Wegen des großen Umfangs wird der Beitrag diesmal geteilt. cp1-4 und cp7 in Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 443, cp5-6, 7a-18 in Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 444:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-443-yemen-war-mosaic-443
Due to the large size this article is divided. cp1-4, cp7 in Yemen War Mosaic 443, cp5-6, 7a-18 in Yemen War Mosaic 444:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-443-yemen-war-mosaic-443
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
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp1c Am wichtigsten: Saudischer Luftangriff auf Schulbus / Most important: Saudi air raid at school bus
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Saudisch-Kanadischer Streit / Saudi-Canadian feud
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
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(* A P)
U.N. says Houthis refused visa to head of human rights office in Yemen
The Houthi militia group which controls much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa has barred without explanation the head of the U.N.’s human rights office in Yemen from returning to the country, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday.
Elobaid Elobaid, a Canadian citizen, had been based in Yemen since October 2016, leading a team of 17 staff in Sanaa and 13 monitors in 11 of Yemen’s governorates. His visa expired in June but was not renewed.
(* A P)
Two detainees die of torture in Houthi jail
Two new detainees have died of torture in the jails of the Houthi militia, human rights activists said on the condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
Ibrahim Mahyob al-Salahi and Mohammed al-Ammari who have been in al-Saleh jails complex in eastern Taiz and a jail in the capital Sana'a respectively died this week after two years of their abduction by the Islamic extremist rebels in eastern Taiz and subjecting them to torture, the sources learnt from relatives of the two slain prisoners.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21663
(* A P)
Houthis bomb-lace two houses and blow them up in Taiz
Houthi militiamen bomb-laced two houses and blew them up in al-Shaqab area in the southwestern Yemen city of Taiz on Tuesday, eyewitnesses told reporters.
Taiz News Network quoted eyewitnesses as saying that "the two houses belong to Ibrahim Saeed Mohammed Muthanna and Fuad Saeed Abdu Ibrahim" two oppositionists to the militia in the district.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21694
(A B P)
Tales of journalists suffering in Houthi jails told in Beirut
In the Knowledge Exchange Conference held by the Sana'a Center in early July, human rights reporter Abdullah Al Mansouri talked about the suffering of the families of journalists abducted by the Houthi militiaa citing the case of his brother Tawfiq, who is also a journalist.
He narrated the story of journalists suffering in a meeting with the Group of Eminent Experts panel set up by the UN Secretary-General to examine human rights violations in Yemen during the war.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21660
(A P)
Sana'a : Houthi government executes three people raped a child in Sanaa (photos)
https://twitter.com/kamal_ALNomani/status/1027231402096570368
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A P)
#Taiz in southwest Yemen: casualties including civilians have been reported from fierce clashes between UAE-backed jihadi militia of Abu Al-Abbas and Islah Party's militias. Here is the weird thing: reports say UAE apache helicopters are poised to support Abu Al-Abbas militia.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1028076249296629761
(A P)
President of the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC) Aydarus al Zubaidi stressed southern Yemen’s right of self-determination during an interview on August 10. Zubaidi also blamed the Hadi government for the economic crisis in Aden city, southern Yemen. Zubaidi asked that the demands of the STC not be ignored during the conference in Riyadh on August 13 and reiterated that the UN negotiations must include the STC. Zubaidi threatened to seize al Hudaydah and spoil UN negotiations if his demands are not met.[2]
(A P)
Yemeni citizens protested poor economic conditions for the seventh day in a row on August 10 in Aden city, southern Yemen. Protesters demonstrated against rising costs of living, a reduction in wages, failure of the government to provide basic public services, and corruption. Protesters condemned the Hadi government and blamed its economic policies for the rise in food prices. [3]
(A P)
Wounded defenders of Taiz protest govt default on healthcare expenses
Scores of defenders of the city of Taiz who were wounded in the battles with the invading Houthi militiamen since 2015 have organized a rally to protest at the government's default on treatment and accommodation expenses for wounded warriors receiving treatment in India.
In a rally near the governor's office in the government-held but Houthi-besieged city, the wounded demanded the government to follow up on the wounded stranded there and to ensure that other wounded get healthcare as well.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21648
(A P)
Emirati delegation attends graduation of "Hadramaut General Security Batch 2018" in Yemen
The ceremony, which was held under the patronage of Major General Faraj Salmeen Al Bahssani, Governor of Hadramaut and Commander of the Second Military Zone, commemorated the graduates who received security and military training and legal lectures, to support the local security sector and supply it with young security personnel, with the funding of the UAE, in coordination with the Yemeni Ministry of Interior.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302702983
My comment: UAE-backed Yemeni militia.
(A P)
Shabwa tribes are on alert and ready to fight as they are accusing vice president Ali Muhsen Al-Ahmar and the Islah Party of seeking to annex Baihan district to Marib province in order to control Shabwa oil resources.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1027297797190680576
(A T)
Militants attempted to assassinate an Islah Party leader, Arafat Hazam, in al Mualla district, Aden City, southern Yemen on August 8. Militants detonated a car bomb outside of Hazam’s house. Hazam was not injured in the attack.[3]
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(A P)
Iran rejects OIC accusations, denounces ‘Saudi-Emirati war crime’ in Yemen
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected accusations by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as “worthless”; it also said airstrike on a school bus in Yemen on Thursday constituted an example of the Saudi-UEA “war crime”.
Iran’s response to the OIC statement came after the body in a meeting on Wednesday claimed that Tehran was behind the Yemeni attack on Saudi oil tankers in Bab al-Mandab strait.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed the statement in its entirety, saying such moves are aimed at deflecting public attention from the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* B P)
ARABIA MOCKS THE WORLD WITH ITS WEALTH… AND SOME HELP FROM TRUMP
The leaders of Saudi Arabia mock western values with supreme confidence by virtue of their money power. Democracy, human rights, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, freedom of expression, and other freedoms are treated as norms imposed by the West. If you wish to violate these sacred principles, all you have to do is pay!
Leveraging its economic power based on oil, Saudi Arabia defied President Obama when Congress approved JASTA (the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act) in 2016 and threatened to pull hundreds of billions of dollars out of the USA if Saudi Arabia were accused of playing a role in the Al-Qaeda terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 (9/11). It is known that Osama Bassnan, whom the declassified 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report identified as a financial supporter of two of the 9/11 hijackers in San Diego, received money from Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, and Bassnan’s wife also got money from Bandar’s wife.
The monarchy also defied the UN when in September 2017 a small group of Western nations sought to create a commission of inquiry to investigate its human rights violations in Yemen
Saudi accuses Canada of what it calls “interference in its domestic affairs”. This from the country which routinely advocates “change” in domestic affairs of others: its Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir threatened “ad nauseam”, throughout the many years of war in Syria, that President Bashar al-Assad “will be removed by force.” Saudi leaders have advocated regime change in Iran (the same Twitter account called for the death of the Supreme Leader of Iran earlier that day), held a Lebanese Prime Minister hostage(the French president intervened to obtain his release), and are bombing Yemen daily as the world looks impotently on, killing thousands of civilians and destroying a country whose only crime is to refuse to submit to Saudi rule and Wahhabi ideology. The world looks on these Saudi abuses with impotent eyes.
Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman has tried – with little obvious success, despite the support from Western media – to portray the kingdom as a country undertaking reform. But he has not been able to put a modern face on the extremist Wahhabist doctrine, Saudi Arabia’s official religion. This doctrine is the “main source of global terrorism” and the same teaching followed by groups like al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State” (ISIS).
Saudi power and ideology could not maintain itself without the support – apparently unlimited – of the latest US establishment led by Donald Trump On these terms, Saudi Arabia – duly paying a protection fee to Trump – has a free hand to destroy Yemen Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has threatened to stop all financial contributions to the United Nations if it is accused of human rights violations. No impartial observer can fail to notice that Saudi Arabian money today leads the great power nations around by the nose. The much-vaunted western values are evidently for sale at the bazaar.
Indeed, the world’s silent attitude – which includes Canada – towards the horrible human calamity of the Saudi daily bombing of Yemen, and the support it provides to terrorists (i.e. al-Qaeda in Syria and the Yemen, and ISIS in Syria) boost the Saudi confidence to mock western values with impunity. Thus, when the West speaks of “dictatorial regimes violating freedom of speech, disrespecting human rights, and filling up jails with citizens accused of contradicting their rulers,” it is merely an indication that those regimes won’t or can’t afford to pay their ransom to Donald Trump and other leaders of the “free world.”
Saudi accounts attacked the Canadian Foreign Ministry over indigenous women missing and murdered in Canada, reciprocating what they consider an intrusion into their own internal affairs. These Saudis cannot understand that the Canadian government actually accepts this criticism and condemns such abuses. Supporters of the Saudi monarchy evidently find it hard to understand that a western government can accept such criticism. Advocates for human rights are well received in the West, while in the Saudi kingdom such criticism is not allowed and is punished by long years in jail.
Money can buy anything and everybody… except perhaps those of us who insist on pointing out that our values, not for sale in the Saudi bazaar, are binding only on those who cannot or will not pay through the nose.
Congratulations to Saudi Arabia for its successful purchase of the leaders of the free world – by Eliah J.Magnier
(A P)
Saudi Arabia crucified a man in Mecca while aggressively calling out Canada over human rights
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed a man by crucifixion in the holy city of Mecca on Wednesday amid trying to attack Canada on its human-rights record.
Saudi Arabia frequently uses capital punishment for crimes like homosexuality or anti-government activities, though crucifixions are rare.
The man, Elias Abulkalaam Jamaleddeen, was accused of murder, theft, and attempted rape, according to Bloomberg.
