... Frühere US-Diplomaten zum Jemenkrieg – US-saudische Beziehungen – Friedensgespräche nach drei Tagen: Vorwürfe und Forderungen, aber es geht weiter – Das militante Verhalten der Emirate – und mehr
December 9, 2018: Acute Food Insecurity – Houthi torture prisons – Emirati secret prisons and torture in Yemen – Your tax dollars help starve children – Former US diplomats on the Yemen War – US-Saudi relations – Peace talks: Allegations and demands, but they go on – The UAE’s belligerent behavior – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp13a Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
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
Neue Artikel / New articles
(* B H K)
A timeline of crisis and conflict in Yemen
Since the war in Yemen escalated in March 2015, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has significantly expanded activities there. We have treated some 110,000 patients for cholera, delivered nearly 60,000 babies, and provided medical care to over 800,000 emergency room patients. This timeline shows how years of conflict have decimated the public health system and created a massive humanitarian crisis.
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B K P)
Mindestens 65.000 Menschen im Jemen von Hungersnot betroffen
Im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen erleben nach einer neuen Analyse humanitärer Organisationen mindestens 65.000 Menschen eine Hungersnot. Ohne die Versorgung durch das Welternährungsprogramm (WFP) und andere Hilfsorganisationen wäre die Zahl mehr als dreimal so hoch, geht aus dem in der Nacht auf Samstag veröffentlichten IPC-Bericht hervor.
IPC steht für "Integrated Food Security", und misst mit Daten von mehr als einem Dutzend humanitären Organisationen die Versorgungslage in Krisengebieten auf einer Skala von 1 bis 5. Die 65.000 Menschen sind in Kategorie 5, die für Hungersnot steht. Für fünf Millionen Menschen im Jemen gilt Stufe 4 (Notstand), für weitere 10,8 Millionen Stufe 3 (Krise). Damit seien 53 Prozent der Bevölkerung in einer prekären Lage, heißt es in dem Bericht.
(** B H K)
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification: Yemen: IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis December 2018 – January 2019
According to the latest IPC analysis, from December 2018 to January 2019, while accounting for the current levels of Humanitarian Food Assistance (HFA), 17% of the population analyzed (about 5 million people) are in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and 36% (about 10.8 million people) in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis). Of greatest concern are the 65,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe). Overall, this constitutes 15.9 million or 53% of the total population. It is estimated that in the absence of HFA, about 20 million people or 67% of the total population (including Internally Displaced People - IDPs) would be in need of urgent action to save lives and livelihoods. This includes 240,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), i.e. threefold the actual number.
Food insecurity is more severe in the areas with active fighting, and is particularly affecting IDPs and host families, marginalized groups, as well as landless wage labourers facing difficulties in accessing basic services and conducting livelihood activities. Overall, there are more than 3 million IDPs in Yemen who face comparatively worse food security outcomes
Armed conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity in Yemen, curtailing food access for both the displaced and the host communities. The food security crisis is further exacerbated by extremely high food prices, the liquidity crisis, disrupted livelihoods, and high levels of unemployment. The large food gaps are only marginally mitigated by HFA which is not adequate to reverse the continuous deterioration of the situation.
and full report https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/1_IPC_Yemen_AFI_Situation_2018Dec2019Jan.pdf
(** B H P)
UN Children's Fund: Humanitarian assistance continues to prevent a massive human catastrophe in Yemen but it is not enough
UN agencies warn that an urgent scale up of humanitarian assistance is needed to save lives
As many as 20 million Yemenis are food insecure in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Already, 15.9 million people wake up hungry, according to the latest Integrated food security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which is released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and humanitarian partners.
“What the IPC tells us is alarming,” said Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. “65,000 people are barely surviving right now and at least a quarter of a million people are facing a bleak year. Any change in their circumstances, including any disruption in their ability to access food on a regular basis will bring them to the brink of death.”
Conflict remains the major driver of food insecurity. Loss of livelihoods and income and increases in the price of basic commodities are also contributing factors, reducing the ability of families to purchase food. Unpredictable fluctuations in the exchange rate and credit restrictions have impacted imports. The collapse of public services and social safety nets and the erosion of coping mechanisms have made millions of Yemenis more vulnerable to shocks.
“Agriculture and livelihood support are a critical part of the humanitarian response in Yemen. Prior to the escalation of violence, 73% of the population relied on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihoods.
“In a war waged by adults, it is the country’s children who suffer first and suffer most,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Thousands of Yemeni children could die from severe malnutrition if conditions, including conflict and economic crisis, do not improve soon. Warring parties must choose whether to end the fighting, and save lives, or fight on, and cause more children to die.”
“With the support of the international community, WFP is feeding nearly eight million people a month. If not for that, two thirds of the population in Yemen would be facing horrific levels of hunger and starvation,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “This report is an alarm bell that shows hunger is rising and we need a massive increase in aid and sustained access to all areas in Yemen in order to rescue millions of Yemenis. If we don’t, we will lose an entire generation of children to hunger.”
High rates of malnutrition among children
The level of acute malnutrition among children remains high. Across the country, 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished, including nearly 400,000 who suffer from the most severe form. Children with severe acute malnutrition are 11 times more at risk of death if not treated in time than a healthy child of the same age. The high levels of malnutrition are compounded by lack of food, poor child feeding practices at home, sub-optimal functioning of the health, water and sanitation systems, disease outbreaks and the deteriorating economy.
Price hikes put food out of reach
While markets are open, financial access to food remains of great concern. A large proportion of the population, even in more stable areas, cannot access basic food commodities because food prices have jumped by 150 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Fuel prices, including gas for cooking, have also soared.
The agriculture sector has also been hit hard by the conflict and food production has slumped. Even with the prolonged crisis, agriculture remains the primary livelihood for three-quarters of the population. It is their only source of income and is critical to enabling them to access food on the markets. Agriculture and rural livelihoods are integral to the humanitarian response to support local food production, protect livelihoods and improve food security.
Even before the conflict, Yemen was prone to chronic food insecurity due to its reliance on imports for over 75 percent of its national food requirements, while 80 per cent of Yemenis lived below the poverty line.
and film: https://www.facebook.com/StopTheWarOnYemen/videos/vb.319595141544022/2029775780394053/ = https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1071472729298063360
(*** B P)
Ex-inmates: Torture rife in prisons run by Yemen rebels
The Yemeni medic was on duty at al-Rashid hospital the day when a bleeding man was brought into the emergency room with gunshot wounds and signs of torture. He had been dumped on the side of a highway after being held in a prison run by the Houthi militiamen who control northern Yemen. He'd been whipped across the back and hung by his wrists for days.
Baakar spent hours removing bullets and repairing ruptured intestine. He tended to the patient's recovery for 80 days and, at the end, agreed to pose for a selfie with him.
Weeks later, Houthi security officials grabbed the man again. They searched his phone and found the photo.
Militiamen stormed the hospital in the port city of Hodeida, blindfolded Baakar and hustled him away in a pickup truck. Because he'd given medical help to an enemy of the Houthis, they told him, he was now their enemy too. After his arrest in mid-2016, he spent 18 months imprisoned. During that time, he says, they burned him, beat him and chained him to the ceiling by his wrists.
Baakar and his patient are among thousands imprisoned by Houthi rebels during Yemen's four-year civil war. Many of them, an Associated Press investigation found, suffered extreme torture - smashed in their faces with batons, hung by their wrists or genitals for weeks at a time or scorched with acid.
The AP spoke with 23 people who said they survived or witnessed torture in Houthi detention sites, as well as with eight relatives of detainees, five lawyers and rights activists, and three security officers involved in previous prisoner swaps who said they saw marks of torture on inmates.
Amnesty International says that "horrific human rights abuses, as well as war crimes, are being committed throughout the country by all parties to the conflict."
Houthi leaders previously have denied they engage in torture, though they did not respond to repeated AP requests for comment in recent weeks. The Houthis' Human Rights Ministry said in late 2016 that "there is no policy or systematic use of torture on prisoners."
But within the movement, a moderate faction has acknowledged abuses and sought to end them. Yahia al-Houthi, the brother of the group's top leader, set up a committee in 2016 to investigate reports of torture. It helped free 13,500 prisoners in its first three months.
The committee sent a video report to the leader, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, showing scenes of overcrowded prison wards along with testimony from senior Houthis on the committee who said they saw signs of torture. The video was not made public, but the AP obtained a copy.
"What we saw would make you cry tears of blood," one committee member says in the video.
Abdel-Malek never responded to the video. Instead, hard-line security officials shut down the committee and briefly detained two of its members.
The video report echoes the accounts victims gave to the AP (with photos) – by AP
https://www.apnews.com/e32442a4c8c24acd9d362c433d5cd10e = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-6471335/Ex-inmates-Torture-rife-prisons-run-Yemen-rebels.html = https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/beaten-burned-yemeni-medic-recalls-abuse-in-rebels-prison-1.559690
and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tDEO3P1Inw
examples of torture, photos: https://twitter.com/mokhbersahafi/status/1070967557652402177
and, as reminder, older reports/films:
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE3140062016ENGLISH.PDF
https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2018/09/24/yemen-houthi-officials-kidnap-demand-ransom-money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=OSTCfJKni2c (snipet from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0pZEeuaYq4&t=949s )
remark by Houthi leader Al Houthi: I call upon the Political Council and the Government, represented by the Interior Ministry and the competent authorities, to form a committee to investigate the allegations of the Associated Press news report - 07/12/2018 and to deal with any incident that proves its validity according to the Yemeni law against any person who committed them. This is not the ethics of the people, No faith, no confession.
https://twitter.com/Moh_Alhouthi/status/1071697942850011136
My comment to this remark: I think it’s hypocritical. Even before this report had been published, everybody in the Houthi leadership knew quite well what happened. Thus, he should not play to have been surprised by this report. By the way how they treat their political foes, the Houthi movement had demonstrated that it is morally corrupt. All respect to this statement, but: too little, too late.
(** B P)
Film: UAE accused of torture and running secret prisons
The role played by their key ally, the United Arab Emirates, has gone largely unnoticed. Yet the UAE stands accused of conducting a dirty war on the ground.
Our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Rugman has been speaking to to a high profile former prisoner who accuses the UAE of running secret prisons and subjecting hundreds of people to torture.
"When the night comes in the UAE prisons (n Yemen), you hear the screams everywhere," Adel al-Hassani describes in detail torture at the hands of Emiratis in prisons in Aden, Yemen.
https://www.channel4.com/news/uae-accused-of-torture-and-running-secret-prisons
(** B H P)
Your Tax Dollars Help Starve Children
The famine in Yemen could become the worst the world has seen in a generation.
Both the Obama and Trump administrations have supported the Saudi war in Yemen with a military partnership, arms sales, intelligence sharing and until recently air-to-air refueling. The United States is thus complicit in what some human rights experts believe are war crimes.
The bottom line: Our tax dollars are going to starve children.
After witnessing the human toll and interviewing officials on both sides, including the president of the Houthi rebels who control much of Yemen, I find the American and Saudi role in this conflict to be unconscionable. The Houthis are repressive and untrustworthy, but this is not a reason to bomb and starve Yemeni children.
What is most infuriating is that the hunger is caused not by drought or extreme weather, but by cynical and failed policies in Riyadh and Washington. The starvation does not seem to be an accidental byproduct of war, but rather a weapon in it. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, backed by the United States, are trying to inflict pain to gain leverage over and destabilize the Houthi rebels. The reason: The Houthis are allied with Iran.
After a major famine, there is always soul-searching about how the world could have allowed this to happen. What’s needed this time is not soul-searching a few years from now, but action today to end the war and prevent a cataclysm.
We think of war casualties as men with their legs blown off. But in Yemen the most common war casualties are children like Fawaz who suffer malnutrition.
Some will die. Even the survivors may suffer lifelong brain damage. A majority of Yemen children are now believed to be physically stunted from malnutrition (46 percent were stunted even before the war), and physical stunting is frequently accompanied by diminished brain development.
“These children are the future of Yemen,” Dr. Aida Hussein, a nutrition specialist, told me, looking at Fawaz. “He will be stunted. How will he do in school?”
The war and lack of health care facilities have also led to outbreaks of deadly diseases like diphtheria and cholera. Half of the country’s clinics and hospitals are closed.
In the capital, Sana, I met a child who was suffering both malnutrition and cholera – By Nicholas Kristof
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/opinion/sunday/yemen-famine-war-saudi-arabia.html
and as a comment:
(* B H K P)
Our Complicity in the Crime of Mass Starvation in Yemen
There is no question that the Saudi coalition has been using starvation as a weapon in its war on Yemen, and that by itself should give us a good enough reason to cut off all support to their war effort. It shouldn’t matter whether we consider the Saudis and Emiratis to be our “allies” (they’re not) or whether Iran is significantly involved in the conflict (it isn’t). It should be taken as a given that our government shouldn’t be party to or complicit in crimes against humanity, but each day that the U.S. continues support for this war that is exactly what is happening.
The report is very well done. Kristof acknowledges the abuses and war crimes of all parties, including the Houthi recruitment of child soldiers and arbitrary detention and torture of critics.
More important, the report talks about the victims of the Saudi coalition’s crime of mass starvation and tells some of their stories that are almost never heard outside the country.
Yemen will be living with the wounds of this war for years and decades to come. Kristof makes clear that most of the civilian deaths come from Saudi coalition bombings and the effects of their blockade and economic war.
(** B K P)
FORMER U.S. DIPLOMATS DECRY THE U.S.-BACKED SAUDI WAR IN YEMEN
The Intercept raised those concerns with half a dozen former senior diplomatic officials, including U.S. ambassadors to Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
But rather than defend or explain the U.S. involvement, most of the former diplomats we interviewed said that the war harms U.S. interests.
“I don’t think you can restore a government, especially an unpopular one, from the air, and I don’t think the use of force in this matter does anything but create long-term enmity,” said Chas Freeman, who served as the ambassador to Saudi Arabia between 1989 and 1992. He noted that former President Hadi’s unpopularity was partly due to his deep ties to Saudi Arabia and the United States.
“The humanitarian situation is as bad as it is in Syria,” said Bill Rugh, who was ambassador to Yemen between 1984 and 1987. “The American press hasn’t paid that much attention to it. But it’s been a disaster particularly as a result of the bombing and … the lack of outside humanitarian assistance as a result of the fighting. It’s really been tragic for the Yemeni people.”
Helping al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
All of the diplomats pointed out that, contrary to administration statements that the Saudi war is serving counterterrorism objectives, the war has actually undermined U.S. national security interests. In particular, they noted that the campaign against the Houthis has allowed one of its enemies – al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – to seize more territory.
Defenders of the Saudi-led war have claimed that the Houthis are Iranian proxies, and that the Saudis are defending a neighboring country against that country’s influence, as Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said when the war began.
But all of the former diplomats we interviewed questioned that premise.
“I would argue that the Houthis were not in the Iranian camp until they were driven into it by necessity,” Freeman said. “When they were attacked by the Saudis – or counter-attacked, depending on how you see it – they needed support from somewhere, and they got it from Tehran. So the Saudi effort to punish the Iranians [for the nuclear deal] by punishing the Houthis ironically cemented the relationship between Iran and the Houthis that otherwise probably would not have existed.”
Many of the diplomats questioned whether there was any good reason to be involved at all.
“I just cannot see a U.S. interest that is served by the war in Yemen,” Grappo said. “The Saudis have always been hypersensitive about Yemen. There was some argument for us doing that if we felt that the Iranians were backing the Houthis, which I don’t think they were.”
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/06/former-u-s-diplomats-decry-the-u-s-backed-saudi-war-in-yemen/
(** B P)
The Trump Administration Has Lost the Debate on US-Saudi Relations
What Pompeo, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and several in the think tank community have done is set up a straw man argument that focuses on defending the US-Saudi relationship in toto, thus conflating Saudi Arabia with its new young de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
As the US Congress moves for a broader debate of US involvement in the war in Yemen and a review of US-Saudi relations in light of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, it is important to keep in mind that what is being challenged is not the overall value of a relationship with Saudi Arabia, but rather the recklessness and the human cost of MBS’ policies in an already volatile region.
Those critiquing the Trump administration’s continued support for the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s war in Yemen have generally not questioned the US-Saudi relationship per se. Rather, they have questioned the direction Saudi policy has taken under MBS and the quiescent role played so far by the Trump administration in simply going along with him.
The humanitarian dimension
The debate over US assistance to the Saudi war effort revolves around two issues: the need to assist an ally against a foreign danger and the thesis that US aid helps the coalition minimize collateral damage in Yemen.
On the first issue, Saudi Arabia acted against the Houthis in Yemen before any shot, let alone a rocket, was fired at the kingdom from Yemen. The simple fact is that to this day there isn’t a single Iranian soldier in Yemen. Even if the Saudis acted in anticipation of growing Iranian influence in Yemen, they simply have not been invaded or even threatened by anyone.
On the second issue, US and British training clearly has not been foolproof. The killing of civilians has continued. The fact is that the Arab coalition’s blockade of Yemen itself is killing civilians every day due to starvation and lack of medicine, making the war itself an ongoing war crime – by Nabeel Khoury
(** A P)
Rebel delegates at Yemen peace talks report some progress
"The two parties are engaged in a serious and constructive way in discussing the details of confidence-building measures," Griffiths said. "We hope we will achieve progress during this round of consultations."
Also speaking on Saturday, the third day of the talks, rebel delegate Abdul-Malik Al-Hajri said enough progress has been made on the airport issue that some "positive results" could be announced as early as Sunday.
