..., gegenseitige Beschuldigungen, neue Bemühungen der UNO – und mehr
January 31, 2019: Film by German ZDF TV: Yemen – the war, children and famine (in German) – Films by Doctors Without Borders – Houthi land mines – Hodeidah: Fighting is going on, mutual blames, new efforts by the UN – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German
cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Gefangenenaustausch / Prisoner swap
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
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 P)
Kurzfilm des ZDF: Bürgerkrieg im Jemen
Seit 2015 tobt in Jemen ein Krieg, unter dem die Zivilbevölkerung in besonderem Maße leidet.
https://www.zdf.de/politik/auslandsjournal/buergerkrieg-im-jemen-108.html
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K P)
Film des ZDF: Jemen – der Krieg, die Kinder und der Hunger
Seit fast vier Jahren herrscht im Jemen ein Krieg, für den sich die Welt kaum interessiert. 22 Millionen Menschen sind auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. Nur selten erhalten westliche Journalisten Einblick.
Der Krieg im Jemen hat viele Menschen vertrieben, die im eigenen Land Schutz suchen. Das Reporterteam reist in ein Lager, in dem Geflüchtete völlig auf sich alleine gestellt sind. Verletzt, krank, traumatisiert - sie alle suchen nach Worten und Antworten auf die Frage, wer die treibenden Kräfte des Krieges sind. Viele wissen es nicht. "Der Jemen ist elend, verwüstet und ein hoffnungsloser Fall", erzählt ein junger Jemenit, der sich und sein Land aufgegeben hat. Während ihrer Reise stoßen die Autoren aber auch auf Menschen wie die 12-jährige Noor, die sagt: "Ich will Architektin werden und mein Land wieder aufbauen."
Die Dokumentation zeigt jedoch auch die komplizierte Ausgangslage des Konflikts. Die Hoffnung auf Frieden währt meist nur kurz: So waren durch Vermittlung der Vereinten Nationen mehrere Vereinbarungen zwischen den schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen, die vom Iran unterstützt werden, und der von Saudi-Arabien unterstützten jemenitischen Regierung ausgehandelt worden. Hoffnungen auf einen Waffenstillstand wurden geweckt - und mussten kurz darauf wegen neuer Kämpfe wieder begraben werden
(** B H K)
Films by Doctors Without Borders
Five days in a Yemeni Hospital Follow #MSF teams during their daily work in #Mocha #Yemen A story we tell in five episodes on this week.
https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/1089880525580484608
Five days in a Yemeni hospital - December 2018. Episode 1 - Day 1: Between June and December 2018, there was heavy fighting in #Hodeidah. Wounded casualties were taken to #Aden, which is a long way from the frontline: patients were at risk of not surviving the journey.
https://www.facebook.com/MSF.Yemen/videos/231921991094566/ = https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/1090231871080935426
Five days in a Yemeni hospital - December 2018. Episode 2 - Day 2: Abdullah is recovering, Amarah has sustained injuries to her leg and abdomen, and Khamisa arrives in the evening.
https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/1090601686924750849 = https://www.facebook.com/MSF.Yemen/videos/599629980466316/
(** B K)
HOW HOUTHI-PLANTED MINES ARE KILLING CIVILIANS IN YEMEN
ACLED recorded at least 267 civilian fatalities in 140 reported incidents attributed to Houthi-planted mines and IEDs since 2016. Yet Saudi sources claim that up to 920 civilians may have been killed, along with thousands injured and maimed, since 2014 (Masam, 2 January 2019; Arab News, 22 January 2019). Mine blasts have intensified since a coalition of Emirati-backed Yemeni forces started a military campaign in the western province of Hodeidah, which accounts for nearly 60% of total civilian deaths linked to mines planted by the Houthis in 2018 (ACLED, 6 June 2018). Mine incidents have gradually increased over the past year and culminated in December 2018 and January 2019, the deadliest months since ACLED started to record violent events in Yemen.
A closer look at the data, however, could help explain the drivers behind this increase. Between January and May last year, Houthi-planted mines reportedly killed an average of three civilians each month in Hodeidah. After the Emirati-backed Yemeni forces launched the offensive, the figure jumped to twelve between June and December 2018, marking a significant 279% increase. The districts of At Tuhayat, Ad Durahyimi, Al Khawkhah, and Hays – all situated south of Hodeidah – account for more than 70% of the total mine incidents recorded across the province. This spike does not appear to be a mere by-product of flaring violence, but rather seems to replicate a pattern observed in Aden in 2015, when Houthi-Saleh forces retreating from the southern port city indiscriminately deployed thousands of anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines to obstruct the movement of troops (UN Security Council S/2016/73: 36).
In addition to spreading insecurity, the pervasive use of explosive devices is also impairing economic activity. Landmines disseminated in grazing lands have frequently hit farmers and animals, which constitute the main source of livelihood for many families in rural areas (Masam, 12 December 2018). In the Red Sea, the Houthis have reportedly laid sea mines threatening commercial shipping and fishermen, who already face the constant threat of air strikes (Al Jazeera, 30 November 2018; New York Times, 17 December 2018). According to ACLED data, improvised sea mines have killed at least thirteen fishermen off the coast of Hodeidah since last July Map: infographic)
https://www.acleddata.com/2019/01/30/how-houthi-planted-mines-are-killing-civilians-in-yemen/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* B H)
H1N1 flu infects 107 people in capital Sanaa since beginning of this year
The Public Health and Population Bureau of the capital Sana'a on Monday has recorded 107 swine flu cases since the beginning of this year.
107 people were infected with H1N1 flu, of which 22 people died from the disease since the beginning of 2019, the Director of the Health Bureau in the capital Sanaa, Dr. Mutahar al-Marouni told Saba.
Al-Marouni pointed out that reports of injuries and deaths are received from all hospitals and government and private centers operating in the Secretariat.
He pointed out that there is a shortage of medicines because of the siege imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on all land, sea and air ports.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524810.htm
(* B H)
After Cholera outbreak in #Yemen, there is Another epidemic affected people in #Yemen H1N1 alot of H1N1 patients arrive Sana'a hospitals and ##Yemen on daily basis & there is no good treatment to care of those patients. According to @abo_raghad20112 nearly 418 H1N1 patients have been affected by this disease till this moment, 104 of them have been died and the rest hav received a treatment then been healed (film)
https://twitter.com/MohammedHojily/status/1089976671762026496
cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German
(* A K P)
Dänischer General wird Leiter von Jemen-Mission
Der dänische General Michael Lollesgaard soll neuer Leiter der UN-Beobachtermission im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen werden. UN-Generalsekretär Antonio Guterres schlug Lollesgaard dem UN-Sicherheitsrat am Montag als Nachfolger des scheidenden Niederländers Patrick Cammaert vor, wie Diplomaten gegenüber AFP sagten. General Lollesgaard leitete 2015/16 die UN-Mission in Mali.
und
(A K P)
Dänischer General Lollesgaard ist neuer Leiter von Jemen-Beobachtermission
Der dänische General Michael Lollesgaard ist neuer Leiter der UN-Beobachtermission im Jemen. Der UN-Sicherheitsrat stimmte am Mittwoch einstimmig für den Nachfolger des scheidenden Niederländers Patrick Cammaert.
UN-Generalsekretär Antonio Guterres hatte Lollesgaard am Montag vorgeschlagenen.
https://www.zeit.de/news/2019-01/31/daenischer-general-lollesgaard-ist-neuer-leiter-von-jemen-beobachtermission-20190131-doc-1cv4lx = https://www.welt.de/newsticker/news2/article188003545/Diplomatie-Daenischer-General-Lollesgaard-ist-neuer-Leiter-von-Jemen-Beobachtermission.html
Mein Kommentar: Bei C+P übernehmen die Mainstreammedien sogar die Rechtschreibfehler. LOL.
cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English
(* A B P)
UN monitors alone cannot establish peace in Yemen
A broader crisis of trust is stopping the warring sides from implementing their side of the peace agreement, writes a Yemeni journalist
It did not take long for the head of the UN monitoring team in Yemen's Hodeida to tend his resignation.
Just one month on the job was sufficient to make the UN-appointed retired Dutch general declare he would not be doing the task for much longer.
The news of Cammaert's resignation augured badly for the country. The parties to conflict in Yemen like to pin the blame on UN officials when peace efforts falter. They say the UN is biased, or that UN officials have suspicious agendas. This leads in turn to a lack of cooperation and ballooning distrust.
This month, the Houthis boycotted a meeting with the head of the UN monitoring team, expressing their doubt towards his role, and heightening tensions around it. But the fact of the matter is that the problem does not lie solely in the UN monitors or envoys. It lies in Yemen's warring sides and their conflicting interpretations and understandings of peace agreements. This is a crisis of trust.
The Houthis protested the role of Cammaert in Hodeida, calling on UN envoy Martin Griffiths to step in. So, will the new head of the monitoring team be able please the Houthis and their opponents alike? This is an arduous job.
If the two sides, particularly the Houthis, persist behaving in this way, no UN envoys or monitors will be able to help Yemen reach any peace agreement. Moreover, the UN will go on playing a feeble role so long as punitive measures are not taken against any party that purposefully obstructs the peace process in Yemen.
If and when, the UN changes its flimsy rhetoric, and when it adopts a strict plan B agreement where violations occur, peace can be possible. Yet if it continues its lax stances and ineffective resolutions, the cycle of the civil conflict will not cease.
Yemenis seem to have abandoned the idea that the UN has the capability to pressure the warring sides into stopping the atrocities in the country. Accordingly, the replacement of the head of the monitoring mission is effectively meaningless for multitudes of Yemenis.
While the UN seems to understand the dangers associated with the fighting in the city, the parties to the conflict appear willing to risk going to war as the solution.
The time is now ripe for better UN policies for dealing with the conflict in Yemen. Monitors and envoys alone will not help, unless they are accompanied by unequivocal international support for making all UN resolutions a living reality in Yemen.
(A K pH)
2 women injured in saudi-led mercenaries' bombardment at Hodeidah
Two women were injured on Wednesday when the mercenaries of US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition-fired their artillery's shells at Hodeidah province, an official said.
The shelling targeted residential areas of Durihimi district.
Furthermore, the enemy shelled seperate areas in Kilo -16 of Haly.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525081.htm
(A K pH)
Saudi-led mercenaries bombard areas in Hodeida
The shelling hit the areas of July 7 and Kilo 16 and led to heavy damage
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525094.htm
(* A K pH)
Saudi-led mercenaries commit 248 violations to Hodeidah cease-fire over 72 last hours
The Saudi-led coalition and theirs mercenaries have committed 248 violations of UN-brokered cease-fire in Hodeidah over the past 72 hours, said the army spokesman Yahya Sarie on Wednesday said in a statement.
“The violations included artillery and missile attacks, as well as 15 airstrikes on houses and farms of the citizens in districts of Hodeidah,” Sarie said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525093.htm
(A K P)
Saudi-led coalition ready to use 'calibrated force' to push Yemen port deal: UAE
The Saudi-led coalition is prepared to use “calibrated force” to push the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement to withdraw from Yemen’s Hodeidah port city under a U.N.-sponsored deal, a senior United Arab Emirates official said on Wednesday.
Yemen’s warring parties have failed to pull troops from the country’s main port under a month-old truce, reviving the threat of an all-out assault on Hodeidah that could unleash famine.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said the Western-backed Sunni Muslim Arab coalition struck 10 Houthi training camps outside Hodeidah governorate on Wednesday.
“Coalition prepared to use more calibrated force to prod Houthi compliance with Stockholm Agreement,” he tweeted.
“To preserve ceasefire & any hope for political process, UN and international community must press Houthis to stop violations, facilitate aid convoys, and move forward on withdrawal from Hodaida city & ports as agreed,” he added.
My comment: The UAE tries to justify in advance that they will reinforce their assault against Hodeidah – which they had stopped quite unwillingly and only urged by the UN and their Western backers. – “Calibrated force”: You first really must conceive this Orwellian wording. Gargash as linguistic innovator.
(A K pS)
Two civilians were killed and others injured by Houthi shelling at Hayes in Hodeidah governorate. (photo)
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1090771665544466437
(A K pH)
Jan. 30: In Hodeidah, a civilian was killed and four women were injured by US-Saudi shells that targeted their house in Durahmi. The US-Saudi aggression launched 10 air raids on citizens' farms east of Al-jarahi district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5164&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Armed Forces Spokesman Holds United Nations Responsible for US-Saudi Violations and Escalation in Hodeidah
The spokesman of the Armed Forces, Brigadier Yahya Sare'e confirmed on Wednesday that the US-Saudi Aggression launched 15 air raids on Hodeidah in an unprecedented escalation. 9 raids that targeted east of Al-Jarahi, raid on Salif, a raid on Kadin and 4 raids on Sokhna. At the time in which the US-Saudi mercenaries continued their violations of Stockholm ceasefire, despite the commitment of our forces and not to respond to those violations.
He said in a statement to Saba news agency that the violations of aggression and its mercenaries in Hodeidah, as they constitute a blatant challenge to the UN resolutions, are capable of blowing up the ceasefire agreement and foiling the international efforts to stop the aggression and bring peace to Yemen.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5156&cat_id=1
(* A K P)
Yemen ceasefire is holding, says UN envoy
Martin Griffiths says Saudi Arabia remains intent on reaching deal to end civil war
Yemen’s fragile ceasefire is holding and Saudi Arabia remains intent on reaching a negotiated end to the four-year-old civil war, Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for the country, has said.
Admitting the state of the ceasefire looked dire from the outside, he nevertheless said the key metric for the UN was the absence of offensive military operations to take territory and the end of Saudi airstrikes in the area.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he said the UN world food programme needed access to the mills in which enough grain to feed nearly 4 million Yemenis for a month had remained since October. Houthis claimed on Wednesday they were fired on by government forces as they tried to de-mine the route to the mills.
Griffiths also said he had plans for the UN-led redeployment co-ordination committee (RCC), bringing together the rival military leaderships, to restart its meetings within the next few days.
The Houthis recently refused to attend the RCCmeeting as it was due to be held in Yemen government-held territory.
Griffiths refused to disclose the proposed venue or agenda for the next critical meeting but said: “It is the redeployments out of the port and out of the city which are the essential aim of the Stockholm agreement – to demilitarise the entire port and city area. If we don’t, the ceasefire will inevitably fray and disappear.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/yemen-ceasefire-is-holding-says-un-envoy
My comment: It’s not a “Yemen ceasefire”, but just a “Hodeidah ceasefire”.
(A K P)
Yemen Govt. Hopeful to Save Sweden Deal Despite Houthi Obstruction
Despite the ongoing intransigence of the Iran-backed Houthi militias, the Yemeni legitimate government expressed its hope that the Sweden ceasefire agreement on Hodeidah could be saved, said government spokesman Rajeh Badi.
Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthi militias were still amassing fighters, digging trenches and deploying reinforcements to Hodeidah’s vicinity, adding that it signals hidden intentions for war not peace.
“Houthi violations are ongoing and escalating, to the point where they are targeting refugee camps,” he stressed.
He expressed hope for Griffiths’ efforts in Hodeidah yielding in success, but noted that for that to happen, more pressure needs to be placed on the militias to solicit compliance.
(* A K P)
Film: Hodeidah ceasefire on brink of collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6wtUiYvZc0
(A K)
Deminers attacked near grain stores in Yemen port
The Houthis said one of its members died when Saudi-led forces fired on a demining team. The internationally recognised Yemeni government said Houthis attacked a U.N.-backed team heading to the mills.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has since September been unable to access the Red Sea Mills, where 51,000 tonnes of U.N. wheat is stored - enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month.
U.N. officials were not immediately available to comment, while WFP only said it was aware of the reports.
The grain facility is at a frontline flashpoint on the eastern outskirts of the city. Last week, two silos were damaged by fire caused by suspected mortar shelling.
The Houthis said the incident was a violation of a U.N.-sponsored ceasefire for Hodeidah agreed in December peace talks.
and
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Mercenaries Violations Reach New Level, Killing Member of Demining Team
One of the Demining Team was killed by US-Saudi mercenaries' sniper's gunshot with the presence of the Military Committee and the UN-team on site.
In a related context the UN envoy met the Coordination Committee for the implementation of the cease-fire and the local authority, which discussed the difficulties that faced the Stockholm agreement and violations of the US-Saudi aggression.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5139&cat_id=1
and
(A K pH)
Statement from Houthis SP
The demining team in Hodeidah was carrying out its mission to open the way to Red Sea Mills in accordance with an agreement with UN
In the presence of UN coordinator
Saudi UAE fire targeted Engineer Mohammed al-Atari
he was pronounced dead at the scene (document, in Arabic)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1090269922242879488
and
(A K pH)
Film: This is HOW Saudi-UAE backed forces sniped and killed a demining expert today in Hodeida in presence of UN monitors. The expert was removing mines from the road leading to the Red Sea Mills, to reach sieged food of WFP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfcvRgfEJqU = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1090312742861529088 = https://twitter.com/Baitalqasit/status/1090364597532540929
and
(A K pH)
Brigadier-General Sari Calls UN Envoy, Griffith, to Condemn Killing of Member of Demining Team
Spokesman of the Army forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sari, on Tuesday called on the UN Envoy and the Head of the Team of Observers to condemn the violations of the US-Saudi aggression; the most recent resulted in killing a member of the dmining team, Engineer Mohammed Al-Aothari.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5135&cat_id=1
and while the anti-Houthi side claim is different:
(A K pS)
Houthis shot fire on UN monitors
Houthi militias on Tuesday shot fire on UN monitors, a Yemeni government team and an engineering crew of mine clearance in Hodeida.