(* A B P)
Apple boss Wozniak gets fingers into Saudi pie
Tech giant and entrepreneur Steve Wozniak is rubber stamping the Saudi monarchy's efforts to rehabilitate its global reputation, writes CJ Werleman. On the same day the Apple Corporation became the first public company to exceed US$1 trillion in value, Saudi Arabia appointed one of the tech giant's founders, Steve Wozniak as its ambassador for the creation of a "Saudi tech hub".
Transforming Saudi Arabia into a regional technology hub is a central part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's (MBS) Vision 2030
At the heart of this project is the very legitimacy of MBS and the monarchy itself.
At the heart of this project is the very legitimacy of MBS and the monarchy itself. In an effort to attain legitimacy for himself, and restore Saudi faith in the monarchy itself, MBS has launched a global propaganda campaign, the likes of which the world has not seen since Israel began selling itself as an enterprise that will "make the desert bloom," a marketing strategy designed to con western audiences into believing it was colonising a barren wasteland, and not a land already inhabited by its indigenous people.
Equally, MBS' Vision 2030 is also a con, one meant to legitimise his ascension to the throne by establishing deeper economic ties with key allies, particularly the United States, UK, and Europe, which is where Steve Wozniak comes in.
The Apple co-founder becomes the friendly and familiar western face for MBS' pet project NEOM, which plans to attract billions in foreign investment via the construction of a $640 billion futuristic city, or rather a 26,500 square kilometre industrial zone, which MBS envisions will become a futuristic technology hub for Gulf Arab states.
Wozniak described NEOM as an "amazing idea", while New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman declaredMBS had brought about an "Arab Spring, at last."
Both Vision 2030 and NEOM might well be touted as "amazing ideas", but for now, an idea is all they are. In reality, these projects are a propagandised effort to rehabilitate the Saudi monarchy's global reputation, of which both Friedman and Wozniak have taken the bait - hook, line, and sinker.
Appointing Wozniak as the country's technology ambassador is also an added sweetener meant to appeal to young people's growing appetite for luxury products and global brands, and no corporation has been more successful in winning the hearts and minds of the millennial generation, and those under age 30 than the Apple Corporation.
For western audiences, the tying of Wozniak, and by extension Apple to Saudi Arabia's brand is intended to also whitewash Saudi Arabia's appalling human rights record and its ongoing military venture in Yemen.
When Americans see Wozniak, they won't see Saudi Arabia's extraordinary number of executions, which is no less barbaric than those carried out by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). When Americans see Wozniak, they won't see the wave of arrests taking place against human rights activists. When Americans see Wozniak, they won't see a criminal justice system that relies on the use of torture to extract confessions; nor will they see the Kingdom's subjugation of women, migrant workers and ethnic minorities.
Essentially, Wozniak is helping legitimise the future rule of a reckless tyrant; one that imprisons political dissenters, bombs the most impoverished country in the region, and forces the resignation of a democratically elected leader, while also stymieing any meaningful cultural and political reform in Saudi Arabia – by C. J. Werleman
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2018/8/7/apple-boss-wozniak-gets-fingers-into-saudi-pie
cp8a Saudisch-Kanadischer Streit / Saudi-Canadian feud
(A K P)
Aid group calls on Canada to condemn deadly Saudi-led airstrike on Yemeni school bus
Bill Chambers, CEO of Save the Children Canada, said it’s time for Canada to step up to champion and protect human rights and push for accountability when crimes are committed in conflict.
“The violations of international law that we are witnessing in Yemen – including the recent attacks on children – are a critical instance where Canada’s leadership is needed,” Chambers said.
“Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has said this week that Canada will always defend human rights. Yemen cannot be an exception.”
(A P)
Canada delays deportation of Saudi asylum seeker after U.N. request: lawyer
Canada delayed the deportation of a Saudi asylum seeker slated for Wednesday after a United Nations human rights committee asked for time to review the man’s case, his lawyer said.
https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1KT2LG-OCATP
(A P)
Canada PM says will press Saudi Arabia on rights, offers olive branch
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said he would keep pressing Saudi Arabia on civil liberties amid a major diplomatic dispute but also offered an apparent olive branch, saying the kingdom had made some progress on human rights.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir - infuriated by Canada’s demand last week that jailed rights activists be released immediately - said earlier on Wednesday that there was no room for mediation, adding that Ottawa knew what it needed to do to “fix its big mistake.”
Trudeau - who referred to the matter as “a diplomatic difference of opinion” - told reporters in Montreal that Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland had held a long conversation with her Saudi counterpart on Tuesday, but gave no details.
“Diplomatic talks continue ... we don’t want to have poor relations with Saudi Arabia. It is a country that has great significance in the world, that is making progress in the area of human rights,” he said.
My comment: Trudeau is telling ridiculous things (“saying the kingdom had made some progress on human rights“), Saudi Arabia keeps blackmailing.
(A P)
Canadian PM says will keep pressing Saudi Arabia on human rights
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday he would keep pressing Saudi Arabia on its human rights record, even as a dispute with Riyadh over criticism from Ottawa continued to escalate.
(A E P)
Saudi-Canada dispute will not affect oil supplies: Saudi minister
Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic dispute with Canada will not affect state oil firm Aramco’s clients in Canada, the country’s energy minister said.
My comment: Money money money…
(A E P)
Saudi-Canada row could further rattle foreign investors eyeing kingdom
A worsening row between Saudi Arabia and Canada about human rights threatens to undermine Riyadh’s foreign investment drive, a campaign already unsettled by a series of assertive political and diplomatic initiatives by the top oil exporter.
(A P)
Saudi trainee doctors set to head home from Canada in diplomatic row
Saudi Arabia has told hundreds of trainee doctors to leave Canada with only weeks’ notice in the midst of a diplomatic spat, a move that could disrupt Canadian hospitals and end a 40-year-old program to train specialists for the kingdom.
(A P)
Saudi student fears jail or 'maybe worse' if he's forced to leave Canada
Saudi government orders 8,300 post-secondary students Canada to pack up and leave over diplomatic dispute
"I agree with what Canada's government did. I strongly agree," the student told As It Happensguest host Matt Galloway. "I wish they did it before this time."
(* A P)
‘We don’t have a single friend’: Canada’s Saudi spat reveals country is alone
As Saudi officials lashed out at Canada this week, the US remained on the sidelines, signaling a blatant shift in the relationship
But this week laid bare perhaps the most blatant shift in the relationship, as the United States said it would remain on the sidelines while Saudi officials lashed out at Canada over its call to release jailed civil rights activists. Canada’s lonely stance was swiftly noticed north of the border.“We do not have a single friend in the whole entire world,” Rachel Curran, a policy director under former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, lamented on Twitter.
The United Kingdom was similarly muted in its response, noted Bob Rae, a former leader of the federal Liberal party. “The Brits and the Trumpians run for cover and say ‘we’re friends with both the Saudis and the Canadians,’” Rae wrote on Twitter. “Thanks for the support for human rights, guys, and we’ll remember this one for sure.”
Analysts and regional officials said the spat had little to do with Canada, instead characterising Riyadh’s actions as a broader signal to western governments that any criticism of its domestic policies is unacceptable.
Several countries expressed support for Saudi Arabia, including Egypt and Russia. But Canada continued to stand alone
The week’s events have added impetus to a conversation that is slowly getting underway in Canada, Juneau said. “We are starting some serious soul-searching in the sense of what does it mean for Canada to have a US that is much more unilateral, much more dismissive of the rules and the norms and of its leadership role in the international order that it has played for 70 years?”
These changes south of the border have clearly emboldened Saudi Arabia, Juneau argued, describing the kingdom’s recent actions in Yemen,Qatar and Lebanon as a pattern of aggressive, ambitious and reckless behaviour.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/11/canada-saudi-arabia-support-us
(* A B P)
The Blowup With Canada Is the Latest Saudi Overreach. Will They Ever Pay a Price?
At the same time, Saudi trolls took to Twitter to declare their loud support for … Quebec’s independence. Who knew that an absolute Persian Gulf monarchy was so passionate about a French-speaking secessionist movement 6,000 miles away? (Hey, Canadian trolls — if you even exist — my advice would be to retaliate by offering Ottawa’s backing for independence in the restless, Shia-dominated Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It’ll drive them totally nuts.) And Saudi Arabia was just getting started. Are. You. Kidding. Me?
Much has been made of the kingdom’s “increasingly assertive foreign policy” but, yet again, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known by his initials MBS, may have bitten off more than he can chew. It’s madness to try and bully a Western government, which up until Sunday was both a friend of Saudi Arabia and a major arms supplier, for offering the mildest of online criticisms of (undeniable) human rights abuses. What message does that send to Riyadh’s other Western allies, who also like to go through the motions of lightly condemning various Saudi abuses in order to appease their voters? Is the game up?
AS I OBSERVED back in November, MBS is the reverse Midas— everything he touches turns to dust. Why, for example, make so much noise and demonstrate such (faux) outrage over Canada’s “overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs” of the Saudi kingdom, thereby drawing attention to the country’s own “overt and blatant interference” in Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and, of course, Yemen? The double standards are stark.
They could have just ignored Canada’s passing, pro forma admonishment of their crackdown on women’s rights activists and the rest. They’ve done it before. But the Saudis, led by their impulsive and thin-skinned crown prince, have proven themselves to be their own worst enemies. Their Iranian, Qatari, and Turkish rivals couldn’t pay for the kind of negative, anti-Saudi media coverage that the folks in Riyadh seem to produce all by themselves.
THEN THERE IS the whole terrorism issue. So what’s the response from President Donald Trump’s team to all this? A State Department official told HuffPost on Monday that the administration would not be taking sides in the spat because “Canada and Saudi Arabia are both close allies of the United States.”
Sorry, what? “Both close allies”? Is Canada working with Al Qaeda in Yemen? Cutting deals with, and recruiting fighters from, the group behind the attack on the Twin Towers? And, while we’re on the subject of Al Qaeda, how many of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Canadians? – by Mehdi Hassan
https://theintercept.com/2018/08/07/saudi-arabia-canada-tweet/
(* A P)
A Canadian tweet in a Saudi king's court crosses a red line
When Riyadh responded to a call from Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to release civil society activists with an abrupt severing of diplomatic and trade ties, Canadian officials were left scrambling to understand what had happened.
