere Invasion, Besetzung und Annexion von anderen Gebieten anderer Staaten. Bombardierung, Blockade von Häfen und Angriffe auf Streitkräfte sowie das Entsenden bewaffneter Banden oder irregulärer Kräfte ist auch ausdrücklich verboten.
mein Kommentar: Leider mit erheblichen Einschränkungen; der UN Sicherheitsrat entscheidet letztlich, d. h. die Großmächte entscheiden letztlich über ihre eigenen kriege und die ihrer verbündeten und „Proxies“. Die USA und die Saudis wird’s freuen.
(** B P)
Film: Yemeni forces and Houthis accused of prisoner torture
Human rights groups say thousands of people, including children, have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by both sides of the war in Yemen.
Yemeni forces and Houthi fighters are accused of beatings, electric shocks, and forcing prisoners to strip.
Yousef Ajlan, a journalist who was imprisoned last year, shared his experiences behind bars with us.
Warning: some of the stories you are about to hear are graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers.
(** B P)
What are the Saudis afraid of?
Early in the evening of a delightful December Monday, accompanied by an Egyptian and an Italian friend, I entered the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Doha and I wondered to myself: What are the Saudis afraid of?
There was not a single soul except the three of us wondering through those glorious halls. One Christian and two Muslims - one Sunni the other Shia by birth and upbringing - we were engulfed by the generosity of a history of arts and craft that had mapped a different world than the one we left behind entering the museum.
Here, the term is the entry point into one of the most glorious phases of Islamic cultural history.
This is the rich and empowering Muslim history in full panoramic view - staged just a few hundred kilometres away from Yemen where more than eight million Muslims are "a step away from famine". How could have we inherited that history and ended up in this calamity?
None of such historic reminiscences is with a sense of misplaced nostalgia for lost Muslim empires or letting the state of Qatar, where MIA is located, off the hook for its own share in the current mayhem in the Arab and Muslim world. No state gets a clean bill of health in this region.
Nor is this to dismiss an entire nation trapped, like all other nations, in the claws of a self-serving Saudi clan, systemically vulnerable to the whims of one prince like Mohammed bin Salman.
What we are witnessing throughout the Arab and Muslim world is a battle for the soul of the Muslim past to inhabit the spirit of the Muslim future. In its ruling elite, Saudi Arabia represents a colossal obscenity of wealth and power dedicated to a peculiar brand of outdated Islamism that combines violent militarism and puritanical fanaticism.
Its arch nemesis, on the other hand, the ruling regime in the Islamic Republic of Iran, is also holding an entire nation of liberating possibilities in the claws of its outdated clericalism. The ruling regime in Iran is only slightly cleverer than its Saudi counterpart in fighting this losing battle for the future of the Muslim soul – by Hamid Dabashi
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/saudis-afraid-171217082544270.html
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(** B H)
In world's worst cholera outbreak, vaccine talks hang in the balance
A cholera epidemic in Yemen, one of the worst ever recorded, is likely to surge again around March, giving global health experts a few months to get vaccines in to the war-torn country to try to limit the next wave of cases.
Some three million doses of oral cholera vaccine are currently available in a global stockpile designed for such emergencies, according to the World Health Organization.
They could be shipped to Yemen in time to be used in a preventative immunization campaign ahead of the rainy season, when the risk increases that cholera will spread further through water contaminated with faeces. A million people have been infected so far in the epidemic, according to the WHO.
But a previous plan to get vaccines to Yemen’s suffering population was aborted earlier this year, because of the country’s ongoing civil war, with both the WHO and Yemen officials citing logistical and technical obstacles.
Dominique Legros, a WHO cholera expert, told Reuters the aim would be to vaccinate in a step-wise plan, district by district, starting early in 2018.
Supply would not be an issue, Legros said. As well as the three million doses in the global stockpile, another couple of million doses a month can now be churned out of factories in India and South Korea.
(*** B H)
Special Report: In a hospital ward in Yemen, the collapse of a nation
Nahla Arishi, chief pediatrician at the al-Sadaqa hospital in this Yemeni port city, had not seen diphtheria in her 20-year career. Then, late last month, a three-year-old girl with high fever was rushed to Arishi’s ward. Her neck was swollen, and she gasped for air through a lump of tissue in her throat. Eight days later, she died.
This is the emergency ward to a nation. After three years of warfare, cholera and hunger, Yemen faces a new battle: In the past four months, doctors across the country have recorded at least 380 cases of diphtheria, a bacterial disease that last appeared here in 1992.
Arishi, like her country around her, is struggling to cope. Every month, she and her team drip-feed dozens of Yemen’s half a million severely malnourished children. Her ward has also treated hundreds of the one million people infected by cholera.
This spring, Arishi and her colleagues reopened an abandoned wing of al-Sadaqa hospital, fenced it with chicken wire and created a makeshift cholera treatment center. Now, they are converting part of that center into a diphtheria ward, cordoning off isolation units by barring hallway doors.
But with rusty oxygen tanks and only two functional ventilators in a different part of the hospital – and with the expectation that the cholera epidemic will worsen in coming months — her triage upon triage is no longer working.
“We’re getting more patients but we can’t deal with them. We don’t have supplies. We don’t have money,” said Arishi, “This war has got to end.”
But the blockade has ended up isolating a country that was already the poorest in the Middle East.
The war and blockade have also thwarted Yemen’s vaccination programs.
Seven years ago, 80 percent of children were fully immunized with three doses of diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus vaccine.
“Yemen needs a Marshall Plan,” said Sahloul, who was visiting al-Sadaqa’s treatment center in December. “It is difficult to foresee an optimistic scenario if the current conditions persist,” he said.
Most of the infected were in the populous north of the country. But al-Sadaqa, which took in patients from across south Yemen, was also unprepared. Arishi and her colleagues had expected 10 patients at a time. Instead, by the summer, they were treating more than a hundred, mostly adults, a day.
Since September, the spread of cholera across the country has abated. However, doctors agree that a new wave of infections is likely in March, when the country’s rainy season returns.
Arishi faced the problem of isolating children with symptoms of diphtheria. She asked hospital administrators to block a hallway door with a cupboard. Behind it, she tried to isolate those who might infect others.
But she lacked basic resources to treat the new disease. Al-Sadaqa hospital, like most others in Yemen, does not have the reagents needed to test for diphtheria. In fact, none of Arishi’s diagnoses has been confirmed by laboratory tests.
Some diphtheria patients need emergency surgery to remove blockages from their airways or need machines to breathe. But most of Yemen’s hospitals don’t have such equipment. As of early December, only two of al-Sadaqa’s three mechanical ventilators were working, and the hospital didn’t have an isolated operating room for diphtheria patients.
Arishi says there is another sign that Yemen is breaking down: parents’ waning faith.
She sees more examples of families that have not vaccinated their children because they distrust both their government and international organizations – by Selam Gebrekidan
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-diphtheria/special-report-in-a-hospital-ward-in-yemen-the-collapse-of-a-nation-idUSKBN1EN0OG = http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/31/17/in-a-hospital-ward-in-yemen-the-collapse-of-a-nation
cp1b Huthi-Raketen / Houthi missiles
(** B K P)
Von ARD und ZDF totgeschwiegen: Scott Ritter dekonstruiert US- und SA-Propaganda gegen den Iran
Mindestens genauso wichtig wie das (von der GEZ-Propaganda totgeschwiegene) Dementi des Iran und das Fehlen jeglicher Beweise für dessen (von der GEZ-Propaganda erlogenen) Kriegsbeteiligung beim saudisch-westlichen Massenmord im Jemen, ist eine Analyse des bekannten US-Waffeninspekteurs Scott Ritter, der die von den USA im UN-Sicherheitsrat verbreiteten Märchen über „iranische Raketen“ mit Fakten auseinandergenommen hat. Dass diese Fakten eines ausgewiesenen Experten, dem man kaum „iranische Propaganda“ vorwerfen kann, in der öffentlich-rechtlosen Desinformation totgeschwiegen wird, wundert wohl nur noch jene Opfer, die sich von ARD und ZDF tagtäglich belügen und für dumm verkaufen lassen.
Ohne den kompletten, sehr technischen Artikel hier zu übersetzen, sei zusammengefasst, dass es sich bei den von den Houthis verwendeten Raketen um alte sowjetische SCUD-Modelle handelt, deren – aus den 60er Jahren stammende – Technik mit einigen Modifikationen auf eine größere Reichweite getrimmt wurde. Diese Raketen befanden sich bereits im Jemen, bevor Saudi-Arabien mit westlicher Hilfe begann, das Land zu bombardieren und wurden somit nicht aktuell vom Iran geliefert, wie es die verlogene US-Propaganda der Weltöffentlichkeit glauben machen will, während Washington selbst als Hauptunterstützer und Waffenlieferant des saudischen Massenmords im Jemen agiert.
Ritter verweist auf einen weiteren bedeutenden Aspekt der Kriegspropaganda, der in der westlichen Lügenpresse konsequent unterdrückt wird, dass es nämlich mehr als zweifelhaft ist, dass die von den Houthis Richtung Rijad gefeuerten Raketen vom US-amerikanischen Patriot-System erfolgreich abgeschossen wurden, wie USA und Saudi-Arabien aus Gründen, die man nicht erklären muss, so gerne behaupten.
Offensichtlich sind die Patriot-Syteme nicht in der Lage, die 40 Jahre alte Sowjet-SCUD-Technologie abzufangen, weil sie nicht zwischen der großen Trägerrakete und dem sich von dieser kurz vor dem Ziel lösenden, viel kleineren Gefechtskopf unterscheiden können. Diese Erkenntnis ist wiederum für den Konflikt in Nordkorea von kriegstaktischer Bedeutung.
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Propaganda Aiming to Prove Iran Supplied Missiles Backfires
The facts of the matter, however, are quite different.
According to Haley, the weapons in question were Iranian-made Qiam-1 missiles, possessing a range of up to 800 kilometers. Haley was parroting the claims of the Saudi Arabian government
Haley’s press conference, with its dramatic show and tell, was the first time the Saudi Arabian claims had been backed up by anything remotely resembling proof.
Rather than the Iranian-manufactured Qiam-1 missiles Haley and the Saudi Arabian government claimed, the debris presented by Haley were of a modified Soviet-manufactured SCUD-B missile; the airframe and engine are original Soviet-made components, and many of the smaller parts on display bear Cyrillic (i.e., Russian) markings. The transformation to the Burkhan 2-H design required the Houthi engineers to increase the size of the fuel and oxidizer tanks, and lengthen the airframe accordingly. This is done by cutting the airframe, and welding in place the appropriate segments (this also required that the fuel supply pipe, which passes through the oxidizer tank, be similarly lengthened.) The difference in quality between the factory welds and the new welds is readily discernable. The increased fuel supply permits a longer engine burn, which in turn increases the range of the missile.
The reality is that the Burkhan 2-H is neither a completely indigenously-produced Houthi missile, nor is it an Iranian-manufactured Qiam-1. Instead, the Burkhan 2-H is a Soviet SCUD-B that has been significantly modified using Iranian design concepts and critical components (the guidance and control and thrust vector actuators stand out.) The ability to carry out the necessary modifications is not beyond the technical capability of the Houthi, who have assimilated most of the Yemeni missile engineers under their control.
The missile debris in question actually contradicts the finding of the UN panel, which held that the missiles launched against Saudi Arabia had been transferred to Yemen in pieces and assembled there by Houthi missile engineers; it is clear that the missiles in question had been in the possession of Yemen well before the Saudi Arabian-led intervention of 2015, and that their source was either Soviet or North Korean.
The entire Saudi-US effort in this regard was little more than a not-so-sophisticated propaganda exercise designed to bolster the Trump administration’s efforts to cobble together some sort of international consensus on doing away with the Iranian nuclear agreement. To this end, the Saudis and their American co-conspirators seem to have had little success.
As bad as that result may have been, it paled in comparison to what this entire charade could not obviate—that there has been little progress, if any, in the capability of nations armed with modern weaponry and advanced intelligence gathering systems to locate and interdict a mobile, relocatable ballistic missile force – by Scott Ritter
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/propaganda-exercise-aiming-to-prove-iran-supplied-missiles-backfires/ = http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48509.htm
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Nikki Haley Attacks Iran, Forgets Her Country Is Currently Bombing Seven Nations
United States violence and war mongering never cease. It doesn’t matter which party is in power, the Democrats or the Republicans, other nations across the globe will be victimized.
Is it possible that she is either not aware of the fact, or is trying to distract from it, that the U.S.’s ‘ballistic missiles and advanced weapons are turning up in war zones across the region’? The U.S. is currently bombing seven nations.
She is also concerned, she claims, about Iranian support for rebels in Yemen, who are fighting against the government. Yet in Syria, the U.S. has for years been supporting rebels who are fighting against the government.
Haley further proclaimed that, since the signing of the JCPOA, "The undeniable fact is that the Iranian behavior is growing worse". It seems she misspoke; a more accurate statement would be that ‘the undeniable fact is that that U.S. behavior is growing worse" since the JCPOA was signed.
https://ahtribune.com/us/trump-at-war/2062-nikki-haley-iran.html
cp2 Allgemein / General
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The ignored Yemen
Yemen completed 1000 days of war in December since the Saudi-led coalition air strikes began at the end of 2014 in response to Houthis’ advance onto the capital Sana. More than three years on, the humanitarian situation is dire due to the incessant and indiscriminate bombing and blockade by Saudi Arabia (SA). The UN estimates more than three quarter of Yemen’s 28 million population need humanitarian help; famine is looming.
Yet the bombing of Yemen has gone on without producing much gains for Saudi Arabia on the ground.
The SA’s Yemen campaign was floundering until it got a huge boost from the election of Donald Trump, the new US President. As a result, Saudi interference in the region has found a new urgency and purpose, according to observers.
Not surprisingly, this move has coincided with President Trumps’ change of tone on Iran which has grown more harsh and bellicose in recent months.
This escalation is timed with Saudi’s larger moves in apparent concertation with the US.
As part of the larger Saudi plan, Saudi prince forced the Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri to resign as prime minister. was widely believed to be extracted under duress.
What has been missing, though, from the Western mainstream media reporting is the role of Western governments in arming Saudi government with latest weaponry and technology which is being used in Yemen. The Western backing for Saudi Arabia in Yemen furnishes an additional reason for dumbing down the Yemen conflict in the Western press. However, criticism of the Saudi actions in Yemen is growing lately in the West.
http://tns.thenews.com.pk/ignored-yemen/#.Wkhsad_iaUk
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U.S. Raid Killed Yemeni Civilians, Villagers Say
When U.S. Special Forces raided a remote Yemeni village back in May, the military said they killed seven members of al-Qaida. Yemeni human rights activists reported that several civilians were also killed or wounded. Some of the survivors told their stories of that night to NPR's Ruth Sherlock on a rare visit to Yemen. And her reporting has already had an impact.
OTHMAN: (Through interpreter) I was sleeping outside under my mosquito net, and I heard them. They shot me, so I screamed for my mother.
ABDULRAHMAN SAEED AL-ADHAL: (Through interpreter) Othman ran inside the house to his mother. There he found two of his brothers had also been shot. They bled slowly to death. So Othman's mother was there with two of her sons killed and one of them injured, but she was too afraid to move until the sun came up.
All those who've been killed are either farmers or soldiers in the Yemeni army.
SHERLOCK: I met Othman Adhal's family during a trip to the Yemeni city of Marib that was organized by a think tank run by Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemeni who's testified before Congress on the effects of drone strikes in his country. He's also done reporting for NPR. I brought the Adhals' story to Colonel John J. Thomas from Central Command. He says that, following the inquiry by NPR, the Pentagon is now reassessing their findings (Audio and Transscript)
http://kgou.org/post/us-raid-killed-yemeni-civilians-villagers-say
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Remaining Peaceful Was Their Choice
People living now in Yemen’s third largest city, Ta’iz, have endured unimaginable circumstances for the past three years. Civilians fear to go outside lest they be shot by a sniper or step on a land mine. Both sides of a worsening civil war use Howitzers, Kaytushas, mortars and other missiles to shell the city. Residents say no neighborhood is safer than another, and human rights groups report appalling violations, including torture of captives. Two days ago, a Saudi-led coalition bomber killed 54 people in a crowded market place.
Before the civil war developed, the city was regarded as the official cultural capital of Yemen
In December of 2011, 150,000 people walked nearly 200 kilometers from Ta’iz to Sana’a, promoting their call for peaceful change. Among them were tribal people who worked on ranches and farms. They seldom left home without their rifles, but had chosen to set aside their weapons and join the peaceful march.
Yet, those who ruled Yemen for over thirty years, in collusion with Saudi Arabia’s neighboring monarchy which fiercely opposed democratic movements anywhere near its borders, negotiated a political arrangement meant to co-opt dissent while resolutely excluding a vast majority of Yemenis from influence on policy. They ignored demands for changes that might be felt by ordinary Yemenis and facilitated instead a leadership swap, replacing the dictatorial President Ali Abdullah Saleh with Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, his vice-president, as an unelected president of Yemen.
The U.S. and neighboring petro-monarchies backed the powerful elites. At a time when Yemenis desperately needed funding to meet the needs of starving millions, they ignored the pleas of peaceful youths calling for demilitarized change, and poured funding into “security spending” – a misleading notion which referred to further military buildup, including the arming of client dictators against their own populations.
And then the nonviolent options were over, and civil war began.