Spokesman of the Yemeni government Rajeh Badi affirmed that a UN representative coordinated with the Houthis before heading to a Houthi-run area in the city of Hodeida, pointing out that the Houthis broke their words, and shot fire on UN monitors, a Yemeni government team and an engineering crew of mine clearance in Hodeida.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27299
(A K pH)
United Nations Silence Towards US-Saudi Violations in Hodeidah Encourages More Crimes
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5145&cat_id=1
(A K P)
UN envoy urges Yemen's warring sides to withdraw from Hodeidah
Martin Griffiths says momentum for peace 'is still there', after aid agencies warn conditions are deteriorating fast.
The United Nations special envoy for Yemen has urged the country's warring sides to withdraw their troops from the port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions of starving Yemenis, after aid agencies warned conditions in the impoverished country were deteriorating fast.
(* A K P)
New UN monitor Michael Lollesgaard will face uphill battle in Yemen
Retired Danish general Michael Lollesgaard is shortly expected to take over the UN mission in Yemen’s Hodeidah.
Mr Lollesgaard will face the unenviable task of enforcing the deal on the ground. But he will bring 30 years of national and international military experience to the position.
Born in 1960, Mr Lollesgaard previously led UN peacekeeping operations in Mali and served as a military adviser at the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in New York. He has also deployed to Iraq and Bosnia Herzegovina.
In 2015 and 2016 he headed the military component of the UN’s operation in Mali, leading some 8,700 peacekeepers from 40 countries.
Diplomatic sources told The National that the general will replace Patrick Cammaert, a retired Dutch General, who is currently tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in the Red Sea port city, the main entry point for Yemen's commercial and aid imports.
(A P)
UN council backs new chief of Yemen mission
The UN Security Council on Wednesday endorsed the appointment of former Danish general Michael Lollesgaard to head the UN observer mission in war-wracked Yemen, diplomats said.
Lollesgaard will replace Patrick Cammaert, the Dutch general who had been tapped a little over a month ago to lead the mission deployed in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6651361/UN-council-backs-new-chief-Yemen-mission.html
(A K pH P)
Gov't Spokesman calls on UN to assume responsibility to stop aggression violations
Spokesman of the National Salvation Government and Information Minister Dhaifallah al-Shami on Tuesday called on the United Nations to assume responsibility to stop the ceasefire breaches committed by Saudi-led aggression coalition and its mercenaries.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524903.htm
(A P)
UN envoy on first Yemen port city visit after truce
The UN envoy for Yemen briefly visited the flashpoint city of Hodeida Tuesday, an official said, the diplomat's first trip there since warring parties agreed to a ceasefire last month.
Martin Griffiths was in the Red Sea port city "for a few hours" to oversee the truce deal's implementation and "follow up on preparations" for a new monitoring mission, the UN official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6644073/UN-envoy-Yemen-port-city-visit-truce.html
(B H K)
Ceasefire in Hodeidah, Yemen on verge of failing as clashes continue
The international community, including the US and UK, must step up pressure on warring parties to prevent Stockholm agreements from unraveling
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is extremely concerned by intensifying clashes between warring parties inside Hodeidah city.
"The cost of the Hodeidah deal collapsing cannot be overstated. Almost ten million people are on the brink of starvation in Yemen, and fighting in the city and disruptions to imports through the port could propel the country into a full-fledge famine. The ceasefire provides not only the first steps required to address this humanitarian crisis, but also for further political agreements needed to end the war. The people of Yemen are paying the highest price for a war they do not want and now those with the power to put an end to it must act.
https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1548763005./1231446907005672/
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(B P)
This is a part of the jarring discordance between reality & media narratives on the Yemen war, of which many examples abound: 1) Capital Sanaa is effectively free of AQ & ISIS terrorists, but victory over terror is declared loudly in Yemeni areas still plagued with terrorists.
2) The Houthis scream "Death to America!" at every street corner & party, but many are Yemeni Americans, and they don't actually attack America, not even ballistic pot shots at Camp Lemonnier.
3) Must be something wrong with me: When they say Irani, each time I see only Qatari.
4) Some keep screaming Saudi & UAE occupation of southern areas of Yemen but I just drove through Lahj, Aden, Abyan, Shabwah & Hadhramaut and I did not see a single Saudi or UAE soldier on the streets. Just local security & military forces of each region. Security-wise, it works.
5) This one is mind-boggling: Across the board of food & non-food items (except petrol), prices in Yemen capital Sanaa are almost half of market prices in Aden and Hadhramaut. Half. Go mull over that.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1090957242034253825
(A P)
Syria and Yemen on Warsaw’s ministerial agenda next to Iran’s threats
Israel’s Netanyahu set to attend, as Arab foreign ministers hold consultation meeting in advance
Despite difficulties in securing high-level attendance from the European Union and the expected absence of Russia, US officials are in the final stages of preparing the Warsaw ministerial meeting on the Middle East in the Polish capital on February 13-14.
The sessions will include “regional crises and international responses, missile development and proliferation, cyber and emerging threats, and terrorism and illicit finance. It will also include specific discussions on Syria and Yemen,” a US official said.
“Iran is not a specific agenda item … but it’s difficult to talk about the region’s challenges without referencing Iran,” he added.
My comment: We can expect a lot of more bullshit.
(* B K)
Film: The story of a US raid on al-Qaeda in Yemen
Yemen has been devastated by a conflict that began in 2014. On the one side, the Houthis, a group with links to Iran. Against them, a coalition including Yemeni government troops, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, supported by the Americans.
But there's another war going on in Yemen - the US's fight against al-Qaeda. The US has carried out many strikes on al-Qaeda's bases, often using unmanned drones.
A BBC Arabic investigation has gained rare access to one village targeted in a US ground raid.
Reporter Safa Al Ahmad met survivors and found evidence of undeclared civilian casualties.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-47063433/the-story-of-a-us-raid-on-al-qaeda-in-yemen
(A K)
Packed screening @FrontlineClub yday for Safa Al Ahmad's new film "Targeting Yemen" on devastating impact of US drones & raids on civilians
Safa packs her punches. Asked "What can the military learn?" Safa replies "Don't kill people. Next question”. (photo)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1090571989750898689
(* B H K P)
2019 must belong to the children of Yemen
Children are dying in Yemen, one of the poorest of all Middle Eastern countries, not due to a natural tragedy, but because of a manmade civil war between a coalition led by powerhouse, Saudi Arabia, against Houthi rebels, who are said to be backed by Iran. Many analysts see this as Saudi Arabia at war with its arch-rival, Iran. A proxy war between the two regional powers, whose animosity with each other goes back decades. Saudi Arabia is carrying out this economic warfare in Yemen, with the express backing of the Yemeni government. Yemen is being attacked by air and sea, courtesy of Saudi Arabia, with the aim of destroying its economy and stifling every point of entry into the country. This includes the blockade of the major port on the Red Sea, which is the main route used for aid and humanitarian assistance into Yemen.
The obvious question is why has Saudi Arabia involved itself in a conflict that began as an internal Yemeni dispute? Saudi Arabia’s justifies its involvement in the conflict by saying Houthi rebels attacked them and they are responding to this aggression, while at the same time providing assistance to which they see as the legitimate government of Yemen. The Saudis have also said, and have been saying, that victory for them is around the corner. So far victory has been seen for neither the Saudis nor the Houthi rebels.
America and other Western countries have kept silent and allowed the Saudis to do as they please — damn the human rights violations and the dying children.
Why then has it taken so long for Western powers to talk about Yemen? Because to talk about Saudi Arabia and its royal family’s actions does not suit anyone’s interest.
There has also been a shift in Western media reporting of the conflict — more of it, more focused, more critical of the Saudis. And of the Americans for their silence. This deserved increased media attention on Yemen has shown us the extent of the misery of Yemen’s children
However, even though the conflict has been in the limelight recently, with superpowers like America and regional powers like Saudi Arabia involved — not to mention the arms industry and its vast profits — the war in Yemen is much bigger than us. We are removed from it for far greater reasons then just geography. It is also difficult to see that countries, particularly Western countries, who profess to be beacons of human rights, will actually demand an end to the war or to go as far as hold Saudi Arabia accountable. With the veto power at the UN, it is difficult to see even the UN being able to hold powerful nations to account on this.
Progress then is certainly a relative word for onlookers and laypersons. For those of us not in positions of power or influence, for the sake of the children of Yemen, we must ask ourselves whether we really are too insignificant to say or do anything? People power, which has shown to be effective in many parts of the world, should demand the end of this horrific conflict. Everyone must have a way to register their protest and use social media as a collective, global voice to protest. People everywhere must speak truth to power and put pressure on their elected representatives that the war, even when far away from their shores and daily lives, must end, and end now. Nations, no matter how small, also have a moral consciousness and they must exercise it — in bilateral discussions and at larger multilateral forums. This year must be dedicated to the dying children of Yemen – by Benazir Jatoi
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899583/6-2019-must-belong-children-yemen/
(B K P)
The Worldwide Threat Assessment released by US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats on 29 January stated that Yemeni rebels have Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that threaten the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Iran continues to provide support that enables Houthi attacks against shipping near the Bab al-Mandab strait and land-based targets inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE using ballistic missiles and UAVs,” the 29 January statement said, using the popular name for Yemen’s Ansar Allah rebel group.
It added that the rebels “believe they can use external attacks to threaten Saudi Arabia and the UAE [to] undercut Saudi and UAE public support for the conflict and draw international condemnation of the [Saudi-led] coalition’s intervention in Yemen”.
https://www.janes.com/article/86046/us-intel-report-confirms-yemeni-uav-threat-to-uae
My comment: There is a lot of bullshit here. The origin of the Houthi missiles stays uncertain. The fact they can threaten Saudi Arabia and the UAE is described as a problem; The fact that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US can attack (and are doing, with horrible results) every point in Yemen, is not worth mentioning.
(B K P)
AUFTAKT ZUR BILDUNG EINER JEMENITISCH -EUROPÄISCHE ALLIANZ
E I N L A D U N G
Unsere aus 200 Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft bestehen Allianz Yemenitisch Zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen setzt sich seit 2017 weltweit für einen Friedensschluss ein. Die Menschen können den Krieg nicht mehr tragen. Mensch und Land leiden und sind am Ende. Sie hoffen auf Unterstützung der Zivilgesellschaft aus anderen Ländern. Sie können nicht mehr auf die Staaten warten.
Wir laden Sie herzlich zum Auftakt der Bildung einer neuen gemeinsamen Allianz für den Frieden im Jemen ein. Es wird Arabisch/Deutsch gedolmetscht.
Wir möchten beim Auftakt erstmals beraten, wie diese Allianz sich formieren und Einfluss nehmen kann, nachdem die internationale Lage zu Jemen und die für die Menschen im Jemen nicht weiter kommt.Vielen aus der Zivilgesellschaft in Jemen, hier und in Nachbarländern, liegt es sehr am Herzen, etwas zu tun. Sicher wird man sich weiter an die Internationale Gemeinschaft wenden und appellieren. Dennoch scheint die Situation wie eingefroren. Auch die Stockholmer Vereinbarung (13. Dez. 2018) verändert nichts. Alle Argumente und das Dringlichste wie Informationen über das Elend der Menschen in Jemen sind bekannt und ausgetauscht. Humanitäre Organisationen aus Yemen, aus dem Ausland und die Hilfswerke der Vereinten Nationen warten auf einen Waffenstillstand: Nahrung, Medizin, das Nötigste muss zunächst ins Land. Danach könnte ein Aufbau beginnen, die Schulen geöffnet werden, Krankheiten geheilt werden, das Leben beginnen.
Nur durch eine gemeinsame Allianz der Zivilgesellschaft könnte Bewegung ins Spiel kommen.
https://www.peace-for-yemen-now.de/
Bemerkung: Hatte am 29. Januar stattgefunden.
(* B K P)
Film, Elisabeth Kendall: The #Stockholm_Agreement on #Yemen looks close to collapse, but the UN is right to cling on. An imperfect ceasefire is better than no ceasefire. Here's a clip from my interview on Al Jazeera today (just back in London!)
https://www.facebook.com/elisabeth.kendall/videos/10161308807810228/
and less: https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1090314278098354177
(* B H K P)
Genocide in Yemen?
Over the last four years, Coalition air attacks have indiscriminately and in some cases deliberately targeted civilians, civilian residences, civilian gatherings, and civilian infrastructure.
The combination of Coalition attacks on Yemen’s infrastructure and the enforcement of an air and naval blockade has created conditions in Yemen that cannot sustain human life.
Even as the Coalition kills and wounds Yemenis, and undermines public health in Yemen, it has also directly attacked medical facilities and impeded their ability to function.
The Coalition’s direct and indirect attacks on the lives of Yemeni people has been coupled with the intentional destruction of Yemen’s immeasurably important cultural heritage.
Whether you believe the Coalition and the U.S. are responsible for genocide in Yemen, as I do, or believe their crimes amount to war crimes, widespread atrocities have been committed. Such destruction cannot go unpunished. All who are directly responsible and all who share responsibility must face consequences for their crimes if international law, both at the level of state responsibility and individual criminal responsibility, is to have any meaning at all – by Jeff Bachman
https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2018/12/13/genocide-in-yemen/ = https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190129-genocide-in-yemen/
and a longer article by this author: https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-complicity-in-saudi-arabias-genocide-in-yemen-spans-obama-and-trump/252246/
(A P)
Foreign Ministers of Six Arab Countries to Hold Meeting Ahead of Warsaw Conference
The meeting will be ahead of the conference to be held in Warsaw against Iran and involving Gulf and Arab countries alongside Israel in February, organized by US.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5130&cat_id=2
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(* B H)
Save the Children: One in ten children forced from their homes because of conflict and violence in Yemen
Half a million children displaced by fighting in Hodeidah in just six months
At least one in ten children across Yemen (1.5 million) have been forced from their homes because of the four-year-long brutal war, exposing them to serious risks including hunger, disease and violence, warns Save the Children.
More than half a million children have been displaced by the fighting in Hodeidah governorate in just the past six months, according to the UN. That’s an average of more than 2,000 children every single day since June last year. And that’s only from Hodeidah, which has seen some of the worst fighting in Yemen.
Civilians fleeing violence face life-threatening risks the moment they embark on their journeys. The most immediate danger is death or injury due to explosive weapons which have been used indiscriminately by all parties to the conflict with little regard for their legal obligation to protect civilians in conflict.
On August 23rd last year, 22 children and four women were reportedly killed when an airstrike hit their vehicle as they were trying to flee the fighting in Hodeidah. More recently, at least eight civilians were killed in a centre for displaced families in Hajjah, apparently due to shrapnel from shelling nearby. Monitoring group ACLED recorded at least 25 attacks against internally displaced people in just the second half of 2018.
If displaced families manage to survive their dangerous journeys and avoid airstrikes and shelling to reach relative safety, they face further difficulties in strained host communities or in camps lacking in adequate food supplies and basic sanitation and hygiene. This puts young children at risk of malnutrition and disease in a country where the health system has all but collapsed and some 14 million people are on the brink of starvation. Save the Children estimates 85,000 children have already died from extreme hunger since 2015.
https://www.savethechildren.net/article/one-ten-children-forced-their-homes-because-conflict-and-violence-yemen = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/one-ten-children-forced-their-homes-because-conflict-and-violence-yemen
(* B H)
Islamic Relief: Urgent Action Needed To Help Millions Of Yemenis Facing Starvation
The people of Yemen are facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. More than 14 million are facing starvation, and 85,000 children may have already died from extreme hunger since the war began in 2015. With key ports closed or blockaded, vital food, medicine and humanitarian aid is unable to reach ordinary people, who are now in desperate need. Aid workers are reporting that parents are being forced to feed their children contaminated food and water, or nothing at all.
The conflict, now entering its fourth year, has forced millions of people to flee their homes. Many describe running through the night to escape bombings with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Most people head to ‘safer’ coastal towns and the southern port city of Aden where there is some hope of accessing food supplies. Families are setting up makeshift homes wherever they can find available land – in the desert, on garbage dumps and in abandoned buildings.
Tallabah Ali, a widow who fled bombing in the darkness of night, now lives with her family in a flimsy tent in the middle of a graveyard in Taiz, the only space available to them. Despite failing eyesight and difficulty walking, she goes out begging for food every day.
“It’s not easy to lose your dignity and resort to begging” she said, “but if I don’t, my family will die from hunger.” “I feel ashamed to say that begging has become our main source of income.”
Tallabah describes the chaos of the night she fled her home “we were surrounded in all directions…the bullets were chasing us” she said. But today she’d rather return home than live as a beggar: “It was the worse day of my life when I left my house… but life under battles is better than hunger and suffering in this camp. I hope to return to my home as soon as possible”. She intends to try once the road to her village has reopened.
Her thoughts are echoed by Habiba, Rafi’s mother: “The worst decision we ever made in our life was leaving home. There we would be killed only once; here we are dying a hundred times,” she said.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/urgent-action-needed-help-millions-yemenis-facing-starvation
(B H)
Yemen: the young women and men behind the headlines
Millions in need of humanitarian assistance
Since the war started in Yemen in 2015, three million people have been displaced and an estimated 22.2 million people are in need of humanitarian or protection assistance.
It has been six years since I was last in Yemen.
I often remember the young people I met there and was afraid to think what might have happened to them – but a couple of weeks ago, I reached out to one of the youths I had the privilege of working with back in Aden.
He reluctantly mentioned that some of the young people I knew are no longer with us – then after a short pause, he continued: ‘but many of them are now in the front lines, saving lives and helping people.’
https://plan-uk.org/blogs/yemen-the-young-women-and-men-behind-the-headlines
(B H)
Coldness in Yemen capital Sana'a hitting the lowest temperature level since December (image9
https://twitter.com/Shuaibalmosawa/status/1090736789764128768
Thousands of families across #Yemen suffer the bitter winter cold with little to no protection, another hardship that the average Yemeni is forced to endure
https://twitter.com/YemenSource/status/1090771135770382336
Film: IDPs in #Yemen suffered severe cold-weather conditions this winter. #Peace could bring warmth to hundred thousands of families shattered across IDP settlements all over the country. End the war now!
