Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 431 - Yemen War Mosaic 431

Yemen Press Reader 431: 7. Juni 2018: Hodeidah: Kämpfe südlich der Stadt; humanitäre Lage kritisch; 121.000 geflohen; UN-Shuttlediplomatie – Die Saudis, Medien, Journalismus und Propaganda ...

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Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

... Al Kaida im Jemen – Fotos aus Aden – Die Huthis und Iran – Hodeidah, Emirate und Deutschland – und mehr

July 7, 2018: Hodeidah: Fighting south of the city; dire humanitarian situation; 121,000 have fled – The Saudis, media, journalism and propaganda – Al Qaeda in Yemen – Photos from Aden – The Houthis and Iran – Hodeidah, the Emirates and Germany (in German) – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Klassifizierung / Classification

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics

cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German

cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English

cp2 Allgemein / General

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

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp9 USA

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp13a 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)

? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating

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

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:

Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** B P)

Saudi-Led Coalition Ministers of Information Meeting Probes Ways to Block Critical Coverage of Yemen War

Well-known Yemeni activist and journalist Rand Al-Adimi told MintPress that dozens of journalists and outlets have been blacklisted, adding that “the Saudi-led coalition blacklisted my name, adding it to a list of journalists who threaten their genocide.”

Hashem was one of the 180 journalists who have been killed in Yemen by Saudi-coalition forces, according to a report by the Union of Yemeni Journalists.

Since the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition’s war on Yemen began on March 26, 2015, journalists have been a preferred target, a fact that Saudi Arabia doesn’t shy away from acknowledging. Former coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri said in a March 2015 press conference that opposition media outlets would be targeted by the coalition and just three weeks ago, at a press conference in Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman reiterated Saudi Arabia’s willingness to target journalists. MintPress News journalist Ahmed AbdulKareem was injured by a Saudi airstrike in 2015 while covering clashes near the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border.

Although the coalition’s war in Yemen barely registers in the international mainstream news, the Saudi coalition and its allies have been desperate to curb negative coverage of the war, which the U.N. has called the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Aside from a coalition-imposed moratorium on foreign journalists entering Yemen, a recent report by the Yemeni Media Union highlights a great deal of coalition activity aimed at controlling the narrative surrounding the unpopular war, including: “five cases of cloning ‘tv’ channels, 22 cases of destruction of ‘media’ facilities, 30 cases of targeting radio and television broadcasting centers, seven cases of suspension from broadcasting on Arabsat and Nilesat, and seven cases of blocking and disturbing channels.”

Despite the coalition’s efforts, ongoing work by local journalists and attention from international human-rights organizations continues to draw the ire of coalition leadership, who recently held a meeting of the coalition’s Ministers of Information in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to discuss strategies to curb what they see as a threat posed by local and international media.

Ministers of Information meeting in Jeddah

According to a source present in the meeting, officials named MintPress News, along with other media, as a threat to their ongoing military operation in the port of Hodeida and developed a number of strategies to stem the flow of information from the frontlines of war. The source, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, went on to say:

They plan to target all media present on Yemen’s coast, especially in Hodeida, including local radio and broadcasting stations and transmission networks … they also plan to use radio transmissions broadcast from Saudi coalition battleships off of Yemen’s coast to broadcast propaganda and psychological warfare to residents and fighters.”

One of the strategies discussed in the meeting was using intimidation tactics to “force residents of Hodeida and surrounding regions to flee until the area effectively turns into a military zone,” a source told MintPress.

Moreover, the Saudi-led coalition plans to wield its considerable influence in the Middle East to push for further blocks of critical coverage of the war on NileSat and ArabSat, two of the largest satellite television providers in the region. The coalition has already been able to pressure regional providers to impose limited bans on the Lebanon-based Al-Manar and Al Mayadeen television channels over their coverage of the war and, according to the Union of Yemeni Journalists, have been able to shut down all local television broadcasts from inside of Yemen a total of seven times since the war began in 2015.

Taking the fight online

The coalition also intends to take its media blitz to the internet. During the meeting in Jeddah, plans were discussed to push for the blocking or removal of social-media pages and online activity of journalists covering the war. The social-media profiles of hundreds of Yemeni activists have already been blocked since the war began. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have a well-established history of shuttering access to social media platforms and banning the coverage of certain topics within in their own borders; and, according to Freedom House, “Saudi Arabia has one of the most censored media environments in the world.”

A source who attended the meeting in Jeddah told MintPress that “Saudi Arabia and the UAE also discussed plans to publish fabricated news stories claiming Houthi fighters mined the port and intentionally deployed their fighters to residential areas,” in a bid to justify the heavy civilian losses that have come as a result of their operation. Plans to increase pro-Saudi and UAE narratives using paid commenters and social-media users were also discussed. Both countries have used paid online trolls to target known Yemeni activists and journalists in the past.

Blacklisting critical coverage

Journalists providing coverage of the war have also been subject to harassment by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, often being blacklisted or threatened if they refuse to curb their reporting. A Yemeni journalist embedded with Houthi forces told MintPress on condition of anonymity that he received a strange phone call from someone claiming to be from the ‘Coalition Operations Room:’

I got a call days ago from an unidentified person who said he was from the Coalition Operations Room. He told me I should leave the Houthis and join the coalition; he promised me legitimacy and financial advantages and told me I would be targeted if I didn’t comply.”

Well-known Yemeni activist and journalist Rand Al-Adimi told MintPress that dozens of journalists and outlets have been blacklisted, adding that “the Saudi-led coalition blacklisted my name, adding it to a list of journalists who threaten their genocide.” Al Adimi runs a website covering the coalition’s war on Yemen with a special focus on her home province of Taiz.

A source who was attending the meeting in Jeddah confirmed that the harassment campaign was one of the strategies discussed in the meeting – by Ahmed AbdulKareem

MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/saudi-led-coalition-probes-ways-to-block-critical-coverage-of-yemen-war/245207/

(*** B T)

A DEFIANT AL-QAEDA

U.S. airstrikes are pounding the group in Yemen, yet the militants fight on fiercely

The battle being waged by U.S.-backed Yemeni forces against al-Qaeda militants has escalated.

In the first year of President Trump’s term, the United States conducted far more airstrikes against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen than it had in previous years. U.S. Special Forces are on the ground here advising the anti-al-Qaeda fighters and calling in American airstrikes, a role that has grown as the air campaign has escalated.

Pentagon officials have said this effort is successfully rolling back al-Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen, considered to be the militant group’s most lethal affiliate.

But while the militants have been expelled from some of their strongholds, Yemeni forces acknowledge that their recent gains against al-Qaeda are precarious. Yemeni fighters combating the group in the hinterlands of Shabwa and Abyan provinces say al-Qaeda has weathered this pounding and remains a fierce opponent.

Al-Qaeda has lost about half the Yemeni territory it controlled at the peak in late 2015, several security analysts said. But the militants remain active in portions of at least seven provinces.

“Now they are more dangerous,” said Rami Ali, 25, an anti-al-Qaeda fighter who participated in the battle. “They are not located in one specific place or area, so it is difficult to find them. And they try to find any opportunity to carry out their attacks.”

MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL

For nearly a decade, U.S. intelligence officials have considered al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, as the most dangerous of all its affiliates.

While the airstrikes have helped U.S.-backed Yemeni forces and their allies from the UAE regain territory, some 4,000 AQAP fighters remain in Yemen, according to a study by the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this year.

‘THE MOST DIFFICULT OBSTACLES WE FACE’

“That’s how they fight,” said Mohammed Salim al-Buhar, the slender 31-year-old commander of the anti-AQAP forces that now control Azzan and Hota, once another militant stronghold. “They try to prevent you from moving forward, to buy time for their fighters to escape.”

Today, Buhar’s men stand guard at dozens of checkpoints and outposts in former AQAP strongholds. But large contingents of al-Qaeda fighters still control four remote districts where mountains and caves serve as hideouts or training camps and maintain sleeper cells inside “liberated” areas.

But the militants’ use of mines and sophisticated explosives has slowed Buhar’s efforts to pursue AQAP.

“The traps they plant for us, and the ambushes, are the most difficult obstacles we face,” he said. “They use explosives in dangerous and innovative ways.”

‘WE ARE NOT TOGETHER’

During the year that the militants controlled Zinjibar and Jaar, they set up what they dubbed the “Islamic Emirate of Waqar.” They ran the courts and the police, apprehended thieves and meted out swift justice, and provided services in ways that the country’s weak and fractured government seldom did.

In the towns of Azzan and Hota, residents said that the militants targeted government employees but treated the rest of the population well.

In rural Yemen, the largely conservative population became a source of recruits and sympathizers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of AQAP fighters hailed from local tribes and families.

For those who battled al-Qaeda fighters in the Al Khabr mountains last month, there was a suspicion that they had been betrayed, quite possibly by people they knew.

Both Abyan and Shabwa provinces have long been breeding grounds for anti-American sentiment. The United States’ support for Israel, as well as its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have fueled anger and resentment, as have allegations of hundreds of civilian deaths in attacks by U.S. drones and fighter planes over the past decade.

“If we are all working together, we can get rid of al-Qaeda,” Ahmed said. “But until now, we are not together.” by Sudarsan Raghavan (with photos, films)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/07/06/feature/as-a-u-s-shadow-war-intensifies-in-yemen-al-qaeda-is-down-but-not-out/

(** B H K)

War leaves Yemen’s Aden hollowed-out shadow of former self

The mood is eerie on the mostly empty streets of Aden, Yemen’s southern port city and designated seat of government that has suffered three years of civil war.

Damaged buildings are hollowed-out versions of their former selves, a testament to past lives and aspirations of inhabitants who now scrape by on aid handouts and the bare minimum for survival. Shot-up storefronts and apartment blocks, carcasses of burnt-out armored vehicles and signs marking minefields now define the cityscape along the sea.

Crumbling, empty billboards line Aden’s rubble-strewn streets. An old Mercedes-Benz dealership, once a peg in a thriving commercial center that sprang up under colonial rule, sits empty and pockmarked with bullet holes. Its damaged sign now stands over bay windows boarded up by people sheltering inside. With the war still raging, nothing is being rebuilt.

On the beach, old pleasure venues also lie empty, broken and deserted. A shattered night club and a vacant children’s theme park are ghostlike reminders of generations past.

Even with a civil war in full swing, people seek some simple recreations and acts of normal life — young men get haircuts and women visit salons where a blow-dry costs 200 Yemeni Riyals ($0.80).

[Excellent photos by Nariman El Mofty]

https://apimagesblog.com/blog/2018/6/14/war-leaves-yemens-aden-hollowed-out-shadow-of-former-self

My comment: This is “president” Hadi’s “liberated” capital city. Hodeidah only will be worse when it will be “liberated”.

(** B K P)

Film: Houthis deny U.S., Saudi claim that they are Iran’s puppets

But just who are those Houthi rebels, and how closely aligned are they to Iran? It is that question that has driven American involvement in the war, supporting a Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.

Special correspondent Jane Ferguson smuggled herself across the front lines in Yemen.

And here, in the third and final report of the series, we look at these important questions behind the world’s worst current humanitarian disaster.

JANE FERGUSON: The U.S. sells the Saudis and their coalition partners billions of dollars worth of bombs and provides intelligence and logistical support.

Saudi jets are refueled midair by American planes between bombing missions. The Saudis and the United States say the Houthis are puppets for Tehran, a proxy form of Iranian military power right on Saudi Arabia’s doorstep.

The Houthi supporters fervently deny this.

The Saudis and the Americans say, Iran is here.

Politically, the Houthis most closely aligned reflect with Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and share an intense hatred for Israel.

The group denies any formal partnership. Since taking control of the capital, Sanaa, their extremist slogan can been seen everywhere, including here on the ancient walls of the old city:

“God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews.”

Hatred of Saudi Arabia also bonds the Houthis to Iran. The Houthis regularly fire long-range ballistic missiles across Saudi Arabia’s southern border and towards the capital. The Saudis say those are provided by Iran and have imposed a tight blockade on all sea and air surrounding Houthi-controlled areas to prevent missiles from coming in.

The Houthis told the NewsHour they took the missiles from Yemen’s military arsenal when they captured Sanaa.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/houthis-deny-u-s-saudi-claim-that-they-are-irans-puppets = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSxE12Ul4EM

(** B K P)

Die Schlacht um Al Hudaydah (II)

Eine humanitäre Katastrophe

Hilfsorganisationen rufen dringend zu einem Stopp der Kämpfe um die jemenitische Hafenstadt Al Hudaydah auf. Die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Kriegskoalition, die im Jemen gegen die Huthi kämpft, versucht seit Mitte Juni, die Stadt zu erobern, um den Huthi-Truppen den Zugang zu dem letzten von ihnen gehaltenen großen Hafen zu nehmen. Beobachter haben seit je mit äußerstem Nachdruck vor dem Angriff gewarnt, da der Hafen unverzichtbar ist, um Hilfslieferungen ins Land zu bringen.

Geostrategische Ziele

Maßgeblich verantwortlich für die Schlacht um Al Hudaydah sind die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, deren Truppen die Offensive auf die Hafenstadt anführen. Dabei wird ihre Kriegführung mittlerweile international scharf kritisiert. Beobachter konstatieren, "die Einheit des Jemen" sei für die Strategen in Abu Dhabi und Dubai allenfalls "zweitrangig": Die Emirate trieben in dem Land vor allem "ihr eigenes, ambitioniertes geopolitisches Projekt voran". Zum einen gehe es ihnen darum, nicht nur die Huthi, sondern auch die gegen diese kämpfende, von Saudi-Arabien gestützte Islah-Partei zu schwächen, da sie der mit Abu Dhabi und Dubai verfeindeten Muslimbruderschaft nahesteht. Zum anderen zielten die Emirate darauf ab, ihre geostrategische Position am Eingang zum Roten Meer zu stärken, durch das faktisch der gesamte Seehandel Europas mit dem Mittleren Osten und mit Asien abgewickelt wird.

Munition für die Emirate

Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate werden seit Jahren von der Bundesrepublik nicht nur mit Rüstungslieferungen unterstützt (german-foreign-policy.com berichtete [4]); sie erhalten aus Deutschland auch Unterstützung beim Aufbau einer eigenen Rüstungsindustrie. So hat die Düsseldorfer Rheinmetall AG schon im November 2007 ein Joint Venture mit der emiratischen Tawazun-Holding und der Al Jaber Group aus Abu Dhabi gegründet, um eine Munitionsfabrik in den Emiraten zu errichten.

Gefechtsübungszentrum am Golf

Rheinmetall hat den Aufbau von rüstungsindustrieller und militärischer Infrastruktur in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten auch anderweitig unterstützt. So hat der Konzern den emiratischen Streitkräften ein hochmodernes Gefechtsübungszentrum geliefert. Die Genehmigung dazu erteilte die Bundesregierung im Jahr 2010

Zudem hat Rheinmetall Defence Electronics die emiratische Bin Jabr Group bei der Herstellung militärischer Fahrzeuge unterstützt; das betrifft die Fahrzeuge NIMRAD ("NIMR Air Defence") und NIMRAT ("NIMR Anti-Tank")

Abu Dhabi Mar Kiel

Umgekehrt beteiligen sich emiratische Konzerne ihrerseits an der deutschen Rüstungsproduktion. Das trifft insbesondere auf die deutsche Marineindustrie zu

Ein emiratischer Rüstungsfinanzier

Darüber hinaus kooperieren deutsche Rüstungskonzerne beim Aufbau von Rüstungsfabriken in arabischen Staaten mit dem emiratischen Staatsfonds Aabar. Aabar hat sich zunächst im Jahr 2011 an der Gründung der Firma "Rheinmetall Algérie" mit Sitz in Ain Smara im Nordosten Algeriens beteiligt,

Die enge Kooperation der Emirate mit der deutschen Rüstungsindustrie hat viele Facetten, sie erfolgt zu beiderseitigem Nutzen - und trägt dazu bei, dass ernsthafte Kritik aus Berlin an der mörderischen Nutzung der Endprodukte durch die emiratischen Streitkräfte im Jemen-Krieg ausbleibt.

https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/7663/

und teil 1: https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/7639/

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics

(* A H)

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse in #Yemen. First it was #cholera (over 1 million cases now), then diphtheria, then measles & now potentially rabies: young girl died from rabies yesterday in Shabwa. It's only the 2nd death so far but locals believe it's spreading (image)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1015197780011339777

My comment: Unfortunately, rabies had already been reported earlier, as April 22, 2017:

(* B H)

Yemen reported 41 human rabies deaths in 2016, Experiencing a ‘severe shortage’ of vaccines

Yemen is experiencing more than it’s share of problems in recent years and infectious diseases are among them, including rabies. The Yemeni Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that 12,000 people were bitten by stray dogs in 2016, resulting in 41 human rabies fatalities that were mostly children, according to a Buyemen.com report (computer translated).

And according to early data in 2017, the human rabies toll continues with 13 reported during the first three months of the year.

Regions of the country most affected were Dhamar, Sana’a and Ibb province.

One distressing point is for the past year-and-a-half the country has been experiencing a severe shortage of the rabies vaccine with no response to their appeal from the local health authorities or international organizations.

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/yemen-reported-41-human-rabies-deaths-2016-experiencing-severe-shortage-vaccines-18900/

and also

(A H)

If you wonder why rabies in human beings is on the rise in #Yemen .. Treatment not available due to war and blockade. This 7yr old boy was attacked and had to fight the battle alone. Broken tooth, strangeled it to death (photo)

https://twitter.com/Bahebbaq/status/942360511450054657

cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German

Look at / Siehe cp1

(* B H K)

Oxfam: 600 000 Menschen im Jemen gefährdet

Durch die Militäroffensive auf die jemenitische Hafenstadt Hudaida sieht die Hilfsorganisation Oxfam das Schicksal von mehr als einer halben Million Menschen gefährdet. Die Lebensbedingungen in der umkämpften Stadt am Roten Meer verschlechterten sich rasant, teilte die Organisation mit. Mehr als 80 000 Menschen hätten bereits aus ihren Häusern fliehen müssen.

https://www.stern.de/panorama/oxfam--600-000-menschen-im-jemen-gefaehrdet-8155800.html

und Film: https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/heute/hilfsorganisation-oxfam-sorge-um-600-000-menschen-im-jemen-100.html

cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English

Siehe / Look at cp7

(* B H K P)

Battle for Hodeidah: Glimmer of hope in UN talks to save vital Yemeni port

More than 120,000 civilians have fled the biggest offensive in Yemen’s war to date, which aid agencies warn could plunge entire country into famine

[Overview]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-conflict-hodeidah-un-talks-port-sanaa-aden-houthis-a8435181.html

(A K pS)

The Forces of al-Amaleqah Brigades, along with other Resistance Forces have taken full control of al-Tuhaita district, south of the port city of #Hodeidah. (photos)

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1015348070106746887

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1015331630989414401

(A K pS)

Film: A footage proves that the Forces of al-Amaleqah Brigades are currently on the outskirts of the city of #Hodeidah.