What could we wish for Ta’iz? – by Kathy Kelly
https://dissidentvoice.org/2017/12/remaining-peaceful-was-their-choice/ = https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/12/30/remaining-peaceful-was-their-choice-young-yemenis-sounded-alarms-civil-war
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The Yemen crisis
The conflict in Yemen continues to remain a low priority for the global media.
There has been no international condemnation of this direct intervention in what was originally an internal conflict. The fact is that peace is not possible when perpetual war seems to be the preference. Interestingly, this war is being fought by the use of arms supplied by the UK and the US. Common sense dictates that simply crippling the arms supply to the region may just end the insane loss of lives. But then who’s willing to give up the lucrative arms trade for peace? We know lives are cheaper than guns.
As we enter a new year, are we doomed to suffer narrow interests which put the lives of millions at risk?
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/262619-the-yemen-crisis
(B K P)
Film: US, UK profiting from Saudi war on Yemen: Activist
An activist believes the reason why the United Nations has been unable to stop Saudi Arabia’s military aggression against Yemen is because the United States and Britain are profiting from this war. Hussain al-Bukhaiti told PressTV in an interview on Saturday.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/30/547285/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US-UK-UN-weapons-sales-war
(* B P)
Who Are the Leading State Sponsors of Terrorism?
But, as I have observed before, the red hazard light that continues to be blinking most brightly relates to Washington’s relationship with Iran, which has unnecessarily deteriorated dramatically over the past year and which brings with it collateral problems with Russia and Turkey that could trigger a much wider conflict. I say unnecessarily because all the steps taken to poison the relationship have come out of Washington, not Tehran.
The only problem with the allegations being made is that none of them is true and, furthermore, Iran, with limited military resources, poses no serious threat to gain control over its neighbors, nor to attack the United States or Europe. The invective about Iran largely derives from Israel and Saudi Arabia, which themselves have hegemonic ambitions relating to their region.
A recent detailed analysis by former US intelligence officers has demonstrated just how the claim that Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism is almost completely fabricated. The analysis explains how these false narratives are contrived and how they become part of the Washington background noise.
The reality is that terrorism, defined by the United Nations as “criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public,” is most employed at the state level by the United States and its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, not by Iran – by Philip Giraldi
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/12/28/who-are-leading-state-sponsors-terrorism.html = https://www.globalresearch.ca/who-are-the-leading-state-sponsors-of-terrorism/5624318
(* B K P)
Al-Masirah channel today published a secret document, a letter from the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Khalid bin Salman, to his brother Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including a military plan called "Scorpion Trap" targeting the western coast of Yemen and implemented by the US Army led by the commander of the Marines at Base Al-Anad and the Socotra island, After a new UNSC resolution has been issued on military intervention direct in Yemeni territory in support of the Arab coalition and the imposition of the United Nations trusteeship on Bab Al-Mandab and Yemeni ports in order to ensure the safety of international navigation from terrorist threats to the Houthis militias in #Yemen. (image)
My comment: Either a fake or a great thing.
(B K P)
In Yemen, Historical Roots of a Modern Civil War
Zaydi Shiites led by a tribe called the Houthis, standing in opposition of the spread of an ultra-conservative branch of Sunnism, launched an insurgency in the late 2000s. Hostilities were ongoing when the Arab Spring reached Yemen in 2011.
Eventually the civil war will end, but for a country like Yemen, which is so geographically, religiously, culturally and tribally diverse, it will be only an intermission to hostilities.
[e-book “Geopolitics 101” to your e-mail inbox]
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/yemen-historical-roots-modern-civil-war/
Comment by Judith Brown: What a complete rubbish article by someone who clearly knows NOTHING about the historical roots of this conflict. The Sunni and Shia divide was virtually non existent in Yemen where the Zaidi Shia population was closer to Sunni than Shia in its practices, and the Sunni population were mainly of the tolerant Shafi school - instead the divisions were between tribes and tribal federations, geographical areas, and social class. For example in the Saada wars that preceded the current conflict and were the roots of the war, the initial battles were between Zaidi and Zaidi - those that had benefitted from the move from the Imamate to republic and the patronage of Saleh and those that had lost status, power and money in recent decades whilst Saleh was in power. Saleh, who started the Saada wars on the Believing Youth movement - that was later renamed the Houthi movement - was himself Zaidi.
Another example - the political party Islah, whose militias now are a lead player in the struggle for Taiz, which is a religious based political party - initially attracted some Zaidi from the Hashed confederation and some Salafis who have very conservative Sunni views. Yemen was a complex country but it is this war that has caused a religious divide, not the other way round. And the war is essentially political. Why do people who,know nothing write such stuff and nonsense?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156246337718641
(* B H K)
Airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians in one day in Yemen are part of the country's misery
A Sanaa resident, Lutf Alsanani, 25, told Al Jazeera that she's learning to go without.
"I'm learning to live without electricity," Alsanani said. "I don't have access to clean water, gas, cooking oil, and I haven't received my salary in a year. In 1,000 days, Yemen has become a land of blood and bombs. This place is hell on earth."
[Overview article]
(B K P)
Yemen’s Chief of Staff to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Received Offers from European Countries for Logistical Support
Yemen’s Chief of Staff, Major General Taher Al-Aqeeli, revealed that the Yemeni army has received European and Asian offers to provide logistical support, noting that new agreements would be signed at a later stage for the interest of the army.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Aqeeli said that countries in the European Union, Eastern Europe and South-East Asia “expressed they wish to provide logistical support to the army, and there is cooperation with Australia on the maritime side.”
My comment: More external interference into the Yemen war, more killing etc.
(* B K P)
New York Times Editorial: The Yemen Crucible
The Trump administration has long applied a double standard to the violence in Yemen, the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It fiercely condemns Iran for supporting the indigenous Houthi insurgents and allegedly supplying them with short-range ballistic missiles and other weapons.
At a recent press conference at a military base near Washington, Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, conspicuously ignored America’s involvement. Among the props displayed were pieces of what Pentagon officials claimed were Iranian-made Qiam missiles, including one allegedly fired by Houthi militants at an airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last month.
Not a word was said about Saudi-American cooperation in the war, and officials, in response to basic questions from reporters, were unable to prove their charges about the source of the missiles. The purpose of this dog-and-pony show — the Pentagon declassified the weaponry for the occasion — was to reinforce the administration’s campaign to rally international support for punishing (and perhaps, someday going to war against) Iran on grounds that Tehran is largely responsible for destabilizing activities in the region.
The whole performance was eerily reminiscent of Colin Powell’s presentation to the Security Council as secretary of state in 2003 (which he later came to regret) of the case for war against Iraq, in which he accused Iraq of hiding weapons of mass destruction.
President Trump, eager for close ties with the new Saudi leadership, has largely turned a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis.
There are signs the administration is beginning to listen and even exert a constructive influence on the Saudis, who last week said they would open the main port of Hudaydah for 30 days so humanitarian aid can flow. Even so, a long-term solution to the war will take far more than that.
For starters, the Saudis could fully lift the blockade and challenge the Houthis and the Iranians to join in an immediate unconditional cease-fire. This is just the sort of opening Mr. Trump could be urging; if he has the kind of relationship with the Saudis that he boasts about, he might get them to listen — and save countless Yemini lives in the bargain – By:James Bennet+Editorial Board
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/opinion/the-yemen-crucible.html = http://www.akhbarye24.net/news/1014631/
and
(* B K P)
Over 700 Yemeni civilians killed and wounded by US-backed Saudi airstrikes in December
Washington has long relied upon the Saudi monarchy as a pillar of reaction in the Arab world, arming it to the teeth and in the process reaping vast profits for US arms corporations.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of deaths have been caused by illegal Saudi aggression. The war, from the standpoint of both Riyadh and Washington, moreover, is not “absurd,” but rather part of a broader regional strategy being pursued by US imperialism to prepare for a military confrontation with Iran, which has emerged as an obstacle to the drive to assert American hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East.
The Times, a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party establishment, raises the possibility that Iran “could be in violation” of a UN Security Council resolution barring it from the export of missiles and other weapons, and guilty of “escalating a crisis” that could lead to war with Saudi Arabia.
Of course the Times supported that war of aggression in 2003 [against Iraq] and became one of the main propagandists of the “weapons of mass destruction” lie used to justify it.
The editorial utters not a word of criticism of US arms sales to the Saudi regime—much less about the Obama administration’s initiation of Washington’s support for the war on Yemen—and concludes with claims of seeing signs that the Trump administration is exerting “constructive influence on the Saudis.”
These lies and omissions make clear that if and when Washington embarks on a potentially world catastrophic war against Iran, the “newspaper of record” will once again provide its services as a propaganda organ for American militarism.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/12/29/yeme-d29.html
(* B P)
Berichten über den Jemen: Vom Rest der Welt abgeschottet
Unabhängige Berichte aus dem Jemen gibt es kaum. Das liegt daran, dass fast keine Journalisten ins Land kommen. Olive Ramme bemüht sich seit fast einem Jahr um eine Einreise und schilderte im Dlf, vor welchen Hürden Journalisten stehen, die aus dem Jemen berichten wollen.
Vieles von dem, was wir aktuell aus dem Jemen wissen, wissen wir von Hilfsorganisationen wie dem Rote Kreuz. Unabhängigen Journalismus gibt es im Jemen hingegen kaum. Die Kriegsparteien vor Ort hätten kein Interesse an internationalem Journalismus und einer Berichterstattung, sagte Oliver Ramme im Dlf.
In erster Linie sei es Saudi Arabien, das verhindern wolle, dass Journalisten ins Land kommen und berichten. Aber auch die anderen im Jemen handelnden Parteien, die Huthi-Rebellen und die Exil-Regierung, seien keine Freunde der Pressefreiheit und hätten "keine Lust auf schnüffelnde Journalisten im Land". (Interview in Podcast)
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Saudi diplomacy goes on defensive
The Saudi reaction to Trump’s announcement that Washington recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy from Tel Aviv was slow and almost pro forma, reinforcing the widespread perception in the region that the administration had colluded with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the decision. This perception — true or false — significantly undermines the Saudis' longstanding claim to be the most active defender of Muslim rights to the city, and by extension Saudi legitimacy as the custodian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the core of the Saudi royal family’s authority.
The Saudis are even more disappointed by the administration’s policy on Yemen. Until this month, the Trump administration has given Riyadh a blank check in Yemen. Support for the Saudi air war increased, and Washington blamed the war entirely on Iran and Hezbollah, highlighting Iranian assistance to the Houthi missile force.
But faced with the imminent danger of mass starvation, the administration worked with London and belatedly called for the lifting of the Saudi blockade of the north and opening the port at Hodeidah. Riyadh has reluctantly agreed, although it remains to be seen how much aid it actually allows. It is a clear example that American and British pressure can provide results. More should follow.
The Saudi leadership is still opposed to a political solution to the war. Well-informed Saudi commentators have rejected appeals for a lasting cease-fire. They equate the Houthis with al-Qaeda as an enemy that cannot be negotiated with. They press for a military solution akin to the defeat of the Islamic State.
It’s an unrealistic strategy – by Bruce Riedel
(B P)
Film: Western media pursue double standards over Yemen war: Pundit
Yemen is under a real threat of death and destruction as a result of Saudi airstrikes, but Western media do not care about the fate of millions of Yemenis, says a commentator.
“There is just a series of double standards in the Western media in particular over Yemen,” because they refuse to reflect the real situation in the war-stricken country, William Spring told Press TV on Thursday.
“Yemen is not being mentioned by Sky News or BBC very much” and “there is a terrible lack of objectivity in reporting by BBC and [the] Sky” News, when it comes to the Saudi crimes against the Yemeni people, the human rights activist noted.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/28/547073/Yemen-Western-Media-Saudi-Arabia
(B P)
GPC party has fragmented into three. One led by president Hadi and supported by KSA. Another clustering around Saleh’s son Ahmed and supported by UAE. And a third in Sanaa that is accommodating what Houthis dictate.
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/946319285558890496
Reports that some leadership of the GPC is reluctant to appoint Hadi as the new head of the party following Saleh's death. GPC is reportedly split into three factions, one in Riyadh, one in Abu Dhabi, and one in Sana'a.
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946819454347997186
(* B P)
Ali Abdullah Saleh: Yemen’s Unrelenting Despot
What made Saleh fascinating despite his many vices was his political and social genius. Saleh had an encyclopedic memory and obsessive personality that were well-suited to a country with a social fabric built on family and tribal connections – By LAURA KASINOF
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/28/ali-abdullah-saleh-yemen-obituary-216177
Remark: Another quite late obituary.
(* B H P)
Yemen’s Humanitarian Catastrophe: The Most Important Story in the World
Western governments have been making more noise about the blockade lately, but there is no hint that any of them intends to reduce support for the war on Yemen in the meantime. That support continues to enable indiscriminate coalition attacks that kill civilians.
The NYT editorial rightly chides the Trump administration for its failure to criticize the Saudis and their allies for their serious crimes in Yemen, but as long as the U.S. continues to enable those crimes any criticism Washington makes will have little effect. The Saudi-led coalition takes for granted that it can act with impunity in Yemen, and thus far Trump has given them every reason to believe that they will be allowed to continue indefinitely. The administration’s fixation on alleged Iranian missiles tells Riyadh that our officials are going to ignore the coalition’s much worse crimes just as Washington has done since the intervention began.
The fact that the crisis only keeps getting worse with the active, knowing participation of many of the world’s leading governments is an indelible stain on their records and a mark of lasting shame for the whole world – by Daniel Larison
(* B K P)
Film: The Debate – Saudi Yemen Atrocities
When it comes to Yemen, lots of records have been broken: like the country passing its 1 million cholera cases, or 1000 days of constant bombing. Even as Saudi Arabia announces that it has eased its blockade on Yemen, its aerial campaign with US bombs continues to claim more lives. In this edition of the debate, we’ll look at the war on Yemen, the quagmire that Saudi Arabia finds itself in, and whether there are any chances of a political solution. Guests: Riaz Karim, Director of Veritas Center for Strategic Studies, and Nabil Mikhail, Professor, George Washington University
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOkMHJq8LlU
and
Saudi Arabia just trying to 'save face' in 'unwinnable' Yemen war: Analyst
Press TV has talked to Riaz Karim, director of Veritas Centre for Strategic Studies, as well as Nabil Mikhail, professor at George Washington University, to get their opinion on this issue.
Karim believes Saudi Arabia is seeking to “save face” rather than to win the war in Yemen, adding that it is well aware that this conflict is "unwinnable."
“I do not think Saudi Arabia has won a war against anyone and I do not think they are ever are going to. They have a two-fold agenda here. One is to disrupt the economy and spread their doctrine of Wahhabism wherever they go, which has been successful to a degree so far, but they are getting an incredible pushback from wherever they are going,” he said.
The analyst also criticized the international community's inaction on the ongoing catastrophe in Yemen, noting that it is just paying lip service to the issue.
He went on to say the United States and Britain are the ones “pulling the strings,” arguing that as long as Washington and London continue their arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the war in Yemen will not stop.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/28/547046/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-airstrike-war-cholera--US-UK
(* B K P)
YEMEN: FROM BLOCKADE TO WAR?
Saudi Arabia and its allies traditionally see Yemen as within its sphere of influence, in relation to which it has a direct influence on the official Yemeni government (the country is a strategic point, important for sea communications through the Red Sea as well as along the south of the Arabian coastline).
Yemen’s subordinate position does not amuse the Houthi’s, who comprise up to half of the country’s population. A direct confrontation with the coalition has been taking place from 2014, and Yemen has been fully blockaded since 2017.
It is also very important that the Houthi’s don’t accept the current borders. Earlier, the Saudis took a part of the nation’s territories and forced the former Yemeni leadership to accept the deal.
In the last year the Houthi’s have twice tried to mount a missile attack on Riyad in order to remove the blockade, although the Saudis have managed to down the missiles in the air with the help of anti-missile weaponry.
The Houthi’s have good relations with Iran and ‘Hezbollah’, because of which they are constantly accused by their opponents of receiving funding from third parties. In this context everything the Houthi’s do is automatically considered to be Teheran’s fault. These accusations are supported by disinformation campaigns in neighbouring countries with a Shiite population: Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrein.
Alongside open warfare, Yemen is being torn apart by internal contradictions, among which is the confrontation between Hadi on the one hand and Saleh’s clan on the other, as well as the conflict between the northern and southern parts of the country.
It is important to take other Yemeni actors into account, including the ‘Muslim brothers’ and the ‘Al-Islah’ party, who, until recently, both took the Saudi side. Considering the new alignment of players, the situation might change for the groups.
[Overview article]
https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/agenda/yemen-blockade-war
(B H K)
Editorial: Humanitarian crisis continues in war-torn Yemen
But it can’t be swept under the rug that Saudi Arabia’s atrocities in Yemen have been enabled in large part by the United States, which throughout the war in Yemen has approved lucrative weapons deals with Saudi Arabia and provided direct assistance in the form of refueling Saudi war planes while in the air and helping to identify targets.
http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20171227/editorial-humanitarian-crisis-continues-in-war-torn-yemen
(B H K)
Cindy Lange-Kubick: In the silence, the suffering of Yemen
Every day she searches for news and hears silence.
Nothing on CNN.
Little on the BBC.
No front-page headlines in the morning paper about Yemen and its civil war.
“Journalists are being banned,” Loukia Sarroub says. “The lack of reporting and the lack of awareness is horrifying.”
Two weeks ago, I called Sarroub to learn more about a war that seems absent from the American radar, about people fleeing and children dying while we plop our fat babies on Santa’s lap and debate Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas.
And she told me Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East but that it is rich in cultural artifacts and history.
