... u.a.: Jemenkrieg ist schlimmer als Mordfall Khashoggi; Russland und Jemen
Oct. 15, 2018: Film: Humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen (in German) – Saudi air raid at Hodeidah killing 19 – Situation at Hodeidah is horrible – and more, i.a. Yemen war is worse than Khashoggi murder, Russia and Yemen
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
Die Entführung und Ermordung (?) von Khashoggi in eigener Presseschau
The Khashoggi abducation and murder (?) in separate press review
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/saudi-dissident-khashoggi-entfuehrt-ermordet
(11. Oktober, eine weitere folgt; Oct. 11, another to follow)
(** B H K)
Film: Humanitäre Katastrophe im Jemen – Der vergessene Krieg | Doku | SRF DOK
Im Jemen tobt ein Krieg, über den der Westen kaum etwas erfährt. Grosse Teile des Landes liegen in Schutt und Asche, die humanitäre Situation wird von Experten als zunehmend katastrophal bezeichnet. Westliche Journalisten schaffen es kaum, aus dem Land zu berichten. SRF-Nahostkorrespondent Pascal Weber und Kamerafrau Marine Pradel gelang es, ins Land zu reisen und sie brachten seltene Einblicke zurück. 28 Millionen Menschen leben im Jemen. 22 Millionen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. Acht Millionen direkt von einer Hungersnot bedroht. Was das für Einzelne heissen kann, dokumentieren Pascal Weber und Marine Pradel. Ein Jahr lang haben sie sich um Zugang zum Jemen bemüht. Endlich konnten sie die mit erheblichen Risiken verbundene Reise antreten. Sie erhielten Zugang zum Süden des Landes.
Unter anderem reisten sie nach Aden, in die provisorische Hauptstadt. Die Lage in der Stadt an der Südspitze der arabischen Halbinsel ist angespannt. Hier zeigt sich die komplizierte Ausgangslage des Krieges besonders deutlich: In Aden bekämpfen sich heute Warlords, südjemenitische Separatisten, Jihadisten, und selbst die eigentlich Verbündeten im Kampf gegen die Huthi-Rebellen, Saudi-Arabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, ringen in Aden um die Vorherrschaft.
In einem Spital in Aden liegt der drei Monate alte Mohammed. Er kam mit einer Fehlbildung zur Welt, die häufig vorkommt und auch häufig operativ korrigiert werden kann. Nicht so im Jemen. Kein einziges Spital ist derzeit in der Lage, diese Operation durchzuführen. Das Baby ringt um sein Leben. Der Krieg hat viele Menschen vertrieben, sie suchen im eigenen Land Schutz. Das Autorenteam reist in ein Lager, wo die Geflüchteten auf sich alleine gestellt sind. Verletzt, erkrankt und traumatisiert suchen sie nach Worten, was die treibenden Kräfte dieses Krieges sind. Viele wissen es nicht. Zu sehen sind die immensen Schäden. Die von Saudi-Arabien angeführte Koalition hat allein in den letzten drei Jahren seit Kriegsbeginn 241 Schulen bombardiert. Dazu hat sich im Südjemen Al-Qaida ausgebreitet.
«Der Jemen ist elend, verwüstet, und ein hoffnungsloser Fall», sagt einer der jungen Jemeniten, die Pascal Weber und Marine Pradel auf ihrer Reise durch den Südjemen kennengelernt haben. Doch sie haben auch die 12-jährige Noor getroffen, die sagt: «Ich will Architektin werden und mein Land wieder aufbauen!» Ein Film von Pascal Weber und Marine Pradel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59qHnhIRcJ4
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(** A K)
19 Zivilisten bei Luftangriffen im Jemen getötet
Bei Luftangriffen in der jemenitischen Hafenstadt Hudaida sind nach Angaben von Rebellen mindestens 19 Zivilisten getötet worden. Mehrere Kampfflugzeuge der von Saudiarabien geführten Koalition sollen zwei Busse getroffen haben.
Darin hätten sich die Zivilisten befunden, sagte ein Sprecher des von Huthi-Rebellen kontrollierten Gesundheitsministeriums. Mehr als 30 weitere Personen sollen verletzt worden sein.
https://www.nzz.ch/international/19-zivilisten-bei-luftangriffen-im-jemen-getoetet-ld.1428111
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Air strikes kill 10 civilians in Yemen's Hodeidah province: medics
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen killed 10 civilians in Hodeidah province on Saturday, medics and Houthi media said.
Medical sources told Reuters the civilians died when the air strikes hit a Houthi checkpoint in the town of Jabal Rass while a bus was passing through.
Eight members of the same family were among the victims, they said.
The Houthi movement’s Al Massira TV said 17 died and many others were in a critical condition.
and
(** A K)
Saudi warplanes target buses in Yemen's Hudaydah, kill 15 civilians
At least 15 Yemenis have been killed in a Saudi airstrike in Hudaydah that has become a flashpoint of a war being waged by Riyadh and its allies against the Arab world's poorest nation.
The fatalities occurred when Saudi planes targeted two buses that were carrying civilians fleeing Hudaydah on Saturday, according to a report by Yemen’s al-Masirah television network.
The attack also injured an unspecified number of others, with the number of fatalities most likely to rise, al-Masirah reported.
and
(** A K)
Saudi-led air strikes hit buses, kill at least 17 and wound 20 in Yemen
When the battles calm, residents of conflict zones in Yemen often flee their homes, fearing that the fighting will become more intense.
Still, the journey is not always safe.
As residents of Hodeidah's Jabal Ras district were trying to make their way in two buses towards safe areas, Saudi-led air strikes targeted them and killed at least 17 and wounded about 20, including children and women.
The minister of the Houthi Health Ministry, Taha al-Mutawakel, on Saturday confirmed to Middle East Eye: "The casualties of the air strikes were taken to several hospitals in Hodeidah, and at least 17 were killed and about 20 are suffering from critical injuries, so the number of deaths may increase in coming hours".
A source in the health office in Hodeidah told MEE that the wounded are being moved among hospitals in Hodeida because there is lack of doctors, health equipment and medicines, adding: "The wounded people need intensive care."
A military source in Hodeidah province said that two Saudi-led air strikes targeted two buses of people trying to flee while they were on the main road in Jabal Ras district.
He told MEE: "The air strikes targeted the buses in a safe area after they had fled the conflict zone".
and by Xinhua: https://in.news.yahoo.com/17-killed-saudi-led-airstrike-yemens-hodeidah-003203868.html
and
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Death toll from aggression airstrikes on displaced in Hodeidah rise to 17
The death toll from Saudi-led aggression airstrikes on displaced families in Jabal Rass district of Hodeidah province on Saturday rose to 17 in an initial toll, while 20 others injured, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier the day, two coalition airstrikes hit two buses carrying displaced civilians on the main road of Masbria area.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news511185.htm
and
(** A K pH)
Health Minister: Toll of Displaced Victims Increases Due to US-Saudi Airstrikes, Hodaidah
The Minister of Public Health and Population, Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakil, said in a press conference in Sana'a that the US-Saudi aggression killed 19 displaced and injured 30 in Jabal Ras, Hodeidah governorate.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3240&cat_id=1
http://www.althawranews.net/archives/545096
photos:
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/photos/pcb.1914277562201562/1914276708868314/?type=3&theater = https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/photos/pcb.1914276285535023/1914275962201722/?type=3&theater
films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ps0GC-YY0 = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1051098770283352065
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bIuT0n2uvg
(A K)
Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 12 October 2018 - Yemen
Our humanitarian colleagues in Yemen report that conflict has escalated over the last 24 hours in areas south of Hodeidah City with reports of increased air strikes, shelling and clashes mainly in Ad Duryahimi and At Tuhayta districts. The UN is working to confirm the impact of this escalation, including initial reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. Since 1 June, more than 570,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Hodeidah Governorate. The United Nations and partners have reached nearly all of these people with emergency response kits that include food rations, hygiene supplies and items to preserve dignity.
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UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yemen UNHCR Update, 21 September – 12 October 2018
The military offensive in Al-Hudaydah continues with more than 78,400 families displaced since the onset of the clashes. Since 1 October, some 8,100 newly displaced households from Al-Hudaydah reached the southern governorates, leading to a total of 24,366 households that have been displaced to Taizz Governorate and Al Hudaydah coast line districts (Hays, AlKhawkha and Mawza). U
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-update-21-september-12-october-2018
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Oct. 12 in the morning: #AlHodeida: The Saudi Warplanes launched many airstrikes on Al-Tuhyta district and killed 3 civilians, the fourth one bled to death because no one could save him because of the continuous flight of the aggression (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1913851828910802
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1913853185577333
(* A K pH)
US-Saudi Aerial Aggression Destroys Water Reservoir on Kamaran Island
The US-Saudi Aerial Aggression targeted Friday a drinking water reservoir on Kamran island in Hodeidah governorate.
In August, the US-Saudi Aggression destroyed five water wells by five raids on Kamran island. The Hodeidah Water Establishment issued a statement declaring that the aggression destroyed 10 water wells and reservoirs to collect rainwater and damaged 4 other wells.
Targeting these drinking water sources has cut the supply for over 800 families on the island, causing forcibly displacing to the citizens.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3229&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Woman Injured by US-Saudi Aggression Mercenaries Shots in Hodeidah
A woman was injured on Friday by mercenaries of US-Saudi Aggression fired shots in Tahita district in Hodeidah governorate.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3227&cat_id=1
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Health Ministry: US-Saudi Aggression Destroyed Ad-Duraihimi and Maternity and Childhood hospitals
The US-Saudi aggression hit Ad-Durahmi General Hospital, which is full of patients, citizens and health staff, completely destroying the hospital. It also, targeted the maternity and childhood hospital, which provides services to pregnant and newborn, according to a statement by the Health Ministry.
The number of victims is still unknown until now and the ambulances were targeted in the general hospital in addition to houses of citizens and facilities near the hospitals. The statement of the Health Ministry explained that the US-Saudi aggression prevented ambulances and cars of citizens to transport the wounded and killed.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3217&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Battleships and Jets Strike Different Parts of Hodeidah
According to Al-Masirah Net correspondent, homes and property of citizens were damaged as a result of the hysterical raids on Ad Durayhimi district during the past hours, while no injuries were reported until now.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3212&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Citizens Killed and Others Injured by US-Saudi Aggression Raids Targeted in Hodeidah
A citizen was killed and others were injured by US-Saudi Aggression raids on Attohayta district in Al-Hodeidah. A child was hit by US-Saudi mercenaries shotgun while working in a flowers farm, in Al-Ghars area.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3211&cat_id=1
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4 civilians killed by Saudi’ raids in Hodeidah
Four citizen were killed when the Saudi aggression coalition waged several air raids in Hodeidah province, a security official told Saba on Thursday.
The strikes hit areas populated by residents in Tuhaita directorate.
Meanwhile, the coalition targeted two raids in the general road in Tuhaita in Hodeidah province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news511057.htm
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuwVgtx7nWo
(* A K pH)
New footage released - Sea Battle
#Yemen-i Navy Forces released today for the first time a video captured from sea for the op which destroyed the #US-#Saudi aggression military vessel, #swift, & the following attack on the crew of the vessel, which continued for 3 hours after the rocketry missile strike.
https://www.facebook.com/mohamad.alshami.90857/videos/165999347672622/
(** A H K)
Norwegian Refugee Council: On-the-record update on situation in Hodeidah, Yemen (11 October 2018)
Quote from NRC staff member in Hodeidah:
"People here are suffering from a fuel crisis, they have no income, no medicine and no electricity in their houses. Jets hover for long hours, especially at night. It's so scary. We can hear clashes – guns and exploding mortar on one side and airstrikes shake our whole building. It is so stressful and incredibly frightening."
Quote from a Yemeni father whose whole village fled their homes last month:
"The nearest clinic is 20 miles away, but we have no way to pay for transport. If someone here gets sick, they will probably die," the man said. He lives with his wife and children in a tented camp in Abs, Hajjah, and told NRC staff that his community has no way of meeting increasing transport costs.
Latest updates:
Hodeidah city and surrounding districts have been hit by heavy strikes through the week. Civilians in Hodeidah describe a notable increase in airstrikes and frequent, low-hovering fighter jets over the city. Frontlines along the city's edges have not changed significantly in recent days.
One civilian in Hodeidah described the situation as "Frustrating and frightening. Their objective is just to frighten us. My whole building was shaking when they dropped bombs on Monday night."
Data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project indicates that 284 civilians were killed by violence in Hodeidah through August and September, an increase of 196 from June and July.
Worsening economic crisis across Yemen is propelling food prices upward while the value of the Yemeni riyal plummets. The cost of a minimum food basket comprised of wheat flour, dry beans, oil, sugar and salt for seven people has increased by 25 per cent in just three weeks, and 142 per cent since the beginning of the war. Even very slight increases in food costs could now tip hundreds of thousands of severely food insecure Yemenis into famine.
Fuel supplies have dwindled across Yemen, with many suppliers suspending sales due to a lack of stock. The shortage on fuel has caused prices to double in recent weeks, straining meagre financial resources for hospitals that rely on generators to power medical equipment and lighting.
While one road from Hodeidah to Yemen's highly-populated inland areas remains open, fuel supplies coming through the port remain insufficient. Less than 9 per cent of the fuel required to come through Hodeidah port to meet needs in Yemen has been delivered so far in October. This is contributing to shortages and related price hikes.