@ColetteOxfam- Deputy Humanitarian Director -#Taiz, Yemen
https://twitter.com/OxfamYemen/status/1090334125632950272
(A H)
Ahmad Alghobary: Good news. I am going to Cairo today. I will apply tomorrow for the Spanish visa in @EmbEspEgipto . After getting treatment in @imobarcelona clinic, I will comeback to my country #Yemen to distribute aid, help malnourished children and post tweets about the crisis in my country.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1090555259527798786
(* B H)
Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe, in one chart
“The only losers are the people — their grave suffering presents generational risk to Yemen’s future,” said an expert.
The war in Yemen — a bloody, ongoing conflict in which the US has played an important role — has fallen out of the news.
But a new US intelligence report shows exactly why it shouldn’t.
The annual Worldwide Threat Assessment report — which “reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community” including the CIA, the National Security Agency, the FBI, and many other federal bodies — contains a chart showing just how horrifying conditions for the Yemeni people have become.
Of the nearly 29 million people in the country, about 22 million — nearly 76 percent of the population — need some form of humanitarian assistance. Among them, 16 million don’t have reliable access to drinking water or food, and more than 1 million Yemenis now suffer from cholera.
Those figures, which apparently come from US intelligence and mostly comport with publicly available numbers, show how the war has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. And it’s a crisis that the United States has helped fuel.
“The only losers are the people — their grave suffering presents generational risk to Yemen’s future,” Dave Harden, a former US official leading humanitarian development response to Yemen, told me.
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is horrible — and it’s likely to get worse
What’s worse, the intelligence report — which, again, represents the consensus view of different US agencies involved in collecting and analyzing intelligence — indicates that the situation in Yemen won’t improve anytime soon.
https://www.vox.com/2019/1/30/18203857/yemen-war-deaths-injured-chart-intelligence
My comment: This is no news. The US needs its whole intelligence to learn this?
(B H)
Yousef, 18, has been dragged into this war like thousands of young children. He lost his life in a war that is not of his making. Thousands of children have been recruited by armed groups. How many more we should sacrifice before this unjustified war stops? Sigh! (photo)
https://twitter.com/alasaadim/status/1090681252351561728
(* B H)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Yemen: Famine Prevention Plan - January - June 2019
The conflict in Yemen has escalated dramatically since nearly four years ago and is compounding an already severe protracted humanitarian crisis. Some 67 percent (20 million people) of the country’s total population of 29.9 million would be in need of urgent assistance to save their lives and livelihoods. The ongoing conflict has led to a severe economic decline and collapsed essential services, taking an enormous toll on the population and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. The expansion of the conflict has also led to large-scale displacement of 3.3 million people and high rates of malnutrition. Malnutrition is affecting 3 million people including 1.5 million children, 1.1 million pregnant and lactating women, and 400 000 acutely malnourished children. The agriculture sector is among the worst hit by the current crisis and local food production has been severely compromised.
Conflict and insecurity remain the main drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition that have pushed the most vulnerable households to the brink of famine. They include a significant loss of income and disrupted livelihoods, huge population displacement, restricted access, shrinking imports and continuing depreciation of the Yemeni Rial, which deepens the currency and economic crisis.
Preventing the country from slipping into famine requires a significant political and economic engagement at all levels from all sides on finding peaceful solutions to end the conflict and an immediate cessation of hostilities. It also requires immediate high impact programmes to bolster and revive disrupted livelihoods for vulnerable rural communities. The Famine Prevention Plan, which is within the framework of the Yemen Famine Prevention Roadmap and the Yemen Famine Prevention Strategy, is just one of the actions that need to be implemented by stakeholders to prevent famine from occurring in the country.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-famine-prevention-plan-january-june-2019
(* B H)
Yemen faces population explosion 'time bomb'
A population growth rate that is one of the highest in the world is hampering efforts to combat poverty and unemployment.
Yemen is facing a security threat, described by one expert as a "time bomb". It is not al Qa'eda, the Houthi rebellion in the north or the secessionist movement in the south, though its influence cuts across all three.
It is found in millions of households across the country,
High population growth rates are often associated with developing countries, and the ensuing youth bulge is often blamed as a factor in social instability. But when a country is suffering from a natural resource crunch and faltering economic growth, not to mention three internal conflicts, the picture becomes alarming. "If the government doesn't do something, there will be a disaster," said Himyar Abdulmoghni of the United Nations Population Fund in Sana'a.
According to the NPC, if population growth remains unchecked, the ailing economy, with an unemployment rate of around 40 per cent, will have to create more than 2.2 million jobs in the next 25 years. The country will need an extra five billion cubic metres of water - which it does not have - and to maintain already patchy health services it will have to train and employ an extra 10,000 doctors.
The pressure of rising population levels, which have tripled since 1975, is already being felt in areas such as education, where there is reportedly one teacher for every 80 children, and transport. Abdo Seif, a development specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, said population growth was the most critical problem facing Yemen. "It's the root cause of other problems," he said. Youth unemployment, exacerbated by the entry of several hundred thousand people in to the labour market every year, is widely believed to be an underlying cause of civil unrest in both the north and south of Yemen.
The international community is particularly concerned that the lack of economic opportunities is making young people vulnerable to radicalisation. Youth unemployment "is a security threat," Mr Seif said.
The government has started to tackle the problem, and began to promote family planning in 2005, hoping to cut the population growth from its current level of three per cent to 2.2 per cent in 2025. However, the assistant secretary general of the National Population Council, Motahar Ahmed Zabarah, said they were unlikely to meet that target, and instead have settled for 2.5 per cent. The problem is partly one of resources. For a cash-strapped government struggling with so many immediate concerns, there is a difference between recognising something as an issue to be dealt with and allocating a budget to it, Mr Zabarah said.
According to the UN population fund, the number of 10 to 25-year-olds will rise from 8.6 million to 20.8 million in the next 25 years if nothing is done to curb growth. It is not clear where these young people will live, how they will be fed, watered, educated and employed; or how they will be prevented from discontent, rioting, forming gangs and joining armed insurgencies. If the national family planning policy fails to make any change, Yemen will soon find out.
Another obstacle, he said, is a lack of available contraceptives and family planning services in rural areas – by Abigail Fielding-Smith
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemen-faces-population-explosion-time-bomb-1.510447
Remark: Published by an Emirati media, but by a Western author.
(B H)
Film: With Saudi Coalition attacking hospitals and civilians, Children in Yemen cannot get the medication they need
https://www.facebook.com/YemenNotAlone/videos/vb.339499086619796/548206485699818/
(* B H)
6,700 children killed, injured in Yemen: UNICEF
Thousands of children have been killed and injured in war-torn conflict since 2015, UN children’s fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
“Over 6,700 children [were] verified killed or injured since 2015,” UNICEF said on Twitter.
It said nearly 358,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition require immediate treatment, going on to call for halting attacks in the war-torn country.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/6-700-children-killed-injured-in-yemen-unicef/1379209
My comment: Severe understatement, coming close to whitewashing the actors.
(* B H)
Director of National Authority for Humanitarian Affairs: Over 225,000 Families in Sana’a Need Food
The humanitarian situation is worsening to a real humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, the director of National Authority for Humanitarian Affairs in capital Sana’a, Abdul Wahab Sharaf Al-Din warns.
According to Yemen Press Agency, Sharaf Al-Din said that the World Food Program targets 83,000 households monthly, and that the proportion of the humanitarian need for food reached 65% , which is over than 225,000 families in the capital Sana’a.
Sharaf Al-Din indicated that the poor international deal with the humanitarian file in Yemen seriously threatens the humanitarian situation, and can not be prevented or controlled at all.
He explained that the humanitarian intervention in Yemen did not rise to the level and magnitude of the food disaster which the Yemeni people suffered, that needs an emergency and rapid response, according to UN reports.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5154
Remark: Sanaa government authority.
(* B H)
WFP warnt vor Verschärfung der Lage im Jemen
Das Welternährungsprogramm UN World Food Programme, WFP, warnt vor einer Hungersnot und Verschlechterung der humanitären Lage im Jemen.
http://parstoday.com/de/news/middle_east-i45769-wfp_warnt_vor_versch%C3%A4rfung_der_lage_im_jemen
(* B H K)
Film von Ärzte ohne Grenzen: Landminen im Jemen sorgen für tägliche Angst
Amarah spielte auf einem Feld, auf dem Landminen versteckt waren. Sie hatte Glück: Bei der Explosion einer Landmine wurde sie nur verletzt. Andere Kinder kamen ums Leben. Auch Erwachsene, die auf den Feldern arbeiten, werden von hochgehenden Minen verletzt oder getötet. Deshalb trauen sich viele nicht mehr, ihr Feld zu bestellen.
Die Menschen im Jemen leiden seit mehr als drei Jahren unter dem Krieg. Wir haben in dem besonders betroffenen Gebiet in Motscha eine Klinik eingerichtet, um für Notfallpatienten schneller erreichbar zu sein. Zwischen August und Dezember konnten dort mehr als 150 Patienten und Patientinnen behandelt werden, die von Landminen verletzt wurden. Ein Drittel von ihnen waren Kinder.
https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/jemen-video-landminen-verbreiten-angst
(* B H)
ACTED: JEMEN: BERICHT AUS EINEM LAND IN TRÜMMERN
Der Bürgerkrieg hat die Menschen im ohnehin schon armen Jemen hart getroffen. Die Vereinten Nationen erwarten, dass 80 Prozent der Bevölkerung in diesem Jahr auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen sein wird. Julian Zakrzewski, Landesdirektor der Partnerorganisation ACTED berichtet aus einem Land in Trümmern und erklärt wie seine Organisation zusammen mit der Welthungerhilfe den Menschen vor Ort hilft.
Im Jemen spielt sich eine der schlimmsten humanitären Katastrophen unserer Zeit ab. Der bewaffnete Konflikt hat ein ohnehin schon armes Land hart getroffen. Eine wirtschaftliche Talfahrt, die speziell die Währung enorm an Wert verlieren ließ, der Zusammenbruch staatlicher Institutionen, die Blockade der Häfen und Zugangswege sind nur einige Gründe, warum sich die humanitäre Lage trotz enormer Anstrengung von Hilfsorganisationen weiter verschärft. Neue Studien der Vereinten Nationen gehen davon aus, dass in diesem Jahr mehr als 24 Millionen Menschen humanitäre Hilfe benötigen. Das sind 80 Prozent der Bevölkerung und eine Steigerung um 10 Prozent im Vergleich zum letzten Jahr. Und mehr als 15 Millionen Menschen sind von einer Hungersnot bedroht.
Viele Menschen wissen nicht, wo sie das Essen für den nächsten Tag herbekommen sollen, nehmen deshalb nur eine Mahlzeit täglich zu sich oder essen nur alle paar Tage etwas. In vielen Orten im Jemen gibt es aber genügend Nahrungsmittel zu kaufen. Es ist vielmehr so, dass sich die Menschen aus vielerlei Gründen das Essen nicht mehr leisten können. Gehälter für Staatsbedienstete sind seit Jahren gar nicht, oder mit großen Abstrichen bezahlt worden.
Zum Hunger kommt vielerorts der Mangel an sauberem Trinkwasser. Der jahrelange Krieg hat lebenswichtige Infrastruktur zerstört. Das hat Ende 2017 zu dem größten je gemessenen Ausbruch an Cholera geführt. Obwohl sich die Zahlen der neuen Infektionen verringert, ist die Gefahr an Cholera zu erkranken immer noch hoch. Das gilt besonders in abgelegenen Gebieten, wo die Versorgung mit sauberem Trinkwasser wegen Bombenangriffen oder durch fehlende Wartung von Brunnen oder Leitungen nicht mehr gewährleistet werden kann.
Viele Menschen im Jemen könnten ohne humanitäre Hilfe nicht überleben. Das Welternährungsprogram (WFP) der Vereinten Nationen verteilt Essensrationen für fast zehn Millionen Menschen jeden Monat.
https://www.welthungerhilfe.de/aktuelles/gastbeitrag/2019/jemen-bericht-aus-einem-land-in-truemmern/
and English version:
(* B H)
ACTED: In Yemen more than 15 million people are threatened by famine
Yemenis are experiencing the worst catastrophe in contemporary history. Julian, ACTED country director, reports on the humanitarian situation in an interview in January 2019.
Yemen is the worst humanitarian disaster in contemporary history. The armed conflict has hit an already poor country hard. The slowdown in economic activity,—which has led to a considerable decline in the value of the currency—the collapse of State institutions, the bureaucracy of the parties to the conflict— several of whom have delayed projects for several months— are just some of the reasons why the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate despite the enormous efforts of humanitarian organizations. The United Nations estimates in its “Overview of Humanitarian Needs for 2019” that more than 24 million people will require humanitarian assistance. This represents 80% of the population and a 10% increase compared to 2018.
The most important needs are in the area of food security. According to a study, more than 15 million people are threatened by famine. Many people do not know where to get food for tomorrow and therefore eat only one meal a day. There is enough food almost everywhere in Yemen, so the problem is not availability. The problem is that people can no longer afford to eat for many reasons. For example, civil servants’ salaries have not been paid at all for years, or have been paid with large deductions, so even the former middle class no longer has the means to feed itself.
In addition to food security, drinking water is scarce in many places. Years of war have destroyed vital infrastructure. The lack of clean drinking water led to the worst cholera outbreak ever measured in the country in late 2017. Although the number of new infections is decreasing, the risk of cholera remains high. This is particularly true in remote areas where drinking water supplies can no longer be guaranteed due to bomb attacks or lack of infrastructure maintenance.
In Yemen, a very large part of the population depends on humanitarian aid as their only source of food. The World Food Programme (WFP) provides food rations to nearly 10 million people every month. The terrible thing about this situation is that, in other crises around the world, people often have their own reserves in addition to WFP rations. Their dependence on rations is limited in time. In Yemen, millions of people have depended on food for survival for years. But rations are not designed for this and people who live on food rations alone have exhausted their fat reserves by the second year at the latest and suffer from severe pain due to poor nutrition.
International NGOs like ACTED are trying to help people meet their basic needs through cash transfer programmes. ACTED and Welthungerhilfe provide financial support to the people of Yemen.
https://www.acted.org/en/current-situation-in-yemen/ = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-more-15-million-people-are-threatened-famine
(* B H)
UN Children's Fund: Humanitarian Action for Children 2019 - Yemen
The conflict-driven humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been described as the largest emergency in the world, with more than 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
UNICEF’s strategy in Yemen is informed by the humanitarian needs overview, the humanitarian response plan, cluster strategies and programme priorities.8 UNICEF’s humanitarian operations are decentralized, with five field offices managing interventions locally with partners. With the collapse of public services, UNICEF will focus on improving access to primary health care by providing supplies and responding to communicable disease outbreaks. Community prevention and management of malnutrition will remain essential components of the response.
The water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme will support the rehabilitation and sustainability of local water management systems to increase access to safe water. AWD/cholera prevention and response will focus on high-risk areas, including through the provision of oral cholera vaccines.9 Vulnerable children will be targeted with victim assistance, education on mines/explosive remnants of war and resilience building. UNICEF will continue to rehabilitate damaged schools, establish temporary safe learning spaces and provide learning/pedagogical kits for conducive learning environments for children. School-based staff will receive incentives to ensure education for children.10 The shifting humanitarian context requires a flexible response strategy aimed at reaching people in need regardless of their location.
The multisectoral Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) will be leveraged to assist newly displaced families and respond to immediate needs.
As of 31 October 2018, UNICEF had US$479.7 million available against the revised appeal of US$423.9 million (100 per cent funded).11 This enabled UNICEF to immediately respond to the AWD/cholera outbreak through an integrated nutrition, health, WASH and communication for development plan.
Some 4.9 million people accessed safe drinking water and 9.5 million people engaged in awareness and behaviour change activities. Health facilities received supplies and operational support. More than 4.1 million children were vaccinated against polio with UNICEF support, and over 1 million children under 5 years received primary health care.
In addition, more than 229,000 children with SAM received treatment. UNICEF’s child protection programme reached more than 625,000 children with psychosocial support in child-friendly spaces, and some 1.3 million children and adults with risk education on mines/explosive remnants of war. Ninety-one per cent of reported incidents of grave violations against children were verified and documented through the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism. With UNICEF support, 41,700 school bags were distributed to schoolchildren, and some 157,400 children accessed education services in safe learning spaces.
Psychosocial support services in schools benefited more than 133,000 students. UNICEF has been mobilizing resources for teacher incentives in order to resume the school year nationwide.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/humanitarian-action-children-2019-yemen
(* B H)
UN Children's Fund: UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report (December 2018)
Almost four years of conflict, Yemen faces one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The escalation of conflict and violence has led to economic collapse, a destruction of basic services, pushed more families into poverty and into famine. With no end in sight to the conflict, the economic crisis, disease and displacement, the situation of Yemeni children and families is set to worsen, with an anticipated 24 million people (80 per cent of the population) in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and an estimated 3.9 million people who have been displaced since the conflict.
The country is currently facing one of the largest food crisis in the world, rendering food and nutritional support one of the main humanitarian priorities. Going into the new year, 18 million people are food insecure, including 8.4 million who suffer from extreme hunger. Seven million Yemeni’s are malnourished, including almost two million children and more than one million pregnant and lactating women. This builds on the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis publicized in December 2018, which noted that 17 per cent of the population (about 5 million people) analyzed will be in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and 36 per cent (about 10.8 million people) will be in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis). In terms of severity, the worst affected areas are in Al Hudaydah, Amran, Hajjah, Taiz and Saada Governorates.
UNICEF and other humanitarian actors are making every effort to avoid famine and increase assistance. To this end, UNICEF has accelerated the creation of specialized programmes to prevent and treat severe acute malnutrition in children in existing health facilities and using Mobile Teams to access hard-to-reach areas. UNICEF also provides essential supplies including for example ready to use therapeutic foods, antibiotics and therapeutic milk.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-december-2018
(* B H)
Save the Children: MOURNING LOST CHILDREN: STORIES FROM YEMEN
My name is Claire Nicoll and I work for the Humanitarian Operations Team at Save the Children. This summer, I lived and worked in Yemen. During my time there, I met many children, mothers and fathers whose stories stuck with me. Here is one of them.