"There was a wide-ranging discussion yesterday and today on the re-opening of Sanaa airport and, God willing, there will be some positive results tomorrow on a comprehensive scenario for the reopening of Sanaa airport," he told a news conference.
He gave no details except that one proposal made by the rebels was for Sanaa-bound aircraft to stop at another city in the region for inspection before they proceed to the Yemeni capital. He suggested Amman, Jordan's capital, as a candidate for an inspection stopover.
On the issue of the prisoner exchange, al-Hajri said the rebels were prepared to release all of those they hold, provided the other side reciprocates. The two sides, however, agreed on incremental releases, with 200 prisoners from each side being simultaneously released. He did not say when that would start.
https://www.apnews.com/b7652465e41143609f471f05fba8ff26 = https://www.foxnews.com/world/rebel-delegates-at-yemen-peace-talks-report-some-progress = https://www.islandpacket.com/news/nation-world/world/article222838210.html
(** A P)
Yemen Negotiations Face Numerous Stumbling Blocks on Day Two of Talks
Jamal Amr, who is a member of the Houthi delegation from Sanaa, told the BBC Arabic service the two sides remain far apart on who should control Hodeida, but the Houthis "would like to avoid any fighting that could potentially damage the port," which is essential to bring food aid and other goods into the country.
The U.N. has offered to administer the port, but the Houthis refuse to hand it over.
Another dispute: re-opening Sanaa Airport to commercial air traffic.
The Houthis, who control the airport, say it should re-open to international flights, without forcing planes to be searched for weapons in Saudi-coalition controlled areas.
Hamza al Kamali, deputy minister of youth and sports, says the Hadi government and the Saudi-coalition are worried that without searches, weapons will be smuggled in from outside the country.
He says that the Houthis would like to use Sanaa Airport as a military airport, but that the government side considers that unacceptable and thinks traffic should be limited to food aid and commercial goods.
Other key issues include ending a blockade that has divided Taiz — Yemen's second largest city — and put some of its population in dire straights.
There are also arguments over control of Yemen's central bank and payment of government employees. The government of President Hadi insists that revenues be deposited at the central bank branch in Aden, which it controls. Houthis reject that demand.
Yemeni analyst Ezzet Mustapha told Saudi-owned al Arabiya TV that Griffiths "has not done a good job of organizing the talks," and that he is afraid that they "may degenerate into a battle of rival agendas and irreconcilable demands."
Meanwhile, Houthi spokesman Mohammed al Bakhiti, told Arab media that "a new transitional government must be formed (in Sanaa) to replace the Hadi government as well as the Houthi-backed government." "Then," he argues, "all the parties inside the country must return to the bargaining table."
My comment: No passenger flight anywhere in the world could be misused for smuggling arms. Any normal control at Sanaa airport (might-be under UN control) would be sufficient. And there certainly would be no incoming flights from Tehran or Beirut. Thus, the whole claim of “weapons will be smuggled in from outside the country” is baseless and is a pretence for something quite different: The Hadi government’s proposal includes further claims. It’s not (just) for Sanaa airport. It’s for getting acknowledged their claimed “legitimacy” by the Houthis. And, even more, it’s for getting full control of Houthi-held territory. This seems to be the only goal of this government.
Comment by Judith Brown: The difficulty is that the Houthis don't want to accept Hadi control - in truth probably no one in Yemen does but that is what is stipulated in the GCC written UNSC Resolution 2216. They don't want to necessarily rule themselves but to find a compromise government to hand over to. Let's hope that this can be bridged in the current talks. It won't mean Yemen will be at peace but it would be one step closer and would certainly help the humanitarian situation.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157201726248641
Remark: More, at cp7.
(** B P)
Radha Stirling comments on the escalation of belligerent behaviour of the UAE
Upon her return from Washington D.C., having met with policy makers, academics, journalists and human rights organisations; Radha Stirling reflects on the current trajectory of the UAE’s relations with the international community:
Seven months before dissident Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered, Saudi Arabia’s principle ally in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates brutally abducted Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum, the estranged and would-be dissident daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and UAE Prime Minister. Along with Latifa, the Emirates also abducted an American and a Finnish citizen, with the American reporting that they were told by authorities that he would be killed, chopped into pieces and disposed of in the desert.
Now, if we are paying attention, it certainly appears that the Saudis may have been emboldened by what they saw the UAE perpetrate – which included an illegal military raid on an American civilian vessel in international waters – without significant repercussions. In March, Latifa is forcibly disappeared, in October, the vanishing of Jamal Khashoggi is botched by Saudi Arabia, with evidence of his murder revealed to the press. What we observe is an escalating trajectory of belligerence and violence, with the two Gulf allies seemingly pushing each other to new levels of despotic behaviour.
UAE officials told the American citizen whom they abducted from Latifa’s escape boat that he had been detained and interrogated, not because any actual laws had been broken, but because he had violated Islamic Law by helping Latifa flee from her allegedly abusive and tyrannical father. In other words, Sheikh Mohammed ordered a military operation, recruited Indian forces to participate, to seize an American civilian vessel in international waters, to enforce his personal interpretation of Islamic Law, well beyond his territorial jurisdiction.
This represents an intensification of religious extremism within the present government in the UAE. Officials offered a religious rationale for the attack on Nostromo, to apprehend an adult free Muslim woman, to return her to the hands of her abuser. The UAE, under the direction of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, readily flouted International Law, ignored their treaties, defied maritime law, and misused American military training and equipment to impose their own version of Shari’ah beyond their borders. Had a non-state actor perpetrated this act under the same religious pretext, we would correctly characterize it as a jihadist act of terror.
the persistent refusal of the UAE to respond to queries about Latifa’s well-being presented to the government by multiple human rights organisations; and finally, by the United Nations.
Referring to the attack on international waters of an American vessel by 5 warships and the Indian Coast Guard, the abduction of all onboard, and a United Nations enquiry into enforced disappearance as a “private family matter” is simply outrageous.
and film: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bshk6s/escape-from-dubai-the-mystery-of-the-missing-princess = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAVI0DY-z8I
and earlier films:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN7OEFyNUkQ and snipet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFpM3SW1W3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPuhzT47XWs and part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uyNaDfC7IU
My comment: This is absolutely crazy. This story again shows that Golf states relentlessly neglect international law – whether in the Yemen war, in a consulate or by trating a leader of another state like Lebanon. – Western reaction: Seems to have been almost Zero.
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(* A K pH)
In Hodiedah, 6 civilians were killed and 10 others were injured, including children, by US-Saudi airstrikes targeted Hodiedah city. US-Saudi aggression launched 3 raids on Al-Hale district, two raids northern Kilo 16 and a raid on Hodiedah International Airport.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4243&cat_id=1
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4240&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
Saudi airstrikes kill 5 civilians in western Yemen
According to Al Mayadeen, the Yemeni Health Ministry announced on Saturday night that the US-Arab coalition attacked Al-Rabseh square, Al Hudaydah.
The Yemeni TV Channel 'Al-Masirah' announced that the recent Saudi air strike killed 6 people and injured 10 more.
Earlier on Saturday, four Yemeni fishermen were killed in Saudis' attack on Al Hudaydah.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83127485
A wave of #Saudi #UAE strikes on Alraabasah roundabout & surrounding areas in #Hodeidah city W #Yemen killed &injured more than 20 civilians Its Reported that many children r among casualties&strikes continue till this moment preventing rescuers frm reaching site (maps)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1071484054170681352
Names&ages of the victims of the massacre committed yesterday by US-Saudi war criminals against civilians including children&women while walking in the streets of Hodeida city on the Red Sea west Yemen US-Saudi war criminals continue to kill Yemen humans with cold blood for years!
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071617011845922821
(* A K pH)
Death toll rises to 4 and 12 others serious injured by US-Saudi airstrikes on fishermen on Hodeida coasts west Yemen. Saudi war criminals send their puppets to Sweden for “talks” while they keep dropping bombs on Yemenis all over Yemen.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071460373293862912
(* A K pH)
2 civilians killed, 8 wounded in saudi-led mercenaries' shelling in Hodeidah
A man and a child were killed on Saturday while eight civilians were injured in Saudi-led mercenaries' shelling on Hodeidah province, a security official said.
The shelling targeted Doar Al-Rabsa area in Hodeidah city, added the official.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518174.htm
reporting even more victims:
#Hodeidah: 6 civilians, including a child, were killed and 12 others were injured by shelling by the forces of the US-Saudi aggression of the al-Rabsa square in the city.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564/2041401282579558/
(A K pH)
Saudi-led airstrike hits Hodeidah’s Airport
The US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition’s warplanes waged on Saturday an airstrike on Hodeidah province, a security official told Saba.
The airstrike targeted the southern gate of the Hodeidah international airport
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518169.htm
(A K pH)
3 Saudi-led airstrikes hit Hodeidah
The airstrikes targeted al-Jabanah area in al-Hal
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518071.htm
(A K pS)
Aerial photography of the Republican Guard
Houthis dig trenches and transform the city of Hodeidah into a network of tunnels
https://twitter.com/HamedGhaleb/status/1071110996331323392
(* A K pH)
#Hodeidah: 4 fishermen were killed as a result of targeting the forces of US-Saudi aggression their boat in front of the al-Harounieh coast of al-Munirah district.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564/2040290446023975/
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4222&cat_id=1
4 Yemeni fishermen were killed today by US-Saudi airstrikes while working on their boat in Hodeida west Yemen.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071098715526586368
4 Yemeni fishermen killed in Saudi airstrikes
Saudi fighter jets targeted Yemeni fishing boats in al-Hudaydah, west of Yemen, killing four fishermen.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83126229
(A K pH)
3 Saudi air raids hit Hodeidah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518025.htm
(A K pS)
Arab Coalition continues demining efforts in Yemen's Red Sea Coast
UAE and Sudan armed forces specialist teams, as part of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, have continued demining operations to remove landmines laid out by Houthi militias in civilian populated areas.
The minesweeping and demining focus areas include populated civilian infrastructure, roads and farmland across liberated regions of the Red Sea Coast in Yemen.
A member of the UAE Armed Forces has said that the Arab Coalition forces are working together to remove mines deliberately planted by the Iranian backed Houthi militias in areas that could lead to maximum injuries and fatalities, including roads, school buildings and other civilian-populated infrastructure in clear violation of international laws and conventions.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302725767
(* A K pS)
Houthi militia shell commercial center in Hodeidah
Local sources told Yemen’s official news agency Saba New that “the Houthi militia shelled the CityMax center with a mortar and artillery, which destroyed the center and burnt the building completely.”
“The commercial center contained commercial goods worth tens of billions of riyals,” the source said.
Local reports also claimed that Houthi militia targeted a number of civilian houses with mortars on Wednesday. The shells fell on a number of houses, causing total destruction and damage to other houses. One family was believed to haven been killed in the attack, however Arab News cannot independently conform this report.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417036/middle-east
film: https://twitter.com/mareb_alward/status/1071046449868111875
(* A K pS)
Houthis launch attacks in Hodeidah as Yemen peace talks begin
"On Thursday, just as the peace negotiations started, the Houthis pounded City Max mall – one of the biggest in the city - with artillery until it was destroyed," Col Mamoon Al Mahjami, spokesman of the Al Amalikah Brigades, told The National
Colonel Al Mahjami said the building was completely burnt and the loss was estimated at more than one billion riyals (Dh14.7m).
The Houthis also shelled Haiys district in southern Hodeidah province on Thursday, residents said. The mortar fire from rebel-controlled areas in the nearby Al Nar mountains caused heavy damage to four homes.
https://en.smanews.org/al-houthis-randomly-bombard-civilian-houses-in-heis-and-al-tuhita
(A K pH)
Yemeni Air Defenses Down US-Saudi Spy Drone in West Coast
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4207&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
In Hodiedah, US-Saudi mercenaries targeted two villages with dozens of missiles and artillery shells in Kilo-16.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4199&cat_id=1
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
Map: MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON DECEMBER 8, 2018 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-december-8-2018-map-update/
(B K P)
Saudi Arabia pretends it is waging war on Iran in Yemen, and the U.S. pretends it is helping Saudi Arabia against Iran. This is the double curse that plagues every Yemeni and #Yemen: Saudi delusions & American lies.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1071670111013085185
(* B K P)
Nahost – Krieg im Jemen: USA sind Konfliktpartei, die Medien schweigen
Anlässlich der in Schweden begonnenen Friedensverhandlungen zwischen Vertretern der jeminitischen Regierung und den gegnerischen Huthis ist der Krieg in dem südarabischen Land wieder verstärkt in den Medien präsent. Vergleicht man hingegen die mediale Berichterstattung über den Krieg in Syrien und den Krieg im Jemen, so ergibt sich ein deutliches Übergewicht des Konfliktes in Syrien hinsichtlich der medialen Präsenz.
Allein eine schnelle Stichwortsuche zu „Krieg Jemen“ und „Krieg Syrien“ – eingeschränkt auf den Zeitraum ab März 2015, dem Datum, ab dem beide Kriege zeitlich parallel verlaufen – liefert beispielsweise für die Leitmedien FAZ.NET, Tagesschau.de und Deutschlandfunk.de als Ergebnis eine mindestens viermal so hohe Trefferanzahl zu Berichten vom Krieg in Syrien wie zu solchen vom Krieg im Jemen.
Wie lässt sich dieses bemerkenswerte Missverhältnis in der Berichterstattung der Leitmedien zu diesen beiden Kriegen erklären?
Das schweizerische Portal Swiss Propaganda Research verweist im Zusammenhang mit dieser Frage auf die Rolle der Vereinigten Staaten in diesem Konflikt.
Und dass die Mainstream- und Massenmedien nicht wirklich über den Krieg im Jemen und seine Hintergründe berichten, zeige
die komplizenhafte Verbundenheit der Zentren der Macht in den Finanzkonzernen und der Politik über alle Parteigrenzen von Demokraten, Republikanern, Unabhängigen hinweg (…)
Die traditionellen Medien verstünden daher sehr gut, wie wichtig es ist, über diesen Krieg zu schweigen.
(B K)
Film: Yemen war has left thousands dead
(B H K P)
Film: Yemen peace talks continue in Sweden
https://www.cbsnews.com/live/video/20181209031531-peace-talks-aimed-at-ending-the-civil-war-in-yemen-continue-in-sweden/ = https://www.cbsnews.com/video/yemen-peace-talks-continue-as-humanitarian-crisis-deepens/
My comment: With Hadi government propaganda, as also here:
(A P)
Yemen's prime minister says U.S. can help end humanitarian crisis
CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer is the only U.S. correspondent inside Yemen. She spoke with Prime Minister Abdulmalik Maeen Saeed in Aden on Saturday.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abdulmalik-maeen-saeed-yemen-prime-minister-interview/
(* B H K P)
Erlebte im Jemen eine humanitäre Katastrophe | Karl-Otto Zentel
Die Vereinten Nationen sprechen von der "aktuell größten humanitären Katastrophe". Gleichwohl findet der Krieg im Jemen, der bereits weit mehr als 10 000 Opfer gefordert und Millionen Menschen zu Flüchtlingen im eigenen Land gemacht hat, fast unter Ausschluss der Weltöffentlichkeit statt. Das wiederum bedeutet: 14 Millionen Menschen sind vom Hungertod bedroht, für die wenigen Hilfsorganisationen vor Ort ist es eine höchst schwierige und gefährliche Arbeit. Karl-Otto Zentel, der Generalsekretär von Care Deutschland ist gerade aus dem Jemen zurückgekommen. Wie andere Experten fordert er einen "sofortigen und dauerhaften Waffenstillstand".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qymAotk2hUs
Mein Kommentar: Die Frage des Reporters: „Töten die saudis aus der Luft, die Iraner am Boden?“ ist propagandistischer Quatsch. Die Iraner sind nicht am Krieg beteiligt.
(B K P)
Peter Salisbury: The assumption in some quarters is that if / when battle for port is over, war will be shortened, justifying short-term humanitarian cost. My prediction / concern is that it will be a long battle, potentially inconclusive, and that even if / when UAE-backed forces win...
1) The Houthis will double down, even if they feint towards negotiation, as they have done during every conflict over past 14 yrs 2) Fighting will continue along Red Sea coast, leading to volatility in supplies 3) Internal issues within Hodeidah will also be disruptive; and
4) The war will shift into a new phase in the north, which is nastier, harder fought and more destructive than any yet to date. And that this will cut off access to the most at-need areas in Yemen.
https://twitter.com/peterjsalisbury/status/1070731776639807488
(* B K P)
Bright Prospects for Yemen Peace Talks
Nosratollah Tajik, Iran’s former ambassador to Jordan and a Middle East pundit, enumerated several reasons signaling the potential success of current discussions in an interview with ISNA.
“The rising costs for the West, especially the United States and Britain whose weapons have been used in this war and have tarnished the West’s reputation” is one such reason, he said.
Saudi Arabia, in its miscalculation, expected to win the war in a matter of a few months, but is now suffering heavy material and non-material losses and is highly likely to draw back its forces from Yemen, the former diplomat said.
“Riyadh’s regional and international relations have been [negatively] affected by its intervention in Yemen, such that it has been isolated and will have to pay a heavy price,” he explained.
According to Tajik, the war has also disrupted Saudi Arabia’s process of political, social and economic reforms
https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/95462/bright-prospects-for-yemen-peace-talks
(* B K P)
UNBYLINED: A Q&A WITH A YEMENI FIXER
It’s also a risky story to cover: Six Yemeni journalists have been killed since fighting broke out, and a Saudi military official said media outlets they deemed to be affiliated with the Houthis were legitimate targets, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Roads & Kingdoms recently spoke with Adel Al-Hasani, a Yemeni journalist and fixer about keeping journalists safe, the trouble with freelancers, and how his work affects his personal life.