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1015333241979588608

(* B K pH)

144 Saudi-led armored vehicles destroyed in western coast over June

An official of the Yemeni army said on Friday the army and popular forces destroyed over 144 armored vehicles and 29 groups of the Saudi-led coalition forces over the past June.
The vehicles, with their crew and the groups, were targeted in the western coast front and other areas by guided missiles

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501097.htm

(A K pH)

Over 50 Saudi-paid mercenaries killed, injured in western coast

At least 28 Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and 21 others wounded on Friday by the army and popular forces in the western coast front, a military official told Saba.
10 military vehicles of the Saudi-led coalition were destroyed and their crew members were killed in the parties of Tuhitah area in the same operation also.
The official said that dozens of the mercenaries bodies were carried on ambulances to al-Khukhah area.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501093.htm

(A H K)

IOM Provides Five Ambulances to Address Humanitarian Needs in Hudaydah

IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency, provided Yemen’s Ministry of Health with five fully equipped ambulances to be deployed in Hudaydah.

With the intensifying of fighting around Hudaydah city, large scale displacement has taken place in the past four weeks. IOM along with other UN agencies dispatched medical teams, distributed Non-Food Items and shelter kits, as well as food to various locations, and to Migrant Response Points (MRP) servicing stranded migrants.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-provides-five-ambulances-address-humanitarian-needs-hudaydah

(* A K)

Spotlight: Yemeni forces resume offensive operations in Hodeidah after short pause

Yemeni government forces resumed on Thursday military operations against the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, an army commander told Xinhua.

The southern Al-Amaliqah (Giants) Brigades launched a large-scale attack against the Houthi-controlled district of Tuhyata after a four-day pause, the officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The operation aims at expelling the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city, after the government forces took over the local airport.

Apache helicopters of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) armed forces operating in Yemen carried out airstrikes at the Houthi-controlled sites in Tuhyta to support the Yemeni ground forces, the source said.

He added that the large anti-Houthi attack against Houthis in Tuhyta is still ongoing and will continue throughout the night till recapturing the whole district.

A Hodeidah-based citizen confirmed to Xinhua that the government forces were heavily shelling the Houthi militants' positions in and around Tuhyta district, causing panic among residents.

Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition dropped pamphlets on Hodeidah's district of Tuhyata, demanding civilians avoid being near Houthi-controlled positions or militia gatherings.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/06/c_137304386.htm

(*A K)

Film: July 5: The march from inside Hodeidah International Airport (Arabic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqucJsEmLn8

Remark: Houthi AlMasirah TV reporting from Hodeidah airport, which the UAE and allies claimed to have conquered already several days ago.

(** B H K P)

Hodeida: prospects of humanitarian catastrophe brings Yemen back into the news

Prospects of famine and humanitarian catastrophe seem to be the only way Yemen gets increased international media attention in the west. Hodeida city and its port are now the focus of this concern. Hodeida is Yemen’s main port which receives 70% of Yemen’s imports of basic necessities and has the best access to the densely populated parts of the country. While, prior to the war, the country already depended on imports for 90% of its staple foods, this ratio has certainly increased with reduced agricultural production.

Blockade

The country has been under effective blockade since early in the war, with UN and other humanitarian agencies struggling to persuade the Saudi-led coalition to lift this blockade.

‘Alternative’ ports

Although a third of the total required for the UN’s humanitarian effort, it is peanuts by comparison with the amount spent on the military (equipment and personnel) intervention which is the very cause of this crisis. One of the components of the YCHO is the promotion of completely unrealistic ‘alternative’ ports for the delivery of aid

In anticipation of western public outrage at the foreseen humanitarian disaster awaiting Yemenis in Hodeida and beyond as a result of the offensive, coalition public relations strategy has focused on two points: first insisting that humanitarian aid will reach those in need better and faster once Hodeida is removed from Huthi control and, second, that the victory can be achieved quickly and without significant civilian casualties. Both these are highly optimistic versions are challenged by the humanitarian community: Huthi ‘taxation’ and ‘customs’ would simply be collected further inland, and most foresee a long and murderous street by street battle.

Swift victory?

Strengthened by feeble US and UK objections to the offensive, and its public relations campaign (promoted by the companies, media and individuals on their payroll), the coalition launched its UAE-led offensive on 12 June, with much fanfare and promises of a swift and decisive victory.

Three weeks later, its forces have only achieved limited control of Hodeida’s airport, located south-east of the city and of little strategic importance, whereas the port is north-west of the city.

There is little doubt that, objectively, the military position of the coalition is far more favourable this year than last, as the fighting units involved now include the experienced and skilled force under Tareq Saleh (composed of elite elements allied with the Huthis until last December and now renamed ‘Guards of the Republic.’), the UAE military, thousands of Sudanese troops, the local Tihami resistance which has been trained by the UAE in Eritrea and elsewhere for more than a year and, finally, those most seen on media, the southern Salafi ‘Amaliqa’ (Giants) brigades who, until recently, considered that the ‘liberation’ of parts of Yemen formerly included in the Yemen Arab Republic [1962-1990] was absolutely none of their concerns.

House to house fighting

Understanding Hodeida’s social and economic characteristics is essential to assessing the likely impact of a protracted period of house to house fighting. The Tihama coast and Hodeida city have an extremely hot summer climate and for decades had the highest poverty ratios in the country. Both poverty and climate make the stocking of food almost impossible: basics like wheat, flour and sugar can’t be stored due to the humidity and heat. Most people don’t have refrigeration so must buy their supplies on a daily basis, as they can’t afford the private sector electricity which is the only available supply in some areas, while others have none.

Most housing is flimsily built and multi-storey buildings are likely to collapse on their inhabitants under shelling and air strikes. Few people have any income as prices have rocketed and thousands have become destitute, depending on occasional day labour and support from their relatives who can send assistance. Even with full awareness of the prospects, they do not have the means to prepare for this disaster which they know is coming.

Spare Hodeida!

After the spontaneous response of speechlessness, shock and disbelief at the inhumanity of the decision-makers responsible for this situation, with the prospect of such nightmares ahead, it is only reasonable to ask a few questions.

First, why did the coalition launch its offensive to coincide with the long announced presentation of the new UN Special Envoy’s draft ‘peace plan’ and proposals for re-starting peace negotiations?

Second, was the decision to carry out the offensive in the summer, when living conditions are the worst for the population, specifically intended to worsen civilian suffering?

Finally, given that the coalition has been operating in Yemen, since March 2015 at the request of president Hadi, why did he find it necessary to specifically endorse this initiative the day after it started? It is quite possible that those reading or hearing him won’t even notice that he made this statement in Aden where he returned from Riyadh

As usual I conclude by expressing hope that, unlikely as it may be, reason and compassion will prevail, the assault be cancelled, and Yemenis in Hodeida, the Tihama and the highlands will be spared the disasters which so many are predicting – by Helen Lackner

[This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence]

https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/helen-lackner/hodeida-prospects-of-humanitarian-catastrophe-brings-yemen-back

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Yemen: Hodeidah cannot be allowed to become a graveyard - Oxfam

Conditions for over half a million people in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah are steadily deteriorating with food in short supply and seriously damaged water and sewage systems increasing the risk of cholera, Oxfam said today.

More than 80,000 people have fled their homes, despite a recent reduction in the intensity of the fighting, while preparations continue for a bloody onslaught. In the city troops are being deployed, trenches are being dug and barricades erected. From the air the city outskirts are being bombed and leaflets are being dropped calling for insurrection.

Oxfam is calling on the UN Security Council, which will discuss the crisis today, not to allow Hodeidah to become a graveyard and to exert maximum diplomatic pressure on the warring parties to agree an immediate ceasefire and return to peace talks.

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam's Country Director in Yemen said: "The fate of 600,000 people hangs in the balance. Slowly but surely the city is being squeezed and the real fear is that this is merely a precursor to an onslaught that will lead to widespread loss of life.

"Hodeidah cannot be allowed to become a graveyard. There is still time to stop this destruction.

"One of our biggest fears is an outbreak of cholera. Hodeidah was a cholera hot spot last year and a repeat would be devastating for the people there.

"The backers of this war - including those in Western capitals - need to stop fuelling the conflict and put maximum pressure on all sides of this war to agree an immediate ceasefire. Failure to act now will leave them culpable."

The city's streets are empty and many shops, bakeries and markets have closed, according to Oxfam contacts in the city. People have been panic buying, while food is scarce. Essential items such as flour - the main staple - vegetable oil and cooking gas are in short supply. Prices have increased with a sack of rice up 350 per cent, wheat up 50 per cent and cooking oil up by 40 per cent. At the same time, many families' incomes have been hit by the closure of dozens of factories and businesses.

Hodeidah Governorate is one of the worst affected areas of Yemen with a quarter of children suffering from malnutrition. Last year it was just one step away from famine, with nearly 800,000 suffering from severe hunger and the situation remains desperate.

Water is in short supply. Parts of the city's water supply and sewage system have been cut due to the digging of defensive positions. This raises the threat of cholera as people are forced to start using unprotected shallow wells or surface water. Hodeidah was hit hard by last year's cholera outbreak which was the world's largest since records began.

At least 35,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting around the southern outskirts of Hodeidah. They have settled in parts of the city further away from the fighting and many have sheltered in schools. Getting aid into the city is already challenging and will be increasingly difficult if fighting intensifies.

Some 46,000 people have managed to flee the city but escape is perilous with the threat of bombing, fighting and landmines. The city's poor cannot afford the high cost of leaving the city. It can cost 60,000 riyals (£115) to take a family out of the city to the relative safety of the capital Sana'a. Even if they could afford the travel costs they would then have to pay at least 200,000 riyals (£380) for rent and food a month.

Oxfam is helping 10,000 people who have fled north of the city but helping those outside the city is also proving difficult due to the ongoing conflict.

The port of Hodeidah is key to providing the bulk of all the food imported into the country and the majority of its medicines. If this vital life line is cut for a significant amount of time then the lives of more than 8 million people who are already on the verge of starvation will be further put in jeopardy.

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2018/07/yemen-hodeidah-cannot-be-allowed-to-become-a-graveyard

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OVER 121,000 YEMENIS HAVE FLED FROM RECENT SAUDI-LED COALITION ATTACKS, U.N. SAYS

More than 121,000 people have fled from Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah amidst a barrage of airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Wednesday.

Since June 1, the fight has displaced 17,350 households, according to the report.

The Saudi-led coalition, which intends to bring President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power, is fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control Hodeidah.

“More than 10,000 displaced households (nearly 80,000 people) have been assisted with food, emergency kits and other life-saving support,” the report said. An OCHA report noted that 6,000 families had been given emergency assistance as of June 27.

http://www.newsweek.com/121000-yemenis-have-fled-recent-saudi-attacks-un-says-1010717?piano_t=1

My comment: Let it sack. That’s the effect of the UAE assault against Hodeidah even before it had reached more than the airport out of the city.

(* A H K)

Thousands flee key Yemeni port city as Hodeida offensive continues

Thousands of civilians continue to flee the strategic port city of Hodeida while those remaining are gripped by perpetual fear of airstrikes, residents and aid workers said Thursday, as diplomats press for a cease-fire and peace talks.

Those who remain in the city are in limbo, unsure when the fighting will reach their neighborhoods. The streets are mostly empty, as residents hunker down inside their homes. Most shops and businesses are shuttered, residents said.

"We don't know what the coming days will bring, but we pray that Allah will keep us safe," said Mohammed Noori, 28, a resident in the eastern part of the city, all of which is under the control of the rebels, known as the Houthis.

Fuel, gas, food and water are available, but there are widespread blackouts, residents said. Some described Hodeida as a "ghost city."

"There is no movement on the streets," said Noori, the Hodeida resident. "Most families have left leaving only one family member in the house to protect it from being broken into and looted. My family has left to [the capital] Sanaa. I had to stay behind to take care of and protect our house."

Many shop owners have barricaded their stores with bricks to prevent looting. Most restaurants have closed, as have many money lenders, creating a cash liquidity crisis. The prices of staple goods have soared.

"One of the biggest problems we are facing is a lack of goods and medicines in stores," said Naji Alrabasi, who heads a labor union. "When I asked some of the owners for the reason, they told me that most suppliers have stopped supplying them. This is one of the reasons why prices have gone up so much."

On many streets, the rebels have dug trenches and erected sand barricades,

"I expect more people to leave," said Hashem Alaz'azi, who spoke from the city of Ibb, where he now lives with relatives. "The people in the city are suffering, and it is expected the suffering will get worse." – by ALI AL MUJAHED AND SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/thousands-flee-key-yemeni-port-city-as-hodeida-offensive-continues-1.536310 = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/thousands-flee-key-yemeni-port-city-as-hodeida-offensive-continues/2018/07/05/304a5bb0-8064-11e8-a63f-7b5d2aba7ac5_story.html

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Norwegian Refugee Council: Update on the situation in Hodeidah, Yemen, 05 July 2018

My neighbourhood looks like a ghost city, all my neighbours have fled because they were scared of the situation and of being bombed."

Quote from a civilian in Hodeidah:

“Airstrikes were intense earlier this week and we were very scared. Yesterday the situation was calmer. My neighbourhood looks like a ghost city, all my neighbours have fled because they were scared of the situation and of being bombed. I can no longer wait; the roads might be blocked and so I will leave to Hajjah.”

Latest updates:

Some 56,700 people are reported to be displaced so far as of 26 June, according to IOM. These figures represent a small percentage of the population, as most people remain unwilling or unable to leave their homes.

There are reports of civilians being stopped from leaving Hodeidah city. There are specifically reports of people not allowed to cross checkpoints into southern territory. While roads to Sana’a and Hajjah are intermittently open, there have been reports that people have at times not been allowed to use them outward bound from Hodeidah. These reports come on top of previous reports indicating that road blocks are being put up on main roads inside Hodeidah city.

While the situation on the ground remains largely static, there have been reports of an intensification in fighting on the ground as of 2 July.

Hodeidah city remains largely calm, but tense. Businesses remain closed and people are mostly staying inside.

Water and electricity shortages in Hodeidah also continueleading to increased concern for the risk of spread of cholera.

OCHA has reported that money changers in the city remain closed. In view of longstanding liquidity problems, and the reported rise in prices of basic commodities and scarcity of many products in Hodeidah, this could indicate that people who might otherwise cope, will be left unable to purchase whatever is available. Humanitarian needs may therefore intensify sharply even absent the imminent threat of military action while negotiations are ongoing.

Arrival of food and fuel at Hodeidah port remains relatively stable, with four vessels berthed this week at port, and another four ships moved into anchorage to await berths, according to UNVIM.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/update-situation-hodeidah-yemen-05-july-2018

(A K pS)

The National Resistance Forces have released a group of deluded people, who were captured fighting in the ranks of the #Houthi militia in the West Coast Front. This came after the deluded persons provided guarantees from senior people in the liberated areas. (photo)

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014877563271958529

(A K pS)

#Houthis ongoing digging of trenches in the port city of #Hodeidah has rendered #Internet out of service. (photo)

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014647582180675584

(A K pS)

Further military reinforcements have moved from the port city of #Aden towards the Western Coast in #Hodeidah in order to secure the supply lines of the Joint Resistance Forces & prepare for Hodeidah liberation from #Houthis if #UN talks fail. (photo9

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014642931289022464

Ongoing attempts by the #Houthi militia fighters to regain control over the positions, which they lost in al-Duraihemi district, south of #Hodeidah airport. However, the Joint Resistance Forces foiled their attempts. (photo)

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014641892921892865

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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen: Al Hudaydah Update Situation Report No. 7 - Reporting period: 27 June - 4 July 2018

HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES

Multiple airstrikes were reported in Al Hudaydah City and Zabid City after days of relative decrease in airstrikes.

Displacement from Al Hudaydah Governorate continues; humanitarian partners have verified more than 17,350 households (over 121,000 people) being displaced since 1 June.

More than 10,000 displaced households (nearly 80,000 people) have been assisted with food, emergency kits and other life-saving support.

Pre-positioning of emergency stocks continues and major efforts are being made to prevent an escalation of cholera.

Situation Overview

The pace of displacement from Al Hudaydah Governorate has slowed down, but some families that can afford public transport or own vehicles continue to leave Al Hudaydah City and other frontline districts to seek shelter in safer areas, including in the capital, Sana’a. On 31 June, a humanitarian convoy bound for Al Hudaydah counted more than 70 vehicles carrying families leaving the city towards Sana’a for fear of renewed hostilities. Partners report increased movement of civilians within the City; more shops and bakeries have reopened; water supply has improved; some schools have opened to allow students to sit in exams. However, the Education cluster reports that only half of the students are attending schools due to displacement. Humanitarian partners in Al Hudaydah, Sana’a, Ibb and Aden have assisted over 10,000 households (nearly 80,000 people). As of 2 July, more than 17,350 households (over 121,000 people) have been registered in Al Hudaydah, Aden, Sana’a and Ibb governorates. More IDPs are being registered, but insecurity is hindering access to some areas where they are located.

The Health cluster reports that an increasing number of health facilities in Al Hudaydah Governorate are temporarily closing down due to the security situation. Seven facilities (one health centre in Al Mina District, three health units in Bayt Al Faqiah, one health centre and two health units in At Tuhayat) have temporarily closed or suspended operations. Operations have also been temporarily suspended at a health in Jabal Ra’s District and at the nursery unit of Al Salkhana Hospital in Al Hali District due to the fact that health workers have been displaced. According to the Health cluster, 243 trauma-related injuries and 25 deaths were reported between 13-29 June, in five hospitals in Al Hudaydah Governorate (Al Thawrah, Al Olofi, Bait Al Faqiah, Zabid and Al Amal private hospital). However, as many health facilities across the Governorate are not functioning and reporting, overall casualty figures are likely to be higher.

Field reports from Al Hali, Al Mina and Al Hawak districts of Al Hudaydah City, indicate increased scarcity of basic commodities as some suppliers have moved their stores to safer areas. However, the supply of water has improved after partners repaired pipes that were broken during fighting. A request for 822,000 doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) was approved by the Global Taskforce on Cholera Control to conduct vaccination in six districts in Al-Hudaydah (Al Hawak, Bura, Al-Sukhnah, Al-Mina, Al-Hali, Al-Durayhimi). Other emergency supplies including food, medical supplies and ambulances, and NFIs are being delivered at Al Hudaydah warehouses and all the hubs where the new IDP caseloads are located.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-al-hudaydah-update-situation-report-no-7-reporting-period-27-june-4-july-2018

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HODEIDAH AIRPORT HIT BY 252 AIRSTRIKES SINCE MARCH 2015
The Minister of Transport Zakari al-Shami said the US-backed Saudi-led Coalition's continuing air strikes on #Hodeidah airport are a violation to all international agreements and treaties.
The airport has been hit by a total of 252 strikes since March 2015, including 120 airstrikes since the coalition's assault began on June 12.
The airport is a civil establishment and the Minister included all the coalition countries for this war crime.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1807565609296461/?type=3

Remark: Minister of Houthi Sanaa government.