“We need to question what the policies are and our own U.S. role with regard to humanitarian aid.”
Because in the absence of headlines, in the suffering we cannot see — or hear — the people of Yemen deserve our attention.
(B K P)
The Middle East in 2018: Five issues to watch
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/middle-east-2018-issues-watch-171220074428325.html
My comment: Yemen is not important?
(* A K P)
The Arab Coalition has dropped new leaflets over Houthi-held areas urging citizens not to cooperate with the militant rebel group and to stay away from their headquarters and militarized buildings and sites.
The Coalition regularly drops such leaflets indicating that such militarized sites are legitimate targets for the Coalitions so citizens should stay clear of.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14089
My comment: dropping such leaflets does not legitimize any target. – How should the citizens keep off if such a presumed target is close to their house? They simply cannot, and nothing would be able to absolve the Saudis of any harm done to them, even by an alleged “mistake”. And also be aware of the fact that the Saudis simply could declare everything and everybody a “legitimate target” – even just after they had hit something. It seems they feel free to declare a “Houthi” almost whomever they want and thus propagate this person (and his whole family and his whole neighbourhood) to be a military target, even if he is no fighter at all.
(A K PS)
The #Saudi ambassador to #Yemen announced that the al Hudaydah offensive progressed due to the cooperation of military units formerly loyal to Saleh. He added that the coalition is cooperating closely with former Saleh commanders.
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946037760435150848 referring to https://www.skynewsarabia.com/web/article/1008024/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-%D8%AA%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7 (Arabic)
(* B K P)
Yemen calls Int'l community to press for stopping Saudi aggression war
Yemen's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called the international community to pressure for stopping the Saudi-led aggression coalition war against the Yemeni people.
In a statement obtained by Saba, the ministry stressed that the aggression coalition have been committing war crimes against the Yemeni people, their properties and infrastructure of the country since three years ago.
The ministry said the aggression war is flagrant violation to the international laws.
The ministry reaffirmed that the solution to the conflict will never ever be through military solution, but through sitting around the negotiation table and reaching a political settlement.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news482929.htm
Remark: By Sanaa government.
(B H K)
UNICEF: Saudi-Arabiens Krieg im Jemen ist Krieg gegen Kinder
Das UNO-Kinderhilfswerks UNICEF hat den saudischen Krieg gegen den Jemen hinsichtlich seiner verheerenden Auswirkungen auf die Kinder als 'Krieg gegen Kinder' bezeichnet.
(B K P)
Was Yemen the Most Important Story of 2017 and Why Was it Under-Reported?
Why did Yemen not get a look in, considering it is the biggest humanitarian disaster on the planet?
there is one story which has not been given the news coverage in mainstream media that it surely deserves — the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201712271060247516-yemen-crisis-under-reported/
Remark: A longer overview – but the question asked in the beginning is not asked and no more referred to.
(A P)
Yemeni tribal chiefs join Arab coalition to avenge Sheikhs
The military has captured key points around Sanaa as they look to close in on the Houthi rebels.
Tribal war chiefs looking for vengeance on Houthi rebels have joined the Yemeni army as they captured key positions less than a day’s drive from rebel-held Sanaa.
To avenge this disregard for tribal law, two prominent tribal leaders in Al Bayda have joined Yemeni army troops to fight the rebels, saying they had struggled under Houthi oppression for more than a year.
(* B K P)
Saudi Arabia's life or death mission in Yemen war
Three years of war have neither subdued the Houthis nor brought an overall victory to Saudi Arabia. As the conflict rages on, the kingdom firmly deems the Yemen war a matter of life and death.
Amidst these escalations, the three-year war has brought the kingdom to the point of no return. Given this bitter scenario, it would not be plausible or feasible for Saudi Arabia to withdraw from Yemen war or just leave this country alone.
Today, the battle is unstoppable and the two opponents are resolute that they will not give up.
Certain ingredients make the end of the conflict very hard to happen. These ingredients can be simply explained.
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A H P)
Macron fordert totale Aufhebung der Jemen-Blockade
Bei einem Telefongespräch mit dem saudischen König Salman bin Abdulaziz hat der französische Präsident Emmanuel Macron eine totale Aufhebung der Blockade des Jemens gefordert.
Er äußerte sich zudem besorgt über die katastrophale Lage im Jemen und wies bin Abdulaziz zur Öffnung der Grenzen an. "Nur so können lebensrettende Versorgungsgüter und humanitäre Hilfen in das Land gelangen", so Macron.
http://parstoday.com/de/news/world-i35343-macron_fordert_totale_aufhebung_der_jemen_blockade
(A H P)
France's Macron presses Saudi king to lift Yemen blockade: Elysee source
French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “complete lifting” of a blockade on Yemen in a telephone call with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Dec. 24, an Elysee source said on Wednesday.
“The president expressed his strong concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and called on the Saudi king to lift completely the blockade to allow humanitarian aid and commercial goods to enter Yemen,” the source said.
Comment: Well it would be good if Saudi would listen. Of course being cynical it gets more difficult to justify selling weapons to this autocratic monarchy if it is conducting an act of genocide on its poor neighbour. They haven't threatened to stop selling weapons I note. Nor have USA and UK
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156240704808641
Comment: We are not impressed. France Saudis' military partner in the war on #Yemen and arms supplier
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1598351860217838
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(A H)
While we were searching for the child in previous tweet to help him, we discovered today that there is another victim of cancer in the same age. Cancer centers in #Yemen are suffering from lack of medical supplies for Cancer patients amid the ongoing war in the country (photo)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/947160792666951680
(A H)
We shared the story of Yousif and his brother Mohammed in the past. منظمة قدراتك للتنمية your.abilities.org NGO in #Sanaa continues to take care of them.Here are the updates: (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/your.abilities.or/posts/409934119424931 = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1601259086593782
(* B H)
Yemen Food Security Outlook Update, December 2017
Large populations in Yemen continue to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity, the latter of which is associated with increased acute malnutrition and an increased risk of excess mortality.
In recent days, the Saudi-led coalition announced the re-opening of Hudaydah to commercial food and fuel imports. Heavy restrictions on imports through these ports since early November had resulted in sharp prices increases for fuel, and risked a deterioration in food security outcomes. Initial reports suggest commercial flows of food and fuel have increased in recent days, but sustained imports of essential goods is critically needed.
In the event a prolonged, sustained disruption to imports through Al Hudaydah and Salif ports were to occur in a worst-case scenario, Yemen would face a risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-food-security-outlook-update-december-2017
(A H)
Salam guys, Funded by our brothers and sisters in Kuwait. @monarelief now destributing 52 food aid baskets in an old Sanaa (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/947071588893102080
Pic here is before and after @alialsonidar told @monarelief that there is homeless people are in dire need for help. @monareliefye's crew reached them our providing the an urgent aid.
https://twitter.com/monarelief/status/946852724506877952
(* A H)
UN decries ‘deepening catastrophe’ in Yemen after milestone 1,000 days of bloodshed
Three-quarters of Yemenis, including over 11 million children, are in a desperate need of humanitarian aid while over a half are suffering dire food and water shortages, UN agencies are reporting, fearing the worst is yet to come. [Overview article]
https://www.rt.com/news/414663-yemen-un-humanitarian-catastrophe/ = https://www.globalresearch.ca/un-decries-deepening-catastrophe-in-yemen-after-milestone-1000-days-of-bloodshed/5624455
(* A H)
WHO, WFP and UNICEF: Yemen’s families cannot withstand another day of war, let alone another 1,000
WHO, WFP and UNICEF appeal for humanitarian access and an end to conflict, as 75 per cent of population now in need of urgent assistance
We have passed the grim milestone of 1,000 days of war in Yemen. As violence has escalated in recent days, children and families are yet again being killed in attacks and bombardments.
“More than 1,000 days of families driven from their homes by brutal violence. 1,000 days without enough food to eat and safe water to drink. 1,000 days of bombed hospitals and damaged schools. 1,000 days of children recruited to fight. 1,000 days of disease and death … of unimaginable human suffering.
“The conflict in Yemen has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world
https://www.unicef.org/media/media_102360.html = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-wfp-and-unicef-yemen-s-families-cannot-withstand-another-day-war-let-alone-another
My comment: Such appeals coming nearly daily. While the UN leadership still blocks peace by upholding a biased position on Yemen – due to US and Saudi influence.
(* B H)
Film: #Yemen blighted by war, cholera and crippling blockade. Water and Food have become luxury
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1599739006745790/
(B H)
Photo: Charity water truck arrives but the question is always one: is this a life?
(B H)
'Under the slogan I CAN LIVE. Psychosocial Support Program (For three months). from 1/12 to 28/2
Place: Pediatric Oncology Center, Oncology Center.
Your Abilities org for Development, in cooperation with BALDENA and Ms. Jameela Abad, in collaboration with the Smile Growers Initiative and psychosocial support staff, supported its program for children with leukemia and tumors Where the program may include several recreational activities and awareness (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/your.abilities.or/posts/409002626184747 = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1599303306789360
(* B H K)
Kinder leiden unter dem Krieg
Das Kinderhilfswerk Unicef weist in einem Bericht auf die Schicksale von Kindern hin, die in Kriegsregionen leben
Kinder in Kriegsgebieten werden weltweit immer stärker zur Zielscheibe von Krigeshandlungen. Das hat das Kinderhilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen Unicef in einem Bericht herausgearbeitet, in dem die Situation von Kindern in Kriegs- und Krisenregionen dargestellt wird. Die Konfliktparteien missachteten offensichtlich das Völkerrecht
http://www.die-tagespost.de/politik/Kinder-leiden-unter-dem-Krieg;art315,184651
(* B H K)
Children increasingly used as weapons of war, Unicef warns
2017 was a brutal year for young people caught in conflict, UN agency says, citing their recruitment as fighters and bombers
and
(* B H K)
Born into war: Shocking photos from around the world show the devastating toll on children forced to endure genocides, starvation, bombings and other atrocities sparked by conflict
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5201783/Born-war-Photos-children-plagued-conflict.html
Remark: Worldwide, not special for Yemen.
(* B H K)
Map: L’opération « Tempête décisive » provoque un désastre sanitaire
In French: map of the dynamics of a man-made humanitarian disaster caused by Coalition's Decisive Storm Operation in #Yemen
articles in the link
https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/cartes/desastre-sanitaire-yemen
(* B H K)
Bombardements, famine et choléra
Enlisement saoudien au Yémen
Du Qatar au Liban, l’Arabie saoudite enchaîne les fiascos lorsqu’elle se mêle de politique régionale au Proche-Orient, où elle est accusée d’avoir armé idéologiquement, voire militairement, certains djihadistes. Le discrédit est à son comble avec la guerre sans issue, et sans merci pour les civils, que le royaume conduit au Yémen (complete subscribers only)
https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2017/12/BONNEFOY/58214
(* B H)
UNICEF: 2,100 child soldiers recruited in Yemen
Some 2,122 children have been recruited as soldiers during the three-year conflict in Yemen, a UNICEF reported revealed yesterday.
UNICEF Resident Representative in Yemen, Meritxell Relano, wrote on Twitter: “In Yemen 2122 children recruitments verified so far.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171228-unicef-2100-child-soldiers-recruited-in-yemen/
Comment: Only 2,000 odd??? That's a joke surely - the reality is many times more than that. All sides have child soldiers - and especially as the militias don't put children on the front line but use them in checkpoints and as guards - where they are less likely to be killed - which means that parents are happier to let their young sons join the militias and armies where at least they are fed. What a choice - dying of starvation or putting yourself in harm's way by donning a uniform in this war torn country? No family should have to make this choice. There is no point in the West moralising when it is OUR arms sales that are fuelling this dreadful conflict.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156243027018641
(* B H)
Film: Seit März 2015 wird der Jemen von Saudi Arabien bombardiert. Zudem blockieren die Saudis die Häfen des Landes. Der Jemen hängt zu einem großen Teil von Nahrungsimporten ab. Die UN warnt bereits vor einer der schlimmsten Hungersnot, die die Welt seit Jahrzehnten erlebt hat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=AKHtOzOVYJU
(A H)
Good morning guys, as I promised you lastnight. @monarelief delivered this early morning blankets and winter clothing to children in an old Sana'a. Our project today was funded by our great donors from #Kuwait Pix taken by @monareliefye (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/946320871861481472
https://twitter.com/khuloodalhadda1/status/946427532848652288
(B H)
Yemen: A Growing Humanitarian Crisis
https://hiu.state.gov/#NEA,U1721
My comment: Two (click further) maps. By US State Department – lamenting what they themselves have done.
(* B H)
Humanitarian workers in Yemen say the worst is still to come
As the war in Yemen passes the 1,000-day mark, aid workers and diplomats say the humanitarian crisis is ongoing, with nearly 7 million people facing starvation and no clear solution in sight
Indeed, one informed diplomatic source said the conflict “could well see some much harsher phases, despite some possible improvement in the restriction of humanitarian aid, despite various diplomatic attempts by the UN and other concerned capitals to promote a political settlement to the war there.”
(B H)
Ottawa women raising funds to help growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen
A group of young Ottawa women have started a campaign to raise money and awareness to help the people of Yemen
Group inspired by Zein Ahmed's delivery of aid to refugee camp a year ago
(A H P)
India provides medical assistance to Yemen
India on Wednesday provided medical assistance worth about $1 million to Yemen in response to a request from the Yemeni government.
(* B H)
Film: Omanis bring aid to Yemeni borders by trucks
Some Omanis are driving in the other direction. They're taking truckloads of aid towards the battlegrounds. Al Jazeera's Rob Matheson reports from Muscat.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/omanis-bring-aid-yemen-borders-trucks-171227100740779.html
(* B H)
Yemenis Turn to Rubbish Dumps for Food Amid Saudi War, Blockade
The Saudi-led coalition has imposed a naval and aerial blockade on Yemen under the pretext of blocking alleged arms supplies to the Ansarullah fighters. The siege, however, has caused severe shortages of food and medicine, endangering the lives of millions of aid-reliant Yemeni citizens, World News reported.
[Overview of humanitarian situation]
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961006001334
(* B H)
Yemen crisis: ‘Unacceptable that people die from totally preventable reasons’
Daoud Khairallah, Professor of international law at Georgetown University, says that as incidents like the Tuesday market bombing have become tragically familiar, the international community – and particularly the UN Security Council - should appoint a committee to carry out an investigation into what he described as “crimes against humanity.” In his comment to RT, he criticized the body for the lack of action.
“Washington should be more concerned, and it bears more responsibility than other countries. Why? Because it is so close to Saudi Arabia; it is the source of weapons used in Yemen; and because it can do much more. And it doesn’t,”
The world needs to respond to the urgent humanitarian situation in Yemen, otherwise millions won‘t be able to provide the basic necessities of a decent life for their families, said Ralph El Hage, ICRC regional spokesperson.
Ralph El Hage: The humanitarian situation in Yemen is extremely worrying, despite the fact that some humanitarian aid was able to reach through the port city of Hodeidah. More particularly the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] managed to bring in much-needed fuel through the port city of Hodeidah. However, that is not enough.
As the result of the situation today in Yemen, the numbers are really sad and scary. We have [around] 20 people – men, women, and children, who lose their lives on a daily basis in Yemen, because they are unable to purchase their needed medicine, or because they are unable to provide the proper health care that they need to cure or to treat totally treatable diseases or medical cases. This is unacceptable for people to die of totally preventable reasons. If the situation continues as it is now, we will see more and more people unfortunately lose their lives.
https://www.rt.com/news/414360-yemen-saudi-crisis-civilians/
(* B H)
Film: Yemen: 'We wear, eat, drink garbage' - Families search for food in rubbish dump to survive
Severe food shortages mean some have turned to rummaging through rubbish dumps and eating what they find to survive, as footage filmed on Tuesday from the port city of al-Hudaydah show. With the ongoing civil war and Saudi-led blockade leaving many people unable to receive aid, the UN has reported that more than 8 people in Yemen are on the brink of famine. One citizen, Yahya Hassan, explained, "We are here looking for food, we have no work."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vad-C6KYKJc = https://twitter.com/Ruptly/status/945660217265704960 and see also https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/1598051213581236/
(B H)
Infographic, figures: Oxfam Yemen Situation Report #48, 31 October 2017
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/oxfam-yemen-situation-report-48-31-october-2017
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(A H)
Commander of Joint Operations in Ahwar: We Will Continue Fighting African Trafficking Gangs on the Directorates’ Coasts and We Call Backup for the Efforts of Brigade 111
Colonel Ali Said Al-Umaisy, commander of joint operations and chief of staff of brigade 111 in Ahwar, indicated that an African trafficking gang and other criminal gangs attacked a post of brigade 111, stationed in Ukbat Al-Shakh – Ahwar/Al-Mahfed axis. Colonel Al-Umaisy added that the post engaged with a trafficking gang who tried to traffic a group of Africans on board of two vehicles
(B H)
Yemen: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Dashboard for November 2017
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-shelternficccm-cluster-dashboard-november-2017
Yemen: IDPs Hosting Sites (as of December 2017)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-idps-hosting-sites-december-2017
Yemen: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster 3Ws for activities implemented in November 2017
Yemen: Shelter / NFI / CCCM Cluster Planned Activities for January 2018 onward
Yemen: In-Country Stocks and Pipelines (as of December 2017)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-country-stocks-and-pipelines-december-2017
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(* B K P)
Houthis steps up recruitment of child fighters
The Houthis have stepped up the recruitment of child fighters among young boys of schools and orphanages in the capital Sana'a.
