... Jemen und Klimawandel – Hodeidah: Weitere Kämpfe, gegenseitige Beschuldigungen, schwierige Verhandlungen – und mehr
February 13, 2019: German ZDF-TV film: Yemen, war, children and famine – The urgent case of Yemeni art history – Stockholm agreement meets Yemeni reality – Yemen and climate change – Hodedah: More fighting, mutual accusations, stalling negotiations – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German
cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
Neue Artikel / New articles
(* B H K P)
Film by Aljazeera: is the world failing Yemen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-geCeZhxPA
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K P)
Film: 31.01.2019 - ZDF Auslandsjournal
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGNgRUFNCxo
(** B H K)
The Urgent Case for Teaching Yemeni Art History
What I hope to transmit from this short essay is the utmost urgency that the present state of historic art and architecture in Yemen demands from any teacher and scholar, from not only the dedicated (and far more qualified) specialists in the various departments of American and international universities dedicated to Middle Eastern studies, but also down to the humble adjunct tasked with Survey 101. If we truly strive for a picture of human civilization in all of its varied splendor and achievements, the time to talk about the great kingdoms of South Arabia – all located in modern-day Yemen – is now, especially since much of that picture has been tragically destroyed before the scholarly community could truly begun to interact with it. The extent of that destruction has been and continues to be measured by such initiatives as the Yemen Data Project, and is mourned by experts, such as Lamya Khalidi’s recent eloquent and erudite eulogy.
My 101 unit covers antiquity through the Middle Ages in Europe and the Islamic world. In the first part of this Yemeni-inclusive survey class, the neglected prehistoric sites in South Arabia furnish the material for the broader discussion of such prehistoric material phenomena as petroglyphs, standing stones, and the earliest anthropomorphic figurines; Yemeni archaeology has revealed ample examples of South Arabian counterparts to the common narrative we teach in Survey 101, and these sites and objects from Yemen enrich our discussion of the routes which nomadic, anatomically modern humans reached the Fertile Crescent and Eurasia on their migration from Africa.
The picture that emerges of Arabia is of one in possession of a refined sculptural tradition in stone and bronze, as well as of the fruits of sophisticated engineering expertise – embodied by the iconic Marib Dam and the Sabaean’s advanced irrigation systems, which supported an early agricultural civilization rarely included with its peers – and of the political and social organization necessary to construct its monumental works.
At this junction, the narrative of Yemen’s most impressive ruins by necessity takes a sharp turn into the ephemeral category and somber discussion of “what has been but is no more,” because these have been the targets of predominantly Saudi aerial bombing campaigns. By relying on past scholarship and recent mobilizations in response to the extreme crisis this war has provoked for Yemen’s heritage, however, our survey class is able to chart a basic chronology of major works that have by and large been eliminated from the material record in the past four years; this is a loss for all humanity, which had only just begun to truly engage with Yemeni art on the same level that Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Near Eastern archeology has enjoyed since the nineteenth century
The tragic circumstances of the Yemeni war have been framed in the language of art history, resurrecting the vivid horror and the crucial context of Picasso’s Guernica and the broader context of art surveys’ canon of modern war-time works. For many students in my class whose lives have thankfully never come into contact with war in their own home countries, the study of the canonical works from the two World Wars for any art survey are theoretical and appreciated at a considerable intellectual distance; raising their awareness of the unchecked atrocities that have unfolded in Yemen in the past four years is an eye-opening education of that universal human sentiment of revulsion and horror, which makes those artworks we study from the early and middle twentieth centuries so enduring.
Yemen, even in tragedy, is a cornucopia for the student of art history, equally as much in antiquity as in the present day, and I hope that in teaching its art history I am fostering a positive awareness and sense of common humanity for a new generation of university students
In the past years, as I have watched war crimes multiply and a calculated tactic of starvation and disease unfold under bombardment and blockade, I still am processing the fact that I seem to be one of just a few witnesses to a genocide. What’s worse, I know all too well that most of my peers, friends, and students in the United States wouldn’t be able to locate Yemen on a map, if they’ve even heard of Yemen at all. That ignorance, that black hole that “Yemen” evokes for many in the West, is an asset for those who wage criminal wars in obscure countries. We know all too well the international uproar which accompanied the destruction of Palmyra and other sites by the hands of Saudi-funded Islamic extremists, but who can mourn for the loss of an entire chapter of humanity that was just beginning to be written? – by Lily V. Filson, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Art History, Tulane University (photos)
http://thematerialcollective.org/the-urgent-case-for-teaching-yemeni-art-history/
Comment: This is a most important post, extremely important. If you only read one article on Yemen, this should be it. It really speaks out what the world is losing by its continued destruction of this fragile yet unique culture, not just the artefacts but also the way of life. Thank you Lily Filson.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157365845723641?__tn__=-R
(** B K P)
Stockholm Agreement Meets Yemeni Reality – The Yemen Review, January 2019
Contents
Overview: Lofty Aims Face Challenging Reception
UN Efforts to Support the Agreement
Stockholm Agreement’s Shaky Start in Yemen
Hurdles to Implementation in Hudaydah
Cammaert’s Early Exit From UN Mission
Prisoner Exchange Unrealized
No Progress on Taiz as Violence Escalates
Special Envoy: “We Need to Remain Hopeful”
Developments in Yemen
Economic Developments
Corruption Allegations Against Aden Central Bank, YR Loses Ground
UN to Channel Humanitarian Aid Through the Central Bank in Aden
TeleYemen Headquarters Relocated to Aden
Other Economic Developments in Brief
Political & Military Developments
Tensions Around Oil Facilities in Shabwah Governorate
Renewed Violence Amongst Anti-Houthi Forces in Taiz
Houthi UAV attacks, Coalition Airstrikes in Retaliation
Other Political and Military Developments in Brief
Humanitarian Developments
Emergency Relief Coordinator Updates UNSC
Fire Damages WFP Food Aid in Hudaydah
Local Reaction to Reports of Stolen Food Assistance
Other Humanitarian Developments in Brief
Human Rights and War Crimes Developments
Houthi Security Forces Detain Saferworld Country Director
Report: Houthi Forces Detain, Torture Women
UPR Addresses Right to Mental Health in Yemen
Other Human Rights and War Crimes Developments in Brief
International Developments
New UN Panel of Experts Report
In the United States
Pressure Resumes in Congress to End US Role in Yemen
Other US Developments in Brief
In Europe
Control Arms UK Criticizes British Arms Sales to Coalition
Other European Developments in Brief
Overview: Lofty Aims Face Challenging Reception
In January, the United Nations focused its Yemen-related efforts on implementing the Stockholm Agreement. The deal was reached in December at UN-sponsored peace talks in Rimbo, Sweden, between representatives of Yemen’s main warring parties – the armed Houthi movement and the internationally recognized Yemeni government. In it, both sides committed to a ceasefire in Hudaydah and a mutual redeployment of forces away from the port city, a prisoner exchange, and a statement of understanding regarding the city of Taiz. Clauses in the text of the agreement, however, contained a degree of ambiguity that left them somewhat open to interpretation, a factor that became increasingly problematic as the UN sought to implement the agreement and hold the parties accountable to their commitments.
As January progressed the challenges became apparent: deadlines for the implementation of the Hudaydah agreement were missed, the ceasefire was interrupted, the prisoner exchange was delayed, and fighting raged in and around Taiz City. As well, General Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands, chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) that was formed to support and facilitate implementation of the Hudaydah agreement, said he would leave his post just five weeks after his appointment.
UN Efforts to Support the Agreement
On December 31, 2018, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres submitted a proposal to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on how the UN would support the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement. The UNSC requested the proposal on December 21 as part of Resolution 2541, which endorsed the agreement and authorized the deployment of an advance monitoring team, the RCC, to Hudaydah. Led by Cammaert, the team arrived in Yemen on December 22. The committee was tasked with overseeing the redeployment of forces, monitoring the ceasefire, ensuring security in the city, and opening up humanitarian access routes.
Guterres’ plan proposed sending 75 UN observers to Hudaydah for a period of six months. According to the proposal, the UN Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) would be a “nimble presence.” The mission would be tasked with monitoring the compliance of parties to the ceasefire, the redeployment of belligerent forces from Hudaydah City and the ports of Hudaydah, Saleef, and Ras Issa, and mine action operations. In addition, the UNMHA would seek to establish and assess facts and conditions on the ground in an objective manner and engage with all relevant parties. The mission would report to the Secretary-General through the Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and Under-Secretary-General for Political Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo.
Guterres also proposed that following the redeployment of warring parties from Hudaydah, the Yemen Rea Sea Port Corporation would take over management of three ports in the governorate: Hudaydah, Saleef, and Ras Issa. The UN, supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), would provide oversight and technical assistance to manage the ports. The WFP said in a report published on December 31 that it was waiting for authorities in Sana’a to approve staff visas before deploying an initial assessment team to Hudaydah in January. The WFP staff had yet to receive visas as of this writing, according to a Sana’a Center source aware of the proceedings.
On January 9, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths briefed the UNSC on progress in implementing the Stockholm Agreement. Griffiths said that after meeting with the leaders of both main belligerent parties – including Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi during a two-day visit to Sana’a on January 5-6, and Yemeni President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 7 – they had each committed to implementing the UN agreement. The Special Envoy said the ceasefire in Hudaydah had largely held, with some exceptions, which had significantly decreased the level of violence. Regarding Taiz, Griffiths said humanitarian aid access needed to increase, but that to address this and other issues he hoped to convene first meeting of a committee on Taiz by the end of the month. Griffiths also said another supervisory committee meeting for the proposed prisoner exchange would be held in Jordan the following week.