What Ottawa did not anticipate was that in the eyes of the Saudis they had crossed a red line.
“The Saudi retaliation took some time to allow for political talks in closed doors,” Salman al-Ansari, founder of the Washington-based Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee, said.
“They thought the Canadians would take steps to back off, but all of a sudden they tweeted it in Arabic. This was a very provocative action by the Canadians to try to embarrass the Saudis in front of their people. The Saudis did not take this lightly at all.”
Canadian officials say there was nothing remarkable about the Arabic tweet, which merely repeated Ottawa’s stated position in a common practice for delegations abroad.
Canada has raised the issue of civil society activist detentions before.
The outsized reaction to the tweet underscores how the kingdom is taking a much harsher stance against what it perceives as Western interference in its internal affairs on issues like human rights, perhaps emboldened by Washington’s willingness under Donald Trump to de-emphasize rights issues when it comes to its allies. Canadian foreign affairs officials including Freeland, who were gathered at a Vancouver hotel for a conference on Sunday, were taken aback by the Saudi reaction and left scrambling. Canada, government insiders said, was still unclear on what steps it can take to “fix its big mistake”, as a Saudi official called it.
“I don’t think we have a conclusive understanding as of right now,” said a Canadian government source. “There may be the need for another call (between Freeland and Jubeir). We’re also obviously talking to our partners about it. We do not wish to have bad relations with them (the Saudis).”
Inside Saudi Arabia, the measures were supported by a media campaign criticizing Canada’s human rights record and praising the Saudi ruler’s firmness in “protecting the kingdom’s sovereignty.”
Thousands of Twitter accounts bearing Saudi flags tweeted on the dispute, elevating the phrase “Saudi Arabia expels the Canadian ambassador” to one of the world’s most popular hashtags. Many of the tweets used suspiciously similar language, often a sign of a coordinated campaign by bots, or automated accounts.
(* A P)
Cynism as a Reason of State
The Canadian foreign minister tweeted criticism of the arrests and called for the civil rights activists to be released. The reaction of the Saudi regime demonstrated just how volatile and extreme its behavior is. It responded by expelling the Canadian ambassador and recalling its own envoy from Canada. It also announced a freeze on new trade and investment with Canada, and on academic programs and exchanges between the two countries.
Measures like these, on account of a single tweet? This blatantly disproportionate response reveals the dictatorial arrogance the regime displays towards all dissenters — both other countries, and its own defenseless citizens. It is a reaction that betrays a terrifying absolutism.
An absolutism that must, above all, be protested. Norbert Röttgen, a member of the Bundestag for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, is right to call on the EU and the German government to declare their solidarity with Canada and repudiate Saudi Arabia's actions.
So far, though, that hasn't happened. This is shameful. The EU sees itself as a community of shared values. But what happens to these values when confronting dictators who sit on vast reserves of oil? – by Kersten Knipp
https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-cynicism-as-reason-of-state/a-45042277
(A P)
Is Twitter more powerful than embassies? Saudi Arabia makes us believe so
Today, Twitter seems to have become more powerful than embassies established around the world. All-powerful leaders don't wait for their seasoned envoys to talk to their counterparts in respective countries. They chirp on Twitter and diplomacy is done.
The latest example is Saudi Arabia's snapping of ties with Canada
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/saudi-arabia-canada-twitter-diplomacy-1309576-2018-08-09
(*A B P)
Target Saudi Oil Policies – by AliAlAhmed
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20180809/281857234362612
(* A B P)
Mohammed bin Salman Is Weak, Weak, Weak
Saudi Arabia has started a crisis with Canada because it doesn't want to admit its own failings.
According to their Saudi counterparts, by expressing concern for the plight of peaceful activists in the kingdom, Canada’s diplomats were in egregious violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty. There are various theories to explain the Saudi reaction to Canada’s tweet. Some analysts have suggested that the episode is another example of Saudi Arabia’s reckless foreign policy under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Others see it as another warning to Saudis that the only reforms in the kingdom are those that the crown prince has articulated, and they are at their peril should Saudis demand more. Both explanations are plausible—and either way, Mohammed bin Salman comes out looking every bit the impetuous, petty, immature, tyrant that his critics say he is.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/07/mohammed-bin-salman-is-weak-weak-weak/
(* A B P)
Combative Saudi foreign police stirs international ire
Saudi Arabia has sought to tame critics with an aggressive foreign policy, but a deadly air raid in Yemen following an acrimonious spat with Canada will only amplify international pressure on the kingdom, analysts say.
The move illustrates how the oil-rich kingdom is unwilling to brook any criticism –- foreign or domestic -– under its young crown prince.
"The top leadership is not particularly concerned with Canada's global influence," said analysis firm Eurasia Group.
"Instead, it is interested in shutting the door to broader criticism, also from European countries, and on other issues in the future."
Absent a strong US voice (under President Donald Trump) on human rights and democratic values, Arab leaders have become less willing to tolerate Western advice on either political reform of governance," said the Eurasia Group.
But the developments this week could complicate Riyadh's relationship with Washington.
(A B P)
In Saudi-Canada standoff, Riyadh should stand down
But whatever pain Saudi Arabia ultimately inflicts on Canada, the kingdom may get the worst of it. Western institutional investors, actors that avoid risk whenever they can, are undoubtedly spooked. Foreign investment in Saudi Arabia had already plummeted to a 14-year low after last year’s opaque anti-corruption purge that put a number of high-profile Saudis under house arrest.
Riyadh certainly has a right to contest Canada’s statements. But it must find a way to climb down from this senseless escalation. And in the process, it wouldn’t hurt to reassure its supporters that it remains committed to reform, not to mention human rights.
https://nypost.com/2018/08/09/saudi-arabias-feud-with-canada-is-childish-and-stupid/amp/
(* A B P)
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Picks a Very Strange Fight with Canada
President Trump’s support, and a personal connection to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may have caused M.B.S. to feel that he has impunity to do as he pleases on the global stage. During the past year, M.B.S. has run an intensive charm offensive in the United States and Europe—courting political leaders, tech titans, celebrities, society names, and academics. At the same time, the crown prince is behind the most aggressive foreign policy since Ibn Saud conquered rival tribes on the Arabian Peninsula to create the current kingdom.
“The Canadian campaign is the latest in a series of disastrous foreign-policy initiatives from M.B.S.,” Riedel told me. The same impulsive anger triggered the response to the initial Canadian tweet—and translation into Arabic—of the Foreign Minister’s message, Khashoggi said.
“It is the pattern of behavior that has been dictating Saudi foreign policy since M.B.S. came to power,” he said. “It was taken as an offense on M.B.S.’s own turf. He saw it as an insult to his ability to control the Saudi masses.” M.B.S.’s motive may also be part of a strategy to challenge nations that advocate a U.N.-led inquiry into Saudi abuses in Yemen, including air strikes that killed civilians.
“Timing of Saudi crown prince’s lashing out at Canada for protesting his repression suggests his real aim is to dissuade governments next month from continuing the UN investigation of Saudi-led war crimes in Yemen,” Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, tweeted, on Tuesday. “Time to redouble support for the UN probe.” The crown prince’s actions belie the image he is trying to create – by Robin Wright
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Saudi Arabia’s fight with Canada exposes its fragile crown prince
A few months ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seemed the toast of every major Western capital. MBS — the ubiquitous shorthand for the ambitious 32-year-old royal — had embarked on an extensive global tour, calling on politicians, business elites and celebrities as part of a broader push to sell his vision of reforms for the oil-rich kingdom. But an explosive diplomatic spat this week shows how fragile the crown prince’s narrative may be.
The affair took a turn for the absurd on Monday, when a prominent Twitter account linked to the Saudi government shared an image of an airplane careening toward the Toronto skyline. The tweet was deleted, but not before casting the wholly unwelcome shadow of 9/11 over proceedings and forcing an apology from a Saudi embassy official in Washington. Meanwhile, an entire ecosystem of Saudi social-media accounts continued a trolling offensive, offering their virtual support for indigenous rights in Canada as well as Quebecois separatism. Officials in Ottawa defended their stance.
But looming over the spat is the matter of a controversial — and unfinished — $12 billion arms deal between the two countries. The deal, inked in 2014 by a since-defeated Conservative government, was upheld by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the face of significant media criticism at home.
Ali Shihabi, the founder of the Arabia Foundation, a Washington-based think tank close to Riyadh, told Today’s WorldView that the crown prince has to react to Western posturing as he seeks to liberalize his own country.
But it’s also a mark of the crown prince’s heavy-handed governing style. The changes, though, have been accompanied by a steady drumbeat of repression, including the arrest of popular clerics, prominent business executives and the women’s rights advocates — sending a message, analysts said, that the reforms do not include a sliver of tolerance for political expression.”
MBS is also increasingly seen as the steward of an incoherent and largely unsuccessful foreign policy that includes the stalemate over Qatar, the ruinous war in Yemen – by Ishan Tharoor
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Thank you Canada
Canada took on a courageous position through its foreign minister and embassy in Riyadh when it expressed its concern regarding the Saudi authorities’ arrest of human rights activists, including women and called for their release. These human rights activists are only guilty of bravely expressing their opinions and defending the rights of the oppressed citizens in the Kingdom of fear. The Canadian position is not new.
The new situation that coincided with the Canadian position is Saudi Arabia’s angry and unbalanced reaction. On the other hand, Canada’s reaction was diplomatic and graceful, as its foreign minister announced that she is “very comfortable” with Canada’s position and that “Canada will always stand up for human rights in Canada and around the world — and women’s rights are human rights.” This is stipulated by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is a bill of rights included in the Constitution.