Al-Hasani: I don’t write anymore. I stopped maybe a year ago because I don’t feel safe when I write now. Some people are not happy with what I’m writing. We cannot give our own opinion about what’s going on, it’s really risky to do that now.
Mann: As a fixer, what do you do when you are working with a journalist?
Al-Hasani: The most important thing for us is to keep journalists safe and secure, and then their stories come next. We try as much as we can to [get] stories done for journalists. It’s not fixing only stories, but security, cars, and a lot, a lot, of phone calls.
https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2018/unbylined-a-qa-with-a-yemeni-fixer/
(B H K P)
AFP-Film: Hoffnung für Jemen inmitten von Hunger und Krieg
(* B H K P)
Audio: Why risk your life to report a war that's ignored?
As talks to end Yemen’s civil war begin, we speak to the BBC's Orla Guerin.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06tw4v5
(* B H P)
The man-made humanitarian disaster in Yemen continues
The people of Yemen are struggling to survive in their homeland and still lack basic humanitarian necessities, but even worse, they have lost their hope for the future
One thing is for sure, we don't have a problem in determining, forecasting and estimating crises – we seem to have a problem in de-escalating them.
(* A H P)
Peace alone won't be enough to end hunger in Yemen: aid agency
Boosting aid and even ending the devastating Yemen conflict would not be enough to end hunger in the impoverished country, a World Food Programme official said Thursday.
"WFP hopes that the warring parties will successfully negotiate an end to this conflict, which is the only way to solve what has become the largest hunger crisis in the world," WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel said as rival Yemeni delegations gathered for UN-brokered talks in Sweden.
"Even if we have peace tomorrow, we hope of course that we will have peace tomorrow, then you will still need to work on a way to have that economy recover," Verhoosel told AFP.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/peace-alone-won-t-be-enough-to-end-hunger-in-yemen-aid-agency
(* B P)
Propping up Middle East autocrats isolates the population and feeds instability
Current policies of both the United States and Europe. Policies that could view the population of the Arab world — and in particular activists, journalists and human rights defenders — as a liability, a problem that needs to be controlled, monitored and contained within the region’s borders while the autocrats there ostensibly maintain control.
Washington and European capitals speak of democratic values but, in practice, support these autocrats both actively and tacitly. Many argue that the normative commitments to democracy must take a back seat to national security considerations. But that line of reasoning remains unconvincing, because the autocratic practices of Arab governments and their repercussions present one of the gravest threats to global security.
The United States and European powers are by no means innocent bystanders; they are active participants in generating the very problems in the region they allegedly seek to contain. Arms imports to the region doubled between 2013 and 2017, and nearly half of U.S. arms exports go to the Middle East. This unprecedented level of arms transfer contributes to fueling violent conflicts – by Nancy Okail
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(* B H P)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen: Commodity Tracker (as of 7 December 2018)
Since the Nov. 2017 blockade food and fuel imports have declined and only one containerized shipped was permitted to offload at Hudaydah.
Since Nov. 2017, food imports are meeting 77% of estimated national food requirements, on average each month and 19% below the pre-blockade average. Fuel imports are meeting less than one-quarter of estimated national fuel requirements, with no change to the average since Sept., but still 6% below the pre-blockade period.
Since the blockade, on average 20 vessels are berthing and discharging at Hudaydah and Saleef, a 41% reduction from the pre-blockade the average of 35 vessels.
There is a 38% decline in vessel clearance requests (24) compared to pre-blockade average of 40 vessels. In November 2018, food imports increased 9% while fuel imports declined 8% from October levels.
There are six commercial fuel vessels denied by the Coalition, at the request of the Government of Yemen, due to decree 75.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-commodity-tracker-7-december-2018
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
SANAA * JEMEN - SPENDEN GEGEN DEN HUNGER!
HÄNDE REICHEN – INITIATIVE ERGREIFEN, HELFT DEN MENSCHEN IM JEMEN!
Die humanitäre Situation im Jemen ist katastrophal. Mehr als 22 Millionen Menschen benötigen dringend Humanitäre Hilfe und Schutz. Die Hälfte von ihnen sind Kinder. Hinzukommt, dass im Jemen derzeit 18 Million von Nahrungsmittelunsicherheit betroffen sind, darunter 3 Millionen unterernährte Kinder unter 5 Jahren, aller 10 Minuten stirbt ein Kind. Jedes Lebensmittlpaket kostet umgerechnet zwischen 20 und 30 EUR. Die Nahrungsmittel reichen für eine Familie mit 6 Personen, für ca. 4 Wochen. Faraj Al Matari und seine Mitarbeiter von Yemen Friends e. V., kaufen die Nahrungsmittel in Sanaa und Umgebung ein und verteilen diese an hilfsbedürftige Familien in Sanaa.
Friedensbrücke-Kriegsopferhilfe e.V.
Kennwort: Jemen
IBAN: DE56100900002582793002
BIC: BEVODEBB
https://spenden-jemen.jimdofree.com/
(* B H)
Film: Schwere Hungersnot im Jemen
Der Bürgerkrieg im Jemen hat für die Zivilisten schlimmste Folgen. Laut humanitären Organisationen leiden mindestens 65.000 Menschen Hunger.
Wenn Sie den Hungernden im Jemen helfen wollen, spenden Sie bitte hier
(B H)
Film: Spenden Aktion Für Jemen
Stark machen. Lasst uns Jemen aus dem Hungersnot befreien. Die Spenden werden mit Hilfe des Vereins Şefkat Kervanı e.V. an die Bedürftigen übergeben. Möge Gott euch für eure Taten belohnen.
Facebook: Sefkat Kervani Web: www.sefkatkervani.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7SIUdpOtv0
(* B H P)
Caritas international zum Krieg im Jemen: Keine Rücksicht auf humanitäre Hilfe
Christoph Klitsch-Ott (Leiter des Referats Nahost/Nordafrika bei Caritas international): Es ist auf jeden Fall sehr schwer, im Jemen Hilfsprojekte durchzuführen. Und es ist gefährlich für humanitäre Helfer, weil keine der Kriegsparteien Rücksicht auf humanitäre Hilfe und ihre Organisationen nimmt. Wir sind trotzdem in der Lage, mit zwei Projekten Hilfe zu leisten. Bei dem Nahrungsmittelprojekt geht es um die Verteilung von Nahrungsmitteln.
Das andere große Problem ist die Wasserversorgung im Jemen. Wir unterstützen eine lokale Organisation dabei, Choleraerkrankte mit Medikamenten zu behandeln. Und wir haben Brunnen saniert, damit die Menschen wieder Zugang zu sauberem Trinkwasser haben.
(* B H)
Film: Children in Yemen are starving to death
(B H)
Action Contre Le Faim: THREE YEARS OF ONGOING CONFLICT AND ECONOMIC DECLINE HAVE EXHAUSTED THE POPULATION’S ADAPTATION MECHANISMS, DESTROYED INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERIOUSLY DISRUPTED THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY.
Despite difficult access, in 2017 we reached more than 300,000 beneficiaries. We are continuing our nutrition and health programmes, especially support for acute malnutrition in children under five and their mothers; food security and livelihoods programmes through the direct distribution of food or money and/or food coupons; and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes including promotion and distribution of kits, and rehabilitation of water points and latrines.
https://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/en/missions/yemen/
(B H)
The third video is about 9-year-old Hashim, who lost his friend in the war. This is one of 20 stories featured in 20 videos done by children, who were trained on story-telling and video-making in #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/1070647201590886400
(B H)
Film: He died. Though his father rushed walking barefoot! To rescue him! Yemeni father Abdu Shuay, walked 2 hours with his son Akil (5 months) in his embrace When they arrived in this local hospital in Yaslem Hajja( north Yemen), Akil died of malnutrition
https://twitter.com/A_mtrz/status/1071042428025667584
(* B H P)
New nutrition analysis confirms children are being starved in Yemen
The IRC has increased its nutrition work in the coun
New integrated food security and classification (IPC) report shows 240,000 Yemeni civilians are living in famine conditions
The number of districts experiencing critical levels of acute malnutrition has doubled since the start of the war
Near the frontlines of the war, the IRC is seeing a global acute malnutrition rate (GAM) of 27%, close to double the global emergency threshold of 15%
A new integrated food security and classification (IPC) report shows that 240,000 Yemeni civilians are living in famine condition and 9.8 million are on the brink of famine, a shocking increase of 42% increase since 2017. About 2 million children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished in Houthi-controlled areas, and as many as 400,000 children could starve if assistance cannot be distributed to them.
Since July, increased fighting in and around the critical port city of Hodeidah has forced 650,000 people from their homes, and a collapse of the Yemeni Riyal has caused the cost of basic good to skyrocket. As a result, the IRC is seeing increased admissions at its 86 nutrition sites throughout the country and high levels of moderate and severe acute malnutrition, especially in children under five. At the frontlines of the war in Hodeidah, the IRC team is seeing a global malnutrition rate of 27 percent, close to double the 15 percent required by the World Health Organization to determine a critical emergency. This conflict is quite literally starving Yemenis to death.
Frank McManus, Yemen Country Director at the International Rescue Committee, said:
Comment: Why is this not the top news item on mainstream news? It can only be found on some charity websites like International Rescue Committee or alternative websites like Democracy Now. It will be interesting to see if the mainstream news continue with the mantra "on the brink".
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157202499788641
and
240,000 Yemenis Are Already Living in Famine Conditions
The International Rescue Committee released a statement on Yemen’s famine yesterday.
The numbers used to quantify the size and severity of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis can be difficult to fathom. It is still shocking that a group of governments, including the U.S., have prosecuted a war that has created such horrific conditions over the course of three and a half years, and even more shocking is that they have been able to do so without provoking much of an outcry.
If the necessary steps aren’t taken to stabilize Yemen’s economy, end the blockade, and halt the fighting, many if not all of those people are going to perish from hunger in the near future. It should be unthinkable that our government would be party to this horror, but it is and has been for years.
A ceasefire is essential, and the best available way that the Saudis and Emiratis can be made to halt their campaign is if they lose U.S. support for the war. To that end, the Senate needs to pass S.J.Res. 54.
Every danger that apologists for the war cite as a possible effect of cutting off support to the Saudi coalition has already materialized as a result of that support.
The only sane thing to do under the circumstances is to pull the plug on all U.S. assistance to the Saudis and Emiratis in an effort to force them to face the reality that the war is unwinnable and has already inflicted far too much damage on the civilian population.
(* B H)
CARE ZUR LAGE IM JEMEN: „DIE MENSCHHEIT VERSAGT“
„Es gibt eine einfache Definition von Hunger: Sie heißt Versagen. Wenn hunderttausende Menschen vom Hungertod bedroht sind, hat die Menschheit versagt.“ So kommentiert CARE-Generalsekretär Karl-Otto Zentel den heute veröffentlichten Bericht über die Hungersituation im Jemen.
Nach der sogenannten Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) leiden 240.000 Menschen in dem Bürgerkriegsland so akut Hunger, dass sie unter die Phase 5 der Klassifizierung fallen. Zur offiziellen Ausrufung einer landesweiten Hungersnot müsste diese Zahl bei rund 20 Prozent der Bevölkerung liegen. Dennoch spricht der Bericht deutliche Worte: Drei Viertel der Bevölkerung, also rund 20 Millionen Menschen, fallen in die dritte und vierte Kategorie und sind deshalb ebenso dringend auf Hilfe angewiesen.
„Die Klassifizierung in fünf Phasen von Hunger ist wichtig, denn sie hilft humanitären Organisationen dabei, mit knappen Mitteln Prioritäten zu setzen. Dennoch dürfen wir uns nichts vormachen: Auch die 20 Millionen Menschen, die derzeit ‚noch‘ in die dritte oder vierte Phase fallen, leiden unermessliche Not und brauchen jetzt Hilfe“, mahnt Zentel. Darunter seien 1,1 Millionen schwangere oder stillende Frauen sowie 1,8 Millionen Kinder, die akut mangelernährt sind.
(* B H)
To Build A Better Future, Yemen's Children Must Be Educated
Almost four years of fighting have taken a devastating toll on the people of Yemen, and children have suffered most of all. "Nearly 1.5 million children have been displaced, many of them living a life that is a mere shadow of what childhood should be," says UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa Geert Cappelaere.
Cappelaere recently visited Yemen to see how UNICEF and partners are helping some of the more than 11 million children — 80 percent of all children in the country — who require humanitarian assistance. As opposing sides meet for peace talks in Sweden, Cappelaere is calling on all parties to "put children and their needs above any other political, military or financial agendas."
(* B H)
The Photo of the Yemeni Girl
The story behind a portrait that brought a widely overlooked human catastrophe into devastating focus.
In the three years that Saudi Arabia, supported by the United States, has been at war with the Houthis in Yemen, very few journalists have been allowed into the country to document what’s happening there. The New York Times journalist Tyler Hicks is one. This is the story of how he came to take a photograph of Amal Hussain that drew international attention to the country’s plight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/podcasts/the-daily/yemen-saudi-arabia-amal-hussain-photo.html
(* B H)
Jemen: 120.000 Kinder an der Schwelle zum Hungertod
Anlässlich der Friedensgespräche zwischen Vertretern der Regierung des Jemen und der Huthi-Rebellen in Stockholm hat Save the Children am Freitag die Dringlichkeit einer Lösung im Bürgerkrieg angemahnt. Bereits jetzt stünden 120.000 Kinder an der Schwelle zum Hungertod. "Der einzige Weg, das Leid zu beenden, ist, den Konflikt zu stoppen", erklärte Tamer Kirolos, Länderdirektor von Save the Children im Jemen.
(* B K)
UNHCR urges protection of Yemeni civilians
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Nearly 1,500 civilian casualties were reported in Yemen in the period between August to October this year, according to the UNHCR-led Protection Cluster in Yemen. This means an average of 123 civilian deaths and injuries every week during this period.
Each new day of the conflict inflicts more suffering on an already battered and exhausted civilian population. Given the heavy human cost, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urges parties to the conflict in Yemen to improve the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
According to data published in the latest Civilian Impact Monitoring Report (CIMP), an estimated 670 incidents of armed violence resulted in 1,478 civilian casualties during a three month period. Of this total, thirty-three per cent were women and children, of which 217 were killed and 268 injured.
Homes and hospitals also continue to be sites of violence. Twenty three per cent of all deaths and injuries (336 civilian casualties) during this period were reported in houses. Attacks on health infrastructure and first responders also resulted in 154 civilian casualties, while attacks on buses and vehicles resulted in 316 casualties.
The casualty totals during this period were driven both by the intensification of hostilities across active frontlines in Yemen and mass casualty incidents.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-urges-protection-yemeni-civilians
(* B H)
Struggle to survive near-famine conditions in Yemen
Citizens describe to Oxfam their lives amid violence, disease, and lack of food.
Conflict in Yemen is creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and civilians are bearing the cost of the violence, disease, and near-famine conditions in the country. Fighting has forced three million people from their homes.
One of them is Ibrahim, who is living temporarily in the north western Hajjah Governorate with his wife and four small children. He says they fled their home in Haradh district when the conflict started. “We were happy,” he says of their life before the war. “We had our own homes and land. We used to have our own work and farms. We had our livestock and daily work; we were fine. When the war started, we lost all our properties. We left our money, land, and houses behind us… Today we are displaced with no jobs.”
Ibrahim and his family are surviving with a little help in the form of cash from Oxfam, which he uses to buy food and medicine to help his children. He says his children are too scared of airstrikes and shelling to go to school.
Cholera a threat
Another threat to innocent people in Yemen is a serious and fast-moving cholera epidemic. Since April 2017, the World Health Organization estimates there have been 1.2 million suspected cholera cases and 2,515 deaths from the disease. Ibrahim’s son Muhammed is one of the suspected cases—he came home vomiting one day, Ibrahim says. “I didn’t know with what he was affected, and it was only two hours before he passed away. May his soul rest in peace.”
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/famine-yemen/
(* B H)
What’s at stake in Yemen peace talks
As talks opened in Sweden today aimed at setting a framework to eventually end Yemen’s 44 months of war, a new report stopped short of declaring famine but said that 20 million Yemenis are hungry and need food aid.
Lise Grande, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Yemen, told IRIN that the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) report found that of the 20 million, 238,000 people “are barely surviving. Any small change in their circumstances, any disruption in their ability to access food on a regular basis, will bring them to the brink of death.”
Grande said these people are mostly in four provinces where “conflict is raging”: Taiz, Sadaa, Hajjah, and Hodeidah.
The IPC’s scientific methodology is intended to separate the process of declaring famine from politics by implementing uniform measures across countries. It uses a five-point scale to measure food insecurity, and Grande said 152 of Yemen’s 333 administrative districts are now classified as level 4 emergencies, adding: “this means that close to half of all districts in the country are one step away from catastrophe.”
Hunger, death, and displacement have been worsened by (and have contributed to) Yemen’s ongoing economic collapse.
So, what to expect?
The talks, which are officially called “political consultations”, are unlikely to solve any of these problems right away, or even bring an end to the war.
That’s actually by design: UN envoy Martin Griffiths is first hoping to set the stage for future peace talks, as well as focus on a series of “confidence-building measures” – by Annie Slemrod, Samuel Oakford
https://www.irinnews.org/news/2018/12/06/what-s-stake-yemen-peace-talks?
(* B H)
Medical care is a target in Yemen
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) humanitarian affairs officer Alex Dunne writes from Yemen
MSF significantly increased its work in Yemen at escalation of the conflict. As of today, we have treated some 110,000 patients for cholera, delivered nearly 60,000 babies, and provided medical care to over 800,000 emergency room patients. We have been responding to the needs of the population as best as we can but the medical humanitarian gap that exits in the country is huge—even in comparison to other conflicts to which we have responded.