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One civilian killed and 4 others injured by Houthi shell and battels tensing at Drehmi – Hodeidah

One civilian has been killed and 4 others have been injured by a Houthi shell fall on their house at the time the battels tensing between government forces and Houthis at Drehmi – Hodeidah.

A local source said to lamasdar online one citizen has been killed and his wife has been injured with 3 of his daughters today Wednesday by a Houthi shell fall at “Maarif” village south Drehmi.

The source added the shell fall near a displaced family from “ Taief”.

In the same context locals said to Almasdaronline that the battles south the airport toward the villages of Drehmi have been escalated during the past few hours of the morning.

The sources added a mutual bombarding sounds heard at the time the Arabic coalition led by Saudi Arabia bombard the Maritime collage and the maritime base near Ali Muhsin house circle in Hodeida city and destroyed a Houthi Tank which was bombarding the government forces at the podium and the circle near the airport.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100004

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Chaotic Exodus as Yemenis Flee Saudi-UAE Bombardment of Hodeidah

Mousa, who lives only 300 meters from the embattled Hodeida airport, is one the many residents of Tahamah who fled home days ago. Family in tow, he walked six kilometers, hiding behind walls and under trees to avoid Saudi airstrikes before finding shelter at a school inside the city.

“They told us that buses could not come in or out so we started walking, carrying our children and stopping every once in a while to rest while Apaches hovered above,” Mousa said. “We were scared; we saw dead bodies in al-Gharasi.” Six civilians, including four women, had been killed by an airstrike that targeted a bus full of displaced residents near al-Gharasi earlier that week.

“Now we’re in this school, no mattresses, no electricity, no water, no bathrooms, nothing, and we have children who need food and medicine” Mousa said, sitting on the floor of an empty classroom housing those displaced by Saudi and UAE attacks. Dozens of families have sought shelter in local schools, unable to secure assistance elsewhere thanks to a coalition blockade of the city’s port, the sole entry point for up to 80 percent of the country’s humanitarian aid.

https://nthnews.net/en/2018/07/02/chaotic-exodus-as-yemenis-flee-saudi-uae-bombardment-of-hodeidah/ = http://almasdaronline.com/article/100011

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Yemen: Tihama Resistance ready to lead 'Intifada' in Hodeidah

The group has asked the Arab Coalition to set up a joint operations room ahead of a possible offensive

The pro-government Tihama Resistance has sleeper cells in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah ready and willing to lead the "Intifada" against the Houthi rebels, said the group's secretary general.

In an exclusive interview with The National, Mohammed Omar Moamen, said his forces – named for the Red Sea coastal region – are willing to fight to liberate the northern Yemeni provinces from the Iran-backed group.

Tihama Resistance is part of a collective of forces with the stated goal of taking Hodeidah. It is made up of locals loyal to Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, and fights alongside the Arab Coalition.

"Most of the young men in Hodeidah city are against the Houthis, and they are waiting for the moment to take up arms and lead the biggest Intifada in the northern provinces," said Mr Moamen.

"Most members of the Tihama Resistance were unarmed peaceful civilians, but if we can equip them with more weapons, I can assure you that our young men in the city of Hodeidah are ready to inflict a fatal blow to the Houthis."

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemen-tihama-resistance-ready-to-lead-intifada-in-hodeidah-1.747135

My comment: Who wonders that the Houthis in Hodeidah dig themselves in?

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Yemen on Brink of Catastrophe as U.N. Envoy Pushes for Truce

U.S. backing of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could be enabling the disaster.

Aid groups fear that a battle there could make the port inaccessible to the rest of the country, where some 8.4 million people are on the brink of starvation and millions more rely on humanitarian aid.

“We now are experiencing, at this stage of the conflict, this really profound threat of humanitarian catastrophe,” said Stephen Rapp, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, in an interview with Foreign Policy during a conference on Yemen organized by the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

“We’re at a tipping point, where if this offensive really does go forward, it suddenly becomes a whole lot worse,” Rapp said.

Griffiths, who has mediated in multiple conflicts around the world, has met separately in recent weeks with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Houthis’ top negotiator, Mohammed Abdul-Salam. He has said that he hopes to bring both sides to the negotiating table for an agreement to stop the fighting.

“He has the best chance of any envoy we’ve seen so far. … He certainly has more trust from the parties than any previous envoys,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst on the Arabian Peninsula with the International Crisis Group.

“Unless there is a plan to make sure all of those supplies go across the front lines and aren’t impeded in any way by either of the parties, it will all be useless,” said Scott Paul, an expert on the Yemen conflict with the international charity organization Oxfam.

He said cargo ships and supply trucks could get caught in the crossfire, further disrupting the flow of aid to civilians.

“What’s scary about the offensive is there are lots of different ways it could get to a worst-case scenario, and none of them are preventable,” Paul said.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/04/u-n-negotiator-pushes-to-avert-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-yemen-hodeida-port-assault-saudi-arabia-houthi-rebels-iran-united-arab-emirates-middle-east-conflict-diplomacy/

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Thousands of Families Flee Houthis in Hodeidah for Liberated Yemeni Regions

Thousands of Yemeni families managed to flee the Iran-backed Houthis in the city of Hodeidah for regions under the control of the legitimate government.
Aide at the Ministry of Local Administration and general coordinator of the Higher Relief Committee Jamal Balfaqih said that some 5,000 families fled Hodeidah to Aden, which is controlled by the legitimate government.
Some 100 have sought refuge in the Marib province and 200 in Hadramawt, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He explained that this displacement was prompted by the Houthis’ oppression of the people in Hodeidah, where they were using them human shields and had seized their homes for their military purposes.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1320321/thousands-families-flee-houthis-hodeidah-liberated-yemeni-regions

My comment: facts mixed with odd propaganda. Even more people have fled to Houthi-held regions. – And these families mostly do not flee from „the Houthis’ oppression of the people in Hodeidah“, but from the UAE assault bringing the danger of war, death, destruction upon them.

(A K pS)

[Sky News reporting from the front line, embedded into UAE forces, in Arabic]

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1014449846994927616

cp2 Allgemein / General

(B H K)

Film: Vård i krigets Jemen

I Jemen har kriget som pågått sedan mars 2015 fått förödande konsekvenser för befolkningen. Läkare Cecilia Assarsson som nyligen kom hem från ett uppdrag i Jemen berättar om sitt arbete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG6Dxo8rnHw

(B K P)

Nicht nur die Saudis tragen Schuld

Die Wahrheit über den Krieg im Jemen ist kompliziert. Verantwortlich sind nicht nur Saudi-Arabien und die schiitischen Huthis, auch der Iran und die Emirate mischen mit.

Die Saudis tragen Mitschuld, aber es war von Beginn an ein internationaler Stellvertreterkrieg, ein Stammeskrieg, ein Interventionskrieg – und ein Krieg gegen Terrorismus.

Wie immer haben viele Staaten ihre Finger im Spiel, doch die Hauptspieler kommen aus dem Nahen Osten. Es sind Saudi-Arabien, Iran und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE).

Die VAE haben den Krieg verschärft

Die VAE sehen in den Huthis eine Bedrohung – weil sie Schiiten sind und weil der Iran hinter ihnen steht. Doch hat das Eingreifen der VAE den Krieg im Jemen verschärft. Militärisch haben die Emiratis bisher nicht nur die international anerkannte Regierung unter Präsident Hadi unterstützt, sondern auch lokale Clans und Milizen, darunter Al-Hirak, eine sezessionistische Bewegung im Süden. Fragt man offizielle Emiratis danach, betonen sie vor allem die 3,7 Milliarden Dollar an humanitärer Hilfe, die sie bisher gezahlt haben.

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2018-07/jemen-krieg-hudaida-huthi-rebellen-5vor8/komplettansicht

Mein Kommentar: Ein oberflächlich hinge… Artikel, der einen Überblick darstellen soll, aber wesentliche Aspekte außer Acht lässt: die humanitäre Situation, die saudischen Luftangriffe („Doch mit dem Flächenbombardement in Städten, der Seeblockade gegen die Huthi-Gebiete, der Unterstützung von zweifelhaften Milizen, die andere als Terroristen bezeichnen, hat Saudi-Arabien entscheidend zur humanitären Katastrophe im Jemen beigetragen“ kann es ja wohl nicht gewesen sein!!), die saudische Blockade, die Rolle des Westens, die Waffenexporte. Dafür wird die Rolle des Iran völlig übertrieben. Der Autor. https://www.zeit.de/autoren/T/Michael_Thumann/index.xml

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Political Solution Is Still the Only Way Ahead For Yemen

Now that Saudi Arabia and its allies have lost the fighting in the besieged port city of Hodeidah, the United Nations should immediately begin an international process to end the needless conflict.

Much can be learned from the recent fighting in Hodeidah and the failed peace initiatives of the past.

- There is a reason why Saudi Arabia and company never bother to keep the key port of Hodeidah open or work toward a political solution for Yemen. They all prefer a neighbor that has failed, is unstable, and has convenient buffer zones. This way they can continue their endless war and occupation in order to divide and rule, to implement their expansionist policies and plans throughout the region and beyond.

- True, the Saudis use money and influence to avoid international measures against them at the UN. But that does in no way give an excuse for the world body not to exert pressure on Riyadh to engage constructively with international efforts to progress a political solution. The three-year-plus bloodshed reaffirms that political solution remains the only way to end the conflict.

- Hodeidah is the entry point for some 70 percent of imports to Yemen, where eight million people face imminent famine, and provides a lifeline for the 22 million people dependent on humanitarian aid. The UN should recognize the importance of the port and take any decisive action essential to keep it open. The UN could even oversee the port’s operations to ensure it is no longer a deliberate target for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and their US-NATO allies.

- Saudi Arabia has frequently claimed that the resistance group of Ansarullah has no intention to give a chance to UN diplomatic efforts, while the resistance group has always had fruitful talks with UN envoys in a bid to avert all-out fighting in the strategic port city of Hodeidah and elsewhere. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are behind the current escalation. They are the ones that made the port city as their latest battleground in the failed conflict.

- A peace conference needs the right people to succeed. The Saudis and their NATO allies are not willing to make political decisions. The kind of decisions that the UN needs have never been there: lifting the illegal blockade; halting the airstrikes on civilian objects; ending the man-made conflict as a goodwill gesture to encourage Ansarullah to remain a party to the talks. The Saudi-led coalition wants capitulation in their conference, raising doubts and concerns over its credibility which almost always represents and protects their interests.

In the prevailing environment, what Yemen needs is some hope for a possible ceasefire and peace deal. Logic dictates that it is the UN which is in the best position to lead this process – not Saudi Arabia and certainly not a war ally like France. The process should also receive support from all the countries that are presenting goodwill, that want to see progress, and that agree to a ceasefire not just in Hodeidah but across Yemen.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970415000708

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The Indefensible War on Yemen

The Iranian role in Yemen has been and remains negligible, and it is ridiculous to say that they are the main culprits for “the difficulty” in the country. It is the Saudis and Emiratis bombing and invading the country, it is their forces that impose the blockade that starves the people, and it is the U.S. that supports them in all of these things. Sen. Risch is parroting Saudi talking points, and they are no more credible today than they have been for the last three years.

Not only are the Houthis not Iranian proxies, as every Yemen expert will confirm, but Tehran specifically told the Houthis not to take the capital in 2014 and their advice was ignored. Trying to shift the blame for a disaster that the Saudis and Emiratis have created with U.S. and U.K. backing is obnoxious and insulting.

Supporters of the war on Yemen can’t defend what the Saudi coalition has actually done, so they pretend that this has something to do with self-defense, but this is simply untrue. It can’t be emphasized strongly enough that the war on Yemen is an aggressive and unnecessary military intervention by the Saudis and their allies, and it has been waged on the people of Yemen for the last three years in a failed bid to reinstall a discredited president and reimpose a government that most Yemenis have already rejected. This has nothing to do with defending themselves and everything to do with trying to dominate their poorer neighbor by force. There is no justification for it, and U.S. involvement in it is an ongoing disgrace.

The U.S. is not obliged to support the Saudis or any of their allies when they launch an attack on another country. I would add that our government is obligated not to arm foreign governments when we know that those arms will be used to commit war crimes and violate international law. The U.S. has no good reason to be involved in this war, and every reason that supporters of our involvement give is false and based on Saudi propaganda – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-indefensible-war-on-yemen-2/

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UNICEF-Chefin nach Besuch im Jemen: Es gibt keine Rechtfertigung für dieses Blutbad

UNICEF-Chefin Henrietta Fore mahnt nach Jemen-Besuch, Frieden sei dringender denn je. Die humanitäre Katastrophe verschlimmere sich mit den Kämpfe um Hudaida. Mehrere Tausend Tote sind zu beklagen, Verletzte und Hungernde, Kinder und Babies brauchen Hilfe.

Nach Angaben des UN-Kinderhilfswerks UNICEF sinkt der Jemen immer tiefer in eine humanitäre Katastrophe. In der umkämpften Hafenstadt Hudaida hätten in den vergangenen zwei Wochen weitere 5.000 Familien vor den Kämpfen fliehen müssen, berichtete UNICEF-Chefin Henrietta Fore am Dienstag nach der Rückkehr aus dem Jemen in Genf. Läden und Bäckereien seien geschlossen, die Vorräte an Mehl, Öl und Brennstoff gingen zur Neige, der Strom sei fast überall ausgefallen und Wasserleitungen so stark beschädigt, dass die Wasserknappheit täglich schlimmer werde. Die Menschen lebten in weiten Teilen des Landes am Abgrund: ohne erschwingliche Nahrungsmittel, Trinkwasser, gesundheitliche Versorgung und soziale Dienste.

Mindestens 2.200 Kinder seien in dem Konflikt bereits getötet worden, 3.400 Kinder seien verletzt worden und Millionen könnten keine Schule besuchen.

22 Millionen bedürftige Menschen - das ist eine außergewöhnlich große Zahl - und davon sind 11 Millionen Kinder. 80% der Bevölkerung leben unter der Armutsgrenze, 8,4 Millionen sind akut von einer Hungersnot bedroht und alle zehn Minuten stirbt ein Kind."

Ich komme gerade aus Aden und Sanaa und habe gesehen, was drei Jahre intensiver Krieg nach Jahrzehnten der Unterentwicklung und chronischer globaler Gleichgültigkeit für Kinder bedeuten können: Von der Schule genommen, zum Kämpfen gezwungen, zur Heirat abgegeben, hungrig, an vermeidbaren Krankheiten sterbend. Heute benötigen 11 Millionen Kinder im Jemen - mehr als die gesamte Bevölkerung der Schweiz - Hilfe bei der Beschaffung von Nahrung, Behandlung, Bildung, Wasser und sanitären Einrichtungen", mahnt Fore.

Weiter schildert sie grauenhafte Eindrücke aus einem Krankenhaus in der Hauptstadt:

In Sanaa ... sah ich ein acht Monate altes Kind mit dem Gewicht eines Neugeborenen. Auf einer Neugeborenen-Intensivstation sah ich winzige Babys in Inkubatoren, die um Luft ringen. Unter ihnen lag ein Paar zusammengewachsener Zwillinge, die operiert werden müssen, um zu überleben - eine Operation, die sie im Jemen nicht bekommen können. Die Klinik im Hauptkrankenhaus der Stadt verfügt über keine Notstromversorgung und ist bei Stromausfällen auf Diesel-Generatoren angewiesen. Aber Stromausfälle sind häufig und Kraftstoff ist knapp und teuer."

Sie habe "engagiertes, überfordertes Gesundheitspersonal" getroffen, das viele Leben gerettet und womöglich dazu beigetragen habe, die noch größere Ausbreitung des schlimmsten Cholera-Epidemie in der Geschichte einzudämmen, "aber es wurde seit zwei Jahren nicht mehr entlohnt".

https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/72445-unicef-blutbad-fuer-kinder-humanitaere/

(* B K P)
Time for a Reckoning in Yemen

The United States should not be associated with forces who have shown no respect for the laws of armed conflict. Witness the three-year civil war in Yemen, which has already created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. An estimated 3 million civilians have been driven from their homes and 8.4 million men, women and children are facing immediate famine.

Americans are also at risk … of complicity in the crimes committed by coalition forces in that war.

The UN Security Council demanded a halt to the attack on Hodeidah and for the port to remain open for humanitarian assistance. So far, this call is not being heeded. It is essential that the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration take steps to prevent this crisis from becoming a catastrophe.

Three actions are imperative

The U.S. is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE with little regard for the way they are being used. It is a simple, unarguable equation: When perpetrators have no arms and ammunition, civilians cannot be killed and maimed, and the rapidly spiraling humanitarian crisis can be forestalled.

From my own experience as an international prosecutor, I have seen how the provision of aid to proxy forces, which enable the commission of atrocities, can result in the conviction of those who knowingly furnish the assistance.

Instead, we need the U.S. to play a leadership role in ensuring that alleged war crimes are investigated and the direct perpetrators are prosecuted and punished.

The crimes being committed in Yemen are not limited to military attacks. It has been credibly alleged that many human rights supporters and journalists who have spoken out against the actions of parties to the conflict have disappeared or been arbitrarily detained, often in secret prisons, run by UAE forces and others.

The pervading view has been that serious violations and abuses against civilians can be committed in Yemen with impunity. This perception has been aided by the liberal provision of arms and assistance to the main actors by the U.S. and other governments. It has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Because millions of human beings are at risk, decisive action is necessary. Refuse the warring parties weapons and end impunity for violations and abuses for the sake of Yemen’s future and the lives of untold civilians – by Stephen J. Rapp

https://www.justsecurity.org/58910/time-reckoning-yemen/

My comment: The same could be told to all suppliers of arms and other support within the EU. But nothing will change, nor the US nor the EU will take into account Rapp’s demands.

(*B E K)

PTC: Internet service returns after repairing disrupted cables

The Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) on Thursday announced the return of Internet and telecommunications services to the normal status in the capital and other provinces.
The Internet service returned after the technical team managed to repair 90 percent of the fiber-optic cables that were disrupted on Wednesday evening, an official at the corporation said.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501023.htm

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Houthis cut off internet to 80 per cent of Yemen

The main fibre optic cable that connects users has been severely damaged by the rebels

The Houthi rebels disrupted internet service to almost 80 per cent of Yemen on Thursday after damaging a fibre optic cable while fortifying their defences in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, a telecommunications source said.

Yemeni forces say the rebels have used a military pause from the Arab coalition – comprising Saudi Arabia and the UAE – to strengthen their position ahead of a possible battle for central Hodeidah.

The internet outage added to already weak communications across Yemen.