The latest updated number of suspected cholera cases identified across Yemen was reported at 14,047, up from 2,597 suspected cases in June. This is a 541 per cent increase in suspected cases in less than three months.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/record-update-situation-hodeidah-yemen-11-october-2018
cp2 Allgemein / General
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‘Evidence’ Saudi-led coalition aims to destroy food production in Houthi-controlled Yemen – report
As the war in Yemen rages on, a new report says there is “strong evidence” that the Saudi-led coalition has aimed to destroy food production and distribution in areas of the country controlled by Houthi rebels.
The report, titled ‘Strategies of the Coalition in the Yemen War: Aerial Bombardment and Food War’, is a compilation of data from various sources on the impact of the coalition’s bombing campaign on the production and distribution of food in rural Yemen, and on fishing along the Red Sea coast.
“If one places the damage to the resources of food producers (farmers, herders, and fishers) alongside the targeting of food processing, storage and transport in urban areas and the wider economic war, there is strong evidence that Coalition strategy has aimed to destroy food production and distribution in the areas under the control of Sanaa,” the report, published earlier this week by the World Peace Foundation, says.
It goes on to explain that the deliberate destruction of “family farming and artisanal fishing” is a war crime.
The report includes data collected by several organizations within Yemen, including the Yemen Data Project, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and the Ministry of Fish Wealth.
https://www.rt.com/news/441153-yemen-food-saudi-coalition/
Remark: There are several articles dealing with this report now; it already had been presented and linked earlier here.
(* B H K)
Film: Jemen: Der einsame Journalist im Bürgerkriegsland
In Bayeux wird der Preis für die besten Kriegsreportagen vergeben. Die Stadt in der Normandie zeigt überdies eine Ausstellung über den Konflikt im Jemen und die Probleme der Fotografen mit den Bürgerkriegsparteien.
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/085566-000-A/jemen-der-einsame-journalist-im-buergerkriegsland/
(* B K P)
Another Senseless Saudi Coalition Massacre in Yemen
Another Saudi coalition airstrike hit two buses full of displaced Yemenis near Hodeidah, killing 17 and wounding 20 more.
The Saudi coalition has shown blatant disregard for the lives of civilians in Yemen ever since they intervened in 2015. The attack on these buses full of internally displaced people is just the most recent example of how the coalition routinely targets civilian structures and vehicles. Each new bombing of civilians proves that the coalition is not making any effort to reduce harm to civilians. On the contrary, the coalition has consistently sought to exacerbate the suffering of the civilian population through its indiscriminate bombing, its attacks on civilian infrastructure, its systematic targeting of Yemen’s food production, and the blockade that has been starving the country for years. The coalition’s latest victims were people who were trying to flee from the attack on Hodeidah. Just like the displaced people who were slaughtered in the Aug. 23 massacre, these Yemenis were seeking refuge from the coalition’s Hodeidah offensive only to be blown up by coalition bombs as they tried to escape the battlefield.
The latest massacre of innocent Yemenis comes just two days after the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child called for an end to coalition airstrikes in Yemen.
The U.S. supports the offensive that caused these people to flee their homes, and our government arms and refuels the coalition bombing campaign. Our government is aiding a military campaign that puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of Hodeidah residents at risk and potentially threatens millions more if the port is damaged or shut down, and it makes possible the bombing campaign that massacres displaced Yemenis as they try to reach safety. This is why Congress should block all arms sales to the Saudis and Emiratis and cut off all military assistance to the coalition war – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/another-senseless-saudi-coalition-massacre-in-yemen/
(* B H K)
The Saudi targeting of food supplies in Yemen is a worse story than the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi
It could also be a dispiriting straw in the wind, suggesting that political elites in the US and UK will not be shocked for long and criticism will be confined to the alleged killing of Khashoggi.
This is an important point because the killing (as suggested by the Turkish investigators) is by no means the worst act carried out by Saudi Arabia since 2015, though it is much the best publicised. Anybody doubting this should read a report just published which shows that bombing and other military activities by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is deliberately targeting food supplies and distribution in a bid to win the war by starving millions of civilians on the other side.
There is nothing collateral or accidental about the attacks according to the report. Civilian food supplies are the intended target with the horrendous results
But there are those in Saudi Arabia, UAE and their allies in Washington, London and Paris who evidently do not feel any regret and are intent on creating conditions for a man-made famine as the best way of winning the war against the Houthis.
Anybody doubting this should read a report just published which shows that bombing and other military activities by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is deliberately targeting food supplies and distribution in a bid to win the war by starving millions of civilians on the other side.
There is nothing collateral or accidental about the attacks according to the report.
But there are those in Saudi Arabia, UAE and their allies in Washington, London and Paris who evidently do not feel any regret and are intent on creating conditions for a man-made famine as the best way of winning the war against the Houthis who still hold the capital Sana’a and the most highly populated parts of the country. This is the conclusion of the highly detailed report called “The Strategies of the Coalition in the Yemen War: Aerial Bombardment and Food War” written by Professor Martha Mundy for the World Peace Foundation affiliated to the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
Copiously illustrated with maps and charts, the report shows the impact of bombing and other military activities on the production and availability of food to the civilian population.
The lack of international protests over the war in Yemen, and the involvement of the US and UK as allies of Saudi Arabia and UAE, helps explain one of the mysteries of the Khashoggi disappearance. If the Saudis murdered Khashoggi, why did they expect to carry out the assassination without producing an international uproar? The explanation probably is that Saudi leaders imagined that, having got away with worse atrocities in Yemen, that any outcry over the death of a single man in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was something they could handle – by Patrick Cockburn
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-disappeared-journalist-washington-post-embassy-a8581341.html = www.unz.com/pcockburn/saudi-targeting-of-yemen-is-worse-than-khashoggis-disappearance/ = https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/15/the-saudi-atrocities-in-yemen-are-a-worse-story-than-the-disappearance-of-jamal-khashoggi/
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Sen. Chris Murphy: I’m as outraged about #Kashoggi as anyone. But for the last two years the United States has HELPED the Saudis kill thousands of Yemeni civilians, including scores of children, with impunity. Isn’t that worse? Like much worse?
https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1050569651485384705
Fuad Rajeh: Yes. Yes. One more thing, should a journalist be working with a US outlet in order get world support?! In 2016, I met president of IFJ in Amman and told him #Yemeni journalists were killed and 15 receiving torture..... I asked him: can IFJ do something for the 15? He replied: no.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1050632015110762496
(* B P)
Disappearances and kidnappings: the other side of Yemen’s war
Against this backdrop of war, where the country is divided between the northern zone controlled by the Houthis and the south under the control of the pro-government forces, kidnappings and hostage-taking of civilians have exploded. An organisation, the League of Mothers of the Disappeared, based in Ta’izz, a city on the border between the two zones, has been trying to record those disappeared, and also to support their families as they try to secure the freedom of their loved ones. To date, they have documented 3,478 disappeared, and estimate that at least 128 of those kidnapped have been killed.
Mariam Abdallah is the head of co-ordination and communication for the League of Mothers of the Disappeared.
"Our organisation has only one office [in Ta’izz], and we have not managed to open another anywhere else in the country, even though there is a severe need for it. Several cities have been affected, to various degrees, by kidnappings. Those most hit are the cities under Houthi control, such as Sanaa, Hajjah, Al-Hudaydah and Imran, but the capital of the south, Aden, has also been affected [Editor’s Note: Aden is controlled by loyalist forces].
Several types of people have been targeted by the kidnappings. They have been taken from outside universities, from the street, or even from their own beds. Among them are young activists or bloggers who criticise the militias or the state [in the loyalist zones] on social networks, particularly on Facebook statuses. They are targeted for political reasons. There are also shopkeepers or well-off businessmen who are abducted by Houthis for ransom. Less commonly, children might be kidnapped instead of their fathers, and serve as a means of pressure on the family, or to force the father out into the open.
Those who are taken by the Houthis are sometimes freed upon payment of sums of money, which can be considerable, reaching as much as 1 million Yemeni rials [about 3,475 euros]. The kidnapped can also serve as bargaining chips in exchange for Houthi prisoners held by the other side.
When a person is abducted, their family goes weeks without any news. After a few months, friends and relatives are often able to gather some information, thanks to people who are freed and who reveal the identity of their fellow detainees, or due to the intercession of tribal chiefs with militia leaders."
http://observers.france24.com/en/20181012-disappearances-kidnappings-other-side-yemen%E2%80%99-war
(* B K P)
Yemen, Iran, Palestine: Can US objectives succeed?
Corrupt monarchies and imperialists vs. forces supported by the population
On one side in the conflict is an alliance of monarchies – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Morocco, Bahrain and Jordan – along with Egypt and Sudan, backed by U.S. Green Berets and Navy, French Army Special Forces Command, Academi (formerly Blackwater) mercenaries, Britain, NATO, some elements of the Yemeni military and more.
On the other side are the forces of the Supreme Revolutionary Council including Ansar Allah (Houthis), large units of the Yemeni National Army, some Popular Committees and elements of the Yemeni Socialist Party.
Distortions of corporate media
What is in media here? The establishment media’s “big news” on Yemen is the few occasions when forces of Supreme Revolutionary Council, known as the “Houthis, fire missiles into Saudi Arabia. Dozens have been fired, dozens as compared to the more than 18,000 air strikes on Yemen, taking place day-in-and-day-out, which go unreported here.
The forces of the SRC are always depicted as ‘Iran-supplied,’ and denounced at the UN Security Council by the despicable U.S. Ambassador Niki Haley, who condemns them as “war crimes” while never criticizing the intensive U.S./ Saudi/ UAE aggression. The same goes for the equally despicable U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, who is really leading the U.S. aggression today, and Secretary of State John Pompeo, and, of course, Donald Trump himself.
Key target is Iran
The core target of this strategy is Iran. All of the leading foreign and military figures in the Trump administration are extremist Iranphobes. T
https://www.liberationnews.org/yemen-iran-palestine-can-us-objectives-succeed/
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(* B H)
Film: Hungersnot im Jemen verschärft sich dramatisch
Gezeichnet vom Hunger. Im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen sind mehr als acht Millionen Menschen auf Lebensmittelhilfen angewiesen. Rund 1,8 Millionen Kinder leiden unter Mangelernährung und sind vom Hungertod bedroht.
https://www.dw.com/de/hungersnot-im-jemen-versch%C3%A4rft-sich-dramatisch/av-45854671
(* B H)
"Die Jemeniten haben keine Zeit mehr"
Nirgendwo wütet der Hunger so sehr wie im Jemen, sagt der Chef des Welternährungsprogramms. Ein Gespräch mit David Beasley über Krieg, Hunger und Völkerrecht
Herr Beasley, in vielen Regionen der Welt hungern die Menschen. Wo ist die Not momentan am größten?
Im Jemen! Zwei Drittel der Jemeniten sind auf Überlebenshilfe angewiesen. Das sind 18 Millionen Menschen, fast die Hälfte steht kurz vor dem Hungertod. Wir versorgen derzeit etwa acht Millionen Menschen mit Nahrung.
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/hungersnot-die-jemeniten-haben-keine-zeit-mehr/23175472.html
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UNICEF: Yemen
Yemen is one of the chronically under developed countries facing the probably world's largest, most complex humanitarian crises. Almost the entire country (22.2 million people) needs humanitarian assistance. Conflict has caused the internal displacement of 2 million people, left 1 million public sector workers without pay for a year, and undermined access to ports and airports, obstructing essential humanitarian and commercial deliveries.3 Coping mechanisms are becoming desperate, with increased household borrowing. The recent outbreaks of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD)/cholera, symptoms of collapsing public systems, has now reached almost over one million cases. On top of this, the diphtheria outbreak in early 2018 has now reached over 1,200 cases.4 In addition, 16 million people lack access to safe water.5 Children are the primary victims of this conflict: more than 1,100 were verified as killed or maimed in the last year alone.6 The consequences of the war threaten millions more, due to growing food insecurity, poor water and sanitation, and the spread of preventable diseases and 394,000 children under 5 currently suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).7 The damage and closure of schools and health facilities threaten children's access to education and health services for years to come.
[Details of UNICEF work]
https://www.unicef.org/appeals/yemen.html
(A H)
Based on a fund by @monarelief's online fundraising campaign. 11 families in Bani Quis area of Hajjeh received today an urgent food aid. Provided by our volunteers there (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1051230056318685185
(A H)
QRCS Provides Supplies for Medical Center in Yemen
Under its large-scale response to the humanitarian crisis in Al-Hudaydah, Yemen, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has breathed life into the collapsing health sector in Sanaa.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/qrcs-provides-supplies-medical-center-yemen-enar
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The Minister of Public Health pointed to the agreement of the Ministry of Health with the World Health Organization to find an air bridge for the transfer of people with chronic diseases, where there are million and 500 thousand chronic cases such as cancer patients, kidneys, liver, kidney failure, epilepsy and other diseases need to travel .. Noting the prevention of the alliance of aggression to this agreement and deprive patients from travel .
Dr. Al-Mutawakel revealed the death of eight cases of patients registered to travel abroad in the 100 cases registered for the first flight of the air bridge as a result of the intransigence of aggression and preventing them from traveling.
http://www.althawranews.net/archives/545096
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International Rescue Committee: Go inside a hospital in Yemen
Since 2015, the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition has undertaken 18,000 airstrikes—1 every 99 minutes. One third have hit non-military targets.