On January 16, the UNSC unanimously approved Guterres’ proposal to support the Stockholm Agreement, adopting UNSC Resolution 2542 (2019). The text of the resolution was submitted by the United Kingdom, which has served as pen holder for the Yemen file at the UNSC since 2011. In voicing support for the technical resolution, permanent council members the United States, France and China also advocated the need to step up humanitarian assistance efforts.
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/the-yemen-review/7027
(** B H)
Climate Change Profile: Yemen
This climate change profile is designed to help integrate climate actions into development activities. It complements the publication ‘Climate-smart = Future-Proof! – Guidelines for Integrating climate-smart actions into development policies and activities’ and provides answers to some of the questions that are raised in the step-by-step approach in these guidelines.
Yemen faces serious risks from climate change that further threaten the already fragile state of the country1. As climate change and rapid population growth put more and more pressure on critical resources, especially water, the Yemen shows what may happen in the region as a whole2. Yemen is a predominantly arid country on the Arabian Peninsula with a history of food aid dependence. It experiences extreme water scarcity due to overexploitation of groundwater that leads to salt water intrusion in coastal areas. Climate change is expected to increase temperatures, variability of rainfall and heavy precipitation events. The increase in heavy rains in combination with rising temperatures, especially in the north, will probably lead to shortened growing seasons.
Shorter growing seasons threaten food security, and competition for dwindling natural resources could further fuel conflict. On-going conflict, a lack of adequate natural resources management, weak governance as well as other factors seriously hinder Yemen’s ability to address the current and future impact of climate change.
Yemen ranks 130 out of 188 countries in per capita GHG emissions3 and contributes only an estimated 0.08% of global emissions4. However, for climate vulnerability Yemen ranks 166 out of 181 countries in the ND-GAIN index5 (2016). It is the 30th most vulnerable and 17th least ready country – meaning that it is extremely vulnerable to, yet very unready to address climate change effects. Vulnerability measures the country’s exposure, sensitivity, and ability to cope with the negative effects of climate change by considering vulnerability in six life-supporting sectors: food, water, ecosystem service, health, human habitat and infrastructure. Readiness measures a country’s ability to leverage investments and convert them to adaptation actions by considering the country’s economic, governance and social readiness.
An analysis of regional climate change impacts on agriculture in Yemen shows a mixed pattern, with production increases in the highlands (from Sa’adah to Taiz) due to higher temperatures. Significant yield reductions are expected in some lower and hotter areas such as around Raymah in the west, Abyan in the south, and in the eastern half of the country
Yemen’s water availability per capita is the lowest in the world27. Extraction of groundwater has exceeded the level of replenishment capacity, causing water depletion. Since Yemen over-extracts an estimated 0.9 billion cubic meter of water each year from its deep aquifers, groundwater aquifers are declining one to seven meters each year. Sana’a is the world’s most water stressed city and draws water from the world’s most water-stressed aquifer28. It is anticipated that climate change combined with high population growth, inadequate agricultural development and policies, qat growth, and a lack of law enforcement to regulate water29 will put continuing pressure on Yemen’s water resources and contribute to its water crisis30. Greater rainfall variability could increase drought periods and diminish water supplies more rapidly while increased temperatures could lead to higher evapotranspiration rates, further slowing the replenishment of water sources31. The overexploitation of groundwater resources and the rising sea level due to climate change will result in increased salt water intrusion, especially in coastal aquifers
Projections suggest that aquifers such as Abyan, Tuban, and Sa’adah will be depleted by 2025. Depletion of the Tuban aquifer is the most rapid (2015, versus 2019 for Abyan) because of a greater reliance on groundwater relative to discharge in the Tuban sub-basin32. Moreover, Aden is one of the top 20 cities in the world where the most people will be at the greatest risk from sea level rise and storm surges in the developing world33.
Climate change risks are projected to not only impede the national capacity to achieve sustainable development but also to reverse the economic development that occurred prior to the conflict. The Impact of climate change on the most vulnerable groups (rural poor, women) include increased exposure to extreme weather events in combination with decreased financial resources available for reconstruction and preparedness due to lower (agricultural) incomes.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/climate-change-profile-yemen and full document: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_2.pdf
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* B H)
Report: Epidemics kills Yemenis as war continues
The war in Yemen has completely decimated the health care system. More than half of the people have little access to basic health care, and less than 45% of the hospitals work and the health personnel cannot cope with the needs.
As the war entered its Fifth year, Yemen’s humanitarian needs increased tremendously, with 22.2 million Yemenis – nearly three in every four people – reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. On top of this, dengue fever, malaria, diphtheria and cholera began to spread fast.
Health system in Yemen has been facing many challenges in the last decade along with the complex emergency situation that includes widespread conflict-driven displacement and a slow-onset crisis in food security, malnutrition and outbreak of communicable diseases particularly in neglected areas.
Malnutrition and extremes of ages make refugee population vulnerable due to low immunity, favorable environmental factors help in creation and propagation of epidemics.
Survival was a miracle not only because of endemic disease, dirt and filth, concomitant poor hygiene, and sanitation but also because of the primitive state of medical knowledge, thus, a large number of people were prone to infections for a sustained duration of time, within a constrained health system.
The places where the war is active are the ones most at risk for increase of diseases.
The war-torn Arab country has also been suffering from a severe diphtheria outbreak .
The disease, which has not been seen in Yemen for 25 years, has affected 312 people and killed 35.
It has not spread explosively, as cholera did, but diphtheria outbreaks can affect many thousands, and there is a global shortage of diphtheria anti-toxin.
Yemen has enough for 200 to 500 patients, Mr Poncin said.
Ships and planes carrying humanitarian supplies have been unable to reach Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade .
Former manager of UNHCR Yemen Refugee Health Project Judith Brown says the assault on Hudaydah has worsened famine and speeded up the spread of diseases like cholera and others. Dengue fever is endemic in Yemen, with outbreaks reported in a number of governorates over the last 10 years. This year, however, the response to the current outbreak has been fraught with challenges as a result of the ongoing insecurity and a near-collapse of the health system.
In addition, recent heavy rainfall, disruption of water supplies and scarcity of safe drinking-water have contributed to the spread of mosquitoes in the affected areas, resulting in an upsurge in suspected dengue cases.
https://www.sabanews.net/en/news526396.htm
(* A H)
H1N1 flu kills 139 in Yemen
H1N1 flu has killed 139 people in Yemen's northern provinces since 2018, the local health authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.
In January, the Houthi-controlled health authorities reported the deaths of 22 people, and the infection of 107 others, raising concern in the war-torn country.
Most cases were reported from the capital Sanaa, Amran and Ibb provinces. There was no comment yet from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the report.
The country's health system has collapsed in the four-year-long civil war, triggering what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/13/c_137816633.htm
and
(* A H)
[Sanaa government] Health Ministery: Under the U.S.-Saudi Blocked of Yemen, H1N1 Kills 132 Civilians
The Ministry of Public Health and Population said that "the number of swine flu, H1N1, deaths amounted to 132 cases during 2018 and 2019. The Sana'a news agency quoted the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Youssef Al-Hadheri, as saying that Sana'a has the highest number of deaths, followed by Amran and Ibb.
He stressed that the epidemic is still spreading and expansion despite the measures carried out by the ministry to contain it. He pointed out that the recent spread of swine flu in Yemen was a result of accumulations of four years of aggression and siege and the destruction of health facilities and infrastructure.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5379&cat_id=1
(* A H)
The study stopped in a number of Sa'dah directorates due to the spread of swine flu
Local residents in Sa'ada Governorate said Monday that the schools in several districts of the province have stopped following the outbreak of the swine flu pandemic.
The suspension of studies in these areas was caused by the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu in these directorates. According to the residents told, "Al-Masdar online ".
According to a medical source, dozens of cases arrive almost daily to health centers in the province and have symptoms similar to those of the virus, local sources said that the number of deaths as a result of the virus has reached 20 cases.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164234
(* A H)
Ministry of Public Health and Population [Sanaa government] on Tuesday said it immunized more than seven million children during the first three days of the measles immunization campaign in several provinces.
Dr. Youssef al-Hadhri, director general of the national center for education and health information and population, made it clear that 7,287,099 children were vaccinated during the first three days of the vaccination campaign against measles and rubella by the field teams and health centers of the ministry.
"Yemenis became well aware of the importance of immunization in the light of the spread of deadly diseases, thanks to the proper awareness and health education," said Dr. al-Hadhri.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526438.htm
cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch/ Most important: Hodeidah battle: German
(* A H K P)
Drohende Hungerkatastrophe-Getreidelager im Jemen blockiert
Nun fordert die UN den Zugang zu einem Getreidelager - bevor das Getreide verrottet.
Im Kampf gegen eine drohende Hungerkatastrophe im Jemen verlangen die Vereinten Nationen von den Kriegsparteien dringend Zugang zu ihren Getreidelagern. Nahe der Stadt Hudaida lagert in einer Getreidemühle genügend Weizen für die Versorgung von 3,7 Millionen Menschen für einen Monat.
Aber die Mühle liegt in einem umkämpften Gebiet, der Zugang ist seit Monaten blockiert. Der UN-Gesandte für den Jemen, Martin Griffiths, appellierte, Nothelfern den Zugang zu ermöglichen.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/heute/drohende-hungerkatastrophe-getreidelager-im-jemen-blockiert-100.html = https://deutsch.rt.com/newsticker/84041-drohende-hungerkatastrophe-getreidelager-im-jemen-blockiert/
cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* A K pS)
Two Women Killed by Explosive Device Planted by Houthis South Hodaida
A man and two women were killed Wednesday morning by an explosive device in a village adjacent to Hays directorate in south Hodaida, western Yemen.