"The cable that connects the country to the internet was cut in three places in the districts of Al Kanawes and Al Marawya in Hodeidah as the Houthi militia continues to dig trenches in the area," a source from the Public Telecommunication Corporation told The National.

"Many users all over the country have been affected by this, but we assure our clients that we have dispatched three technician teams to repair the cable. We hope it is resolved as soon as possible."

The Houthis control the internet service in Yemen, but the disruption came as the government launched a new internet company, Aden Net, in the city of Aden, to start providing services, including 4G, at the end of July.

"This is a step with the purpose of stopping the Houthi militias' control of the only service provider [at the moment], Yemen Net, in [rebel-held] Sanaa," Lutfi Bashreef, the telecommunications minister, said.

"The rebels impose bans on social media networks and slow down the speed of the already weakened internet service, and this comes amid reports they intend to soon cut off the internet completely to cover their crimes."

Mr Bashreef said that the Iran-backed group is making "more than 100 billion Yemeni rials (Dh1.5m)" from the internet which, he added, go towards a "War Effort" fund.

Abdulbaset Al Faqeeh, of the Aden telecommunication authority, said that Aden Net will be supported by the UAE.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/houthis-cut-off-internet-to-80-per-cent-of-yemen-1.747535

and

(A E K)

The net is so slow in Sanaa, I could not open a photo or upload it. What is happening?

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1014871293756411906

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Yemen’s Media Blackout — the Language of War

Since the Saudi-led coalition declared war on impoverished Yemen: March 26, 2015, foreign journalists and independent news organisations have been prevented from entering the country – de facto putting Yemen under a media blackout. If such infringements on freedom of the press are indeed criminal as they speak of a grand political cover-up, Yemen’s media blackout has reached too grand proportion, and compounded to such an abysmal betrayal of journalistic standards that silence must absolutely be broken.

The danger here is not so much in this silence Saudi Arabia’s war coalition architected around Yemen, so that only its voice would reach the ears of public opinion, but that our well-thinking, well-to-do so called free press was hijacked to the agenda of a minority few to purposely mislead.

Yemen’s media blackout has many layers … each of which screaming of an exercise in propaganda, misinformation, and more to the point manipulation. Yemen is merely a symptom of our media apparatus’ malady. One bolder may even elude to folly as without a free press we might as well surrender free thinking to fascism.

Free press those days has become yet another euphemism for political indoctrination.

If we can can agree that absolute impartiality is indeed impossible since our prejudices and filters very much make us who we are as individuals, a line should be drawn at organised media dishonesty … and in the case of journalism: make-belief.

The under-lining issue surrounding Yemen’s media blackout is not necessarily access but rather the vacuum such lack of access has allowed. If Yemen needs of course to be open to the scrutiny of the press and by extension the public, mainstream ought to serve as an information medium and not as it is currently doing, turn itself into an asymmetrical of war.

Yemen is not at war with itself as mainstream claims. Yemen’s war came by way of a foreign invasion. Yemen’s war has been manned by foreign hands from Saudi Arabia’s seat of power: Riyadh.

More than any other war in our modern history, Yemen’s war has been labelled under grave misapprehension – decontextualized and politically vulgarised.

War today has its own language and it reads like deceit. Under its ink, a person’s life – the value put on someone’s right to live free from harm and oppression has become contingent to geography, political beliefs, and religious affiliations.

Yemen happens to sit beyond this invisible line where one’s fate matters, and one’s right to think independently is admissible in a court of public opinion.

When not even numbers add up we must admit defeat.

For well over a year Yemen’s death toll appears to have been frozen in time. Before the ravages of cholera, famine, bombing campaign, raids, and other military niceties we have been told that Yemen’s death count lies below the 20,000 mark … some media went as far as to claim 10,000 in their efforts to downplay genocide.

This is how Bloomberg put it back in February (2018): “The death toll from fighting so far is estimated at about 10,000, relatively low compared to the 470,000 thought to have died in the seven years of civil war in Syria. Yet life in Yemen has become wretched and perilous, on a mass scale.”

While I will admit that getting information from Yemen is more than just challenging … the onus being on Saudi Arabia for making access almost impossible, war mathematics have revealed frightening numbers.

Maybe now would be the time to reclaim some of our power and demand for truths to be told, however painful they may be – by Catherine Shakdam

https://journal-neo.org/2018/07/05/yemen-s-media-blackout-the-language-of-war/

(A K P)

Islamic Relief: Concrete Action Needed For Meaningful Ceasefire In Yemen To Avert Famine

Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting tomorrow on Yemen, Islamic Relief is calling for concrete action in order to achieve a meaningful ceasefire to avert famine in the country.

Earlier today, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen said that the warring parties have offered “concrete ideas” to achieve peace in the country.

Mohammed Zulqarnain Baloch, Islamic Relief’s Country Director for Yemen, said:

“I hope that these ‘concrete ideas’ lead to a clear and meaningful ceasefire in Yemen. Before the war, the country was already in an emergency situation, now the situation is untenable. Three quarters of the country are living in a state of emergency and if this conflict continues, they will be hit by famine. The people of Yemen, and now Hodeida in particular, have suffered for too long. They deserve nothing less than all sides of the conflict showing a meaningful commitment towards peace.”

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/concrete-action-needed-meaningful-ceasefire-yemen-avert-famine

(* A K P)

Interactive map of Yemen

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* B H K P)

‘America Is The Whole Thing’: U.S. Complicity in the Destruction of Yemen

PBS NewsHour aired the second of Jane Ferguson’s three reports on the war on Yemen earlier this week. One quote from the report stands out and sums up how many Yemenis see U.S. involvement in the war. Ferguson quotes Dr. Ali Al Motaa:

The missiles that kill us, American-made. The planes that kill us, American-made. The tanks, Abrams, American-made. You are saying to me, where is America? America is the whole thing.

The U.S. not only provides weapons, fuel, and intelligence to the coalition, but has also consistently shielded coalition members from international investigations and scrutiny. Our government has made us enemies of tens of millions of Yemenis who have done nothing to us and posed no threat to anyone. While most Americans may still have no idea what the government is doing to Yemen in our name over the last three years, the people of Yemen know only too well that the U.S. is responsible for backing the Saudi and Emirati attack on their country. Ferguson’s reporting is exemplary once again, and it includes the perspective of Yemenis that is usually omitted all together in much of the coverage of the war that we see in America.

Most of the Saudi coalition’s victims in Yemen perish from starvation and preventable diseases. The bombing campaign contributes to the worsening of the country’s cholera crisis by destroying the infrastructure and blowing up the medical facilities needed to combat it. The evidence of the coalition’s flagrant disregard for Yemeni civilian lives can be found all throughout Yemen, and Jane Ferguson should be commended for documenting as much of it as she has – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/america-is-the-whole-thing-u-s-complicity-in-the-destruction-of-yemen/

(A P)

President Rouhani: Iran in Talks with Europe on Yemen

"We had good talks on the regional issues and the problems in Yemen and the pressures exerted on the Yemeni people as well as the humanitarian acts that all countries should do, including cooperation between Iran and the European states," President Rouhani said in a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna today.

"Today, we are in talks with four European states on Yemen and we are interested in easing pressures on the Yemeni people and its way is through ending assistance to Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia should feel that it faces no way but peace," he added.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970413001028

(* B P)

100 attacks on journalists in Yemen

Some 100 cases of media freedom violations have been recorded in the first half of 2018 by the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS) reported yesterday.

“The statistics show that the systematic war on the media and press freedom continues in a hostile and violent manner by all sides” of the Yemen conflict, the YJS said in its report. The YJS recorded 100 cases impacting journalists, including the targeting of media organisations.

Journalists endured the threat of kidnappings, arrest, torture, blocking of news sites and suspension of salaries according to YSJ. Some 47 of the 100 cases were attributed to the Yemen government, which reportedly took place in government buildings and security bases.

The report goes on to blame the Houthis for 39 cases, while attributing six to the Saudi-led coalition and eight to unknown group or individuals.

According to the YSJ, 27 journalists have been killed since the Yemen civil war began in late 2014. Twelve are being held captive by the Houthi group, while one other is being held hostage by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In March 2018, the Houthi group released two journalists after almost two years of detention.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180704-100-attacks-on-journalists-in-yemen/

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Peace “Only Way Forward” For Yemen

While a recent humanitarian conference on Yemen attempted to address the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis, Norwegian Refugee Council Europe’s Director Edouard Rodier told IPS that it was a “failed opportunity.”

“We didn’t have the right people because those who are in a position to make political decisions, the kind of decisions that we need, were not there,” he said.

The conference was co-chaired by Saudi Arabia, one of the parties to the Yemeni conflict, and France, who has long backed the Saudi-led coalition, raising concerns over the event’s credibility.

“We all know that the main problem is man-made and if you really need to find a solution, you need the two parties around the table…we cannot expect from a conference that is only representing one party to the conflict that is supported by allies or countries that have interest on the one-side of the conflict to reach a significant political gain,” Rodier told IPS.

“In Hodeida, as in the rest of the country, the need for peace has never been more urgent,” Fore said.

“Parties to the conflict and those who have influence over them should rally behind diplomatic efforts to prevent a further worsening of the situation across the country and to resume peace negotiations,” she added.

However, the struggle for control over Hodeidah forced Paris’ humanitarian conference to downgrade from a ministerial-level event to a technical meeting, preventing any political discussion on the crisis.

“It became a very technical meeting with different workshops to discuss things that really then would have needed the presence of people who have a knowledge of what is happening on the ground. It is good to have workshops and technical discussions with the right people at the table,” Rodier said.

But who are the right people?

Many are now looking to new U.N. Envoy to Yemen’s Martin Griffiths whose recent efforts have sparked some hope for a possible ceasefire and peace deal.

“The U.N. Special Envoy is in the best position to lead this process. He should receive all the backing from all the countries that are presenting good will and that want to see progress,” Rodier told IPS.

Rodier urged for the international community to maintain a sense of urgency over Yemen.

“We need to have another kind of conference with the ambition to have political gains that is U.N.-led and it has to happen soon,” he told IPS.

“We need some kind of mediation…there will be no military solution to the humanitarian crisis today in Yemen. It has to be a political solution,” Rodier added.

http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/07/peace-way-forward-yemen/

(* C P)

Yemen war: The latest chapter in Western effort to crush independence

For decades, Yemen has rarely been left alone, with anything other than total subordination to global capital met with aggressive hostility from the West

Last month, the long-dreaded invasion of the port city of Hodeidah finally began.

Strategic objective

Why is this happening? Why is the world - not only the 10-member coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but also the US, Britain, France and others - so willing to sacrifice the lives of potentially millions of men, women and children, to help the Saudis prevail over their impoverished southern neighbour?

The truth is that this war has but one overarching strategic objective: to prevent an independent Yemen at all costs.

A century ago, as the First World War neared its indecisive conclusion, the port city of Hodeidah was subjected to another naval blockade. Then, like now, the belligerent powers were Britain and the al-Saud family.

‘Balancing’ the great powers

Yemen has always posed a particular problem for empire, as, historically, its paramount position at the hub of the Afro-Asian trading system - the precursor to today’s global economy - gave it an unrivalled strategic importance.

By the time Imam Yahya came to power in 1904, he was able to unify the most powerful families and networks under his leadership, in a way that made the young kingdom a formidable entity for the British empire to contend with.

For a start, he refused to recognise British sovereignty over Aden, and worked hard to "balance" other great power suitors - such as Italy and the US - against Britain, without allowing himself to become anyone's vassal. For Blumi, Yahya is an early master of what became the Third World's Cold War strategy par excellence - playing rival great powers against one another.

After the Second World War, Yahya was again able to marshal inter-imperialist rivalries to his advantage, this time between Britain and the US. Again, he was able to do so without compromising his independence; he gained much-sought diplomatic recognition from the US in 1946 - much to the horror of the British - but denied them any actual diplomatic presence in the country until 1959.

Playing rival imperialists against each other

In the meantime, his son Abdullah - representing Yemen at the 1947 world trade conference in Havana - also demonstrated that Yemen was no pushover, grilling his US handler for more than an hour about the "trade charter" they were pressuring him to sign.

Foreshadowing the anti-globalisation movement of a half-century later, Abdullah articulated "an apprehension that signing such agreements seemed to favor big industrial powers like the USA while punishing small countries like Yemen who would have to lower tariffs and undermine their workers' ability to negotiate salaries abroad”, and insisted he would have to take the details back to Yemen for consultation before agreeing to anything, Blumi noted.

Strings attached

The Egyptian occupation offered Britain and Saudi Arabia leverage with the imamate, by backing it against Egypt; in Blumi's words, it gave them "a chance to secure influence over a previously inaccessible political theatre", ultimately pushing the new imam into the hands of the British and the Sauds.

Since then, the country has rarely been left alone for long, with anything other than total subordination to global capital met with aggressive hostility from the West. To this end, empire has used the Saudis, sectarian militias, International Monetary Fund austerity and liberalisation, and - as we are witnessing today - outright war. Yet, time after time, they have failed to achieve their goals.

This time will be no different. For, in Blumi's words: "As the coalition of more than ten nations fighting this war on behalf of empire already discovered, Yemenis will bend but not break, and more still, Yemenis will prove to be the deadliest, unflagging enemy empire has ever known.

"And because Yemenis just will not succumb, this war will one day be the point to which empire forever changes and Saudi Arabia itself will disappear. For this, we owe it to Yemenis to honor the sacrifice of tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands who will die to save us from what is, in the end, our empire." – by Dan Glazebrook

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/confronting-threat-independent-yemen-121085297

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The Houthis: Sunni-Shiite conflict as a self-fulfilling prophecy

After failing to effectively confront Iran’s growing power in Iraq and the Levant, Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s attempt to prevent Iranian meddling in their own sphere of influence seems to have reinforced the sectarian split in Yemen. This has given Iran a new opportunity to integrate the Houthi movement into its network of proxies.

Because Iran was so successful in using sectarian allegiances as a mobilization tool, the Arab great powers increasingly saw the geopolitical competition as being fought alongsectarian lines. According to this logic, the Gulf coalition adopted a hawkish approach against any destabilization caused by Shiite populations in its direct sphere of influence.

The Houthis as a special case

Even though a UN report suggested that the Iranian regime provided some degree ofsupport to the Houthis since 2009, analysts argued about the nature of the Houthi-Iranian connection. While the mainstream media often described the group as an Iranian outlet, balanced assessments claim that their connections to Iran constituted a rather loose strategic partnership. This has been due to a mix of limited political ambitions, a specific religious doctrine and restraining geostrategic circumstances.

If these circumstances had been taken into account, fears in the gulf capitals would have been mitigated and the GCC could have seriously attempted to find a diplomatic approach to the Houthis. Considering that frustration with the political status initially led the movement to become more militant, a political compromise would have the potential to re-integrate them into Yemen’s political landscape. However, because of suspicions over Iranian support and the growing narrative of a sectarian conflict in the region, the Gulf powers reverted to military means.

Outlook

Yemen has been a tragic example on how geopolitical rivalries can fuel certain conflict narratives. The perception Iran forced upon the foreign policy communities in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh prevented a more balanced approach. Now, the Houthis are unable to fight on without an external sponsor. As a consequence for them, being part in a mediated peace is hardly probable. With the rivaling powers getting more and more involved, a political compromise that would end the conflict is also more unlikely than ever before. Yemen transformed into a war theater that is part of a broader regional conflict. The coalitions growing military pressure on the Houthis ultimately opened Pandora’s Box on the Arabian Peninsula and a growing Iranian involvement in Yemen is likely.

https://globalriskinsights.com/2018/07/houthis-sunni-shiite-conflict-self-fulfilling-prophecy/

My comment: Interesting ideas, but overstressing the role of Iran in Yemen.

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

(* B H K)

Film: Yemen Humanitarian Situation

As of late, Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen has focused on Hudaydah. The city is home to a vital port where much needed aid has been difficult to send. These supplies have been further hindered by the ongoing fighting.

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

(B H P)

Department for International Development: DFID Yemen Profile: July 2018

- Humanitarian assistance: The UK is playing a leading role in the humanitarian response and is the fourth largest donor to the United Nation’s (UN) 2018 Humanitarian Appeal for Yemen (after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait). UK aid to Yemen this year is expected to provide enough food assistance to meet the immediate needs for more than 2.5 million people for one month and improve nutrition and access to clean water and sanitation across the country. We continue to challenge UN agencies to reform and ensure they deliver effectively for the world’s most vulnerable and are value for money to the UK tax payer.
- Building resilience to crises: We are supporting Yemen’s Social Fund for Development to pay poor men and women for work and ensure access to critical basic services. This will strengthen livelihoods and help make other options, like engaging in extremist activities, less attractive.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/dfid-yemen-profile-july-2018

My comment: That’s a british government agency. The British self-perception as claimed here is quite bad propaganda, when looking at the role the UK plays in Yemen.

(A H)

Solar power for Hadhramaut schools .. this one is Jefel, Shibam district! Project financed by Singapore & Indonesia Hadhramis Implemented and co-financed by UNDP Total number of schools fitted is seven. Great example of Hadhrami diaspora assistance Others should follow example!! (photo)

https://twitter.com/saadtalib/status/1015225620551221248

(B H)

The seedling store of the #Talok Women's #Coffee Association in #Taiz has more than 10,000 seedlings, but the drought in the region has led to a significant decrease in this number. In response to this,#SMEPS begun to train farmers, organize irrigations and building water tanks.

https://twitter.com/SMEPSYEMEN/status/1014931196587970562

(B H)

UNHRD Operational Report Yemen Since January 2017 (Last updated: 7/3/2018 5:13:35 PM)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhrd-operational-report-yemen-january-2017-last-updated-732018-51335-pm

(A H)

WFP food aid distributed in Mahweet

Monthly Food aids, provided by the World Food Program, on Thursday were began to distribute for the affected Yemeni people by the Saudi-led coalition aggression in Mahweet province.
The aid targeted 30,124 families of the displaced, the affected and the poorest, and benefited180,745 civilians.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501035.htm

(B H)

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen: Humanitarian Response Plan 2018 - Funding Status (As of 30 June 2018)

2.96 bn requirements, 1.54 bn funded

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-2018-funding-status-30-june-2018-enar

(B H)

UN Development Programme, Save the Children: Yemen Early Recovery Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 2 - January and April 2018

In January and April 2018, EECR Cluster partners released approximately 2,611,033 sq. m of land through mine and ERW clearance and survey in 28 Districts (14 Governorates). Approximately 389,750 people directly benefited from survey and clearance activities.

Partners reached approximately 8,079 conflict-affected households (56,806 individuals) with income generation opportunities. Around 8,010 households (56,312 individuals) had access to emergency employment schemes associated with community infrastructure and asset rehabilitation

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-early-recovery-bulletin-vol-2-no-2-january-and-april-2018

(B H)

Yemen: Passengers Transport Overview - Djibouti - Aden - Djibouti, June 2018

111 rotations with 2,493 passengers transported between Djibouti and Aden on behalf of 41 service users (14 UN agencies, 23 INGOs, 4 NNGOs), for an average use rate of 45% (maximum capacity 25 passengers per leg/50 per voyage).