Working right across the country—and on both sides of frontlines—the medical concerns we see are either a direct result or a consequence of this brutal and underreported conflict.
Since fighting began, the public health system in Yemen has essentially collapsed.
This degradation is having a devastating impact on the health of Yemen’s 27 million people and is a result of Yemen’s ongoing conflict, embargo, attacks against medical facilities and an economy pushed into freefall—from both internal and external forces.
Another dilemma faced in Yemen is that the main parties in the conflict, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, and the UK, are also the main donors of humanitarian assistance via the UN—providing some 71 percent of the relief assistance in 2018. Bombing hospitals with one hand and writing the check to rebuild them with the other distorts the perception—and security—of aid and independent humanitarian organizations in Yemen like ourselves. States not linked to this conflict should further increase their humanitarian funding to respond to this crisis.
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/medical-care-target-yemen = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/medical-care-target-yemen
(* B H)
Yemen: The impact of war on people's lives
Robert Onus, MSF's outgoing head of mission in Yemen, describes the four-year conflict and its impact on people across the country
How has the war affected people in Yemen?
One can really see how, year on year, the effect of the war has decimated so much of Yemeni society. Public health infrastructure has collapsed. Water and sanitation infrastructure is collapsing. More and more people are struggling to find food. Fewer and fewer people have jobs.
You see the direct impact of the war on people's lives. You see civilians being injured, you see people being killed in airstrikes and from shelling and gunfire. You also see people dying from preventable diseases. You see children dying from vaccine-preventable disease—they did not receive vaccinations because the health system no longer exists where they live.
We see the impact of the war in the malnourished children coming to our hospitals—children and families who do not have enough to eat.
Across the country, no matter where you look or at which part of society, the impact of the war on people's lives is very visible.
Can people access health care?
The health care system has been directly destroyed by the conflict—by being bombed and shelled. But it has also been indirectly destroyed by the lack of funding, the lack of medicines and the lack of staff, who haven't been paid for more than two years.
Over the four years since the conflict escalated, people's access to health care has dramatically reduced.
What daily challenges do people face?
People don't feel safe outside their homes. You can absolutely understand how difficult it is for people to get on with their lives, to look forward, with any sort of hope, to a resolution.
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/yemen-impact-war-peoples-lives = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-impact-war-peoples-lives
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
UNHCR Somalia Factsheet - 1 - 30 November 2018
12,350 refugees from Yemen
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/unhcr-somalia-factsheet-1-30-november-2018
(B H)
Somalia: Refugee returnees to Somalia at 30 November 2018
3,053 refugee returnees from Yemen (2015 - 2018)
In addition to the 3,053 Assisted Spontaneous Returns since 2017, some 36,348 Somalis were monitored as arriving from Yemen since March 2015.
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-refugee-returnees-somalia-30-november-2018
(* B H)
Film: Inside one refugee camp in war-torn Yemen
CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer visited the Mishqafah camp in southern Yemen that houses roughly 2,500 people, all of whom fled fighting elsewhere in the country.
The people living there were always poor, but now they are destitute, she reports, residing in rudimentary shelters made of tarpaulin and bits of wood. They have no access to proper medical care.
The Ali family can't get help for their 6-year-old daughter, who has a serious neurological problem. Just a few weeks ago, a child in the camp died of cholera.
The sanitation at the camp is dangerously bad, Palmer says. There are only a few basic latrines. Most people use the fields, and the situation is worse for women, who, for modesty's sake, can only go out at night, alone in the dark.
The people living at the Mishqafah camp do, however, have access to just enough food to survive, Palmer reports. This is more than can be said for 14 million other Yemenis – the number of people that the United Nations says is at risk of serious hunger or starvation this winter.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yemenis-fleeing-violence-find-shelter-but-little-else-in-refugee-camps/ = https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/yemens-humanitarian-crisis/
and
(* B H)
Film: Mother in Yemen with malnourished 5-month-old tells her story
Rachida Taleb's 5-month-old baby, Esma Saida, is badly malnourished. But she's gaining strength.
Esma has been in the al-Sadaqa hospital in the Yemeni port city of Aden for almost a week, feeding on a vitamin and calorie-rich formula and gradually gaining weight. In fact, she now has enough strength in her tiny fist to grip CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer's finger and hang on.
Taleb said she and her family lived in Taiz, a small city that came under siege as Yemen's three-year-old civil war rages on. Her husband joined a local militia and was killed. Taleb was left alone with the baby and no income.
Esma was born prematurely and was not breastfed. Taleb had so little formula that she kept making it more and more diluted -- until it was clear Esma was in trouble.
Taleb and Esma were able to escape from the fighting in Taiz and reach Aden.
(B H K)
Film: Displaced Family of Women Go Unnoticed by Authorities in Taiz
A displaced family of women reaches the limit of severe poverty and destitution owing to the indiscriminate shelling of residential areas by the Houthis in Ghorab Valley in Taiz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IBu6bf9j0U
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A)
Demonstration in Ibb to claim Alaa killer trial
An angry demonstration involving hundreds launched this morning in Ibb to demand an urgent trial of the child “Alaa” killer.
The child Alaa Al hemiari (9 years) was snatched last week and remained hidden until her body was found Saturday evening in the town of Jeblah, West of Ibb.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161915
(A P)
Parliament extends term for Speaker, Presidency members
The Parliament on Saturday approved extending the terms for the parliament speaker Yahya al-Ra'i and the presidency members.
At the meeting, the parliament reviewed its agenda for the current period
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518148.htm
(B P)
Film: Houthis: Yemen's Rebel Movement, Explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Lru_4d9E8
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Southern #Yemen : Major demonstrations yesterday in Aden city and Seiyun city, Hadhramaut province by southern Yemenis loyal to top Harak leader Hassan Baoum demanding all Saudi & UAE forces leave Yemen immediately.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1071717472112427009
(A P)
Hadramawt ... Release of the two imams detained by elite forces
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161892
(A P)
Marib Governor: talking about secret prisons in Marib is hearsay
Governor of Marib Sultan Al-aradah denied that there be in secret prisons in the governorate and announced the full responsibility if proofed otherwise.
Al-aradah said in an interview with Abu Dhabi Television Friday evening: "I announce from here to the whole world that if a secret prison in Marib, Sultan Al-aradah is responsible, he must be held accountable and prosecuted before international courts ".
International organizations and specialized prosecutors came to Marib and visited the prison and examined the situations and considered what has been said about secret prisons in Marib as hearsay.
And about the financial situation in the Province the Governor said Central Bank branch suffers from a deficit of 24 billion riyals as a result of some commitments, including large expenditures on the fourth military region by presidential directives, also oversees hospitals in Taiz and Aden MArib and Al Jawf, add to that the oil company in Aden .
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161889
(A P)
After being assaulted. Detainees families protest again in al -Mukalla.
Families of detainees in the central prison in the city of Mukalla called to resume the prosecution of persons who have been turning their files of Court Prosecutor, consider those who do not have files, and has not been charged by any charges since their arrest.
It came in a vigil organized by detainees families and activists in solidarity with them in front of the central prison of Mukalla on Thursday, carrying banners condemn violations against detainees in the prison of the roadstead and demanding justice.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161864
(A P)
Al-Mahrah authority organizes a rally after a month of the previous demonstration
The local authority in Al-Mahrah governorate organized a Festival on Thursday to celebrate the 51 anniversary of national independence day November 30th.
This rally comes after months of tension, which happened after the killing of demonstrators as a result of their opposition to the creation of a security point in Hasween area.
In the Festival, the local Council Secretary-General Salem Abdullah Nimmer made a speech and said that these crowds that came from across all directorates to participate in the celebration reflect social cohesion between Al-Mahrah sons beside local authority and Arab coalition.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161853
(A P)
Al-Gaadi: The Southern Cause is Bigger than Being Limited to Attending a Negotiation Session… It is So Established that World Powers Can Never Shake it
(A P T)
Al-Manassa Post of the Security Belt Prevents Smuggling Rockets and Ammunition to Aden
My comment: Separatist militia propagated as those who guarantee security.
(A T)
Emirati-backed Hadhrami Elite Forces arrested nine suspected members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yab’uth district, southwestern Hadramawt governorate, eastern Yemen on November 30. The arrests are part of Operation Iron Fist, which Emirati-backed forces launched on November 28 to secure coastal areas in western Hadramawt governorate.[3]
(A T)
AQAP militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting an al Hizam Security Forces vehicle in al Mahfad district, northeastern Abyan governorate, southern Yemen on December 3. There were no casualties.[4]
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Siehe / Look at cp1
(Oben: deutsch / On top: In German)
(* B P)
Frieden gibt es nur mit den Tätern
In Schweden verhandeln diejenigen, die den Jemen in einen sinnlosen Krieg gestürzt haben. Nur sie können ihn auch beenden.
Das Problem mit solchen Friedensverhandlungen ist stets, dass die Täter des Krieges hier die einzige Hoffnung für dessen Ende darstellen. Denn im Falle Jemen werden die Verhandlung genau von jenen Kriegsparteien geführt, die das Land in die derzeit größte humanitäre Krise der Welt geführt haben. Eigentlich gehörten sie alle vor ein internationales Gericht. Aber diese menschengemachte humanitäre Katastrophe kann nur von Menschen beendet werden. Leider sitzt die jemenitische Zivilbevölkerung in Schweden nicht mit am Tisch.
Diese Zivilbevölkerung war immer nur eine Trumpfkarte im zynischen Spiel der Kriegsparteien. Die Regierung und ihre saudischen Verbündeten hatten offensichtlich kein Problem damit, die Einwohner der von den Huthi-Rebellen kontrollierten Gebiete auszuhungern.
Jetzt sitzen die Täter also statt in einem internationalen Gerichtssaal am Verhandlungstisch in Schweden. Und auch dort denken sie zuerst an sich selbst und bringen zunächst ihre Kämpfer in Sicherheit.
Man kann hoffen, dass die Unterhändler als nächstes einen Waffenstillstand rund um den seit Wochen schwer umkämpften Hafen von Hudaida aushandeln.
Ach ja, es gibt noch einen dritten Weg, einen Krieg zu beenden. Internationale Sanktionen gegen alle Kriegsparteien und ein Stopp von Waffenlieferungen. Damit hätte man das jemenitische Desaster vielleicht schon vorher aufhalten können. Denn dass der Krieg jetzt fast vier Jahre andauert, liegt auch daran, dass man international in die andere Richtung gesehen hat. Schließlich ist Saudi-Arabien gut fürs Waffengeschäft und die jemenitischen Flüchtlinge kommen nicht nach Europa. Vielleicht gehört die internationale Gemeinschaft hier also auch auf die Anklagebank.
http://www.taz.de/Kommentar-Friedensgespraeche-fuer-Jemen/!5557281/
(A P)
Audio: Wochenrückblick mit Christian Fahrenbach - Jemen-Friedensgespräche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejr8HnMYfDg
(B P)
Fünf Antworten zu den Jemen-Friedensgesprächen in Schweden
Millionen von notleidenden Menschen in Jemen hoffen auf ein Ende des Krieges in ihrem Land. Nun wird im fernen Stockholm tatsächlich über Frieden verhandelt. Doch wie aussichtsreich sind die Chancen dafür?
Worum geht es?
Wer nimmt an den Gesprächen (nicht) teil?
Warum scheiterten bisher alle Friedensbemühungen?
Warum sollte es dieses Mal klappen?
Niemand geht davon aus, dass es in Stockholm zu einem Durchbruch kommt. Für den Uno-Sondergesandten Martin Griffiths sind deswegen schon die vertrauensbildenden Massnahmen, die getroffen wurden, um die Gespräche überhaupt zu ermöglichen, ein Erfolg
Wie viele Opfer hat der Krieg bisher gefordert?
(* A P)
Huthi-Rebellen lehnen Regierungsforderung nach Abzug aus Hafenstadt Hodeida ab
Bei den Jemen-Gesprächen unter Vermittlung der UNO haben die Huthi-Rebellen am Freitag einen von der Regierung geforderten Abzug aus der von ihnen kontrollierten Hafenstadt Hodeida abgelehnt. Auch die Öffnung des Flughafens der von ihnen beherrschten Hauptstadt Sanaa lehnten die Rebellen bei den Beratungen in Schweden ab.
Die beiden Forderungen stünden nicht zur Debatte, sagte der Huthi-Vertreter Abdulmalik al-Adschri der Nachrichtenagentur AFP. Der jemenitische Landwirtschaftsminister Othman al-Mudschalli hatte zuvor erklärt, eine Militäroffensive auf Hodeida bleibe eine Option, sollten die Rebellen sich weigern abzuziehen.
Mein Kommentar: Mehr, besser: Auf Englisch, in cp1 und weiter unten.
(* A P)
Jemen: Regierung offen für Flughafenwiedereröffnung
Bei den Jemen-Friedensgesprächen zeigt sich die Regierung des Bürgerkriegslandes offen für die Wiedereröffnung des von Rebellen kontrollierten Flughafens der Hauptstadt Sanaa. Die Bürgerinnen und Bürger des Landes müssten das Recht bekommen, jeden Ort dieser Welt zu erreichen, sagte der jemenitische Präsidentenberater Abdelasis Dschabari.
Zunächst könnte der Flughafen für Inlandsflüge geöffnet werden. Allerdings dürfe keine bewaffnete Gruppe das ausnutzen.
https://orf.at/stories/3103528/ = https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/jemens-regierung-offen-fuer-wiedereroeffnung-des-flughafens-in-sanaa-15929812.html
Mein Kommentar: Mehr, besser: Auf Englisch, in cp1 und weiter unten.
(A P)
Kein Jemen-Kompromiss in Sicht
Hadi stellt Maximalforderungen, doch UN-Vermittler Griffiths verbreitet Zuversicht
Die Forderungen, die am ersten Verhandlungstag von beiden Seiten auf den Tisch gelegt wurden, scheinen jedenfalls kaum vereinbar. Aber um das vermeintlich Unmögliche doch zu schaffen, sind ja Verhandlungen da. Und gewiefte Moderatoren.
Das ist in diesem Falle der Brite Martin Griffiths. Er sieht das Glas lieber halb voll als halb leer. In der »New York Times«, so zitiert ihn dpa, äußerte er am Donnerstag die Hoffnung, dass »am Ende der Gesprächsrunde eine Einigung der Konfliktparteien steht, die zu einem Fahrplan zum Frieden für das seit knapp vier Jahren vom Krieg zerrissene Land« werde. Griffiths erklärte weiter, die Aussichten seine noch zu keinem Zeitpunkt so gut gewesen wie jetzt (gegen Bezahlung)
https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1107483.kein-jemen-kompromiss-in-sicht.html
(* A P)
Jemen-Friedensgespräche: Kleiner Lichtblick im Schatten des Krieges
Zwischen den beiden Delegationen, die fast ausschließlich aus Männern bestehen, hat UN-Vermittler Martin Griffiths Platz genommen. Der britische Diplomat spricht zum Beginn der lange ersehnten Friedensgespräche im Örtchen Rimbo von einem „Meilenstein“.
Denn das Chaos in dem Land, in dem Familien in den vergangenen vier Jahren vom Krieg zerrissen wurden, Kinder verhungerten oder an Seuchen starben, ist unvorstellbar. Mohammed Ismail ist eines dieser Opfer, die heute auf die über 5000 Kilometer entfernten Gespräche in der grünen Idylle schauen. Der Beamte aus der Hauptstadt Sanaa wird schon lange nicht mehr für seine Arbeit bezahlt. Wie er seine Familie mit Taxifahren durchbringen soll, weiß er oft selbst nicht. Trotzdem ist er hoffnungsvoll: „Es gibt großen Optimismus dieses Mal.“
Zunächst solle das Vertrauen zwischen den Kontrahenten hergestellt werden. Vorstellungen über eine Nachkriegsordnung werden höchstens angerissen.
Die Gespräche finden zunächst nur in getrennten Räumen indirekt statt. Ein Knackpunkt wird in den kommenden Tagen wohl die Lage in der umkämpften Küstenstadt Hudaida sein. Die Regierung pocht auf eine Übergabe der strategisch wichtigen Stadt, die Huthis wollen nicht aufgeben. Am Hafen Hudaidas hängt die Versorgung von Millionen Menschen.
Dass vor allem die USA ihren engen Verbündeten Saudi-Arabien und damit auch die jemenitische Regierung an den Verhandlungstisch drängten, hängt auch mit dem Mord an dem saudischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi zusammen.
Mehr deutschsprachige Artikwl, mit Registrierung:
https://www.sn.at/politik/weltpolitik/jemen-die-hoffnung-stirbt-zuerst-62112277
(A P)
Guterres fordert Jemen-Gespräche mit gutem Willen
UNO-Generalsekretär Antonio Guterres hat alle Beteiligten der Friedensgespräche für den kriegszerrütteten Jemen zu Flexibilität, gutem Willen und Verzicht auf Vorbedingungen aufgerufen.
https://orf.at/stories/3103426/
(B P)
Film: Steps to End the Conflict in Yemen
Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program Director Joost Hiltermann lays out Crisis Group's recommendations to end the war in Yemen, highlighting the crucial role of the U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EomINXYlkW8
(B P)
Future Yemen should hold no Iranian-backed threat - US official
The United States believes that the Yemen that emerges from civil war should not contain any Iranian-backed threat to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. State Department official told a conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
My comment: This is odd propaganda: Today’s Yemen also does not. – And more, all this by no means is up to the US – as it would not be up to Canada, Chile, Madagascar…
(B P)
Hisham Al-Omeisy: I was wronged, traumatized, and with #PTSD now. Yes, I'm most certainly quite angry. BUT, this is not just about me, many have suffered far worse, and violence only begets violence. Hence channeling energy to end war, and prioritizing reconciliation and peace building.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/1071334540772339712
(* B P)
Hisham Al-Omeisy: The Yemenites want peace: "Very different scenario today"
The war in Yemen is both an internal conflict and an expression of the greater struggle between the great powers of the Middle East region. Three years have passed since the fighting was intensified, but what do Yemenites actually say today?