Educationalists in Sana'a who wanted their identity not to be revealed for security reasons told al-Sharq al-Awsat on Thursday that "in the previous two weeks the militia "has stepped up its recruitment among schoolboys in Sana'a and extended the recruitments to Hajjah, Mahweet, Dhamar and Raymah."
The militia "imposes on the boys the lectures of the group's leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and audio records that call for Jihad," said the sources.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14172
Remark: By anti-Houthi media of Islah Party, as the following:
(B P)
Angry families continue to abandon Houthi-controlled Sana'a
Angry families struggling with suppressed bitterness and anger continue to abandon the Houthi-controlled Sana'a for fears about their sons as the Shiit Islamist militia continues to recruit child fighters without the consent and knowledge of their parents.
Yemen Voice news website reported that "Sana'a is witnessing a mass immigration by hundreds of people toward the government-liberated provinces" saying Sana'a might "turn into a ghostly town", in other words, free of residents.
Several media report a stagnancy in the educational and other services and commercial sectors as the public grapple with several fears.
The parents of students in many schools have jointly issued "an unsigned statement demanding the Houthis to stop embroiling their sons in the battles," Yemen Voice said.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14171
(A P)
Houthis' practices only new chapter in their crimes history, says female activist
The chairwoman of Yemeni Women Empowerment Foundation said that "the recent Houthi militia's practices against a group of political, social, media and rights activists was only a new chapter in their history of crimes against the Yemeni people."
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14170
Remark: By anti-Houthi media of Islah Party. For the foundation: http://www.nakhwah.org/en/organizations/1148--Yemeni-Women-s-Empowerment-Foundation-
(A H K)
A Houthi child soldier. Caption: Martyred December 23, 2017 in Haima, Sanaa province (photo)
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/947083152706752512
(A K P)
New trained Yemeni fighters joining tge battles against US-backed Saudi invaders. (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/946608321309573120
(A P)
Members of the Houthi rebel militia stabbed and shot dead Mutee al-Nakhlani a barber in Sana'a on Saturday for hanging the photo of the former rebel leader Ali Abdullah Saleh
The Houthi militants killed Mohammed Abdullah an officer in the Republican Guards with his wife and four children showering them with bullets on their car in Sana'a on Saturday evening
Ameera al-Ezzi a female teacher was shot dead by a Houthi gunman in front of her house in Al-Dhihar district of the Houthi-controlled province of Ibb on Friday evening.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14135
My comment: By Islah Party media, having an anti-Houthi propaganda bias.
(A K P)
Picture in Sanaa Orphans House where Houthis are now mobilising orphans to fight for them. According to UN, Houthis are responsible for 72% of child soldiers in #Yemen
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/946393566590459904
(A K P)
Houthis coerce civilians to fight on the frontlines in Yemen
Houthi militia leaders are forcefully drafting civilians in Yemen’s Dhamar governorate as the Yemeni army quickly approaches the area, local sources have revealed.
The forced militia recruitment, including coercing former soldiers, is at an all-time high as the battle of al-Bayda approaches, while anyone who refuses to join them gets kidnapped, the sources added.
The sources also said that the drafting rounds have even reached schools, where militia leaders are actively looking for students to fight, specifically those in secondary school and high school.
My comment: For many reports making the difference between truth and Saudi propaganda is almost impossible.
(A P)
All these trumpets will be launched in the next stage to justify their shameful fall
In resolving the employment of the countries of aggression.
If you fill the rooms of hotels # Riyadh where you booked seats to betray you by justifications.
You will not forgive the blood of the martyrs. You will not be forgiven.
We will not lose anything from your fall.
But we took advantage of you when your false mask was revealed
https://twitter.com/laboza1/status/946119805123334145
My comment: This is by Dr. Qassim Labouza, the vice president of the Supreme Political Council. The pro-Saudi side had claimed the vice-president (giving him another name) had fled from Sanaa. Whoever this should have been, Labouza, a former follower of ex-president Saleh, is siding with the Houthis.
(* B P)
See, I don't talk much to you folks on what's what in #Yemen capital Sanaa recently because of the screaming absence of facts. I cannot establish what the facts are. I don't think anyone here knows what happened, and what continues to happen. Not even the Houthis. Weird.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/946101712460247041
People in Sanaa who should KNOW what happened ask me what happened. The vast reams of news, analyses, reports & claims broadcast & printed about Yemen capital Sanaa since the video of Saleh's dead body : To me, they're all based on a fundamental absence of clear facts. Bizarre.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/946104783982747648
(A P)
A notable surge in the deaths of mid-level Houthi leadership over the past month. Some sources claim that as many as 66 battle commanders got killed last month alone. Ps: those are not decorations on the walls, those are photos of martyrs (photo)
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/946012382173843456
(A P)
President meets sheikhs, notables of Bani al-Hareth district
The meeting discussed the repercussions of the unfortunate events that took place in the capital Sana'a in early December and the effects they had left on the various tracks
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news482996.htm
(A P)
For over thirty years Yemeni politician Faika Assayed never wore a Hijab... yesterday she appeared meeting Al-Samad wearing one. She most certainly was forced to do so because of the recent Houthi absolute control on Sana’a. (photos)
https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/945932870874554368
No. She mourns, in black clothes & scarf, in Yemeni capital Sanaa the killing of ex Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Brave of her.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/946067149860294656
(A K P)
Yemeni Huthis threaten to hit Somaliland
Rebels loyal to Yemeni Huthis have threatened to attack the self-declared Republic of Somaliland for supporting their enemies.
The rebels, in a social media video message read by hooded fighters, say they were aware of Somaliland intending to provide a military base to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“If Somaliland goes ahead with its plan to allow the UAE to use Berbera port as military base to carry out bombardments to Huthi rebels, it will be a wrong decision,” said the rebels.
“If Somaliland does not heed to the warning then we will fire ballistic missiles to Somaliland,” they said further.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A P)
Central Bank of Yemen: Al-Houthi Orders About Their Opposition’s Money Are Void
Central Bank of Yemen asserted that provisional seizure ordered by Al-Houthi on 1223 of their opposition figures is void, and called for all its branches not to initiate it as it was ordered under threat.
http://en.smanews.org/central-bank-of-yemen-al-houthi-orders-about-their-oppositions-money-are-void
Remark: This is by the Aden Central Bank.
(-)
Photos: Streets of Aden
https://twitter.com/_AmrGamal/status/946840044249210880
(A P)
Yemeni PM returns to interim capital Aden from Riyadh
PM Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr returns to Yemen's coastal city of Aden following two-week visit to Saudi capital
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/yemeni-pm-returns-to-interim-capital-aden-from-riyadh-2921622
(* B P)
Saudi/UAE Hysteria in Yemen Part of New Precarious Alliances
Hadi, Al Islahis and the UAE
Meanwhile, the hassle raised by the decisions of the resigned president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, on Sunday evening, resulted in controversy on both the political and media levels. The controversy generated by Hadi's decisions, which were based on an implicit understanding between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is part of the arrangements needed to prepare the ground for a new round of battles in which the coalition hopes to gain momentum against Ansarullah.
According to the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar newspaper, Hadi’s decisions overthrew the last of the remaining faces of the «Southern Transition Council», which are allegiant to the UAE, from the structure of legitimacy in Yemen
On the other hand, Hadi's second decision which stirred a lot of controversy was the removal of former governor of Taiz.
Accordingly, it is possible to talk about a trade-off whereby the UAE would like to exclude its well-known men from the "reformist" party (Muslim Brotherhood’s Al Islah party), in exchange for strengthening its influence in areas of importance and sensitivity such as Taiz. However, this trade-off, if true, does not yet seem to bring, along with other measures intensified by the coalition, what Riyadh and Abu Dhabi desire.
It appears, until further notice, that there is a fluctuation in the attitude toward "Al Islahis" as part of the new Saudi-Emirati plan
(A P)
Alleged violations to human rights in Yemen refuted
All the inmates of Aden’s Al Mansoura Central Prison are detained on criminal convictions, field visits paid by the Yemen National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights, to Al Mansoura Central Prison in Aden, have confirmed.
The committee members have also paid a number of visits to several hospitals in the provisional Yemeni capital and have corroborated that all the detained are receiving best healthcare services and exercising all their rights, including those belonging to Iran-backed Houthi militias who are being treated in the city’s hospitals.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302657283
My comment: There are serious and detailed reports on arbitrary detainment and torture in Southern Yemeni jails under the supervision of UAE allied forces. This report here, published by the UAE news agency, seem to be little more than propaganda. Let’s look again at the reports and which prisons where presented there. I think to remember that this Aden prison was not among those which had been broadly reported as torture prisons anyway.
(A T)
Emirati-backed forces raid AQAP position in Hadramawt, eastern Yemen[3]
(A P)
Government of Yemen files complaint with UN against Houthis' confiscation of bank accounts
The Yemeni Government has filed an official complaint with the UN Envoy Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the ambassadors of the 18 countries sponsoring peace in Yemen against the illegal actions committed by the Iran-backed Houthi militias, including their confiscation of the bank accounts of thousands of their oppositionists.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302657234
My comment: The Hadi government labeling the ambassadors of the states connected to it (including Saudi Arabia, US and UK) as “ambassadors of the 18 countries sponsoring peace in Yemen” LOL.
(A P)
Not everyone is pleased Islah broke ties with Muslim Brotherhood and forged a relationship with UAE. A 'Save Islah' Telegram channel emerged highlighting concerns Islah abandoned its founding principle 'Islam is the solution'. A pro-AlQaeda channel spreads their messages.
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946180798864023553
(A P)
President Hadi replaced the governors of Lahij and al Daleh on December 24, the last remaining governors part of the STC. [3]
(A P)
Photo: Southern martyr Ahmed Al-Idrisi: do not adjourn the session until the South regains full sovereignty.
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946870530329559040
Remark: Burning a Yemeni flag, holding a South Yemeni flag.
(* A P)
Transitional Political Council of the South (STC) President Aydarus al Zubaydi appointed Major General Ahmed Bin Brik, the former governor of Hadramawt, as the head of the STC’s National Assembly during the assembly’s first meeting on December 23. The STC is an Emirati-backed governing body that rivals the legitimacy of the internationally recognized Hadi government in southern Yemen. [2]
(A P)
Vice President of the Southern Transitional Council: Our Position is Coherent with Abha Conference Outcomes and What the Countries of the Arab Cooperation Council Agreed on in 1994 indicating the No Union by Force
During the first meeting of the southern national assembly, Sheikh Hany Ben Brik, vice president of the southern transitional council, indicated that one of the major outcomes of Abha Conference 1994 of Arab Cooperation Council indicated that no union by force and our situation is coherent with this outcome. The following is a brief of Ben Brik’s speech in front of the southern national assembly:
(* A P)
An Important Message from the Southern National Assembly to the World
The message came at the end of the first meeting of the southern national assembly held in Adan last Saturday, attended by president of the southern transitional council, Aidarous Al-Zubaidy, Sheikh Hany Ben Brik, vice president of the council and members of the council’s presidency in addition to local leaders of the governorates and military and security commanders. SAMA news Publishes the message text:
The past years proved that complex situations in Yemen were because of the consequences of a political error represented in the so-called “Yemeni Union”. This union died in its cradle and turned into forceful union that established conflicts in Yemen. It effects are no longer limited to Yemen. Instead, it affected the whole region and threatened international peace and security, according to recent decisions of UN Security Council.
We assert that the southern state can restore its position as a sovereign state and to support its membership in the UN. This state is qualified to function according to UN convention, rules of the international law and all international treaties signed during the past period since November 30th, 1967, in addition to the Arab League convention.
http://en.smanews.org/an-important-message-from-the-southern-national-assembly-to-the-world
(A P)
Al-Awlaky: The National Assembly is a Message to Internal and External Powers
Salem Thabet Al-Awlaky, official Spokesman of the Southern Transitional Council delivered the following statement:
This meeting at this specific moment sends several internal and external messages, the most significant of which is that the southern people scarified a lot to liberate his lands from coup forces and its allies who are loyal to the Iranian expansion project.
http://en.smanews.org/al-awlaky-the-national-assembly-is-a-message-to-internal-and-external-powers
(A P)
STC VP Hani Bin Brik blamed the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party for hindering the Hadi government's offensive to advance towards Sana'a. States that there is no need for an alliance with them
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946029954210369537 referring to https://twitter.com/HaniBinbrek/status/946020381328015361 (Film)
Remark: More reporting on the Southern national assembly YPR 371, cp6.
(A T)
AQAP militants attacked Emirati-backed forces in southern and eastern Yemen on December 25. AQAP militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting an Emirati-backed al Hizam Security Forces commander in Mahfad district, Abyan governorate, southern Yemen. AQAP militants also shelled Emirati-backed Hadhrami Elite Forces in near al Mukalla city and in Daw’an district, Hadramawt governorate, eastern Yemen on December 25.[5]
(* B P)
1/ Escalating #Saudi intervention in east #Yemen's Mahra is of concern. Mahris feel close to #Oman. But Saudi media says Mahris need Saudi "to save them from Houthi & Iranian claws". New Gov'r (lives in Saudi) calls #Mahra "a natural extension" of Saudi
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/946001936754470912 and thread and referring to https://www.almowaten.net/2017/12/%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%91%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A9/ (Arabic)
(A T)
Hadrami Elite forces of the Shibam Brigade clashed with #AQAP militants near their Hadrami Elite camp in Budha area of Doan district #Hadramout on Dec 24 killing two militants named
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946172812686802944
(A T)
#AlQaeda #Yemen claims busy Xmas Day. 4 #AQAP ops vs #UAE-supported military. Hadramawt: Grad rockets killed/hurt forces at al-Hamra' camp west of Mukalla 1.45&10.10am; 3 Katyusha rockets & 81mm mortars fired at Badah 9am. Abyan: IED vs Security Belt commander in al-Mahfad 10am (photos)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/946390807858286592
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(* B P)
Only the US can reach a peaceful political settlement in Yemen
Yemen is so complex that addressing its problems seems impossible. It's easy to decide that the world should just write it off and perhaps throw some humanitarian assistance its way to salve our consciences. Yet such a decision would also write off key U.S. interests: defeating al Qaeda, rolling back Iran, securing a critical maritime (and commercial) choke point, and preventing Yemen from destabilizing the region.
The United States cannot be a bystander in Yemen nor can it outsource its interests to Arab partners or the United Nations, a policy the Trump administration seems wont to continue.
U.S. reliance on others to secure its interests in Yemen has been counter-productive.
What then, should the United States do? The answer has been in the mouths (but not the actions) of policymakers for the entire course of the war: a political resolution is the only way forward. That political resolution is not the one currently pursued by the UN (which excludes the majority of players). It is also not going to be one brokered through Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, which will each introduce its own requirements that are incompatible with stability in Yemen.
The United States must lead the effort to prioritize negotiating a settlement to the civil war and setting the framework for a long-term political settlement (which cannot simply be holding actors to previous agreements that were flawed or in which the actors had no say). The United States must also hold its partners in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to their repeated declarations that a military solution is not sustainable — even as they pursue precisely such a military solution. American leadership could set the right tone in negotiations to succeed where other efforts have failed.
Securing a resolution to Yemen’s war is in America’s national interest, not just as a global power, but also as a moral leader –by Katherine Zimmerman
My comment: Yes, the US could do so, but I fear this desire of the author is not realistic. The US is warring party in Yemen, heavily supporting one side, and hardly could appear as a serious peace broker any more. This was the case in Obamas’s time already, and is even more now. – Some critical points: “key U.S. interests … rolling back Iran”: No. One crucial point for the US must be to review its paranoid Iran policy in general. – “but also as a moral leader”: No. Even if it’s hard to understand for Americans, but – due to US policy the US had lost any role as “moral leader” or any realistic right to claim this role many decades ago already (Where: In Guatemala? Chile? Vietnam? Afghanistan? Iraq?).
(A P)
UN move to revive peace talks an attempt to save the Houthis, govt source says
The UN move to revive peace talks with Houthis is an attempt to save the radical rebel militia, a government source told the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat daily anonymously on Monday.
The ongoing news is that the Deputy Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General Ma'ain Shoreim is scheduled to visit Sana'a early next year for reviving the talks.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14090
My comment: Yes, the Hadi government almost daily now tells that they do not want peace but war.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(* B P)
Talking Point: All ancient history in Arab intrigue
TO understand why Donald Trump is cosying up to the Saudi regime and vilifying Iran, we need to go back into history.
Iran, or Persia as it was known until 1935, is a country going back thousands of years, while Saudi Arabia came into existence in 1932. The hostility between the Arabs and Persians is a long one but the religious polarisation is much more recent, now exacerbated by the politics of oil.
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the leader of the Arab Sunni world, backed by the US and others involved in selling them weapons. Saudi Arabia and Iran have reignited the Sunni-Shi’a split in Lebanon, Yemen, Gulf States and Syria, where there are Shi’a minorities who look to Iran for support.
Ignoring Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and weekly public executions, the US and its allies, including Australia, have decided to back the Saudi monarch in Riyadh against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
As usual, history explains why the West backs Saudi Arabia in this stand-off between Arabs and Persians.
The merchants of death benefit most, with Saudi Arabia the world’s biggest importer of military equipment – by Peter D. Jones
(* B P)
Expert: "Saudi Arabia can't stop Iran's advance in the region"
Expert of the DGAP German analytical center who studies Iran, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, summed up Iran's 2017 foreign policy results in an interview with Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
He believes that this year, Iran looks like a winner in many conflict zones of the region. "While Iranian regional strategy has proved itself to be useful in many cases, its success would be impossible without colossal weakness of Iran's rivals. By that I mean continuing division of the Arab world, which mostly rejects Iran's expansionist role. Iran's strength should be analyzed in the same context as the weakness of its opponents," Ali Fathollah-Nejad stressed.