More than 22 million are in need of aid, and 68% of the population lacks access to basic healthcare.
IRC staff members have evacuated their homes in the port city of Hodeidah and are now providing lifesaving aid from Bajil, a small town located 31 miles from the frontlines of the war.
Learn more about the crisis in Yemen
https://www.rescue.org/article/go-inside-hospital-yemen and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=fwTKQmab9Pk
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Film: Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Over 22M people are in need of aid and the war continues to take its toll. IRC president @DMiliband recently visited the country and our programs on the ground. Here's what he saw
https://twitter.com/theIRC/status/1050769376331407360
(A H)
Film: Obdachloser baut Baumhaus mitten in Stadt
Im Jemen zwingt die schwierige Wirtschaftslage Menschen auf die Strasse. Ein Jemenit zeigte sich erfinderisch und baute sich selbst ein Baumhaus.
https://static01.20min.ch/panorama/news/story/Obdachloser-baut-Baumhaus-mitten-in-Stadt-13714797
(A H)
Ahmed Al-Hubaishy refused to sleep on the sidewalks and built a dwelling made of a shabby plastic cover, a lamp and a blanket on a tree after his landlord kicked him out because he couldn't pay the rent. (photo)
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1050444688669515776 and film in link above
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Red Cross inaugurated the water network rehabilitation project in Taiz
In cooperation with the local water and sanitation establishment in Taiz province, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has inaugurated the Water network rehabilitation project in Taiz city through local contractors.
This large-scale project aims to restore clean water to some 600,000 people in the city of Taiz and its suburbs, the directorates of Al Taiziah, Salat Al-Muzaffar, and Cairo.
The work, which began in April, is expected to end by 2020.
"The ICRC is supporting the efforts of the Water and Sanitation Foundation in Taiz to continue to provide its basic services," said Joel Ocheng, the ICRC's engineer overseeing the project.
"The ICRC is working with the architects of the foundation through this project, which is being carried out by local contractors to make major repairs aimed at rehabilitating the two main pumping stations and the main pipeline," Owcheng said.
The project also includes the maintenance and repair of the foundation's electricity generators in Taiz, as well as an integrated capacity-building program for the Foundation's engineers. The ICRC donated computers, printers and some technical equipment to the foundation.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159437
(A H)
Film: Painful scene little"Amal" died in front of her father,He cries painfully, feeling of helplessness to save her life. This scene tells some of #US. proxies [Saudi/UAE] WarCrimes against children in #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/I4Yemen/status/1050802356332519424
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Samiha: A story of hopes and dreams from Abyan
Samiha is a young displaced girl, determined to fulfil her dreams, living in Abyan, southern Yemen. Back in 2013, she was one of the children who took part in a photography initiative organised by UNICEF. She was 11 years old at the time when she participated in the “My World Through My Lens” UNICEF project. The workshop aimed at supporting and providing vulnerable children with technical guidance to express themselves and share their stories of hope for the future through photography and movie making. Since then, UNICEF has been following her and documenting the story of this strong and resilient girl who, despite all the challenges she had to face, never gave up on her dreams.
Samiha comes from a poor family, living in Al-Amodyah village in Abyan governorate: “I was 10 years old in 2012 when I ran away with my family in the middle of the night. We lived in a classroom at Lottfi Amman school in Aden, with other displaced families, for two years before being able to go back home. Then again in 2015, we had to leave our home for the second time. Being displaced became our lifestyle.” (photos)
https://www.unicef.org/yemen/reallives_12728.html
(A H)
I have now learned that the child Wadih who visited our team two weeks ago died a few days ago at his home in the village of Al-Malqah Aslam Directorate (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/galal.alsyad/posts/1154671904680246
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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen Humanitarian Update Covering 28 September - 6 October 2018 | Issue 29
Currency Plunge is Hurting Millions of Yemeni People
The rapid devaluation of the Yemeni Rial continues to hike price of basic commodities reducing the purchasing power of millions of people, creating uncertainities among traders and importers which has in turn resulted in scarcity of supplies in the market.
According to FAO, immediate intervention is needed to avoid a complete collapse of the economy.
On 5 October, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Ms. Lise Grande, warned that the currency crisis is driving millions of people one step closer to famine. Every month, the WFP and partners provide food assistance to nearly eight million Yemenis, but humanitarian partners estimate that the downward spiral of the Rial could push another 3.5 to 4 million people into pre-famine conditions.
In the first week of October, the Rial exchanged at an all all-time low of 800 YER/US$ before rising to 710-750 YER/US$ in Aden, Sana’a and Al Hudaydah cities. The rise followed the announcement by Saudi Arabia that it would provide $200 million to the Yemeni Central Bank to shore up the currency. Despite this intervention, the negative effects of the currency depreciation continue to be seen in the unprecedented increase in the cost of basic commodities.
An analysis by FAO shows that the cost of the minimum food basket for seven people per month rose to about 42,101 YER in the first week of October - a 25 per cent increase compared to the second week of September. Petrol increased by 23 per cent from September prices. Compared to the pre-2015 period, essential commodity prices have increased by 140-204 per cent and fuel by 280-357 per cent. Prices of locally produced commodities have also sharply increased.
The spike in commodity prices has increased vulnerability, forcing households to adopt negative coping mechanisms such as buying less food or cheaper and less nutritious staples; purchasing on credit resulting in debt or spending more money on food supplies and neglecting other important expenses such health and education. In Ibb and Taizz governorates, an acute shortage of fuel and cooking gas is reported, with many people relying on the parallel market at 19,000 YER for 20 litres of fuel instead of 11,500 YER at some stations. In Al Hudaydah City, many exchange shops are either closing-down or limiting operations.
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United Nations: 31% of Yemeni girls out of school
Thirty-one percent of Yemeni girls are out of school, the United Nations said on Thursday.
This is in his codification of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen,
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159425
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Please Don’t Leave Us Behind': Three Girls' Powerful Stories On International Day Of The Girl
ELLE UK spoke to young women from around the world about why their rights matter.
To celebrate International Day of the Girl, we asked three young females living in war-torn countries about why their rights matter.
HANIN, 15, LIVES IN YEMEN
'I cannot meet my friends like normal. I can’t visit their house, I can’t play with them in the park.
'I hear bombings all the time – when I go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning.
'Living in a war means I am always worried for my safety. One day three bombs went off one after each other less than 1km away from my friends and I. We have been taught how to respond in these situations, how to protect our heads, keep low and move fast but it is still so shocking. I couldn’t talk.
'War is now our routine.
'A lot of children can’t go to school because of the bombings – their schools got destroyed. A lot of teachers haven’t received a regular salary for two years.
'It’s also very dangerous travelling to school – while we’re on the road walking or travelling by bus bombs can surprise us. The people doing this don’t care about children’s lives – how we feel, whether we live or die.
'This is why it’s important to have temporary learning centre’s – to make it more possible for us to learn. Going to school makes me feel powerful. I love the sciences. I love everything about space – the moon, planets and solar system.
'I have a dream to study at Cambridge University and work with NASA.
'I’m surrounded by war in my daily life but while in school I try to forget. It is a change to the routine of fear – it makes me feel better.
'Girls should 100 percent be learning, playing, and trying new things. They should have access to the same things boys do.
'Music is not for boys only. Football is not for boys only. Education is not for boys only.
'Please don’t leave girls behind – let us grow.
'We will not be able to save this world with just boys alone – only when we have girls contributing will we make society a better place to live in.'
https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a23671094/international-day-of-the-girl/
Comment by the father: On the #DayoftheGirl2018, I just feel even prouder of my daughters: Khulood, Asma and Hanin. In spite of all challenges, we try to bring them up to lead positive change and contribute to make our #Yemen a better place. Let’s empower our girls today and everyday (photos)
https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/1050096219761053701
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Taiz.. Teachers face harsh conditions to prevent education collapse
Today, as a result of currency deterioration and rising prices, it is barely enough for one week. "
A teacher of Arabic language Muhammad Ahmed his deep eyes are slightly inward, and he ends those words with a sad and sorrowful tone.
The hour was approaching 10 a.m., when Lotf the 47-year-old arrived at an al-Siddiq government school, near Sinan's tour, downtown Taiz, where he worked as a government teacher. He had just finished an early morning at a private (commercial) school, where he worked for insufficient government pay. "
If I rely solely on my Government salary, I will not be able to live for two or three consecutive months. " He said that this functional duplication, which had previously been outlawed, had become an imposition on most teachers, as a result of the war's tragedies and humanitarian catastrophes on more than 80 percent of the population.
With the collapse of the local currency and the recent rise in prices, the tragedy has more than doubled to reach most of the country's social strata, foremost the teachers.
It is the only remaining port of the besieged city, which provides it with life. By this division, which was painted by fierce battles, the Arabic language teacher became a kindness living here in the city alone without his family (his wife and two children), who say that, with the beginning of the war, they fled out of the city, while he remained in it, in order to preserve his job and his livelihood: "I should have stayed here to continue the struggle For their sake. "
He says he is paying for their expenses and renting the new apartment that they live in al-Hawban area-east of the city. It was the only time he visited his family and children on the last Eid al-Fitr.
Such a visit, he asserts, requires exorbitant costs, which he cannot afford. "My salary is like no"! Afterthought: "What I receive from my Government job does not meet half of the requirements for living, and it is not yet systematic."
As for the extra work he earns at the private school, he says, "it is just a very simple sum, not equal to one-quarter of the government salary." But, like many others, he is compelled to accept any action that would help relieve the daily financial burdens. Therefore, loans, debts and food aid provided by some international and local humanitarian organizations are indispensable.
Although the government still continued to pay teachers ' monthly salaries, it stopped in August 2016, where it was unable to provide them.
This has caused many tragedies among teachers, some of whom have returned to the countryside to engage in the cultivation and sale of Qat, and others have searched for other jobs that are not commensurate with their scientific and professional level, while many have been displaced to other governorates, fleeing the war, or seeking work that provides the lowest standards of living.
After more than a year of salary interruption, the Legitimate government resumed its payment in November 2017 in areas under its control, including the city of Taiz.
However, most teachers have not yet returned to their jobs, which has kept the educational process weak and minimal.
For example, only 64 teachers have returned to work at the Al-Siddiq school where "Lotf"
Earlier, the government had promised to pay the 15 months, which it had stopped spending on teachers, but those promises seemed to have evaporated. They are barely struggling to pay for new months ' salaries, which they still fail to provide on a regular basis.
Now, with the price of the local currency deteriorating and the exchange rate of the dollar exceeds the barrier of 750 Yemeni riyals, unprecedented, prices have risen more than a month ago, and some commodities have risen by more than 100% of their previous prices.
This has compounded the tragedy of the teacher, whose salary today is no longer equivalent to $100.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159517
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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (August - September 2018)
Armed conflict exacerbates access challenges in many parts of Yemen. More than 70 per cent of access incidents took place in the 27 most conflict-affected districts and included all five types of access impediments. The 37 incidents reported in Al Hudaydah were concentrated in areas with active frontlines
Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are operating in 22 governorates in all districts reporting cholera cases.
Humanitarian partners face persistent interference in their operations
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-access-snapshot-august-september-2018
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Al-Houthi gunfire kills a civilian, injures his father and brother in Al-Baydha
It explained that disagreements with the security supervisor of Houthis in the directorate called "Abu Ammar al-Abbasi ", causing the death of al-Husseini.
There were reports of the killing of the supervisor “Abbasi", during the disagreements, after Husseini responded to the Houthis by firing before his death.
It explained that disagreements with the security supervisor of Houthis in the directorate called "Abu Ammar al-Abbasi ", causing the death of al-Husseini.
There were reports of the killing of the supervisor “Abbasi", during the disagreements, after Husseini responded to the Houthis by firing before his death.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159525
(A P)
Houthi leader forces scores of old soldiers to go to Sa'dah to fight with militia
A senior Houthi leader, forced scores of former soldiers to go to Sa'dah, the stronghold of the al-Houthi armed group, to fight in the ranks of the militia.
A tribal source told the "Al Masdar online" that the Houthi leader, "Brigadier Ahmed al-Weshah ", who was previously appointed by the Houthis as the commander of the brigade of Ghamdan in Sana'a, forced a number of old soldiers"elders" to go to Sa'ada with some new soldiers.
According to the source, Al Weshah told them that they would go to Sa'dah to participate in a military parade on Sunday (October 14th), in return for receiving their salaries, or he would not grant salaries to anyone.
almasdaronline.com/articles/159500
My comment: By anti-Houthi web site. The article does not mention “to go to fight”, but just a military parade.
(A P)
#Yemen Judges Club monitored 470 cases of violations against the court committed by Houthi militia since its coup against the state.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1050848568091832321
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Top Yemen Bahai figure disappears amid Houthi crackdown
Friends of the spokesman for Yemen's Bahai religious minority say he has been detained by Houthi militias who control the country's north.
Two friends of Abdullah Yahia al-Ayolofi said Friday that unidentified men snatched al-Ayolofi from a market in a district called al-Jarraf in Sanaa on Thursday. His whereabouts remain unknown, they said.
A security official tells The Associated Press that Houthi militiamen seized al-Ayolofi earlier in the week.
Al-Ayolofi, a convert to Bahaism, has been outspoken about Houthi abuses against Bahai followers.