HAJJAH, YEMEN – 23RD AUGUST
I’ve spoken to so many mothers mourning their lost children, that their stories have become a sad hallmark of my time in Yemen.
Today I met Amal, whose three-year-old son, Ahmed, died of tonsillitis because the local health facility had run out of basic antibiotics. She spent a week’s worth of money on the bus fare to the hospital, and while she was trying to scrape together the money to go to a different health facility, Ahmed died.
Amal said that she feels angry at her son’s fate and cheated out of the future he should have had.“I had to watch my child die in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do. He deserved a future.”
I’ve lost count of the number of similar stories I’ve heard, where parents can’t take their sick children to hospital in time because the transport costs are just too high.
In the car on the way back from the health facility where I met Amal, I tried to comfort myself with the knowledge that Save the Children runs more than a hundred health facilities across the country. As much as we can, we try to be there with free healthcare to families who desperately need it. We also pay transport costs to help families reach hospitals in time. For many families, it’s literally a matter of life and death.
But I can’t stop thinking about the children who aren’t so lucky, like Ahmed who died at home, in pain and from entirely preventable causes. Amal did everything she possibly could to save her son, but there were just too many obstacles stacked against her.
She said the only thing she could do for her son was hold him in his final moments.
A CRIPPLED HEALTH SYSTEM
Ahmed is not an isolated case, and even those who do make it to public hospitals can be told on arrival that they have to pay for medicines and treatment, or even bring their own. This isn’t possible for many families and they leave empty handed, forced to take their children home – often to die.
Half of all health facilities in Yemen are closed, and those that are still open lack vital life-saving medicines, specialist staff, even electricity. I saw pharmacies with near-empty shelves, staffed by exhausted doctors who said they simply don’t have the medicines they need to keep children alive any more: “How can we treat a missing limb with a plaster?”
In many health centres incubators for premature and malnourished babies are missing essential parts – so staff are forced to make-do with whatever they can find, like plastic sheeting to help cover the incubator and prevent babies from being infected by germs.
HEALTH FACILITY UNDER ATTACK
Many hospitals are out of action because they’ve been destroyed in the fighting or are occupied by fighters.
So why am I still here? Why do we all keep working day and night, when it can feel like all we do is put plasters on gaping wounds? It is because children like Ahmed could have been saved, and parents like Amal could be spared unimaginable heartbreak. And even though many more will die as long as the conflict grinds on, one child’s life alone is worth all of our time – by Claire Nicoll
https://blogs.savethechildren.org.uk/2019/01/mourning-children-stories-yemen
(B H)
Yemeni pet shop survives despite the odds
In Yemen, where almost four years of war have brought millions to the brink of famine and ravaged the economy, Mourad Jamal struggles to keep his small pet shop in the capital Sanaa afloat.
Fluffy white cats and birds are on show in cages along the wall. A lone gold fish swims in a tank, and a gray parrot stands on a perch. Animal collars and leads hang from the back wall and packets of dog biscuits are stacked at the counter.
“The situation in the country has deteriorated, the financial state is dismal. A Yemeni national barely keeps himself going,” said Jamal, owner of the Aalam Aleef pet shop.
(* B H)
UNICEF: Abdullah and his team are working tirelessly to ensure access to clean water for Yemenis
Sanaa. Abdullah Muthana and his team work in the National Water Resources Authority, the Ministry of Water & Environment in the campaign to monitor the water and wells stations and ensure that clean water reaches everyone in Sana’a, Yemen’s largest city, and other four governorates.
"Our work is humane awareness work. We follow the stations and take samples of water periodically so that the water is not contaminated," Abdullah explains.
The team of 120 workers employees starts the day very early with visits to Al-Kawather water stations as a part of their work duties where the campaign is targeting over 400 stations across the five governorates. Their main job is to ensure that the facilities are in compliance with sanitary conditions, water hygiene, and packaging.
The group also pays close attention to the requirements used to sterilize water and for this, they have at hand tools that use ultraviolet radiation and various types of filters to monitor the quality of the water. Also, they help the owners of these stations to develop and ensure access to clean water to all customers and gain their confidence.
Based on the last quality report from the National Water Resources Authority, the Water Stations improved on all the targeted indicators with an increase of more than 30 per cent comparing that to the to the start of the monitoring campaign. However, they are still working hard to have all these stations with high level of pureness.
https://www.unicef.org/yemen/reallives_12807.html
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* A H)
Boote mit Migranten kentern vor Dschibuti - Mindestens 40 Tote
Vor der Küste Dschibutis in Ostafrika sind nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen zwei Boote mit mehr als 130 Migranten an Bord gekentert. Bislang seien 43 Tote geborgen worden, teilte die UN-Organisation für Migration (IOM) am Mittwoch mit. «Wir erwarten aber, dass die Zahl der Todesopfer sehr viel höher ist», warnte Sprecher Joel Millman. 16 Schiffbrüchige wurden demnach gerettet.
Die Boote hatten in Obock in Dschibuti abgelegt und waren vermutlich auf dem Weg in den Jemen, wie Millman sagte. Dies sei eine gängige Route vor allem für Migranten aus Äthiopien. Augenzeugen berichteten laut IOM, dass die überfüllten Boote etwa 30 Minuten nach dem Ablegen bei starkem Wellengang gekentert seien.
Dieses tragische Ereignis zeige, welche Risiken die Menschen auf sich nähmen auf der Suche nach einem besseren Leben, erklärte Lalini Veerassamy, IOM-Leiterin in Dschibuti. Der Organisation zufolge starben von 2014 bis 2018 mehr als 700 Menschen bei der Überfahrt vom Horn von Afrika nach Jemen.
https://www.greenpeace-magazin.de/ticker/boote-mit-migranten-kentern-vor-dschibuti-mindestens-40-tote = https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/ausland/fluechtlingsboote-kentern-vor-dschibuti-mindestens-40-tote-134027963
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtRFVPMUnLA
(* A H)
Death toll climbs after migrant boats sink off Djibouti
At least 43 killed and scores missing after two boats sink on voyage to Arabian Peninsula.
The death toll from the sinking of two migrant boatsoff the coast of Djibouti has risen to 43, with scores still missing, the United Nations migration agency said.
Two vessels carrying migrants departed from Godoria on the country's northeast coast on Tuesday morning but sank in heavy seas 30 minutes into the journey, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM's chief of mission in Djibouti Lalini Veerassamy told AFP news agency that the death toll had reached 43 on Wednesday.
"This tragic event demonstrates the risks that vulnerable migrants face as they innocently search for better lives," said Veerassamy in a statement.
Sixteen people were rescued following the sinkings, with one survivor telling Djiboutian authorities there were 130 people on his boat.
The number of passengers on the second vessel remains unclear, as do the nationalities of those aboard.
The coastguard is still conducting search and rescue operations with patrol boats.
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtRFVPMUnLA
(* A H)
More than 130 African migrants feared drowned off Djibouti - U.N.
More than 130 African migrants were missing off Djibouti after two overloaded boats capsized in rough seas on Tuesday, the United Nations migration agency said.
The vessels were heading to Yemen, a gateway to Gulf countries where many migrants hope to find jobs and better lives, said Joel Millman, spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Alerted by local residents, a team of gendarmes found two survivors and the bodies of five migrants. The boats were believed to have capsized off Godoria, in Djibouti’s Obock region.
IOM staff identified an 18-year-old male survivor believed to have among 130 passengers on the first boat, but he had no information on the second craft, the IOM said.
(* B H)
International Organization for Migration: Humanitarian Airlifts from Yemen Allow Hundreds of Stranded Migrants to Return to Ethiopia
Approximately 350 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen are set to fly home this week under the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) latest Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flight operation. Such airlifts resumed from Yemen in late November last year.
IOM is handling the logistics to ensure the safe departure of the migrants from Sana’a International Airport to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. The beneficiaries will depart on chartered flights leaving today (29/01) and tomorrow (30/01).
“There are currently limited pathways for migrants to return home from Yemen. Through the support of and close coordination with government authorities, partners and IOM teams, we have been able to ensure migrants can reach their countries of origin in a safe and orderly manner,” said David Derthick, IOM Yemen Chief of Mission.
“IOM will continue to prioritize return movements for migrants in 2019,” he continued. The Organization plans to assist more than 3,000 migrants with VHR services this year.
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: UNHCR Yemen Situation: 2018 Funding Update (as of 22 January 2019)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-yemen-situation-2018-funding-update-22-january-2019
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A E P)
Houthi's decisions to seize and confiscate billions of riyals from telecom companies ' accounts in Sana'a
Yemen's telecommunications sector is one of its worst ever and has been systematically blackmailed, making it one of the most important sources of funding for the al-Houthi group.
Figures and statistics obtained by Al-Masdar online indicate that the al-Houthi armed group is considering the telecom sector as the dairy cow that generates billions of riyals.
A telecommunications source said that "The Yemeni telecom sector is being targeted, as illegal rulings and decisions on telecom companies and the private sector, in general, are accelerating and opportunistic by the courts under the control of the Houthis in Sanaa, which poses a real threat,". With the loss of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, without the slightest sense of responsibility, the risk of adding this human burden to more than 2 million government employees is still without pay for more than three years.
The source added, "More than 40 billion riyals have been seized from the stocks and funds of Sabafon mobile phone company without legal justification or judgment, followed by the issuance of two unfair judicial decisions to confiscate some $70 million and 16 billion Yemeni riyals, accompanied by provisional and executive reservations in those amounts. "
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163803
(A P)
House of Representatives resumes its sessions on Saturday
The House of Representatives on Saturday will resume to hold its sessions for the first period of the first mi-year of the 14th annual round under the chairmanship of its speaker, Yahya Ali Al-Ra'i.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525111.htm
(B P)
Houthis raid village in Mahweet, abduct three teachers
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Wednesday raided a village in the district of Hufash, the governorate of Mahweet, abducted three teachers and brutally assaulted a women, causing her to miscarry.
Local sources affirmed that the militias pursued the teacher Muqbil al-Miqranah after opening fire on him and assaulted her wife, causing her to miscarry.
The militia also kidnapped two other teachers Ali Qahtan and Marwan al-Miqranah and disappeared them.
The abduction came after the teachers refused to participate in sectarian courses arranged by the Houthis, aiming to spread Iran’s ideologies amid the Yemeni community.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27333
(B P)
Abductees Mothers: The houthi armed group refused to allow food, drinks and medicines to be entered and prevent visits to abductees under Sweden Agreements
https://twitter.com/abducteesmother/status/1090642948411322368
(A P)
Police in Mahweet release 26 of misled persons by coalition
The security services in the province of Mahweet Tuesday released 26 of the misled who were working for the aggression and his mercenaries.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524958.htm
(A P)
Coalition raids target Houthis sites for the besieged tribes of the tribes in Kasher-Hajjah
According to a local military source reported to Al-Masdar online, the fierce battles between the men of Hajur tribesmen in the directorate and the militants of the group, during the hours of last night, but did not result in progress on the ground to any party.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163715
Remark: Earlier recording: Yemen War Mosaic,506, cp5.
And
(A P)
The leaders of the Hajur tribes refuse to meet with the "Mashat" and the coalition raids killed 20 Houthis
Tribal leaders who were sieged by the Houthis in a hotel in the capital, Sanaa, refused to attend a meeting with the President of the High Political Council (the highest political authority of the Houthis) Mahdi al-Mashat, according to a tribal source.
According to Al-Masdar online, this came after a rift between them and the governor of Hajjah appointed by Houthis Hillal al-Sufi, on the management of the conflict between the Hajur tribes and the Houthis in the Directorate of Kasher.
"Al-Sufi wanted to impose on tribal leaders to sign a document that would enable the Houthi militia to take control of the directorate, which is rejected by tribal leaders," he added.
He noted that tribal leaders who attended the al-Mashat meeting were not active in the directorate and loyal to the Houthis, some of whom live in Sana'a, and were summoned after giving each of them 500,000 Yemeni riyals. "
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163750
(A B P)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Condemns Saudi Ambitions in Al-Mahara, Hadramout
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of National Salvation issued an official statement on the expansionist ambitions of Saudi Arabia in the two governorates of Al-Mahra and Hadramout. The Ministry explained in the statement that "it is following up with the situation and realizing the real objectives of the Saudi Military aggression and the total siege imposed on Yemen since March 26, 2015. These objectives are no longer hidden to anyone, including the ambitions of Saudi Arabia in the governorates of Al-Mahra and Hadramout. Saudi Arabia is trying to extend an oil pipeline to the Arabian Sea and build an oil port on the coast in Al-Maharah province. This comes as an violation of Yemen's sovereignty and international laws."
The ministry said in the statement that Saudi Arabia sought to exploit the chaos caused by the aggression to achieve its historical ambitions and illegal interests in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara. Saudi Arabia in November 2017 sent its military forces to the Al-Mahara province. The statement pointed out that Saudi Arabia has attracted some political and tribal figures in the province in preparation for passing its plans and ambitions in the Yemeni territories. In addition, it continues to move heavy military equipment to many cities and ports in Al-Mahra province.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5134&cat_id=1
My comment: There had been many reports on this matter, and a lot of protests by locals. Just for illustration: https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/1090319021940113410
(A P)
Houthis detain dozens of tankers loaded with fuel in Afar in Baydha
The Houthi gunmen are holding dozens of tankers loaded with oil derivatives in Afar district of al-Malajem, in the central province of Albaydha, from Marib and Hadramawt provinces.
A local source told Al-Masdar online that the Houthis were holding the tankers at the customs post they had developed in Afar, for the second consecutive month, and were blocking their passage to the provinces under their control.
He noted that the Houthis wanted to fabricate a crisis in oil derivatives and sell them at double prices.
The Houthis had developed a customs post in the Afar area on the road linking al-Bayda and Marib, imposing exorbitant sums of money on oil derivatives and food carriers under the name of customs up to two million per tanker.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163699
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A P)
South Yemen, Aden, rising up against Saudi-Emarati occupation The angry protesters demand release of relatives in secret prisons worse than Guantanamo They chant:You liar, coalition, you sponsor of terrorism, Referring to Saudi-Emarati coaltion
Film: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1090952258311909376
Photo: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1090954493955584000
(* B P)
Detainees Describe an American Presence in Their Torture Chambers
Inside Yemen’s prisons can be found torture, rape, disappearances, a snarling dog nicknamed Shakira—and, according to survivors, the American sponsors of a dirty war.
When it came time for the interrogators to question a Yemeni man The Daily Beast will call Salvatore, they blindfolded their prisoner and set Salvatore before a two-man team. One was an Emirati. Beside him, Salvatore could hear another man whispering in English—in what Salvatore thought was an American accent. The Emirati called him John.
Salvatore, who admits that 20 years ago he was a member of al Qaeda, understood John to be American; he recalled being interrogated by Americans before. Now, with the U.S. a part of the Saudi-Emirati coalition bombarding Yemen since March 2015, Salvatore suspected the Americans had taken a renewed interest in him. John would whisper something, and the Emirati would question Salvatore.
Once the questions ended, rougher treatment began. The Emirati interrogator, Salvatore would hear while blindfolded, would call out to colleagues by nicknames “and tell them what to do.” One of those colleagues was known by the nickname Hitler.
Hitler would “electrify me,” Salvatore said. “They would strip me naked, they would beat me very harshly and slowly you start to understand the dynamics in the room. These are the two people, one of them is overseeing the whole interrogation”—by which Salvatore meant John, the presumed American—“and the other is doing the questioning and ordering the torture.”
Salvatore’s account is fragmentary, as is that of another ex-detainee interviewed by The Daily Beast named Adel Salem Nasser al-Hasani, who gave similar accounts of a U.S. presence in Yemeni torture prisons based on what he saw—victims weren’t always blindfolded—heard, and heard other prisoners say. You don’t have to take these two former detainees’ word for it, however: The U.S. military now admits that American troops are in the facilities. But Salvatore and al-Hasani’s accounts also challenge the official U.S. position, which is that despite American service-members being present in Yemeni prisons, the U.S. doesn’t know anything about any torture that happens in detention centers run by U.S. allies.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/detainees-describe-an-american-presence-in-their-torture-chambers
Remark: There hads been a lot of reporting on this matter. One main article from 2017 here: https://apnews.com/4925f7f0fa654853bd6f2f57174179fe .The new fact reported here is the direct US involvment.
(A P)
Journalists ' Syndicate holds the Hadramawt authorities responsible for what the journalist Ben Makhashen has been subjected to
The Yemeni journalists ' syndicate blamed the local authority in Hadramawt, headed by the Governor al-Bahssani and the security services, for the responsibility of what Sabri bin Makhashen was subject to in his prisons.
The syndicate expressed its strong dissatisfaction with the repeated arbitrary acts against journalists by military intelligence in Hadramawt, as it did with bin Makhashin and AwadKashmim, and with direct instructions from the governor.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163764
(A P)
Source: Soldier killed under torture in Abu al-Abbas Brigades prison west of Taiz
A soldier of the 17 Infantry Brigade of the government forces was killed under torture, in a prison belonging to the Abu al-Abbas brigades in Jabal Habashi district, west of Taiz, an official military source said Tuesday.
The source told Al-Masdar online that the brigades arrested last Saturday the soldier Ammar Naji al-Arshhani from the Bayrin point in the Al-Ma'afer district, and transferred him to their prison in the Nouyhah area of the Directorate of Jabal Habashi.
"The soldier stayed for five days in the battalion prison at the “Al-Sha’b School in the Akcad district and was tortured, after which the brigades handed over his body to his family last Friday," he said.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163716
Remark: At Taiz, terrorist militia are playing a main role in fighting the Houthis.