- Since 2015, things have changed. Initially, there were many hardcore and everyone wanted their own side to win, "said Hisham al-Omeisy, Yemeni political analyst, to SVT News.
"Today it is a very different scenario. People have had enough, they want peace and they have paid with blood.
Although the war has been going on since 2015, international interest has been cool. Something that contributed greatly to the increased attention is the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which is suspected to be ordered from the highest place in Saudi Arabia. Since Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also play a key role in the war in Syria, Yemen has also received more attention.
"It's very annoying to say the least, because the Yemen disaster has lasted for over three years. That people care first because of Khashoggi is a disappointment, but it is also welcome, says Hisham al-Omeisy.
"We Yemenites are at a point where everything that gives attention to the situation is welcomed.
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/jemen
And film, in English: https://twitter.com/khaderYE/status/1071447973798670336
(A P)
UN Envoy: De-Escalation in Yemen Could Be Prerequisite for Peace Talks' Success
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths expressed hope on Saturday that the de-escalation on the ground would be maintained in Yemen to “give a chance” for the crisis settlement talks to succeed.
“We are working to the background of a very fragile situation in Yemen. We hope that the de-escalation will be maintained on different front lines to give a chance for progress to be achieved on political consultations,” Griffiths said.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812081070521938-un-yemen-de-escalation-settlement-peace-talks/
and
(A P)
Martin Griffiths commends the positive spirit in the Sweden Consultations
“The two parties are engaged in a serious and constructive way in discussing the details of confidence building measures, the reduction of violence, and the framework for negotiations. We hope we will achieve progress during this round of consultations”.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/martin-griffiths-commends-positive-spirit-sweden-consultations
(A P)
Film: Day3: Yemen Peace Talks in Sweden, Houthi press briefing
https://twitter.com/Afrahnasser/status/1071419362874179584
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwCWMmSB1Y = https://twitter.com/AnsarAllahMC/status/1071461978609205248 (Arabic)
(* A P)
#Yemen_Consultations: Delegations of the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis today exchanged lists of prisoners to be released under a UN-sponsored prisoner release deal. The deal is part of confidence-building measures the two sides are discussing in Sweden.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1071398811078135808
(* A P)
Yemen FM pushes Aden as main airport at UN talks
Government representatives, rebel spokesmen and UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths have all said the talks are not aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict.
Both Yemeni parties have threatened to leave the talks if certain demands are not met.
Among the issues under discussion are potential humanitarian corridors, a prisoner swap, the reopening of the defunct Sanaa international airport, and Hodeida, the rebel-held port city at the heart of an ongoing government offensive.
https://www.france24.com/en/20181208-yemen-fm-pushes-aden-main-airport-un-talks
(* A P)
Houthis call Saudi, UAE to join peace talks in Sweden
Salim al-Mukhlis, a Houthi representative who spoke to rebel group’s Al-Masira TV, indicated that to maintain peace in Hudaydah, Taiz and other regions, Saudi Arabia and the UAE should also be represented during the ongoing peace negotiations in Sweden.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/houthis-call-saudi-uae-to-join-peace-talks-in-sweden/1333295
(* A P)
Top Houthi negotiator calls for main Yemen port to be neutral zone
Yemen’s main port city should be declared a “neutral zone” and the United Nations could play a role in Sanaa airport, the Iran-aligned Houthis’ main negotiator said on Saturday on the sidelines of talks aimed at ending the Yemeni war.
“It (Hodeidah) should be a neutral zone apart from the conflict, and the military brigades that came from outside Hodeidah province should leave,” Houthi negotiator, Mohammed Abdusalam, told Reuters in Rimbo on the sidelines of peace talks with the Saudi-backed government.
Asked if Houthi forces would then withdraw from Hodeidah, Abdusalam said: “There will be no need for military presence there if battles stop ... Hodeidah is an economic hub and it should stay that way for the sake of all Yemenis.”
“We have proposed to the U.N. to oversee the port and supervise its logistics... inspections, revenues and all the technical issues,” he said, while declining to say who will control the city if both forces leave.
https://www.france24.com/en/20181208-yemen-houthis-saudi-sweden-port-city-hodeida-neutral
(* A P)
Houthis call for transitional government including all Yemen's political parties
The main negotiator of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group called on Saturday for the formation of a transitional government with the participation of “all political parties”.
and
Houthi representative in Sweden negotiations: talk about references and UN resolutions simply appeasing to the other party
Abdulmalik Al-‘Agri , Houthi group the delegation member in Sweden has described and after his exit consultations from a separate meeting with UN Envoy on Friday the talk about old references and resolution 2216 is just appeasing (for the other).
Speaking to reporters, said that fact underscores the need for new references to establish a new transitional institutions stage.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161882
(A P)
Aden to be main Yemen airport, foreign minister says
Yemen's foreign minister on Saturday said that the government-controlled city of Aden will be home to the country's main airport, in the midst of talks to reopen the rebel-held international airport in the capital Sanaa.
"We are ready to reopen Sanaa international airport today... but we have a vision that Aden will be the sovereign airport of Yemen," Khaled al-Yamani told AFP in his first interview since the talks opened in Sweden on Thursday.
My comment: The hadi government’s only goal for these talks is to be recognized world-wide as the only “legitimate” government of Yemen, and that the Houthis are forced to bow to this claim. – Also claiming Aden to be Yemen’s main airport only serves this goal.
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Yemen’s warring parties meet for 3rd day of talks in Sweden
Yemen’s warring parties are meeting for a third day of talks in Sweden aimed at halting the country’s catastrophic 4-year-old war.
The Houthi delegation says talks have been divided into five main sections, including discussions on a political framework and the opening of Sanaa airport for aid.
https://apnews.com/b7652465e41143609f471f05fba8ff26
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Statement of the Southern Transitional Council About Sweden Consultations
But failure is being repeated again indicating the renewal of more conflicts with holding Sweden Consultations without even touching reality or recognizing the actual situation.
But failure is being repeated again indicating the renewal of more conflicts with holding Sweden Consultations without even touching reality or recognizing the actual situation.
Repeated mistakes and persistence in overcoming just causes, and above all the southern cause, through creating fragile excuses and weak justifications, is not consistent with the correct approach and doesn’t create solid bases for the future to build the desired peace for all parties away from facts and roots of the Yemeni conflict in its correct form and according to its real causes.
Not inviting The Southern Transitional Council as a main and active partner to Sweden Consultations is considered as closing to all windows of these consultations in the face of the rightful southern cause that no one can overcome or ignore as long as it is protected by God and by the free will of the southern people.
Therefore, The Southern Transitional Council asserts the following:
https://en.smanews.org/statement-of-the-southern-transitional-council-about-sweden-consultations
(A P)
UN: No time limit for Yemen peace talks in Stockholm
There is no time limit for the Yemen peace talks taking place in Stockholm, the United Nations said Friday.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417226/middle-east
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Yemeni women seek greater role in peace talks
Women's participation will lead to 'more comprehensive peace plan by addressing societal needs'
Yemeni women are demanding that their voices be heard at the decision-making table as peace talks resumed on Friday to end the civil war.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, invited a group of eight women to assist him during negotiations that opened on Thursday to set a framework for ending the crisis.
“I will personally benefit from the expertise and experience of an advisory group comprising eight leading Yemeni women with a variety of professional and technical backgrounds, and they will advise me on the issues addressed during these consultations,” Mr Griffiths said at the opening of the talks on Thursday.
The women represent different political parties, civil society, activists and development workers in Yemen. But the only woman taking part directly in the negotiations is Rana Ghanem, assistant secretary of Yemen's Nasser organisation, as a member of the government delegation .
A woman close to Mr Griffiths' advisory team, who asked to remain anonymous, said there needed to be more women at the negotiation table to ensure that their voices are heard.
The women advising Mr Griffthis have set a number of objectives aimed at ending the fighting, building peace, improving living conditions and amplifying women’s voices and participation in negotiations and peace-building.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemeni-women-seek-greater-role-in-peace-talks-1.800270
(A P)
Film: British Ambassador to Yemen, Aron, about second day of Sweden talks
https://twitter.com/UKinYemen/status/1071091978237038593
(* A P)
Yemen’s warring parties still at odds over key agenda items as talks enter third day
As UN-backed Yemen peace talks in Sweden entered their third day on Saturday, representatives of the country’s warring parties have yet to bridge differences over key issues, including the reopening of the Sanaa airport and UN administration of a vital Yemeni port.
Rana Ghanem, a member of the government’s delegation told The National on Saturday that the government and Houthi delegation have not yet held face-to-face consultations. Instead, UN Envoy Martin Griffiths and his team have so far shuttled between Houthi rebels and representatives of the Yemeni government, in Rimbo, north of Stockholm.
Ms Ghanem also said that discussions have yet to address a political solution to the conflict. “This is natural, how can we engage in a political process when there are many issues on the ground that needs to be resolved,” she said.
The UN envoy has outlined three initial objectives for talks in Sweden: securing some confidence-building measures including a prisoner swap, the reopening of the airport in the capital, Sanaa, and securing UN administration of the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeidah, through which almost 80% of international aid enters the country.
The consultations are expected to last until December 13 with both sides under pressure to agree on confidence-building measures that will allow formal peace negotiations to resume.
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No Breakthrough in Second Day of Yemen Peace Talks
The second day of Yemeni talks in Sweden ended Friday without any significant breakthroughs.
However, the legitimate government managed to impose the Taiz file during confidence-building talks held between the warring parties. It also objected to discussing a comprehensive political solution, or what UN special envoy Martin Griffiths calls the “framework agreement.”
Griffiths said talks, held in the Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo north of Stockholm, aim to set up "a framework for negotiations" on a future peace agreement.
A source from the UN said discussions between the two parties were “constructive and positive,” refusing to uncover details of issues tackled during the talks.
“The two sides indirectly discussed many files,” the source said.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1495891/no-breakthrough-second-day-yemen-peace-talks
(* A P)
Film: 2. Day of peace talks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4HNelNEvIk
(* A P)
The head al Houthi movement delegate to UN-led peace consultations in Stockholm, Mohammed Abdul Salam, called for the demilitarization of al Hudaydah port on December 7. Salam reiterated that any transitional phase for Yemen must begin with holding elections and forming a government, followed by the disarmament of all parties.[1]
(A P)
Yemen government says Houthis ‘not serious’ at UN talks
The Houthi militia is “not serious” on finding common ground to end the devastating war in Yemen, a member of the government delegation to the UN-brokered talks in Sweden told AFP Saturday.
“Expectations stem from experience, and from experience I would say no, they are not serious,” said Rana Ghanem, a member of the government delegation to the talks.
Ghanem confirmed the two parties had not yet met face-to-face, with Griffiths and his team shuttling between the delegations.
The feuding sides had, however, been chatting “informally” in the halls, she said.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417621/middle-east
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Removing President Hadi will not solve Yemen's problems: official
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's adviser rejects Houthi proposal of a new transitional government at Sweden talks.
Yemeni officials have said removing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will "not solve the country's problems" after their adversaries, the Houthi rebels, proposed the formation of a new transitional government.
Abdulaziz Jabari, a member of the government's delegation to peace talks in Sweden and a senior adviser to the president, said the country's woes stemmed from the Houthi takeover of Sanaa and other large expanses of the territory, not from the position Hadi occupied.
"The problem is the military coup that took place in 2014," Jabari told Al Jazeera on Saturday. "The problem is with those, who through aggression, took over our country."
"Let's say Hadi is out of the equation, this is not going to solve the problem. On the contrary, fighting over power will continue," he said.
"Our biggest problem is that there is a group which has hijacked the state."
My comment: My comment: The Houthis simply do not agree to the Hadi government’s only goal for these negotiations: This is that the Hadi government claims it must be accepted as the “legitimate” (and only) government of Yemen and thet the Houthis must accept this. But this is how peace cannot work. – And Hadi’s term as president ended on Feb. 27, 2015. Thus, he cannot ba part of the future.
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Yemen Needs New Transition Period to Overcome Crisis - Houthi Spokesman
"[The agreement] includes captives held in prisons of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. They are part of the agreement. The only thing left to do is working out the practical part of the agreement on the prisoner swap. So, we are entering a new stage: the exchange of lists of prisoners between the sides, as well as the exchange of information about those missing. Then the last stage will come: the release of prisoners," Abdel Malek Ajari [a member of the Houthi delegation] said at a press conference in Sweden.
Meanwhile, Yemen needs a new transition period to heal the divide within the army and government structures created by the years of internal conflict, a representative of the Houthi movement’s leadership said on Friday.
"The situation has changed, we see what is called the failure of the state in Yemen … a divided army, divided state structures, so we need a new transition period, like the one that was in 2011. This new transition period [should] be based on transitional structures at the executive and legislative levels, and at the level of the army and security," Abdel Malek Ajari said at a press conference.
The spokesman, however, stressed that the Houthis did not reject the proposed peace initiatives, even though they disagreed with some of them.
"For example, the [2011] Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] initiative has exhausted itself in many respects, as the agreement included only two [political] forces, of which the consensus government would consist. It is no longer relevant now," he stressed, referring to the 2011 events in Yemen.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812081070501890-yemen-houthis-government-talks-sweden/
and also https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/houthis-call-transitional-government-yemen-peace-talks-1509158023
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Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement rejects proposal to hand over Hudaydah
Mohammed Abdulsalam, the head of the Houthi delegation at the peace talks, further said the port of Hudaydah must be kept apart from the military conflict, and that a government should be formed first before all parties are disarmed.
Meanwhile, member of Houthi delegation Abdul Malek al-Aajri said that Sana’a international airport, currently under an imposed closure by the former government and a Saudi-led military coalition, was an important humanitarian matter for the Houthis, who use it to transport sick people and food supplies, rejecting any form of inspection.
(A P)
Film: Hodeida Port Must Go To Government: Yemen FM
https://watch.thewest.com.au/show/71164 = https://video.channel24.co.za/show/71164
(* A P)
Stand-off between government, rebels over Hodeida at Sweden talks
The government has held firm to its demand that the Huthis evacuate the western governorate of Hodeida, home to a Red Sea port that is the entry point for 90 percent of food imports to impoverished Yemen, and hand the area over to security forces.
The rebels, however, refused that demand Friday, saying it was “not on the table”.
The two sides have not yet met face-to-face.
The government, which accuses the Huthis of arms smuggling from Iran through Hodeida and Sanaa airport, was not open to negotiations on control of the port, a member of the delegation said Friday.
“We are now in negotiations in response to calls by the international community, the UN and the UN envoy. We are still looking into means towards peace,” said Agriculture Minister Othman al-Mujalli.
“But if they (the rebels) are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness,” he told reporters in response to a question on the rebel-held city. “And we are ready.”
Mujalli said the UN could play a “supervisory” role, but he rejected the idea of placing management of the port in the hands of a third party.
The two parties are also looking at the potential reopening of Sanaa airport, located in the rebel-held capital and largely shut down for three years, sources in both delegations said.
The Saudi-led government camp controls Yemeni airspace and maritime borders.
(* A P)
Houthis reject government proposals over Sanaa airport in Yemen peace talks
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has proposed reopening the Houthi-held airport in the capital Sanaa on condition planes are inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control, two government officials said on Friday.
(* A P)
Houthi rebels reject government request to re-open Sanaa airport
Houthi rebels rejected on Friday a request made by Yemen’s government to re-open Sanaa airport to domestic flights, further complicating the second day of a UN-led peace process.
"Sanaa airport is an international airport," the rebel’s representative Abdul Malik Al Ajri said during a press conference.
Yemen’s governmental delegation said on Friday morning that they are in Sweden to fully negotiate peace.
“We have submitted our proposals to the UN Envoy, we support the re-opening of Sanaa’s domestic airport, for flights to depart from and to between Sanaa and Aden,” Yemen’s Minister of Culture, Marwan Damaj told reporters.
The government proposed that once the airport has opened, airplanes must stop in the southern city of Aden or the eastern city of Sayun, for inspection, Hamza Al Kamali, a member of the delegation told The National.
“We want the airport to be under the full supervision and inspection of security forces that have been in power since 2014,” Mr Al Kamali said, adding that the Houthis must withdrawal from Sanaa.
Peace will only prevail in Yemen once the Houthi rebels hand over their weapons and Sanaa, the official said.
My comment: The Hadi government’s proposal includes further claims. It’s not (just) for Sanaa airport. It’s for getting acknowledged their claimed “legitimacy” by the Houthis. And, even more, it’s for getting full control of Houthi-held territory. This seems to be the only goal of this government. Blaming the Houthis for “further complicating” the peace process when rejecting this is quite odd.
Comment by Judith Brown: The difficulty is that the Houthis don't want to accept Hadi control - in truth probably no one in Yemen does but that is what is stipulated in the GCC written UNSC Resolution 2216. They don't want to necessarily rule themselves but to find a compromise government to hand over to. Let's hope that this can be bridged in the current talks. It won't mean Yemen will be at peace but it would be one step closer and would certainly help the humanitarian situation.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157201726248641
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Yemen government proposes reopening Sanaa airport if planes inspected
Yemen’s government supports the reopening of Sanaa international airport, shut down for years in the country’s war, but only under supervision, an official said Thursday.