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-passengers-transport-overview-djibouti-aden-djibouti-june-2018

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

Siehe / Look at cp1b2

(* A H)

Film: The War in Yemen: Misery continues for families escaping Hudaida

Hundreds of families have fled Yemen's port city of Hudaida for the capital, Sanaa. Government forces - backed by a Saudi-led coalition - have resumed attacks on Houthi rebel positions near the port. There had been a brief lull in fighting over the weekend, but those who have managed to escape the fighting say life in the camps in Sanaa is little better,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5kZftcpswA = https://www.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/news/the-war-in-yemen-misery-continues-for-families-escaping-hudaida-2194832

(A H)

Very impressive work by volunteers in Sanaa, Ibb and Taiz in welcoming the displaced population from #Hodeidah city as a result of the ongoing hostilities. Bravo! Shame on the few & odd who are blocking Hodeidah IDPs from accessing #Aden or get humanitarian assistance. (photos9

https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/1015251211505799168 referring to https://twitter.com/NabelAli2017/status/1013493890945609728

(A H P)

Activists of Al-Hodeida Demand the President to Transfer Refugees from Aden to Mareb and Hold the Government Responsible for Refugees Suffering

Faisal Al-Dubee, a human rights activist, indicated that it is impossible to transfer refugees from a disturbed area to another far disturbed area. He added that Aden suffers from poor conditions of basic services like water and electricity in addition to high prices and lack of shelter for refugees.

Al-Dubee held the government responsible for security breach in Aden and demanded president Hady to facilitate the transfer of refugees of Al-Hodeida to Mareb as security conditions are relatively stable there in addition to available services of normal life.

http://en.smanews.org/activists-of-al-hodeida-demand-the-president-to-transfer-refugees-from-aden-to-mareb-and-hold-the-government-responsible-for-refugees-suffering

(B H K)

Ministerium erwartet Flüchtlinge aus Jemen und Bangladesch

Entwicklungsminister Gerd Müller (CSU) rechnet damit, dass Flüchtlinge künftig auch aus größerer Entfernung nach Europa kommen könnten. "Über zehn Millionen Kriegsflüchtlinge kämpfen in diesen Tagen im Jemen ums nackte Überleben", sagte Müller der "Welt".

https://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2018-07/44209508-ministerium-erwartet-fluechtlinge-aus-jemen-und-bangladesch-003.htm

Mein Kommentar: Soviele Flüchtlinge sind es bisher noch nicht im Jemen. „Über zehn Millionen Menschen“ wäre korrekt. Aber es könnten natürlich noch mehr zu Flüchtlingen werden. Damit das nicht geschieht, könnte die Bundesregierung schon ihren Teil beitragen. Tut sie aber nicht.

(A H P)

Korea: Religious leaders call for South Koreans to embrace Yemeni asylum seekers

Ministers warn against the dangers of conservative Christian fundamentalism

Protestant ministers are drawing attention for their efforts actively calling for reflection from Christians on the issue of Yemeni refugees, sending the message that exclusion of the asylum seekers is “not the will of God” amid claims that organized opposition to Yemeni refugees from some conservative Christian groups has helped foster a wider climate of anti-refugee sentiment in South Korea. With these efforts, calls to heed a humanist message and overcome the “Islamophobia” fostered by megachurches and others are now echoing from within the church.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/851908.html

and

(A H P)

This person has been reported and banned.
It is just the tip of the iceberg of the level of both stupidity and hatred against #Yemen-is and millions of others in need. (text in image9

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1808811849171837/?type=3&theater

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

(A P)

Yemen: IFJ demands the release of kidnapped journalist

The IFJ today lent support to calls from its affiliate in Yemen, the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS), on the Houthis group to a quick release of Yemeni journalist Abdulsalam Al-Dais, who was kidnapped by the group in Sanaa on Wednesday 4 July.

The reporter, who was working for the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) covering economic affairs, was kidnapped from his relatives’ house in the Shamlan district northwest of Sanaa. According to official Yemeni sources, a group of five armed men captured Dais, seized his mobile phone and personal computer and took him to an undisclosed location.

http://www.ifj.org/nc/fr/news-single-view/backpid/1/article/yemen-ifj-demands-the-release-of-kidnapped-journalist/

(* A K P)

56 Saudi-paid collaborators arrested in Dhallea

A total of 56 Saudi-led aggression coalition collaborators were arrested on Friday in Dhallea province, a security official told Saba.
The arrested had worked subversive and criminal activities for the Saudi-led coalition.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501098.htm

(A H P)

Health Minister meets IOM officials

Minister of Public Health and Population, Taha Al-Mutawakil, on Thursday met with Deputy Head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission and IOM Health Officer.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501028.htm

(A K P)

Sanaa sends food convoy to support army in Western coast

The Bani Matar district in Sanaa province people sent a convoy of food to support the army and popular committees in the Yemen’s western coast, an official told Saba News Agency on Thursday.
During the convoy preparation, The sheikhs and the sons of Reid area of Bani-Matar district confirmed that the convoy is not the first and will not be the last but will be followed by several convoys untile achieve victory.

The Participants called the tribes of the province to provide more convoys to the fronts of steadfastness.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501027.htm

(A)

An armed man attacks a wedding and kills 7 and injures 14 others

Eyewitnesses said that 7 people were killed and 14 others injured by an attack of and armed man upon a wedding last night, in “Muthikhrah” directorate – Ibb governorate.

The witnesses said to Almasdaronline that an unknown armed man attacked the wedding which organized by the locals for Mohammed Abduh Modhish at “Hymiar” precinct- Muthikharah and opened his fire randomly upon the groom and guests then flee the scene.

Until now there are no information about the attacker and the reasons behind the attack.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100020 and photo: https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014901079757160448

(A P)

The #Houthi so-called president of their Supreme Political Council (SPC), Mahdi al-Mashat has sacked Minister of Industry and Trade after the latter criticized the practices of the militia senior leaders.

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1014645016566824960

remark: As claimed by anti-Houthi twitter account.

(A P)

Foreign Minister Meets EU Delegation Head

Foreign Minister, Hisham Sharaf, on Wednesday met with the head of the European Union delegation to Yemen, Antonia Calvo-Puerta .
Calvo-Puerta’s visit comes as part of the European Union's efforts to solve the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen through a peaceful political solution.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news500941.htm

(A E P)

Houthis storms exchange companies and confiscate the new currency bills

Houthis militia have started a storming campaign to confiscate the new currency bill of “500-1000” riyals from the capital Sanaa and the areas they control.

Locals and sources said to Almsdar online, Houthis militia start a campaign at the malls, markets, banks and exchanging stores to confiscate the new bills edition which originated from the Central bank at Aden.

They added, Houthis is sorting the cash and they force the owners to pledge to bring the cash which he has to them.

They also indicated that Houthis closed two branches of “Alsayfi” exchanging company in Sanaa in this campaign.

Houthis militia was dealing with the new edition of the currency the bills of “500-1000” in all companies, markets and stores but in the past few days they issued a decision to prohibited and punishing anyone disregards this decision.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100012

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

(* A P)

Yemenis called on Emirati-backed Hadhrami Elite Forces to assume full responsibility for security in Sayun district, central Hadramawt governorate, eastern Yemen on July 5. The protestors claimed that Hadi government forces have failed to secure their communities and that crime is rampant inHadramawt valley.[3]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-july-6-2018

but in neighbouring Marah province:

(A P)

Senior provincial official in #Yemen's Al Mahra province : The presence of Saudi & UAE military forces in Al Mahra is a military occupation.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1015311547562889218 referring to https://twitter.com/AJABreaking/status/1015310272372793344

(A T)

Assassination of an officer on his wedding day in Taiz

An officer of the 35 Armored Brigade was killed Thursday evening by an explosive device at his wedding at the Shmaytine district in the southwestern province of Taiz.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100027

(A P)

Extensive Preparations for the Major Political Event in Aden

Aden is expecting a major political event next week through the launch of the first round of the national assembly of the southern transitional council, to be held on Sunday July 8th, 2018.
Official sources of the preparation commission indicated that preparation teams are in continuous work for days now to finish final preparations as most tings are in order for the expected event in Aden. He also indicated that prominent public figures are invited for the launch as guests of honor

http://en.smanews.org/extensive-preparations-for-the-major-political-event-in-aden

My comment: Southern separatists building their new state, step by step.

(* A P)

In a Clear Interview, President Al-Zubaidi Says: “Our Patience Towards the Government’s Humiliation Approaches its End, and We Are Committed with our People’s expectations and Will Remain In Front Lines Till We Restore Our Southern State”.

In an interview with ERAM News, General Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, president of the southern transitional council was very clear about all issues. SMA News is republishing the most significant points as said by Al-Zubaidi:
Our patience on Ben Daghar’s government is about to end and there is nothing strange in rapprochement between the “Legitimacy” and UAE
This particular government is an enemy and there will be no solutions until it is dismissed. This government humiliated the people and denied them of their simplest rights. Anyway, it will be dismissed in the right time.
The southern transitional council appeared in a difficult stage. It was born amid real war to retrieve the southern people’s right of self-determination in addition to creating their own future and maintaining their achievements, struggle and sacrifices for long decades.
Our southern people are our real support.

http://en.smanews.org/in-a-clear-interview-president-al-zubaidi-says-our-patience-towards-the-governments-humiliation-approaches-its-end-and-we-are-committed-with-our-peoples-expectations-and-will-remain-in-front

My comment: Southern separatist leader labeled as „president“.

(A T)

#ImamAssassinations in #Yemen: Various local media are reporting assassination attempt on Imam Lutfi 'Ali Mani' of al-Sahaba mosque in al-Dhali' whose car was blown up at dawn yesterday. He wasn't in it. This makes over 30 assassinations (or attempts) on clerics over past 2 years (photos)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1014863770949160960

(A P)

The Yemeni government is surprised from European Union ignoring to condemn the violations of the Houthis

The Yemeni government has expressed its astonishment at the statement issued by the European Union, which ignored the government's role in ending the al-Houthi coup in the country.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Yemeni Foreign Affairs party expressed its regret that the European Union had ignored the violations of the al-Houthi in Yemen, the violations of its crimes and the killing of civilians, primarily children.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100019

My comment: The EU is supporting the Hadi government and its puppet masters in many ways, nevertheless they do complain. Here, they seem to be astonished that others are not fooled by their biased propaganda.

(* A P)

With Qatari Funding, Legitimacy and Muslim Brotherhood Launch a Plan for Chaos in Aden

A conflict raised between a security belt post in Aden and ministry of internal affairs on Monday July 2nd, 2018 as the post confiscated a van carrying weapons, silence guns, explosives, machine guns and ammunition coming from Mareb to Aden. Security belt soldiers indicated that the driver admitted that the cargo was planned to be delivered to the house of Ahmed Al-Muiasery, minister of internal affairs. The ministry demanded immediate release of the van but security belt soldiers refused and considered this cargo as proof of involvement that clearly indicates who is behind assassinations and explosions in Aden. One soldier indicated that they received threatening calls from the office of minister of internal affairs demanding immediate release of the van and threatens them with “proper response” in case they refuse, in a clear indication to assassinations.
Intelligence sources indicated that a special force including northern soldiers moved towards Al-Berika on Monday July 2nd, 2018. Sources indicated that the force, formed by several northern military sets, moved from Al-Rimi, the residence of minister of internal affairs, towards Al-Berika. In the main time, a military force of Muslim Brotherhood moved from Mareb and distributed on several camps (Al-Nakl in Dar Saad, Badr on Khour Maxar and Al-Soulban).
Southern intel sources indicated the existence of a plan launched by the legitimacy to create chaos in Aden in addition to Muslim Brotherhood attacks to several facilities in Aden including the airport, the seaport, local authority headquarters and the headquarters of the southern transitional council in Al-Tawahi. The same sources confirmed that the plan targets the assassination of several commanders of Aden police and security belt to spread chaos and fear after major stability of the security conditions in Aden despite poor services conditions fabricated by the legitimacy.

http://en.smanews.org/with-qatari-funding-legitimacy-and-muslim-brotherhood-launch-a-plan-for-chaos-in-aden

My comment: By southern separatists’ news agency. – Security Belt = UAE-backed separatist militia – The separatists seem to object the Hadi government and the Islah Party affiliated to it they would propare for an assault or something like a civil war in the South to repel the separatists. – “Qatari-funded”: this sounds like odd propaganda. Hadi totally depends on the Saudis, any funding by Qatar would endanger his relationship with the Saudis.

(* B P)

The southern Cause… The Key to Solve Yemeni Crisis

Yemeni crisis is not a coincidence. Instead, it is the result of a long history stained with blood and political and tribal conflicts inside Yemeni and southern societies. This created different cultures that can no longer coexist for several reasons including different traditions of a more tolerant and more open society in the south that was affected by other nations’ cultures, civilized rules and moderate religious beliefs of Islam where people coexist regardless their color, ethnicity and religion, while another more closed society in the north is bond with tribal customs, religious extremism, sectarianism and corruption (on religious, military and tribal axes). This northern society can not coexist with the modern civil state sought by the southern people.

Natural resources of the south and the strategic local of Aden on the most important international naval paths, made the south a target for international, regional and even Yemeni greed all along history. The 2015 invasion of northern troops and Al-Houthi-Iranian militias is another evidence of that.
The Arab Coalition led by Saudi Arabia and UAE should dig deeper in the roots of Yemeni crisis to end the conflict through eliminating its political, economic and social causes, away from nationalistic and religious interests and emotions. These interests are the the blocks that hinder the just political solution required today. A correct solution should be achieved to successfully impose peace in the region according to ground facts to fulfill the expectations of the two peoples and their political choices. This will foster mutual confidence among countries of the region so that peace, security and development can prevail like any other part of the civilized world. This requires to end sectarian and ideological conflicts in addition to civil wars and to end up terrorism that represents a major threat, not only to this region by to the whole world as well.

The Arab Union is an urgent need that should be understood by Arab leaders, in addition to separating religion from politics, just as Europeans did. This will stop civil devastating wars and conflicts under the notion of religion so that Arab countries can move on and keep up with modern technological developments while respecting all religions and coexistence with others. Let’s all move towards building a great human civilization that is free of extremism, violence and terrorism. Let cooperation, love, amity and peace prevail all over the world. Let all humans live in safety and stability. Let them prosper without hatred, discrimination and wars – by Abd Al-Kareem Ahmed Said

http://en.smanews.org/the-southern-cause-the-key-to-solve-yemeni-crisis

My comment: A southern separatist view. This report shows that the more progressive viewpoint of socialist Southern Yemen still is alive.

http://en.smanews.org/the-southern-cause-the-key-to-solve-yemeni-crisis

(A T)

A reformer and Imam “Sahabah” mosque survives an assassination attempt in Al Daleaa

A local source at Daleaa city the center of the governorate that the reformer and Imam of “Al Sahabah” mosque survived and attempt on his life by Explosive device today Wednesday.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100005

(* A P)

The Authorities release 19 prisoners from Bir Ahmed prison in Aden

The security authorities of Bir Ahmed prison in Aden have released today Wednesday 19 prisoners after one day of releasing 46 prisoners according to a local security source in the city.

The source said to Almasdar online the released are from those not been accused of any charges.

Earlier The ministry of interior has issued a decision to release the prisoners at Bir Ahmed prison since most of them have not been accused of any charges and they spend more than two years in it.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100006

My comment: Why the hell they were hold more than two years in prison when they “have not been accused of any charges”???

And

(* A P)

HAQ Witnesses the Release of 46 Prisoners from Bear Ahmed’s Prison in Aden

Ghassan Abd Al-Bari, the prison’s warden, indicated that the release was according to DA decisions while other detained prisoners were under legal procedures. Abd Al-Bari welcomed the visits of NGOs and other human rights organizations to the corrective facility to see for themselves as social media launched false claims about the facility under political allegations. He added that he felt sorry for such false claims by some journalists and websites and demanded them to visit the facility and seek the truth. (photos)

http://en.smanews.org/haq-witnesses-the-release-of-46-prisoners-from-bear-ahmeds-prison-in-aden

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

(A P)

UN calls for 'all parties' to find Yemen political solution

The UN Security Council said Thursday that "all parties" should work toward a political solution for Yemen, and repeated a call for the key port of Hodeida to remain open.

The statements came after UN envoy Martin Griffiths updated the Security Council via a video link from the region.

Members "reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the efforts of the special envoy, and encouraged all parties to engage constructively with his efforts to progress a political solution," the Security Council said in a statement.

They also "reaffirmed that a political solution remains the only way to end the conflict," the statement added.

The Security Council said it recognized the importance of the ports of Hodeida and Saleef, and reiterated a call for these to be kept open.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5922989/UN-calls-parties-Yemen-political-solution.html

My comment: Blab la and nothing else.

And

(A P)

Films: United Kingdom on Yemen, Syria and other matters - Media Stakeout (5 July 2018)

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Mr. Jonathan Allen, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, on the situation in Yemen and other matters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOcm1XxDsT0

Netherlands on Yemen, Syria and South Sudan - Media Stakeout (5 July 2018)

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Mr. Karel van Oosterom, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands, on the situation in Yemen, Syria and South Sudan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6NDnfxDCzo

(A P)

Yemen parties underscore ‘strong desire’ for peace, UN Envoy reports

On Thursday, Mr. Griffths briefed a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council.

John Ging, Director of Operations with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, also addressed the 15 ambassadors on the situation in Yemen, where more than 22 million people require some form of aid or protection assistance.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1013962

(* A P)

UN-Sondergesandter für Jemen hofft auf Wiederaufnahme von Gesprächen

Der UN-Sondergesandte für den Jemen, Martin Griffiths, hofft auf eine baldige Wiederaufnahme von Friedensgesprächen in dem andauernden Bürgerkrieg. Zunächst müsse dringend mit allen beteiligten Konfliktparteien daran gearbeitet werden, wieder Sicherheit in der aktuell heftig umkämpften Hafenstadt Hudaida herzustellen, sagte der UN-Diplomat am Mittwoch. Er habe unter anderem «ergebnisreiche» Gespräche mit dem Anführer der Huthi-Rebellen, Abdel Malik al-Huthi, geführt.

https://www.nau.ch/nachrichten/ausland/2018/07/04/un-sondergesandter-fur-jemen-hofft-auf-wiederaufnahme-von-gesprachen-65363107

(* A P)

SPECIAL ENVOY'S REMARKS TO THE PRESS AT THE END OF A 3-DAY VISIT TO SANA'A

I would like to thank my hosts in Sana’a for their warm reception over the last two days and during this critical time for Yemen. During this visit, I have held meetings with the leaders and representatives of Ansar Allah and the General People’s Congress.