(A P)
With Rifles’ Buts, Northern Soldiers Assault a Citizen in Saioun
https://en.smanews.org/with-rifles-buts-northern-soldiers-assault-a-citizen-in-saioun
My comment: Separatists’ propaganda against connections to Northern Yemen.
(A P)
Shabwa Elites Troops Confiscate Ammunition and Rockets Heading to Ataq
https://en.smanews.org/shabwa-elites-troops-confiscate-ammunition-and-rockets-heading-to-ataq
My comment: Separatists’ propaganda in favor of their militia which are praised as a force of law and order – while they are accused of detaining and torture.
(A P)
Leaders of the Southern Transitional Council Visit Aden Oil Refinery and Assert its Vital Economic Role
Leaders of the Southern Transitional Council Visit Aden Oil Refinery and Assert its Vital Economic Role
My comment: The separatists’ leadership playing the role of a government.
(* A P)
A Southern Leader: We Accepted the Legitimacy to Exhaust Al-Houthi Project but We Will Never Accept the Yemeni Dialogue Outcomes
Mansour Saleh, a southern leader, indicated that the so-called Yemeni legitimacy is trying to impose the Yemeni Dialogue Outcomes by force over the south and this clearly reveals that the legitimacy doesn’t recognize major changes that happened in the south and increased its strength.
In a phone call with Sputnik on Monday January 28th, 2019, Saleh indicated that oppression and force are no longer options as the southern people are the first power on their territories and the decision makers of its future. They are now having power and an defend their options.
Saleh added: “The southern cause now has a rightful political representative, that is the southern transitional council that managed to impose the cause on all international fields. It is no longer and internal affair as Sanaa regimen is trying to put it to the world. The southern support to the legitimacy and the Arab Coalition was only to face Al-Houthi project. But this doesn’t mean to accept any projects that deny the southern people their right in self-determination. The Yemeni legitimacy should recognize that its existence in Aden is only for helping Yemen to defeat Al-Houthi project and in appreciation of the Arab coalition’s role. But certainly, it doesn’t mean to accept any projects the legitimacy is trying to establish”.
He indicated that the southern refused to participate in the Yemeni dialogue as it was not honest and their will was falsified. They refused its outcomes while they were unarmed and today they can exhaust any tries to revive these born=dead outcomes that even caused war in the north too
My comment: “President” Hadi always insists on the 2013/2014 National Dialogue Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Dialogue_Conference), which he had tried to manipulate in his favor, and which finally failed. The Houthis and the partisans of ex-president Saleh finally had rejected the results. Now, the southern separatists, wh0 had gained a lot of momentum, also clearly reject it – for different reasons. The outcome of the Dialogue Conference would have been a unified federal state, an idea the separatists clearly reject.
(A P)
Presidency of the Southern Transitional Council Discuss Resent Provocative Acts of the Legitimacy Government in its Regular Meeting
In addition, the meeting discussed recent provocative acts of the legitimacy government aiming to provoke disorder and conflicts inside the capital, Aden, and measures to be taken against them
(A P)
In the First Response to Minister of Yemeni Dialogue Outcomes, Al-Awlaki Says: “We will Never Allow Provocative Acts and Irresponsible Games”
Salem Thabet Al-Awlaki, official spokesman of the Southern Transitional Council, indicated that the council’s presidency observed provocative acts of the minister of the so-called Yemeni dialogue outcomes who is trying to promote these outcomes in several directorates in the capital, Aden, in addition to other procedural steps taken in the same context. Such acts will never serve the calm-down under auspices of the Arab Coalition recently that reflected positively on the life in Aden with noticeable stability and security.
Al-Awlaki considered such condemned acts as an offense to the southern people’s sacrifices and provocation for martyrs’ families and southern injured. He added that when the government returns to Sanaa, God willing, the minister can promote his project as he wishes but Aden was, and still is, the capital of the south and homeland of the southern struggle and southern liberation project.
Remark: Southern separatists try to urge the Hadi government to stop all propaganda which refers to a united Yemeni state.
(A P)
The release of the journalist «Bin Makhashen» Two months after his arrest in the city of Mukalla
Military intelligence in the eastern province of Hadramawt on Monday released journalist Sabri bin Makhashin after two-month detention, but he is in a very poor state of health where he suffers from several diseases including diabetes.
Ben Makhashin was arrested by the intelligence division of the second Military District without explaining the reasons for the arrest, and during the period of detention, he was barred from family visits, according to the source, who is close to al-Masdar online.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163696
(* A P)
"Southern transition" vows against government on first anniversary of Aden events
The so-called Southern Transitional Council, which calls for the secession of South Yemen from its north and supported by the UAE, has, over the past two days, threatened to escalate against the Yemeni government, refusing to implement the outcome of the national dialogue, and holding the House of Representatives sessions in Aden.
This coincides with the passage of a year after the events in Aden, in which the city witnessed fierce fighting between government forces and forces loyal to the "southern transition", which ended with the latter's control over the city.
The fighting left 51 people dead and more than 300 injured.
On Monday, scores of southern transitional supporters staged limited demonstrations that could escalate tensions in the city, which is being taken by the government as a temporary capital, according to eyewitnesses to Al-Masdar online.
The protesters removed a number of banners that promoted the National Dialogue Conference, which was erected on a number of streets, and trampled some of them with legs and cars, witnesses said.
The protesters raised slogans demanding the establishment of the southern state and the secession of southern Yemen from the north, expressing their rejection of the dialogue conference, while the Government had organized events in the city to raise awareness of the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163705
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(* B P)
The lesson we should learn from the killing fields of Afghanistan and Yemen
The handmaiden of peace is exhaustion. We are seeing that lesson in the killing fields of Afghanistan and Yemen.
Fragile peace agreements are emerging in both conflicts, thanks to skillful diplomats. There are a hundred reasons each negotiation may fail, and in assessing Middle East conflicts, we should remember that, unfortunately, “pessimism pays,” as my former Wall Street Journal colleague Karen Elliott House observed nearly 40 years ago.
Recent diplomatic efforts are bolstered by fatigue and frustration at the existing, costly stalemates in both battlefields. The Trump administration (despite the president’s own clumsy statements) has found a balance between saying (rightly) that the wars must end and (wrongly) setting a precise timetable for withdrawing U.S. military support. Ambiguity is the mother of peace deals.
Body counts can be misleading, since they don’t measure the underlying will to keep fighting, but they suggest the awful human cost.
Growing public outrage has been a factor in curbing both conflicts.
War has a momentum that’s hard to stop, even when there’s a broad yearning to end a conflict.
But generals don’t end modern wars; diplomats do.
Democratic societies fight wars at a disadvantage. The public wants the decisive outcome of victory, but as wars grind on, and people watch the savage endgame live, they hate what they see. The wires get crossed: The putative “good guys” appear to be savage killers; the terrorizing insurgents come to seem the innocent victims.
What slows the killing machine are fatigue, popular rage at the human cost of continued fighting and peacemaking formulas that allow each side to claim a measure of success and avoid humiliation. These are the kind of delicate but essential deals that diplomats are struggling to craft in Yemen and Afghanistan. We should all hope they succeed – by David Ignatius
Comment: If there is a lesson the US never learns is the uselessness, needlessness of war.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/2116502508402768
My comment: Interesting. In Afghanistan, 17 years of war; what for?. David Ignatius was a strong backer of Saudi Arabia for 15 years (https://fair.org/home/david-ignatius-15-years-of-running-spin-for-saudi-regime/ ). And in 2003 when the Iraq war was looming, he wrote: “My own gut tells me that this is a war worth fighting. But I'm bothered that America still hasn't had the kind of broad national debate that would provide a solid foundation of public support for sending U.S. troops into battle.” (http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/09/27/076/23767/wariniraq/Ignatius-Iraq-Problem ). And in early 2019, he lamented against Trump’s idea to withdraw from Syria (https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2019/01/05/david-ignatius-trumps-perilous-withdrawal-from-syria/ ). – Does the US ever learn that meddling into other countries’ affairs will have devastating effects anyway? No. Greetings from Venezuela, just now. The regime change game is started again and again. Now in Venezuela, civil war (or even worse) is looming. But also Ignatius will not get it. Look at what you said: “But generals don’t end modern wars; diplomats do”. And, you must add: “But generals don’t start modern wars; politicians do”. US politicians do worldwide.
(A P)
Foreign Minister meets UN envoy to Yemen
Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf met on Wednesday with UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith.
During the meeting, the Foreign Minister affirmed the commitment of the leadership in Sana'a to what was agreed upon in Stockholm in exchange for the arrogance of the other party, which clearly shows that they are not serious about moving towards a political solution
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524972.htm
(A P)
Saudi crown prince discusses Yemen with U.N. secretary general
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a telephone call from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday to discuss progress on resolving the war in Yemen and other regional issues, Saudi Press Agency reported.
“The Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed his gratitude for the Kingdom’s support in pushing for positive results in the dialogue between the Yemeni parties,” SPA reported.
Comment: Has MBS really had a call from Guterres thanking him for promoting stability in Yemen ? This seems a bit far fetched to me - or maybe Guterres is deluded?
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157329087658641
cp7a Gefangenenaustausch / Prisoner swap
(A P)
Jemenitische Rebellen lassen unter Vermittlung der UNO ersten Gefangenen frei
Im Rahmen einer bei den Jemen-Gesprächen in Schweden getroffenen Vereinbarung haben die Huthi-Rebellen am Dienstag den ersten Gefangenen freigelassen. Der UN-Sondergesandte für den Jemen, Martin Griffiths, begrüßte im Kurzbotschaftendienst Twitter die "bedingungslose Freilassung" des kranken saudiarabischen Soldaten. Der UN-Vertreter äußerte die Hoffnung auf "mehr derartige humanitäre Gesten" der Konfliktparteien.
Das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz bestätigte als Überwachungsinstanz, dass der Soldat von der jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa nach Riad in Saudi-Arabien geflogen wurde.
(* A P)
Saudi-led coalition frees 7 Yemen rebels, but issues threat
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen released seven Huthi prisoners on Wednesday and returned them to Sanaa, the UN said, even as the military alliance said it could use renewed force against the rebels.
The seven Huthis were transferred from the Saudi capital Riyadh to rebel-held Sanaa by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN said.
The office of UN envoy Martin Griffiths said he hoped that the move would give rise to a "rapid implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement" reached as part of a truce deal negotiated between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned rebels in Sweden last month.
The ICRC, which is overseeing the prisoner exchange process between the warring sides, confirmed it had flown seven Yemenis to Sanaa.
"Another hope for many families separated by the conflict in Yemen," the organisation wrote on Twitter.
The return of the Huthi detainees came a day after the rebels released the first prisoner under the deal between the rebels and the Saudi-backed government.
"The special envoy welcomes the unconditional release" of a sick Saudi prisoner, Griffiths' office had said on Twitter on Tuesday, adding that he hoped to see the two parties make more humanitarian gestures.
The ICRC, which also supervised Tuesday's operation, confirmed the transfer from Sanaa to Riyadh of the Saudi soldier.
The organisation released a video showing a man on a stretcher being carried onto a Red Cross plane.
Rebel media Al-Masirah named the soldier as Mussa al-Awaji, and said he had been released "without conditions, as a humanitarian gesture".
The prisoner swap is the first to take place since the truce that aims to end Yemen's conflict which has left millions at risk of starvation.
photo: https://republicanyemen.net/archives/13914
(A P)
Saudi Arabia frees seven Houthi prisoners in apparent swap
Saudi Arabia released seven prisoners it was holding from Yemen’s Houthi movement, who were flown to the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Wednesday by the Red Cross, the day after a Saudi prisoner freed by the Houthis arrived in Riyadh.
(A P)
International Committee of the Red Cross: Saudi Arabia: ICRC facilitates repatriation of seven Yemenis from Riyadh to Sana’a
Acting as a neutral humanitarian intermediary, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today facilitated the safe return of seven sick and injured Yemeni nationals from Saudi Arabia to Yemen. This follows the repatriation yesterday of a Saudi national from Sana'a to Riyadh.
(A P)
Saudi pledges to release seven Houthi prisoners after freed Saudi arrives in Riyadh
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said that seven Houthi prisoners will be released, after a Saudi prisoner freed by the group arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi state television reported.
Saudi prisoner Mousa Awaji was returned on a Red Cross plane from Sanaa on Tuesday due to illness, the Houthi TV channel al-Masirah said, citing Abdulqadir Murtada, a Houthi official.
The United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the Saudi prisoner release, tweeting that he hoped to see “more similar humanitarian gestures from the parties,” and looked forward to implementation of a prisoner exchange agreement.
(A P)
Saudi soldier held prisoner by Houthi militias returns home
Saudi soldier Musa Awaji has arrived back in the Kingdom after he was released by his Houthi captors in Yemen. Col. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition to Support legitimacy in Yemen, said Awaji flew in to King Salman Air Base in Riyadh at 9:45 p.m. on January 29.
The Houthis agreed to release him because of the poor state of his health and their inability to provide suitable care for him.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1444126/saudi-arabia
Film: https://twitter.com/ICRC_ye/status/1090280005014351872
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1970862943209690
(A P)
Yemen's Houthis release Saudi prisoner
Yemen’s Houthi group said on Tuesday it has released a Saudi prisoner, according its TV channel, Al-Masirah.
He had been released on humanitarian grounds due to illness and was repatriated by Red Cross plane, Al-Masirah said, citing Abdulqadir Murtada, a Houthi official.
(A P)
Saudi Prisoner Leaves Sana’a, Griffith Welcomes Humanitarian Initiative by Sayeed Abdulmalik, Leader of the Revolution
Member of the National Delegation and the head of the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, Abdulqader Al-Mortada, said, on Tuesday, that several parties intervened to convince the Saudi authorities for an urgent deal to release the sick Saudi prisoner Moussa Shu'i Arwaji but did not succeed. In call with with Almasirah TV, Al-Murtada explained that the Saudi prisoner was transferred to his country via a Red Cross plane after he was released by the initiative of the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik.
For his part, member of the Committee on the prisoners' Affairs, Ahmed Abuhamra, confirmed that the Saudi side did not show any interest in the Saudi prisoner and that Sayyed Abdulmalik ordered his release to help save his life. Our correspondent in Sana'a later reported that the Red Cross plane left Sana'a airport with the Saudi prisoner.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5138&cat_id=1
(A P)
Al-Murtadha: Saudi Regime Careless of its Prisoners, Our Decision to Release for Humanitarian
The head of the National Committee for War Prisoners Affairs Abdul Qader Al-Mortadha revealed the disregard of the Saudi regime for all initiatives to release the captive soldier who is very sick.
During the past two weeks we tried in all ways and means to convince the Saudi side to conduct an urgent exchange of the sick Saudi prisoner in exchange for the release of a group of our wounded prisoners through several mediators.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5132&cat_id=1
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
The Saudification of Mimi: Planned Mariah Carey concert sparks indignation
The singer is set to perform in Saudi Arabia on 31 January - but many fans think Mariah and the kingdom don't belong together
American singer Mariah Carey is scheduled to perform on 31 January on the sidelines of the first international golf tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia, an appearance that has been slammed as the Gulf kingdom faces scathing condemnations over its human rights record.
Mariah Carey will be the first female Western singer to perform in Saudi Arabia since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman introduced reforms to the entertainment industry, including projects to build cinemas and an opera house, recreational events previously banned in the kingdom.
Activists and social media users have denounced Mariah Carey's planned performance alongside Dutch DJ Tiesto and Jamaican rapper Sean Paul in King Abdullah Economic City, north of Mecca, amid the imprisonment and torture of Saudi women's rights activists.
One such critique came from Alia al-Hathloul, the sister of detained activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who has become a symbol of Saudi women's struggle for the right to drive.
and
(A P)
While my sister is in a Saudi jail, Mariah Carey could use her voice to help her
On Thursday night, Mariah Carey will perform on stage in Saudi Arabia. This concert is a pathetic attempt to show that the country is becoming more tolerant toward women.
But there are many women languishing in Saudi prisons, simply for campaigning for the better treatment of women.
Some of them have been brutally tortured and sexually assaulted. One of these women is my sister, Loujain Alhathloul. As a fan of Carey's work, I'd like to see her ask for the release of my sister while she is on stage.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/31/opinions/walid-alhathloul-opinion-intl/index.html
(B P)
Short film: What is Saudi Arabia doing to its women that many are desperate to escape? Coming up this Monday on @4corners - Escape From Saudi
https://twitter.com/Sophiemcneill/status/1090833260119154689
(* B H P)
Saudi Leaders Are Choking Charitable Giving
Lost in this parade of horrors are financial crimes that might not be as heinous but are nonetheless serious. Thousands of Saudis have had their property taken without warning. Saudi authorities have appropriated billions of dollars without so much as a court hearing. Millions of poor people around the world have been harmed as a result of such caprice.
In 2017, Prince Turki bin Abdullah , the CEO of the $4 billion King Abdullah Foundation, was arrested on orders from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, better known as MBS. Abdullah is still being detained although hasn’t been charged with any crime. The assets of the foundation were frozen and are currently held at the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. Saudi philanthropist Amr Al-Dabbagh’s U.K.-based Stars Foundation’s activities have also been frozen, as have Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi’s charitable projects in Africa. In addition, members of the King Abdullah family and other prominent businessmen and royal family members have had their Saudi-based bank accounts zeroed out.
Why does this matter? The King Abdullah Foundation, the legacy of the late king, is one of the world’s major philanthropies. It has given millions of dollars for health care, low-income housing, and refugee relief. And it planned to give far more. All that has come to a screeching halt, harming many would-be beneficiaries.
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia winds down 15-month anti-corruption campaign
Saudi Arabia has ended a sprawling crackdown on corruption ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that it said had recovered more than $106 billion through settlements with scores of senior princes, ministers and top businessmen.
A royal court statement said the government had summoned 381 people, some as witnesses, under the campaign launched in November 2017, but it provided no names. It said 87 people confessed to charges against them and reached secret settlements that included the forfeiture of real estate, companies, cash and other assets.