Speaking about the civil war in Yemen, where interests of Saudi Arabia and Iran have opposite interests, Ali Fathollah-Nejad said: "Both sides are not trustworthy. Saudis definetely exaggerate Iran's role, while justifying their brutal behavior in Yemen and militaristic course against Iran. On the other hand, Tehran openly supports Houthis militants, probably directly through Oman or at least indirectly through Hezbollah. The connection between Houthis and Hezbollah is becoming increasingly obvious, for example in the rhetoric of Houthis' leader."
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/Expert-Saudi-Arabia-can-t-stop-Iran-s-advance-in-the-region.html
My comment: Rhetoric – is just rhetoric.
(* B P)
Droht eine Eskalation zwischen Saudi-Arabien und Iran?
Saudi-Arabien verfolgt aggressiv das Ziel, den wachsenden Einfluss des Irans in der arabischen Welt zurückzudrängen. Dass das Königreich dabei unter Mohammed bin Salman wenig zimperlich vorgeht, zeigt der Militäreinsatz im Jemen.
Manche halten Mohammed bin Salman sogar für so ungestüm, dass sie in naher Zukunft eine weitere Eskalation des Konflikts mit dem Iran befürchten. In seiner Vorschau auf das nächste Jahr etwa warnt das in den USA ansässige Council on Foreign Relations, es könnte 2018 mit einer gewissen Wahrscheinlichkeit zu einem "bewaffneten Konflikt zwischen dem Iran und den USA oder einem ihrer Verbündeten" kommen.
Riad fürchtet vor allem Teherans Konkurrenz um die Macht im Nahen Osten, eine Angst, die durch das Atomabkommen mit dem Iran massiv zunahm. Das Herrscherhaus hat nicht zuletzt Sorge, die schiitische Minderheit im Osten des Landes könnte sich mit dem Iran verbünden und aufbegehren.
Wäre auch ein direkter Krieg zwischen Saudi-Arabien und dem Iran denkbar? Dafür spricht wenig. So groß in Riad die Angst vor dem Erzrivalen ist, so sehr wissen die Saudis, dass ihre Truppen den iranischen kaum gewachsen sein dürften.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
So it turns that western favorite #Saudi CP MBS & @realDonaldTrump pal ordered a total ban on #Christmas celebration & any materials used for it, says this Riyadh -based educator
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/947317244605976577 referring to https://twitter.com/mar2030wa/status/947142491513544704
Dr AlArjani said MBS ordered the ban on Christmas after a meeting with Wahhabi clerics, some were involved in terrorism - as we will show in reports in 2018
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/947318089602994176
(unrated B P)
Mohammed Bin Salman Has Unrivaled Authority in Saudi Arabia. Is He Really a Reformer?
Debate continues over how much the detention of 320 key figures in Riyadh was a decisive move to stamp out corruption in Saudi society, or the culmination of a power grab that has unfolded since Mohammed bin Salman burst onto the scene when his father became king in January 2015. Either way, it is clear that policymaking authority is concentrated in one individual to a degree unprecedented in modern Saudi history—and he isn’t even the king yet. With Mohammed bin Salman now the indisputable powerbroker in Riyadh, what he does with his power will determine whether he succeeds or fails in refashioning the kingdom he aims to lead for decades. (subscribers only)
My comment: He is no “reformer” in the real sense of the word – he just tries to enlarge his power. What is useful for this goal, he will do. That’s it.
(A)
Veterinarian arrested in Saudi Arabia for performing plastic surgery on camels
The vet reportedly injects substances to make the camels’ ears smaller, and facial features bigger in order to make them look “better” and win the contest.
(A K P)
The arrival of the leader of the Taiz axis to Riyadh at the invitation of the Arab Alliance
Major General Khalid Fadhil, commander of the Taiz military hub, arrived in Riyadh on Thursday evening at the invitation of the Saudi-led Arab coalition to discuss the plan to liberate the province.
http://almawqea.net/news/26334#.WkcsFN_iaUl
Comment: A representative for Abu Abbas (who is sanctioned by the U.S., #SaudiArabia, and the #UAE for supporting #AQAP and #ISIS in Taiz, #Yemen), not the man himself, is in Riyadh.
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946787291133079552
(* B P)
Mohammed Bin Salman's regional failures are leaving Saudi Arabia isolated
Manifestations of disrespect toward the Saudi leadership are being expressed across the region due to its poorly manoeuvred foreign and regional policies
Antagonising Turkey
While Turkey has been very keen on maintaining positive relations with Saudi Arabia, on a diplomatic level the kingdom has largely disregarded its approach.
Satellite states falling out of orbit
Saudi Arabia's radical approach with Qatar has scared off other GCC states, forcing them to look for strong regional backers. For example, Kuwait, which has tense relations with Iran and expelled its ambassador mid-2017, began to foster closer relations with Turkey, including intentions to boost military cooperation.
The Saudi leadership's most irresponsible act was forcing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign, holding him practically against his will in Riyadh.
This united the Lebanese political elite and public against Saudi Arabia in a manner unprecedented in the history of relations between the two countries
Defeat of Saudi policies?
Saudi Arabia is not only pushing away a regional powerhouse such as Turkey and smaller states but is also undermining its image in the Arab world and among Arab public opinion – by Mustafa Salama
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/saudis-growing-isolation-middle-east-1900848557
Comment: An interesting perspective on the arab world's view of Saudi Arabia. In truth MBS still has support in the younger population of Saudi Arabia itself, who see him as different from earlier rulers and a hope for the future in the same way that some Americans view trump I guess.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156246589033641
and also
(* B P)
Arab Daily: UAE Distancing from S. Arabia after Riyadh-Ankara Rapprochement
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's recent visit to Riyadh in light of intensified tensions between Ankara and Abu Dhabi has increased differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE and can lead to the collapse of their coalition against Syria and Yemen, an Arab daily wrote on Saturday.
Sources in the Arab country were quoted by al-Rai al-Youm newspaper as saying that relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have darkened in recent months, raising the possibility for Abu Dhabi to withdraw from the anti-Yemen Arab coalition.
They added that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have differences on certain issues, including the war in Yemen and relations with Ikhwan al-Muslimoun (Muslim Brotherhood) group while Riyadh and Ankara are strengthening their ties.
The Arab daily also revealed that an internal stream inside the UAE government is pressuring officials to weaken coalition with Saudi Arabia, seek a way out of the Yemen war and reinvigorate the UAE-Egypt alliance to confront Saudi Arabia and Turkey's rapprochement.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961009001267
(* A E P)
Saudi Squeeze on Alwaleed Has More at Stake Than Money
The motive behind Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s purge might become clearer soon.
Almost two months into it, Saudi Arabia's crackdown on corruption is yielding at least some of the $100 billion the kingdom is targeting. Dozens of former officials and businessmen have exchanged part of their wealth for freedom.
But in the increasingly drawn-out case of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the public face of the Saudi royal family to many foreign executives and investors, there's more at stake than taking over his global business empire and talks on a settlement have hit an impasse.
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is about to enter a crucial few months that will show his true motives and the scope of his power.
How the case unfolds will help investors and diplomats answer a question puzzling them since the nightly raids of Nov. 4: Whether the purge is an effort to root out graft before selling shares in the country's oil giant, or simply a shakedown to boost state coffers while he asserts himself at home and abroad.
People with knowledge of the matter say Alwaleed is balking at demands that could see him relinquish control of Kingdom Holding Co. He also is resisting any suggestion of wrongdoing because of the impact it would have on his reputation, they said.
(A P)
#Saudi Monarchy council of ministers did not convene Tuesday as usual raising fears that #Yemeni missile fired at AlYamamah Palace Tues. 12/19 made a direct hit. King & son have not been seen since.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/946530330244247552
(A P)
Two Saudi princes released from detention in anti-corruption probe
Two sons of Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah have been released from detention at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, days after nearly two dozen other detainees in the kingdom’s two-month-old anti-corruption campaign were also freed.
(A E P)
Apple and Amazon in talks to set up in Saudi Arabia
Apple and Amazon are in licensing discussions with Riyadh on investing in Saudi Arabia, two sources told Reuters, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s push to give the conservative kingdom a high-tech look.
(* A P)
Are AMERICANS being held in the round-up of Saudi princes and billionaires? 17 Western men are among those detained and 'tortured' by crown prince in luxury hotel, claims source inside secretive kingdom
A source with knowledge of the Saudi regime's top levels tells DailyMail.com eight Americans are among 17 Western businessmen being held there
The 17, who include six Britons and three French citizens, were arrested in an anti-corruption drive ordered by the crown prince, the source says
DailyMail.com was unable to get confirmation or denial of the claims of 17 Western men being held from Saudi, U.S., UK or French authorities
The State department said it cannot comment because of privacy rules and the UK said no one had asked its embassy for assistance
Some of the Westerners are being tortured the source said - just like arrested Saudis
(A E P)
Saudi businessman in debt dispute released from detention: sources
A Saudi Arabian businessman whose family’s commercial empire is involved in a multi-billion dollar debt dispute has been released from detention in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Abdulaziz al-Sanea’s release comes as the government steps up efforts to find a company to run a struggling 750-bed hospital owned by his family, a search that has turned the spotlight on the kingdom’s effort to bring overseas investors into the healthcare sector.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(* B K P)
Stop the killing in Yemen
Given U.S. military support to Saudi Arabia, we need to recognize we share some responsibility for this crisis. And our involvement risks not just moral authority but also strategic miscalculation, as the fighting in Yemen is seen as a proxy for a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
As the leader of a faith-based humanitarian organization, I am compelled to speak out on behalf of the innocent and most vulnerable caught in the crossfire of war. At the same time, my decades of service as a U.S. diplomat also cause me to question whether our U.S. national security interests are being advanced by aligning ourselves with a party to this conflict.
From my time as deputy ambassador to Iraq, I know the profoundly destabilizing effect of humanitarian crises on societies in need of peace and reconciliation. They can have a catalytic effect on terrorism. Our close alignment and military support for the Saudi bombings and military effort in Yemen may actually be undermining U.S. security.
Images of the hundreds of women and children killed, and the photos of starving children affected by willful blocking of humanitarian aid, will be used to recruit a new class of extremists willing to target American civilians in perceived retaliation.
Even worse, we may be inadvertently helping to arm al Qaeda as the group is reportedly aligning itself with Saudi-backed Sunni tribes in Yemen fighting the local Iranian-backed Shiite Houthis.
With little to show on the military front and a human catastrophe of historic proportions unfolding, it is time for the United States to fundamentally reexamine its policy toward Yemen.
The United States needs to avoid getting sucked into another long, no-winners Sunni versus Shiite proxy war – by Daniel Speckhard, a former U.S. Ambassador and senior official at NATO, is President and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, a global humanitarian and development non-profit.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/stop-the-killing-in-yemen/article/2644370
(B P)
fake liberal @BarackObama actually sent support to the Saudi & Bahraini monarchies against protesters. @Cia drones were used & spying software dron #Delex was sold to crush the protesters.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/947130214857003008
(* B K P)
Why Donald Trump chose now to lash out at Saudi Arabia over Yemen
Impromptu move follows intelligence briefing with images of humanitarian crisis
President Donald Trump's public rebuke of Saudi Arabia this month for its role in the conflict in Yemen was an impromptu move quickly set in motion after intelligence officials presented him with images of the deepening humanitarian crisis there, officials said.
The episode also highlights the powerful role that depictions of civilian suffering overseas have had in stirring a president who took office with a clear domestic focus and little foreign policy experience. Sometimes they have triggered sudden, consequential responses from the president.
Officials said the president previously had been briefed on the humanitarian crisis, but one official with knowledge of the 6 December briefing said it had prompted him to push the United States to take a harder stance. Since then, the president has asked periodically about Yemen, the official said.
As they have for other presidents, intelligence briefers frequently have employed imagery and graphics to illustrate complex conditions overseas for Mr Trump in the PDB and other briefings.
"He doesn't have the attention span or the patience to sit and comb through books or briefing materials," said Tim O'Brien, a Mr Trump biographer.
"He makes snap judgments because he thinks his instincts are unerring," Mr O'Brien said.
Comment: Trump does not have the attention span to read briefings and he takes decisions by what he sees: they showed him pictures of the humanitarian catastrophe of #Yemen. The fate of 28 mln Yemenis are in such hands
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1601246549928369
(* B K P)
How Donald Trump Learned to Love War in 2017
The president promised to deliver peace. But in his first year, he expanded every war he inherited.
Needless to say, Tillerson’s aspirations — that the United States will be involved in fewer wars and deliver greater peace — have not been achieved. In reality, the Donald Trump administration has demonstrated no interest in reducing America’s military commitments and interventions, nor committed itself in any meaningful way to preventing conflicts or resolving them. Moreover, as 2017 wraps up, the trend lines are actually running in the opposite direction, with no indication that the Trump administration has the right membership or motivation to turn things around.
President Trump has maintained or expanded the wars that he inherited from his predecessor.
As Jennifer Wilson and I pointed out in an appropriately titled column in August, “Donald Trump Is Dropping Bombs at Unprecedented Levels.”
But as the volume of airstrikes and deaths increased, the Trump administration has subsequently made no progress in winding down America’s wars – by Micah Zenko
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/29/how-donald-trump-learned-to-love-war-in-2017/
(A K P)
Reporter Incurs the Wrath of James Mattis When He Asks If He's 'OK' with Civilian Casualties
On Friday, Secretary of Defense James Mattis visited with members of the press and answered a range of questions before the end of the year. When the topic of civilian casualties came up, Mattis wanted to make it clear that he takes the issue very seriously.
The Washington Post reports a Mattis said "it’s a tragedy every time” a civilian is killed during military operations. He noted the U.S. uses a high standard when it comes to avoiding civilian deaths.
Then a reporter asked if he was “OK” with civilians being killed. Mattis showed he was not having it. "I’m never OK with any civilian casualty. Don’t screw with me on this.”
My comment: And? The US is behind daily killings of civilians in several countries; what is Mattis doing?
(A K P)
Mattis: Assad's 'Industrial-Level' Killing Should Dwarf Concerns of Yemen Civilian Casualties
Defense Secretary James Mattis today defended U.S. efforts to prevent civilian casualties in the Yemen war, suggesting reporters focus on the "industrial-level" killing of the Assad regime over civilian deaths in pinpoint Saudi-led strikes.
Washington supported Saudi strikes from the outset with intelligence and logistics and has continued to do so in the Trump administration, despite growing discontent from some lawmakers.
Speaking with reporters today, Mattis was asked what U.S. training has done if Saudi strikes keep killing civilians.
"What we're going to do is we're going to continue to train them how to do target identification, try to get their capabilities up in those areas. We're going to continue to work with their pilots in explaining how you do bombing runs, that sort of thing -- anything we can do to limit the civilian casualties, we will be doing," he replied. "At the same time, for the Houthis to put weapons in the residential areas -- and this has been shown not just by us, but by other people -- that doesn't help, if they're sincerely concerned about civilian casualties."
"We acknowledge that civilians have died. We do not want to see this happen. We have been trying to get this to ...the negotiating table for years now, and that's probably the bigger effort is to end the fighting there. But, in the interim, we're going to try to make that army, that military of the Saudis more capable of carrying out what they find to be their military necessity, without killing innocents."
Mattis noted that "this is the first time in the history of warfare when we've had this level of precision that we've achieved" with weapons, yet "people are being held to a standard today that warfare can seldom permit achieving."
and
(A K P)
Mattis: US determined to reduce civilian casualties in Yemen
Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday the U.S. is determined to reduce the number of civilian casualties in the Saudi-led campaign against rebels in Yemen and will press ahead with efforts to train Saudi pilots to identify legitimate targets.
His comments to reporters at the Pentagon followed a U.N. report on Thursday that said more than 100 civilians had been killed in airstrikes in Yemen in just the past 10 days.
"We are going to continue to train them how to do target identification, try to get their capabilities up in those areas. We're going to continue to work with their pilots and explain how you do bombing runs, that sort of thing," Mattis said. "Anything we can do to limit the civilian casualties, we will be doing ... We are going to try to make that military of the Saudis more capable of carrying out what they find to be their military necessity without killing innocents."
Comment: This gem was near the end of the story "Mattis also predicted that more conventional U.S. troops will take on missions that were once the province of Special Operations forces in 2018"
https://twitter.com/Kyaaale/status/947119976967786502
My comment: LOL. The US had told they would do so already several times. – Well the US Air force itself never could achieve that, as many, many thousands of killed innocent civilians in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan are telling nearly every day. Thus it also is ridiculous to lament about something like “Assad's 'Industrial-Level' Killing” when the US “industrial killing” is exercised for years now. Just, this whole announcement is little more than a distraction of the simple fact that air raids ALWAYS kill scores of innocent civilians. Every time, everywhere. – And, further on, such an (simply impossible and unrealistic) announcement should make acceptable to further continue this war, this slaughter.
Comment: Why don't they just stop selling bombs?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156246343433641
(* B K P)
Endless War Is US Imperialism’s Holiday Gift to Yemen and Beyond
Saudi Arabia and its main ally in Washington are no closer to achieving their objectives in Yemen or the region at large. Another Holiday season has passed with the crisis-ridden imperialist system dictating policy in Riyadh and Washington showing once more that it has no other gift to impart to the planet but endless war.