(A P)
Houthis are radicalising children and fueling sectarianism in #Yemen. School curricula now talk much about killings that happened 14 centuries ago and necessity to take revenge for them. Houthis and Saudi-led coalition are biggest disasters in Yemen's history.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1050587027203219456
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
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Film: UAE-backed separatists block Yemen airline from refuelling
Yemenia Airways is being prohibited from refuelling at Aden's airport by the separatists who control the facility, forcing the airline to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to divert to Djibouti.
The UAE-backed separatists controlling Aden's international airport are refusing to let the state airline refuel or maintain its aircraft.
Yemenia flights must make a 50-minute detour through neighbouring Djibouti to complete its three remaining routes, costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
(A)
Tribal block causes power outages in Marib city
A local source in Marib City, east of the capital Sana'a, said on Saturday that the electric current was cut off from the city following a public road parapet carried out by tribal militants on Friday.
The source told the Al Masdar online that most of the power plants were out of service following a process of cross-armed tribal militants to fuel tankers in the area of the L Arqeen, and that the sector is still installed to the moment.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159509
(A P T)
“Batis” Leads Terrorists in Hadhramaut
“Muslim Salah Batis”, son of “Salah Ben Muslim Batis”, the Reform leader of Hadhramaut, and one of the accused persons in forming a terrorist cell, confessed that he was among another five terrorists under his command in Wadi Al-Musaini.
https://en.smanews.org/batis-leads-terrorists-in-hadhramaut
My comment: Southern separatists trying to connect their enemy “Islah Party” to terrorism.
(A P)
Statement of the Southern Transitional Council in Shabwa
in response to the call of the Southern Transitional Council on October 3rd, 2018, for public uprising in all southern governorates, and according to previous preparations, we demand you to be ready and wait for instructions of the Southern Transitional Council in Shabwa during the next few hours.
Directions issued from Aden called off all events in all governorates including Aden. So, be ready and alert in these serious moments.
The southern people, who created the dawn of October is now mightier and more capable of achieving their expectations. They are capable of creating a brighter future for new generations.
A revolution till Victory
https://en.smanews.org/statement-of-the-southern-transitional-council-in-shabwa
(A P)
Statement of Demonstration Camp of Eastern Directorates in front of Oil Company in Shabwa
In response to the statement of presidency of the southern transitional council on October 3rd, 2018, calling for all sectors of the southern people to mobilize in a public uprising to control all vital governmental facility and production resources to clear it off corrupt officials, we assert the following:
1. We will work on achieving the goals of this public uprising and control all territories of eastern directorates of Shabwa including Al-Okla, Eiaz and Liquefied Gas Pipe as Shabwa Elites troops under commandership of brigadier Mohamed Saleh Farag, commander of Harad axis, will assume securing these territories in coordination with southern public resistance.
(A P)
Southern Activists Launch (#October_Southern_Determination) in Celebration of the First Independence and Pursuit of the Second One.
In celebration of the 55th anniversary of October 14th Revolution, southern activists on face book and tweeter launched a hashtag titled: (#October_Southern_Determination. The hashtag came in celebration of the October 14th revolution against British occupation in the south, especially in Aden.
Under this hashtag, several southern figures discussed political and revolutionary topics including the continuation of public uprising to overthrow the corrupt government and to manage governmental revenues in a good way. Some even called for a new October revolution to fulfill the expectations of the southern people in restoring the state and achieving the second independence at the same month of the first one.
(A P)
Al-Solimani Sends a Significant Message to Military and Security Personnel in Shabwa
On his official page on Face Book, Sheikh Ali Mohsen Al-Solimani, chairman of the southern transitional council of Shabwa, sent a significant message to military and security personnel of Shabwa saying:
Dear sons and brothers of the military and security associations. You who are faithful and loyal to your country. You who sacrifice your lives and spend night awaken to preserve the safety and security of citizens. You who are the guards of this nations.
We can never abandon military and security personnel who are a main part of this people and the backbone of establishing the southern state. we will preserve your rights just as your fellows in elites’ forces, security belt, giants and backup brigades. Your position is still preserved for you and we will depend on you in many military and humanitarian missions.
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Situation in Aden is tense. Hadi's government and coalition-backed southern transitional council are mobilising forces
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1051299127110377473
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"Southern transition " is retreating step backwards and eliminates an event against the government in Aden
The so-called " Southern transition Council" announced the cancellation of an anti-legitimate government event in the city of Aden, which it had called last week.
"The STC," backed by UAE, said at its meeting on Thursday that its presidency approved the cancelation of organizing a central event on October 14, which coincides with the 55th anniversary of the October Revolution.
He said in a statement that his retreat from the organization of the event was due to the "difficult living and humanitarian conditions in the south and the suffering of its children, in all the governorates, as a result of the great economic collapse and the collapse of the local currency and other images of collapse."
He said he will harness what he calls "any potential sources to support the Council's relief and humanitarian activities targeting thousands of needy families in many southern governorates, as well as to remain in permanent session to address developments in the capital of Aden and the cities All the south and take the necessary treatments and measures. "
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159439
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The Southern Movement (also known as Hirak) announced it will hold a rally on October 14 to celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of South Yemen’s revolution against the British Mandate. The Southern Movement announced the rally after the Transitional Political Council for the South (STC) canceled its demonstration. The STC announced on October 11 that it will not hold an event on the anniversary due to the current economic crisis and will instead devote resources to relief activities in southern governorates. Southern Movement leader Fouad Rashid expressed surprise at the STC’s decision to cancel, but told news sources that the Southern Movement will hold demonstrations.[1]
(A P)
Hint of how quickly #Yemen could further fragment: Tensions within South evidenced today by Southern Transition Council announcement that it's cancelling 14 Oct Liberation Day mass gathering, while Southern Movement (al-Hirak) says it will go ahead with it
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1050692419698745344 referring to http://adengad.net/news/342219/
(A T)
Military commander and general director escape from armed ambush west of Taiz city
A local official and a military commander escaped Thursday evening an assassination attempt by gunmen in the Jabal Habashi district west of Taiz City (southwest Yemen).
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159435
(A P)
Al-Zubeidi returns to Aden from Abu Dhabi ahead of the 14th of October Revolution anniversary
The president of the so-called "southern Transitional council ", Aydaroos Zubaidi. eturned to the city of Aden, the temporary capital of the country, Southern Yemen,
Local sources told Al Masdar online that Zubaidi returned to Aden Wednesday evening from Abu Dhabi, just ahead of the October 14th revolutionary anniversary of the British occupation of the South.
The Yemeni government accuses the UAE of financing the "South transitional council " to stir up chaos and coup against the legitimate government, in order to achieve its own interests, with wide differences between the government and the UAE.
According to sources of "Al Masdar online", The return of Zubaidi accompanied by a number of members of the presidency of the so-called "transitional council “, comes to participate in the celebrations of the 55 revolution of October anniversary, while reports indicate preparations for the coup d'état against the legitimate government during the days of Celebrations.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159406
(A)
Socotra authorities make urgent arrangements to empty an oil ship that drifted off the coast of the island
According to Saba, the meeting reviewed a number of measures to unload the ship's estimated 500 tons of diesel to the Foundation's reservoirs via large tanker, before the impact of the tropical storm, which is approaching the island, to ensure that the Ship's cargo is not diverted to the Sea
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159411
(A P)
A demonstration in Taiz protesting the collapse of the local currency
Dozens of residents of the city of Taiz protested Thursday, protesting the collapse of the local currency, which is at its lowest level, and demanding control of commodity prices, according to Al Masdar online Correspondent.
The demonstration, which took place on Gamal Abdel Nasser Street in the center of the city, came in response to activists and jurists called "youth overpower" and "the revolution of the Hungry".
The protesters blamed the Houthi coup on the legitimate government, the Arab coalition that intervened in Yemen to restore legality, as well as corruption in the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, responsible for the humanitarian crisis in the country and the economic collapse.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159417
(A E P)
Central Bank governor: All state revenues are supplied to the Bank's headquarters in Aden
Central bank governor Mohammad Al-reins said Thursday that all state revenues were being supplied to the Bank's headquarters in Aden, the interim capital of the country and that it had begun work on data-binding procedures with Marib central.
He said at a press conference in Aden that the government has a plan to reactivate oil production and export, which will boost state revenues and contribute to the recovery of the economy and Currency.
He said that he had started correspondence with Marib branch in order to know the supply of deposits to Aden.
He explained that the total value of the export of liquefied petroleum in Hadramawt supplied to the central bank every two months is about $150 million, 30 million dollars, including an operational budget for petromasilah $20 million shares of Hadramawt province, and $50 million worth of electricity fuel in Aden and its environs.
The government is in the process of starting to export oil from Shabwah and transferring its revenues to the central bank, he said.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159424
(A T)
Confessions of an Al-Qaeda cell in Hadramawt. They met at the playgrounds and markets
The governor of Hadramawt province, commander of the second military region, Maj. Gen. Faraj Salem Al-Bahssani, said in a press conference Thursday in al-Mukalla, the province, the results of the investigation into the terrorist cell that was arrested a month ago.
Al- Bahssani has reviewed the confessions of elements of Al-Qaeda cell in sound and image, since they were arrested next to the al-Aws mega, in Dis Al-Mukalla, and they receive and deliver an explosive device among themselves after monitoring their movements, according to the Media Center in the Province.
The governor Al- Bahssani pointed out that the members of the cell moved to Wadi Hadramawt and met with members of the organization, who taught them the methods of planting the canisters and handed them some to transport them to the city of Mukalla, after hiding them in small drums containing walls paint.
In the recordings, "the members of the cell confessed to working with al-Qaeda, monitoring and attaching a container and detonating it in a car belonging to Hdhrami elite forces under the custody of Brigadier Sabri Al-tamimi in the Fuh area, and to attached and detonate an explosive device in a Suzuki belongs to officers Arif Mohammadi at Hafat of Baswaid in the DIS area.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159426
(A)
Marib security seizes hashish on its way to Houthis
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-24512
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
The Austrian government offered to host the next round of UN-led consultations in Vienna on October 12. UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths announced on October 11 that he is planning to hold a new round of consultations next month. Griffiths met with lead.al Houthi negotiator Mohamed Abdul Salam, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi, and Hadi government Vice President Ali Mohsen al Ahmar between October 10 and 11.[2]
(A P)
Griffith meets Houthi delegation, discusses opening of Sanaa airport and economic situation
UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths met Thursday in Muscat, capital of Oman, with the Houthis ' delegation to the peace consultations led by the spokesman of the group Mohamed Abdel Salam.
According to Saba's version of the Houthis, "during the meeting, aspects related to the opening of the Sana'a International Airport, as well as the special mechanism for the management of the economic and financial situation in Yemen and the payment of salaries as confidence-building steps, were discussed."
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/159433
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Saudi Arabia must halt Yemen strikes: U.N. child rights panel
A U.N. human rights watchdog called on Saudi Arabia on Thursday to immediately halt its deadly air strikes against civilian targets in Yemen and to prosecute officials responsible for child casualties due to unlawful attacks.
Saudi Arabia told the child rights panel last week that it was working hard to correct mistaken targeting by its military alliance, but the experts voiced scepticism.
The panel of 18 independent experts, in its conclusions issued on Thursday, took note of the Saudi statement but said that Yemeni children continue to be killed, maimed and orphaned.
“We asked them to put a halt immediately to these air strikes,” Clarence Nelson, panel vice-chair, told reporters.
“Nearly 20 percent of the deaths of civilians are children. So that’s one in five civilians killed is a child under 18. That’s a lot of children,” Nelson said.
The panel voiced concern at “the inefficiency of the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) set up by the coalition in 2016 to investigate allegations of unlawful attacks by (Saudi Arabia) and members of the coalition on children and facilities and spaces frequented by children”.
“There has been no case, let alone a case involving child casualties, recruitment or use of children in armed hostilities, where its investigations led to prosecutions and/or disciplinary sanctions imposed upon individuals, including military officials of (Saudi Arabia),” it said.
Nelson, referring to the JIAT team, said: “Firstly it was set up by coalition, they are essentially investigating themselves. Secondly it’s comprised of members from coalition countries. Thirdly, the information we have is that it is not investigating all ‘accidents’.”
He said a large number of strikes and incidents involving civilian casualties and children were not being pursued by JIAT.
The panel called for lifting the coalition’s aerial and naval blockade which it said has deprived millions of Yemenis of food and other vital supplies, mainly through Hodeidah port.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(A P)
UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths met separately with lead al Houthi negotiator Mohamed Abdul Salam and Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi inMuscat, Oman on October 11. Griffiths discussed the re-opening of Sana’a International Airport and steps to resolve the current economic crisis with Salam and al Houthi official Abdul Malik al Ajri. Bin Alawi and Griffiths discussed international efforts to achieve a political solution in Yemen. Yemeni President Hadi’s Vice President, Lieutenant General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, and Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghir met with Griffiths in Riyadhon October 10.[1]
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* B E P)
Film: Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 Is Finished | Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program is supposed to save the country. Too bad it's already dead. Everything from Canada to Jamal Khashoggi makes this clear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fYy6KRrSBc
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Successful reformation in Saudi Arabia far from a sure thing
As Aramco’s public offering has been halted, so has the hope in Saudi Arabia’s economic reforms, which according to the young Crown Prince of the country, were intended to fulfill the Arab dream. Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue and the most profitable worldwide.