The irony in the Saudi reaction is that the tweet by the Canadian embassy in Riyadh which triggered the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Canada, only expressed its alarm at the arrest of a Saudi activist, Samar Badawi, and called for her release. This was met with the unexpected and aggressive Saudi reaction.
This crisis has exposed two faces of hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of the Saudi authorities, which are silent when criticism comes from the American authorities which issues insulting statements, and sometimes even direct or implicit accusations of supporting terrorism by President Trump. The other face is the Western hypocrisy, which has been demonstrated by several countries, foremost among them America, Britain and France, considered the cradle of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, when they are silent in the face of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations, not only inside the country, but also in Yemen, carried out with weapons purchased from these Western countries.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this new crisis between Saudi Arabia and Canada, which we do not know when and how it will end, is that it reminded the world of the abhorrent human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi-Canadian crisis has broken the taboo that most Western countries are too afraid to approach and therefore avoids addressing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, as a means to preserve its economic interests and military deals. Will Canada’s boldness break the West’s silence about abuses in the Kingdom of fear? The answer to this question is left for the upcoming days.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180808-thank-you-canada/
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Putting the spat between Saudi Arabia and Canada in context
The unexpected diplomatic feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia exposes the fragility of the latter's reform agenda.
As tweets go, this expression of concern from Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland at the arrest of women activists in Saudi Arabia didn't seem particularly offensive.
It is the sort of thing that Western governments do from time to time when their consciences are mildly pricked by the actions of authoritarian regimes. The response of those regimes is usually to ignore the criticism, and life, trade deals and human rights abuses carry on until the next time democratic consciences are somewhat troubled. It has become a bit of a game, a diplomatic set piece with little consequence for either side.
In this case, however, the Saudis saw red. The Saudis added, with an attempt at menace, that should the Canadians not cease and desist forthwith then "any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgment of our right to interfere in the Canadian domestic affairs."
But there is a Canadian connection to the story and that is Samar Badawi. She has long campaigned on behalf of her brother Raif, a blogger sentenced in 2014 to 10 years and 1000 lashes for apostasy and "insulting Islam through electronic channels." After Raif Badawi's arrest in 2012, his wife and Samar's sister-in-law Ensaf Haidar fled to Canada with their three children. On July 1 of this year, Canada Day, they were granted Canadian citizenship.
From her vantage point in Canada Ensaf Haidar has campaigned tirelessly and publicly for the release of her husband, a situation that without a doubt deeply annoys the Saudis. That may be one reason for their over the top response.
Another may be the ongoing Canadian media scrutiny of a $15bn arms deal arranged under Canada's former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
As with most other foreign affairs adventures conducted by Mohammed bin Salman, this latest one has all the hallmarks of a rash, impatient and arrogant young man. The war in Yemen was going to be over in a matter of weeks. It is now in its fourth year and the consequences for the Yemeni people have been utterly disastrous.
Picking on Canada, a country with a generally positive global image and doing so in language that is almost baroque in its claims while at the same time threatening to meddle in Canada's domestic affairs unless the criticism stops is an odd thing to do when you are attempting to rebrand your country as moderate and open for business. But when you are a young man in a hurry with enormous power to wield, busy jailing anyone who dares to criticise with no one to gainsay you, then this is what happens.
Compared with his other foreign fiascos, the attack on Canada is a mild, risible faux pas. But it is one that reinforces a growing consensus that Mohammed bin Salman is increasingly out of his depth, struggling at home to impose his grandiose transformation of the Saudi economy, Vision 2030, and on the international stage tripping over his feet and beginning to look the fool -by Bill Law
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It's a bit rich for Saudi Arabia to accuse Canada of meddling, says analyst
'Saudi Arabia meddles far more than Canada ever has,' says U of O prof Thomas Juneau
It's a stretch for Saudi Arabia to accuse Canada of meddling in its affairs while it wages war on neighbouring Yemen, says former defence analyst Thomas Juneau. Juneau, an international affairs professor at the University of Ottawa, spoke to As It Happensguest host Matt Galloway about the state of relations between Canada and the Saudis.
Here is part of their conversation.
TJ: Since King Salman came on the throne in 2015 and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emerged as really the main player in Saudi Arabia, the country's foreign policy has become much more aggressive, much more ambitious, much more assertive. The other reason is more specific to Canada-Saudi relations. Canada-Saudi relations have often been portrayed in the media in the last two, three, four years as quite good because of the sale of LAVs, the light armoured vehicles, for $15 billion. In practice, in the last two years, relations have grown increasingly tense because Saudi Arabia viewed the LAV deal really as an investment ... to deepen relations with each other — deepen trade, deepen academic exchanges, scientific exchanges, security and defence co-operation and so on.
But that didn't happen, mostly because the Liberals really didn't want to be seen as deepening co-operation with such a brutal dictatorship.
That really frustrated the Saudis a lot and we just saw that boil over over the weekend.
If you take just a couple small steps back, Saudi Arabia is leading an extremely brutal war in its neighbour, in Yemen, killing tens of thousands of people and completely ravaging the country.
It's imposed an embargo on Qatar, its neighbour.
It literally kidnapped and took as a hostage the Lebanese prime minister late last year.
So if you want to talk about meddling, right, Saudi Arabia meddles far, far more than Canada ever has.
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Multiple Diplomatic Spats Raise Questions About Saudi Concept Of Sovereignty – Analysis
The failure of Western allies to rally around Canada in its dispute with Saudi Arabia risks luring the kingdom into a false belief that economic sanctions will shield it from, if not reverse mounting criticism of its human rights record and conduct of the war in Yemen. It also risks convincing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that acting with impunity will not impinge on his efforts to attract badly needed foreign investment.
The spat follows similar incidents with Sweden in 2015 and Germany in November of last year and is not dissimilar to approaches adopted by other autocracies like China which has responded similarly on issues such as Taiwan, the South China Sea and the deployment of a US anti-missile system on the Korean peninsula. The Hariri incident as well as Saudi lobbying against US President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, President Donald J. Trump’s decision to move the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and what veteran Middle East journalist Brian Whitaker described as “hurling abuse at Qatar” puts Saudi complaints about interference in its internal affairs on thin ice.
In effect, the Saudi attempt to bully governments into refraining from criticism constitutes an attempt to curtail the sovereignty of others by dictating to them what they can and cannot say.
To the kingdom’s detriment, it also blows incidents out of proportion that otherwise would have likely gone unnoticed. Few would have taken note of Mr. Horak’s comment on Twitter had Saudi Arabia not put a glaring spotlight on them.
As a result, Saudi Arabia’s harsh Saudi response to the Canadian ambassador’s remarks, like earlier arbitrary arrests in the last year of hundreds of activists, religious figures, and prominent businessmen and senior members of the ruling Al Saud family on a host of charges ranging from treason to corruption and apostasy, threatens to further undermine investor confidence in the kingdom’s adherence to the rule of law.
The Saudi assertion that Canada had interfered in its internal affairs ignores the kingdom’s legal obligations as a signatory to various international human rights treaties that override national sovereignty as well as its role in the United Nations Human Rights Council that operates on the principle of governments monitoring and criticizing each other’s human rights record. - by James M. Dorsey
http://www.eurasiareview.com/08082018-multiple-diplomatic-spats-raise-questions-about-saudi-concept-of-sovereignty-analysis/ = https://lobelog.com/multiple-diplomatic-spats-with-saudi-arabia/
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Saudi Arabia's feud with Canada shows the true colours of its regime
He may have implemented some changes, but he has also silenced the very people who advocated for women’s rights for years. In fact, MBS has not modernised the country but transformed the Saudi regime into a more centralised and autocratic, absolute monarchy than ever before, marginalising and jailing anyone who tries to have their say about their society.
He may have allowed women to drive, but he has refused their calls to end the male guardianship system, hold free elections, release prisoners of conscience and allow civil society to operate. As soon as MBS came to power he arrested thousands of political, social and human rights activists, Islamic scholars and even poets and singers. For decades, Saudi Arabia has been one of the world’s largest purchasers of arms, maintaining a flow of tens of billions of dollars to western countries including the UK, US, Canada and Germany. They expect this money to buy silence: we’ll pay for arms we don’t need, and in exchange you’ll keep your mouths shut about our human rights violations.
Whether it’s bombing Yemen or jailing women’s rights campaigners, MBS is counting on Trump’s support, Western silence and world governments turning a blind eye.
And when that doesn’t work, he tries to bully countries into submission. That’s what he did to Sweden in 2015 and Germany earlier this year – and now it’s Canada’s turn to feel his wrath, merely for voicing a legitimate concern. For their part, western countries must end their selective outrage and stop supporting the Saudi dictatorship. The Saudi people and their liberties are more precious than oil or the weapons trade – by Sahar Al-Faifi
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-canada-feud-womens-rights-arrests-a8480891.html
and what saudi propaganda tells us:
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Why non-interference is the bedrock of a state’s sovereignty
The principles and laws that apply to state sovereignty are often described using difficult and complex terminology. However, it is possible to explain the concept of sovereignty in a more simplified form, linking the sovereignty of states, its legal effects and some of the challenges it faces.
Sovereignty is defined as the powers that grant the state the right of control within its agreed borders, and the freedom to organize its legislative, administrative and judicial authorities, along with independence from any external authority, taking into account international law and the agreed borders of other states. So, the term sovereignty does not only mean respect for other states and non-interference in their internal affairs, but also preserves the power of the state and contributes to the expression of its identity. An example is the legal equality of states regardless of their size; all states are equal under international law, as are their peoples and their rights, cultures, customs and morals.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1352666
Interesting. What about Saudi interference in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Libya (and many others)? All this is much worse than two Canadian tweets.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1 (Yemenkrieg-Mosaik 443)
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Saudi Arabia Is a Brutal Human-Rights Violator — and Trump Appreciates That
As a kind of coda to the entire affair, the Saudis decided to, yes, crucify a criminal this week, a rare but gruesome spectacle, in which someone’s executed corpse is hung out in the open as a warning to others. You may remember such scenes from Game of Thrones. But this kind of barbarism still exists — and the regime that behaves this way has our president’s full support, and billions in arms sales.