The campaign ended as abruptly as it began, despite speculation within the local business community that a new round of arrests was imminent.
The public prosecutor refused to settle the cases of 56 others due to existing criminal charges against them, and eight more who declined settlement offers stand accused of corruption, the statement said. Detainees who were not indicted were freed.
My comment: Saudi Arabia is a family clan enterprise, more than being a state. A clan with lots of enmity. And the winner takes it all.
(* B P)
Amnesty International: SAUDI ARABIA: FREE ISRAA - FACING EXECUTION FOR PEACEFUL ACTIVISM
29-year-old Israa al-Ghomgham – along with four activists – faces execution in Saudi Arabia. Her supposed crime? Simply taking part in non-violent protests.
Israa’s home was raided in December 2015. She’s been imprisoned ever since, along with several others. Now she faces the death penalty for peacefully defending human rights.
Call on Saudi Arabia to release Israa - and her fellow activists - immediately.
ACT NOWEMAIL SAUDI EMBASSY
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/saudi-arabia-free-israa-facing-execution-peaceful-activism
(* B P)
Saudi dissident in Beirut believes he escaped same fate as Khashoggi
Maan al-Jaraba says that, in the days preceding Khashoggi’s assassination last October, he almost fell into a similar trap
Three and a half months after the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul, a Saudi dissident has come forward alleging that he was similarly lured into the Gulf country’s embassy in Lebanon - and would have also met a gruesome end had he not been accompanied by bodyguards.
Maan al-Jaraba, the leader of the Saudi opposition group Harakat al-Karama (Movement for Dignity), spoke to online news outlet Lebanon Debate about the trap purportedly set up against him in September - only days before Khashoggi’s assassination.
Jaraba belongs to an influential Sunni family, descended from the tribe of Shammar, one of the largest Arab confederations in the Gulf, and linked to the al-Saud dynasty through marriage. However, he has been an open advocate for the establishment of a Saudi constitution and a democratic electoral system.
He claims to follow the teachings of Saudi sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr - a high-profile Shia cleric who called for peaceful reform in the kingdom before being beheaded by Saudi authorities in early 2016 - as well as being a vocal supporter of the ideas of the former Egyptian presidentGamal Abdel Nasser.
One source close to Jaraba, who manages a website called The Saudi Reality, spoke to Middle East Eye to corroborate the events relayed by Lebanon Debate.
The source, who requested anonymity, said the events occurred ten days before Khashoggi was killed in Turkey on 2 October 2018.
Much like with Khashoggi, Saudi authorities reportedly told Jaraba they wanted to speak with him to convince him to return to Saudi Arabia.
“After years of being blacklisted, Sheikh Maan was contacted by Saudi embassy officials in Beirut. They said they were ready to engage in talks to bring him back into the fold,” the source said.
Remark: This is his website (in Arabic): https://thesaudireality.com/ . Ans an article from 2017 on Saudi princes who had disappeared: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40926963?fbclid=IwAR2EIXBdUqeSIMiCtMPdeR-TE4CMIa6Q2_Iet-sForbxDB_s6FNG0lqVNQY
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia suspends 126 local government employees on corruption charges
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it had suspended 126 local government employees at municipalities across the kingdom on corruption charges.
“They are charged with involvement in a number of cases including financial and managerial corruption, abuse of power as well as other legal and criminal violations,” the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said on Twitter.
Saudi authorities rounded up dozens of people in November 2017 on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s orders amid a crackdown on corruption, with many confined and interrogated at Riyadh’s opulent Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(A P)
U.N. Khashoggi investigator says no approval yet from Saudis for meeting
The U.N. investigator leading the inquiry into the killing of Jamal Khashoggi said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia had not yet approved a request for her to enter the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul and meet Saudi authorities.
Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on executions who is on a week-long mission to Turkey, briefly visited the Istanbul neighborhood where the Saudi consulate is located but did not enter the premises.
“We just wanted to have a sense of it,” she told reporters.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look cp6
(A P)
Democrats To Deny Funding to Trump’s Muslim Visa Ban on 2nd Anniversary
“We are dropping American made bombs on countries … the United States then made the decision to block those people inside those countries…”
Democratic members of the United States Congress rallied against President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban Monday which reached its second anniversary.
“I know first-hand how destructive this policy is to millions of people across the world who want to come to this country to seek a better life,” Ilhan Omar told a crowd of dozens of activists at a hall in the U.S. Capitol building.
Ironically, the Muslim-majority countries which face the strictest restrictions, including Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Syria, and Libya, are the ones invaded by the U.S. resulting in unending chaos and destruction.
https://www.juancole.com/2019/01/democrats-funding-anniversary.html
(* B P)
Controversial News Rating App NewsGuard Linked to Saudi Arabia’s PR Machine
Controversial news rating app NewsGuard has been found to not only have ties to politicians and figures spawned by the Homeland Security state, but is also tied to a Washington, D.C.-based PR firm that shielded Saudi Arabia from charges associated with the September 11th attacks and took generous payments from Riyadh to help spin its murderous war on the people of Yemen, according to a new report.
NewsGuard, which assigns green or red ratings to websites based on their alleged “standards of accuracy and accountability,” had already come under fire for having on its advisory board such beltway politicians and neo-conservative political figures like Bush-era head of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and former CIA director Michael Hayden. The app garnered further attention when tech behemoth Microsoft added it as a built-in feature on its Microsoft Edge app, a browser derided by web surfers as “bloatware” that comes preinstalled on Windows 10.
The third-largest investor in the mainstream media narrative-enforcing tool is Publicis Groupe, a multinational advertising firm based in Paris whose subsidiaries include public relations and damage-control firms whose modus operandi is the manipulation of media narratives for a range of corporate clients.
According to NewsGuard’s website, the third-largest investor in the mainstream media narrative-enforcing tool is Publicis Groupe, a multinational advertising firm based in Paris whose subsidiaries include public relations and damage-control firms whose modus operandi is the manipulation of media narratives for a range of corporate clients.
The company’s suite of PR firms includes Washington, D.C.-based Qorvis Group, an outfit that was enlisted by Saudi Arabia’s rulers following the September 11, 2001 attacks for the purpose of shielding Riyadh from charges that it supported the same hardline brand of Wahhabi Islam that underpins the ideology of groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Saudi state sponsorship of Wahhabi schools and terrorist groups has long been a matter of public knowledge.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/newsguard-saudi-arabia/254420/
and
(* B P)
'Fake news' filter NewsGuard grilled for having links to PR firm that peddled Saudi propaganda
A new app claiming to serve as a bulwark against "disinformation" by adding "trust rankings" to news websites has links to a PR firm that received nearly $15 million to push pro-Saudi spin in US media, B. reports.
NewsGuard and its shady advisory board – consisting of truth-lovers such as Tom Ridge, the first-ever homeland security chief, and former CIA director Michael Hayden – came under scrutiny after Microsoft announced that the app would be built into its mobile browsers. A closer examination of the company's publicly listed investors, however, has revealed new reasons to be suspicious of this self-declared crusader against propaganda. As Breitbart discovered, NewsGuard's third-largest investor, Publicis Groupe, owns a PR firm that has repeatedly airbrushed Saudi Arabia.
https://www.rt.com/news/450035-saudi-arabia-newsguard-pr-investor/
(* B K P)
Proportionality and Doubt
This article is part of our joint symposium with EJIL: Talk! on Chatham House’s “Proportionality in the Conduct of Hostilities” Report.
Chatham House’s research paper by Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Proportionality in the Conduct of Hostilities, provides an outstanding analysis of interesting, important, and challenging legal questions. Nevertheless, I was asked to find a nit to pick, and so I have. At one point, the Report states that
In certain situations it is evident that the expected incidental harm will be excessive in relation to the military advantage, and in others it is evident that it will not be. To use some examples referred to in military manuals, bombing an isolated fuel tanker in the middle of a densely populated city would be excessive, while an airstrike against an ammunition depot beside a farmer ploughing a field would not be. ‘Excessive’ is a wide but not indeterminate standard. (para 81)
This passage seems entirely correct, yet invites the question: What should a commander do when she confronts borderline cases, in which the expected civilian losses are neither ‘evidently’ excessive nor ‘evidently’ non-excessive in relation to the military advantage anticipated? Is she free to attack, since she cannot assess with confidence that the expected losses would be excessive? Or must she refrain from attack, since she cannot assess with confidence that the expected losses would not be excessive?
https://www.justsecurity.org/62375/proportionality-doubt/
My comment: What to think of this???? It’s a reasoning of insane minds. And what about this here:
(* B P)
In Coalition Ops, Civilian Protections Are Only as Strong as the Weakest Link
Multinational coalitions have become an enduring feature of American wars, from standing alliances like NATO to the ad-hoc coalitions fighting Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. Yet, for the frequency with which the US turns to coalitions as a preferred mode of fighting, remarkably little has been done to examine the relationship between coalition operations and civilian casualties. Without examining what makes them unique, it’s hard to know whether coalitions prevent or cause more civilian casualties than unilateral operations, and why.
Research recently concluded by the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) suggests a somewhat unsatisfying answer: it depends. The political process of enlisting participation and buy-in from coalition participants can lead to greater accountability and collective restraint, but it can also produce compromises that facilitate or obscure harm. Meanwhile, the parallel chains of command and varied national preferences characteristic of multinational coalitions may allow more cautious members to veto operations that could cause casualties, while also introducing obstacles to preventing and accounting for civilian harm. Most importantly, our research suggests ways to help coalitions better prevent and respond to civilian casualties.
Understanding what makes coalitions different when it comes to civilian harm requires understanding their most important defining features: their parallel command structures and their political character.
The U.S. military says it does “everything humanly possible” to avoid civilian casualties. But without a close look at the risks and opportunities inherent to its preferred mode of fighting, a coalition’s ability to mitigate civilian harm will only be as strong as its weakest link – by Dan Mahanty and Annie Shiel
My comment: ?? Killing civilians is somewhat ok, if it is somewhat limited and controlled? Look at this:
Packed screening @FrontlineClub yday for Safa Al Ahmad's new film "Targeting Yemen" on devastating impact of US drones & raids on civilians.
Safa packs her punches. Asked "What can the military learn?" Safa replies "Don't kill people. Next question”. (photo)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1090571989750898689
(* B P)
As US-Saudi relationship sours, a new suitor has come calling
Is it possible the Saudi romance with Trump is over and that Putin might take his place as the most honored guest of the Saudi kingdom? Clearly the Saudis are beginning to hedge their bets against possible U.S. abandonment, a fear deeply embedded in the Saudi psyche after watching Obama dump Mubarak and negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015.
While the doors in Washington have been closing on the Saudi crown prince, those in Moscow have been opening wider, and the king and his son are now reciprocating. Serious Saudi courtship of Putin began with the four-day visit of King Salman to Moscow in March 2017, the first ever by a Saudi monarch.
Since then, MbS, who is also the defense minister, has been there several times to discuss oil and Russian arms sales.
Russia has already proved its value to Saudi Arabia in combating the new American role in setting international oil prices by coordinating their production levels to combat soaring U.S. production.
Russia has also offered to sell Saudi Arabia its S-400 anti-aircraft missile defense system, and the Saudi ambassador in Moscow said last June talks with the Saudis were “well advanced.”
The Saudis also have to decide whether to begin building the first of their planned 16 nuclear reactors worth $80 billion with the help of American or Russian companies – by David Ottaway, fellow in the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center.
My comment: What does the author want to tell us? This is an article with a 100 % focus on US geopolitical interests. The author seems just to worry about Russian rivalry and the US should once more cozy up to the Saudis?
(* A P)
Pentagon watchdog to investigate Yemen refueling
The Pentagon’s internal watchdog will investigate military refueling missions in the Middle East and Africa after the U.S. undercharged allies by $331 million for its support in the Yemen civil war.
The Department of Defense Inspector General announced Tuesday it will audit the energy reimbursement process for the Defense Logistics Agency, which buys, stores and ships much of the U.S. military’s supplies.
The probe’s focus will be on U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command, which were both involved in Yemen refueling missions. Auditors plan to visit Manama, Bahrain; Stuttgart, Germany, and Tampa, Florida, according a DoD IG memo to defense officials dated Jan. 28, 2019.
The U.S. announced in November, amid congressional outrage over the Oct. 2 death of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, it would stop refueling Saudi aircraft fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
News of the DoD IG probe comes the day before U.S. lawmakers in both chambers act to push the Trump administration, yet again, to sever American involvement in Yemen’s civil war.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as well as Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Mark Pocan, D-Wis., announced plans Tuesday to reintroduce their resolutions invoking Congress’ war powers on Wednesday.
After years of officials telling lawmakers the U.S. was being completely reimbursed, the audit is “a day late and a dollar short,” Murphy said Tuesday.
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/01/29/pentagon-watchdog-to-investigate-yemen-refueling/
My comment: It’s obvious why this is proclaimed just now: They hope to influence at least some representatives in Congress:
(* A P)
U.S. lawmakers again seek to end U.S. support for Saudis in Yemen
Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers will try again to pass a resolution ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, with a greater chance of success than when a similar measure passed the Senate last month.
Republican Senator Mike Lee, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, as well as Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan, planned a news conference for Wednesday to introduce the legislation.
The Senate passed a Yemen-related war powers resolution by a 56-41 vote in December
and
(* A P)
U.S. lawmakers seek to force Trump decision on Saudi Yemen war
Republican and Democratic senators and representatives said on Wednesday they were re-introducing a war powers resolution that passed the Senate by 56-41 in December, a rebuke of Trump amid anger at Saudi Arabia not just over civilian deaths in Yemen, but also the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
The lawmakers - an alliance of progressive Democrats and Republican constitutional conservatives - deplored the “humanitarian disaster” in Yemen but also said they wanted Congress to reassert its constitutional authority to decide whether the United States should be involved in military conflict.
“That decision has never been debated and discussed and voted on and approved by Congress,” Republican Senator Mike Lee, one of the measure’s sponsors, told a news conference.
and
(* A P)
House Democrats to challenge Trump again on Yemen
House Democrats are renewing their push to cut off U.S. involvement in Yemen’s bloody civil war, teeing up a direct challenge to President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy agenda.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told POLITICO on Monday that he planned to reintroduce a War Powers resolution in the coming days, and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), indicated that his panel would make the issue a top priority.
“I’m confident with the support of the Democratic leadership that we’re going to get a vote in February in the House on the War Powers resolution, and with Sen. Sanders’ leadership that it’s going to pass the Senate,” Khanna told POLITICO, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “And when it does it will be the first time in the history of our country that a War Powers resolution would have passed both the House and the Senate to stop war. It’s long overdue, and this is going to do an enormous amount to end the suffering in Yemen.”
A spokesman for Sanders said both the Vermont senator and Khanna plan to re-introduce the joint resolution later this week.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/28/house-democrats-challenge-trump-yemen-1133142
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1090660651297591297
and
(A P)
Film: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), along with Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Ken Buck (R-Co.) will hold a press conference today at 12:15 p.m. to announce the reintroduction of a resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRn01T3zOK4 = https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/bernie-sanders-on-the-war-in-yemen/2245911429029865/
and
(* A P)
Q&A: Congress Takes a Historic Step to End War on Yemen
California congressman Ro Khanna tells us about his co-sponsorship of the House War Powers Resolution.
This is the third time in three months Khanna has introduced the resolution to the House, but this time around he has the backing of the newly installed Democratic leadership under Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
This is a welcome development. Recall that in November and December of last year, Paul Ryan, in a final act of his tenure as House speaker, blocked Khanna’s bill from a vote by the full House.
For Khanna, this is the culmination of several years of legislative opposition to the US intervention in Yemen. I spoke to Khanna recently about the legislation, what he hopes to achieve by it, and the bill’s prospects for passage.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
JC: What did you make of that argument that we have to support the Saudis in order to counter growing Shia influence in the Middle East?
Ro Khanna: Well, it’s the wrong way of looking at American interests or human rights in the Middle East. This type of thinking has gotten us into trouble, whether it was demonizing Saddam Hussein and creating the conditions for going in to Iraq; or whether it was calling for regime change in Libya or Syria.
Now the target seems to be Iran, and there is an obsession with figuring out how to confront Iran. I’m not an apologist for Iran’s actions. Iran certainly has supported activities of terrorism and the Houthis don’t have clean hands. The Houthis have engaged in crimes too.
But the idea that that justifies American involvement in a civil war in Yemen doesn’t make any sense strategically. We have no stake in whether Yemen has some Iranian influence or not.
JC: Yet the Israel lobby gets all the attention.
RK: It’s a sizable lobby. Every time we were trying to get the Yemen vote, they would be out in full force with members of Congress. It’s a significant lobby, and they wine and dine staff and members. And it’s unfortunate that they have the influence they do. I think they suffered a huge blow, though, post-Khashoggi, where sentiments started to really turn against the Saudi regime.
JC: What’s their main tool? Is it the think tanks?
RK: It’s think tanks. They’re publishing op-eds in the papers. It’s influencing the foreign-policy establishment in this country. Then there are the big lobbying firms who continually make the argument that the Saudis contribute to the stability in the Middle East, that without them things would be more chaotic.
https://www.thenation.com/article/ro-hanna-war-powers-resolution-yemen/
and
(* B P)
Getting the Vote: Ro Khanna’s Fight to End U.S. Involvement in Yemen
He’s been fighting the same fight going on two years. In that time, he’s learned to take every victory and build off it, and inch by inch, public opinion has shifted. The flashpoint came in October with the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but an earlier event—the August school bus bombing in Saada by coalition jets using American bombs that left 44 children dead—also played a role.
In December, Sanders and Murphy even managed to secure a victory in the Senate for a war powers resolution to end US involvement in Yemen. However, that victory was short lived as Khanna’s mirror resolution in the House was blocked by then-Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Still, even that single victory was a far cry from where the effort stood when Khanna was first approached by peace groups and activists in 2017. He tells me that he’d originally wanted to recruit a more senior House member to be the face behind the effort, but was informed that nobody else was interested. “They were candid and said ‘well we can’t get anyone to introduce a war powers resolution, we’ve been trying and you’re our best bet,’” he explains. “So I introduced it and we started gaining momentum.”