While Saudi Arabia has been trying to provide domestic opportunities for its citizens, policies have proven ineffective. In addition, the country has also failed to achieve positive results with its military adventures in other countries. The Saudis’ war on Yemen and the blockade of Qatar have been examples of failed regional policies over the last few years. The interventions have been costly to the House of Saud and have reduced the country’s financial and military capabilities while Crown Prince Bin Salman is not even halfway through with his economic reforms, the so called ‘Vision 2030’ plans. The slow implementation of social reform, which is more like a mere “showcase policy”, is a proof of the unrealistic nature of the reforms as they lack conformity with Saudi Arabia’s traditional social structures.
It is clear that the creation and pursuit of economic development requires some preconditions, such as political development and the approval of religious institutions which Saudi Arabia has yet to gain. Lack of human capital in the country, which is considered the engine of economic development, along with other factors, has delayed the implementation of economic change and dynamism. The use of a foreign labor force (immigrants) can also be a security challenge for Saudi Arabia.
The fast-paced implementation of economic reforms in Riyadh without proper infrastructure and consideration to social, political and religious structures confirms a lack sufficient management expertise.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/138629/Successful-reformation-in-Saudi-Arabia-far-from-a-sure-thing
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United Nations Calls on Saudi Arabia to Release Prisoners of Conscience Immediately
A team of the UN human rights experts urged Saudi Arabia to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, including six women still in prison on charges of peacefully defending of human rights. In a statement the experts condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Saudi authorities against human rights defenders and urgently demand their immediate release and drop the charges against them.
The experts expressed their deep concern about Ms. Esraa al-Ghamam
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3233&cat_id=2
(* B P)
Mohammed Bin Salman: The Character Behind The Caricatures
In terms of external politics, MBS pioneered his country’s fast-moving rapprochement with Russia which has seen Saudi Arabia consider purchasing S-400 anti-air defense systems after committing to a portfolio of other arms during King Salman’s historic visit to Moscow in October 2017.
China can’t get enough of MBS after his country agreed to receive over $130 billion worth of Silk Road investments from the People’s Republic in two separate deals last year, predicated as they are on both Beijing’s pressing energy interests but also its desire to link the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) with Vision 2030. China considers Saudi Arabia to be a tri-continental pivot state at the crossroads of Afro-Eurasia, therefore making it an indispensable geostrategic partner, to say nothing of an economic one when it comes to the “petroyuan”.
As for America, it loves MBS’ insatiable hunger for arms and is eager to do all that it takes to get his country to go forward with the high-profile $110 billion arms deal that was signed last year.
It’s “politically incorrect” for anyone to openly say, but none of these three countries sincerely cares about the domestic situation in Saudi Arabia or the country’s alleged assassination of dissidents abroad, but the US at least sometimes speaks out on these issues from time to time in order to put more pressure on its counterpart in a bid to get a better deal on whatever it is that they’re negotiating for at the time. The same can be said of Russia if it chooses to ever comment on these topics.
The confluence of interests that the US, Russia, and China share when it comes to MBS makes him “too important” for any of them to “discredit” and risk jeopardizing their win-win partnerships with his country. The US, and perhaps maybe even Russia, might occasionally “virtue signal” opposition to some Saudi actions, though it’s “normatively disingenuous” because such statements are only made for negotiating leverage. All three countries see the character behind the caricatures that realize that MBS’ mix of noble reformer and bloody tyrant is just the way he is – by Andrew KORYBKO
https://orientalreview.org/2018/10/11/mohammed-bin-salman-the-character-behind-the-caricatures/
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Afrah Nasser in Film: I was on @trtworld earlier discussing Saudi Arabia deporting thousands of Yemeni guest workers back home to Yemen.
Saudi Arabia deporting thousands of Yemenis back to Yemen will be a great opportunity for Houthis to have more human resources into their militant forces, as military groups have turned into a great source of income for thousands of young men in Yemen.
https://twitter.com/Afrahnasser/status/1050418910279929857
(B P)
Saudi crown prince’s carefully managed rise hides dark side
But behind the carefully calibrated public-relations campaign pushing images of the smiling prince meeting with the world’s top leaders and business executives lurks a darker side.
[Overview; all facts are well known]
https://apnews.com/fe22f95ef21941768fe276b62bcedf5a
cp9 USA
(* B K P)
«Entrüstet Euch über die Rolle der USA in Jemen»
«New York Times-Kolumnist Nicholas Kristof: «Die USA tragen zur grössten humanitären Krise bei. Unser Verhalten ist gewissenlos.»
«Die USA helfen weiter zu töten, Menschen zu Krüppeln zu schiessen und Kinder verhungern zu lassen», empört sich der Kolumnist der NYT.
Stets ist von der «saudischen Koalition» die Rede, welche Jemen seit mehr als drei Jahren bombardiert. Die entscheidende Rolle der USA wird meist ausgeklammert.
Doch ohne amerikanische Waffen, ohne die US-Logistik und ohne das Auftanken saudischer Bomber in der Luft durch US-Flugzeuge müsste schon längst eine politische Lösung gefunden werden.
Nicholas Kristof versucht seit zwei Jahren vergeblich, von den Saudis eine Reisebewilligung zu erhalten, aber die Saudis würden den Hilfsorganisationen verbieten, Journalisten mitzunehmen. Doch nur weil es höchstens einzelnen Journalisten gelingt, aus Jemen selber zu berichten, sollte das Schicksal von Millionen von Jemeniten in den Medien nicht vergessen gehen.
In den USA würden viele Menschen in Wut ausbrechen wegen Trumps Lügen und wegen unentschuldbaren Tweets-Kommentaren. Das soll man tun, meint Kristof. Aber die Wut sollte sich auch gegen etwas viel Ungeheuerliches richten: «Wie wir Kinder verhungern lassen und die grösste humanitäre Krise noch verschlimmern.»
Zum Originalartikel «Be Outraged by America’s Role in Yemen’s Misery» der New York Times
https://www.infosperber.ch/Politik/Seid-entrustet-uber-die-Rolle-der-USA-in-Jemen
(* B E P)
Is Saudi money becoming radioactive?
MBS came to the U.S. just months after this high-profile sweep and he was welcome with open arms. Donald Trump invited him to the White House and has only worked to solidify that attachment, one characterized as “abnormal and unseemly” by international relations scholars.
Silicon Valley CEOs also embraced MBS on that spring tour. MBS visited with Google co-founder Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai; Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz; and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, among others who praised his social progressiveness. What they apparently liked even more: his ambitious plans to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil, including by plugging more of the kingdom’s money into American companies.
In fact, looking the other way at MBS’s other goings-on hasn’t been all that hard, given the money at stake. Tesla’s Elon Musk didn’t have an issue with it this past summer. SoftBank doesn’t have qualms with it, either. In fact, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has bragged that he convinced MBS to provide $45 billion for SoftBank’s massive $100 billion fund in just 45 minutes’ time. And just last week, MBS said he is committing $45 billion to a second Vision Fund.
If the alarming disappearance of Khashoggi, who was most recently working as a Washington Post columnist, changes the calculation in any way, no one is willing to say.
In fairness, many in the U.S. and elsewhere are waiting to see if Khashoggi materializes. While it seems less likely by the day that he will, never knowing what happened is undoubtedly the best possible outcome for the many who would rather be affiliated with a reformer than a murderous despot. Let’s face it, a missing Washington Post columnist may look like a miscalculation today, but as these cycles go, Khashoggi may soon be yesterday’s news, if you’ll forgive the pun. Then everyone can get back to business.
It’s almost comical when one considers that many of these same people — especially Silicon Valley leaders — can muster outrage over a memo about gender diversity.
Mostly, it’s just hugely depressing.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/10/will-mbss-money-ever-become-radioactive/
(* B P)
Trump is kissing Saudi backsides. He’s not alone.
The most surprising aspect to the reaction to the possible abduction and killing of Saudi critic and Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey is the notion among some U.S. foreign policy elites that Saudi Arabia, prizing its longtime alliance with Washington, would never involve itself in such an atrocity. Not through my eyes.
The House of Saud, rulers of that desert kingdom, is not a government. It’s a gang that survives by bullying its neighbors and jerking around its so-called Western allies by weaponizing the vast oil reserves upon which it perches.
The family offers a face of religious piety. But Saudi Arabia is among the most bigoted, misogynistic human rights violators on the face of the Earth. Silencing critics is a Saudi art form.
I have been on the streets of Riyadh and Jiddah and in business meetings at Saudi financial institutions. In a country where alcohol is banned, the best Scotch I ever tasted was in the Riyadh home of a Saudi acquaintance once based in Washington.
Ally?
Our good buddy?
There is nothing to suggest that to Saudi Arabia the United States is anything more than a good international customer and useful bodyguard against aggression by its archrival, Iran.
In the feud between the two Islamic nations, the Saudi monarchy has managed to firmly enlist the United States on the Sunni side of a Muslim divide that takes in that country and other small Gulf kingdoms. Saudi royals’ greatest fear is a theocratic Iran leading the Shiite Muslim world in a struggle to dominate Islam. The ruthless Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his family need Trump to stifle Iran at every turn.
Toward that end, we delivered the goods, loading up the Saudis with firepower galore. They then used those weapons with abandon in neighboring Yemen.
Today, Yemen’s shell-stricken capital, Sanaa, is not the city I saw in the 1980s during my call on financial institutions.
The sad fact is that the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen’s civil war couldn’t have taken out markets, weddings and a school bus carrying kids without the help of U.S.-made bombs.
The Saudis aren’t worried about a cutoff of U.S. aid. The 33-year-old crown prince and his 82-year-old pop, King Salman, play Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, like drums. Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia helped do the trick.
The royal court recognizes that Trump is an emotionally needy narcissist. So it blared the trumpets, boomed the cannons and flew fighter jets trailed by red, white and blue over Trump’s head after he disembarked onto Saudi soil.
The Saudis couldn’t remain where they are on the world stage, however, without rhetorical cover from the Trump administration – by Colbert King
(* B P)
Is the Saudi Crown Prince Too Disruptive Even for Trump?
Whatever occurred, it’s also clear that the Khashoggi affair is just the latest sign of Saudi Arabia’s growing recklessness under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi-American relationship has never been based on shared political values. Since it began in earnest in the 1930s, it has been driven by oil and security, and so also by a desire for some measure of stability in the Middle East.
M.B.S.’s overly ambitious and misguided foreign policy initiatives have left Saudi Arabia weaker and the region less stable, undermining American objectives.
Yet Mr. Trump has made no effort to restrain M.B.S.’s adventurism. The two men’s apparent closeness is not the cause of the prince’s recklessness; for example, Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen while Barack Obama was still president. But the Trump administration’s full-throated endorsement of M.B.S. is hurting America’s interests.
With Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance, it’s time for Mr. Trump to call M.B.S. to account. The Saudi ambassador to the United States has denied any Saudi involvement in the journalist’s plight. If that proves to be untrue, Washington needs to send him home.
The president claims to have a personal connection with M.B.S.? Instead of trying to jawbone the Saudis to cut oil prices by a few dollars per barrel, he should use whatever leverage he has to convince Riyadh to act more responsibly — in Yemen, regarding Qatar and with Turkey, in order to contain the effects of the war in Syria and limit Iran’s reach there and in Iraq.
(* A B P)
Mainstream Journos Pissed As Saudi Clown Prince Nabs One Of Their Own
The Moustache of Understanding, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, is pissed that the Saudi clown prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered the kidnapping of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, who comes from a very rich family, has long served the Saudi regime in editorial positions and was the media adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal during his tenure as ambassador in London and Washington. He left Saudi Arabia last year out of fear of being targeted in the ongoing crackdown by clown prince Mohammad bin Salman. He ended up writing mildly critical columns for the Washington Post.
But no one kissed bin Salman's ass as affectionate as Tom Friedman.
The main stream journos who are now up in arms over Khashoggi are mostly embarrassed about their earlier adoration of Mohammad bin Salman. But even more important to them is that Khashoggi is one of their class. They think of themselves as entitled aristocrats who do not deserve such a fate. That is reserved for the deplorable plebs below them.
Just consider this amoral passage in Friedman's whining column about the Khashoggi case:
If Jamal has been abducted or murdered by agents of the Saudi government, it will be a disaster for M.B.S. and a tragedy for Saudi Arabia and all the Arab Gulf countries. It would be an unfathomable violation of norms of human decency, worse not in numbers but in principle than even the Yemen war.
When the State Department will - in the harshest terms - condemn Iran for abducting Khashoggi, when the Treasury again sanctions Russia and when the Pentagon increases its support for the bombing of Yemen, Friedman and the other sycophants will again rise up and applause.
(* B P)
If only the mainstream media valued Yemeni lives as much as Jamal Khashoggi’s
In short, while Khashoggi’s probable murder is indeed tragic, it reveals everything about the Western media’s perception of worthy and unworthy victims.
The Washington Post’s line in the sand
For over a decade, the Washington Post has been heaping praise on Saudi Arabia for its supposed ‘reforms’. In April 2017, journalist David Ignatius claimed bin Salman was “reimagining Saudi Arabia”, saying “reform plans appear to be moving ahead slowly but steadily”. But a year later, reports revealed that the country had authorised “48 beheadings in [the] four months of 2018” – half for non-violent charges.
Washington Post owner and world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, meanwhile, was apparently too busy schmoozing with Mohammed bin Salman to notice.