I am reassured by the messages I have received, which have been positive and constructive. All parties have not only underscored their strong desire for peace, but have also engaged with me on concrete ideas for achieving peace. In this regard, I am especially thankful to Abdel Malek al-Houthi whom I met yesterday for his support and the fruitful discussion we held.

On Thursday 5th of July, I will brief the Security Council on the outcomes of my discussions in Sana’a and Aden. My talks with the parties will continue in the coming days. I hope to see very soon President Abed Rabboh Mansour Hadi. As you know I had a meeting with him last week, a very positive meeting as usual, We’re glad that he has also underscored his desire for rapid progress towards a peaceful settlement

Finally I look forward to working with all the parties urgently to find a solution both that will restore security and stability in Hudayda but also create positive conditions for a rapid and urgent restart of political negotiations in the coming days.

Thank you very much

https://osesgy.unmissions.org/special-envoys-remarks-press-end-3-day-visit-sanaa

(* A P)

U.N. envoy says Yemen's parties offer 'concrete ideas' for peace

Yemen’s warring parties have offered “concrete ideas” to achieve peace, U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths said on Wednesday after meeting Iran-aligned Houthi leaders in the capital Sanaa.

Griffiths has been conducting shuttle diplomacy in search of a political solution that would avert an all-out military assault on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah by a Saudi-led coalition that entered Yemen’s conflict in 2015 to try to reinstate the exiled, internationally recognized government.

His efforts have succeeded so far in pausing the offensive launched last month by United Arab Emirates-backed forces to take Hodeidah, a Red Sea port and main conduit for supplies to Houthi-held areas in northern and western Yemen including Sanaa.

“All parties have not only underscored their strong desire for peace, but have also engaged with me on concrete ideas for achieving peace,” Griffiths told reporters in Sanaa airport at the end of a three-day visit to the Yemeni capital.

“I am especially thankful to (Houthi leader) Abdel Malek al-Houthi whom I met yesterday (Tuesday) for his support and the fruitful discussion we held,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-un/u-n-envoy-says-yemens-parties-offer-concrete-ideas-for-peace-idUSKBN1JU1QA

(* A P)

No breakthrough in Yemen conflict after envoy visit

Houthi negotiator Salem Moghlek told the AP that the envoy's visit netted "nothing new." He added that the Houthis did not recognize any cease-fire and there was no agreement on one with the UAE.

On Tuesday, Griffiths met with Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the so-called Supreme Political Council, during which he warned of "prolonging the conflict under a U.N. cover."

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/no-breakthrough-in-yemen-conflict-after-envoy-visit-1.536093

(* A P)

United Nations "officially declares" the UAE forces practiced torture and sexual harassment in Yemen

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Liz Throssell, said that UNHCR has reason to believe that Yemeni prisoners have been subjected to ill-treatment, torture and sexual harassment by elements of the UAE forces.

"We have discussed with the UAE government in this regard, and we have applied for access to the prisons run by the UAE in the country (in Yemen), but to date they have not given permission to access," she said.
"According to preliminary information that our office in Yemen has collected, there are reasons to believe that Yemeni prisoners have been subjected to ill-treatment, torture and sexual harassment by elements of the UAE army," she said.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United Nations Human Rights Commission is monitoring the situation in the prisons administered by the UAE, to decide the next step in this regard.

http://www.alsomoud.com/archives/71353

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

(* B E P)

Does Hajj Money Directly Fund War in Yemen?

The Union of Tunisian Imams have implored their Grand Mufti to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, to discourage Muslims from participating in the Hajj this year in response to violence perpetrated by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

The ever-rising cost of the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site contributes to the massive riches of the Saudi government, whose usage of that money to fund wars, even massacres, in other Muslim nations goes directly against what numerous outspoken Muslim leaders consider ethical.

General-Secretary of the Union of Tunisian Imams Fadhel Ashour said it would be better “to spend this money to improve the conditions of the Tunisian people.” Instead, he said, “It is used to kill and displace people, as is the case currently in Yemen.”

Al Arabiya reported in 2014 that the average cost for a worshiper from an outside country is approximately USD 5,000. The cost for Tunisians, whose imams have called for abstaining from the 2018 Hajj, is over USD 4,500.

According to figures by Al Jazeera, it costs the average person from Malaysia half a year’s salary to complete the Hajj. For someone from Bangladesh, the Hajj costs more than three years’ earnings.

Regardless of what nation a pilgrim hails from, their minimum Hajj cost begins at USD 2,000; often, the pricetag soars higher than USD 14,000 for one person. Recently increased taxes add to the head-reeling sum of money—estimated to exceed USD 150 billion per year by 2022—swallowed directly from Hajj profits by Saudi Arabia.

Should believers boycott the pilgrimage?

Because a considerable share of the fortune contributes to Saudi conflict or weapon acquisition, Muslims worldwide question whether boycotting the Hajj is the best course of action.

A developing perception in Muslim nations considers Saudi Arabia’s actions as exploitative, utilizing the holy site to punish its opponents or advance its political ends.

Journalist Kamel Abderrahmani said the pilgrimage has evolved into “one of Saudi Arabia’s commercial pillars.”

“In other words, the Saudi God is a business and worship at the same time,” he wrote.

Abderrahmani urged all Muslim nations to boycott the Hajj and use the money instead to “build hospitals, schools and universities to protect our children from ignorance and an archaic conception of life and religion.”

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/07/250084/saudi-arabia-hajj-money-war-in-yemen/

(A P)

As it's continuing its US-backed bombing campaign & blockade on Yemen, Saudi Arabia has introduced further measures for Yemenis deported or leaving it, the latest banning em from taking SUVs & heavy vehicles into Yemen. FYI, reports say many Yemenis are stranded on Saudi borders.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1015345016930209794

(* A P)

Ex-Siemens-Chef Kleinfeld berät saudischen Kronprinzen

Der deutsche Manager Klaus Kleinfeld soll den saudischen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman bei der Modernisierung des Landes beraten. Der ehemalige Chef von Siemens und des US-Aluminiumkonzerns Alcoa werde "größere Zuständigkeiten übernehmen, um die wirtschaftliche, technologische und finanzielle Entwicklung Saudi-Arabiens zu fördern", erklärte das Herrscherhaus am Dienstag. Kleinfeld soll seine neue Tätigkeit am 1. August aufnehmen. Den Posten als Leiter des riesigen Infrastrukturprojekts NEOM am Roten Meer gibt er nach nur zehn Monaten auf, bleibt aber im Verwaltungsrat der Projektgesellschaft.

http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/klaus-kleinfeld-ex-siemens-chef-beraet-saudischen-kronprinzen-a-1216343.html

und

(* A P)

Ex-Siemens-Chef Kleinfeld wird Berater des saudischen Kronprinzen

Die Nachricht liest sich wie eine Beförderung, die sich durch die fast dreiwöchige Begleitung des Kronprinzen bei dessen US-Tour im März bereits andeutete. Dabei war in Industriekreisen in Riad bereits seit Monaten über eine Abberufung Kleinfelds als CEO des ambitionierten Megaprojekts Neom gemunkelt worden, da er nicht längerfristig nach Saudi-Arabien habe umziehen wollen.

Der Kronprinz, den im Königreich alle ehrfurchtsvoll als MbS bezeichnen, pflegt einen unkonventionellen Arbeitsstil: Er arbeitet sehr viel nachts – wenn er nicht gerade leidenschaftlich Computerspiele spielt.

Dann lässt er Minister und CEOs wichtiger Unternehmen per Helikopter zu sich bringen, um zu nachtschlafender Zeit mit ihnen seine „Vision 2030“ zu diskutieren. Oftmals auf einem der Decks seiner 134 Meter langen und vom russischen Wodka-König Juri Schefler für angeblich 500 Millionen Euro abgekauften Luxusjacht Serene.

Den mehr als 1000 Seiten umfassenden detaillierten Plan für Neom habe Kleinfeld nun gerade fertiggestellt, nun beginne die konkrete Bauphase. Deshalb tausche er den Job als Neom-CEO nun gegen den einflussreichen Beraterjob, heißt es in Kleinfelds Umfeld.

Neom ist die für 500 Milliarden Dollar geplante, 26.500 Quadratkilometer – und damit etwa so groß wie Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – umfassende, modernistische, neue Gigantenstadt im Dreiländereck Saudi-Arabien, Jordanien und Ägypten, in der mehr Roboter als Menschen arbeiten sollen.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/management/rollenwechsel-ex-siemens-chef-kleinfeld-wird-berater-des-saudischen-kronprinzen/22761716.html

und auch: http://www.manager-magazin.de/politik/artikel/klaus-kleinfeld-wird-berater-fuer-saudischen-kronprinzen-a-1216359.html

(A P)

Saudi Arabia offers Comoros $22 million to finance water, road projects

Saudi Arabia has signed agreements with Comoros worth $22 million to help finance water and road infrastructure in the poor Indian Ocean island nation, as Riyadh seeks to expand its network of allies against its Gulf rivals.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-comoros-diplomacy/saudi-arabia-offers-comoros-22-million-to-finance-water-road-projects-idUSKBN1JU1JJ

My comment: This is just one week ago: Comoros reaffirms support for Operation Restoring Hope in Yemen: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302696124 . Saudi / Uae money simply makes it.

(* C P T)

Terror von 9/11: Die USA schützen die Hintermänner (Teil 1)

Zeugenaussagen und neue Informationen weisen auf ein saudiarabisches Komplott hin. Doch die US-Geheimdienste halten den Deckel zu.

Hinter den Terroranschlägen von 9/11 in den USA steckte ein saudisches Netzwerk. Es reichte bis in saudische Regierungskreise und in die königliche Familie. Seit dem Anschlag sind die US-Regierungen Komplizinnen dieses Komplotts: Sie decken Hintermänner und sabotieren eine gründliche Aufklärung. Die USA verlangen nicht einmal, dass Saudiarabien seine bekannten saudischen Terroristen-Helfer mit Diplomatenpässen bestraft. Vorrang hat offensichtlich die strategische Freundschaft der USA mit den Saudis.

https://www.infosperber.ch/Artikel/Politik/Terror-von-911-USA-wollen-Hintermanner-nicht-denunzieren

(* B C P T)

Das saudische Komplott hinter dem Anschlag von 9/11 (Teil 2)

Urs P. Gasche / 06. Jul 2018 - Saudische Diplomaten, Regierungskreise und Imame waren Teil des Netzwerks hinter den Terror-Anschlägen von New York.

Red. Der erste Teil mit dem Titel «Die USA wollen Hintermänner von 9/11 nicht denunzieren» legte dar, wie drei US-Administrationen zu verhindern suchten und immer noch suchen, das Ausmass des saudischen Komplotts hinter dem Terroranschlag von 9/11 aufzuklären. Dieser zweite Teil zeigt auf, was über das saudische Netzwerk hinter den Attentätern bekannt ist. Die wichtigste neue Quelle ist die Anklageschrift der Kanzlei Kreindler & Kreindler LLP im Namen von mehreren Tausend Opfer-Angehörigen in New York. Über deren brisanten Inhalt haben Schweizer Medien bisher nicht informiert.

https://www.infosperber.ch/Artikel/Politik/Die-Verschworung-hinter-dem-Terroranschlag-von-911-Teil-2

cp9 USA

(* A K P)

A step closer to the truth on Trump's Yemen raid

ACLU has been granted Freedom of Information Act request after CIA attempted to obscure details of botched Yemen raid

The Central Intelligence Agency will be required to disclose details of a botched and deadly 2017 Navy SEAL raid in Yemen, after a US district court granted the American Civil Liberties Union's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records outlining the decision-making process and legality of the operation.

The CIA is accustomed to deflecting FOIA requests through the “Glomar response”, which asserts that the agency cannot confirm or deny the existence of certain information if its disclosure would compromise operations or sensitive intelligence.

A Glomar response is nullified, however, if an official acknowledgement of the existence of such information has already been made. This is precisely what happened when former White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly defended the raid to sceptical reporters, unknowingly handing the ACLU the admission it needed to win a request for records.

Deadly operation

On 15 March 2017, the ACLU had filed a FOIA request with the CIA and the state, justice and defence departments regarding the authorisation and legal justification for the raid, as well as later assessments of civilian deaths. Out of these four federal agencies, the CIA alone had refused to proceed with the request.

Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York ordered last week that the CIA collect files related to the operation's planning, which will be presented to the ACLU within two weeks. During that time, the agency will also need to conceive of a justification for their Glomar response if they plan on withholding other records related to the raid – by Hannah Porter

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/win-transparency-2017-yemen-raid-1982451074

(A P)

Statement of Ralph Nader on Trump Administration's Action in Yemen

It has become overwhelmingly clear that your Administration has supported with arms sales, refueling, daily operational logistics and other ways and means the governmental actors opposing the rebels in the Yemeni Civil war.

As President, you know full well what is going on and yet you keep getting our country deeper into this deadly quagmire. By any standard of international law, you are a knowing aider and abettor of these war crimes at a level of complicity that approximates being a backroom partner in the broad range of military operations against millions of innocent Yemeni families.

Have you no compassion? Have you no desire to put a stop to this war on civilians, a deliberate war to destroy the life-sustaining goods and services that keep millions of Yemenis alive.

What are the specific legal authorizations? Has Congress appropriated funds for and authorized military intervention in Yemen? Did you not swear to uphold the Constitution when you took office after being selected by the Electoral College in 2016?

History will judge you harshly for not even seeking to be a serious peacemaker, using the major levers you have in this conflict.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/statement-of-ralph-nader-on-trump-administrations-action-in-yemen-300677200.html

(A P)

Adel Al-Shabhy Meets Official Personnel of Yemeni File in US Department of State

Adel Al-Shubhy, member of the foreign affairs department of the Southern Transitional Council, met Eliot Clitterson, official personnel of Yemeni file in US Department of State in addition to the political consultant of US embassy, last week end.

http://en.smanews.org/adel-al-shabhy-meets-official-personnel-of-yemeni-file-in-us-department-of-state

Remark: Southern separatists in the US.

(A E P)

Iran ermahnt Trump: Hör auf zu twittern, das treibt die Ölpreise in die Höhe

US-Präsident Donald Trump hat das Ölkartell OPEC angegriffen, weil es die Ölpreise künstlich hochhalte. Der Iran gab dem US-Präsident allerdings den Tipp, dass seine eigenen Tweets die Rohölpreise in die Höhe trieben.

https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/72518-iran-ermahnt-trump-hoer-auf-zu-twittern-treibt-oelpreis-in-die-hoehe/

(A E P)

Iran to Trump: oil will cost $100 per barrel, and it is your fault

Oil will soon cost $100 per barrel due to supply disruptions caused by U.S. President Donald Trump, Iran’s OPEC Governor told Reuters on Thursday, as he warned expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia would help bring down prices were in vain.

Trump again accused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of driving fuel prices higher on Wednesday, and urged U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia to pump more if they wanted Washington to continue protecting them against their top foe Iran.

Iran, OPEC’s third-largest producer, is facing U.S. sanctions on its oil exports that are prompting some buyers to cut purchases.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-trump-iran/iran-to-trump-oil-will-cost-100-per-barrel-and-it-is-your-fault-idUSKBN1JV2C0

My comment: You must be no prophet to predict this. Just the US leaderships’ IQ seems to be below this.

(* A P)

U.S. lets Yemenis stay 18 more months

The Trump administration said on Thursday it would allow some 1,250 Yemenis to remain in the United States for at least another 18 months under protected status as war and a humanitarian crisis rage in their native country.

Yemenis in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be able to re-register for an extension of their status through March 3, 2020, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The status grants beneficiaries the ability to legally work while they are in the United States.

“After carefully reviewing conditions in Yemen with interagency partners, (DHS) Secretary (Kirstjen) Nielsen determined that the ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions that support Yemen’s current designation for TPS continue to exist,” the statement said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-yemen/u-s-lets-yemenis-stay-18-more-months-idUSKBN1JV2JE

and also http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/395638-trump-administration-extends-special-immigration-status-for-yemen

Comment: DHS has opted to only extend TPS for Yemeni nationals in the U.S., not redesignate. This is important because all those who arrived after the last registration period will not be permitted to apply for TPS, and may be forced to go back to Yemen. Not a good decision.

To be eligible for TPS under Yemen’s current designation, along with meeting the other eligibility requirements, individuals must have continuously resided in the United States since Jan. 4, 2017, and have been continuously physically present in the US since March 4, 2017.

https://twitter.com/aayoub/status/1014923417689247745

and

(* A H P)

IRC Statement on U.S. decision on Yemen and Temporary Protected Status

The U.S. Administration announced today that it will extend but not re-designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemen. While a relief for approximately 1,200 Yemeni TPS holders, placing an arbitrary date on eligibility could ultimately result in the forcible return of an estimated 400 Yemeni citizens arriving after January 4, 2017, who would have been eligible for this protected status, back to an active war zone and the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.

The IRC has been closely monitoring protection rollbacks in the United States. This TPS decision to arbitrarily extend protections to some Yemenis but not to others comes two weeks after an IRC Report found a steep 70% drop in refugee admissions, although IRC’s poll of Americans found nearly 60% believe the U.S. has a moral obligation to help refugees. Since October 1, 2017, the US has accepted zero refugees from Yemen.

The decision not to use TPS as a critical tool to protect all Yemenis from return back to harm begs the question of whether there is any at-risk population the Administration would protect. The IRC urges the Administration to ensure that all Yemenis have access to protection and to reconsider its decision and re-designate TPS for Yemen.

https://www.rescue.org/press-release/irc-statement-us-decision-yemen-and-temporary-protected-status

(A P)

Pompeo To Lobby On Iran During His Long Trip To Asia, ME

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s pressure campaign to isolate Tehran has gained momentum ahead of his scheduled visit to United Arab Emirates.

Pompeo will “travel to Abu Dhabi from July 9-10, where he will meet with UAE leaders to discuss ways to further strengthen the US-UAE partnership and advance our common security and economic priorities,” the statement from the State Department read.

Iran, Yemen and the Persian Gulf security are expected to top discussions. UAE’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation was in Washington last month and met Mr. Pompeo, but this is the secretary’s first trip to Abu Dhabi since getting appointed in March.

https://en.radiofarda.com/a/pompeo-iran-diplomatic-pressures-asia/29340414.html

(B H)

How football is bringing hope to New York’s Yemeni community

In New York City, work is king and dreams only happen if you’re willing to sweat. Nowhere is this truer than at Yemen United, a soccer team caught between the expectations of the old country and the pressures of the new.

These guys seem way too alert for the schedules they keep. They attend college full-time, work seven days a week and practice soccer biweekly. Some of them practice more often, playing for college teams and city leagues, as well as Yemen United.