We briefly touch on how that momentum came about, despite heavy opposition from the Saudi lobby and the GOP as well as pushback from fellow Democrats. “When we first introduced the legislation in 2017, we were told it was a bad idea,” Khanna would later elaborate in a follow-up email. “We were advised against pushing the legislation and told it would split the Democratic caucus. At the time, believe it or not, not all Democrats wanted to end US involvement in the war and many did not like the War Powers Resolution vehicle.”
and
(A H P)
Oxfam response to re-introduction of Yemen War Powers Resolution
“Today’s re-introduction of the Yemen War Powers Resolution is another clear signal that members of Congress will no longer accept the United States’ unconditional support for the Saudi-led coalition’s role in Yemen’s deadly war.
“The eyes of the American people and our elected officials are fixed on this crisis and the role that America has played in it. It’s time to remind the world that Americans will not stand by while our government further imperils millions of innocent people caught in a bloody, senseless war.”
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/oxfam-response-to-re-introduction-of-yemen-war-powers-resolution/
and
(* B P)
PRIMARIES MATTER: HOW A LONG-SHOT CHALLENGE SHIFTED THE DEBATE ON THE WAR IN YEMEN
But inside the House, a much lower-profile development played a critical but overlooked role: a Democratic primary campaign in Washington state. Significant credit for that resolution’s earlier momentum, say people closely involved in the process, belongs indirectly to Sarah Smith, a long-shot congressional candidate who challenged Democratic Rep. Adam Smith in Washington last year, making it to the general election before losing. Adam Smith at the time was the top-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and is now the panel’s chair, and Sarah Smith mounted her challenge largely in opposition to what she cast as his hawkish foreign policy approach, with a specific emphasis on Yemen.
Adam Smith, facing the challenge from Sarah Smith, became an outspoken advocate of using the War Powers Resolution in the fall to go up against the Trump administration, including by becoming a leading sponsor of a new War Powers resolution on Yemen. Now that he has won re-election, he remains a supporter of the effort, but his enthusiasm for it has changed noticeably.
“The War Powers resolution thing,” Smith told trade reporters who cover the Pentagon and the weapons industry in a post-election interview in December, before groaning. “There’s no way in the world you can write these stories that’s going to come out in a way that’s positive for me, but I’ll say it anyway: The War Powers resolution is only so useful.”
His shift in rhetoric underscores the impact primary challenges can have on internal House politics, but it also could make him vulnerable to another challenge in two years.
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/adam-smith-yemen-war/
(* B P)
Film: “NewsGuard”: Browser-App entscheidet über “glaubwürdige” oder “unglaubwürdige” News
Das Unternehmen NewsGuard stellt ein Plugin zur Verfügung, das online sämtliche aufgerufenen Nachrichten in glaubwürdig und unglaubwürdig unterteilt. Nachrichten von RT, Wikileaks oder Sputnik sind gemäß der App mit Vorsicht zu genießen.
Große Überraschung: Dem hingegen gelten New York Times, Washington Post und sogar Buzzfeed als glaubwürdig. Mit NewsGuard geht der Krieg um die globale Deutungshoheit in eine neue Runde.
und
(* B P)
NewsGuard Linked to Saudi Arabia’s PR Machine
Newsguard, the beltway establishment-backed “news rating” browser plugin that assigns websites a green or red rating based on their “trustworthiness,” claims to care about integrity in news. But one of the project’s top investors operates a D.C.-based subsidiary that has been trying to manipulate American news media on behalf of Saudi Arabia and its brutal military intervention in Yemen.
Navigate to Newsguard’s website and you’ll be greeted with a slogan that proudly proclaims “restoring trust and accountability.”
Yet do a little digging on that same website, and you’ll discover that Newsguard’s third-largest investor is Publicis Groupe, a Paris-based advertising multinational whose subsidiaries include a vast range of P.R. firms whose sole purpose is to spin the news and influence the public on behalf of corporate clients.
Among these P.R. firms is Qorvis Group, a Washington, D.C.-based outfit whose clients include Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The firm has represented Saudi Arabia since the aftermath of the September 11 attacks when the Sharia-run country was desperate to protect its image amidst revelations that 15 of the 19 attacking terrorists were Saudi nationals.
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/70655/newsguard-linked-to-saudi-arabias-pr.html = https://qwiket.com/context/topic/newsguard-linked-to-saudi-arabia-s-pr-machine = http://www.todaychan.com/2019/01/28/newsguard-linked-to-saudi-arabias-pr-machine/
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(* B H K)
Film: Every time #SaudiArabia does something horrific, the UK government sells them more weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/YemenNotAlone/videos/2221267328125727
(* B H K)
Film: I got out to bring a lunch food my family, then the #Saudi coalition jet hit my house, when I arrived a house I found that most of my family were killed, Salwa has lost 13 members of her family due one of #Saudi coalition attacks, thousands else have been killed in #Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/YemenNotAlone/videos/237449287029858/
(C)
Book: From Suez to Yemen, understanding the UK’s long history of interference in the Middle East
The British elite has been agonising over its place in the world for as long as anyone can remember. In the years after the Second World War, the process of downgrading from empire to second-tier global power was just beginning, and in Lords of the Desert James Barr provides a dramatic, absorbing account of how this played out in that most tempestuous and strategically significant of regions: the Middle East.
His real contribution is to set these episodes within the context of an uncomfortable alliance between Washington and London, characterised by inter-imperialist rivalry.
Both powers shared the objectives of supporting conservative allies against popular independence movements, and excluding the Soviets. But within those parameters there was plenty of scope for vigorous tactical disagreement.
(A K P)
Parliament: Yemen: Terrorism:Written question - 210523
Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the extent to which Saudi Arabian-supplied arms are reaching Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups in Yemen.
A: The Ministry of Defence has not undertaken any such formal assessment.
Remark: After supplying around £5bn in arms to Saudi Arabia, for possible use in Yemen, UK govt has made “no formal assessment” of whether any are going to terrorist groups (despite reports of Saudi arms getting to Al Qaeda).
https://twitter.com/markcurtis30/status/1090196371934756869
Comment: Despite many rumours - and some evidence - that weapons supplied to the Saudi led coalition end up in the hands of extremist Sunni militias - such as the Abu Abbas brigades in Taiz - the government has failed to make a formal assessment of the end use of its exports of UK manufactured weapons
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157329135063641
Comment: "What we do not know, we cannot be held accountable for" seems to be their motto. Convenient enough, I guess..
https://twitter.com/AudreyAurus1/status/1090197220169838592
(A K P)
Fury as arms firm linked to child massacre given free business advice by Scots quango
Scottish Enterprise has provided 'account management' services to Raytheon at no cost to the Fife-based firm for more than a decade
An arms company which received a controversial handout of public money has been given free management advice by the Scottish Government’s business agency, we can reveal.
Scottish Enterprise has provided “account management” services to Raytheon at no cost to the Fife-based firm for more than a decade.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/outrage-bombs-cash-scandal-arms-13911956
(* B E P)
Brexit is good news for those in the business of war
Lydia Noon reflects on a busy week for those seeking and profiteering from arms deals, and the hypocrisy of it.
And so, as the Brexit engine rumbles on, so does one of the most controversial and disturbing aspects of it: the dealings of the UK’s weapons industry with unscrupulous regimes.
Free trade agreements outside of the EU mean less regulation, and dodgy deals bode well for many countries in the business of buying weapons.
Business and politics: convenient bedfellows
The Government has identified arms sales as a priority for the brave new world post-Brexit, and a global Britain, or arguably a more desperate Britain, looks set to invest in this sector. Europe accounts for few military contracts so there is little downside to the changing market, according to the UK’s trade group for arms companies, euphemistically called the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space association (ADS).
One of ADS’ members, British multinational BAE systems, is similarly nonchalant. The UK’s largest manufacturer says that Brexit is “just not that big a deal”, and is excited about frictionless trade. It is worth noting that the corporation’s main customers are Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK, with Europe only accounting for 8%eight percent of its income in 2017.
Theresa May set up five business councils in November 2018 in order for companies to advise her on “post-Brexit opportunities”. The chair of BAE systems, Roger Carr, along with Rolls- Royce chair Ian Davis, co-lead the industrial, infrastructure, and manufacturing council, which is to meet three times a year.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A P)
Krisenherde in unmittelbarer Nachbarschaft Europas: Staatssekretär Michaelis in Nah- und Mittelost
Im Rahmen seiner Reise besucht der Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen Amts Andreas Michaelis Saudi-Arabien, Jordanien, die Palästinensischen Gebiete und Israel. Im Fokus steht insbesondere der Konflikt in Jemen.
Am Montag (28.01.) reiste Staatssekretär Michaelis nach Saudi-Arabien. Er traf in Riad den Staatspräsidenten des Jemen, Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, und seinen saudischen Amtskollegen, Staatsminister Adel Al-Jubeir, zu politischen Konsultationen.
(A P)
Bundestag: Rüstungsexporte und Jemen-Krieg
Wirtschaft und Energie/Kleine Anfrage - 30.01.2019 (hib 112/2019)
Die Fraktion Die Linke erkundigt sich nach Rüstungsexporten in Länder, die am Jemen-Krieg beteiligt sind. In einer Kleinen Anfrage (19/7188) interessieren sich die Abgeordneten detailliert für Länder, die an verschiedenen Punkten des Krieges involviert sind oder waren. Sie möchten auch wissen, wie die Bundesregierung die Haltung der USA in dem Konflikt bewertet.
https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/-/590218
und Anfrage: http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/071/1907188.pdf
(* B K P)
Film: Keine Waffen für Saudi-Arabien?
Munition, Panzer, U-Boote, Artilleriesysteme – Deutschland ist im Kriegsgeschäft ganz vorne mit dabei. Nach dem brutalen Mord an dem Journalisten #Kashoggi stoppt Merkel die #Rüstungsexporte nach Saudi-Arabien – aber was bedeutet dieser Exportstopp wirklich für die deutschen Rüstungsunternehmen?
Kriege zerstören Städte und Länder, Millionen von Menschen sind grausamen Konflikten schutzlos ausgeliefert. Millionenumsätze werden mit den Exporten von Rüstungsgütern verdient! Wer profitiert vom Geschäft mit den Waffen? Welche Rolle spielen die deutschen Waffenkonzerne? Wie umgehen die deutschen Marktführer die von der Politik verhängten Exportstopps, um doch noch am Kriegsgeschäft teil zu haben? Rheinmetall, Thyssenkrupp und Krauss-Maffei Wegmann zählen zu den erfolgreichsten Rüstungsunternehmen weltweit. 451° stellt euch diese drei marktführenden Waffenexporteure vor. Wir zeigen euch, wie sie mit Standorten im Ausland deutsche Exportstopps, zum Beispiel nach #SaudiArabien, umgehen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYvTucqyzVU
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* B P)
UAE used cyber super-weapon to spy on iPhones of foes
A team of former U.S. government intelligence operatives working for the United Arab Emirates hacked into the iPhones of activists, diplomats and rival foreign leaders with the help of a sophisticated spying tool called Karma, in a campaign that shows how potent cyber-weapons are proliferating beyond the world’s superpowers and into the hands of smaller nations.
The cyber tool allowed the small Gulf country to monitor hundreds of targets beginning in 2016, from the Emir of Qatar and a senior Turkish official to a Nobel Peace laureate human-rights activist in Yemen, according to five former operatives and program documents reviewed by Reuters. The sources interviewed by Reuters were not Emirati citizens.
Karma was used by an offensive cyber operations unit in Abu Dhabi comprised of Emirati security officials and former American intelligence operatives working as contractors for the UAE’s intelligence services. The existence of Karma and of the hacking unit, code named Project Raven, haven’t been previously reported. Raven’s activities are detailed in a separate story published by Reuters today.
The ex-Raven operatives described Karma as a tool that could remotely grant access to iPhones simply by uploading phone numbers or email accounts into an automated targeting system.
(A P)
Vereinigte Arabische EmirateDubai vergibt Gleichstellungspreise ausschließlich an Männer
Und der Gewinner ist in jedem Fall ein Mann: In Dubai sind Preise vergeben worden für Projekte zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter. Die Verleihung geriet aber zum PR-Desaster.
Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate haben bei der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter "gewaltige Fortschritte" gemacht - zumindest wenn es nach dem Scheich von Dubai geht. Mohammed Bin Raschid al-Maktum zeichnete am Sonntag in Dubai Persönlichkeiten aus, die sich in besonderer Weise für die Gleichstellung eingesetzt hatten. Doch von Gleichstellung war bei der Verleihung selbst wenig zu spüren: Alle Preisträger sind Männer.
Die Reaktionen in dem sozialen Netzwerk kamen prompt: "Es ist toll zu sehen, dass Dubai die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter auszeichnet, aber irgendetwas fehlt in diesen Fotos... ich kann noch nicht genau sagen, was es ist...", schrieb ein Twitter-Nutzer. Ein anderer fragt: "Entschuldigung, welche Geschlechter werden gleichgestellt? Wir sehen nur eins."
Der Gleichstellungsrat der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate hat als Reaktion eine Pressemitteilung veröffentlicht, in der auf die Errungenschaften des Rates hingewiesen werden soll.
English reports: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/amp/news/2019/1/28/dubai-gives-gender-balance-award-to-a-bunch-of-dudes
(* B H)
Bab al-Yemen, Arabeeska, Cairo
Cairo boasts a population of as many as a million Yemenis and, while much of this population is from recent war-related relocations, the community dates back decades. In many regards, this stems from Cairo’s historic status within the Arab world. Many Yemenis come here to study; an astounding percentage of Yemeni ministers have degrees from Cairo University. Others come here for business related reasons; many of Yemen’s wealthier families have long maintained apartments in the city. Still others came here to plot revolution — or went into exile here after falling on the wrong end of political machinations.
The upshot of this is one of the world’s most matured Yemeni diaspora communities. In contrast to, say, Istanbul, the concentrations long predate the war; Doqqi and Manial have had a noticeable Yemeni presence, I’m told, for decades.
What does this mean on the culinary front? – by Adam Baron
https://medium.com/@adambaron_69940/bab-al-yemen-arabeeska-cairo-ad890cf0398c
(A K P)
Le bombe italiane che uccidono i bambini in Yemen. Parte da Roma un’iniziativa politica dal basso
[Reversing the course of events: those Italians who speak against the 'Italian bombs killing children in #Yemen':
"A formal act with which, as Roman citizens, we assume the urgency of considering a national question that needs an answer, while instead the Parliament and the institutions remain silent". Carlo Cefaloni, editor of Città Nuova, defined the motion that was presented today to ask Italy to stop the production of bombs in the Domusnovas factory in Sardinia, destined for the war in Yemen.]
“Un atto formale con cui, come cittadini romani, ci assumiamo l’urgenza di considerare una questione nazionale che ha bisogno di una risposta, mentre invece il Parlamento e le istituzioni restano in silenzio”. Carlo Cefaloni, redattore di Città Nuova, ha definito così la mozione che è stata presentata oggi nella Sala del Carroccio del Campidoglio per chiedere all’Italia di fermare la produzione di bombe nella fabbrica di Domusnovas, in Sardegna, destinate alla guerra in Yemen.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
Streit Group Spartan, Cobra, LAV-25 and PGW Timberwolf sniper rifle in service with the Saudi-backed forces and Saudi National Guard in Saada province.
Vehicle with M167 VADS spotted in Saada province. Unclear which side (photos)
https://twitter.com/YemeniObserv/status/1089957677969608706
Comment: It's not often that you see this many Canadian-made weapons in a single video, showing how despite the theatrics of the diplomatic spat, Canada still plays an important role in the brutal Saudi-led war on Yemen
https://twitter.com/anthonyfenton/status/1089978501497847808
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(A E P)
Chamber of Commerce of Sanaa, Aden, Hodeidah, Hadhramout (Mukalla), all came together sharing 1 goal: a better future to Yemen’s economy! All other chambers we’re securing funding to come for u too! It’s time to give a chance for everyone to contribute! (photo)
https://twitter.com/SMEPSYEMEN/status/1090672599682744320
(A E P)
Yemeni Government in Talks to Unfreeze Bank Accounts Abroad
Yemen’s internationally-recognized government is leading talks with German officials for releasing its bank accounts being frozen abroad as a result of the country's conflict.
In the interim capital, Aden, Governor of the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) Mohammad Zimam discussed with German Ambassador to Yemen Carola Muller measures of re-opening CBY's accounts frozen by some German banks, state-run Saba news agency reported.
During the meeting, Deputy Governor of the CBY for foreign banking operations, Hussein Quaiti, said that unfreezing the accounts will help Yemen's central bank in paying its euro payment commitments in addition to resuming cooperation between the Yemeni and German banks, Saba said.
(* B E P)
Houthis blast Saudi regime's plundering of Yemeni oil resources
Yemen has denounced exploitation of the country’s oil resources by the Riyadh regime in the provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahrah, where troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are present.
The Yemeni Foreign Ministry affiliated with the Houthi Ansarullah movement said in a statement on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia was "desperately attempting" to take advantage of the "ongoing state of insecurity by plundering oil resources and pursing its illegitimate interests across the region."
The statement further explained that Saudi Arabia was committing a blatant violation of international law by transporting Yemeni oil to the Arabian Sea through a pipeline which extends from the Rub' al-Khali desert to Hadhramaut and Mahrah in the south of the country. It also called on the United Nations and other international organizations to counter through legal mechanisms the Saudi aggression, occupation and looting of Yemeni resources.