On 11 October, Ben Cardin of the Post wrote about Khashoggi’s probable murder: “the United States cannot be silent or remain inert in the face of an insidious assault against universal values”.
In short, while assaults against universal values are nothing new in Saudi Arabia, the Western media’s whole-scale disgust at them certainly appears to be.
The New York Times’s line in the sand
Since the 1950s, the New York Times has consistently described the Saudi royalty using talk of ‘reform’.
Times columnist Thomas Friedman faces particular allegations of frequently painting bin Salman and the Saudi regime in a good light. In November 2017, for instance, Friedman wrote:
The crown prince has big plans to bring back a level of tolerance to his society.
But on 8 October 2018, Friedman wrote that, if Saudi Arabia had killed Jamal Khashoggi, “it will be a disaster for the regime of Mohammed bin Salman”.
While Saudi Arabia was provoking what most people accept to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the Times presented bin Salman as a man of reform. But for many Times contributors, Khashoggi’s alleged murder is a step too far.
For the US government, is there a line in the sand?
On 11 October, Donald Trump responded to the possible murder of Khashoggi, saying “we don’t like it even a little bit”. But what he and the US establishment do like is the vast amount of money they make from arms sales. So he added:
as to whether or not we should stop $110bn from being spent in this country, knowing they have four or five alternatives…, that would not be acceptable to me.
But Trump is already operating very much how a ‘real American president would do’. Because his policy in Saudi Arabia differs little from that of Barack Obama or decades of US presidents before him. Profits, as always, reign over principles.
We should, of course, welcome the fact that many people in the US are now criticising the Saudi regime. But for far too many innocent civilians in Yemen, it’s too little, too late.
(* A P)
Trump Administration Urges Saudis To Stick To Killing Random Yemeni Civilians (Satiric)
As criticism mounted over the country’s alleged role in the disappearance and possible death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Trump administration reportedly urged the leaders of Saudi Arabia Friday to stick to killing random Yemeni civilians. “The potential murder of a high-profile journalist critical of their regime raises grave concerns for us, and we appeal to the leaders of Saudi Arabia to restrict their extrajudicial murders to Yemeni people who don’t have any public platform,” said President Trump, adding that the White House would not sit idly by as the Saudis caused the deaths of innocent people unless they were Yemeni children in a school bus or a group of Yemeni people attending a wedding.
“The United States asks Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to content himself with killings that don’t affect business deals or call our diplomatic ties into question, such as airstrikes on Yemeni infrastructure, fueling mass cholera outbreaks, or blocking food and medical supplies from reaching civilians. Look, we don’t even mind if you dismember and murder people inside the Turkish consulate, as long as they’re unknown Yemenis whose deaths won’t cause an international scandal. For the sake of all parties, we demand that the Saudis only kill people who hardly anyone in America cares about.” At press time, several major U.S. newspapers had published editorials praising the Trump administration for its tough stance on Saudi Arabia.
https://politics.theonion.com/trump-administration-urges-saudis-to-stick-to-killing-r-1829713565
(A P)
Film: Senator @RandPaul: “You could say that there may not be proof that they’ve killed the journalist…but what you do have evidence of is that the #Saudis have been bombing civilians in #Yemen for over a year now.”
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/videos/263766954480154
(* A P)
Trump wary of halting Saudi weapons sales over missing journalist
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he saw no reason to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, possibly setting up a clash with the U.S. Congress.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he saw no reason to block Saudi purchases of U.S. arms or its investments in the United States despite the journalist’s case, saying the Gulf nation would just move its money into Russia and China.
“They’re spending $110 billion on military equipment and on things that create jobs ... for this country. I don’t like the concept of stopping an investment of $110 billion into the United States, because you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to take that money and spend it in Russia or China or someplace else,” he said.
His comments prompted pushback from members of the U.S. Senate, including from some of his fellow Republicans, many of whom signed a letter on Wednesday forcing his administration to investigate Khashoggi’s disappearance and paving the way to possible sanctions on Saudi officials.
The Khashoggi incident might make it very hard for the Trump administration to win congressional approval for arms sales to the Saudis.
(A P)
Journalist's disappearance hardens U.S. Congress stance on Saudi arms deals
The disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has hardened resistance in the U.S. Congress to selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, already a sore point for many lawmakers concerned about the humanitarian crisis created by Yemen’s civil war.
Even before Turkish reports said Khashoggi was killed at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Democratic U.S. lawmakers had placed “holds” on at least four military equipment deals, largely because of Saudi attacks that have killed Yemeni civilians.
President Donald Trump was wary of halting arms sales over the case, saying on Thursday the kingdom would just move its money into Russia and China.
U.S. lawmakers, Democrats and some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, said reports that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate had heightened concerns about the Saudi government.
“This is something that enrages people, as it should,” Senator Bob Corker, the Republican Foreign Relations Committee chairman, told reporters.
An informal U.S. review process lets the top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees stall major foreign arms deals if they have concerns such as whether weapons would be used to kill civilians.
(* B P)
Khashoggi’s Disappearance Puts Kushner’s Bet on Saudi Crown Prince at Risk
For President Trump, who has made Saudi Arabia the fulcrum of his Middle East policy, the possible murder of a Saudi journalist in Turkey is a looming diplomatic crisis. For Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, it is a personal reckoning.
More than anyone in the Trump administration, Mr. Kushner has cultivated Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman — whose family may have played a role in the disappearance of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi — elevating the prince into a key ally in the Arab world and the White House’s primary interlocutor to the kingdom.
Mr. Kushner championed Prince Mohammed, 33, when the prince was jockeying to be his father’s heir.
But if it becomes clear that the prince ordered the assassination of Mr. Khashoggi or was connected to it in some way, it will provoke an outcry on Capitol Hill; embarrass American executives, dozens of whom are flocking to Riyadh for a conference next week where the crown prince is scheduled to speak; and put Mr. Kushner, who was once himself a newspaper publisher, in an extremely awkward position.
Mr. Kushner declined to discuss the state of his relationship with Prince Mohammed.
Reports of Mr. Khashoggi’s potentially grim fate have only fed the criticism from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who have long been wary of Saudi religious extremism and ties to terrorism.
Saudi Arabia’s muscle will be on display next week, when American technology and financial titans gather at the investor conference in Riyadh that the crown prince will attend. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will represent the Trump administration at the meeting, which participants have called “Davos in the Desert” and is held at the same Ritz-Carlton hotel where Prince Mohammed jailed dozens of wealthy Saudis in what he said was an anticorruption campaign.
The Treasury Department said Mr. Mnuchin was still planning to attend. A person working with American business executives said that if proof emerged that Saudi Arabia ordered Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, at least some would cancel.
The New York Times, one of several major news organizations that were media sponsors of the conference, has decided to withdraw from the event
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/us/politics/jamal-khashoggi-disappearance-kushner.html
(* B K P)
Stop Military Aid to Saudi Arabia
The regime must be held accountable for Jamal Khashoggi.
For years, I have decried our country’s involvement in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are a state sponsor of radical Islam, and their war on Yemen, a poor Arab country, has led to many thousands of civilian deaths.
The Saudis have provided at least 2,500 fighters to the Islamic State in Syria, making them the second-largest source of foreign fighters for the group on a per capita basis, after Tunisia.
News reports from 2013 stated that the Saudis offered more than 1,200 death-row inmates a pardon and a monthly stipend for their families to go fight the Syrian government.
In 2009, U.S. officials said Saudi Arabia was the “most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” And in 2014, those same officials wrote that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were “providing clandestine financial and logistic support to [the Islamic State] and other radical Sunni groups.”
So why is America selling arms to a country that has supported terror, has a poor human-rights record, and has waged a reckless war in Yemen?
As they say, follow the money. But no amount of oil business or arms deals justifies our collusion with a regime that sponsors jihadism around the world.
Furthermore, if America is not at war with Yemen—which, technically, we are not—why are we enabling Saudi Arabia to prosecute a war that has killed tens of thousands and left 8 million more “on the brink of famine,”
This oppressive regime must be held accountable for its actions. The United States has no business supporting it, either directly or indirectly – by Sen. Rand Paul
(* B K P)
In Yemen, Trump Is Taking Tolerance for War Crimes to a New Level
Twenty days after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bombed a school bus full of children in Yemen this August, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis hosted officials from the two US allies at the Pentagon. They were all gathered as part of a meeting of representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council, at which Mattis thanked them for their “regional leadership and years of close cooperation with the United States.”
The US bears tremendous responsibility for the August attack, and for broader devastation and suffering in Yemen, where it is waging not one, but two wars.
In this war, the Saudi and Emirati militaries are dropping the bombs, and the United States plays a critical role in every step of the operations. The coalition’s munitions are made in the US, as are the planes dropping them — all of which were sold to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in deals brokered by the US government. The US is supplying intelligence as the coalition selects its targets. And the US Air Force is running a program of fueling coalition aircraft midair, as they fly their deadly missions. With US personnel and US planes, the United States is literally fueling the war.
It is remarkable that — despite the international spotlight on the war in Yemen resulting from the highly publicized school bus bombing — Trump administration officials continue to embrace Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and their operations.
Looming in the background of the tensions and conflicts throughout the Middle East — as well as the US involvement in them — is a showdown between the United States and its allies on one hand and Iran on the other
Yemen’s civil war cannot be neatly framed as a proxy struggle in this way. Iran is not participating in Yemen in a way that drives the conflict
https://truthout.org/articles/in-yemen-trump-is-taking-tolerance-for-war-crimes-to-a-new-level/
(* B K P)
The US-Led Genocide and Destruction of Yemen
Where is God? He cannot get through the total US blockade of Yemen to save the children. A cholera epidemic is a man-made disaster. Since 2015 the cholera epidemic has been spread by biological warfare against Yemen. US bombs dropped by Saudi pilots destroyed Yemen's public water and sewage systems. The parts, chemicals and fuel to operate Yemen's water purification and sewage plants are blockaded. Potable water, cholera vaccine, and even individual water purification tablets cannot get in.
The sewage from non-working treatment plants overflows into streams that run onto agricultural land, thus contaminating vegetables before they go to market. Sewage flows into the cities, residential areas and the refugee camps. Flies swarm over the sewage and spread cholera everywhere. The International Committee of the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and Doctors Without Borders; hospitals, clinics and disaster relief organizations, and human rights workers have been deliberately bombed.
The US dominated United Nations adds a fig leaf of legality to the blockade, and a one-sided weapons embargo against Yemen. To ask why there is no UN arms embargo against Saudi Arabia is, of course, a rhetorical question.
The UN wrings its hands about a humanitarian crisis, and the worst cholera epidemic in human history. The UN does nothing to stop the US-led Saudi genocide and destruction of Yemen, and it puts out knowingly phony underreported numbers of the civilian deaths. The UN is not an honest broker.
The US has also overstepped the UN's authority against Yemen, by imposing a total blockade.
The war against Yemen is another dirty war like Iraq was. It is an 'all but in name only' a US genocide-scale slaughter of civilians and the destruction of a country. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its so-called coalition are the US proxy that pays for the bombs and drops them. It is the US that picks out the targets, from back at the command and control center.
There are some internal groups opposed to the Houthi Movement and they are collaborating with the Saudi and UAE terrorist groups, but this is not a Sunni vs. Shia war. Nor is the war a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as the corporate mainstream media monopoly would have the US public believe.
The US, KSA and the UN try to pass off the "internationally recognized legitimate government of Yemen" as if it were Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Hadi was the president of an interim government of Yemen from 2012 to 2014. Hadi fraudulently overstayed his term when it expired in 2014.
There is little if any evidence that Iran is providing the Houthi Movement with weapons, materials or fighters.
In the 1990's with the collapse of the USSR, the US set out to build an empire to dominate the world, and it made no secret of it.
The US beneficiaries of neoliberalism were not happy when their benefactor Hadi was deposed by the Houthi Movement. Nor was Saudi Arabia, which had been trying to exploit Yemen for decades. The vultures of the other GCC countries started circling Yemen in the hope of picking at its corpse too.
The US is providing the GCC with the Shock and Awe to kill the prey, and the US does not care if it kills 22 million people in the process of looting Yemen. It is the US that is providing the bombs. The Saudi-led coalition of the GCC is just the delivery boys.
To summarize, there is no civil war in Yemen. Iran is made the scapegoat for a US-led illegal war of aggression. Saudi Arabia and its coalition of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The GCC is made up of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. They are all monarchies. The US hopes to walk off with Yemen's main prizes, and the KSA, UAE and Qatar are already fighting each other over the crumbs. The lives of 22 million Yemeni people are hanging by a thread, because of a US blockade of food, water and medicine. The US is the cause of the worst cholera epidemic in history. It is biological warfare and genocide – by David William Pear
Comment: A view of the Yemen war. I would disagree with the conclusion that there is no civil war in Yemen. There are in fact more than one ongoing civil wars. But I do agree that conflict in Yemen is being stoked by USA and Britain to serve their own agendas, and the regional powers that are involved in Yemen are not saving it nor supporting the so called 'legitimate' government of Hadi but are fighting in their own interests and creating a famine of biblical proportions whilst the world looks the other way. I would not disagree with the description of what is happening as genocide; rather I am surprised that charities and human rights groups don't start using this term regularly themselves.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157073122133641
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(* A P)
The Natural History Museum must cancel tonight’s shameful Saudi party
The museum’s reputation is at stake over its disgraceful decision to play host to an abhorrent dictatorship
Tonight, the National History Museum in London – a public institution whose trustees are mostly appointed by the government – hosts a reception for the Saudi embassy. That it is hosting an evening of celebration for one of the most extreme regimes on Earth while Yemeni children starve to death is beneath contempt. It has released a statement clarifying that “no museum staff are attending as guests or speaking at the event” (irrelevant), but that such events are an “important source of external funding”. Let us be absolutely clear about this. The cash received by the Natural History Museum is blood money.
and statement by the Museum: https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1050347348503736325
and
(A P)
Campaigners slam Natural History Museum for hosting Saudi Arabian regime for reception
They have said hosting the event will "taint" the museum because of the regime's involvement in the war in Yemen
Campaigners have slammed the Natural History Museum for hosting a reception for the Saudi Arabian embassy.