Then, of course, there is the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
And this record of regional mayhem doesn’t even count the time when MBS decided it would be a great idea to invade Qatar, another U.S. ally.
It’s at this point that you begin to absorb quite how indifferent the Trump administration is to any concept of human rights. Trump’s initial response to the Saudi attacks on Qatar was to endorse them enthusiastically (even as what was left of the State Department tried to keep the peace). And his administration’s response to the Saudi assault on Canada is to take no side in the dispute. Between a barbaric absolute monarchy that jails and tortures dissidents, obliterates women’s opportunity, and crucifies criminals in the streets … and Canada, for Pete’s sake, Trump cannot pick a side.
Trump, of course, is not the only U.S. president to suck up to the theocratic tyrants in Riyadh. Every previous president has done so, for obvious realpolitik reasons (oil, and the defense of Israel). But the Saudi connection is tighter now.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/saudi-arabia-trump-human-rights.html
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U.S. defense officials met with Hadi government Vice President Ali Mohsen al Ahmar on August 9 to discuss resuming American support to build Yemeni military and counterterrorism capabilities. Al Ahmar met with the outgoing and incoming U.S. defense attaché to Yemen and U.S. Special Forces commanders, according to the Hadi government state-run news agency. Al Ahmar met with the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller and the outgoing and incoming U.S. defense attache on August 7.[2]
My comment: The US is a warring party in Yemen. And Al Mohsen is a many years Al Qaeda affiliate and supporter. A fine US ally.
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America’s role in Yemen’s disaster
Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Stephen Seche tells Axios the U.S. has two primary goals in Yemen — countering Iran and fighting terrorist groups — and the coalition is "addressing these issues on our behalf."
"Why are we going to get in their hair about how they're conducting this war, because basically they're doing our work for us over there."
— Seche, describing the thinking of some in the administration
While the war started under President Obama, the Trump administration has taken a different approach to working with the coalition, Seche said:
The Obama administration: "We will give you a green light on certain things in Yemen, and if we don't then you stand down."
The Trump administration: "Explain to us what you need to do — we'll offer some words of caution, some words of advice — but at the end of the day it's your call to make. That is your backyard, it's not ours."
The Pentagon's view, via Rebarich: "The U.S. military support to our partners mitigates noncombatant casualties, by improving coalition processes and procedures, especially regarding compliance with the law of armed conflict and best practices for reducing the risk of civilian casualties. The final decisions on the conduct of operations in the campaign are made by the members of the Saudi-led coalition, not the United States."
https://www.axios.com/americas-role-in-yemens-disaster-2a13b923-daf0-4c04-a2c8-f95af53032f8.html
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Saudi Coalition Attacks School Bus A Day After State Department Justifies Airstrikes On Yemeni Towns
We've noted many times before that Saudi coalition war crimes in Yemen, which have become a weekly if not almost daily occurrence, has for years been met with mainstream media silence. For example as we recently noted a study that found that in one year, MSNBC covered 'Stormy Daniels' 455 times and the 'War In Yemen' 0 times. oth the US and UK have since 2015 or prior, worked closely with Saudi and Emirati forces in their Yemen campaign to defeat Shia Houthi forces, which includes staffing intelligence command centers to assist in targeting, as well as providing aerial refueling for coalition jets.
It is also primarily American and British military hardware that's supplying the Saudi military machine.
The US has long tried to present its role in the conflict, which as attempting to stave off humanitarian catastrophe in Al Hudaydah, yet as NPR's Steve Inskeep confirmed while reporting from Yemen earlier this year the US military "has provided targeting information, equipment and aircraft refueling to the Saudi air campaign, which has been widely criticized for being indiscriminate and killing civilians in places like hospitals, funerals and homes."
In early June the Wall Street Journal characterized the US role in the new operation as actually "deepening" as US intelligence will provide "information to fine-tune the list of targets". While this "deepening" role is supposedly to keep the UAE and Saudis on good behavior, its really a propaganda move to give the American role a fig leaf of "humanitarian" motives.
But when entire school buses full of children are being taken out by the Saudi coalition, which receives continuing assistance from US intelligence and military officers, it is perhaps becoming increasingly hard to keep up the charade.
The incident comes a day after the State Department spokesperson said the Saudi coalition's ongoing airstrikes on Yemen are legitimate and justified.
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Film / Talk: Why the US Silence over Saudi-Al Qaeda Alliance in Yemen?
The Associated Press has revealed that the US-backed Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has made secret deals with the local Al Qaida affiliate, AQAP, even recruiting its militants to fight Houthi rebels. Saudi analyst Ali Al-Ahmed says that the US is not just looking the other way — it’s involved.
https://therealnews.com/stories/why-the-us-silence-over-saudi-al-qaeda-alliance-in-yemen
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Watch Heather Nauert try to defend Saudi foreign policy
The State Department delivered an awkward defense of Saudi's involvement in Yemen's civil war.
A small group of reporters had what can only be characterized as an incredulous set of questions for State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert during Tuesday afternoon’s briefing
Nauert, a former journalist with a generally genial rapport with the press, deflected most of these questions.
One reporter managed to throw Nauert for a loop, though.
“On Iran, you’re basically saying to the country, ‘Change your entire foreign policy and we’ll talk to you, if you agree to change everything…'” said the journalist, who was off camera. This was in reference to the United States unilaterally withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal “I would think that we should ask another country to stop attacking other nations and to stop fomenting terror,” said Nauert, who clearly was not ready for the follow up.
“How do you square that with the stance on Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. and Yemen?” asked the reporter, referring to U.S. support of the Saudi-led intervention into Yemen’s civil war.
“You don’t see. I’m sorry. What do you mean by that?” said Nauert, who looked like she was buying time. The reporter repeated how the United States is “siding with Saudi in Yemen.” “Um, we have concerns about what the Houthi rebels have been doing for quiet some time, that is well documented,” said Nauert, pivoting from focusing on the Saudis, who are launching airstrikes, to the Houthis, who are not. The Houthis, it should be noted, are fighting in their own country.
“They have been terrible and conducted many, many attacks against their own people of Yemen,” she said, adding that the attacks in the port of Hodeidah are of particular concern.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
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Jeremy Corbyn slams Theresa May’s government after ‘children are slaughtered’
Jeremy Corbyn has called for the Conservative government to drop its support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. The intervention comes after at least 29 children were “slaughtered” when bombs hit a school bus in Yemen.
The Labour leader slammed the government, demanding that “UK support for this conflict” end. Other leading Labour figures also echoed Corbyn’s calls.
(A P)
A brilliant takedown of the BBC resurfaces after its latest Orwellian hypocrisy
As historian Mark Curtis pointed out, the BBC covered Saudi Arabia’s unspeakable attack on a school bus in Yemen on 9 August. But in an article on Saudi Arabia’s murder of at least 29 children – there were reportedly50 deaths in total along with 77 people injured – the BBC didn’t mention the UK’s role in that war onceThe BBC knows it should report on the UK’s role in the Yemen conflict too. During a Q&A session on Twitter after the tragedy, its chief international correspondent answered a question on that very issue. A social media user asked:
Why does the UK media minimise the UK’s role in supporting their ally, Saudi Arabia, in this massacre?
yse Doucet responded:
So the BBC is saying one thing, and then doing the exact opposite. How Orwellian
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David Pratt: How bombs made in Scotland are helping to fuel death toll in Yemen
While all this carnage might be taking place far away, here in the UK we have known for some time that many of these weapons originate on our doorstep. Some are manufactured at the Glenrothes plant in Fife run by Raytheon the third biggest arms company in the world, which accounts for 95% of its total business from arms sales.
“Many of the bombs are being made in Scotland, with Raytheon's factories playing a central role in the destruction,” Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) told The Herald yesterday.
It was back in 2014 that the Raytheon deal for the Paveway IV missile was announced and estimated to be worth around £150 million. Right from the start the buyer was believed to Saudi Arabia.
This was confirmed shortly after in the defence press, with the contract reported to have been approximately £150 million for 2,400 units, in the order of £62k each.
By 2015 Raytheon announced that all its UK manufacturing would be moving to Glenrothes.
Around this time too there was criticism of then SNP business minister Fergus Ewing, who visited the Raytheon Glenrothes plant, despite his party publically condemning the war and UK government role in arms deal to Riyadh.
The following year in a detailed report entitled, ‘Bombing Businesses’ which looked at the effect of airstrikes on Yemen’s civilian economic structure, the US based Human Rights Watch (HRW), was able to link the use of Paveway IV missiles to attacks on civilian infrastructure.
At six of the sites visited as part of its field research HRW identified four munitions that the US produced or supplied and two the UK produced or supplied including a Paveway IV guided bomb produced in May 2015, after the start of the coalition’s aerial campaign. Since then UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia have grown.
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Emily Thornberry responds to airstrike in Yemen
“It is five months to the day since the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia left London with the fawning praise of Theresa May ringing in his ears, and a renewed commitment from her government to supply the arms to support his disastrous military intervention in Yemen.
“In those five months, while all sides in this conflict have continued to behave with a wilful disregard for human life, it is the Saudi-led coalition that has inflicted the bulk of civilian casualties, as a result of its air strikes, its ground offensives, and its ongoing restriction of access for food, fuel, medicine, clean water and other essential humanitarian aid.
“And today, we have seen one of the worst atrocities of this war to date
“While we will mourn the death of those civilians today, especially those children robbed of lives that had barely begun, we owe it to them to ask the question: how much longer are we going to let this go on?