“Soccer is one of the best things in life,” says Osama. “Believe me. When I’m tired, when I’m angry, I just play soccer. I forget everything.”

http://www.huckmagazine.com/outdoor/sport-outdoor/yemen-football/

(* B K P)

Film: We're not officially at war with anyone, but we're waging war in nearly 40% of the countries on Earth. That's insane.

https://twitter.com/IntheNow_tweet/status/1014599733338353664

(* B K P)

Google’s artificial intelligence ethics won't curb war by algorithm

New ethical principles restrict the work of Google's AI scientists on military projects, but key questions about the technology industry and the future of war remain unanswered

On March 29, 2018, a Toyota Land Cruiser carrying five members of the Al Manthari family was travelling through the Yemeni province of Al Bayda, inland from the Gulf of Aden. The family were heading to the city of al-Sawma’ah to pick up a local elder to witness the sale of a plot of land. At two in the afternoon, a rocket from a US Predator drone hit the vehicle, killing three of its passengers. A fourth later died.

The Al Mantharis’ lawyers worry their clients may have been killed on the basis of metadata, which are used to select targets. Such data is drawn from a web of intelligence sources, much of it harvested from mobile phones – including text messages, email, web browsing behaviour, location, and patterns of behaviour. While the US army and CIA are secretive about how they select targets – a process known as the kill chain – metadata plays a role. Big data analytics, business intelligence and artificial intelligence systems are then used to spot the correlations that supposedly identify the target. “We kill people based on metadata,” said the former head of the CIA Michael Hayden in 2014.

Armies and secret services don’t do this work alone: they rely heavily on the research programmes of commercial companies, which in turn are keen to secure government business to recoup some of their research and development investments. As a result, companies who have not traditionally been associated with the military are becoming involved, Gibson says.

Paul Scharre, director of the technology and national security programme at the Center for a New American Security and author of Army of None says that the use of drones and computing power is making the US military a much more effective and efficient force that kills far fewer civilians than in previous wars. “We actually need tech companies like Google helping the military to do many other things,” he says.

Gibson calls this a flawed rationale. Places like Yemen, she says, have become testbeds for a far more expansive programme of drone warfare, which is now being rolled out on a larger scale. “Strikes in Yemen have tripled under Trump, and we are not at present sure of the legal framework under which the programme operates,” Gibson claims.

In the case of the Al Mantharis, the killings happened where US forces are not formally at war, in what appears to have been a so-called “signature strike”. The identities of the people targeted in these strikes are often unknown, reports The New York Times, but attacks are deemed valid based on “certain predetermined criteria... a connection to a suspected terrorist phone number, a suspected Al Qaeda camp or the fact that a person is armed”.

Citing fears that military work would damage Google's reputation, the employees urged their leadership that “Google should not be in the business of war”. Google responded by promising that it would not renew its contract with the military once it comes to a close next year – by Phoene Braithwaite

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-project-maven-drone-warfare-artificial-intelligence

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

(B K P)

UK arms sales slammed after UN report reveals 10,000 child casualties

The UK has sold arms worth billions of pounds to some of the countries named in the report including Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq, Colombia and Somalia.

Since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015, the UK has licensed £4.6 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, including grenades, aircraft, drones and Paveway IV missiles with systems produced by US arms firm Raytheon in Fife, Scotland.

The UK has licensed £542 million worth of arms to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict began, as well as selling arms to other regimes taking part in the ongoing bombing campaign.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: “Wherever there is war and conflict, children will always bear the terrible brunt of it. Pouring weapons into conflict zones will only create greater instability and make things even worse.

“Right now, UK arms are playing a central role in the Saudi-led destruction of Yemen, but they are also being sold to human rights abusing regimes around the world.

“It’s time for arms exporting governments like the UK to take some responsibility and end their complicity in these abuses. The arms sales being agreed today could be used in war and oppression for years to come.”

https://theferret.scot/arms-sales-un-report-10000-child-casualties/

(A K P)

Belgium has suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia – human rights campaigners say UK must do the same

A ruling in Belgium has cancelled arms sale licences to Saudi Arabia over concerns they would not be used for ‘self-defence’

FOLLOWING A Belgian judicial body’s decision to suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, UK-based campaigners say it’s time for Theresa May’s government to follow suit with a human rights based approach.

Ruling on a case brought forward by pacifist and human rights campaigners in Belgium, the Human Rights League and CNAPD, the Belgian Council of State ordered that four export licenses issued by the Walloon regional government be cancelled.

Cannell said the decision in Belgium would “put further pressure on the British government” but said that much work was still to be done to change the UK’s position. “Britain is deeply involved in supporting Saudi Arabia and the UAE in its attacks on Yemen,” he said.

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/12984/belgium-has-suspended-arms-sales-saudi-arabia-human-rights-campaigners-say-uk-must-do

(A P)

Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations Sends Statement to UK House of Commons

The Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations has sent a statement to the United Kingdom House of Commons on current situation in Hodeidah Governorate and Yemen.
The Coalition said that it is watching the situation in Hodeidah with great concern over the safety of civilians in the city, and that it has been monitoring the situation in Yemen and Hodeidah since 2014.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1781814

My comment: By Saudi Press Agency; this “Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations” is biased anti-Houthi.

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

Siehe / Look at cp1

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

Siehe cp1 (Emirate) / Look at cp1 (Emirates)

(A K P)

VIDEO: #Saudi Air Force AS532 Cougar helicopters assigned to the 99th CSAR Sqn take part in Anatolia's Phoenix 2018 military drill hosted by #Turkey.

https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/1015010320539176960

(A P)

Jemen lobt türkische Hilfe

Der jemenitische Minister für Planung und internationale Zusammenarbeit, Mohammed Said al-Saidi hat mit Lob über die humanitäre Hilfe der Türkei für sein Land gesprochen.

Einer Meldung der staatlichen Nachrichtenagentur SABA zufolge kam Saidi in der saudi-arabischen Hauptstadt Riad mit der türkischen Botschafter in Sanaa, Levent Eler zusammen.

Im Mittelpunkt der Gespräche standen die Zusammenarbeit und Koordinierung zwischen den beiden Ländern und der Wiederaufbau in der Zeit nach dem Krieg.

http://www.trt.net.tr/deutsch/turkei/2018/07/05/jemen-lobt-turkische-hilfe-1005972

(A P)

Planning Minister, Turkish ambassador discuss Yemen reconstruction

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al-Saadi, discussed with Turkish Ambassador to Yemen Levent Eller the bilateral coordination to support reconstruction programs and meeting post-war urgent needs in Yemen.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19846

My comment: Turkey planning to get a foothold in Yemen?

My comment: NATO drilling Saudi killers.

(A K P)

52 wounded in Yemen war reach India for treatment

In what can yield a bountiful harvest of goodwill for India in West Asia, 52 war-wounded Yemenis, including soldiers and civilians, landed in New Delhi on Thursday for medical treatment.

The physically battered and mentally traumatised patients, including a four-year-old boy who has lost has eye due to blast shrapnel, are mostly from Aden where fighting between the government forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi rebels continues to be fierce.

A source entrusted with the logistics of the development told this newspaper, “The pati-ents brought to Delhi will undergo treatment at the VPS Rockland Hospital where they will be attended by an expert team of doctors and staff from various departments such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, general surgery, plastic and ophthalmic surgery.”

Medical treatment of the Yemeni war-wounded in India started last year under an initiative of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, the Red Crescent and a private healthcare company.

http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/060718/52-wounded-in-yemen-war-reach-india-for-treatment.html

My comment: Payed by the UAE, to repair their Yemeni mercenaries and some civilians for propaganda purposes. Why India? Because it’s cheaper than in the UAE.

And the same to the other direction, for the same reasons:

(A K P)

With UAE Support, Office of West Coast Front Evacuates 50 Injured to Egypt

http://en.smanews.org/with-uae-support-office-of-west-coast-front-evacuates-50-injured-to-egypt

(A P)

Arab League honours Dubai Ruler with top award

The Arab League has honoured Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with the ‘Arab League Shield for Leadership in Arab Development’ in recognition of his contributions to the development of the Arab world.
The award also cited his innovative vision for empowering Arab communities, spreading knowledge, and creating a stable and brighter future.
The prestigious shield recognises HH Sheikh Mohammed’s efforts in leading development initiatives not only in the UAE but also the Arab world.

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/MEDIA_342481.html

My comment: How absurd is this: Slaughtering and destruction in Yemen is: „innovative vision for empowering Arab communities, spreading knowledge, and creating a stable and brighter future“.

Comment: Wondering whether the destruction, occupation, killing of #Yemen fits in the award to the Vice President/Prime Minister of the #UAE

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1808485785871110

(A H P)

Karin Kneissl: „Jemen eine der weltweit schlimmsten humanitären Notlagen“

Bundesregierung beschließt Mittel aus dem Auslandskatastrophenfonds für Jemen und DR Kongo

„Österreich leistet humanitäre Hilfe, um das Leid der Zivilbevölkerung im Jemen zu lindern. Der bewaffnete Konflikt im ärmsten Land der arabischen Halbinsel hat zu einer der weltweit schlimmsten humanitären Notlagen geführt“, so Außenministerin Karin Kneissl anlässlich des Ministerratsbeschlusses vom 4. Juli 2018. Die Bundesregierung beschloss Mittel in Höhe von einer Mio. Euro aus dem Auslandskatastrophenfonds.

https://www.bmeia.gv.at/das-ministerium/presse/aussendungen/2018/07/karin-kneissl-jemen-eine-der-weltweit-schlimmsten-humanitaeren-notlagen/

(* A E P)

UAE orders asset freeze for Iranian-linked individuals and companies

Nine on list are accused of channeling funds to Iran's Revolutionary Guards

The UAE has ordered brokers and other financial institutions to identify and freeze the assets of nine individuals and businesses accused of funding Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

The Securities and Commodities Authority made the announcement on Tuesday, national news agency WAM reported.

In May, the nine - six individuals and three companies - were placed on the UAE's list of terrorists and terrorist organisations for suspected connections with the guard's elite Quds Force.

At the time, UAE and US said it had disrupted a multi-million-dollar network that was allowing the Iranian military to access millions of US dollars.

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/uae-orders-asset-freeze-for-iranian-linked-individuals-and-companies-1.746754

Comment: Worth remembering the #UAE has always acted as #Iran’s unofficial backdoor during the sanctions, with Jebel Ali Port playing an active role in UAE-Iran trade, which mostly came in the form of reexports.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1806868366032852

(* B P)

Faith and money from the Middle East fuelling tensions in the Horn of Africa

Relations between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula go back centuries, with trade playing a key component in binding their people together. Religion has also played a part. The expansion of Wahhabism – the interpretation of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabia – has been funded by the massive oil wealth of the kingdom.

Mosques, Koranic schools and Imams have been provided with support over many years. Gradually this authoritarian form of Islam began to take hold in the Horn. While some embraced it, others didn’t.

Somalia is an example. While most Somalis practised a moderate form of Suffi Islam, the Islamic fundamentalists of al-Shabaab didn’t. Soon after taking control of parts of central and southern Somalia in 2009 they began imposing a much more severe form of the faith. Mosques were destroyed and the shrines of revered Suffi leaders were desecrated.

The export of faith has been followed by arms. Today the Saudis and their allies in the United Arab Emirates are exerting increasing military influence in the region.

But Saudi Arabia and other Arabian gulf states aren’t the only Muslim countries that have sought influence in the region. Iran, for example, has also been an active player. In the case of Eritrea, a struggle for influence between Riyadh and Tehran has played out over the past few years. This has also been true in neighbouring Somaliland and the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland.

These are troubled times in the Horn of Africa. The instability that’s resulted from Islamic fundamentalism, of which al-Shabaab are the best known proponents, have left the region open to outside influences.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1807247522661603

Comment: And the main actor is always the same: the #UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia.
The article is over a year old but still, sadly, valid. Almost prophetic

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1807247522661603

My comment: And also in this region, the Saudis have spread their Wahabism – causing horrific effects.

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

(A P)

UN top court asked to resolve airspace dispute with Qatar

The UAE, Bahrain and Egypt say ICAO which ruled in favour of Qatar was not competent enough to adjudicate

The diplomatic crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours took a new twist Friday as three Middle Eastern countries asked the UN’s top court to resolve a dispute with Doha over sovereign airspace.

Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday requested the International Court of Justice to quash a decision in Qatar’s favour, handed down by the UN’s global civil aviation body.

https://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/un-top-court-asked-to-resolve-airspace-dispute-with-qatar-1.2247377

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

(* B K)

Here’s a nice picture showing part of the #Saudi ‘TF 201’ equipment (M113 APCs, M901 ITVs and BFVs) operating in #Baqim district, Saada. (photos)

https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/1015202501610627073

Remark: US arms in the Yemen war.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M901_ITV and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M113_armored_personnel_carrier

(* B K P)

French Weapons Sales Double in Middle East

France’s weapons sales to the Middle East doubled in 2017, a government report showed, despite pressure from lawmakers and rights groups to curb arms flows to a region mired in conflict.

The government’s annual report on weapons sales, due to be released on Wednesday, shows that France’s total arms sales halved to 7 billion euros in 2017, in line with previous years where no major contracts. However, about 60 percent of sales went to the Middle East, with arms exports to the region worth 3.92 billion euros compared to 1.94 billion euros a year earlier.compared to 1.94 billion in 2016.

Paris sold warships, tanks, artillery and ammunition to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Unlike other countries, France’s export licensing procedures have no parliamentary checks or balances. They are approved by a committee headed by the prime minister that includes the foreign, defense and economy ministries.

https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=1471&cat_id=3

cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy

(* B E)

Yemen Exports 1970-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast | News

Exports in Yemen increased to 500.58 USD Million in 2017 from 149.51 USD Million in 2016. Exports in Yemen averaged 2508.27 USD Million from 1970 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 9857.40 USD Million in 2013 and a record low of 4.37 USD Million in 1972.

https://tradingeconomics.com/yemen/exports

(* B E H)

Al Hudaydah Crisis - Rapid Market Monitoring 17 - 23 June 2018

KEY FINDINGS

The port of Al Hudaydah remained open at the time of data collection and continued to be the primary point of supply for fuel vendor Key Informants (KIs) in the districts assessed. Petrol and diesel prices remained stable in comparison to price observations collected last week.

Price levels for essential food, fuel and WASH commodities remained generally stable in the districts assessed between week 24 and week 25.

The largest price increase observed was for cooking gas in Hajjah, with a median price increase of 40% between week 24 and week 25. Vendors in this area source their products from Al Hudaydah.

In Sa’ada, vendor KIs switched fuel suppliers from Marib in week 24 to Al Hudaydah in week 25, citing difficulties in sourcing products from Marib and placing further demand upon the supply lines from Al Hudaydah. Cooking gas vendor KIs in the assessed markets in Sa'ada, who typically source their products from Marib, reported that they had no goods available in week 25.

Of all vendor KIs assessed, no vendor indicated that they were currently accepting payment modalities other than cash.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/al-hudaydah-crisis-rapid-market-monitoring-17-23-june-2018

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* A T)

Sieben Tote nach Drohnenangriff

Bei einem Drohnenangriff im Süden des Jemen sind Augenzeugen zufolge sieben Kämpfer des Terrornetzwerks Al Kaida getötet worden.

Den Angaben zufolge wurde das Auto mit den Extremisten von einem unbemannten Flugobjekt auf einer Straße in der Provinz Schabwa beschossen

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-sieben-tote-nach-drohnenangriff.1939.de.html

Mein Kommentar: Hier schon sicher als „Kämpfer“ und „Extremisten“.

(* A T)

Drone strike kills seven suspected al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen

Seven suspected al-Qaeda fighters were killed on Friday when a drone targeted their car in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa, a security official said.

The car was hit as it drove along a side road in Shabwa's Bihan district, the official, from forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government, told AFP.

The US military is the only force known to operate armed drones over Yemen.

The security official said the militants were members of al-Qaeda, and said the aircraft that carried out the strike was American.

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/7/6/drone-strike-kills-seven-suspected-al-qaeda-fighters-in-yemen

My comment: “Suspected”, as so often. “Suspected”, just because they had been hit?

And that’s how AP reports it:

(* A T)

Suspected US Drone Strike Kills 7 Al-Qaida Members in Yemen

Yemeni tribal leaders say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed seven alleged al-Qaida militants as they were driving along a road in the country's south.

The tribal leaders said on Friday that the operatives were killed when an unmanned aircraft targeted their vehicle in the southern province of Shabwa.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-07-06/suspected-us-airstrike-kills-7-al-qaida-operatives-in-yemen

My comment: “suspected US drone strike”; and “alleged” al-Qaida militants in the text only. LOL.

(* B T)

The Islamic State in Yemen

Since its formation in November 2014, the Yemeni branch of the Islamic State (IS) has undergone major changes in its organisation and tactics. Thanks to a more radical stance that has attracted several fighters from the Salafist movement and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group has contributed to increasing sectarianism in Yemen. As of June 2018, however, only a few hundred armed militants are believed to be fighting for IS, which plays a marginal role in the current Yemeni conflict.

Over the past few months, IS’s activity has declined significantly. The total number of events involving the Islamic State last quarter was the lowest since 2017, while the number of reported fatalities in these events reached its nadir (see Figure 1, data available from January 2016 onwards). The number of actions claimed by IS has also diminished dramatically in 2018, pointing to a structural weakness that has affected its operational capacities.

Since late 2016, IS has also redirected its activity increasingly against the Houthis, largely concentrating in the Al Bayda front where the Houthis are also fighting pro-government troops, local armed militias, and AQAP.

This decline in the activity of IS in Yemen is the result of several factors. Internal divisions and the collapse of the self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq have hampered the group’s recruitment capacity, which have never managed to attract more than a few hundred fighters.

Despite these major setbacks, IS has not ceased to exist in Yemen. It continues to operate alongside other pro-government militias against the Houthis capitalising on sectarian divisions, while waging sporadic attacks against government forces – by Andrea Carboni

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/islamic-state-yemen and full PDF with infographics: Ongoing

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/acleddata.com-The%20Islamic%20State%20in%20Yemen.pdf

My comment: Let it sack: “. It continues to operate alongside other pro-government militias against the Houthis”.

cp15 Propaganda

(A P)

Houthis in Yemen Deprive Workers of 20 Months Worth of Salaries

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have since their 2014 coup against the legitimacy forces been looting the state’s revenues for their war efforts. They have rooted themselves in all institutions to achieve their nefarious goals and deprive thousands of employees of their salaries, despite having acquired massive funds that would allow them to pay these wages.

The latest legitimacy foreign ministry statement revealed that the Houthis had looted 6 billion dollars in 2017. These funds were reaped from oil revenues, taxes, charitable donations, customs and various fees, as well as state institutions that are under the militias’ control.

Yemen Petroleum Company employees revealed that the Houthis are making profits exceeding 1.5 and 2 billion dollars a day as a result of their monopoly of the oil market and hiking of fuel prices.