Medical Sources said that a man and two women, riding on a motor cycle, were killed by an explosive device planted on the road.
The victims, Futtini Masib Bishara and the two sisters Alia Ali Sulaiman Bishara and Jouda Ali Suleiman Beshara were dead right after the explosion despite attempts made by the local residents to take them to the nearest field hospital in the area, local sources said (film)
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/14385
film: https://www.facebook.com/groups/178437079767851/permalink/245697066375185/
(A K pH)
National Delegation Agreed to UN Envoy Visit Ended Positive attitude by the national delegation.
A member of the National Delegation, Salim al-Mughalis, said that the visit of the Special Envoy, of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to Yemen, Martin Griffith, to Sana'a ended with a positive response to the redeployment plan in Hodeidah, suggested by the UN Coordinating Team.
"The visit of the envoy Griffith ended with a positive respone by our representatives towards the redeployment proposal submitted by the chairman of the Coordinating Committee, Danish former General Michael Lollesgaard," Al-Mughalis said on Tuesday evening.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5383&cat_id=1
(* A K pH)
In Serious Escalation of US-Saudi Aggression’s Violations, 8 Fishermen Killed in Airstrike Targeted Their Boat in Hodeidah
The US-Saudi aerial aggression targeted a fishing boat early Wednesday in Badhia island off the province of Hodeidah, killing eight fishermen, Al-Masirah Net reporter stated.
Earlier, our reporter said that the raid led to the injury of five fishermen while ten others were still missed, amid combat aircraft of the aggression constantly fly over the region.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-mercenaries continued their violations of the cease-fire in Hodeidah, where they bombarded various medium and heavy weapons targeting the 50th Street, Al-Qema Hotel and the Yemen Mobile tour, while the areas of Al-Shajan and East of Al-Koei in Ad-Durayhimi district and south-east of Attohayta district were heavily bombarded by the forces of aggression.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5386&cat_id=1
and also http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526533.htm
This is the only dead body that was found! 7 more dead bodies were torn apart into small pieces and drowned in sea! Only some of the wreckage of the boat, some fish, some clothes, & only this dead body were found after US-Saudi jet dropped a bombe over 15 fishermen fishing! (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1095742950095630337
More photos: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1095716147796852741 = https://twitter.com/A_mtrz/status/1095701559592263680
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5396&cat_id=1
Films: https://twitter.com/I4Yemen/status/1095800854899314691
https://twitter.com/A_mtrz/status/1095748904577089538
Comment: More deaths. These fisherman have the choice of fishing or starvation, but the fishing boats are only alllowed very limited access to the sea and those areas have been overfished - the risk of going out further puts boats in danger of air strikes, as has happened here. But of course not reported in UK news
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157365892053641
(A K pH)
Feb. 12: Warships of the US-Saudi aggression targeted with four missiles At-tohayta district. US-Saudi mercenaries targeted with heavy machine-guns civilians' houses and farms in Kilo-16, Ad-durayhimi and Sana'a street.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5378&cat_id=1
(A K pS)
Houthi violations of Yemen’s Hodeidah truce lead to 76 civilian deaths
Houthi militia have committed 1,112 violations since the Hodeidah agreement came into force on Dec. 18, 2018, leading to 76 civilian deaths and 492 injuries, according to Saudi state-news agency SPA.
The report said the Houthis continued to target civilian homes, public areas and army positions, using a variety of weapons.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1451346/middle-east
My comment: All 76 civilian deaths are ascribed to the Houthis here – well, both sides equally had broken the ceasefire and must be blamed.
(A K pH)
Violations of US-Saudi Mercenaries, 260 in 48 hours, Lessen Peace Chances in Yemen
The spokesman of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sare'e, said that "the US-Saudi Forces violations prove intention not to stop the aggression." In Hodeidah, in the past 48 hours, they committed 260 violations. He said in a statement to the Yemeni news agency, Saba, that "the US-Saudi mercenaries targeted by 127 artillery shells, missiles, 108 bombs and 21 operations, farms and Yemeni Army' sites in several districts." He explained that the fighter jets and reconnaissance drones continued to fly intensely over Hodiedah city and districts.
Yemeni Army monitored movements of trucks carrying supplies of US-Saudi mercenaries and a bulldozer making fortifications.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5368&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
Feb. 11: US-Saudi mercenaries targeted with heavy machine-guns Kilo-16. Artillery shells of the US-Saudi mercenaries also targeted Ad-durayhimi district, Hodeidah International Airport and At-tohayta district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5366&cat_id=1
(A P)
UN proposes to establish safe corridors run by international forces in Hodeidah
The United Nations has put forward a new proposal to resolve the conflict in the western city of Hodeidah, which includes the establishment of safe corridors run by international forces, a Yemeni government source said Sunday.
According to Anadolu agency, the new chairman of the Redeployment Committee in Hodeidah, Danish general Michael Lolisgaard, put the proposal to the Yemeni government and the al-Houthi group.
He added that the proposal includes the withdrawal of the forces of the two parties from the city and ports of Hodeidah to sites to be agreed, and the establishment of safe corridors for the passage of humanitarian aid from the port of Hodeidah run by international forces, and open roads and crossings.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164192
(* A H K P)
U.N. says grain stores in Yemen's Hodeidah 'at risk of rotting'
The U.N. special envoy to Yemen on Monday said the urgency of accessing grain stores trapped in a frontline position in the port city of Hodeidah was increasing as the food was “at risk of rotting”.
The World Food Programme grain stores at the Red Sea Mills are enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month and have been inaccessible for more than five months, Martin Griffiths said.
Accessing the 51,000 tonnes of U.N. wheat and milling equipment at the frontline flashpoint is a key aim of ongoing peace talks.
Griffiths said he was encouraged by the recent engagement of all sides in talks to find a way of accessing the mills.
“We emphasize that ensuring access to the mills is a shared responsibility among the parties to the conflict in Yemen. With safe, unfettered and sustained access, the United Nations can make this urgently needed food available to people in need,” the statement said.
and this is the full statement:
(* A H K P)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen: Joint statement on the situation in Yemen (11 February 2019)
The urgency of United Nations access to the Red Sea Mills in Hodeida is growing by the day.
The World Food Programme (WFP) grain stored in the mills - enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month - has been inaccessible for over five months and is at risk of rotting. At the same time, the United Nations is in the process of scaling up to provide food assistance to nearly 12 million people across Yemen who struggle to meet their daily food needs. Our main concern is for their survival and well-being.
We are encouraged by recent engagement of all sides, working with the United Nations on the ground, to create the necessary conditions for the team to reach the mills without further delay. We acknowledge the confirmation from Ansar Allah of their commitment to implement the Hodeida Agreement. We appreciate their earlier efforts to re-open the road leading to the mills which have been carried out under difficult and dangerous circumstances.
We emphasize that ensuring access to the mills is a shared responsibility among the parties to the conflict in Yemen. With safe, unfettered and sustained access, the United Nations can make this urgently needed food available to people in need. 11 February 2019
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-statement-situation-yemen-11-february-2019-enar
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON FEBRUARY 13, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-13-2019-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON FEBRUARY 12, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-12-2019-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON FEBRUARY 11, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-11-2019-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON FEBRUARY 10, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-february-10-2019-map-update/
(* B H K)
The unlikely diplomat bringing Yemen’s war dead home
After months of negotiations, last week Yemen’s warring parties failed to agree on a prisoner exchange, but may have settled on a preliminary swap of 1,000 corpses. Moving the war dead is a job that’s usually done by health workers, or carefully negotiated by diplomats. But for the past few years in Yemen, one former boy scout and his small team have been going it alone.
After all, bringing the bodies of dead fighters home to their families is his job.
After three years and 10 months of war in Yemen, and more than 60,000 dead by one estimate, Juma’aan is busy. By his count, he and a small team of volunteers have evacuated the bodies of 360 fighters from front lines, and negotiated the release of 170 prisoners of war, without much in the way of financial resources, training, or even plastic gloves.
Juma’aan, who is in his mid thirties, didn’t set out to become a body collector. Before the war, he worked as a community activist at a government-run organisation that promoted sustainable development.
But in September 2015, seven months after the fighting in Yemen began, the job came for him. A relative asked Juma’aan, a former boy scout with wilderness skills, for help finding his two brothers who had gone missing while fighting in Taiz province. He found their bodies, was shot in the process by a soldier who mistook him for a combatant, and found his calling.
“That is where it all started for me,” Juma’aan says, recalling the role his Muslim faith played in his decision to take on the job. “When I saw all the corpses scattered, it struck me. Yes, these were fighters, but they are our brothers and they need to be respected. Our religion tells us that burial is how we honour our dead.”
Shortly after that first mission to Taiz, Juma’aan officially founded and registered the Coordination Council for Human Rights, in the hope that operating as a non-governmental organisation would enable him to scale up. He recruited 70 volunteers, including 12 women, and after word spread about his February 2016 evacuation of 11 corpses from a front line in Nehm, east of the capital city of Sana’a, the requests from families began to pour in: they wanted help finding their missing fighters, or bringing home their loved ones for burial – by Nadwa al-Dawsari
https://www.irinnews.org/feature/2019/02/13/unlikely-diplomat-bringing-yemen-s-war-dead-home
(* A K P)
Film. Hassan Al-Haifi war live.
https://www.facebook.com/hassan.alhaifi/videos/2124698710910419/
(* B P T)
Audio: Laurent Bonnefoy: Salafism in Yemen
Laurent Bonnefoy, researcher at the The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), currently based in Muscat, Oman, explains the Salfist movement in Yemen and how it relates to the current conflict in the country.