Even still, nothing indicates that Saudi Arabia and its command center, US imperialism, have inched any closer to victory in Yemen. Yemen must continue to be framed in the context of a mythical sectarian war occurring broadly in the region. Sectarianism has always justified imperialist war dating back to the colonial period.
A loss in Yemen would cut off Saudi Arabia from key oil resources and hasten the demise of its oppressive, monarchial state. Furthermore, the loss of Yemen would mean another setback for an already ailing imperialist world order led by the US.
In other words, the lords of war are losing ground despite the wreckage wrought by imperialist policy.
If endless war is US imperialism’s holiday gift to humanity, then Santa must be slayed.
(* B H P)
Yemeni Americans Say Trump's Travel Ban Tears Families Apart
Twelve year-old twins Alawi and Abdullah Shaibi aren't sure why they haven't seen their mother in more than three years, but they think it has something to do with a closed airport.
https://www.wnyc.org/story/yemeni-americans-say-trumps-travel-ban-tears-families-apart/?.com
(B K P)
COLUMN-Commentary: Here’s what Washington should do about Yemen
The United States may not be an active combatant in Yemen’s war, but it is not a bystander either.
The administration perhaps has not given an explanation because there is no good one to give. Indeed, Washington’s policy in Yemen in regard to the civil war is ineffective at best and a contributor to the conflict at worst. If the United States is genuinely serious about promoting a peace process, it would change its policy by suspending all defense sales to the Saudi-led coalition that could be used in an offensive capacity in Yemen.
Washington must recognize its mistakes before further damage is done, because the longer the war goes on the more misery will be thrust upon the Yemeni people - and the more damage there will be to America’s reputation – By Daniel R. DePetris
https://www.reuters.com/article/depetris-yemen/column-commentary-heres-what-washington-should-do-about-yemen-idUSL1N1OS1LK?rpc=401& = http://www.focus-fen.net/opinion/2017/12/29/4962/heres-what-washington-should-do-about-yemen.html
My comment: That’s a few steps where a long path would be to walk. You finally must confront yourself with the fact that the US is a main warring party in Yemen and fully responsible for a lot of destruction, killing, starving out and allowing diseases to spread.
Comment: The Trump administration deludes itself it is thinks that Iran is the sole cause of Yemen's problems.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156246804733641
(* B K P)
Washington’s Dilemma in Yemen – When Sticking to the Old Alliance Goes Against US Security Interests
Right now, America must pursue a delicate balance: protect its interests in the country, while not further conflagrating the already-desperate situation of the Yemeni people and effectively pushing for an end to the violence.
The U.S. has the leverage to push such a strategy forward. While America should not cease the purely defensive assistance it offers to Saudi Arabia and other coalition members, it can pull the plug on all other forms of logistical support. This includes the refueling and other maintenance support to coalition military assets. Ending all attack and reconnaissance drone operations in the conflict zones, especially in the regions around the capital of Sana’a, would send a strong message to all parties that the U.S. is serious about not supporting the continuation of violence.
My comment: This only would be going half-way. Selling arms to a war zone and giving political support for partisan politics also must end if peace should be achieved.
(* B K P)
The Yemen Crucible - The New York Times
The Trump administration has long applied a double standard to the violence in Yemen, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It fiercely condemns Iran for supporting the indigenous Houthi insurgents and allegedly supplying them with short-range ballistic missiles and other weapons. At the same time, it has nothing bad to say about (and is indeed enabling) Saudi Arabia’s savage bombing in support of Yemen’s government — an air campaign that is worsening a civilian death toll among a population already suffering from a famine and cholera.
That Iran is providing the Houthis with missiles and other weapons has not been proved.
For the moment, however, Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign and its blockade of Yemen’s major ports and airports are the main drivers of the crisis.
[By Nikki Haley] Not a word was said about Saudi-American cooperation in the war, and officials, in response to basic questions from reporters, were unable to prove their charges about the source of the missiles. The purpose of this dog-and-pony show — the Pentagon declassified the weaponry for the occasion — was to reinforce the administration’s campaign to rally international support for punishing (and perhaps, someday going to war against) Iran on grounds that Tehran is largely responsible for destabilizing activities in the region.
President Trump, eager for close ties with the new Saudi leadership, has largely turned a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis.
For starters, the Saudis could fully lift the blockade and challenge the Houthis and the Iranians to join in an immediate unconditional cease-fire. This is just the sort of opening Mr. Trump could be urging; if he has the kind of relationship with the Saudis that he boasts about, he might get them to listen — and save countless Yemini lives in the bargain – by Editorial Board, NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/opinion/the-yemen-crucible.html
My comment: The crucial role of the US (starting with the NYT’s beloved Obama) is neglected here.
(* B K P)
Film: What do you know about Yemen?
How much do Americans know about the crisis in Yemen? We took to the streets of New York and Washington DC to find out.
https://www.rescue.org/video/what-do-you-know-about-yemen
(* B K P)
Singulière amitié entre Riyad et Washington
Très virulent à l’égard de l’Arabie saoudite durant la campagne électorale de 2016, le président américain entend désormais faire profiter son pays de la richesse du royaume. Une démarche intéressée qui ne tient pas compte des difficultés structurelles d’un pays engagé dans d’incertaines réformes économiques et sociétales (complete only subscribers)
https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2017/12/WARDE/58172
(B P)
Visions for Solidarity with Yemen
The first step in supporting Yemenis is an honest recognition of long-standing U.S. military involvement in Yemen. With that recognition, we can better fight the billion-dollar arms deal the U.S. has with Saudi Arabia, along with its refueling of Saudi war jets and intelligence coordination. Not to mention the U.S. Counter-terrorism operations that include U.S. Drone strikes, which have nearly tripled since Trump came into office. With growing power on the streets, in U.S. congress, in the media, and around the world, the demands for an unconditional lifting of the blockade, which requires the withdrawal of U.S.-support, can no longer be ignored.
https://www.warresisters.org/visions-solidarity-yemen
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A K P)
UK aid helps clear lethal landmines in war-torn countries following generosity of British public
International Development Secretary announces that Britain will extend its demining work to save lives in Angola, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
In response to the unprecedented generosity of the UK public in supporting the most successful Christmas landmine-clearing appeal ever, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt has today (29 December) announced that Britain will extend its demining work to save lives in emergencies in Angola, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
My comment: While Britain furnishes deadly arms to the world and bears a grerat part of responsibility for killing and injuring in Yemen.
(A H P)
A Thousand Days Too Many – Why Yemen Cannot Wait Any Longer
I urge all concerned people to write to your MP and ask for the conflict in Yemen to ensure that the UK government is doing all it can to bring a peaceful end to this horrific crisis
I am proud of the vital work that we are doing to serve the local communities affected by the war. However, it’s a sombre thought to think that these communities are yet again facing another winter of conflict.
This is why, in addition to working to respond to the crisis on the ground, Islamic Relief is using the conflict’s 1,000-day anniversary to call on the UK Government to take action to bring the war to a peaceful end.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Italien / Italy: cp1
(B P)
Was hinter Teherans Strategie steckt
Iran mischt heute im Jemen, in Irak, im Libanon, in Bahrain und Syrien mit, aber auch in Afghanistan und neuerdings in Katar. Welche Ziele verfolgt das Regime?
Wieso schickt Iran bis heute Berater, Kämpfer, Waffen an ein halbes Dutzend Fronten in dieser aufgeladenen Region?
Ein Mann, der darauf Antworten hat, weil er immer schon zum inneren Zirkel der Macht gehörte in der Islamischen Republik, ist Hussein Sheikh al-Islam. Sheikh al-Islam ist der Nahostberater von Außenminister Javad Zarif. Zuvor diente er 16 Jahre lang als Vizeaußenminister. Er war Botschafter in Syrien und kennt die Welt. In New York vertrat er sein Land bei den Vereinten Nationen.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/iran-was-hinter-teherans-strategie-steckt-a-1184589.html
Mein Kommentar: Recht oberflächlich. Interessant sind auch die z. T. sehr kontroversen Kommentare.
(B P)
France: Yemen - Q&A - Excerpts from the daily press briefing (29.12.17)
France deplores the many civilian casualties in Yemen as a result of the military operations over the last few days. This situation underscores the urgent need for a negotiated political solution.
France is mindful of Saudi Arabia’s security. It expressed its solidarity with the country following the missile attacks targeted against it over the last few weeks.
My comment: Western hypocrisy. Definitely: France is not “mindful of Saudi Arabia’s security”, Yemenis’ life is second. There is “solidarity” with Saudi Arabia because of missile attacks which hurt nobody, there is no solidarity with all the Yemenis killed, injured, displaced, who lost their beloved, their houses, their work, everything.
(B P)
Al Houthis radicalised after Saleh death: Lavrov
The Iran-backed Al Houthis has become a radicalised movement after killing Yemen’s ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Russia believes only a political solution can end the crisis in Yemen, Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov said.
Lavrov told RT on Monday that Al Houthi’s assassination of Saleh had made things worse in Yemen, and Russia has always advised militants to engage in talks with their opponents. “The assassination of Ali Abdullah Saleh, of course, has made this situation much more difficult and now Al Houthis have [become more] radicalised,” Lavrov said.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/al-houthis-radicalised-after-saleh-death-lavrov-1.2148646
(A P)
Tunisia suspends Emirates flights over UAE’s ban on women from country
Tunisia says UAE had banned Tunisian women from flying to or transiting through its territory
Tunisia on Sunday suspended Emirates Airlines flights after a public outcry over security measures in the United Arab Emirates targeting women from the North African country.
The announcement came two days after Tunisian government officials said the UAE had banned Tunisian woman from flying to or transiting through its territory.
Comment: This is another interesting development in the Arab world. One of the (many) theories on why UAE decided Qatar was to be considered and outlaw was because of Qatar's support for the Libyan 'side' in the Libyan civil war that opposes the side that UAE supports. So these wars in the MENA area are causing many other simmering conflicts.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156241568228641
and
(A P)
Tunisia airline row: UAE 'political miscalculation'?
"What it really looks like is the UAE is not necessarily used to playing politics well in actual democracies, and Tunisia is an actual democracy," Noe said.
"Tunis has a strong women's rights record and a strong women's movement", he said, and UAE officials "don't have the political maturity and acumen to deal with democracy".
cp12a Libanon / Lebanon
(* B P)
Déjà Vu im Libanon - Saudis und Libanon 2016
ie von den Saudis ausgelöste Libanon-Krise vom November ist halbwegs ausgestanden - da sollte man an die ebenfalls von ihnen ausgelöste Krise von Februar 2016 erinnern
Erstaunlich ist, dass bei all den Berichten über diese neueste Krise des Libanon offenbar kaum jemand einen Blick nur 1 ½ Jahre zurück auf den Februar und März 2016 getan hat, als mit ganz ähnlichem Vorwand die Saudis und ihre Verbündeten den Libanon ins Visier nahmen und durch Drohungen und politische und wirtschaftliche Maßnahmen das Land unter Druck zu setzen versuchten.
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/deja-vu-im-libanon-saudis-und-libanon-2016
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(* B E P)
The Once Happy Land: Economic prospects for Yemen after the War
Looking at the level of devastation, all countries involved in the Saudi Arabian-led coalition, directly and indirectly, must be held accountable for the destruction Yemen has been subjected to. Contributions – financial, technical and humanitarian – will be needed to repair the damage that the country’s agricultural sector has suffered. In order for the country to recover from the war, it needs major infrastructural investments in soil recovery, roadbuilding, and the rebuilding of storage facilities as well as food processing mills. However, this would only be the first step in post-war reconstruction. Following these basic measures more progressive policies need to be developed in order to help the sector better contribute towards national income, increase national food security, and continue to provide jobs to a large segment of Yemeni society.
The implementation of the policy recommendations outlined above is much more pressing today than ever before. The war devastation wrought upon the agricultural sector poses a major threat of famine and subsequent mass migration, making urgent the case for reform.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(B T)
IF I’VE TO GO BACK TO YEMEN, I WILL
The Salesian missionary, who was kidnapped by terrorists in Yemen in 2016, says that he harbours no anger towards those who abducted him and killed his colleagues
(B T)
The U.S. Has Pummeled Al Qaeda in Yemen. But the Threat Is Barely Dented.
Yet the top U.S. counterterrorism official and other U.S. intelligence analysts concede the campaign has barely dented the terrorist group’s ability to strike U.S. interests.
The group formally known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has dogged Trump since his first days in office, when the president authorized an ill-fated raid on a Qaeda.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/world/middleeast/yemen-al-qaeda-us-terrorism.html = http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2017/12/30/pounds-qaeda-yemen-but-barely-dents-risk-attack/3fXGjMeuazyTOj6JZK1EtI/story.html = http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/dec/31/al-qaida-stays-strong-in-yemen-20171231/
Comment: Green light to more dronings, more boots on the ground, more civilians killed. Never once addressing, properly, the problem.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1601079283278429
(* B T)
VIDEO EXPLORES RISE OF #AQAP AND #ISIS IN #YEMEN IN 2017.
https://twitter.com/War_onTerror/status/947055524150960128
(A T)
#AQAP militant Abu Al-Baraa publishes an open letter to AQAP leader Qasim Al-Raymi asking him to support the wife and daughter of 'brother' jihadi Abu Abdullah killed by Security Belt forces in #Lawdar #Abyan. (document)
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946859045268238336
(A T)
#StPetersburg attack: On Xmas Day #AlQaeda #Yemen supporters' wire relaunched "Lone Mujahid" campaign for attacks on West over New Year. #Russia was one target. (images)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/946408962471202816
(* A T)
#Saudi backed #ISIS bombs cultural center in Kabul, #Afghanistan killing 50 including journalists but world media ignores Saudi role in massacre
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/946391382561837056
and
And everyone is ignoring the Saudi sponsored Wahhabi 'man in the mountain' - Abdul Rasul Sayyaf - a man far more closely linked to 9/11 than Bin Laden ever was (Sayyaf mentored 9/11 mastermind KSM). Here he is having lunch with ISAF commander General Nicholson in November 2016: (photos)
https://twitter.com/QuietManc/status/946398725253091329
(* A T)
The terrorist Abu al-Abbas, according to the lists of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, is still carrying out his terrorist activities in Taiz at the head of his financed and supported brigades,
Put him on the list of terrorism and kept him in his post and then continued to provide him with generous support of money and weapons, and evil Balawi Arab alliance, what laughs !!
https://twitter.com/TawakkolKarman/status/946309784147554304
Saudi-UAE support terrorists with money & weapons even after they designate them as terrorists. She cites Abu Al Abbas in Taiz as an example.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/946347654237315077
(unrated B T)
Film, talk: SHAFAQNA Round Table - Dr Riaz Karim & Reverend Nadim Nasser
The root cause of terrorism and how to best denounce it as a global threat?
A polarized debate about the underlying causes of violent extremism in the Islamic world has taken place among western policymakers, analysts, and academics ever since the cataclysmic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Broadly speaking, two major views have emerged.
But before we can consider how best to address Terror we ought to consider NOT its underpinning but its ideological motivation or motivations. In other word, is Terror anchored in Islam? Especially if we consider that Muslims most of all have suffered under its rule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6dR1J5HlgQ
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Yemen: Militants’ Aggression Against Civilians Gives Weight To Coalition Blockade – OpEd
The latest missile attack on December 19 could compel the Saudi-led coalition to tighten the blockade once again. After the attack, already the coalition’s spokesperson accused the Houthi militants of using humanitarian entry points to import missiles from Iran.
Though blockade causes shortages of essential non-military supplies, lifting it ensures the Houthi militants get more missiles to fire at the population centres in the Gulf States, killing many civilians each time if missile-interception attempt fails.
Therefore, despite the sharp UN warnings that the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade on Yemen could trigger the largest famine the world has seen for many decades, Houthi’s missile attacks to Riyadh’s populated airport and residential area give some credence to the blockade. Easing the blockade primarily helps smuggling of weapons, including missiles from Iran, into Houthi-held Yemeni territories.
Had the Houthi militants not targeted Riyadh’s civilian populated airport and residential area and the bordering areas between Saudi-Yemen borders, there would have been no necessity for the coalition to tighten the blockade.
More importantly, had the Houthi not occupied the capital of an independent state (Sanaa in Yemen), there would have been no justification – at the first place – for the coalition to wage a war to restore an internationally recognised government of Yemeni President Mansour Hadi – by Bahauddin Foizee
My comment: Simply odd. Writing as if there would not have been any Saudi coalition air raid on Yemen. The worst aerial attacks on civilians in this war are the Houthis’ missile attacks???
(A P)
With coordinated US action, Iran's expansionist strategy will backfire
Important new Middle East developments give the United States and its allies a chance to push back on Iranian hegemonic ambitions in the Middle East.
Key will be congressional focus on not just the Iran nuclear deal, known as the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, but on sanctions legislation to prevent Iranian missile proliferation.
Thus, House and Senate efforts have developed to add special sanctions against Iran for its export of missiles and missile technology, especially to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Congressional sanctions effort hopes to help blunt Iran’s larger strategy.
The bad guys in Iran have been at war with the United States for years. But we didn’t realize it. We now have a chance to wake up, and take additional important steps to seriously crack down on Iran and its war of “mayhem” against the United States – by Peter Huessy, director of Strategic Deterrent Studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies of the Air Force Association. He is also the president of Geostrategic Analysis, a defense consulting firm.