They have said hosting the event will "taint" the museum because of the regime's involvement in the war in Yemen.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/campaigners-slam-natural-history-museum-13400890
and
(A P)
The Natural History Museum has been used by the Saudi regime
At a time when the Saudis are intensifying their crackdown on human rights, yesterday’s reception gave all the wrong messages
The timing could not be worse. The last few days have seen the Saudi Arabian government coming under far greater international scrutiny, with allegations that a journalist, Jamal Khasoggi, was murdered in its Istanbul Consulate.
During the reception the BBC asked the Saudi ambassador to the UK about Khasoggi’s disappearance
All this comes at a time when the Saudi-led bombardment of Yemen is getting even worse.
Attendees at last night’s celebrations will have been sold a narrative and vision of a reforming government that is making big changes.
Predictably, the Museum said that the decision is a commercial one, but the impact of its decision was political. Such a prestigious venue will be used to give an impression of legitimacy. At the same time, the message it will have sent to those living under repression is that their rights don’t matter.
The reason for demanding better is not because campaigners don’t understand the difficulties and financial pressures that are facing the Museum. Rather it is because we recognise the crucially important role that it plays and want it to do the right thing. It’s time for museums and respected public institutions to send the message loudly and clearly that human rights abusers can never be welcome.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/andrew-smith/natural-history-museum-has-been-used-by-saudi-regime
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* B P)
Russia’s Mediating Role in Southern Yemen
Seeking to expand its influence in the Red Sea, Russia is hoping that mediating internal disputes in Yemen will help make the region more secure.
The degree of attention that Russia affords southern Yemen reflects Moscow’s geopolitical objectives, historical interest in the region, and aspirations of expanding its influence in the Middle East. Russia views stability in southern Yemen as an essential precondition for its goal of developing a sphere of influence in the Red Sea.
In January 2018, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally expressed interest in mediating a standoff between southern Yemeni separatists and supporters of Yemen’s President-in-exile Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Russian aspirations in the Red Sea were first discussed publicly in January 2009, when a senior Russian military official expressed interest in establishing a military base near the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Constructing this base has periodically resurfaced as a long-term Russian strategic goal in Yemen.
As Russia maintains positive relations with a wide array of southern Yemeni factions—such as the STC’s affiliated Yemeni Socialist Party and the Southern Separatist Movement (Hirak)—Moscow remains confident that one of these southern Yemeni factions will revive Saleh’s basing proposal. The importance of the potential base to Russia’s geopolitical interests is growing because Moscow views southern Yemen as a gateway for expanded influence in the Horn of Africa.
The potential strategic benefits of its expanded influence in southern Yemen explain Russia’s diplomatic efforts.
Russia is presenting itself as a credible mediator in this dispute, as it maintains close relations with Hadi government officials and informal ties with left-wing southern Yemeni politicians that were established during the Cold War. Moscow was able to de-escalate tensions between the Hadi government and its southern Yemeni partners, underscoring its outreach efforts to Saqqaf-aligned officials in Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt.
Although this setback has not caused the STC to abandon its militaristic policies, Russia believes it can separate the STC militants from its political wing. This distinction will allow Moscow to embolden STC members, which seek to increase southern Yemen’s regional autonomy within the Hadi government and undercut hardline separatists, which want to create an independent South Yemen that could exclude pro-Russian factions from the levers of power.
Russia’s empowerment of moderates within southern Yemeni nationalist organizations and support for Yemen’s territorial integrity bolsters its regional prestige, as it allows Moscow to maintain its interests in southern Yemen while balancing good relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Although Russia’s efforts to facilitate the stabilization of southern Yemen have yet to move beyond rhetorical statements and informal arbitration initiatives, the Kremlin’s increasing interest in this region are clear.
https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/77482
Comment: A very interesting article on Russia's role in South Yemen which is very important and rather more nuanced and pragmatic than that of USA. Whatever one's opinion of Putin, his Middle East policies have been better for world peace and the region than the policies of Britain and America thus far.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157073060393641
(* B P)
Russian PMCs in Yemen: Kremlin-Style ‘Security Export’ in Action?
On September 6, Russian military correspondent Semen Pegov posted information on his Telegram-channel WarGonzo (WG) about “members of one Russian Private Military Company [PMC] being currently deployed in Yemen.” He ascribed this information to data received from “three anonymous sources in the siloviki [security services personnel] circles” (Ryb.ru, September 6). If true, this means that the actual operational area of Russian PMCs is now stretching from Ukraine and Syria to Sub-Sharan Africa and (allegedly) Yemen. Concrete information on this matter has truthfully been scarce. Yet, supplementary evidence, the logic of Russian regional developments and Moscow’s involvement in Yemeni affairs suggest that such a presence of Russian PMCs may indeed be a reality.
Moscow does in fact have strategic interests in this country. And that national interest must be analyzed from two angles. One regards geopolitical concerns: Yemen is an indispensable element in the Kremlin’s growing ambitions throughout the Sahel region, across the Red Sea. Regaining control over Socotra Island, coupled with the possibility of establishing a separate naval base in Sudan
In conjunction with its efforts to project power in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Moscow would thus be able to greatly expand its control both in the Red Sea as well as increase Russian operational capabilities in the Indian Ocean. Secondly, experienced and combat-trained Russian mercenaries in Yemen could seriously boost Iran’s active, yet inadequate support to local Houthi forces, and thus more thoroughly cement Moscow-Tehran ties.
In the final analysis, Russian potential involvement in Yemeni domestic affairs by and large fits the so-called “security export” (eksport bezopasnosti) concept outlined in the work entitled “Global Threats in 2018: Forecasting Security Challenges for Russia and the World,” prepared by experts of the Valdai Club. Among other aspects, the document draws on “Russian responsibility, along with the United States, China and the European Union, to maintain peace and security in the whole world” (Valdaiclub.com, January 12). Russian involvement in Yemen could thus take two forms. Initial work (as well as subsequent shadow operations) could be done by members of PMCs (relieving Moscow from publicly replying to the plea of the Houthis and thus openly becoming a party to the conflict). Subsequently, Moscow could make an official move under the guise of a “peacekeeping mission,” which would in turn grant the Kremlin a chance to increase its influence both in Yemen as well as the entire Sahel zone.
https://jamestown.org/program/russian-pmcs-in-yemen-kremlin-style-security-export-in-action/
My comment: keep in mind that this is from the US.
(A P)
Canadian errors helped prompt Saudi row, says expelled Canada envoy
Canada made mistakes in its dealings with Saudi Arabia which helped spark a diplomatic dispute, the former Canadian ambassador to Riyadh said in frank remarks on Wednesday.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B E)
Yemen's oil comeback has far to go as three-year war rages on
OMV AG’s return to an oil field in Yemen marked a small step toward a comeback in production for the Middle East’s poorest country, where a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran has choked energy output and shuttered a key export terminal and pipeline.
Vienna-based OMV re-opened production wells at Shabwa province in southern Yemen in April, three years after withdrawing due to the conflict. It exported a first cargo of 500,000 bbl in July.
“For now, the security situation is manageable,” OMV CEOr Rainer Seele said in an interview. “We decided to go back even though there is always a risk that we’ll have to stop producing there. The infrastructure is in place and working.”
Yemen’s oil production has all but collapsed since 2015
“It is premature to say that Yemen is on its way back to the oil market,” said Riccardo Fabiani, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. While the region where OMV is operating is “relatively unscathed” and its export facility is still working, “other fields are in poorer condition and, most importantly, export terminals have been badly damaged or controlled by the Houthis.”
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(A)
Restoration of the old market in Seiyoun wadi #Hadramout #Yemen undertaken by @SFDYemen cultural & heritage team (photo)
https://twitter.com/Wesamqaid/status/1050462456240320517
(B K)
Film, Destructions at Saada (Arabic9
https://t.me/crimesarchive/1075
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(* B E)
UN #Yemen: Economic output has contracted by about 50 percent since 2015. About 52 percent of Yemenis now live on less than US$1.90 a day. The rapid depreciation of the Yemeni Rial has further increased the vulnerability of food insecure households.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1050706807646298112
(A E P)
A member of the Economic Commission accuses the Houthis of creating a black market for currency collapse
Economic Committee member Fares Al-Ja’adabi accused the Houthis of creating a black market, managing the economy of areas under their control, and accusing them of obstructing commercial traffic and creating crises to exploit them to finance their war.
After the $200 million grant, the government's efforts yielded a halt to the rapid collapse of the national currency, which is recovering a fraction of its value, Saudi Arabia's Middle East newspaper Reported.
"if We did not have this intervention and Saudi support, we would not have been able to achieve the goal of halting the collapse, and returning some value of the national currency," Ja’adabi said, "they are on the way to resolve the financial and economic conflict with the putschists, without giving more details."
The Houthis halted the country's revenues from the oil sector and minerals, the Country's exports fell, they took control of the Central Bank's monetary bloc in Sanaa and halted the disbursement of salaries, reducing the demand for goods and services and increasing unemployment.
"in short, The loss of the Yemeni riyal to foreign currencies will be normal for the conditions that the Yemeni economy is going through, which was caused by the coup pirates and their cash network, where they raised the demand, benefiting from the monetary mass they had from the Yemeni riyal, which they collected By exploiting the trade of petroleum derivatives, or withdrawn from the revenues of the state and the resulting reneging, five, war effort, taxes and customs on the citizens in the areas of submission to them.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159416
My comment: This sounds like a quite odd propaganda as the Houthis formed and represented their own government in the part of Yemen they controlled. Thus, as the acting government, they controlled and seized revenues and taxes – as every government in the world does.
(A E P)
Documents from Al-Houthi authorities reveal the cause of the real collapse crisis
Documents from the Ministry of Finance of the Houthis government (not Recognized) revealed that the crisis of local currency collapse is due to the increase in the import of petroleum derivatives through the port of Hodeida (western) and the withdrawal of the dollar from the Market.
According to documents obtained by Al Masdar online on Wednesday, The Houthi-controlled oil company has created fuel shortages, with the aim of pressuring the Ministry of Finance of the Houthis government to provide the dollar for the importation of Fuel.
it added that the Company's rush to provide fuel through the port of Hodeida was reflected in the withdrawal of foreign currency from the markets, causing the collapse of the local currency due to the increase in demand for the dollar.
It explained that the oil company did not regulate the importation and quantification of the monthly requirement, nor did it work to coordinate with merchants, unload commercial vessels and sell them at reasonable prices, supply and demand.
It noted that the oil company continued to pressure the Ministry of Finance in order to save the dollar, in large amounts, and from January to April, the finance for the oil company, 269 million and 438 thousand dollars, the equivalent of 117 billion and 430 million Yemeni riyals, at Intervals.
This occurred at a time when the riyal was stable at 480 per $1.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159402
My comment: This is propaganda and sounds quite twisted when taken as a reason for the downfall of the currency. There obviously are quite other much more effective reasons for the decline of the rial.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(* B T)
THE TWO FACES OF AL-QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA
Over the past 10 years, AQAP has become one of al-Qaeda’s most worrisome affiliates, carrying out attacks at home and abroad, from seizing territory in Yemen to putting bombs on planes bound for the United States. In 2010, shortly after the group was founded, the State Department estimated that AQAP had “several hundred” members. That number jumped to a “few thousand” in 2011 and then to “four thousand” in 2015. This year, the department put that estimate in the “low thousands,” although the United Nations put the number of AQAP fighters at 6,000 – 7,000. The upward trend largely holds true for the number of attacks the group has claimed. For the past two years, I tracked AQAP as part of the U.N. Security Council’s Yemen Panel of Experts. In both 2016 and 2017, AQAP claimed more than 200 attacks, a significant increase from the group’s early years when Yemen was relatively stable and AQAP was more focused on striking the West. But the numbers are misleading. AQAP may be bigger now, but it isn’t stronger. It may be carrying out more attacks, but it isn’t more of a threat.
At issue is what I call the two faces of AQAP: the domestic insurgency and the international terrorist organization. These two strands have always coexisted in AQAP, as they have for most terrorist groups. But the two are often conflated into one overall picture of the group. We hear AQAP and think of international terrorism, not the domestic insurgency. This failure by journalists, analysts, and officials to distinguish between AQAP’s two sides leads to a mistaken impression of the threat the group represents to the West.
This is why numbers don’t tell the whole story. AQAP’s domestic reach and recruits have grown significantly in recent years, but the international terrorist side has withered. The group might look and sound more dangerous than ever, but it is actually a much different organization today than it was a decade ago. Like most terrorist groups, AQAP is a complex organization doing multiple things at once, laying sewer pipes and building bombs. When we only look at one aspect of the organization we risk misunderstanding who they are, how they operate, and what they can accomplish.