Bonnefoy provides an analysis of the Salfist movement in Yemen, how it relates to the current conflict in the country, if there is a role for the Salafists in a peace process and the geopolitical aspect of the Salafists in Yemen and its neighboring countries (Saudia Arabia for example).
https://www.ui.se/english/news/2019/laurent-bonnefoy-salafism-in-yemen/
(B H P)
Yemen famine crisis is an untold, preventable tragedy
Reading the news gives me a feeling of being stuck. I feel stuck being a college student, especially in a world that has so many problems. Often I sit on the floor and feel powerless. I want to save the world, but I have classes and the T runs to Boston, not Yemen. Thus, too often my solution to big problems is to not think about them at all. How Brandesian. There is a famine in Yemen right now. Millions of pounds of grain earmarked to relieve the widespread famine are rotting in storehouses, according to the New York Times. Doctors Without Borders says the medical health system has effectively collapsed and the country is a hairbreadth away from an outbreak of measles, cholera and diphtheria.
https://www.thejustice.org/article/2019/02/yemen-famine-crisis-is-an-untold-preventable-tragedy
(A P)
Joint declaration on Yemen
Statement on behalf of the UK, US and Middle East countries on Yemen.
The Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America met today in Warsaw to discuss the situation in Yemen.
The Ministers reiterated their commitment to a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in Yemen and their endorsement of the agreements reached in Sweden by the Yemeni parties in December 2018. The Ministers also welcomed the adoption of UNSCR 2451 and UNSCR 2452, which support the implementation of these agreements and build on the political framework set out in UNSCR 2216
The Ministers called on the Yemeni parties to rapidly and fully implement the agreements reached in December 2018 for the sake of the Yemeni people. In this regard, the Ministers welcomed the preliminary agreement reached on the deployment of forces in Hodeidah by the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC)
The Ministers called on the Yemeni parties in their areas of control, in particular the Houthis who still control the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa, to ensure the security and safety of UNMHA personnel
The Ministers also discussed Iran’s de-stabilising effect on Yemen, through the illicit provision of finance, ballistic missiles and advanced weaponry to the Houthis, and in the wider region.
The Ministers also discussed Iran’s de-stabilising effect on Yemen, through the illicit provision of finance, ballistic missiles and advanced weaponry to the Houthis, and in the wider region. In this regard, the Ministers noted the UN Panel of Experts’ finding that Iran has provided advanced weaponry to the Houthis in violation of UNSCR 2216 and UNSCR 2231. In this regard, the Ministers strongly condemned the Houthi drone attack of 10 January 2019 on Al-Anad airport. The Ministers underlined that the firing of ballistic missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Houthi forces into neighbouring countries posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict. The Ministers expressed full support for Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns and called for an immediate end to such attacks by Houthi forces and their allies.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-declaration-on-yemen = https://www.facebook.com/groups/178437079767851/permalink/245697066375185/
My comment: Biased bla bla of warring parties playing peace brokers. - The 100 % bias is most evidently seen in the last paragraph quoted here. It's mainly Iran which is the target of the whole US Yemen policy. The Houthis are blamed for a drone attack against a military target and it is even claimed that thid attack "posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict". - The Saudi coalition air raids are not even mentioned once!! These air raids, beiing 1000 times more horrible than all Houthi drone and missile attacks, had not ""posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict"?? - Instead, the tall story of "Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns" is repeated here. Just keep in mind that this claim puts facts upside down. Houthi missile attacks against Saudi territory started ten weeks AFTER Saudi Arabia had started its aerial war against Yemeni targets. The whole Yemen war has nothing to do with "Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns" at all.
(A E P)
Jeremy Hunt to chair Yemen Quad meeting on next steps in peace process
The Foreign Secretary, with US Secretary of State Pompeo, will co-host a Quad meeting to discuss the Yemen crisis, in Warsaw later today.
and
(A E P)
Economic Quartet countries hold meeting to discuss economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen
Economic Quartet Committee on Yemen which consists of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom held a meeting at the headquarters of the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen in Riyadh today, under the chairmanship of the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al Jaber.
The meeting focused on mechanisms to discuss the economic situation in Yemen.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164237
and also https://twitter.com/HMAMichaelAron/status/1095423851247398914
My comment: This is a ridiculous sham event. The most important four allied warring parties – which are fully responsible for the greatest part of the destruction in Yemen – mime an assembly which “follows up the economic situation in Yemen and supports the humanitarian situation in Yemen”. LOL.
Comment by Fuad Rajeh: Quartet on Yemen should be Japan, Germany, Turkey & Netherlands, not USA and UK along with their proxies Saudi Arabia & UAE. All respect to the first four. The world must change. US-led alliances must stop destabilising & starving nations under slogans of assistance & democracy.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1095552883678945282
(* B H K)
With 3.8 Million Yemenis Displaced Last Year, New Report Shows Country’s Crisis Growing Worse
The Saudi-led coalition’s choice to continue raining bombs down on key civilian infrastructure shows its determination, in their pursuit of regional geopolitical dominance, to push the Yemeni people to the brink of annihilation by starvation, preventable disease and explosions.
A report from the Sana’a-based Yemeni government has revealed that the conflict in Yemen — sometimes called the “Forgotten War,” owing to sparse international media coverage — continues to grow more dire with each passing day.
Among the report’s most troubling findings are the staggering number of people who were displaced by fighting last year, with 3.8 million people forced to flee their homes, many of them from the still-besieged port of Hodeida, over the course of 2018. Many of these refugees have sought refuge in or near the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, whose international airport remains under blockade from the Saudi Arabia-led and U.S.-supported coalition.
Another highly troubling aspect of the situation in Yemen, as revealed by this recently released report, is the continued closure of key food warehouses – including those controlled by the World Food Program and the World Health Organization – that are storing food for as many 3.5 million people. While these facilities remain closed, an estimated 18 million Yemenis face severe food insecurity and starvation, including 5 million children. Worse still, the report noted that the Saudi-led coalition bombed four such food warehouses in addition to two trucks carrying food aid, just during the month of December.
The statistics released by the government in Sana’a also reveal the continuation of the Saudi-led coalition’s targeting of critical civilian infrastructure, such as farms and water pumps. According to government figures, during December 2018, the coalition razed 94 farms and damaged another 128 while destroying 68 water pumps and water storage tanks. One hundred and thirty two livestock were also killed by coalition bombs. The U.S. military intelligence has been “fine tuning” the coalition’s airstrike target list since last June, making the U.S. complicit in these crimes against Yemeni civilians.
(B P)
Spotlight: Yemen still in quagmire of conflict 8 years after revolution
On Feb. 11, 2011, revolution broke out against Ali Abdullah Saleh, once the president of Yemen for more than 30 years.
The revolution ended in the murder of Saleh on the hands of the Houthis, once allies of the Yemeni president. An argument spread: who led the country to the quagmire of conflict and the brink of starvation?
The eighth anniversary took place with war in the country raging between the Arab coalition-backed government forces led by Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi fighters.
With Yemen in the quagmire of violence and hunger which left millions of Yemenis without hope, the argument on the February Revolution role with the ongoing situation in Yemen was put to question.
Some allies of Saleh launched an attack on February Revolution on its eighth anniversary and termed it Nakbaa or calamity.
Political activist, Kamal Heidra, said what is happening now in Yemen was the result of what Saleh did and did not do in the February Revolution.
He said what happens in Yemen now cannot be accepted but as a fight back against the revolution and its objectives.
"What happens now in Yemen is nothing but the accumulation of the state failure under Saleh.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/12/c_137816138.htm
(B P)
Film: CD4HR, Canadian Defenders For Human Rights CD4HR with Yemeni Community in Canada, updating everyone about our #Yemencampaign and talking about upcoming campaign for #Gaza.
https://www.facebook.com/660115902/videos/10156960118020903/
(* B K)
The Media Ignores the Yemen Missile Program. This Infographic Details Everything
For the past four years, mainstream media outlets have either twisted or completely ignored the US-backed Saudi-led war against Yemen. Yes, Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. However, the media also tends to ignore another crucial aspect of the war: the ever-advancing Yemen missile and defense program. The infographic below details the advancements Yemen’s missile program in the face of war.
The revolutionary government led by Ansarullah began domestic Yemen missile production almost immediately after Saudi Arabia initiated its airstrike campaign in March of 2015.
However, the Saudi coalition and its allies severely underestimated the organization, strength, and political power of the Ansarullah movement. Riyadh launched its war with little analysis of the situation or regard for the long-term outcome.
A History of the Yemen Missile Program for Defense
On June 6, 2015, just a few months after the Saudis proudly announced destroying weapons stockpiles, Yemen’s Rocketry Force revealed its first domestically produced ballistic missile: a modified Scud with a range of over 800 km which Yemeni forces used to attack the King Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Airport in southern Saudi Arabia.
To the surprise of Saudi Arabia and its allies, Yemen’s missile production continued expanding at a rapid rate.
What or Who is Behind the Yemen Missile Program?
Saudi Arabia and its coalition allies routinely blame Iran for supporting Ansarullah’s ballistic missile program but the evidence simply doesn’t exist to prove this.
In fact, documents from the Yemeni Ministry of Defense show that both the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) purchased ballistic missiles from the Soviet Union and Korea during the Cold War in the 1980s and onward.
In fact, the late Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh was a close ally of former U.S. President George W. Bush during the early years of the “War on Terror.” During that time, Saleh received substantial military assistance — at least $400 million worth of weapons and equipment — from the United States. The Ansarullah movement and its allies took control of the weapon storage facilities during the 2014 revolution.