My comment: US anti-Iranian propaganda, which seems to be based on a John-Wayne-Western-film look at the world (“The bad guys in Iran”). The whole matter could be serious if the author would take into account that “export of missiles and missile technology” would be a bad thing generally – thus by the US and its allies as well as by Iran.
(A P)
Iran’s uneasy sway over the region gradually slipping away
Perhaps Iran has achieved some victories in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, but I am certain that these gains will not last. I have no doubt that these said victories will inevitably turn into highly costly ventures for it. The annexation of these states by Iran is being rejected by their populations today, even if some rogue elements may applaud it.
All indicators suggest that there are very few Houthi agents left relative to the population of Yemen and the strength of the army advancing from the south, which is gaining more victories on the ground with each passing day.
This makes the prospect of Houthi survival in Sana'a very slim, especially as the Yemeni army has international legitimacy on its side, along with air support provided by the Alliance.
I am sure that the defeat of the Houthis in Yemen will not only be a defeat for Iran in Yemen, but also usher in defeats in the other three Arab capitals that the Persian mullahs claim to have conquered
(A P)
Yemen government says 32 killed in air strike, disputing U.N. toll
Officials in Yemen’s mostly Saudi-based government said 32 civilians were killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike on a market in the Taiz region earlier this week, disputing a U.N. death toll of 56.
U.N. resident coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said on Thursday the 56 were among 109 civilians killed in Saudi-led strikes in the previous 10 days and he condemned as “futile” the nearly three years of war in the poorest Arab country.
It pits Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the internationally recognized government backed by the Saudi-led alliance, which has carried out thousands of air strikes to roll back the Houthis and fend off perceived expansion by arch-foe Iran.
But the government officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday’s attack on the crowded market in Al Hayma sub-district of Attazziah in Taiz governorate appeared to target a Houthi military vehicle.
“A Houthi military truck passed through the market 10 minutes before the bombing ..., 32 people were killed and 25 injured,” one official said, providing 30 of their names. He added that the market was closed at the time, but an unusual number of people had gathered there to survey the damage from an air strike the night before that had also targeted a passing military vehicle.
My comment: What an odd propaganda is this??? It is a 100 % repeat of a propaganda story from early 2016. Imagine: A military vehicle is driving somewhere. For targeting it, you wait exactly until the moment when it passes through the place where there are most civilians around. My article on this: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/luftangriff-im-jemen-und-propaganda (German)
(A P)
Reports originating from a Saudi newspaper circulating that al Houthi forces stormed the Sana'a Orphans House to recruit child soldiers.
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946494360094498816 referring to http://www.alwast.net/uncategorized/article-2150307
(A P)
Coalition Forces Spokesman Regrets for Statement by UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen
The spokesman for the coalition forces to support the legitimacy in Yemen has expressed regret for the statement of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, which appeared biased to Al-Houthi militias backed by Iran, in which he intentionally called them (de facto authorities) contrary to the resolutions of the UN Security Council and United Nations statements in his attempt to legitimize the coup militias in Yemen and in continuation of misleading the international public opinion by repeating what has been circulating in media and social media affiliated with Al-Houthi militias forgetting the existence of a direct communication channel around the clock with the evacuation cell and humanitarian operations of the command of coalition forces to inquire about the information contained in his statement without verifying or confirming, stressing his bias towards Al-Houthi militias and his politicizing the humanitarian work entrusted to him, ignoring what Al-Houthi militias are committing of crimes and violations
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1703601 and by Emirati news agency http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302657233
My comment: LOL. McGoldrick simply names the facts, and describing all this as “absurd” is even soft. Here the statement: https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/statement-behalf-humanitarian-coordinator-yemen-jamie-mcgoldrick-mounting-civilian. – It’s simply absurd objecting McGoldrick that labeling the Sanaa government as “de facto authorities” would be biased pro-Houthi. On the contrary, it’s biased pro-Saudi. Calling the Sanaa government just “Sanaa government” would be speaking with equal distance.
And the Hadi government even doubles the foolishness of such a statement:
(A P)
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry Says UN Coordinator Is Biased, Calls For Replacing Him
Yemen’s Foreign Affairs Ministry accused UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick of siding with Houthi militias and violating international resolutions.
An official source at the ministry condemned McGoldrick’s “biased statements”, which “raise doubts about the real goals that the coordinator seeks to achieve and the background behind his repeated stances” in support of the militias, “despite the crimes committed against civilians and continued kidnappings of citizens.”
“The statement issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jimmy McGoldrick, on December 28, 2017 was biased, politicized and unprofessional. It did not address the crimes committed by the insurgents and ignored the real tragic situation created by the militias.
(A P)
Arab Parliament condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
The Arab Parliament has called on the international community, especially the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, to hold Iran accountable for violating Yemen’s national sovereignty and smuggling all types of weapons and ballistic missiles to arm the Houthi militias, with the aim of destabilising the region and perpetuating chaos.
This demand is part of a resolution issued during the second ordinary meeting of the parliament’s second session this year
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302657217
My comment: A Saudi mouthpiece – as in other cases as well. It’s a joke that Iran should be the one who offends Yemeni sovereignty.
(A P)
Coalition: ‘We Have Carried Out Operations to Target Houthi Leaders’
The leadership of the coalition forces in support of legitimacy in Yemen stressed targeting senior Houthi leaders during the past few days.
It said that it will reveal the details of these operations after confirming the information that it is currently gathering and said that Houthi militias are using "Sam-7" missiles.
The coalition’s leadership considered that the peace opportunity with the Iranian Houthi militias is still available if they abandon the coup project and agree on a political solution based on the three references, which are the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism, the outputs of the comprehensive Yemeni national dialogue and Security Council resolution 2216.
It warned the militias from not bowing to the international will as it leads to the continuation of operations carried by coalition forces until it returns legitimacy to all the Yemeni territories.
My comment: Telling: We want surrender of the enemy or war. The greatest international obstacle to peace, “Security Council resolution 2216”, asks exactly this.
(A P)
Saudi Arabia’s reform drive is bold, yet fraught with risk
The crown prince’s liberalisation is breathing fresh air into a stifled society
The Middle East’s most dynamic leader this year, albeit in a sluggish field, would be Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia. MbS, as the 32-year-old wunderkind is known, has seized the reins of power and set a dizzying pace for a ruling family that by habit coalesces slowly around low common denominators, with caution and consensus as its watchwords.
My comment: What an odd propaganda article, Prince Salman as reformer again and even as “wunderkind” – by David Gardner
(A P)
Yemen resolved to disband coup militias: VP
Yemeni Vice President Lt-General Ali Mohsen Saleh has affirmed the determination of the Arab coalition and legitimacy to end the coup, fight terrorism and restore the Yemeni state.
https://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/818424
(A P)
Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Yemen: Iran provided the Houthis with ballistic missiles
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1703246 My comment: Telling exactly the same again and again. This is no news.
(A P)
Saudi-led coalition destroys Houthi missile stockpile
The Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government on Wednesday said it destroyed a Houthi rocket-manufacturing workshop in Saada, as well as weapons stockpiles including surface-to-surface and ballistic missiles.
Weapons obtained by Houthi militias from Iran were also seized, said coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki at a press conference in Riyadh on Wednesday. “We have knowledge of the movements of those wanted in Yemen.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1215416/saudi-arabia
My comment: I wonder because already ca. 2 weeks ago the Saudis had claimed to have destroyed a Houthi missile workshop in Saada province. And again, Saudi propaganda not even understands that it contradicts itself claiming that a) the Houthi missiles had been furnished by Iran and b) that they have destroyed Houthi missile workshops.
(A P)
Coalition spokesman reviews efforts in Yemen
The spokesman for the coalition forces in support of legitimacy in Yemen Colonel Turki Al-Malki reviewed a video presentation covering the coalition forces' humanitarian efforts in Yemen.
During the weekly press conference held at the headquarters of King Salman Air Force Base in Riyadh, he highlighted a series of military air operations carried out by the coalition against targets of the Huthi militias both inside Yemen and along the Saudi-Yemeni borders.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1703276
(A P)
Arab Coalition: Iranian Weapons Seized from Houthis in Yemen
The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Wednesday that it had seized Iranian-made weapons from Houthi militias.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1125471/arab-coalition-iranian-weapons-seized-houthis-yemen
(A P)
Yemen’s 1,000 days of agony – a way out
If any one area is a microcosm of the chaotic and bloody battlefield that is today’s Middle East, it is Yemen.
What Yemen needs are elections, an inclusive government, and a new structure for the state. But efforts by the UN envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to end the conflict and resume the peaceful political evolution that started in 2011 remain stalled. There have been talks in plenty, but the underlying constant throughout has been the lack of political will on the part of the Houthis to share power.
The international community must summon up the will to insist on the immediate implementation of UN Resolution 2216, which aims to establish democracy in a federally united Yemen. It must back this new effort with a UN peace-keeping force, while Iran must be prevented, by the imposition of new sanctions if necessary, from assisting the Houthis and supplying them with military hardware – by Neville Teller
http://www.jpost.com/Blogs/A-Mid-East-Journal/Yemens-1000-days-of-agony-a-way-out-520088 = http://www.eurasiareview.com/29122017-yemens-1000-days-of-agony-a-way-out-oped/
My comment: This is far off any plausibility. Why? Because the problem obviously is the Hadi government’s lacking will to share power, as demonstrated so often. And again, it’s the Hadi government which insists in surrender of the enemy and tells again and again that peace (as a political compromise) is impossible. And it is exactly UN SC resolution 2216 which had been an obstacle to peace, as it is biased and not balanced at all. This resolution must be replaced by a new one.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K PH)
Saudi coalition air raids, day by day:
(A K PS)
Coalition aircrafts attack Houthis military headquarters in al Dhala
Eyewitnesses told Almasdaronline that the aircrafts bombed the Houthis center in Damet, as well as military and security checkpoints in the eastern and western suburbs.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/96350
(A K PH)
Two US-backed Saudi aggression coalition airstrikes were waged on Serwah district of Marib province
The strikes completely destroyed two civilians' houses and damaging a number of neighboring ones
Film: Effects of destruction in the homes of citizens as a result of raids on the Directorate of # Sarawah # Marib
https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1756699361027787/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/947234329092124672
(* A K PH)
Report: Saudi aggression conducts 50+ airstrikes, killing 6 civilians in 24 hours
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483276.htm
(A K PH)
Witnessed the targeting of aviation to the trucks of citizens in the Directorate of # orphaned Jouf, which resulted in the death of two drivers and the destruction of trucks, and significant material losses of goods as one of the locomotives were loaded with diapers and the other loaded with oil derivatives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt8lvsd4DE4 = https://www.facebook.com/WeenAlEnfigarAlaan/videos/vb.1529559367337515/1844568145836634/?type=2&theater
and the same by a pro-Saudi source
(A K PS)
Film: Coalition aircraft destroys truckloads of weapons en route to governorate of Jouf
https://twitter.com/MONShg_10/status/947046221352488961
My comment: The original Youtube film is dated Dec. 29. The pro-Saudi Tweet is from Dec. 30. He simply took the film and “changed” the load of the frucks.
(A K PH)
Two hostile airstrikes hit the capital Sana’a
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483224.htm
Happening now: #Sanaa under airstrikes (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1600750933311264
(* A K PH)
Update: Over 20 citizens killed in US-Saudi airstrikes on Hodeida
At least 20 citizens were killed in US-Saudi airstrikes targeted cars in al-Jarrahi district of Hodeida province, a local official told Saba on Saturday.
The official said the enemy's warplanes hit three cars near to a restaurant at the entrance of al-Jarrahi district, killing more than 20 citizens in an initial toll.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483243.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483219.htm
and
(* A K)
Over 20 Yemeni civilians killed in Saudi-led airstrikes on Hodeidah
At least 20 civilians were killed on Saturday when Saudi-led coalition fighter jets hit Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, witnesses and a medical source told Xinhua.
The warplanes struck three taxis full of travelers near a crowded restaurant in the city, killing a number of people, including women and children. Dozens of clients inside the restaurant were also killed or injured, according to witnesses.
Medical source in the Hodeidah hospital told Xinhua by phone that at least 20 were killed and 10 others wounded.
The attack took place during noon at the al-Jarrahi district.
photos: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1761187147510605
films:
https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1756617394369317/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/947203067853856768
https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1756675024363554/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/947226577720565761
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKg1Wa19vC8 = https://www.facebook.com/Yemenpress.news/videos/vb.318993228715/10155272242468716/?type=2&theater
and what pro-Saudi propaganda makes of it:
Aviation targets a gathering of Houthi reinforcements in Al-Jarhi area in Hodeidah province, killing and injuring dozens of them (photo)
https://twitter.com/YNN2018/status/947094865535537152
Comment: #Hodeidah has been declared military zone. In this view anything moving is a target
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1601322913254066
(* A K PH)
10 women killed in US-Saudi air strikes on Hodeidah
A total of 10 women were killed when US-Saudi fighter jets waged on Saturday morning series of strikes on al-Khokhah district of Hodeidah province, an official told Saba.
The strikes hit a farm of the citizen in east of Qatabah area in the district, killing ten women
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483194.htm and http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/30/547236/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-alHudaydah
(A K PH)
Saudi aggression warplanes hit civilians’ houses on Marib
Numbers of civilians’houses on Friday were destroyed when the US-backed Saudi aggression warplanes launched three raids on Aal-zaidi village of Serwah district in Marib province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483170.htm
(* A K PH)
4 civilians killed in Saudi airstrike on Saada
Four civilians, including a child, on Friday were killed when the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition warplane launched an airstrike on their house in Ghamer border district of Saada province, a security official told Saba.
The strike caused damages to residents’ houses in Teshdan area of Gamer district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483164.htm
and
(* A K PH)
Pictures of the massacre committed by the Saudi Arabian Air Adnan by targeting two houses in an area of the district of Qadr # Ghamr governorate # Saada, which left 4 martyrs, including a woman and a girl and injuring 2 others and destroying the houses
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1760877270874926
film: https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1755603437804046/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/946845138080489472
(A K PH)
3 civilians killed, injured in Saudi airstrikes on Saada
The aggression warplane launched a raid on a car in Bani Sayah area of Razih district, which led to death of two civilians.
Also, the air aggression launched a raid on a well-drilling rig in Aal-Ammar area of Safraa district, resulting in the injury of a civilian, Saleh Ahmed Mutlaq.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483167.htm
(* A K)
Saudische Luftangriffe im Jemen töten knapp 150 Zivilisten – Uno
Im Jemen sind laut der Uno bei den jüngsten Luftangriffen der von Saudi-Arabien angeführten Militärkoalition 143 Zivilisten getötet worden.
Wie eine UN-Sprecherin gegenüber RIA Nowosti mitteilte, seien von den Angriffen im Zeitraum vom 22. bis 28. Dezember im Jemen 237 Zivilisten betroffen worden, 143 davon seien ums Leben gekommen, 94 weitere seien verletzt worden.
https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20171229318889106-jemen-saudi-arabien-luftangriffe-tote/
(* A K)
Saudi-Led Coalition's Airstrikes in Yemen Kill Over 140 Civilians in 6 Days – UN
The airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have killed 143 civilians within six days, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told Sputnik.
According to the spokeswoman, 94 more were injured following the strikes.
The OHCHR spokeswoman added that as result of the actions of the Popular Committees linked to Houthi rebels, during this week, five people were killed and 17 were injured.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201712291060398593-saudi-led-coalition-airstrikes-yemen/ and https://news.am/eng/news/429127.html
(A K)
Deliberately targeting civilians by the Saudi-led coalition warplanes.
Insan organization strongly condemns in the strongest possible terms the series of appalling attacks by the Saudi-led coalition warplanes at civilians’ houses, neighborhoods and civilian facilities in the last couple of days.
(A K PH)
Medic killed, 4 patients injured in 4 Saudi airstrikes on hospital in Hodeidah
A medic was killed and four patients were wounded on Thursday when the US-Saudi aggression coalition warplanes waged four raids on Hais hospital and on an ambulance in Hodeidah province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483121.htm
(A K PS)
Saudi-led coalition targets Houthi launch-pads in Yemen
A Saudi-led military coalition on Thursday destroyed three “ballistic missile launch-pads” in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province, according to a statement issued by the Yemeni army.
“Arab coalition warplanes have destroyed three launch-pads used to fire ballistic missiles in Al-Jawf’s Al-Matammah region,” the statement read.
The launch-pads, it added, had been recently transported to Al-Jawf from the neighboring Saada province, traditionally considered a Houthi stronghold.
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/saudi-led-coalition-targets-houthi-launch-pads-in-yemen/1017546
and
(* B K PS)
Saudi coalition videos of air strikes against Houthis
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946314576328626177
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946280306784571392
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946285067667681280
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946286374487035904
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946289805343813632
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/946296443618414592
and
(* A K PS)
Saudi-led coalition strikes Houthi targets in N. Yemen
‘Dozens’ of Houthi militiamen killed, injured as coalition pounds northern Al-Jawf province, source says
Dozens of Shia Houthi militiamen have been killed or injured in airstrikes conducted by a Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province, the Yemeni army announced Wednesday.
An army-affiliated news website (26sepnews.net) quoted an unnamed field source as saying that coalition warplanes had targeted a Houthi training camp in Al-Jawf’s Al-Mutun directorate.
The strikes had resulted in “dozens” of Houthi casualties, the source said, without providing exact death or injury tolls.