“How much longer is this Tory government going to continue arming and advising a Saudi air force that cannot tell or does not see the difference between a legitimate military target and a bus full of children, a family wedding, or a civilian food market?
“How much longer is this Tory government going to continue claiming that the Saudis should be left to investigate themselves when these atrocities take place, even though the Saudis have already absolved themselves of any blame for the Dahyan attack, within hours of it happening, saying it was a legitimate target?
“How much longer is this Tory government going to abdicate its responsibility as pen-holder on Yemen at the UN Security Council without bringing forward a new resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire on all sides, an independent investigation of all war crimes, and forcing all sides to the negotiating table?
“Above all, how many more children in Yemen need to be killed by Saudi air strikes or die from malnutrition, cholera or other diseases before Theresa May will stop supporting this catastrophic, murderous war, and start taking action to end it?”
https://labour.org.uk/press/emily-thornberry-responds-airstrike-yemen/
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
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Rüstungsexporte nach Saudi-Arabien: Treibt Deutschland den Krieg im Jemen an?
Im Jemen wütet ein Bürgerkrieg, der ein Stellvertreterkrieg zwischen Iran und Saudi-Arabien ist. Deutschland liefert weiter Waffen, Panzer und Boote an das Königreich, obwohl im Koalitionsvertrag steht, dass Rüstungsexporte an Länder, die im Jemen-Krieg beteiligt sind, nicht mehr genehmigt werden sollen. Warum passiert das trotzdem?
Im Koalitionsvertrag steht im Wortlaut: "Wir werden ab sofort keine Ausfuhren an Länder genehmigen, solange diese unmittelbar am Jemen-Krieg beteiligt sind". Allerdings gibt es eine Klausel, die die Rüstungsgüter, deren Herstellung bereits genehmigt wurde, ausnimmt. Genehmigt wurde 2013 zum Beispiel die Herstellung von 33 Patrouillenbooten für Saudi-Arabien. Die Bundesregierung scheint die Auslieferung der Boote für unbedenklich zu halten, angeblich sind sie nur zur Grenzsicherung bestimmt.
Rüstungsexpertin Katja Keul (Grüne) glaubt, die Boote könne Saudi-Arabiens Marine definitiv auch zur Blockade des Jemens einsetzen.
Schaut man sich jedoch die Entwicklung der letzten zehn Jahre an, sieht man, dass sich die Kriegswaffenausfuhren mehr als verdoppelt haben. Katja Keul ist schockiert über die Rekordexportsumme 2017 in die so genannten Drittstaaten - also Staaten, die nicht zu EU und Nato gehören. "Da sind 2,4 Milliarden an Drittstaaten gegangen", sagt Keul. "Das ist das Brisante daran, und das ist ein Trend, der unbedingt gestoppt werden muss."
Audio: https://www.podcast.de/episode/386200768/Krieg+im+Jemen%2C+Waffen+aus+Deutschland/
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
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Israel sees risks, opportunities in Bab el-Mandeb
Threats to international shipping may present Israel with the chance to tighten ranks with Saudi Arabia
The effort by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels to impede oil shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait threatens Israeli interests and raises unpleasant memories. However, it may also present Israel with a significant opportunity to tighten relations with Saudi Arabia.
Developments in Bab el-Mandeb may also present coveted opportunities for Israel – by ben Ephraim
In an effort to cultivate an anti-Iranian alliance and alleviate its regional isolation, Israel has attempted to forge a strategic partnership with the Sunni Arab states.
Although there has been a general thaw in relations with Saudi Arabia and other states, they publicly keep Israel at arms length.
The Yemeni civil war, in which Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in 2015 to roll back gains by Iran’s proxies, may present Israel with an opportunity to advance regional security integration.
http://www.atimes.com/article/israel-sees-risks-opportunities-in-bab-el-mandeb/
My comment: The Saudi coalition had made the Southern Red Sea a war zone, that’s he problem.
(B E P)
Historic trade ties between UAE and Iran may hit by US sanctions
The latest US sanctions against Iran are forcing many Iranian businesses in the United Arab Emirates, which has recently become a trade hub of Iranian goods, to move to other countries like Turkey and Qatar.
#Dubai has always served as a re-export hub when it came to #Iran.
Throughout history and the various rounds of #sanctions imposed on the Persian Republic, the only way to do business with the Iranian market was via the Emirate.
What will happen now in consideration of the new tough sanctions, bearing in mind in 2017 exports and re-exports from the United Arab Emirates to Iran totalled $17 billion as most of that products passed through Dubai?
https://www.trtworld.com/mea/historic-trade-ties-between-uae-and-iran-may-hit-by-us-sanctions-19434
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
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Saudi-Arabien will Katar vom Festland abschneiden
Die nächste Eskalationsstufe der Katar-Krise
Als Strafmaßnahme für seine guten Beziehungen zum Iran gräbt Saudi-Arabien als nächste Eskalationsstufe der Katar-Krise einen Kanal, der Katar effektiv von der Arabischen Halbinsel abschneidet. Neben Yachthäfen und Luxusresorts sollen im Hafen auch eine Militärbasis und eine Atommülldeponie gebaut werden.
Saudi-Arabiens Pläne, entlang der Grenze zur Halbinsel Katar einen Kanal auszuheben, schreiten weiter voran, wie arabische jüngst Medien berichteten. Ein solcher Kanal würde Katar von der Arabischen Halbinsel abschneiden und effektiv in eine Insel verwandeln. Eine von Riad initiierte internationale Ausschreibung, den 60 km langen „Salwa Canal“ auszuheben, verstrich am 25. Juni. Laut Gulf News haben bereits fünf internationale Unternehmen ihre Hüte in den Ring geworfen.
Saudi-Arabien wird den Gewinner der Ausschreibung innerhalb von 90 Tagen nach Ablauf der Frist bekannt geben (bis spätestens 23. September also), berichtete die saudische Tageszeitung Makkah. Das Unternehmen, das den Zuschlag erhält, soll das Projekt daraufhin innerhalb eines Jahres fertigstellen.
Die Kosten des Projekts werden auf 746 Millionen US-Dollar geschätzt.
http://justicenow.de/2018-08-08/saudi-arabien-will-katar-vom-festland-abschneiden/
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
España ha vendido €270 millones en armas a Arabia Saudí
Un informe emitido el jueves por la Secretaría de Estado de Comercio a las Cortes Generales de España, detalla que el país europeo alcanzó a vender 270 millones de euros en armas a Arabia Saudí en 2017.
El documento, titulado ‘Estadísticas españolas de exportación de material de defensa, de otro material y de productos y tecnologías de doble uso del año 2017’, confirma que las exportaciones militares de España alcanzaron en 2017 los 4346,7 millones de euros, una cifra que muestra un aumento del 7.3 % en comparación con 2016.
España y Arabia Saudí acordaron el pasado abril la venta de cinco corbetas que construirá la española Navantia por unos 2000 millones de euros. La medida incluso generó el repudio de partidos de izquierda.
https://www.hispantv.com/noticias/espana/385001/venta-armas-arabia-saudita-guerra-yemen
(* B K P)
U.K Military Industrial Cartel and Tory Government Profit from Mass Murder in Yemen
In May 2018, Sir Roger Carr, chairman of BAE, gave a speech to shareholders at the BAE AGM. “There is no doubt that 2017 was a successful year as reflected in our sales, profits and cash flow, which, I am pleased to say, has supported an increase in your dividend for the year to 21.8pence per share.”
Shareholders in arms production benefit from bloodshed globally. The deaths of Yemeni children pay “healthy” dividends. In 2015 the UK exported £ 2.94 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia over a period of 9 months. The illegal aggression against Yemen began in March 2015. BAE jumped at the opportunity to reap a harvest from the murder of Yemeni civilians. According to Amnesty International:
“They (UK) recently diverted a batch of 500-pound ‘Paveway IV’ bombs to Saudi Arabia. These bombs are used by Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets, both of which are manufactured and supplied to Saudi Arabia by the UK arms company BAE Systems.”
In May 2018 Carr said “our customers are our lifeblood” while those customers shed blood globally. Saudi Arabia is crucial to BAE’s success in the arms industry and is its third largest market sector after the U.S and U.K.
“According to the company’s own figures for 2015, the Saudi military market helped boost its overall performance. Sales increased by £1.3 billion to £17.9 bn.”
In 2016 Carr was questioned regarding the ethics of supplying arms to the Saudi regime. Carr dismissed such troublesome moral issues “We are not here to judge the way that other governments work, we are here to do a job under the rules and regulations we are given.”. The shareholder returns weigh more heavily upon the minds of war-vultures like Carr than the mass murder being committed with BAE weapons and equipment in Yemen by a despotic Saudi regime and human rights violator of world record proportions.
In 2016, BAE defended the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia with a very familiar slogan “We provide defence equipment and support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under a Government to Government agreement.”. The old self-defence canard, deployed so rigorously by the Zionist regime while it batters the concentration camp that is Gaza with chemical weapons and uses the Gazan people as lab rats for testing new armaments on behalf of firms like BAE.
(* B K P)
By the numbers: Canada's aid to Yemen vs. Saudi arms deal
The diplomatic deterioration between Canada and Saudi Arabia has thrust a controversial arms deal between the two countries back into the spotlight. The deal, valued at $14.8 billion, is the largest military export agreement in Canadian history. Approximately 3,000 jobs were created in Southwestern Ontario to help manufacture the light-armoured military vehicles, also known as LAV3s, capable of being mounted with powerful guns.
So far, Saudi Arabia has not indicated that it will scrap the major arms deal.
There’s no way to know whether the Canadian-made vehicles are being used in the war Yemen due to confidentiality clause in the deal. According to Canada’s own export-control test, weapons can only be sold if “it can be demonstrated there is no reasonable risk that the goods might be used against the civilian population.”