Yemen’s Defense Program Goes Far Beyond Missiles
The small country’s defense capabilities stretch far beyond the Yemen missile program. For the past four years, Yemen’s military engineers have worked to develop advanced defense capabilities for the Army, Air Force, and Navy as well.
In January of 2019, Yemen’s Air Force revealed a stealth kamikaze drone, the K2. Yemen’s Air Force first used the new K2 drone to target a gathering of high-ranking Saudi military leaders and mercenaries on Thursday at the al-Anad military base in Yemen’s Lahj province.
Yemen has also drastically expanded its naval defense capability. In November of 2017, Yemen’s Naval and Coastal Defense unveiled a powerful line of missiles to defend the country’s Red Sea territory – by Randi Nord
(* A B K P)
Film: Hassan Al-Haifi war live.
https://www.facebook.com/hassan.alhaifi/videos/2121452534568370/
(B P)
Afrah Nasser’s Blog: Yemen's Uprising 8th Anniversary
Some think Yemen’s 2011 uprising was thwarted
But!
What I think is that it was a moment that
let a big fat genie to be out of the bottle
Despite Everything,
joining Yemen's 2011 uprising has been & still is
one of the greatest things I did in my life
http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/2019/02/yemens-uprising-8th-anniversary.html
(B P)
Karman: We will not be slaves to the coup nor instruments of foreign occupation
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman said that the Yemeni people, who revolted against the attempt by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to bequeath power to his son, would not accept the priestly imamate for his re-control by force and superstition.
"The Yemeni people who revolted against the internal tyrant will not accept the Saudi-Emirati guardianship and occupation, nor will they accept their terrorist and separatist instruments and their explosive belts in their cities, coasts, islands, airspace and territorial waters," she said.
According to Karman, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is fighting today to divide the country, plunder Yemeni wealth and not fight for legality and the restoration of the state.
"The Houthi coup promises US slavery and the Saudi-Emirati occupation promises us with a historical humiliation that will not be forgiven by future generations if we are silent about it, accepted by it, we have not resisted it," she said.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164189
(B P)
Today Yemenis celebrate the 8th anniversary of their Arab Spring, an event that led to the removal of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in 2011. Sadly, youth aspirations for political reform were never realized
#Yemen’s Arab spring was hijacked when a GCC initiative backed by UN & Intl community forced a deeply flawed political transition-2011-2014- that reshuffled corrupt political elite & kept Saleh’s control over most military power intact.
The GCCI reinforced traditional power dynamics, exacerbated tensions, & left root causes of Yemen conflict that gave rise to youth protest unaddressed. Saleh was able to create instability and, in alliance with Houthis, drag the country into a devastating civil war civil war.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1094920399618564096
remembering her 2017 article: https://pomed.org/pomed-policy-brief-breaking-the-cycle-of-failed-negotiations-in-yemen/
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1b2
(* B H)
Yemen: “This road is like a lifeline for us.”
Arashy, a village of around 1,750 people, lies at the end of a potholed mountain road in Al Dhale’e governorate, Yemen. The road represents the only means of access to the village. Prior to ACTED's intervention, some sections were so badly rain-damaged that vehicles could no longer pass, risking the almost total isolation of Arashy's residents. Samer, a village resident was among those who carried out the vital restoration work to reconnect Arashy with the outside world.
Samer, 49, was born and raised in Arashy. He is responsible for a household of 10 people, including 2 elderly people and one child under 5. Providing for his family had been a struggle for a number of months, due to Yemen’s collapsed economy, rampant unemployment, and runaway food costs resulting from currency depreciation. Samer had to sell his home furnishings, and then borrow money from relatives, to cope with the economic situation. The isolation of his village only made matters worse.
“The most bitter moments arose when we had to transport patients, pregnant women, or elderly or disabled people to hospital. That painful task was always accomplished by relatives and other people who had to carry them on their shoulders.”
Prior to rehabilitation the condition of the Arashy road has deteriorated to such an extent that vehicles could no longer pass.
In 2018, as part of a consortium with Mercy Corps and CARE, supported by USAID’s Food for Peace (FFP), ACTED implemented a rehabilitation project of the road to Arashy. Through a ‘Food for Assets’ component, ACTED sought to strengthen the resilience of communities through twinning rehabilitation works with food security. In brief, this meant that the most food insecure households could benefit from vital short-term employment opportunities; local residents worked on the repairs in exchange for food vouchers.
The residents of Arashy identified the road rehabilitation as their top priority (photos)
https://www.acted.org/en/yemen-this-road-is-like-a-lifeline-for-us/ = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-road-lifeline-us
(B H)
Swiss Solidarity: WAR IN YEMEN – AN APPEAL FOR SUPPORT
In Yemen 24 million people depend on humanitarian aid to survive. Your donations enable us and our partner NGOs to provide some of this help.
https://www.swiss-solidarity.org/war-in-yemen-an-appeal-for-support/
(A H)
Türkei hilft Waisenkindern in Jemen
Der türkische Rote Halbmond hat den Familien von jemenitischen Waisenkindern Hilfen in Form von Lebensmittel geleistet. Die Waisenkinder bekamen insgesamt 123 Lebensmittelpakete
http://www.trt.net.tr/deutsch/turkei/2019/02/12/turkei-hilft-waisenkindern-in-jemen-1143083
(B H)
World Food Programme, Logistics Cluster: Yemen: Passengers Transport Overview - Djibouti - Aden - Djibouti, January 2019
(B H)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Yemen - Humanitarian Response Plan 2019
To assist 8.6 million people FAO requires USD 218.5 million
Period January – December 2019
Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The protracted crisis has taken a devastating toll on the economy, collapsing essential services and exhausting the population’s coping mechanisms, leading to widespread food insecurity and malnutrition.
Objectives
FAO is working with partners in the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster to:
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-2019
(B H)
Relief and Development Peer Foundation: Yemen: Monthly Situation Report No. 10 (January 2018)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-situation-report-no-10-january-2018
(* B H)
Yemen's Children Need A Future
KEY FACTS
More than 2,500 schools have been damaged or destroyed by the war (UNICEF).
More than half of public school teachers have not been paid in the past two years.
Many schools also are being used as shelters for displaced people and some have been taken over by armed groups.
In 2018, the ICRC provided 3,735 school children in two schools in Abyan and Saada with school kits.
Yemen’s conflict has forced its children into a destructive struggle for survival. Fleeing the fighting, hoping to escape the violence, often means abandoning homes, and schools. Parents lose their livelihoods, and entire families end up on the streets, begging.
Saud and her five grandchildren fled the fighting in Taiz and now live in a makeshift shelter in Aden. None of the children are in school.
“It’s five months since we moved here from Taiz because of the war. Me and my grandchildren, five kids” says Saud.
“We beg during the day, and someone gave us this place to stay, so we spend the night here and in the morning we go looking for support.”
“The kids used to study back then, but here they beg from restaurants.”
“Their ages? Just six, seven, and eight years old,” Saud continues. “We don’t get any support except leftovers from restaurants and a bit of money from begging.”
The family’s story is one that is repeated across Yemen: with schools often destroyed in the conflict, and millions of people displaced, education has become an unattainable luxury for many.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemens-children-need-future
(A H)
Turkish women in Belgium arrange aid campaign for Yemen
Around $54,500 collected during Sunday’s event
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkish-women-in-belgium-arrange-aid-campaign-for-yemen/1388940
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Protection Cluster: Protection Cluster Yemen Response and Gap Analysis, January - December 2018
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Somalia: Refugee returnees to Somalia at 31 December 2018
87,490 refugee returnees (2014 - 2018)
This figure includes voluntary repatriation from Kenya (82,840) and Assisted Spontaneous return from Yemen (3,405) as well as 1,245 returns from other countries such as Djibouti (783), Libya (353), Sudan (64), Eritrea (34), Pakistan, Gambia, Angola, Cambodia and others.
3,405 refugee returnees from Yemen (2015 - 2018)
In addition to the 3,405 Assisted Spontaneous Returns since 2017, some 39,872 Somalis were monitored as arriving from Yemen since March 2015
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-refugee-returnees-somalia-31-december-2018
(B H)
International Organization for Migration: Cross Border Movements - Somalia (January 2019)
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/cross-border-movements-somalia-january-2019
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Somalia: Arrivals from Yemen at 31 December 2018
https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-arrivals-yemen-31-december-2018
(* B H)
Film: The Ethiopian migrants crossing Yemen's war to find a better life
The economic migrants are hoping to find jobs in Saudi Arabia, but have to risk their lives by crossing Yemen's war zone.
https://us.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/02/13/djibouti-ethiopia-migrants.cnn
(B H)
Film: The first #Yemen-i Restaurant on #Jeju Island: refugees breaking the bread
Welcome to the first Yemeni Restaurant on the Korean Island of #Jeju, where all the food is cooked by refugees.
When hundreds of Yemenis fled to Jeju, last year, Ha Min-kyung provided shelter to dozens of asylum seekers and, notwithstanding the locals' fears, Ha Min-kyung opened Restaurant Wardah to challenge xenophobic sentiment.
The restaurant is now a place for cultural exchange where locals and #Yemen-is come together around the table, breaking bread and building bridges
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=329281177793890
(B H)
The people of Sawn village came back home after 3 years of displacement in Dhali province. However, their happiness didn’t last long; their village lacked the basic services and homes were destroyed (photo)
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1095480199502856192
(A H)
National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response: NFDHR opens community centers in Al Bayda and Dhamar
The National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response (NFDHR) has been working hard to open three community centers in order to provide protection services to the displaced people in the Al Bayda and Dhamar Governorates
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nfdhr-opens-community-centers-al-bayda-and-dhamar
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Representatives' House hears part of report on conditions of streets, bridges, cleaning works
The House of Representatives on Tuesday continued to hold its sessions for the first period of the first half-year of the 14th annual session
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526479.htm
(A P)
.@abducteesmother condemned the wilful obstruction of the #Sweden agreement which sets forth the release of all the detainees &forcibly disappeared. In a protest held in Sana'a in front of the office of @OSE_Yemen , it demanded again that the #UNSC works for their release (photo)
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1095432794149478402
(B P)
Head of HROCH Accuses Houthis of Kidnapping and Torturing Women
Head of Human Rights Organization for Combating Human Trafficking ( HROCH) has revealed that women rights are being violated by Houthi rebels.