“We are keen on the opening of Sanaa airport, and we demand the opening of Sanaa airport and we know that the Yemeni citizen should have the right to reach any country in the world through Sanaa airport,” said Abdulaziz Jabari, a presidential advisor and member of a Yemeni government delegation at UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.
“But... we are looking into who will supervise Sanaa airport.”
One of the government’s conditions is that planes are first inspected in the airports of Aden or Sayun which are under its control. Sanaa airport is currently controlled by the Houthis.
The proposal was made at the UN-sponsored peace talks which started on Thursday in Sweden.
The government also said that peace cannot be achieved if the Houthi militia refuses to hand over all their weapons to the government.
A government offensive on Yemen’s Hodeida is still an option if rebels refuse to withdraw from the port city, a minister said Thursday, as the warring sides met for UN-brokered talks.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417166/middle-east
and film by MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/money/yemen-govt-supports-reopening-of-sanaa-airport-under-supervision/vp-BBQE7EG
My comment: ??? The Hadi government’s only interest seems to be that its claimed “legitimacy” is accepted and always considered by everyone, the Houthis included. – And, what they also seem to have got wrong: These talks are on peace, not on capitulation.
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Military offensive still open if rebels reject Hodeida pullout: Yemen govt
A government offensive on Yemen's Hodeida remains an option if rebels refuse to withdraw from the port city, a minister said Friday, as the warring sides met for UN-brokered talks.
"But if they (the rebels) are not responsive, we have many options, including that of military decisiveness," he told reporters in response to a question on the rebel-held city. "And we are ready."
(A P)
Asked about a Houthi proposal to form a presidential council without President Hadi, Kamali said the idea crossed a well-established "red line".
"We believe the war will end if we return to three initiatives - UN resolution 2216, the outcomes of the National Dialogue and the outcomes of the Gulf Initiative.
"We need to go back to the political track we had in 2011 - that is the best solution to ending Yemen’s crisis. President Hadi is off the table. He will be the president until we have elections after finishing steps from the Gulf Initiative."
My comment: Hadi’s term is over since February 27, 2015. There is no more “legitimacy” with him; a new common transitory government will require a new transitory president. The claimed “three initiatives“ are either outdated or biased and block any way to a peace deal.
(B P)
They travelled to the other side of Earth, Sweden, for peace talks, but they're refusing to sit around one table. A puzzle, right?! Well, it's Yemen: militants in the north believing they're now statesmen and government, and a puppet government in exile believing it's legitimate.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1070858431760908290
(A P)
Film: Stockholm talks - part 3. An Ambassador's digital diplomacy tale
https://twitter.com/UKinYemen/status/1070733714601189378
(A P)
Elisabeth Kendall, Film: As #Yemen peace talks kick off in #Sweden, what might we expect? Ideally, 3 types of outcome...
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1070761898117922818
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Griffiths Sets 3 Objectives for Consultations on Yemen
United Nations envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has set three objectives at the opening of consultations on Yemen held in a renovated castle outside the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
The objectives that Griffiths mentioned include measures that would lead to confidence-building, through talks on the implementation of an agreement on the release of captives, the opening of Sanaa airport and shoring up Yemen’s economy.
The other two objectives include limiting confrontations and reaching a general framework for a settlement.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1494606/griffiths-sets-3-objectives-consultations-yemen
Remark: By Saudi media. Did he really not mention Hodeidah? Free access for humanitarian help?
(* A P)
Diplomatic delegations in Sweden discuss four major issues in first round of meetings
The teams were reportedly divided into four groups to discuss the issues at hand.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths had held two separate meetings with the heads of the two delegations in order to discuss the agenda, noting that the agreement had divided the first negotiating session into four groups.
According to international media, the first group was tasked to discuss the reunification of the Yemeni central bank and ending the financial division between Sanaa and Aden.
The second group was tasked to discuss military truce and halting the military escalation, and the third group to debating the reopening of Sana’a International Airport to civilian flights. The fourth group discussed the exchange of prisoners according to a pact that all parties have signed.
http://en.ypagency.net/70063/?fbclid=IwAR1SUUxtKy6087Dyx8AW5nJcrHTA94Ib6doZwt0uuFN60YI9HBB-dSxZ0lA
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First day of Yemen peace talks conclude with 'difficult' but 'critical' discussions
Yemen's government and rebels, locked in a devastating war, traded accusations on Thursday as they sat down for talks the United Nations described as "difficult" but "critical".
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one UN official said the talks marked "the beginning of difficult work".
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Yemeni FM's remarks at Sweden peace talks trigger anger in Sanaa
Khaled al-Yamani demanded the Houthis lay down their arms, something they have previously refused to do.
Yemen's foreign minister has sparked anger in his home country after he demanded Houthi rebels, who control the capital and large swathes of territory, hand over power to his exiled government.
Speaking at UN-sponsored peace talks in the Swedish town of Rimbo, Khaled al-Yamani gave little indication he was going to offer concessions to his adversaries after the first day of peace talks were held in nearly two years.
and
(A P)
Yemen FM: Some Houthis excluded from Sweden peace talks
The Yemeni Foreign Minister and head of the government delegation Khalid Al-Yamani said it has been agreed that extra participants in the Houthi delegation would be removed from peace talks which began in Sweden yesterday.
Member of the government’s delegation, Osman Majali, said earlier in the day that the Houthis did not adhere to the mechanism put forward by the UN envoy regarding the number of participants in their delegation which may hinder the negotiations.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181207-yemen-fm-some-houthis-excluded-from-sweden-peace-talks/
My comment: A strange way for starting “peace talks”. – Thus, the reaction is not even strange:
(A P)
Yemen rebels weigh 'seriousness' of Sweden talks
Yemen's Huthi rebels will assess the "seriousness" of fragile UN-brokered talks with the rival government in Sweden on Friday, the head of the delegation said.
"We have no problem holding talks with the other side," Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam said Thursday, as the first day of the talks wound down.
"We will judge whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," Abdelsalam told the Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television channel.
(A P)
Former Yemeni war detainee praises UN-brokered prisoner swap
“The prisoner swap is actually big news and it especially means a lot to Yemenis,” Hisham Al-Omeisy told The World from his home in exile in Cairo. "I was detained myself."
Omeisy, a Yemeni political analyst and one-time political prisoner, was taken from his home in the Yemeni capital by secret police in 2017. He was released in January 2018 after five months last year in a security prison run by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
He’s pleased to see warring parties agree to a potential release of thousands of prisoners. And he says it is likely welcome news for most Yemenis, regardless of which side they’re on.
"I remember what my family had to go through during my detention,” he said. “They constantly worried that I wasn't going to make it alive out of the prison. They didn't even know where I was.”
Omeisy, who was released in January this year, talks about his confinement without hesitation now.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-12-07/former-yemeni-war-detainee-praises-un-brokered-prisoner-swap
(A P)
Saudi warplanes on Thursday launched over 28 airstrikes on various parts of Yemen despite earlier claims that it had ordered its forces halt their attacks on Yemen with the beginning of peace talks in Sweden.
“The fact that the coalition forces and their mercenaries have continued their aggression against Yemen on the first day of peace talks in Sweden indicates that the aggressors have no interest in the establishment of peace and preparing the grounds for a second round of talks,” Yemen’s al-Masirah television network quoted a Yemeni army general as saying.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/12/07/582214/Yemen-Saudi-planes-airstrike-Sweden
(* A P)
Yemen: Talks Should Address Rights Concerns
Groups Call for Concrete Steps to Minimize Civilian Harm
Participants to the Yemen talks in Sweden should prioritize key human rights issues, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Mwatana Organization for Human Rights said today. The issues should include removing impediments to the free flow of humanitarian aid and vital commercial goods such as food and fuel, the fate of detainees, and ending attacks on civilians and civilian objects. Talks should also address how best to ensure justice, truth, and reparation for victims of war crimes.
“While the warring parties may narrowly focus on their strategic interests, concerned governments should press them to ensure that these talks also take into account the need to protect millions of Yemeni civilians,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, acting Emergencies director at Human Rights Watch. “If human rights take a back seat to political goals, Yemenis may be no better off than before these talks began.”
Addressing Starvation
The warring parties have engaged in armed conflict in a manner that has also exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and deepened civilian suffering, the rights groups said.
Fate of Detainees and Forcibly Disappeared
Talks should also address the fate of forcibly disappeared people and detainees, in particular those arbitrarily detained and held without charge by the Houthis, the Hadi government, and the United Arab Emirates.
Setting the Stage for Accountability and Redress
Talks should also allow for criminal investigations and, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecutions of all those suspected of crimes under international law.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/06/yemen-talks-should-address-rights-concerns
(* A P)
US ices Iran out of Yemen talks
Iran sought to send a high-level official to Yemen peace talks but was rebuffed by the Donald Trump administration, Al-Monitor has learned.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry recently informed Sweden, which is hosting this week's UN-sponsored talks, of its desire to send a senior adviser to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the shuttle diplomacy between the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Stockholm. But the request was denied, according to several Iranian sources, because of US pressure.
The State Department would not confirm its role in shutting out Tehran, saying it doesn't detail the contents of its private diplomatic discussions. Neither the Swedish Embassy in Washington nor UN envoy Martin Griffiths responded to requests for comment.
But the State Department did suggest the Iranians are not playing a helpful role.
My comment: Can anyone tell why this should depend on the US???? But, as Iran actually only plays a secondary role in this conflict, an Iranian official really would not be necessary there.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
Yemen, Syria top agenda at GCC summit in Riyadh
Leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will gather in Riyadh on Sunday for a meeting of the GCC’s Supreme Council, chaired by King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The conflicts in Yemen and Syria, and tension in Iraq, are likely to top the agenda at the summit
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417786/saudi-arabia
(* B P)
Political sins that have destroyed Saudi Arabia’s image
The widespread rejection of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s visit to their countries by some Arab political and cultural elites indicates the great damage done to the image of the Kingdom across the region in recent years. This is due to the major mistakes made by the government in Riyadh, mistakes so severe they are considered to be political sins, of which Jamal Khashoggi’s murder was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181205-political-sins-that-have-destroyed-saudi-arabias-image/
(A P)
Black Eyed Peas: don't play for the butcher!
This is urgent -- in less than 2 weeks, the famous hip hop group Black Eyed Peas will perform in Saudi Arabia.
This is seriously disturbing -- as the Saudi Crown Prince bombs Yemen to the ground, starves people to death, and ordered the murder of a prominent journalist, the very last thing we need is a trendy group artwashing his bloody crimes!
Add your name and when a million join Avaaz will pull out all the stops to ensure the group hears our call.
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/black_eye_peas_dont_play_saudi/
(* B P)
Mohammed bin Salman’s comeback tour
While people in Tunisia and Mauritania took to the streets to protest the crown prince’s visit and a group of prominent Algerian journalists and intellectuals wrote an open letter calling the visit “unethical and politically inappropriate,” political leaders at each stop along the way showered MBS with praise and affection.
With much of this adoration to be expected – MBS chose friendly spots to visit – the tour had three important takeaways.
Despite what appeared to be an international tide turning against MBS for both his suspected role in the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi support for the war in Yemen, the overarching theme of the tour was that silence pays.
As a thank you, throughout his visit, MBS bestowed gifts upon the leaders who stood by him, from a new oil pipeline jointly managed by Saudi Aramco and Bahrain’s Bapco to a promise to establish the King Salman Hospital in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
While much of the Western press has focused on the Tunisian protests, the more remarkable aspect of the trip was his reception by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.
The only country to reject MBS’s advances during the trip is Morocco – by Sarah Yerkes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/12/06/mohammed-bin-salmans-comeback-tour/
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
Siehe / Look at cp9
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B P)
The Wooing of Jared Kushner: How the Saudis Got a Friend in the White House
Mr. Kushner’s support for Prince Mohammed in the moment of crisis is a striking demonstration of a singular bond that has helped draw President Trump into an embrace of Saudi Arabia as one of his most important international allies.
But the ties between Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed did not happen on their own. The prince and his advisers, eager to enlist American support for his hawkish policies in the region and for his own consolidation of power, cultivated the relationship with Mr. Kushner for more than two years, according to documents, emails and text messages reviewed by The New York Times.
A delegation of Saudis close to the prince visited the United States as early as the month Mr. Trump was elected, the documents show, and brought back a report identifying Mr. Kushner as a crucial focal point in the courtship of the new administration.
Since the uproar over Mr. Khashoggi’s killing, the Trump administration has acknowledged only one conversation between Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed: an Oct. 10 telephone call joined by John R. Bolton, the national security adviser. The Americans “asked for more details and for the Saudi government to be transparent in the investigation process,” the White House said in a statement.
But American officials and a Saudi briefed on their conversations said that Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed have continued to chat informally. According to the Saudi, Mr. Kushner has offered the crown prince advice about how to weather the storm, urging him to resolve his conflicts around the region and avoid further embarrassments.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/world/middleeast/saudi-mbs-jared-kushner.html
(* A P)
U.S. opposes ditching support for Saudi-led coalition in Yemen – official
The United States strongly opposes discontinuing support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war and will remain engaged in efforts to combat Iranian influence and Islamist militancy in the Arab state, a State Department official said on Sunday.
Obviously there are pressures in our system ... to either withdraw from the conflict or discontinue our support of the coalition, which we are strongly opposed to on the administration side," said Timothy Lenderking, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Gulf Affairs.
"We do believe that the support for the coalition is necessary. It sends a wrong message if we discontinue our support," he told a security forum in the United Arab Emirates.
"There is no place in a future Yemen for an Iranian-backed threat to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and vital international economic quarters," he said, adding that the coalition was also combating al Qaeda and Islamic State militants in Yemen.
My comment: The last quotation is odd propaganda: Today’s Yemen also does not. – And more, all this by no means is up to the US – as it would not be up to Canada, Chile, Madagascar…
(A P)
Bob Corker’s Final Act: A Middle Finger to Trump’s Foreign Policy
Bob Corker (R-TN) has just a few weeks left as a United States senator, and he’s determined to use that time to deliver one final rebuke to President Donald Trump.
Corker, the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is cobbling together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats in an attempt to force the Trump administration to do something that would undermine a key tenet of its foreign policy: acknowledge that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“I know he did it. I want him to be named,” a defiant Corker told The Daily Beast on Thursday, later adding: “I’d like to do something that actually has teeth.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bob-corkers-final-act-a-middle-finger-to-trumps-foreign-policy
(* B K P)
The U.S. Is Paying More Than It Bargained for in the Yemen War
The Pentagon says that “errors in accounting” mean Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have not been properly charged for refueling.
President Donald Trump, who repeatedly complains that the United States is paying too much for the defense of its allies, has praised Saudi Arabia for ostensibly taking on Iran in the Yemen war. It turns out, however, that U.S. taxpayers have been footing the bill for a major part of the Saudi-led campaign, possibly to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
The revelation—detailed in a Defense Department letter obtained by The Atlantic—is likely to raise further ire among senators who have grown ever-more critical of Saudi conduct in the war, which has resulted in a growing number of civilian casualties, and U.S. support for it.
Since the start of the Saudi-led intervention, in March 2015, and up until last month, the United States provided mid-air refueling for Saudi-led coalition aircraft that then flew missions related to the Yemen campaign. Getting heavy U.S. tankers into the air and carrying out this job is enormously expensive. The recipient country is required by law to pay the costs, but that isn’t what happened here. In a mea culpa of sorts, the Pentagon’s November 27 letter states that while the Defense Department “believed” Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “had been charged for the fuel and refueling services, they in fact had not been charged adequately.” How inadequately, the Pentagon will not yet say; it is “currently calculating the correct charges,” the letter states.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/12/pentagon-refueling-controversy-saudi-led-war-yemen/577666/ = https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/12/who-paying-war-yemen/153398/
(* A P)
Nikki Haley: We can't give Saudi Arabia a pass on Khashoggi
In an apparent break with President Donald Trump, outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley suggested the Saudi government needs to be held in continued account for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"The whole situation with Khashoggi is, we can't give them a pass. We can't," Haley said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine conducted Wednesday and released Friday. "The reason is, you have Saudi government officials that did this in a Saudi consulate. The Saudi government doesn't get a pass. We can't condone it, we can't ever say it's okay, we can't ever support thuggish behavior, and we have to say that," Haley said.
Haley acknowledged that the US had imposed sanctions against Saudi individuals allegedly involved in the dissident journalist's death, but said the US needed to continue to "push back" until there was full accountability. Asked specifically about whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman needed to be held to account, Haley said "the administration needs to decide."
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/07/politics/nikki-haley-atlantic-interview/index.html
and full interview: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/nikki-haley-interview-transcript/577555/
(A P)
US Senator Calls for Expulsion of Saudi Ambassador to US
U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today again called for the expulsion of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia and the younger brother of the Crown Prince.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4214&cat_id=3
(* B P)
Meet the Senators Who Took Saudi Money
And then voted against the measure that would get America out of the Kingdom's war in Yemen
While the measure passed, opposition from the Saudi lobby was fierce and strongly reflected in the vote. In fact, of the 37 senators who voted against the measure, 30 have received campaign contributions from lobbying firms working for the Saudis. In total, an analysis of Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) records reveals at least $226,182 in campaign contributions reported by firms registered to represent Saudi Arabia that went to these 30 senators over the past two years.
The top recipient of Saudi lobbying firm contributions among senators who voted against the measure was Dean Heller, Republican of Nevada, who received $27,150.