To help with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Canada has supplied $65 million in assistance since March 2017.
By comparison, that’s less than 1/100th of the $14.8-billion arms deal.
Trudeau’s decision to greenlight the divisive deal in April 2016, just five months after becoming prime minister, was highly controversial.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/by-the-numbers-canada-s-aid-to-yemen-vs-saudi-arms-deal-1.4047330
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(A E P)
Marib closes 26 money exchange shops following decline of Rial value
Local authorities in Marib closed 26 unlicensed money exchange shops based on the Central Bank's decision to counter the deterioration of the local currency, Riyal, against foreign currencies.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21647
(* A E P)
The national currency continued its staggering decline, recording unprecedented lows despite recovery measures taken by the internationally-recognized government in Aden and the central bank.
Both the central bank and the legitimate government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi have taken fiscal measures to stabilize exchange rates and put an end to market manipulation.
In light of a month-long depreciation facing the Yemeni rial, living costs shot up, making it expensive to purchase food, commodities and fuel.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1358031/houthi-commander-killed-south-hodeidah
My comment: All these “fiscal measures” will not help. Stop the war. Stop bombing Yemen.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(* B P T)
Choosing al-Qaeda in a Fight Against Iran
The complicated fighting in Yemen has led to the U.S. and its allies working with al-Qaeda fighters, paying them to either temporarily relocate or join the Saudi-led coalition.
• The U.S. is a direct participant in the ongoing catastrophe in Yemen, which actually augmented Iran’s role in the country in a self-fulfilling fashion.
• Despite congressional concern and continuing human rights outrages, the U.S. appears fully committed to assisting Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the endless conflict in Yemen.
• The insistence on framing every decision in Yemen and in the region at large through an anti-Iran lens results in counterproductive decisions that end up backfiring and creating more instability.
http://www.soufangroup.com/intelbrief-choosing-al-qaeda-in-a-fight-against-iran/
(* A P T)
Vereinigte Staaten unterstützen und bekämpfen al-Kaida im Jemen
Das Vorgehen ist aus militärtaktischen Gründen durchaus widersprüchlich. In dem Konflikt im Jemen arbeiten die USA mit ihren arabischen Verbündeten — insbesondere den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten (VAE) — mit dem Ziel zusammen, al-Kaida auf der Arabischen Halbinsel auszuschalten. Aber die vorrangige Mission ist es, den Bürgerkrieg in dem Land gegen die Huthi-Rebellen — eine schiitische Miliz, die vom Iran unterstützt wird – zu gewinnen. In Kampf gegen die Huthis steht al-Kaida wiederum auf derselben Seite wie die Militärkoalition und somit wie die Vereinigten Staaten.
„Teile des US-Militärs sind sich längst darüber im Klaren, dass vieles, was die USA im Jemen tun, al-Kaida hilft“, sagte Michael Horton, ein Mitarbeiter der Jamestown Foundation, einer US-amerikanischen Analysegruppe, die den Terrorismus auf der Arabischen Halbinsel beobachtet, der AP. „Die Unterstützung der VAE und des Königreichs Saudi-Arabien gegenüber dem, was die USA als iranische Expansion ansehen, hat jedoch Vorrang vor dem Kampf gegen al-Kaida und sogar der Stabilisierung des Jemen“, sagte Horton.
Die Berichte der AP basieren auf Recherchen im Jemen und Interviews mit zwei Dutzend Beamten, darunter jemenitische Sicherheitsbeamte, Miliz-Kommandeure, Mediatoren, die zwischen den Kriegsparteien vermitteln sollen, und vier Mitglieder der al-Kaida.
(A P T)
Pentagon denies reports of U.S. allies bribing, recruiting al Qaeda fighters in Yemen
Pentagon officials are adamantly denying reports that U.S.-supported allies have bribed — and at times recruited — members of al Qaeda’s Yemeni cell to support their ongoing campaign against Iranian-backed Shia paramilitaries in the country.
“That is false, patently false,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said regarding the claims, first reported by the Associated Press, that members of the Saudi and Emirati-led Arab coalition battling Houthi rebels in Yemen have co-opted al Qaeda members into the fight.
“We do not pay al Qaeda, we kill al Qaeda,” he told reporters at the Pentagon this week, declining to comment further.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/8/pentagon-denies-us-allies-bribe-recruit-al-qaeda/
My comment: A denial nobody really will believe.
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Yemeni Government Considers Securing Maritime Lanes Against Al-Houthi Threats
Yemen's Vice President Lt. Gen Ali Mohsen Saleh; Commander of Naval Forces and Coastal Defense, Rear Admiral Abdullah Salem Al-Nakhai and Commander of Coast Guard Major General Khalid Al-Qamli discussed today ways of securing sea lanes from the threats of the Iranian-backed Al-Houthi militia.
The meeting, according to the Yemeni News Agency, discussed the latest developments and mechanisms to activate the Yemeni Coast Guard forces to contribute to the forces of the Coalition to support the legitimacy in Yemen in the prevention of Al-Houthi militia's continuing threats to the security of shipping lanes and international maritime navigation.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1796539
and
(A P)
Saudi envoy exposes Iran regime’s role in assault on KSA oil tankers
Prince Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, has reiterated his condemnation of the Iranian regime’s “menacing role” in Yemen.
His remarks on Twitter on Friday came days after Saudi Arabia resumed shipping through the Bab Al-Mandeb.
Maritime activity had been temporarily halted following Houthi attacks on two of the Kingdom’s oil tankers.
“There should be no doubt about the Iranian regime’s ‘menacing role’ in Yemen,” the prince said, referring to Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Commander Nasser Shabani’s admission that the regime was behind recent attacks on the two oil tankers.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1354321/saudi-arabia
My comment: The Saudi coalition had turned the Red Sea into a war zone. – And Shabani had told something quite different.
(A P)
Observers: Houthis playing games to evade peace
Political observers have accused the Houthi militia of playing games and maneuvers since the last round of peace consultations in 2016, to evade another round of peace talks that the government and the international community have been calling for.
The sources told the Saudi daily Okaz that the path of peace is clear, but that the Houthi militia do not have their decision because they are run from Tehran, and therefore they are only a tool to implement the Persian agenda.
Observers said the militia's history indicates that the militia are always the first to break their commitments. The sources said the militia's recent massacre against civilians near Al-Thawra Hospital and the fish market, in Hodeida
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21646
My comment: What they call „peace“ here simply means „submission“. Another idea of peace then submission of the Houthis the Saudi coalition and the Hadi government never had. Why the Houthis should not try to „evade“ this? Peace would be different. – The August 2 Hodeidah raid either was a Saudi coalition air raid – or a Saudi coalition missile fire (look at cp1). Blaming the Houthis for this is odd propaganda.
(A P)
Hajjah Elders Confirm Support to Yemen’s Legitimacy
Tribal leaders in Yemen’s Hajjah Governorate have announced their support to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, slamming Houthi insurgents backed by Iran.
During the first conference for Hajjah elders organized in the liberated Midi district that lies in the governorate’s northwest, the conferees stressed that the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), Security Council resolutions, specially Resolution 2216, the GCC initiative and its executive mechanisms represent the terms of reference for any political dialogue on Yemen.
In an official statement released on Thursday, the conferees lauded the victories achieved by the National Army and “the sacrifices it has made in confronting the terrorist gangs.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21719
My comment: This seems to be a new propaganda idea: picking up „elders“ from a province and making them „supporters“ parroting the standard propaganda slogans. For Saada, we got this story already. – Keep in mind that Saada and Hajjah provinces are the two ones which had been most heavily destroyed by Saudi coalition air raids. There will be hardly any sympathy for the Saudis and their Yemeni puppets there.
(A P)
Despite Yemen's war, cinema returns to Aden with a tale about marriage
With its premiere just weeks away, '10 Days Before The Wedding' is a triumph of the spirit
My comment: An article like this one should demonstrate how normal life aten under UAE occupation is. – Well, might be the film shows a common saudi coalition wedding air raid?
(A P)
Angry Calls for ‘Revolt of the Starving’ against Houthi Oppression in Yemen
Yemeni activists in Sanaa on Wednesday called for a “revolution of the hungry,” in which those starved by their country’s conflict would rise up against the Iran-backed Houthi militias. Ex-coupist Judge Abdul Wahab Qatran, slammed Houthi leaders as “thieves,” accusing them of running a fuel and foreign currency “mafia”.
“The price of the rial is falling to the bottom of hell, real hunger has struck—If I, a judge, have failed to secure a can of beans or a kilo of sugar for my family, then what about the remaining destitute?”
Qatran took to Facebook to launch a series of insults against the Houthis and their oppressive policy, calling for a revolution to end their rule.
Popular discontent towards Houthis in Sanaa soared after the militias raised fuel prices and went on to collude with major tellers and traders in order to buy, stockpile and smuggle foreign currencies.
In no way did Houthi militants back government efforts to stop the national currency’s plunge and help improve living conditions for Yemenis, Sanaa locals said.
Despite imposing a fuel prices hike a few days ago, informed sources in Sanaa reported that the Houthis are also planning another increase.
Without taking into account the dire living conditions experienced by Yemenis in Houthi-run territory, they are set to raise the price of fuel to $20 per gallon, sources said.
My comment: How odd is this: Making the Houthis responsile for the hunger which to a geat part had been caused by the saudiblckade of Northern Yemen? – And prices do not rise because of the Houthis‘ evilness, but because of the currency’s decline.
(A P)
UAE Press: Coalition aid will help rebuild Yemen
The National said that with the generous provision of Saudi aid to Yemen, the contrast between the coalition and the Houthis is even more evident. "The rebels are clinging on to their stranglehold in Hodeidah and Sanaa, inflicting their reign of terror and mismanagement on the citizens of both," the paper added in its editorial on Thursday.