A series of documents obtained by some media outlets in August last year pointed to Saudi Arabia's intention to develop the port, which would extract and export petroleum.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/29/587142/Saudi-Yemen-oil-houthis
Remark: This is an infringement of Yemeni sovereignty if it is occurring. I have heard that the Hadi government has also made the same type of protests to international bodies, but I gave not seen this publicised.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157329072913641
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(B T)
Elisabeth Kendall, Film: "Drones and direct action kill people and not ideas, and so we need much longer term thinking to tackle the problem," Oxford University's Dr Elisabeth Kendall on the need for new ways to stop terrorist groups
https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1090749673365659648
(* B T)
ODNI releases annual overview of Islamic State and al Qaeda networks
The Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment” today. The written statement accompanied oral testimony given by Director Daniel Coats to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The ODNI warns that both the Islamic State and al Qaeda maintain global networks that are far from defeated. The Islamic State still has “thousands” of fighters in Iraq and Syria alone, contradicting claims by President Trump and other administration officials that the so-called caliphate has been defeated.
The map above is the ODNI’s assessment of the areas where the Islamic State, al Qaeda and affiliated groups operate. The Islamic State and al Qaeda remain bitter rivals, often clashing in some of the areas shown. However, both have a significant global footprint.
Limits of maps
Maps such as the one produced by the ODNI are a useful tool for envisioning the extent of the jihadists’ operations, but they have limits.
A note at the bottom of the map hints at the problem: “Groups are not present in all parts of identified countries.”
For example, the entirety of India and Saudi Arabia are colored in with a light purple that is intended to signify the Islamic State’s presence. Of course, the group doesn’t control either country and its operations appear to be much smaller in scale than the coloring would suggest.
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Backing the Saudis in Yemen is right, strategically and morally
Horrible as Riyadh’s behavior is, the Houthis are worse. Thus by ending support for the Saudi coalition, American would empower an even greater evil.
An expert report submitted to the U.N. Security Council this month concluded that Iran is illegally funding Yemen’s Houthi rebels by giving them oil, which they can sell for cash. From last year’s version of the same report, we learned that Iran is arming the Houthis with missiles and drones, in violation of a U.N. arms embargo. Thus whatever the Houthis were when the war started, they are now effectively an Iranian subsidiary, dependent on Tehran for both cash and arms.
That is just one of many reasons to be appalled by the Senate’s renewed effort to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led fight against the Houthis. Not only is this strategically idiotic, but it contradicts the Senate’s own stated goal of protecting human rights. And the legislation reintroduced this week sends a terrible message, even if a presidential veto will presumably keep it from becoming law.
https://www.jns.org/opinion/backing-the-saudis-in-yemen-is-right-strategically-and-morally/
My comment: ???????????????????????????????????????? – Continuing Yemen bombing is “protecting human rights”: I would not have known this, really.
(A K P)
Arab Coalition Pounds Houthi Militia Positions in Yemen
The Saudi-led Arab Coalition, backing the internationally-recognized government in Yemen, said it conducted a number of airstrikes targeting Iran-backed Houthi militia encampments and arm depots.
Arab Coalition Spokesperson Col. Turki Al-Maliki reaffirmed that the strikes are in line with international conventions and abide by humanitarian laws.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1570396/arab-coalition-pounds-houthi-militia-positions-yemen
(A H P)
Saudi-Arabien liefert Schiffsentladekran in den Jemen, eröffnet Treibhäuser und nimmt erste Spatenstiche vor
Im Rahmen des Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) wurden im Jemen kürzlich Fortschritte in Bezug auf mehrere wichtige Projekte in den Bereichen Bildung, Gesundheit, Infrastruktur und Landwirtschaft erreicht.
Die Delegation aus SDRPY-Vertretern und jemenitischen Würdenträgern begutachtete zuers die anhaltenden Sanierungsarbeiten am Hafen von Nishtun. Mit dem kürzlich gelieferten 30-Tonnen-Schiffsentladekran können am Hafen große 12-Meter-Schiffscontainer verarbeitet werden, wovon Import und Export profitieren. Die Sanierungsarbeiten unterstützen ebenfalls das SDRPY-Ölderivate-Programm, in dessen Rahmen im letzten Quartal 2018 Diesel und Masut im Wert von USD 180 Millionen an die staatlich kontrollierten Provinzen (Abyan, Aden, Hadhramawt, Al Jawf, Lahij, Al Mahra, Marib, Shabwa, Socotra, Taiz) im Jemen geliefert wurde.
Danach wohnte die Gruppe dem ersten Spatenstich von drei Schulhäusern in Qishn, Rahan und Sayhout bei und lieferte Tausende von Büchern und Pulten an sieben andere Schulen.
https://www.presseportal.de/pm/132628/4179894 = https://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/11204346-saudi-arabien-liefert-schiffsentladekran-jemen-treibhaeuser-spatenstiche
(A P)
Sweden accord at risk of collapse
The UN continues working with Yemen’s warring parties towards the full implementation of the Stockholm agreement, but the Houthis appear in the habit of violating the accord
Hopes for peace didn’t last long though, and soon enough the situation in Yemen regressed.
Houthi militias are taking steps that threaten to break the Sweden accord, driving the Foreign Ministry of the internationally recognised Yemeni government to warn against the collapse of the agreement.
What is really going on in Yemen? Who is to blame for breaking the accord? What was the Houthis’ role in the scheme that targeted retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, chairman of the UN monitoring mission in charge of overseeing the ceasefire in Hodeida, and led him to submit his resignation? Will UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths restore the hopes of Yemenis in the UN?
After the Yemeni government delegation and the Houthis sat down for peace talks in Sweden, the unexpected happened. The Houthi militias prevented Cammaert from meeting government representatives in Hodeida.
An International Crisis Group report said the Houthis was the prime obstacle to enforcing the Stockholm agreement and that the militia had to take the first step by redeploying their forces in the three main Hodeida ports. In a more recent report, the group wrote: “The Houthis maintain that they have moved their main fighting forces out of Hodeida, Ras Issa and Salif ports. This claim, however, is based on their interpretation of the Stockholm agreement.”
At a time the Stockholm agreement should have entered into force, the Houthis are sending reinforcements to Hodeida. The Houthis’ provocations led the Yemen Foreign Ministry to issue a statement saying, “We warn that the Stockholm agreement is at risk of collapse in Hodeida
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/26410.aspx
My comment: As both sides seem to breach the ceasefire, not to withdraw their fighters and to send reinforcements, this article must be labeled as propaganda.
(A P)
Houthis circumvent implementation of Stockholm agreement
President Hadi has stressed that the Yemen government is keen to reach a reconciliation on basis of the three references of peace; the GCC Initiative, the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference and the UN Resolution 2216.
In a meeting with the German Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Mishayelis and the Foreign Ministry Envoy for the Middle East and Morocco Christian Puk on Tuesday in Riyadh, Hadi said that the Stockholm agreement is a test for the Houthis’ willingness.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27300
My comment: Hadi’s “three references” in fact mean: I win this conflict, the foe capitulates. – This German’s name is Andreas Michaelis, he is “Staatssekretär”, a mid-level post. And the other one is Christian Buck.
And
(A P)
Hadi urges Britain to pressure the Houthis to accept peace
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163752
My comment: Hadi appears like an out-of-date robot with exactly one integrated tape. Just one. Or it’s even a vinyl record.
(A P)
The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Joint efforts of the Coalition Command and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen succeed in retrieving the Saudi Prisoner of War detained by the Houthi militia, and suffers from deteriorating health situation.
Colonel Turki Al-Malki, the Official Spokesman of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, stated: “at (2145) this evening, the Saudi POW Private 1st class Mousa Bin Shou’i ‘Awaji arrived at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh.”
He added: “As a result of the joint efforts by the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition and SESGY Matin Griffiths, which ensued in the release of the Saudi POW detained by the Houthi militia, suffering from deteriorating health situation, and not receiving proper medical care by the Houthi militia, the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition has agreed to release (7) Houthi detainees in exchange for the Saudi POW detained by the Houthi militia. This reflects the resolve of the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to retrieve the Saudi POW in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention, related to POWs, and humanitarian values and principles. The efforts to retrieve all POW Coalition forces are ongoing.”
Colonel Al-Malki indicated that the detainee and POW negotiations do not receive due consideration by Houthi militia, and their intransigence has stood against the negotiations.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1879945
My comment: The Houthis had offered to release him already quite a long time ago.
(A P)
Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen’s stability praised
Yemeni activists launched a loyalty hashtag campaign on social media thanking Saudi Arabia for sending fuel to help ensure stable power supplies in the country.
Muammar Al-Iryani, the Yemeni information minister, took part in the #Saudiarabia_illuminates_Yemen hashtag, along with Yemeni officials, journalists and others.
“Our Saudi brothers have extended their hands to this war-ravaged country, providing all political, economic, military and humanitarian support, and have now granted us oil derivatives for power plants, that have re-illuminated Aden and other liberated provinces. We can never thank them enough,” Al-Iryani wrote.
The minister said that Saudi Arabia had delivered oil derivatives worth $180 million, along with 190 million tons of diesel and 86 million tons of diesel oil, in the past three months.
The grant helped ensure the stability of Yemen’s power generation as well as the national currency, he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1444111/saudi-arabia
My comment: LOL. Look at this hashtag: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23Saudiarabia_illuminates_Yemen&src=typd
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
Jan. 29: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1548855409./1232156463601383/
Jan. 28: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1548763005./1231446907005672/
(A K pH)
Saudi-led airstrike injures civilian, destroys car in Hajjah
A Saudi-led coalition combat jet’s waged airstrike on Thursday which injured a civilian and destroyed a car in Hajjah province, a security official said.
The airstrike hit al-Manaqa area of Mostaba district
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525102.htm
(A K pH)
Armed Forces Spokesman Holds United Nations Responsible for US-Saudi Violations and Escalation in Hodeidah
The spokesman of the Armed Forces, Brigadier Yahya Sare'e confirmed on Wednesday that the US-Saudi Aggression launched 15 air raids on Hodeidah in an unprecedented escalation. 9 raids that targeted east of Al-Jarahi, raid on Salif, a raid on Kadin and 4 raids on Sokhna.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5156&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
Coalition raids target Houthis sites for the besieged tribes of the tribes in Kasher-Hajjah
Fighters of the Saudi-led Arab coalition on Tuesday raided the positions of Houthi militants, who are imposing a siege on the Kasher district of Hajjah Province, while fierce battles are raging in the region.
According to a local military source reported to Al-Masdar online, the fierce battles between the men of Hajur tribesmen in the directorate and the militants of the group, during the hours of last night, but did not result in progress on the ground to any party.
Coalition fighters raided al-Houthi positions.
The first raid, according to the source, was aimed at an armed rally of Houthis, killing at least 14 militants, while the second raid targeted a tank near the Moor Valley, causing casualties.
"The third raid was aimed at a vehicle carrying a number of gunmen at Mandalah Point, and the fourth raid was aimed at a tank next to the House of Ghalib Hamas," the source said.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163715
Remark: On the fighting between Houthis and tribesmen in this region, look at Yemen War Mosaic 506, cp5.
(A K pH)
3 Citizens Killed and Injured by US-Saudi Air Raids in Thamar and Rima
A citizen was killed on Wednesday by US-Saudi seven air strikes that targeted Thamar governorate, according to our correspondent.
A civilian also was killed and another was injured, in a non-final toll, by a series of US-Saudi air raids that targeted Rima governorate.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5157
(A K pH)
In Hajja, a civilian was killed and another one was injured following US-Saudi airstrikes on Kushar district. US-Saudi aggression launched 4 raids on Haradh and Medi districts.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5142&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
Jan. 30: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525025.htm and http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525085.htm Rayma p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524956.htm Marib p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525090.htm Saada p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525089.htm Dhamar p.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5164&cat_id=1 Saada p., Hodeidah p.
Jan. 29: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5142&cat_id=1 Saada p., Hajjah p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(B K pS)
Government forces destroy more than 7,000 mines in Sa'dah
The government forces on Wednesday removed and destroyed more than 7,000 mines, various forms, and sizes, planted by the Houthis before retreating from the Ketaf, Al-Boq’a and the triangle linking Sa'dah and Al-Jawf governorates.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163799
(A K pH)
More than 2 children killed in saudi-led airstrikes on Saada
At least two children were killed on Thursday when the artillery of US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition hit border areas in Saada province, a security official said.
The shelling targeted populated areas in Razih district causing also material losses in the citizens' properties.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news525077.htm
Remark: Wrong headline.
(A K pS)
2 children killed, 3 injured by Houthis bombardment and sniping in Taiz
A student was killed and another student was injured Wednesday by artillery shelling by al-Houthi militants targeting a primary school in the southwestern Taiz province, local residents said in the area.
The residents said in identical statements to Al-Masdar online that Houthi militants bombarded the villages of the al-Sallo district from their positions in Khadir district for the first time in nearly six months after the fighting there stopped between them and government forces.
They added that one of the shells landed on a house in Qarafa village, which was used by residents of the district as their school, killing the student Ahmed Abdelghafour al-Humaidi, 15 years old, and injuring the student Maria Nabil Obeid (18 years).
Residents said the shelling had led to panic among school students.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163762
(A K)
Saudi-led coalition says downs Huthi drone over kingdom
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen announced Wednesday it shot down a "hostile" drone launched by Huthi rebels over the city of Abha in the kingdom's southwest.
and also https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1570396/arab-coalition-pounds-houthi-militia-positions-yemen
(A K pH)
Military Media Publishes Scenes of Clearing US-Saudi Mercenaries’ Sites, Jizan
The Military Media published scenes of the special operation of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees that targeted sites of US-Saudi mercenaries, gaining control of 15 sites, killing and injuring dozens of them.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5144&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
[Houthi attacks against Saudi territory]
Army launches attack on saudi-led mercenaries in Asir
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524916.htm
Artillery force shells saudi-led mercenaries' sites in Najran
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news524922.htm
(A K pS)
A woman shot dead by Houthi sniper in Maqbana district, west of Taiz
A woman was shot dead in front of her house on Monday by a Houthi sniper in the Maqbana district of western Taiz Province.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/163701
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(B H E)
This Yemen Immigrant Found Himself Unbanked- Now He's Using Blockchain To Help Others
Born in Yemen, Rushd Averroes is the founder and CEO of BABB – a mobile bank that makes it easy to access banking services. It recently completed a successful £1.4m crowdcube raise and aims to enable the unbanked to open accounts, irrespective of personal circumstances.
I spoke to Averroes about how he found himself turned away from high street banks, and what he is doing to change that by using blockchain and biometrics technology.
(* B P)
Vom Journalisten zum Rebellen wieder zum Journalisten – der Lebenslauf von Yahia al-Suwari hat so viele Wendungen wie der Krieg im Jemen
Als der Arabische Frühling nach Jemen kam, hoffte Yahia al-Suwari auf Freiheit. Doch er landete im Gefängnis. Der Folter ist er knapp entkommen, aber nicht seinen schlechten Träumen.
Mit Ausnahme der Provinz Mahra – ganz im Osten des Landes – könne er nicht mehr zurück in seine jemenitische Heimat, erzählt Suwari. Beide Parteien des Bürgerkriegs würden ihn sofort verhaften: auf der einen Seite die mit Iran verbandelte Huthi-Miliz, auf der anderen Seite die von Saudiarabien und den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten unterstützte, international anerkannte Regierung.
Sosehr er die Huthi ablehnte, Suwari wurde zunehmend kritischer gegenüber den ausländischen Verbündeten der jemenitischen Regierung Präsident Hadis. «Iran ist ein wichtiger Partner der Huthi, aber diese treffen ihre schlechten Entscheidungen allein», erklärt Suwari. Im Gegensatz dazu übten die Saudi die volle Kontrolle aus: «Anstatt die international anerkannte Regierung zu stärken, schwächen sie sie.»
Über Facebook rekrutierte Suwari nach eigenen Angaben 24 Mann für seine Brigade, und er überzeugte den Militärkommandanten der Stadt Marib von seiner Idee. Während eines Monats erhielten die Rekruten im Camp der Sondereinheiten eine militärische Ausbildung und die Geschichte des zum Guerillaführer gewandelten Journalisten machte in jemenitischen Medien Schlagzeilen.
Und Suwari musste sich selbst eingestehen, nicht für den Krieg geschaffen zu sein: «Ich bin kein Superheld.»
Der damals 25-Jährige kehrte zum Journalismus zurück. Diesmal allerdings nicht an die Front des Krieges, sondern auf die jemenitische Inselgruppe Sokotra – rund 350 Kilometer von der Küste entfernt. Nachdem Truppen der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate das von der Unesco geschützte «Galapagos des Indischen Ozeans» im April 2018 besetzt hatten, machte sich Protest in der lokalen Bevölkerung breit. Suwari dokumentierte den Widerstand für den Fernsehsender al-Jazeera – von Christian Weisflog
https://www.nzz.ch/international/che-guevara-hat-mich-stark-beeinflusst-ld.1451638
(* C)
Yemen Old Historic Pictures
https://www.facebook.com/elisabeth.wojnarski/media_set?set=a.2379917815354386&type=3
and here are all her photos: https://www.facebook.com/elisabeth.wojnarski/photos_albums?lst=100008443845444%3A100000085738243%3A1548864204
(C)
Oil, frankincense put Oman on world map: British author
A British novelist who was raised in the Middle East has written a book on how frankincense and oil have been instrumental in putting Oman on the world map.
Quentin Morton, whose book ‘Black Gold and Frankincense’ is more than 400 pages long, was hugely inspired by his father, who used to often entertain his son with tales of the desert.
“This is a book of photographs taken by the early oil explorers (including my father) of southern Arabia, principally Oman and the Hadhramaut Valley. Most of these photos were taken in the 1940s and 1950s when Oman was untouched by modern development, and show Omanis in their traditional settings.”
“This book has 142 black and white and 56 colour photographs of people and places in southern Arabia, taken mainly in the 1940s and 1950s,” he said.
https://timesofoman.com/article/746561
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-506-yemen-war-mosaic-506
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-506 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-506:
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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