” We are working on documents that disclose Houthis for torturing women in incarcerations as well as kidnapping and blackmailing others,” Mr. Nabil Fadhel said.
He also mentioned that there is a team of law experts and activists who dedicate their time to documenting material evidence that convict Houthis on violating women rights.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/14325
(A)
A Yemeni Woman Disappears & Fingers Point at Houthis
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/14321
(A P)
Houthi Leader Hails Anniversary of Yemeni Revolution
The chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said the 2011 revolution in the Arabian Peninsula nation demonstrated the people’s will to liberate their country.
In a statement released on Monday, Houthi offered his congratulations on the 8th anniversary of Yemen’s February 11 revolution and said the revolution is the manifestation of the people’s will to free their country from oppression.
Since the uprising began, the enemies inside and outside the country have tried to “divert the popular revolution from its path” but the Yemeni people have never been deceived by the persistent conspiracies of the enemies, he added.
The Houthi leader further emphasized that as the 8th anniversary of the revolution is celebrated, the dependence of all those trying to destroy the revolution on foreigners has become evident.
(A P)
House of Representatives condemns coalition's tampering in Mahara, Socotra
The House of Representatives on Monday continue to hold its sessions for the first period for first half-year of the 14th annual session under the chairmanship of spokesman Yehia Al-Ra'i.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526352.htm
(A P)
Houthis Detains a number of employees in Alkuraimi and Tadamon Banks
The Houthi group on Sunday detained a number of Alkuraimi and Tadamon banks employees in the capital, Sanaa, without any justification, reliable sources said.
The sources said that members of affiliated to national Security Service stormed Alkuraimi bank in Sanaa and detained three of the bank's staff.
The sources noted that al-Houthi members also detained the treasurer manager of Tadhamon Islamic Bank while he was at his home and two employees of the bank while they were working at the bank.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164188
and
(A P)
Tadhamon bank suspends its activities at the main center in Sana'a after the kidnapping of its employees
The Tadhamon International Islamic Bank has decided to suspend its activities at the main center and close all its branches in Sanaa after being subjected to a series of extortion and harassment practices by the Al-Houthi authorities, sources of Al-Masdar online said.
A bank source said that many banks will take the same step as the Houthis insist on looting the assets of banks and commercial banks operating in their areas of control under various pretexts, and this will result in the release of thousands of employees working in the banking sector, which will multiply the challenges facing the Financial activity and would create additional economic burdens.
The move follows the abduction of officials of the Islamic Tadhamon Bank and Alkuraimi Bank by the authorities of the coup militias in Sana'a and their escort to the National Security Bureau under the authority of the putschists.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164196
(* A K P)
Fighting continues. Hajur tribes capture 25 Houthis and coalition fighters launch seven raids
Fighting continues between al-Houthi militants and Hajur tribesmen in the district of Kushar in the northwestern province of Hajjah, while the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighters are intensifying their air raids on Houthi positions.
A field source told Al-Masdar online that the fighter jets launched seven sporadic raids on the Houthi sites, which impose a siege on the tribal men in the Directorate.
According to the source, the raids targeted the positions, gatherings, and reinforcements of the militants, resulting in scores of dead and wounded, as well as the destruction of an armored vehicle and a mortar cannon.
He noted that tribesmen are desperate to defend their positions under the Houthis ' attempts to achieve any breakthrough in the region, and the fiercest battles have been raging for three days in the Al-Obaisa area.
The tribes, however, moved the battle from the defense to the attack and in the past two days took control of the village and al-Qyyam mountain, east of the district of Kushar, after scores of Houthis were killed and wounded.
Hajur tribesmen also captured more than 25 Houthi gunmen and a military vehicle of BMB type.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164274
(A P)
Hajjah and Hajur tribes control a village
Fighting between Hajur tribes and al-Houthis has been going on for days, and tribes have taken control of “Qiam” village, east of the al-Obaisa – Kushar district, after a number of Houthis were injured and others captured.
According to the source, the tribes seized armed equipment of Houthis, including the P10 cannon, while two tribesmen were killed and eight injured.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164201
Remark: Earlier reporting: Yemen War Mosaic 511, cp5.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A T)
Three soldiers of security belt forces killed in Abyan blast
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164278
(A P)
Abu Abbas brigades arrests an activist from Taiz province and delivers him to Emirati forces in Aden
An armed Salafist faction supported by the United Arab Emirates in the southwestern province of Taiz kidnapped a human rights activist about a month ago and handed him over to Emirati forces in the southern city of Aden, al-masdar online source said on Wednesday.
He added that 25 days ago, a number of members of the Abu al-Abbas brigades kidnapped human rights activist Abubakar Al-Briki while he was near his home in Al-Turbah city, south of Taiz, and took him to their headquarters.
He said Briki was hidden there and his family did not know anything about him, but two weeks later, when news leaked that the brigades handed him over to the Emiratis in the city of Aden.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164275
Remark: Abu Abbas brigades are closely linked to Al Qaeda (look at cp14).
(A T)
The commander of the 7th Battalion of the 83 artillery Brigade survived the assassination attempt
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164232
(* A P)
Al-Mahrah Tribes Reject UAE Military Moves in Province
Sheikh Ali Salem Al-Harizi, the former deputy governor of Al-Mahrah province, confirmed that what is happening in the is the reproduction of the occupation by Saudi forces. Al-Harizi, who is leading the protests against the foreign occupation forces, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV that the step of forming the militias by the Transitional Council came in the last few days and the leadership of the Transitional Council in a move to hand over the province from Saudi Arabia to the UAE.
He was surprised at the intervention of the UAE, which he said "it has returned to Al-Mahrah with an agreement and understanding with Saudi forces in Al-Mahrah. He stressed that the sons of Al-Mahrah will not stand idly by, adding that Saudi Arabia has formed militias in the name of border guards, formed Coast Guard of 300 people and that Saudi Arabia is now working to reproduce what is happening in Aden in Al-Mahrah. Sheikh Al-Huraizi said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are working to transfer the death squads in Aden to Al-Mahrah. "The brothers in the Transitional Council should be wise, do not be dragged, and we must not repeat what happened between 1969 and 1994," he added.
"The Security Belt in Aden, the events in Aden, what is happening in Shabwa and Hadramout by the hands of the Shaban Elites are enough to know the reasons for the fear of Al-Mahrah," Sheikh Ali Salem al-Harizi said.
Hundreds of so-called "Al-Naukhbah Al-Mahriyah Forces" arrived Sunday, accompanied by dozens of vehicles, to the city of Al-Ghaydah, the center of the province and stationed in security points taken from the Coast Guard Camp in Hawf district eastern Al-Mahrah. In a related context, a number of sheikhs and dignitaries in Hawf district in Al-Mahrah province, expressed their "rejection of any military development or the establishment of military points to serve the interests of the sons of Hawf."
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5365&cat_id=1
(A P)
“Islah” calls for national reconciliation and the formation of a broad alliance against the Imamate
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164193
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B P)
Film: Listen to this important message by @Ranaghanem71,member of a Yemeni gov’t delegation&the only female representative in the peace talks in #Sweden last December.Women should be in #peace talks.
https://twitter.com/women4yemen/status/1095491193323077634
and also look at report from December 2018: https://nobelwomensinitiative.org/peace-talks-must-include-yemeni-women/
(A P)
UK says time to turn Yemen ceasefire into peace is shortening
British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday said the window of opportunity to turn a ceasefire in Yemen into a plan for peace was shortening.
“We now have a shortening window of opportunity to turn the ceasefire into a durable path to peace - and stop the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” Hunt said in a statement ahead of a meeting with the U.S., UAE and Saudi foreign ministers.
“Real progress has been made to reach a political solution but there are also real issues of trust between the two sides which mean the agreement in Stockholm has not been fully implemented.”
My comment: Do not forget: Britain is miming a peacebroker, but it’s a main warring party.
(A P)
Anwar Gargash: Houthis are jeopardising historic chance for peace in Yemen
Stockholm Agreement is the only logical solution to ending the war, Dr Anwar Gargash says
Houthi rebels are jeopardising a historic chance to achieve peace in Yemen, the UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said on Wednesday, reiterating calls for international pressure on the Iran-backed group.
The Stockholm Agreement, brokered through UN-led peace talks in December, is the only logical solution to ending Yemen’s nearly four-year war, Dr Gargash said on Twitter.
“A political solution to the crisis will not be achieved by the reversal of commitments, we have a historic opportunity threatened by the Houthi to jeopardise efforts made in Stockholm,” Dr Gargash said.
My comment: This is propaganda – as the UAE and its Yemeni militia are blocking the Stockhilm agreement as well.
(A P)
Yemen president refuses new round of talks until implementation of Sweden deal
Yemen President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi said on Tuesday that progress must be made on a peace deal reached in Sweden before a new round of talks can be held.
UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday to meet with Yemeni government officials, having earlier travelled to Sanaa for talks with Houthi leaders.
“We need to have reassurance from the UN that the agreement reached in Sweden is fully implemented by the Houthis before a new round of talks can take place,” Mr Hadi told the UN envoy.