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/saudi-led-coalition-strikes-houthi-targets-in-n-yemen/1016113
(** A K)
Militärkoalition bombt weiter: Viele Jemeniten kommen zu Tode
In Jemen ist kein Ende des Sterbens in Sicht. Das unter Leitung Saudi-Arabiens stehende Militärbündnis intensiviert seine Luftangriffe auf die Huthi-Rebellen. Dadurch gibt es eine große Zahl an zivilen Toten zu beklagen.
Bei Luftangriffen der von Saudi-Arabien angeführten Militärkoalition im Jemen sind nach UN-Angaben in den vergangenen zehn Tagen 109 Zivilisten getötet worden. UN-Koordinator Jamie McGoldrick sprach von einem sinnlosen und absurden Krieg - eine für UN-Verhältnisse harsche Kritik an den Kampfhandlungen, die unter anderem von den USA und Großbritannien unterstützt werden.
Unter Berufung auf das UN-Menschenrechtsbüro verwies McGoldrick darauf, dass bei einem Angriff auf einen Markt in Al-Hajma am Dienstag 54 Menschen getötet und 32 verletzt worden seien. Acht der Toten und sechs der Verletzten seien Kinder. Am selben Tag seien beim Angriff auf einen Bauernhof im Bezirk Attohajta 14 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. An weiteren Orten starben den UN-Informationen zufolge bei Luftangriffen 41 Zivilisten.
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Viele-Jemeniten-kommen-zu-Tode-article20204665.html und auch https://diepresse.com/home/ausland/aussenpolitik/5345081/Jemen_UNO-spricht-von-einem-absurden-Krieg und die originale UN-meldung: http://www.unric.org/de/uno-schlagzeilen/28217-jemen-ueber-100-zivilisten-durch-luftangriffe-getoetet
(** A K)
U.N. says Saudi-led coalition raids in Yemen kill 109 civilians
A Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has killed 109 civilians in air strikes in the past 10 days, including 54 at a crowded market and 14 members of one family in a farm, the top U.N. official in the country said on Thursday.
U.N. resident coordinator Jamie McGoldrick called the fighting futile and absurd, an unusually direct criticism of the war in which the coalition, backed by the United States, Britain and others, is fighting the Iran-allied Houthi armed movement.
Citing initial reports from the U.N. human rights office, a statement by McGoldrick said air strikes hit a crowded market in Al Hayma sub-district of Attazziah in Taiz governorate on Tuesday, killing 54 and injuring 32.
Eight of the dead and six of the injured were children, according to the reports.
On the same day an air strike on a farm in Attohayta district of Hodeidah governorate killed 14, and air strikes elsewhere killed a further 41 civilians and injured 43 over the past 10 days.
and full statement
Statement on Behalf of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, on Mounting Civilian Casualties (28 December 2017)
(** B K)
Saudi Massacres in Yemen Claim 600 Martyrs or Injured in 26 Days
The ongoing Saudi aggression on Yemen has been escalated in December, marking a stunning death toll in the impoverished Arab country.
600 martyrs or wounded were claimed by the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen in 26 days in December, according to a report broadcast by the local TV Channel Al-Massira.
The report mentioned that 400 Yemenis were either martyred or injured by the Saudi-led aggression in the second half of December and that the air raids struck all the kinds of civil and military targets in the various Yemeni provinces.
https://english.almanar.com.lb/415798
(A K PH)
2 civilians killed in airstrike on Jawf
Two civilians on Thursday were killed in US-backed Saudi aggression coalition airstrikes on a main road of Jawf province, an official told Saba.
The warplanes launched three strikes on the main road of Matama district, killing the two citizens and burning their truck loaded with vegetables.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483097.htm
and
(A K PH)
THE DEATH OF TWO CITIZENS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK IN RAIDS IN JOUF
Two people were martyred Thursday in a series of raids by the Saudi-American airliner targeting al-Jouf province.
The correspondent confirmed the martyrdom of two citizens in one of the raids on the directorate of Al-Mutama, which targeted a truck loaded with tomatoes, in addition to the destruction of the truck, and the destruction of another car.
A US air-to-air raid targeted a communications network in al-Zaher district in the governorate, which led to its destruction.
(A K PH)
Civilian wounded in airstrike on Dhalee
The strike targeted a farm’s water pump in Damt district late on Wednesday.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483035.htm
(* A K PH)
New massacres of US-Saudi aggression leave over 120 dead, wounded
[Overview on raids, more details YPR 371, cp16]
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news482965.htm
(* A K PH)
5 civilians killed in aggression airstrike on Hodeidah
Five civilians, from the one family, were killed on Wednesday night when a US-baked Saudi-led aggression coalition warplane waged an strike on Tahtia of Hodeidah province, an official told Saba.
The airstrike targeted the family’s house, killing the family and destroying the home.
Also, the aggression warplanes targeted a civilian’s car in Jurahi district of Hodidah province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483033.htm and http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/27/546994/Saudi-warplanes-Yemen-Hudaydah
(A P)
More air raids reported on:
Dec. 30:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483295.htm Hajjah prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483294.htm Saada prov.
Dec. 29:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483207.htm Saada prov.
Dec. 28:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483105.htm Marib prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483103.htm Hajjah prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483041.htm Marib prov.
Dec. 27:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483029.htm Hodeidah prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483030.htm Saada prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483034.htm Hajjah prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news482910.htm Hodeidah prov.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news482941.htm Hodeidah prov.
More details on the Dec. 25 raid at Sanaa:
5 brutal raids yesterday in Sanaa City on the house of Mohammed Al-Raymi, his children and grand children. Additional rescuers & civilians were targeted and killed / injured. After the first raid, rescuers rushed and managed to pull several members who were still alive and they put them in a car while they help the others. The warplanes then raided the car directly and burnt them alive (film; repeated)
https://www.facebook.com/mohamad.shami.33/videos/vb.687587216/10155433944142217/?type=2 and film of attack https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/946762526175518720
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
(A K PS)
Houthis shell Al Taiziah villages for storming northern Taiz
The Houthi militants heavily bombed residential neighborhoods with tanks and cannons in Al-Hima villages in al Taiziah district, northern Taiz, and blew up a tribal leader home, a local source said on Wednesday.
The source told Almasdaronline that the Houthis are preparing to storm Al Hima, as they are bombing those villages from their positions in al Akad mountains, al Hisn, Ashfal, and other sites with guns and tanks.
Hundreds of families were displaced from their villages in al Zwaqir district, some of whom displaced towards al Qaeda city in Ibb province, northern Taiz.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/96349
(A K PS)
Houthis shelling kill a woman, wound four in al Dali, Taiz provinces
A woman was killed and three others were wounded Thursday in an artillery bombardment carried out by Houthi gunmen on a car carrying passengers in Muris area of al Dhala province southern Yemen.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/96354
(* A K PS)
Commander of Al-Houthi Attack on Al-Khoukha killed with more than 100 Militants
Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hajary, commander of Tehamy resistance, asserted that Al-Houthi militias suffered major casualties, including the killing of more than 100 militants with their commander “Abu Raad”, who was killed, and his cell phone was found, and the escaped militants asked to retrieve his body. Al-Hajary indicated that the resistance and the army defeated a counter attack of Al-Houthi militias on Al-Khoukha with more than 250 militants of motor bikes and armed vehicles tries to break throw Al-Khoukha but they were defeated. He added that most of Al-Houthi killed militants couldn’t be identified as they didn’t carry any identification papers or name tags.
http://en.smanews.org/commander-of-al-houthi-attack-on-al-khoukha-killed-with-more-than-100-militants and also http://en.smanews.org/al-houthi-candles-go-off-in-combat-fronts
(A K PS)
Tihama Resistance captured four M113 armored personnel carriers including an M577 command variant between Al-Khokha and Hays #Hodeidah. Yemen's army inventory contains several hundred of these APCs (photos)
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/947243095191465984
(* A K PH)
In pictures: Houthis launches massive counter-offensive in coastal Yemen
Houthis launched a massive counter-offensive in western Yemen, today, targeting the coastal areas they recently lost to the UAE-backed Southern Resistance forces.
The anti-government forces began their attack on Saturday by storming the Southern Resistance’s positions in the strategic Yakhtel area.
As a result of this large-scale assault, the Houthis managed to capture several points from the Southern Resistance
(A K)
Al #Houthi forces made limited progress during a counterattack on al Khawkhah, al Hudaydah, western #Yemen. Coalition-backed forces still control the city.
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/946545671464783873
and
(A K PS)
Photo: Remains of dead Houthi fighters after Tihama and Southern Resistance repelled an incursion attempt on Al-Khokha #Hodeidah.
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946482628319895552
Film: “Burial” of dead Houthi fighters in Al Kokha region
https://twitter.com/MONShg_10/status/947083061870678017
Commander of the Houthi rapid intervention forces Khalid Al-Mahdali killed while leading the assault on Al-Khokha #Hodeidah yesterday. (photo)
https://twitter.com/demolinari/status/946829885921665024
(* A K PS)
Saudi-led year-end airstrikes kill 45 Yemeni Houthi fighters in fierce swoop
Up to 45 militants of the Shiite Houthi group were killed as Saudi-led airstrikes hit their locations in two provinces of Yemen over the past 24 hours, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua.
"In the past 24 hours, about 20 Houthi rebels were killed when aerial bombardment hit their locations in the central province of al-Bayda, where fighting is still going on," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.
Elsewhere in Yemen, more than 25 Houthi rebels were killed and nearly 15 others injured when intensified air raids targeted their sites in the country's western coast areas near Hodeidah province.
The Saudi-led warplanes also destroyed weapons and armored vehicles belonging to the armed Houthi militants during the air raids in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, a medical source told Xinhua that Aljumhuriah public hospital in Aden "received scores of injured soldiers loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government coming from the battlefield with Houthis on the western coast."
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2017-12/31/content_50180305.htm
My comment: Those labeled as “Houthis” in case of the West coast raids seem to be civilians on a market. Xinhua itself reporting correctly: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-12/30/c_136862013.htm#0-fbook-1-93408-b182d7286068ff4101843e17368e4b10 (look at cp16).
(A K PH)
Saudi artillery and missile forces shelled Razih border district
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483207.htm
(A K PH)
Yemen air defenses shoot down spy aircraft
The Yemeni air defenses of the army and popular committees on Saturday shot down a spy plane of the US-Saudi aggression coalition in Hajjah province
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news483190.htm
(A K PS)
Child killed, adults injured in Houthi shelling in Taiz
One child was killed and several adults were injured in Houthi attack on the villages of al-Hayman, Shaqab, Dar Aljalal and al-Akmah Asofla in al-Taiziya district in Yemen's central province of Taiz.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14133
and
(A K PS)
Houthi forces reportedly blew up a mosque, along with several homes, during its crackdown on al-Haymah in #Taiz.
https://twitter.com/YemenPeaceNews/status/946484437071646723 referring to http://almawqea.net/news/26286#.WkXJL9_iaUl
(A K)
al Houthi movement forces attack Hadi government forces in Abyan, southern Yemen [4]
(A K PS)
Arab coalition forces destroy three Houthi missile bases in Yemen
The Yemeni army backed by the Arab coalition forces launched a major military operation to liberate the rest of the province of Khob and Shaf, the largest district of Al-Jawf province north of Yemen.
Coalition forces destroyed three ballistic missile launchers in Al-Mutama area and six tanks and three armored carriers in Ham and Sabreen fronts, which were coming from Sa'ada governorate to Al-Jawf as reinforcements for the militias, in addition to the destruction of an arms cache.
(B K PS)
More than 80 Houthi officers killed in renewed offensive
Yemeni officials indicate the number of officials might be in the hundreds but have yet to confirm.
The Yemeni military has killed at least 80 Houthi officers in the last two months as part of an intensified push to roll back the Iranian-backed militia’s presence in the country.
All 80 officers were killed in Yemeni military campaigns supported by Arab coalition airstrikes. The National was able to verify this information in an official list sent by the Yemeni military.
However, the number of unconfirmed kills on Houthi officers is believed to be more, the spokesman of the Yemeni army, Colonel Abdo Megeli, told The National in a phone call Thursday.
My comment: As claimed by the anti-Houthi side.
(* A K PS)
Yemen's Houthis fire missile at army camp east of Sanaa
Houthi rebels on Thursday fired a "ballistic missile" at a military camp in Yemen's Maarib province east of capital Sanaa, according to a Yemeni military source.
The source, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, said the missile had targeted eastern Maarib's Al-Ruweik military camp.
Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, vice president of Yemen's internationally recognized government (now based in the port city of Aden), had been visiting the camp -- along with several Yemeni military officials -- at the time of the attack, the source said.
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemens-houthis-fire-missile-at-army-camp-east-of-sanaa/1017367
(* B K)
Statement on Behalf of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, on Mounting Civilian Casualties (28 December 2017)
During the past days, residential areas in Al Hayma villages, including a health unit occupied by Internally Displaced Persons, have been subject to a full blockade by the de facto authorities and indiscriminate shelling that resulted in casualties among the residents and displacement of many families to safer areas.
Remark: “the de facto authorities” = UN wording for the Sanaa (Houthi) government.
(A K PH)
Film: the mercenaries of the aggression of Saudi Arabia American targeting civilians and their property by shelling in the Directorate of Mtoon in Al-Jawf province
https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1753634284667628/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/946136275228164098
(A K PS)
Top Houthi officers killed in port city
The Yemeni army has dealt the Houthi rebels another setback as they continue to lose officers among their ranks
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/top-houthi-officers-killed-in-port-city-1.691033
(* A K)
Hadi government forces began an offensive to seize the al Houthi movement-controlled al Bayda governorate, central Yemen on December 26. The Hadi government 107th Brigade entered Nati’ district, central al Bayda, after seizing territory in neighboring Bayhan district, Shabwah governorate. Leaders of the al Awadi and al Wahbi tribes in al Bayda pledged their support for the Hadi government on December 26. Hadi government and Saudi-led coalition forces have been absent from al Bayda since the al Houthi movement seized it in 2015. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula AQAP) militants have been supporting anti-al Houthi tribal forces in al Bayda governorate throughout the conflict.[1]
Remark: Earlier reporting YPR 371.
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(-)
Voll verschleiert
Frankreich 2017, 88 Min., FSK 6, Regie: Sou Abadi, Darsteller: Félix Moati, Camélia Jordana, William Lebghil
Schrecklich, dieser Jemen. Das Land lässt Männern Bärte wachsen und macht aus Mahmoud (William Lebghil) einen fanatischen Moslem. Seine emanzipierte unverschleierte Schwester Leila (Camélia Jordana) indes liebt den Studenten Armand (Félix Moati). Der kennt so gar keine Sure. Kaum zurück in Frankreich – nach dem bekehrenden Jemen-Trip – sperrt Mahmoud seine Schwester ein und Armand aus. Der Student ist freilich findig, näht sich einen Tschador und verschafft als streng religiöse Freundin Scheherazade Zugang zu Leila. Blöd nur, dass sich Mahmoud in die „Schleierfrau“ verguckt.
https://www.duisburglive.de/event/2017/12/30/voll-verschleiert-7/
Mein Kommentar: Mein Gott, auch das noch.
(B)
Graphic novel brings human side of Yemen to life
“The Yemeni Bride” came out in 2016 and was reprinted in 2017. It's set to come out in English in 2018.
“We tried to explain Yemen in its entirety, from stories of daily life to bigger socio-political events currently taking place in the country,” Battaglia told Al-Monitor in a phone interview.
The book is based on Battaglia’s first-person, on-the-ground reporting in Sanaa. The stories, all independent yet tied to each other, describe daily life in Yemen at the beginning of the 21st century, with all its contradictions and human suffering.
Each story addresses a new subject, including Islam, terrorism and kidnapping of foreigners. Battaglia said she wanted to touch on all of the topics that readers might expect to find in a book about an Arab country, "but then addressing them in a way that makes them understand that they knew nothing about them.”
(* B)
Yemeni Women Continue to Excel
Since the war started women’s involvement in the political arena has decreased substantially. This is especially depressing following the recent brief moment when inclusiveness was at the forefront of Yemeni social issues. However, Yemeni women continue to be a beacon of hope for our disintegrating society. Many Yemeni women have excelled in their professions, attracting well-deserved international and national recognition for their roles as iconic, modern Yemeni figures, perpetuating a positive image about the country abroad.
Despite much hype to the contrary, Yemen historically has been somewhat liberal towards gender roles. Many Yemenis are proud of their country being the birth place of great female leaders
Modern Yemeni women have initiated debates and tackled negative societal norms through their work, endangering their lives in the process – but also leaving a great mark on Yemen’s social, cultural and political developments. In recent years, Yemeni women have been on the receiving end of many prestigious international awards.
https://www.almadaniyamag.com/english/2017/12/23/yemeni-women-continue-to-excel-xcjdp
(-)
THE FLOWER MAN A Real Tale From #Yemen
Khoukha, a Yemeni fishing village on the Red Sea, teaches the world the meaning of tolerance and humanity! Four centuries ago some fisherman who had got up at dawn and were on their way to the sea, found a wooden coffin on the beach.
(-)
Film: There’s Beauty in War Ruins, This Yemeni Woman Shows Through Art
The ruins of a house hit by an airstrike in Yemen is a sad reminder of the reality of this war – but to artist Rokaia Al Wassi it is also a rich source of material. She sifts through the rubble searching for panes of shattered glass.
With a bag full of the fragile shards, she heads back home to her studio. She feels the transparency of glass lends the people she draws "credibility.”
https://www.thequint.com/videos/news-videos/yemeni-woman-creates-art-from-war-ruins and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBUljQ2V66w and second film on this artist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwiIgTSlsoU
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-371-yemen-war-mosaic-371
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-371 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-371:
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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