To be sure, lobbyists and firms working for the Saudis have also made considerable campaign contributions to senators who voted for the measure.
Campaign contributions have been, and will continue to be, a key weapon for the Saudis in trying to keep members of Congress in line.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/meet-the-senators-who-took-saudi-money/
(B P)
Nancy Pelosi Finds Time for War Hawks—But Not Yemeni-American Peace Advocates
While declining to meet with the Yemeni Alliance Committee, Pelosi has been palling around with the Israeli-American Council and the Saudi ambassador.
My comment: Whether Republicans or democrats – this makes little difference. “The War Party”, that’s both of them.
(* B K P)
Full Accounting Needed of US-UAE Counterterrorism Partnership in Yemen
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed on August 13, requires the defense secretary to submit to Congress within 120 days a report on whether the “armed forces or coalition partners of the United States violated federal law or Department of Defense (DOD) policy while conducting operations in Yemen.”
With this report, we may begin to have some fruitful dialogue about the specific legal and moral compromises we have made by going all in with the UAE in exchange for progress against terrorist groups in Yemen.
With this steady drip of troubling news, we are now face-to-face with the pitfalls of proxy warfare, even with partners who appear as operationally competent as the Emiratis.
The detention-related allegations raise familiar questions about U.S. complicity in rendition, black sites and torture. The potential use of mercenaries in a war zone is reminiscent of the days of Blackwater roaming Iraq with virtual impunity. The possibility that the UAE is cutting deals with AQAP reminds one of Pakistani double dealing with the Taliban. Whether or not the American public recognizes the ominous precursors here, no doubt the Yemeni public and others in the region easily remember the uglier moments of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign following 9/11. And with every passing month that the U.S. government offers no public explanation of its partnership with the Emiratis, or how we are steering clear of their worst abuses, we are back in the opaque early days of the Global War on Terror, urged to just trust those who operate in the shadows and to turn a blind eye to the compromises they have to make to keep America safe – by Luke Hartig
https://www.justsecurity.org/61761/full-accounting-needed-us-uae-counterterrorism-partnership-yemen/
(* B P)
Congress looks to usurp Trump’s foreign policy powers
Senators are furious after the Khashoggi killing and are eager to challenge the president.
And now the fury is so great on Capitol Hill over the Saudi murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi — and the Trump administration’s tepid response — that senators are deliberating over whether to pull U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
In fact, it’s Trump’s fellow Republicans who have often led the charge against his foreign policy — a sign that his nationalist views have gained little traction in his party’s upper rungs. And with Democrats taking control of the House next month, the Hill’s intrusion on foreign policy is likely to get even sharper.
(* B P)
US Policy in Yemen: Applying Pressure on Trump
In some sense, it’s as much about domestic politics as it is about foreign policy. Particularly following the Khashoggi affair, Trump’s domestic opponents have focused in on the administration’s alignment with Saudi Arabia as a potentially fruitful means of applying pressure on the president. There’s a deep irony when it comes to the critiques of Trump’s Yemen policy: US support for the Saudi-led coalition began under the Obama administration, and many Obama allies who are now sharp critics of the Trump administration’s support for the Saudis provided crucial diplomatic cover for the coalition, particularly at the UN.
It remains unclear whether this will have any substantive effect on the Trump administration’s positioning. It remains difficult to imagine Trump making any dramatic shifts here
Even if the US pulls all support for the coalition, its hard to see the conflict suddenly wrapping to a halt – by Adam Baron
http://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/us-policy-in-yemen-applying-pressure-on-trump/
(* A P)
Nominee for US Ambassador to Yemen is No Friend of the Yemeni People
Christopher Henzel is presently the Charge d'Affairs, or acting Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. A career Foreign Service officer, he has been the acting Ambassador since the departure of the Obama administration's appointee in January 2017. He is now Trump's pick to become the highest US diplomat to the war-torn nation of Yemen, but his initial appearance before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not go very well.
With the war raging in Yemen, the US Embassy in Sanaa is closed and the US Ambassador to Yemen will be located conveniently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the same building as the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Since the Trump administration has not filled the position of US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Henzel as the new Ambassador to Yemen will be seen as the top US diplomat.
As the acting US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Christopher Henzel is neck-deep in the blood of the Yemeni people and confirming him as the US Ambassador to Yemen will continue the US role in the starvation and deaths of millions of Yemenis.
(B P)
Audio / Film: During peace talks, UN envoy says future of Yemen is at risk
Nick Schifrin explains the country’s humanitarian crisis and the Capitol Hill battle over U.S. involvement.
Amanda Catanzano: The Congress can't fundamentally alter the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
However, they can change things at the margins. They control the purse strings. They have an ability to slow down or stop arm sales and other forms of support. While the White House remains in the driver's seat, to a large extent, Congress can become a very annoying backseat driver.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/during-peace-talks-un-envoy-says-future-of-yemen-is-at-risk
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENHMhpWm_EE
(A P)
Corker calls Trump’s loyalty to Saudi Arabia ‘un-American’
Republican Sen. Bob Corker on Thursday called the Trump administration’s continuing loyalty to the regime of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman following Jamal Khashoggi’s murder “un-American.”
He and other top senators from both parties met Thursday to try to hammer out a deal to rebuke Saudi Arabia for the killing of the journalist
https://nypost.com/2018/12/06/corker-calls-trumps-loyalty-to-saudi-arabia-un-american/
(* A P)
The Senate is Poised to Pass the Yemen Resolution. Now What?
The House is almost certain not to take up the measure while Republicans are still in control. But what about next year?
But what the resolution will accomplish if passed is a far murkier matter. The Trump administration has defended its ongoing support of the Saudi coalition and has said the president will veto any congressional bid to curtail that assistance. The House is almost certain not to take up the measure before Democrats take over in January.
Still, the Senate is moving forward and will likely vote on the matter on Wednesday, according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who opposes it. After it clears a couple of a procedural hurdles, the resolution will require a simple majority to pass, thanks to the particular parliamentary procedure that brought it to the floor.
No matter its fate after next week, if the Senate does pass the Sanders-Lee resolution, it will still be a historic vote, Murphy argued.
“The underlying War Powers Resolution is super meaningful,” Murphy said.
https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/12/senate-poised-pass-yemen-resolution-now-what/153354/
(* A P)
Last Week, The Senate Was Set To Rebuke Trump On Saudi Arabia. But That Was Then.
Two options other than a bill that would end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen have surfaced since the 63–37 vote, which was considered a rebuke of Trump.
A Senate vote last week that was widely seen as a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s policy toward Saudi Arabia may turn out to be something less definitive as senators consider two other options that stop short of ending US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
One of those options would affect US actions in the war but would not end US participation, while the other is nonbinding, meaning it wouldn’t necessarily do anything.
But the Senate delayed a vote on the measure itself until this week, and now appears unlikely to consider the legislation before next week. Meanwhile, the two other options seem to be on the table.
That bill, which has not yet made it out of committee, would not withdraw US support from the war but would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and impose mandatory sanctions on those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder.
The third option, a nonbinding resolution, was introduced on Wednesday
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilytamkin/senate-rebuke-trump-saudi-arabia
(* B P)
The Trump Administration’s Two-Faced Yemen Policy
U.S. officials switch back and forth between insisting that U.S. support for the Saudi coalition is too important to stop to denying that it exists and back again.
The lie that the U.S. isn’t participating in the war on Yemen is an old one, and it spans both the Obama and Trump administrations. The Pentagon has been very careful to stick to this fabrication because once they explicitly admit they are participants in a foreign war without authorization they have to admit that their operations aren’t legal.
When Congress tries to shut down U.S. support for the war, however, administration officials change their tune. They go from denying participation in the war to vehemently defending their role in backing the Saudis and Emiratis. They issue grave warnings about all of the terrible things that will follow if Congress votes to cut it off.
Earlier this week, the administration’s nominee to head Centcom, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, came under fire for trying to push these two contradictory claims
If U.S. support for the war on Yemen is as limited as administration officials sometimes claim, they should have no problem with stopping it. If that support is important enough that they think it shouldn’t be cut off, it is also important enough that Congress should have had to authorize it. In that case, U.S. involvement for the last forty-four months has been illegal and unauthorized, and so it ought to end anyway. Support for the war on Yemen is indefensible, so it is not a surprise that administration officials have to tell obvious lies to keep it going, but that is one more reason why Congress should put a halt to U.S. involvement at once.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-trump-administrations-two-faced-yemen-policy/
referring to
(A P)
US, Saudi Arabia Mil-to-Mil Ties Unchanged Following Khashoggi Murder – Pentagon
The United States should not be part of the ongoing civil war in Yemen and remain an "honest procurer," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said.
"I would continue to recommend that we are not a participant in a civil war in Yemen and remain an honest procurer, if you will, with the ability to contribute to a diplomatic solution in Yemen," Dunford said in an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday. "There is no military solution."
Dunford said the United States is not a participant in the civil war in Yemen and is not supporting any one side in the conflict.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812071070463682-usa-saudi-arabia-military-ties-khashoggi-case/
and
(* A P)
Nominees face growing opposition to Trump administration policy on Yemen, Saudi Arabia
Lawmakers pressed the Trump administration Tuesday over its continued involvement in Yemen’s civil war, as widespread civilian suffering and staunch White House support for Saudi Arabia’s campaign there fuel opposition on Capitol Hill.
Senators’ skeptical questioning of high-level nominees provided new indications of how the administration’s defense of Saudi Arabia, despite the punishing Yemen conflict and the kingdom’s role in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead U.S. Central Command, argued the opposite view, telling members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. involvement advances the goal of a peace deal between the Houthis and the internationally backed Yemeni government.
“I believe our ability to participate and drive those discussions requires that we remain in contact with both [the United Arab Emirates] and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said. The UAE is also conducting operations against Houthi positions in Yemen.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) voiced exasperation at what he called a “credibility issue” rooted in the administration’s depiction of its role in the war. “We have had military leaders look at the Senate and say that we are not involved in hostilities to support either side in the Yemeni civil war,” Kaine said.
“One of the reasons that we’re having this debate . . . is we don’t like being told — and we’re proxies for the American public — we don’t like being told we’re not involved in hostilities, when bombs that are falling are made in the United States and when U.S. jets are involved in refueling Saudi bombing runs into Yemen,” he said. “We’re insulted by that. . . . We don’t find that to be believable.”
(* A P)
Why the Senate Yemen Debate Might Not Include Response to Khashoggi Murder
Republicans may seek to limit amendment scope
The Senate is likely to proceed to a war powers resolution on U.S. involvement in Yemen next week, but the broader debate on policy toward Saudi Arabia may be short-circuited.
The Senate has not defined rules for floor debate on resolutions like the one that was recently discharged from the Foreign Relations Committee, and the chairman of that Senate panel intends to ask the chamber to set restrictive rules for amendments to war powers resolutions.
Exiting a Senate Republican lunch, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee outlined his plan to ensure that floor debate next week on a joint resolution aiming to stop U.S. backing of the Saudi-led war in Yemen avoids turning into an amendment free-for-all. He wants his colleagues to vote to define the universe of amendments narrowly, allowing only germane proposals.
(* A P)
U.S. MILITARY DEFENDS SAUDI ARABIA, SAYS COMMANDER 'LOOKED ALL HIS PILOTS IN THE EYE' AND TOLD THEM NOT TO KILL CIVILIANS
Defense Secretary James Mattis has defended his previous policy of refueling Saudi warplanes conducting controversial strikes in Yemen and said that the decision to end this measure came only after he was assured Riyadh was serious about avoiding civilian casualties.
Mattis said the call was made after the Pentagon instructed Saudi counterparts how not to kill innocents.
"We explained how if you put this bomb on this target and there's a house over here we can tell you if it's safe or not, okay? We did not pick any targets," Mattis said. "We did not do any dynamic targeting. We taught them how we would organize missile defense, because you know they've been having missiles launched at their cities' international airport. We taught them how to do the restricted and no-fire areas."
"At that point, I did not believe that we needed to continue refueling as a measure to prevent civilian casualties," he added. "The thing that actually made me make the decision was the Royal Saudi Air Force commander had gone from base to base, looked all his pilots in the eye, and said you will do it this way. And at that point I knew from the top all the way down to the pilots, they were on the right sheet of music."
https://www.newsweek.com/us-defend-saudi-command-pilots-eye-kill-civilians-1248004
My comment: Is this man actually on crack?
(* A P)
MIT should keep ties with Saudis, internal report says
MIT should maintain its financial and research ties to Saudi Arabia, despite the kingdom’s involvement in a civil war and humanitarian crisis in neighboring Yemen, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s suspected links to the brutal killing of a journalist, an internal university report recommends.
The preliminary report, which was sent to the MIT community on Thursday, acknowledges “the large-scale violations of political, civil and human rights” in Saudi Arabia, but concludes that withdrawing from partnerships would have little effect on the Middle East government.
(* B P)
April 13, 2015: U.S. Double Standards in Ukraine and Yemen
We read in the news that a revolution in a foreign country has gained control of its capital and most of its territory. The country’s president is forced to flee, while his supporters fight on from their regional base, insisting that the new rulers have no legitimacy. How should the U.S. respond?
The U.S. government frames its recognition or non-recognition of changes of government in other countries as a consistent application of the rule of law and constitutionality, tempered by humanitarian concern for the lives of the ordinary people affected. But it is one of the worst kept secrets in the world that U.S. responses to such crises are not really based on the rule of law or humanitarian concerns, but on ideology, calculations (often miscalculations) of U.S. geopolitical and commercial interests, and domestic political pressures.
The scenario above could equally describe Ukraine in 2014 or Yemen in 2015. The U.S.’s conflicting responses to these two crises highlight the wide gulf between image and reality in U.S. foreign policy, and illustrate how the actual decision-making of U.S. political leaders invariably leads to greater violence, bloodshed and chaos.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolas-j-s-davies/us-double-standards-in-uk_b_7044588.html
My comment: Exactly, that’s it. And exactly this was my very first point when, having documented killings in Eastern Ukraine, my attention shifted to Yemen exactly for this reason.
(* A P)
Despite Yemen vote, no Saudi policy changes likely until next year
The Senate is poised to respond to the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with a historic vote next week aimed at ending U.S. support for Saudi hostilities in Yemen — but it will almost certainly take until next year before sweeping changes to Saudi policy stand a chance of clearing Congress.
Growing momentum to punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for ordering Khashoggi’s killing — and rebuke President Trump for supporting Mohammed’s denials — is running into a traditional biannual roadblock: the end of the congressional session. With only days left on the legislative calendar, leaders are loath to devote precious floor time to anything that isn’t already a must-do — a limitation that threatens to leave the most substantive Saudi proposals unaddressed.
“We don’t have time this year,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said, ticking off the major proposals on offer: sanctions against Saudi officials, a moratorium on weapons transfers, an official condemnation of the crown prince and a move to end U.S. involvement in Saudi’s Yemen campaign. Somewhere between them all, Graham guessed, lies a compromise bill that can secure veto-proof support.
But striking the balance will take time, and “I just don’t think we have time to do all that right now,” Graham said.
(* B P)
Conflicting Partisan Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy
The public’s leading long-range foreign policy goals for the United States are focused on security, including economic security. About seven-in-ten (72%) say that taking measures to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks should be a top priority for the country, while about as many (71%) say the same about protecting the jobs of American workers.
Two-thirds (66%) say preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) should be a top long-range priority for the United States.
With only a handful of exceptions, including stopping the spread of WMD, there are sizable differences between Republicans and Democrats on the 26 foreign policy goals in the survey by Pew Research Center, which was conducted Nov. 7-16 among 10,640 adults.
http://www.people-press.org/2018/11/29/conflicting-partisan-priorities-for-u-s-foreign-policy/
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(* A K P)
Stopp deutscher Rüstungslieferungen an Saudi-Arabien: “Augenwischerei”
Das Königreich kann weiter mit deutscher Munition Krieg im Jemen führen. Dafür sorgen Gesetzeslücken und ausgezeichnete Verbindungen
Der einstweilige Lieferungsstopp deutscher Rüstungsexporte an Saudi-Arabien, ist laut Katja Keul “Augenwischerei”. Die Bundestagsabgeordnete und abrüstungspolitische Sprecherin der Grünen begründet ihren Vorwurf damit, dass das deutsche Rüstungsunternehmen Rheinmetall ungeachtet der Entscheidung der Bundesregierung weiterhin Munition an Saudi-Arabien liefert. Ermöglicht werde dies durch Produktionsstätten, die außerhalb Deutschlands liegen und über Tochterfirmen laufen.
(* B K P)
Audio: 4 Jahre Krieg - Was geht uns der Jemen an?
Der Krieg im Jemen geht uns nichts an? Doch. Er geht uns etwas an. Denn dort sind deutsche Kriegswaffen im Einsatz. Trotz Exportverboten. Wie schafft die deutsche Rüstungsindustrie das?
https://www.br.de/mediathek/podcast/1-thema-3-koepfe/4-jahre-krieg-was-geht-uns-der-jemen-an/1348242
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Siehe / Look at cp1 (Emirates)
(A P)
Türkei startet Hilfskampagne für Jemen
http://www.trt.net.tr/deutsch/turkei/2018/12/06/turkei-startet-hilfskampagne-fur-jemen-1101866
und
(A P)
Spendenaktion für Jemen: 90.000 Moscheen in der Türkei sammeln
Die türkische Religionssbehörde Diyanet hat am Freitag in über 90.000 Moscheen des Landes zu einer Spendenaktion für die notleidende Bevölkerung in Jemen aufgerufen
(A P)
Turkey’s presidential aide seeks help for Yemen
Religious Affairs Directorate and Turkiye Diyanet Foundation launch aid campaign for war-torn country
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkey-s-presidential-aide-seeks-help-for-yemen/1331811
and
(A H P)
Turkey's religious body has launched an aid campaign to raise money for people in war-torn Yemen.