Mr Griffiths planned to hold a further round of talks this year designed to make progress on a long-term political settlement to end the nearly four-year-long civil war.
Negotiations between the warring parties last week produced what the UN called a "preliminary compromise" on how to withdraw troops, although the deal has not yet been finally agreed.
Despite the setbacks, the UN mission in Yemen remains optimistic that progress can be made.
Comment by Judith Brown: Hadi ignores the fact that there has been progress - the ceasefire, though shaky, has held in Hodeida and there have been moves on prisoner exchange but slowly. The conditions of the ceasefire were very vague in order to get a deal and all 'sides' were able to interpret that as they wanted. So there are vastly different interpretations and so far no organisations that are independently monitoring and hence everyone claims the Other is violating terms whilst pushing their own agenda. Hadi of course won't benefit from peace - there isn't a cats chance in hell that he will be elected president of Yemen after a peace deal. The only thing that unites the majority of Yemenis is Hadi's unsuitability as president.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157363724223641
(A P)
UN-Gesandter für Jemen in Saudi-Arabien
Der UN-Sondergesandte für den Jemen, Martin Griffiths, ist am Dienstag nach einem eintägigen Aufenthalt in Jemens Hauptstadt Sanaa, die von den Ansarollah (»Huthi«) gehalten wird, weiter nach Saudi-Arabien gereist. In Riad wurde er zu Gesprächen mit Jemens Exilregierung von Präsident Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi erwartet
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/349038.un-gesandter-f%C3%BCr-jemen-in-saudi-arabien.html
(A P)
President Hadi receives UN Envoy
President Abo Rabbu Mansour Hadi has affirmed the importance of setting a schedule to implement the Stockholm Agreement and put pressures on the party which often impedes the agreement implementation.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27657
(A P)
UN envoy flies to Saudi from rebel-held Sanaa
UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths flew to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after holding talks with Houthi rebels in Sanaa.
The envoy's plane left Sanaa Airport to Riyadh, a source at the airport said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
In Riyadh, Griffiths is expected to meet with Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and other Yemeni officials for talks about a UN-brokered ceasefire deal between the government and rebels.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-envoy-flies-to-saudi-from-rebel-held-sanaa/1390278
(A P)
Regierung im Jemen wirft UN Parteilichkeit vor
Die Menschen im Jemen verhungern. Getreide ist zwar da, doch der Zugang ist blockiert. Daran seien nicht nur die Huthi-Rebellen schuld, findet ein UN-Gesandter – und empört die Regierung.
Im Streit um blockierte Lebensmittelhilfe für Millionen Notleidende im Jemen hat die Regierung des Bürgerkriegslandes den UN Parteilichkeit vorgeworfen. Der UN-Jemen-Gesandte Martin Griffiths unterwerfe sich dem Druck der Huthi-Rebellen, erklärte Jemens Informationsminister Muammar al-Irjani über Twitter. Eine gemeinsame Erklärung des Vermittlers und des UN-Nothilfekoordinators Mark Lowcock habe anders als frühere Stellungnahmen nicht den Huthis die Verantwortung für die Blockade von Getreidevorräten gegeben.
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ausland/krisen/id_85239232/hungernotstand-im-jemen-regierung-erhebt-vorwuerfe-gegen-un.html = https://www.zeit.de/news/2019-02/12/hungernotstand-im-jemen-regierung-erhebt-vorwuerfe-gegen-un-190212-99-950936 = https://www.faz.net/agenturmeldungen/dpa/hungernotstand-im-jemen-regierung-erhebt-vorwuerfe-gegen-un-16037016.html
Mein Kommentar: S. Kommentare auf Englisch weiter unten. – Wie so oft, beschränken sich deutschsprachige Medien auf C + P einer dpa-Meldung.
(A P)
Yemeni gov't says UN 'biased' to Houthis
The internationally recognized Yemeni government on Tuesday accused the UN of being biased to the Houthi rebel group.
On Monday, UN envoy Martin Griffiths and UN emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock hailed Yemeni efforts to reopen the way to wheat warehouses in the coastal Al-Hudaydah city.
Writing on Twitter, Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani described the UN officials' statement as contradictory to previous statements blaming the Houthis for disrupting safe routes to food supply lines.
"[This is] a clear and blatant bias that should not be tolerated," he said.
"It is contrary to reality on the ground. For two months now, the Houthi militia has been obstructing the implementation of the Sweden agreement on Al-Hudaydah," al-Eryani said.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemeni-govt-says-un-biased-to-houthis/1390226
and also http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164251
My comment: “the Houthi militia has been obstructing the implementation of the Sweden agreement on Al-Hudaydah”: This is exactly what the Houthis are objecting to the pro-hadi government side. – Claiming the UN would be “biased” in favour of the Houthis is ridiculous. The UN – in contradiction to the Yemeni constitution – still acknowledges the Hadi government as “legitimate”, and UN Security Council resolutions, with the US (and in the background: the Saudis), are fully biased in favor of the Saudi coalition and its puppet Hadi government.
Comment by Judith Brown: Here we have a clear example of the way that each side manipulates - if any praise or concession is given to the other 'side' then it is called bias. And of course as Saudi Arabia wrote the draft of UNSC 2216 it was already a one sided document and any movement from that narrative is called bias, even though it might just be an attempt to balance things up so that peace is possible.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157363735343641
(A P)
UN special envoy arrives in Sana’a
The UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived in Sana’a on Monday with the aim of meeting Houthi leaders and discuss the prisoner swap deal.
He will also meet Danish general Michael Lollesgaard, the UN observer mission to discuss the redeploy of forces in Hodeida in conjunction with holding meeting of the prisoner committee in Jordan.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27620
(A P)
So it seems #Yemeni delegations have left Amman without a final deal on the exchange of prisoners ... This should be fairly straightforward, What's the hang-up?
https://twitter.com/khoury_nabeel/status/1095689893399937024
Seems negotiations have been heavily politicized and prisoners being used as bargaining chips to attain concessions. Afraid may not only delay swap, but also embolden captors to raise bar of demands, their level of impunity, as well as encourage hunt for more hostages.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/1095738403507834882
(A P)
2,200 Names in Yemeni Prisoner Swap Talks
Under Secretary for the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights Majed Fadayel said Sunday that parties engaged in talks held in Jordan on a UN-sponsored prisoner exchange in Yemen’s war have submitted a primary list of 2,200 names that will be included in the swap.
Fadayel, a member of the Yemeni committee overseeing talks on the prisoner exchange, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number is subject to a rise.
He said talks between the Yemeni warring parties are ongoing, except for a short pause during which the two sides return to their leaderships to discuss details requiring approval such as the rejection of Houthi militias to release the four figures included in UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1585891/2200-names-yemeni-prisoner-swap-talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* A P)
Saudi crown prince’s visit to Kaaba sparks outrage on social media
One video shows the crown prince on the roof of the Kaaba accompanied by other officials
A visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Tuesday to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca sparked outrage on social media, following the recent uproar over the royal’s role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and atrocities committed in the Yemen war.
Several photos showed bin Salman touring holy sites in Mecca, including the Kaaba, along with his large entourage.
One video shows the crown prince on the roof of the Kaaba accompanied by other officials.
According to Saudi reports, bin Salman was briefed on an expansion project during his unannounced visit to Mecca.
In several of the photos, he can also be seen praying inside the Kaaba and performing the traditional washing of the holy site.
Social media users took to Twitter to express their outrage over what they called bin Salman’s “desecration of the holy sites.”
A video that went viral on Twitter showed hundreds of soldiers blocking worshippers from approaching the Kaaba as bin Salman toured the holy site, prompting many to question why the crown prince needs “heavy protection” while visiting the Kaaba.
and film: https://twitter.com/Souria4Syrians/status/1095118204685467648
(A P)
Saudi Arabia says it will lift travel warning for Lebanon
(* B P)
‘MBS Has Ushered in an Era of Unprecedented Crackdowns and Repression of Political Speech’
CounterSpin interview with Sarah Aziza on Saudi repression of women
JJ: You actually saw reporters swarming on the photo-op of Saudi women driving. And one can see why: It’s both a symbolic and a material change that seems to say that Saudi Arabia, under the influence particularly of Mohammed bin Salman, is on the road to reform. But subsequent and even previous events should tell us that that’s not really the story here. What should we know about bin Salman as liberator of Saudi women?
SA: Yeah, I would say that it is not the full story. It is true that there are some women—particularly who come from liberal families, middle- or upper-class families—who are enjoying the benefit of these limited reforms, the increased flexibility for women in the workforce. And the ability to drive was no small thing, symbolically or practically.
But on the much grander scale, Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, as we often see him referred to in the press, has ushered in an era of really unprecedented crackdowns and repression of all forms of political speech. But also just a general chill of authoritarianism that rendered even ordinary citizens afraid to speak about the royal family, to discuss their opinions whatsoever when it comes to the reforms that are happening in their society, or even everyday topics.
Whether it’s issues of culture or commerce, there’s just this sense that, yes, there are movie theaters and concert halls people are enjoying attending, but no one there feels the freedom to speak openly about anything anymore, on the issue of women in particular.
It’s perhaps the most monstrous paradox of MBS’s reign so far, is the way that he’s branded himself as a liberator of women. He’s defended to the foreign press that women in Saudi Arabia are equal, absolutely equal, and that he is just here to empower and raise them up.