Conclusion
AQAP is both a domestic insurgency and an international terrorist organization, and it has to be combated as such. U.S. strikes and the allure of ISIL have combined to weaken the international side, but as ISIL retreats and the fighting in Yemen continues, these losses can easily be regained. In a sense, one of the two streams feeding AQAP has been cut off, but what is needed now is to shut down the other. Without eradicating what is left of AQAP, its domestic insurgency side, there remains a risk that the group will be able to resurrect its international terrorist side – by Gregory D. Johnsen, resident scholar at the Arabia Foundation
https://warontherocks.com/2018/10/the-two-faces-of-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula/
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
More Saudi coalition “We are benefactors” propaganda
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1827724
https://www.sharjah24.ae/en/uae/359262-erc-restores-two-schools-distributes-bags-in-yemen
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids day by day
Oct. 12: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1539484128./1155938961223134
Oct. 11: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1539484128./1155936521223378
Oct. 10: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1539484128./1155935014556862
(** A K)
19 Zivilisten bei Luftangriffen im Jemen getötet
Bei Luftangriffen in der jemenitischen Hafenstadt Hudaida sind nach Angaben von Rebellen mindestens 19 Zivilisten getötet worden. Mehrere Kampfflugzeuge der von Saudiarabien geführten Koalition sollen zwei Busse getroffen haben.
Darin hätten sich die Zivilisten befunden, sagte ein Sprecher des von Huthi-Rebellen kontrollierten Gesundheitsministeriums. Mehr als 30 weitere Personen sollen verletzt worden sein.
https://www.nzz.ch/international/19-zivilisten-bei-luftangriffen-im-jemen-getoetet-ld.1428111
(* A K)
Air strikes kill 10 civilians in Yemen's Hodeidah province: medics
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen killed 10 civilians in Hodeidah province on Saturday, medics and Houthi media said.
Medical sources told Reuters the civilians died when the air strikes hit a Houthi checkpoint in the town of Jabal Rass while a bus was passing through.
Eight members of the same family were among the victims, they said.
The Houthi movement’s Al Massira TV said 17 died and many others were in a critical condition.
and
(** A K)
Saudi warplanes target buses in Yemen's Hudaydah, kill 15 civilians
At least 15 Yemenis have been killed in a Saudi airstrike in Hudaydah that has become a flashpoint of a war being waged by Riyadh and its allies against the Arab world's poorest nation.
The fatalities occurred when Saudi planes targeted two buses that were carrying civilians fleeing Hudaydah on Saturday, according to a report by Yemen’s al-Masirah television network.
The attack also injured an unspecified number of others, with the number of fatalities most likely to rise, al-Masirah reported.
and
(** A K)
Saudi-led air strikes hit buses, kill at least 17 and wound 20 in Yemen
When the battles calm, residents of conflict zones in Yemen often flee their homes, fearing that the fighting will become more intense.
Still, the journey is not always safe.
As residents of Hodeidah's Jabal Ras district were trying to make their way in two buses towards safe areas, Saudi-led air strikes targeted them and killed at least 17 and wounded about 20, including children and women.
The minister of the Houthi Health Ministry, Taha al-Mutawakel, on Saturday confirmed to Middle East Eye: "The casualties of the air strikes were taken to several hospitals in Hodeidah, and at least 17 were killed and about 20 are suffering from critical injuries, so the number of deaths may increase in coming hours".
A source in the health office in Hodeidah told MEE that the wounded are being moved among hospitals in Hodeida because there is lack of doctors, health equipment and medicines, adding: "The wounded people need intensive care."
A military source in Hodeidah province said that two Saudi-led air strikes targeted two buses of people trying to flee while they were on the main road in Jabal Ras district.
He told MEE: "The air strikes targeted the buses in a safe area after they had fled the conflict zone".
and by Xinhua: https://in.news.yahoo.com/17-killed-saudi-led-airstrike-yemens-hodeidah-003203868.html
photos:
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/photos/pcb.1914277562201562/1914276708868314/?type=3&theater = https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/photos/pcb.1914276285535023/1914275962201722/?type=3&theater
films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ps0GC-YY0 = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1051098770283352065
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bIuT0n2uvg
and
(** A K pH)
Death toll from aggression airstrikes on displaced in Hodeidah rise to 17
The death toll from Saudi-led aggression airstrikes on displaced families in Jabal Rass district of Hodeidah province on Saturday rose to 17 in an initial toll, while 20 others injured, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier the day, two coalition airstrikes hit two buses carrying displaced civilians on the main road of Masbria area.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news511185.htm
and
(** A K pH)
Health Minister: Toll of Displaced Victims Increases Due to US-Saudi Airstrikes, Hodaidah
The Minister of Public Health and Population, Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakil, said in a press conference in Sana'a that the US-Saudi aggression killed 19 displaced and injured 30 in Jabal Ras, Hodeidah governorate.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3240&cat_id=1
http://www.althawranews.net/archives/545096
(* A H K)
Young survivors of Yemen school bus air strike return to class
In a small school in Yemen’s Saada province, the absence of dozens of their classmates killed in an air strike on a bus weighed heavily on the young survivors as they returned to classes.
Ahmad Ali Hanash, 14, struggled to hold back tears as he recalled the friends he lost in the attack by a Saudi-led military alliance on a market in Saada in northern Yemen in August.
“Their blood will not be in vain, we will avenge them by getting an education, we will avenge them by learning,” Hanash, who was on the bus, told Reuters. “I thank God for surviving the attack, the ugly crime.”
As the survivors resumed their lives, joining morning exercise drills in the sand yard of the two-storey Al Falah primary school, or attending classes in wheelchairs alongside peers seated at wooden desks, other students said they feared more attacks in the war-torn country.
“We are sad after we lost our dearest schoolmates, and we are worried that the enemy will strike the school,” said 15-year-old Sadiq Amin Jaafar. “But we will continue our education.”
and film (Arabic) https://www.facebook.com/almayadeen/videos/542008719575965
(A K pH)
Film: the targeting of aviation aggression mosque and a mausoleum in the Directorate of Jabal Habashi, Taiz Governorate 12-10-2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psh5vci_jRc
(* A K)
US-Saudi Aerial Aggression Destroys Water Reservoir on Kamaran Island
The US-Saudi Aerial Aggression targeted Friday a drinking water reservoir on Kamran island in Hodeidah governorate.
In August, the US-Saudi Aggression destroyed five water wells by five raids on Kamran island. The Hodeidah Water Establishment issued a statement declaring that the aggression destroyed 10 water wells and reservoirs to collect rainwater and damaged 4 other wells.
Targeting these drinking water sources has cut the supply for over 800 families on the island, causing forcibly displacing to the citizens.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3229&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
Oct. 12 in the morning: #AlHodeida: The Saudi Warplanes launched many airstrikes on Al-Tuhyta district and killed 3 civilians, the fourth one bled to death because no one could save him because of the continuous flight of the aggression (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1913853185577333
(* A K pH)
Health Ministry: US-Saudi Aggression Destroyed Ad-Duraihimi and Maternity and Childhood hospitals
The US-Saudi aggression hit Ad-Durahmi General Hospital, which is full of patients, citizens and health staff, completely destroying the hospital. It also, targeted the maternity and childhood hospital, which provides services to pregnant and newborn, according to a statement by the Health Ministry.
The number of victims is still unknown until now and the ambulances were targeted in the general hospital in addition to houses of citizens and facilities near the hospitals. The statement of the Health Ministry explained that the US-Saudi aggression prevented ambulances and cars of citizens to transport the wounded and killed.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3217&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Battleships and Jets Strike Different Parts of Hodeidah
According to Al-Masirah Net correspondent, homes and property of citizens were damaged as a result of the hysterical raids on Ad Durayhimi district during the past hours, while no injuries were reported until now.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3212&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Citizens Killed and Others Injured by US-Saudi Aggression Raids Targeted in Hodeidah
A citizen was killed and others were injured by US-Saudi Aggression raids on Attohayta district in Al-Hodeidah. A child was hit by US-Saudi mercenaries shotgun while working in a flowers farm, in Al-Ghars area.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3211&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Aggression’s Daily Update for Thursday, October 12th, 2018
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3213&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
4 civilians killed by Saudi’ raids in Hodeidah
Four citizen were killed when the Saudi aggression coalition waged several air raids in Hodeidah province, a security official told Saba on Thursday.
The strikes hit areas populated by residents in Tuhaita directorate.
Meanwhile, the coalition targeted two raids in the general road in Tuhaita in Hodeidah province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news511057.htm
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuwVgtx7nWo
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
Oct. 13: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3241&cat_id=1 Saada p.
Oct. 11: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news511058.htm Saada p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
(A K pH)
In Sa'ada, a civilian was killed in Munabbih district by Saudi guards gunshots. Saudi missiles and artillery shells targeted populated villages in Razih, Shida, Adhdhaher, Baqim and Munabbih border districts, damaging civilians' houses and farms.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3241&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
Yemeni Military Industrialization Reveals Homemade Marine Mines, Mursad
The Military Manufacturing Unit revealed the locally manufactured marine mines of Mursad. The Military Media for the first time showed scenes of monitoring and targeting the battleships of the US-Saudi aggression off the coast of Yemen and in Al Mukha port.
The documentary "The Overflowing Sea" was produced by the Military Media and was shown for the first time on Al-Masirah TV Thursday.
The documentary revealed the the Naval Force's introduction of a number of advanced marine missile systems, that were manufactured and developed by the Yemeni expertise and competencies and not yet announced, in addition to the system," Bab-Al-Mandeb," which was revealed earlier. The film also revealed the ability of the Yemeni Naval Forces developed in a short time.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3239&cat_id=1
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/10/13/576896/Yemeni-navy-unveils-new-Mersad-sea-mine
Remark: Houthi government’s naval forces.
(A K pS)
Yemeni Ballistic Missile Hits Saudi Military Base In Asir
Yemeni armed forces have fired a domestically-developed ballistic missile at a military base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Asir, in retaliation for the regime’s campaign of military aggression, according to a report.
Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, citing an unnamed military official from the missile unit of the Yemeni army, reported that the military base had been hit with a short-range Badr-1 missile late on Wednesday, adding that the projectile had struck its target with precision.
http://www.newnewss.net/yemeni-ballistic-missile-hits-saudi-military-base-in-asir/
and
(A K pS)
Arab coalition announces destruction of Houthi missile launched toward Saudi city
The Arab coalition forces have destroyed a rocket launched by the Al-Houthi group in the southern Saudi city of Najran without causing any casualties, the army said.
The coalition air Defense Forces on late Wednesday spotted a ballistic missile fired from Sa'ada Governorate (northern Yemen) by the Houthis in the direction of the Kingdom's southern city of Najran, "said Alliance spokesman Turki Al Maliki.
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159415
(A K pS)
Arab coalition says he controlled a Houthi drone carrying explosives
The Arab coalition Forces said that the unit for defending against drones had taken control of an unmanned aerial drone launched by the Houthi militia of the type Qasef "1".
https://www.almasdaronline.com/articles/159405
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(* A )
Tropical Cyclone Luban Warning n.21 (13 October 2018)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/tropical-cyclone-luban-warning-n21-13-october-2018
(* A)
Tropical Cyclone LUBAN. Warning n.19 (12 October 2018)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/tropical-cyclone-luban-warning-n19-12-october-2018
(* A)
Severe Cyclonic Storm, ‘LUBAN’ over westcentral Arabian Sea
‘LUBAN’ over westcentral Arabian Sea moved further westwards during past 06 hours with a speed of 04 kmph and lay centered at 1730 hrs IST of today, the 12th October 2018 over westcentral Arabian Sea, near latitude 14.7°N and longitude 57.1°E, about 410 km east-southeast of Salalah (Oman), 410 km east-northeast of Socotra Islands (Yemen), 550 km east-southeast of Al-Ghaidah (Yemen) and 840 km east of Riyan (Mukalla). It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and cross Yemen Coast between Riyan (Mukalla) and Al-Ghaidah (Yemen), close to 15°N during noon/afternoon of 14th October 2018 as a severe cyclonic storm.
(* A)
UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen: Humanitarian agencies are rushing to prepare for Tropical Cyclone Luban
Humanitarian agencies are rushing to pre-position life-saving supplies ahead of Tropical Cyclone Luban, expected to hit Socotra island and coastal areas of south-east Yemen within hours.
“The most important action right now is to warn people the storm is coming so families can move to safe areas” said Ms. Grande. “We don’t know what will happen, but we are preparing for a worst case.”
During the past 72 hours, humanitarian partners have been prepositioning medical supplies and emergency kits with food and survival items in Mukalla and Hadramaut. Emergency shelters have been identified and mobile teams are on stand-by to help families who are forced to flee their homes.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/humanitarian-agencies-are-rushing-prepare-tropical-cyclone-luban
(A)
As cyclone Luban is expecting to hit #Yemen, @UNICEF & partners prepare integrated rapid response, incl. water trucking, emergency rehabilitation of sanitation facilities, distribution of hygiene kits, deployment of mobile medical teams & dissemination of life-saving messages (photos)
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/1050648124098674693
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-467-yemen-war-mosaic-467
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-467 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-467:
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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