Launched by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) and the Turkiye DiyanetFoundation (TDV), the campaign will collect money for Yemeni Muslims, who are struggling against starvation, disease, and civil war.
The collection of donations will begin after Friday prayers in 90,000 mosques across Turkey.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/90-000-mosques-across-turkey-to-raise-money-for-yemen-139524 = https://ahvalnews.com/yemen-turkey/turkish-religious-body-launches-campaign-aid-yemenis
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
(A P)
Qatar's Emir Not Attending (P)GCC Summit in Riyadh: Report
A state minister is representing the country at the meeting instead, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported late Saturday, citing a Qatari official it didn’t identify.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz invited Qatar’s ruler to attend the regional summit.
(B P)
A Saudi-Qatari Détente at the GCC Summit?
An invitation from the king of Saudi Arabia to his Qatari counterpart to attend the December 9 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh has set the stage for potential progress on a protracted dispute that left the council deeply divided and arguably undermined US efforts to build a united front against Iran. It remains to be seen whether the Qatari emir will accept the invitation. Qatar’s decision earlier in the week to exit OPEC, another forum where Saudi Arabia has considerable influence, does not bode well. But even if he does, expectations of a breakthrough must be tampered by a healthy dose of realism and seen in light of stubborn geopolitical facts.
https://www.arabiafoundation.org/arabia-comment/a-saudi-qatari-detente-at-the-gcc-summit/
cp13a Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(* B K)
Documenting Damaged Cultural Heritage and Human Suffering in Yemen’s Civil War
On November 15, the Yemeni human rights organization Mwatanaissued a report on damage to cultural heritage in Yemen from the ongoing civil war. The report, entitled “The Degradation of History: Violations Committed by the Warring Parties against Yemen’s Cultural Property,” is the first comprehensive look at the treatment of Yemen’s cultural heritage over the course of the conflict.
Mwatana conducted research for the report over a period of three years, primarily through on-the-ground interviews and site visits. Information in the report is sometimes limited, as several sites were off-limits to the organizations’ researchers because of the ongoing conflict. And unfortunately, Mwatana did not include photographs and other documentation that they took of affected sites they did visit. Instead, the incident discussions are based solely on eyewitness testimonies. Even with these drawbacks, the report is still extremely valuable for the broad, yet detailed picture it gives.
While there are a few documented incidents of ideological destruction of heritage sites (by Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other jihadist groups), most damage appears to be the direct result of violence between the warring parties. This includes shelling by the Houthis and forces loyal to the ousted president Hadi. But a close examination of the incident reports suggests that the biggest culprit are airstrikes by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
One thing that stands out with the publication of this report is the contrast with the attention to cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq. Yemen’s cultural heritage has not received nearly as much media coverage.
Why this disparity? For one thing, Syria and Iraq have a large number of ancient remains familiarized in biblical and classical texts and architectural forms
There is another factor: Syria’s cultural heritage has been used as a weapon in the Syrian civil war. Not only have ISIS and Russia exploited it, but the US has used it to justify bombing campaigns. In Yemen, the calculus is far different. There, the primary threat to cultural heritage — and to human life — is the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a strong ally of the US and western European countries. There has been little incentive for Western governments and media to draw attention to these actions.
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(* A E P)
Yemeni Riyal recover after direct selling for foreign currency by the central bank
Banking sources said Saturday that the Central Bank of Yemen will for the first time direct selling of foreign currency to traders in an attempt to stabilize the exchange rate at 440 riyals per dollar.
Sources said , that the Bank will sell across some large commercial banks and foreign exchange companies.
The move caused a clear recovery in Yemeni riyal, the dollar slipped from 550 riyals in the black market to 490 in a matter of hours only, with declining Saudi riyals from 145 to 132.
A number of Exchangers started by speculating again in the market taking advantage of the absence of regulatory authorities, and in a matter of hours, the dollar rose from 480 to 540 Riyals.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161898
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) posted a video on December 5 titled “Of Their Crimes,” which denounces the actions of ISIS Wilayat al Bayda. The video features an interview with a man who states that ISIS Wilayat al Baydaarrested him and mistreated him during his imprisonment.[4]
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Hezbollah has tunnels in Syria and Yemen too
Hezbollah assists Houthis in their war with the Saudis and hides Iranian weapons underground in the Bekaa Valley. Now that Assad has regained control of Syria, Nasrallah is back to his usual focus: preparing for war with Israel.
For anyone who may have doubts over Hezbollah's excavation abilities, the proof is in Yemen. For several years now, Hezbollah advisors have been dispatched to help the Shi'ite Houthis in Yemen in their war against Saudi Arabia. The consultation includes tactics for fighting against a regular army, aiming missiles and hiding from bombings.
Four years ago, the London-based newspaper Quraysh revealed that the Houthis were digging a 100-meter-long system of tunnels in al-Khudeida in northern Yemen. The tunnels are both defensive and offensive: for hiding and concealing weapons during bombings, and for infiltrating into the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5421172,00.html
My comment: The Houthis in Bekaa Valley??? In Lebanon??? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beqaa_Valley ). LOL. – And, digging tunnels is nothing special to Hezbollah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_57 and list of all 1961/1973 Berlin escape tunnels (only in German: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Fluchttunnel_in_Berlin_während_der_deutschen_Teilung ).
(A P)
Major agreements that Houthis abandoned
Yemenis say that non-commitment to peace agreements is characteristic of the Houthis as a terrorist religious organization.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-25910
(A P)
Will Stockholm Consultations Succeed?
The success of such an agreement is expected to maintain the path of major humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people from being obstructed or destroyed, which Houthis have been doing since the beginning of the war. This is considered one of the main dilemmas Yemeni people are forced to face, given the importance of Hodeidah port for the country.
The government rely on the port for about 90 percent of Yemen's food imports, while Houthis continue to create obstacles to prevent aids from reaching the beneficiaries.
Given that Houthis are not interested in a political settlement, and they continue to drain the remaining state funds, it is only reasonable to witness an atmosphere that lacks optimism in the consultations, especially since the current talks were not established as peace negotiations, rather as consultations.
Houthis will take advantage of such consultations again and again, as they have done in the past, to maintain their goal of keeping the war ongoing.
My comment: The claims on Hodeidah made here are really putting upside down. “The government rely on the port for about 90 percent of Yemen's food import”: really not, as these imports go to territory which is not held by this “government”. – “Houthis continue to create obstacles to prevent aids from reaching the beneficiaries” is odd when speaking of Hodeidah, as it’s just the Saudi coalition’s assault which “create obstacles to prevent aids from reaching the beneficiaries”.
(A P)
From Sanaa to Sweden
It looks like the optimism that comes with these talks, given the Houthis› nature of dealing with the idea of talks and their pampering by the UN through its special envoy and the conditions and demands that they have imposed prior to accepting to attend the peace talks, is short-lived. All indications prove that the Houthi outlaws are not serious about putting an end to the bloodshed in Yemen. It is evident from the type of people who make up the Houthi negotiation team that will attend the peace talks. Apparently, they are going to present what they were told by Iran.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/549751/Opinion/Local-Viewpoint/From-Sanaa-to-Sweden
My comment: Saudi slaughterers‘ quite absurd propaganda.
(A P)
Loyalty of Saudis will not change
Love is a commitment. In their staunch defense of their country and their leaders, the Saudi people were expressing this commitment.
WHAT is happening? What do they want to achieve? Were this madness, this malevolence and debauchery without any objective?
In fact, they tried to steal our dreams. They want to dash our hope of Saudi Arabia becoming one of the strongest and the most beautiful countries in the world.
They stole the idea that the Kingdom would mobilize its potentials to leap to the future with the spirit of the young and the wisdom of the elderly.
They attacked this country and tried to cast doubts about it, about its leaders and people.
They even attacked everyone who attempted to defend the Kingdom.
They practiced terrorism and madness against society.
A little gang that has no commitment except to crime and vengeance began attacking us. This gang was mobilized by countries that had no self-respect. All of it was orchestrated by a country whose small geographical size made it vindictive.
What happened in the end?
The Kingdom emerged triumphant. The Kingdom and its people stood strongly behind the dream of the young prince Muhammad Bin Salman, who is a strong believer in his people and his country.
At the G20 summit in Argentina, Muhammad Bin Salman was the star. Many leaders wanted to be friendly with him.
Love is a commitment. In their staunch defense of their country and their leaders, the Saudi people were expressing this commitment.
Saudi Arabia will remain a hard nut to crack for its enemies thanks to the love of the Saudis to their country and leaders.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/549597/Opinion/Local-Viewpoint/Loyalty-of-Saudis-will-not-change
My comment: LOL. A Saudi conspiration theory claiming Qatar had been ordering btrhe world-wide reactions in the Khashoggi case.
More Saudi propaganda in the Khashoggi case, blaming Washington Post (http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/548262/SAUDI%20ARABIA ), almost everybody (http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/548537/SAUDI%20ARABIA ), Turkey (http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/547679/Opinion/OP-ED/Turkish-escalation-of-the-Khashoggi-crisis )
(A P)
Ending the Qatar crisis
The four countries boycotting Qatar have stressed the need for the Gulf country to comply with their demands and conditions. However, the Qatari regime has done nothing but the opposite, providing further proof that the boycott of Qatar was a wise decision.
Qatar has conducted a secret war against the four boycotting countries in the international arena in an attempt to defame their reputation and mobilize international human rights organizations and media against them. Qatari media outlets, led by Al-Jazeera, have continued a vicious campaign against the four countries and their interests.
Meanwhile, the four boycotting countries have done nothing except to close the door from one side to prevent the Qatari harm from reaching them, without attempting to target the interests of Qatar.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/549305/Opinion
My comment: Yes, the mouse leading a “secret war” against the tiger.
(A P)
KSRelief steps up aid to war-torn Yemen
KSRelief General Supervisor Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah last week categorically said the humanitarian aspect of the Yemeni conflict is among the top priorities of Saudi Arabia and other members of the Arab coalition.
He said the coalition members strongly support entry of humanitarian aid into Yemen and reject exploitation of this issue for political gains.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417776/saudi-arabia
(B P)
Yemen should not become another failed state
It is necessary to address the shift in the US position regarding the Yemeni crisis.
What needs to be clarified and agreed upon is the role and importance of the Yemen Quartet — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom — in the specifics and the broad outlines of the transitional process.
https://thearabweekly.com/yemen-should-not-become-another-failed-state
My comment: I regret, I simply do not understand the intention of this article.
(A P)
Houthi History of Noncompliance Undermines Sweden Talks Success Prospects
Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi denied Houthi insurgents having shown any serious intent for achieving peace in Yemen and added that attending the UN-sponsored negotiations did not signal a change in the group’s overall policy on stalling progress for the war-ravaged country.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Badi said there hasn’t been any display of Houthi intention for peace in a constructive and serious manner.
Attending the UN talks being held in Stockholm, Sweden, is an “Iran-styled tactical move,” meant to mislead the international community’s perception and sell the notion that the insurgency, too, is looking for peace.
Badi, however, said that after the consultations conclude with no concrete progress, the world will understand the uncooperative nature of coup militias in Yemen.
My comment: The Houthis simply do not agree to the Hadi government’s only goal for these negotiations: This is that the Hadi government claims it must be accepted as the “legitimate” (and only) government of Yemen and thet the Houthis must accept this. But this is how peace cannot work.
(A P)
Yemeni army commander vows to enter Saada if Houthis fail to negotiate at Sweden peace talks
Brigadier General al-Saadi said that the brigade forces are ready to enter deep into Saada and free it from the militia
Yemeni military sources said that the Houthis took advantage of the lull in retaliation and attempted to launch attacks on several fronts.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1417496/middle-east
(A P)
Houthis target Yemeni civilians with explosives hidden in sugar and rice bags
Houthi militias continue to cause damage to the infrastructure and services in Yemen by setting-up booby traps in schools and planting improvised explosive devices and mines in food cans and bags, as part of their destructive strategies to achieve maximum loss of life.
In this regard, the Al Sharaf School in Hodeidah has been transformed into a military barracks following its destruction. Houthis also planted mines and explosive devices in sugar and rice bags, as well as fire extinguishers, in order to reach the homes of Yemeni citizens, public roads and government buildings in the city of Hodeidah. The attacks are in retaliation against locals who rejected their terrorist practices.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302725847
(A P)
Know the future now: Sweden peace talks won't lead to peace
The Houthis are the most extremist theocrats on earth. This religious organization was formed in the 1990s to pursue by brutal force a "God-given" kingdom for its founders. For this cause they fought seven wars since 2004, the latest of which is raging since 2015, pitting them against the internationally recognized government and several Arab countries behind it.
The Houthis are as they have always been; a terrorist religious organization that does not compromise its sacrosanct tenets, at the top of which is the "God-given right" to rule without rivals.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-25867
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi airstrikes kill 5 civilians in western Yemen
According to Al Mayadeen, the Yemeni Health Ministry announced on Saturday night that the US-Arab coalition attacked Al-Rabseh square, Al Hudaydah.
The Yemeni TV Channel 'Al-Masirah' announced that the recent Saudi air strike killed 6 people and injured 10 more.
Earlier on Saturday, four Yemeni fishermen were killed in Saudis' attack on Al Hudaydah.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83127485
In Hodiedah, 6 civilians were killed and 10 others were injured, including children, by US-Saudi airstrikes targeted Hodiedah city. US-Saudi aggression launched 3 raids on Al-Hale district, two raids northern Kilo 16 and a raid on Hodiedah International Airport.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4243&cat_id=1
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4240&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
A wave of #Saudi #UAE strikes on Alraabasah roundabout & surrounding areas in #Hodeidah city W #Yemen killed &injured more than 20 civilians Its Reported that many children r among casualties&strikes continue till this moment preventing rescuers frm reaching site (maps)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1071484054170681352
Names&ages of the victims of the massacre committed yesterday by US-Saudi war criminals against civilians including children&women while walking in the streets of Hodeida city on the Red Sea west Yemen US-Saudi war criminals continue to kill Yemen humans with cold blood.4years!
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071617011845922821
(* A K pH)
Death toll rises to 4 and 12 others serious injured by US-Saudi airstrikes on fishermen on Hodeida coasts west Yemen. Saudi war criminals send their puppets to Sweden for “talks” while they keep dropping bombs on Yemenis all over Yemen.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071460373293862912
(A K pH)
Saudi-led airstrike hits Hodeidah’s Airport
The US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition’s warplanes waged on Saturday an airstrike on Hodeidah province, a security official told Saba.
The airstrike targeted the southern gate of the Hodeidah international airport
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518169.htm
(* A K pH)
#Hodeidah: 4 fishermen were killed as a result of targeting the forces of US-Saudi aggression their boat in front of the al-Harounieh coast of al-Munirah district.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564/2040290446023975/
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4222&cat_id=1
4 Yemeni fishermen were killed today by US-Saudi airstrikes while working on their boat in Hodeida west Yemen.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1071098715526586368
4 Yemeni fishermen killed in Saudi airstrikes
Saudi fighter jets targeted Yemeni fishing boats in al-Hudaydah, west of Yemen, killing four fishermen.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83126229
(A K pH)
In Sa'ada, US-Saudi aggression launched 4 raids on the telecom network in Razih district and targeted a civilian's car with two raids in Majz district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4218&cat_id=1
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrbOIKwtE5k
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
Dec. 8:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518071.htm Hodeidah p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518067.htm Saada p.
Dec. 7:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518025.htm and https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4218&cat_id=1 Hodeidah p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pS)
A civilian killed by Houthi sniper in Al-Rawdhah-Taiz
Nisar Abdo Fare’ (27) shot by a sniper positioned at one of Houthis positions, while was passing nearby, injuring him eloquently and passed away before reaching the hospital.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/161910
photo: https://twitter.com/AlziyadiNuha/status/1071454272691339264
(A K pH)
Saudi rocketry, artillery shell border populated areas in Saada
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518144.htm
(A K pS)
Three civilians were injured, including a woman, in an armed conflict in downtown Taiz city.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1070821451958284288
(A K pS)
Local sources reported that the Houthi militia targeted the houses of civilians with mortars and Katyusha rockets in Aldir village in Hajja governorate. This village was shelled in November, resulting in the death of a civilian, Hamid Alresayee, and wounding of others.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1070803226822410241
(A K pH)
Army fires 6 missiles on Najran
The army missile force fired on Thursday six missiles type Zilzal-1 while the artillery bombarded several sites of the enemy in Jizan province, a military official told Saba.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news518029.htm
and
(A K pH)
Air Force, Artillery Unit of the Army and Popular Committees Targeted US-Saudi Mercenaries in Jizan , Aseer
The Air Force and Artillery Unit of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees launched a joint attack on Thursday targeting gatherings of the US-Saudi invaders and mercenaries in Jizan and Aseer, killing and 5 others were injured by explosive devices off Al-Nar mountain.
The Supportive Artillery Force of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees, launched 6 ballistic missiles, Zezal1, at US-Saudi Mercenaries gatherings in Qays mountain and AL-Lej village,in Jizan, a military source told Al-Masirah Net.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=4206&cat_id=1
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(-)
Photos: Faces from the local vegetables market in Taiz. Those faces represent the vast majority of Yemenis who are very simple, direct and looking forward to a bundle of better days. Peace is here.
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1071304351791177728
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-488-yemen-war-mosaic-488
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-488b-yemen-war-mosaic-488b
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-488 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-488:
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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