Moreover, the Houthis have for 20 months stopped paying the salaries of government employees working in areas under their control.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1322646/houthis-yemen-deprive-workers-20-months-worth-salaries

My comment: The Houthi-Saleh alliance had installed a new government which claimed the state revenues. This should be nothing special. – In southern regions under the control of the Hadi government, state employees also are not paid since 20 months. – The reason why finally the payment of state employees had ended: “president” Hadi’s maneuvres founding a new Central bank at Aden for political reasons.

(A P)

Yemen PM: We are going to regain full control of the state

Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr said his government is moving towards regaining control of the state and extending its influence over all regions, Saudi state-owned news channel Al-Ekhbariya reported on Friday.

During his meeting with the Governor of Hajjah, Abdulkarim Al-Sinayy, the prime minster affirmed “the determination of the political leadership - supported the Saudi-led Arab coalition - to move forward in a steady and steadfast way towards restoring the state and extending state control over all provinces.”

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1334156/middle-east

My comment: This is quite odd. His government not even controls the South (there also are trhe UAE, the separatists, AQAP), nor even the capital city, Aden. Look at separatists‘ claims in cp6.

(A P)

Coalition: Militias Seize Ship in Hodeida, Permit Entry for Another after 40 Days

Pro-legitimacy in Yemen coalition announced Wednesday issuing two licenses for ships heading to Yemeni ports to unload, and five others awaiting to enter while there is a ship in Salif Port discharging its load of wheat.
Pro-legitimacy in Yemen leadership said that the Houthi militia confiscates ship G Muse in Hodeida port, while the ship Volante entered after 40 days from detention.
Secretary of the Hodeidah district, Walid al-Qadimi told Asharq Al-Awsat that one of the ships entered Salif Port and the rest of the ships are still in the sea. As Houthis continue to seize the port, the ships will remain late in arrival and seized for unknown reasons.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1321646/coalition-militias-seize-ship-hodeida-permit-entry-another-after-40-days

My comment: This sounds quite dubious, like more propaganda which should justify the UAE assault against Hodeidah.

(A P)

Yemeni Minister of Human Rights from Geneva: Al-Houthi terrorist organization committed all violations prohibited by international law against children

Yemeni Minister of Human Rights Mohammed Askar confirmed that the terrorist Houthi militia committed all violations of international law against children such as killing, torture, recruitment, deprivation of health care and denial of humanitarian aid.
He said that the Houthi terrorist militia killed more than 1,372 children since the coup, including 204 children killed by mines planted by the terrorist militia, and arrested 489 children at checkpoints, most of them in Dhamar, Sana'a, Ibb, Hodeidah and Amran, in order to recruit and send them to combat.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1781962

My comment: By Saudi Pres Agency. The UN report clearly tells that the majority of killed children in Yemen had been victims of Saudi coalition’s air raids.

And

814 Women Killed by Houthi Fire Says Yemeni Human Rights Minister Mohammad Askar

Houthi rebels have killed hundreds of women since the start of Yemen’s civil war, the country’s human rights minister said Wednesday.

The official SABA news agency cited Mohammed Askar as saying that the Houthi militia killed 814 women and injured 4,179 in the period from September 2014 until May 2018.

Askar was speaking at a seminar in Geneva under the slogan "How to Save and Protect Women and Children in the Yemeni Crisis".

The Houthi rebels’ violations against women in Yemen included murder, injury, humiliation, sexual violence, detention, psychological torture, forced displacement and other abuses, the minister added.

https://www.albawaba.com/news/814-women-killed-houthi-fire-says-yemeni-human-rights-minister-mohammad-askar-1154900

My comment: The same as above.

(A P)

Pan-Arab Parliament Highly Appreciates Efforts Exerted by KSrelief Center

The Pan-Arab Parliament paid tribute to the efforts of King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Center (KSrelief) for its role, in rehabilitation of a large number of children recruited by the Houthi militia, in Yemen, in order to lead their normal life, afresh.
The Pan-Arab Parliament, in a resolution issued at the end of the fifth session of the second legislative chapter, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League here today, supported the actions of the Arab coalition forces, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and appreciated their efforts to restore children recruited by the Houthi militia and transfer a number of non-Yemeni conscripts to their respective embassies, the adoption of humanitarian operations and donations to support the efforts of the United Nations humanitarian organizations, in Yemen.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1781944

My comment: This “parliament” is a Saudi mouthpiece – with Saudi Arabia itself not having any parliament and parliamentarism. – The KSrelief role in Yemen could be described as a propaganda figleaf which should deflect from Saudi war crimes.

And

(A P)

Yemeni Government welcomes Arab Parliament's resolution incriminating Houthis' oppression of children

The Government of Yemen has welcomed a resolution issues by the Arab Parliament that incriminates the continued recruitment of children by the Iran-allied Houthi militias in Yemen.

Ibtihaj Al Kamal, Social Affairs and Labour Minister in the Yemeni Government, hailed a decision by the Arab Parliament to appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nation, the Security Council, Speakers of regional and international parliaments, as well as the international organisations, to refer the Houthi crimes to the International Criminal Court and to hold to account their leaders and supporters from the Iranian regime, to face trial for the crimes of war and the crime against humanity.

The Yemeni Government also called on the Security Council, the UN organisations and the international bodies concerned with the children's rights, to adopt a resolution that incriminates all acts of abuse against children committed by the Houthi militias and to classify their crimes against the children of Yemen as the worst form of child oppression.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302697822

My comment: The main UN report states that the majority of childrens’ deaths is due to Saudi coalition air raids. And this report even does not take into account all the children who had died due to the effects of the Saudi coalition’s blockade of Yemen (at least the half of ca. 50.000 a year). Who asks for the International Criminal Court must know that all war crimes committed in Yemen must be treated there.

(A P)

Time for Iran to go back to its borders

Perhaps the first lesson that can be derived from the experiences of the past few years is that meddling in the affairs of others has exacerbated ongoing conflicts and led to others, even if it appeared that it may have temporarily succeeded in saving a regime or stifled a coup.

Now, after everything we have seen in Syria, can the time for respecting borders begin?

It is most likely that the majority of countries prefer to see a Russian Syria than an Iranian one.

In other words, can Iran go back on the major coup that it staged under the claim of “exporting the revolution” and which it intensified after the collapse of the barrier that was the Saddam Hussein regime?

Some believe that Iran is afraid of going back to its border, not because it prefers to wage conflicts on other people’s lands, but because some of its own citizens, especially those born after the 1979 revolution, are asking the regime what it has presented to them.

Can Iran build normal ties with Iraq that are based on mutual respect? Can it withdraw from Syria and establish normal relations? What about its role in Lebanon and backing of the Houthi adventure in Yemen?

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2018/07/04/Time-for-Iran-to-go-back-to-its-borders.html

My comment: What an odd propaganda when looking at Saudi worldwide export of Wahabism, Saudi support for terrorism from Libya to Afghanistan, Saudi meddling in Syria, Libya, Lebanon, the Qatar crisis, the Saudi war in Yemen. It’s really “Time for Saudi Arabia to go back to its borders”.

(A P)

Houthis Respond to Griffiths’ Peace Efforts with Military Escalation

Houthis intensified on Tuesday their military operations in Hodeidah governorate as a response to the peace efforts of UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, who is in Sanaa to persuade the militias into withdrawing from the city of Hodeidah and its strategic harbor.
As a response to the UN envoy’s efforts, rebels planted more mines in the residential areas of Hodeidah and began digging more trenches, which divided the strategic port city into isolated islands.
Rebels also fired a long-range ballistic missile, Badr 1at the Khamis Mushait city in Saudi Arabia and another missile at territories in the Emirates.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1320351/houthis-respond-griffiths%E2%80%99-peace-efforts-military-escalation

My comment: More stupid propaganda again. Griffiths‘ peace eforts, what should they have to do with the Houthis preparing themselves for the assault which must be expected? – The Houthis are blamed fort he missile they had fired against Saudi Arabia, while Saudi propaganda just „forgets“ the Saudi coalition air raid against a wedding, killing 11, and other deadly airstrikes, at the same time??

(A P)

How Iranian Regime Is Prolonging the Yemeni War

Iran has even tried a fairly unusual way to turn global public opinion against the Arab coalition and continue this war, which has killed thousands already. The Iranian Regime claimed that the Arab coalition had been blocking deliveries of humanitarian aid by land and sea, when what the Arab coalition was actually doing was preventing Iran from sending in shipments of weapons, including ballistic missiles. These ballistic missiles, which were determined to be Iranian-made by independent UN experts, were being fired at Saudi Arabia for over a year, targeting civilians’ spaces.

The Arab coalition was actually working with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centres and the Red Crescent Society of the UAE to ensure the safety of civilians and provide aid to them, while the Iran-backed Houthis are actually posing a significant risk to Yemeni people.

How? Well the Houthis have committed a number of war crimes during the conflict, including, but not limited to:

Abdullah bin Bijad al-Otaibi, a Saudi writer and researcher, wrote: “The Houthis are not a state but a militia. They are not loyal citizens but a group with an external agenda. The Houthis are fully loyal to the ideology of Iran’s regime. Thus, killing, torturing, and humiliating poor Yemeni citizens are part of their established policy and declared ideology. They do not differ from groups like the Taliban, al-Qaeda or ISIS.”

https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/terrorism-fundamentalism/25000-how-iranian-regime-is-prolonging-the-yemeni-war

My comment: Repeating and even reinforcing Saudi propaganda. This is from the anti-Iranian „opposition“ group NCR / MEK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Resistance_of_Iran

(A P)

More Saudi / UAE “We are benefactors” propaganda

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302697806

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/erc-distributes-500-food-baskets-displaced-people-wadi-shaab-yemen

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

(* A K pH)

Saudi coalition air raids day by day

June 3: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1530709817./1065073420309689/?type=3

(A K pH)

Film: The effects of air raids on the Directorate of Baqam, Saada Governorate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uD-bzWWLTs

(A K pH)

Two civilians killed in airstrike targeted motorcycle in Hodeidah souk

At least two civilians were killed and others were injured on Friday when an airstrike of US Saudi-led aggression fighter jet hit al- Tahita district in the province of Hodeidah, a local official told Saba.
The aggression fighter jet targeted a motorcycle with an airstrike in Souk al-Suwaiq of Tahita district, killing two civilians and injuring others, said the official.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501090.htm

(A K pH)

Citizen wounded in cluster bomb blast in Saada

The bomb was dropped by Saudi-led aggression coalition fighter jets earlier in Baqim distric

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501062.htm

(A K pH)

Civilian martyred in Saudi-led air strikes on Hodeidah

A civilian was killed on Friday in two Saudi-led coalition air strikes on Hodeidah province, a official told Saba.

The strike hit al-Tuhitah district.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501064.htm

(A K pH)

Film: July, 5: Civilians are again being pursued by aircraft of aggression and targeting their homes and properties in a local district of Nhamh district, Sanaa p.

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

(A K pH)

US-Saudi Aerial Aggression Launches 27 Raids on Sa’adah, Destroys Communications Network in Razih

The US-Saudi aerial aggression targeted Thursday morning Sa’adah province with 27 airstrikes.

According to Al-Masirah Net correspondent, the aerial aggression launched seven raids, targeting the communications network in the Razih border district, which led to its destruction.

The US-Saudi aerial aggression launched 11 raids on Bin-Arig mountain in Saqain district, 5 raids on Shorfa mountain and 4 raids on Moftah mountain in Haidan district in the same governorate. (photo)

https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=1474&cat_id=1

(* A K pH)

More Saud coalition air raids recorded on:

July 5:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501015.htm Saada p.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501018.htm Hajjah p.

July 4:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news500923.htm Saada p.

(A K pH)

Film: Aggression targeting the home of a citizen in the Directorate of Bakil al-Mir, Hajjah province

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7HzBpWvrro

(A K)

Photos: Why does this old women cry? Because 2 days ago #Saudi led coalition targeted a wedding party and killed her daughter (the bride) with the rest of her family in Ghafera area #Saada #Yemen. Who is responsible for this? #US senators.

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1014954217742757889

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

(* A K pH)

Saudi city of Jizan targeted by Yemen missile

Yemeni army missile unit and popular committees fired a missile at the industrial city of Jizan in southeast Saudi Arabia late Friday.

According to Al-Massira News Network, the ballistic missile made in Yemen and Badr 1 type was fired at the Saudi border city.
However, Saudi media confirmed the missile attack but claimed the country’s air defense system had intercepted the missile.

http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82963649

(* A K pS)

Command of the Joint Forces of the Alliance "Alliance to Support Legitimacy, in Yemen": Saudi Royal Air Defense Forces Intercept Ballistic Missile Launched by Iran-backed Houthi Terrorist Militia, targeting KSA

The spokesman for the coalition forces "coalition to support the legitimacy in Yemen," Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that at 7:17 pm (19.17), the air defense forces of the alliance spotted the launch of a ballistic missile by the Iran-backed Houthi militia within the territory of Yemen from Imran, towards the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Colonel al-Maliki added that the missile was in the direction of the city (Jazan) and was deliberately launched to target civilian and populated areas, but the Saudi Royal Air Defense forces intercepted and destroyed it, and the missile interception resulted in no casualties.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1782467

My comment: with the standard propaganda claims, by C+P.

(A K)

Gefechte in Jemen

Bei Gefechten zwischen den Sicherheitskräften und den Huthis im Ed-Dali, südlich von Jemen sind 17 Huthis getötet worden, weitere acht wurden verletzt. Während die jemenitische Regierung 7 Landkreise der Provinz Dali unter ihre Kontrolle hat, sind die Kreise Demt und Dschuben unter der Kontrolle von Huthis

http://www.trt.net.tr/deutsch/welt/2018/07/06/gefechte-in-jemen-1006823

(A K pH)

ground attacks hit Saada

the aggression shelled residential areas of Dhaher, Haidan, Razih and Baqrm districts by artillery and missile, leaving damage to civilians’ homes and farms as well as public roads.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news501016.htm

(* A K pH)

Army’s Air force launches drone’s strikes on coalition’s headquarters in Aden

Air force of the army and popular committees on Thursday launched drone’s strikes on Saudi-led aggression coalition’s headquarters camps in Aden province, Defense ministry said in a statement obtained by Saba News Agency.
The drone’s strikes targeted the headquarters which located in Boraiqa camp, hitting the targets accurately, read the statement.
The strikes came after a careful monitoring, as well as a state of panic in the ranks of coalition’s forces after the bombing.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news500969.htm

(* A K)

Saudi-led coalition downs Houthi drone in Yemen's Aden

A Saudi-led military coalition downed a drone suspected of belonging to the Houthi rebel group over Yemen’s coastal Aden province, Saudi television channel Al-Arabiya reported on Thursday.

No casualties were reported.

While the coalition has yet to release an official statement, Aden residents told Anadolu Agency that they had heard a loud explosion near the site of the alleged incident.

Earlier Thursday, Houthi spokesmen announced that the group’s fighters had targeted a coalition position in Aden’s Al-Buraiqeh directorate.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/saudi-led-coalition-downs-houthi-drone-in-yemens-aden/1195744

and

(* A K pS)

Explosions in Aden and sources talking about Houthis attack upon Coalition command center

Media sources at Aden city said today that explosions sounds were heard at “Buriqah” precinct west the city after Hours from Houthis announcement of launching an attack by Drones upon Arabic coalition command center at “Buriqah”.

The sources said the Arabic coalition led by Saudi Arabia forces at “Buriqa” camp have shot down a Houthi Drone by two missiles after it attacked the command center.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/100017

(* A K)

Saudi armour moves into northern Yemen

A Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) armoured formation appears to have advanced into the northern Yemeni province of Sadah, entering the mountainous stronghold of the Iranian-backed rebel group Ansar Allah (the Houthis) for the first time in more than three years of fighting.

Sky News Arabic broadcast footage on 1 July showed Yemeni Army troops advancing in the province. It included shots of at least one M60A3 tank, multiple M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), and an M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.

Saudi Arabia has equipped Yemeni forces fighting against Ansar Allah, but is not previously known to have supplied tracked armoured vehicles to its local allies.

http://www.janes.com/article/81543/saudi-armour-moves-into-northern-yemen

(A K pH)

Child injured in Saudi ground attacks on Saada

A child was injured when the US-backed Saudi-led coalition aggression on Wednesday launched missile and artillery attacks on Saada province, a security official told Saba News Agency.
The shelling targeted several area of Monabeh border district, destroying civilians’ homes, added the official.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news500938.htm

(A K pH)

Film: July, 3: Crimes and bankruptcy of the mercenaries of the aggression in the bombing of the homes of citizens Directorate of Almutawn, province of Al Jawf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OWkeCDdkc

cp18 Sonstiges / Other

(A K)

Ein Monat ohne Lebenszeichen

Der Einhandsegler Alain Goma hatte sich mit der Trinkwasserration verrechnet, musste auf dem Weg nach Dschibouti vorzeitig gen Jemen abdrehen. Dort geriet er in einen militärischen Konflikt.

Eigentlich wollte der Franzose Alain Goma auf seiner Yacht nach Indien segeln. Im August 2017 war er in Südfrankreich zu einem Törn der etwas anderen Art gestartet.

Anfang Juni 2018 segelte Gomas mitten im Roten Meer auf die Bab Al Mandaib-Meerenge zu. Sein nächstes Etappenziel war Djibouti, von wo aus er den „großen Schlag“ hinüber nach Indien machen wollte. Doch die Winde wehten nicht wie erhofft. Und der Franzose stellte bald fest, dass sein Süßwasservorrat nicht bis zum Horn von Afrika reichen würde.

Also steuerte er die jemenitische Hafenstadt al Hudaida an – ein 650.000-Einwohner-Moloch, der bereits seit Wochen im Zentrum des Bürgerkrieg in Jemen stand.

Worüber Gomas offensichtlich nicht informiert war. Jedenfalls segelte er am 3. Juni bei Dunkelheit in den Hafen, legte an… und bekam sofort „Besuch“. Eine Delegation aus Militärs, Zollbeamten, Polizisten und schwer bewaffneten „Sicherheitsleuten“ nahmen den Segler verbal in die Mangel.

In dieser Nacht schickte Gomas seine vorerst letzte SMS an seine Familie: „Man hat mir reichlich Wasser gegeben. Hier herrscht Krieg!“

https://segelreporter.com/panorama/krisengebiete-franzoesischer-segler-im-jemen-festgehalten-wollte-nur-wasser-bunkern/

(-)

Film: A day in Aden.. Beauty of this city is simplicity!

https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1014437444769509377

(A K)

„Rakete aus dem Untergrund“: Jemen zeigt seine Waffe in Aktion – VIDEO

Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen haben den Einsatz einer Rakete vom Typ Badr-1 aus einem getarnten Raketensilo auf Video aufgezeichnet. Wie diese unterirdische Anlage funktioniert, zeigen folgende Bilder aus dem Netz.

https://de.sputniknews.com/videos/20180704321414053-jemen-raketen/

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-430-yemen-war-mosaic-430

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-430 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-430:

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

http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

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

Dietrich Klose

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

Dietrich Klose

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