"In recent weeks, reports have emerged revealing their use of human shields and child soldiers, a callous and cynical deployment of the most vulnerable to win a hopeless war. Meanwhile up to one million landmines have been laid by the rebels, ensuring they will leave behind a decades-long legacy of death and destruction.
"Given the damage they have wrought on the country, it is perhaps unsurprising that in Aden, where the country’s internationally recognised government now sits, people have taken to the streets to protest the dearth of utilities, basic service and food they need to survive. Against such a troubled backdrop, the challenge facing the people of Yemen can appear insurmountable, even after the Houthis are defeated. But that is no reason not to try," the Abu Dhabi-based daily continued.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302702893
My comment: This is ridiculous propaganda by those who bomb the country into ruins.
(* A P T)
Film: This edition of #PressTVDebate discusses the cooperation of Saudi Arabia and the al-Qaeda terror group.
https://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV/videos/vb.145097112198751/2189213061120469/?type=2&theater
Remark: From Iran.
(A P)
UAE largest donor of emergency humanitarian assistance to Yemen 2018
The UAE has been ranked as the largest donor of emergency humanitarian assistance to Yemen in the world for 2018.
According to the Financial Tracking Service, FTS, a centralised source of information on humanitarian funding flows, the UAE is also the second-largest source supporting the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, YHRP, following the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302702788
(A P)
Saudi Arabia to host conference on Yemeni crisis
Saudi Arabia will host a conference next week to discuss political solutions to the Yemeni crisis, Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday.
Organized by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the event will be held under the sponsorship of Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.
The conference will discuss several issues, including the 2011 GCC Initiative, its executive mechanisms, the peaceful transition of power, the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference and Security Council resolution 2216, said Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Awaisheq, GCC assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiations.
The conference will also discuss the UN efforts to end the Yemeni crisis through reaching a peaceful solution based on the agreed terms of references and steps to complete the initiative.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-08/08/content_58265501.htm
My comment: Calling a „conference“ what just will be a great propaganda roundup.
(A P)
OIC Final Communiqué Strongly Condemns Al-Houthi Aggression on Two Saudi Oil Tankers 3 Jeddah
The communique stated that the OIC Permanent Representatives were briefed on the recent report of the UNSC Panel of Experts on Yemen regarding Iran’s supplying of Al-Houthi militias with ballistic missiles and weapons in flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and called on the Council to assume its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security and to hold Iran accountable for violating its resolutions.
They also called for the need for Al-Houthis militias to withdraw from the city and port of Al-Hudaydah, commending the significant efforts being exerted by the Coalition countries led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and their support for international humanitarian and relief efforts to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1795783
My comment: Saudi mouthpiece supranational organisations repeating Saudi propaganda.
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda:
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302702989
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
Siehe / Look at cp1c (Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 443)
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids day by day
(A K pH)
Film: the martyrdom of an elderly woman and a girl and the wounding of two children in a raid on Drehmi province Hodeidah 10-08-2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS5ngj5pOZo
(* A K pH)
Aggression’s Daily Update for Thursday, August 9th, 2018
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=2139&cat_id=1
(* B K)
From 2015:
Yemen’s war-shattered medieval city of Sa'ada – in pictures
Airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition force have destroyed much of the northern city of Sa’ada, a Houthi rebel stronghold and Unesco heritage site
Photographs: Adam Bailes
(* A K)
A funeral procession was also targeted by coalition airstrikes Thursday. Five civilians were killed when three airstrikes hit the procession in Fala, in the Majz district of southern Saada.
(A K pH)
3 Citizens Killed, Injured in US-Saudi Aggression Raid on Hodeidah
Two people were killed and a child was injured Thursday in a raid by the US-Saudi aerial aggression in Hodeidah governorate.
According to Al-Masirah Net correspondent, the US-Saudi aerial aggression targeted a farm at Al-Shathlia area of Zabid district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=2133&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
12 civilians killed, injured in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Amran
At least 12 civilians were killed and injured including children and women on Wednesday in US-backed Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Amran province, a local official told Saba.
The warplane targeted bedouin tents in al-Amshiah area of Harf Sufyan district, killing seven civilians including three children, two women and injuring five others, said the official.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504463.htm
photos:
http://www.newnewss.net/fresh-us-saudi-air-strikes-hit-bedouins-tents-in-yemens-amran-video/
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1027210898589605888
http://www.newnewss.net/fresh-us-saudi-air-strikes-hit-bedouins-tents-in-yemens-amran-video/
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1875849052711080
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3UaqSbByZw
The names of the wounded: 1- Yusra Saleh Zakam Raadan (30 years old) 2- Razan Saleh Mohsen Ra'dan (5 years) 3- Rosan Saleh Mohsen Raadan (8 years) 4- Abdul Salam Mohsen Ra'dan (6 years) 5. Physician / Fayed Mohsen Ra'dan (60 years) (photo)
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1027210944059985921
(* B K)
Aid groups protest ongoing bombing of Sanaa airport
Aid groups say the international airport in Yemen's capital has been hit with an average of one bomb every two weeks since a Saudi-led coalition closed it to all commercial traffic two years ago.
The Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International say the coalition has carried out 56 airstrikes over the last two years on the airport in Sanaa. Shiite rebels known as Houthis seized the capital and its airport in 2014, and control much of northern Yemen.
The aid groups cited figures from the Yemen Data Project, which monitors the war.
Johan Mooij, CARE's director in Yemen, says the airport has become a "a symbol of aggression and oppression for a very large population."
The coalition, which has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, controls Ye
(* A K pH)
Saudi air raids kill more civilians in northwest Yemen
Saudi Arabian warplanes have carried out fresh strikes against targets in southwestern Yemen, killing seven civilians, mostly women and children.
The attacks targeted Amran Province’s Harf Sufyan District on Wednesday, Yemen’s al-Masirah television reported, adding that three children and two women were among the victims
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970517000636
(* A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
August 11:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504756.htm Hodeidah p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504755.htm Hajjah p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504754.htm Sanaa p.
August 9:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504507.htm Sanaa p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
(A K)
Yemen's Houthis say they fired ballistic missile at Saudi base
Yemen’s Houthi group has fired a ballistic missile at a Saudi Arabian base in the province of Aseer, the Houthis’ Masirah TV reported on Friday.
“The rocket force launched a Badr-1 ballistic missile on the Jarba camp, in Dhahran Aseer,” a Saudi region close to the Yemeni border, it said.
and
(* A K)
Saudi Arabia intercepts two missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis on Jizan: Arabiya TV
Saudi Arabia intercepted two missiles on Friday fired by Yemen’s Houthi group on its southern Jizan province, al-Arabiya TV reported.
(* B K P)
Houthis committed 446 human rights violations in Taiz in July, HRITC reports
The Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) said the Houthi militia "committed 446 violations against civilians including women and children" in the central Yemen city of Taiz last July.
In a report published on Monday, the Taiz-based NGO said the Iran-backed Islamists "besieging Taiz for three years have lately tightened their blockade and stepped up their direct shelling and sniper shooting of civilians"
"The HRITC's field team documented the killing of 28 civilians including four children and five women and the injury of 47 civilians including eight women and nine children," said the report.
The report said that one civilian was tortured to death in a jail run by the rebels in the city's periphery.
The HRITC also documented "the killing and injury of 22 civilians by the militia's indiscriminate shelling and the displacement of 352 families from Mawze'a district to the west of the city.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-21661
My comment: the violations of the other side are not recorded here.
(* A K pH)
Army missile force launches ballistic missile on the industrial city of Jizan
The missile force of the army and popular forces launched overnight a ballistic missile on the industrial city in Jizan, according to official reports combined by Saba.
The missile force hit the industrial city in Badr-1 ballistic missile on Wednesday
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504510.htm
(* A K)
One dead, several wounded after Saudi Arabia 'intercepts Yemen missile'
Saudi Arabia shot down a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Wednesday, with debris killing a Yemeni man and wounding 11 others, a Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents said.
The ballistic missile was fired from the northern Yemeni province of Amran towards the southern Saudi city of Jizan, said a coalition statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.
"Shrapnel from the intercepted missile scattered over residential areas, leaving a Yemeni resident killed and 11 other civilians wounded," the coalition said.
Wednesday's attack brings the tally to 165 rebel missiles launched since 2015
(* A K pH)
20 civilians killed, injured in Saudi-led mercenaries' crime at south entrance to Marib city
At least 12 civilians were killed and eight others injured from Wailah tribe in Saada province by the Saudi-led mercenaries militia checkpoint in the south entrance to the city of Marib, a local official told Saba.
The mercenaries' militia intercepted Wailah tribe's procession that was heading to Abidah valley to resolve the issue of the arrest of two of their sons and shot them all, killing 12 and injuring eight, while eight mercenaries were killed and seven were injured, said the local official on Tuesday.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news504414.htm
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(* -)
Photos: Amazing Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156908339373641
(* B P)
Meet the Middle East’s Peace of Westphalia Re-enactors
Can a series of far-flung, high-level conferences bring peace to the Middle East by applying lessons from 17th-century Europe?
With wars raging in the Middle East from Syria to Iraq to Yemen, and a cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia that shows no signs of thawing, any sort of grand peace meeting seems far-fetched. But a group of scholars, mostly affiliated with University of Cambridge and acting with the encouragement of the German government, have quietly gained traction at producing just such a conference by drawing on lessons from 17th-century Europe. Their goal is to organize a contemporary Peace of Westphalia for the Middle East, on the model of the series of diplomatic meetings that ended the Thirty Years’ War that ravaged what was then Germany.
The project has already held eight workshops and conferences in Cambridge, London, Berlin, Munich, and Amman, Jordan, with stakeholders and policymakers involved in the Middle East’s conflicts; the hope is these meetings will eventually pave the way for a final series of conferences that can produce a grand bargain.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-443-yemen-war-mosaic-443
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-443 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-443:
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/
und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
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