And in particular, in relation to the women driving, that’s the most perhaps egregious and awful irony, was that practically all the women who had campaigned for the right to drive—some of them dedicating decades of their lives to peaceful protest and demonstration and petitioning of the government to obtain the right to drive, among other rights—they were all in jail when the day finally came, when all of the reporters were swarming these open lots, these choreographed spectacles that look so good on the front pages of newspapers with these smiling women, but in the meantime, the women that really had the legacy of pushing for these reforms were in detention. They’ve not yet faced trial or even formal charges, not yet had access to legal counsel, haven’t seen their family. And we’ve had recent reports in the past few months that several of them, at least, have faced systemic torture and sexual abuse while in detention, at the same time that MBS was using their cause as evidence of his credentials as a reformer (transcript; audio)
https://fair.org/home/sarah-aziza-on-saudi-repression-of-women-dean-baker-on-taxing-the-rich/
(A E P)
Oil gains 1 percent after Saudi Arabia pledges more output cuts
Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday after OPEC figures showed it cut production sharply in January, and as lead member Saudi Arabia said it would reduce its output in March by an additional 500,000 barrels.
(* B P)
Saudi Arabia Sought Vice’s Help to Build a Media Empire
Riyadh builds alliances with Western news outlets to reshape its image, battle rivals
One sunny afternoon in August on a yacht off the Red Sea coast, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Vice Media Executive Chairman Shane Smith discussed an unlikely collaboration.
A Saudi government-controlled company had already hired Vice to produce documentaries on social reforms in the ultraconservative kingdom. The new proposal would elevate relations to a joint venture, similar to Saudi pairings with other Western media outlets, according to people briefed on the meeting (subscribers only)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-sought-vices-help-to-build-a-media-empire-11549621800
and
(* A P)
I talked to Wall Street Journal about Saudi Arabia’s media ventures and my experience at Iran International television, which I left last year because their editorial direction is increasingly influenced by Saudi foreign policy.
“In one media venture that competes with the influence of Saudi rival Iran, individuals connected to Saudi royal court funded & helped launch Iran International, a Persian-language broadcaster in London, according to British corporate records & people familiar with the channel.”
“Some journalists at Iran International have complained that management is pushing a pro-Saudi, anti-Iran line at the 24-hour channel, which broadcasts via satellite to the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., and can be viewed in Iran.”
Saudi Arabia is making “a systematic and very persistent push in a new direction in the media sphere,” said Negar Mortazavi, Iran International’s former Washington correspondent, who left last year. “The Saudis want influence and credibility, and are paying a lot for it.”
In my last month at Iran International, the director started pressuring me for my English tweets, sometimes even retweets from other journalists. For example he questioned for retweeting this tweet by Guardian’s Iran reporter @SaeedKD.
Iran International director even questioned me for tweeting this investigative report by Aljazeera English. The report explains how some Iranian diaspora channels like Manoto glorify the Shah’s era without mentioning its dark sides.
Last summer, former terrorist group MEK held its annual event in Paris. All Iranian outlets covered the highlights but Iran International went above and beyond. The unusually long live coverage caused massive backlash from Iranians inside and outside Iran. Even among journalists.
Iran International caused uproar again for coverage of a terrorist attack in Ahvaz #Iran last fall. They did a live interview with the spokesman of an extremist separatist group. He praised the terrorist attack which killed 24 people including children.
Guardian reported that Iran International is funded through a secretive offshore entity and a UK company whose director is a Saudi businessman with close ties to crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. And that Saud al-Qahtani was involved in the funding.
https://twitter.com/NegarMortazavi/status/1094726321568206849
(* B P)
Saudi Arabia is heinously torturing female activists. It must face consequences.
IT HAS gradually become clear that one of the most heinous recent cases of torture of political prisoners occurred last year in Saudi Arabia — and may still be ongoing. The victims are women who were arrested for advocating basic civil rights, such as the right to drive. For months following their initial detentions, a number of the women were held in solitary confinement and subjected to beatings, electric shocks, waterboarding and sexual harassment. Senior Saudi officials are alleged to have been directly involved in the abuse. As in the case of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it is essential that they face consequences.
Amnesty International has identified a dozen female activists and several men who were arrested beginning last May and are still being held. None have been officially charged with a crime or put on trial. Last month, Amnesty said it had testimonies that 10 had been tortured during their first three months of detention, when they were held in a secret prison.
The parliamentarians are requesting that the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture and its working group on arbitrary detention investigate the treatment of the women. But that shouldn’t be the only action that is taken. Saudi officials who participated in the torture should be prosecuted, if not in Saudi Arabia itself then by courts elsewhere under the international Convention Against Torture.
Mr. Qahtani, who is accused of joining in the torture of Ms. Hathloul, also played a key role in the murder of Khashoggi, according to Saudi investigators and U.S. officials. The question every democratic government, would-be investor and celebrity guest ought to address to the Saudi regime is this: Why are these women still in prison while their torturer roams the royal court? – by Editorial Board, WaPo
(B P)
SEVER TIES WITH THE SAUDI REGIME
Click here to join us in the call!
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that uses a bone saw to hack up the body of a journalist and dissolve the pieces in a vat of acid. According to the CIA, Saudi’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), was responsible for the grotesque murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that drops bombs on Yemeni school children, on Yemeni hospitals, marketplaces, residences—even on weddings and funerals. Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen is so brutal that Yemen is now suffering the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. Since 2015 some 85,000 children under the age of five have died from acute malnutrition as a result of the war; that’s one child every 10 minutes.
It’s time to sever ties with the world’s most misogynist, gender-segregated nation. All Saudi women live under the kingdom’s oppressive male guardianship system, under which women need permission from a male to travel, study, obtain a passport, marry, and engage in other key life events. Women are separated from men in schools, restaurants and public buildings.
It’s time to sever ties with a regime that tortures women activists.
https://www.codepink.org/saudiarabia
(A P)
Film: After Khashoggi's brutal murder, a 6-year-old boy has now been slaughtered in Saudi Arabia merely for being a Shia Muslim.
https://www.facebook.com/ProgramsPressTV/videos/vb.100976976914141/324377981522707/
(B P)
Saudi Arabia Is No Longer Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is in for political turmoil soon that will strengthen the grip of the US on the country and embolden Iran in the region and make it the only potential leader of the whole Muslim world, no matter what.
Since the arrival of King Salman to power a few years ago, Saudi Arabia has undergone several drastic changes to the extent that one wonders what on earth is happening to the guardian Islamic orthodoxy and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques?
Are the changes introduced real and leading to better governance, or are they just bogus moves to prepare the terrain for the crown prince to become King in an area where Iran is becoming a lethal threat to the Sunni world, once led by the rich and influential Saudi Arabia?
The once dormant, predictable, and tranquil Saudi Arabia was shaken to its core by the decision of King Salman to appoint his son Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as heir to the throne in lieu of the existing heir, even though he lacked experience and wisdom.
Saudi Arabia did not experience the Arab Spring because the government bought social peace and political tranquility with cash. The arrival of King Salman to power and his single-handed approach to political management of the country’s governance outside of the extended family’s consensus and tribal accord sparked an unwanted power-mongering and a quiet but lethal opposition of the princes to the manners of MBS.
For the time being King Salman and his heir are on a razor blade path with the traditional Persian enemy at the gate and inner circles of opposition in the making. When King Salman passes away, opposition will, probably, come out of the closet to bar MBS’s way to power and the Iranians will not only applaud that but offer their support though just symbolically.
All in all, Saudi Arabia is in for political turmoil soon that will strengthen the grip of the US on the country and embolden Iran in the region and make it the only potential leader of the whole Muslim world, no matter what.
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/02/265617/saudi-arabia-is-no-longer-saudi-arabia/
My comment: From Morocco, showing a more critical look on Saudi Arabia is coming up now after Morocco had left the Saudi coalition in the Yemen War.
Comment: Now the Moroccan press seems to suddenly be opening its eyes on the Kingdom's flaws.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/2137051756347843
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(* B P)
Trump shields the Saudi crown prince
The end of last week was the final date for the Trump administration to submit a congressional report answering whether the Saudi crown prince was responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October. The administration let the deadline pass with little acknowledgment.
The snub drew outrage on the Hill. Under the terms of the Magnitsky Act — U.S. human rights legislation lawmakers had triggered shortly after Khashoggi’s killing — Trump had 120 days to respond to the request and then possibly move to impose further punitive sanctions.
So far, the White House has doggedly refused to turn on its allies in Riyadh. It didn’t matter that the CIA’s own assessment was that the operation to abduct the dissident writer on a visit to Turkey was probably ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself; a senior administration official released a statement arguing that the president “maintains his discretion to decline to act on congressional committee requests.”
“The non-answer is a blatant dodge that ignores the finding of the CIA and the abundant evidence behind it,” The Post’s editorial board noted in response. “It makes a mockery of the Magnitsky law, as well as of U.S. principles by covering for the crown prince to protect the cozy relations between him and President Trump, as well as Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner."
Lawmakers weren’t happy, either. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the White House’s refusal to submit a report by the deadline “violates the law.”
“America should never descend to this level of moral bankruptcy,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement. “Congress will not relent in its efforts to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for this heinous crime.
“America is not covering up for a murder,” the U.S. top diplomat said Monday, insisting that American officials were seeking “additional information” from Saudi counterparts and taking further action.
But as more evidence comes to light, it looks increasingly as though the White House is seeking to shield the man with the most power in Saudi Arabia: the crown prince.
Saudi officials are still waging a propaganda war over the killing – By Ishaan Tharoor
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/02/13/trump-shields-saudi-crown-prince/
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U.S. Seeks Accountability for Former Saudi Aide in Khashoggi Killing
Riyadh has resisted U.S. pressure to take decisive action against Saud al-Qahtani, who Washington has sanctioned in the case
A top Saudi official who was fired after being accused of playing a role in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to serve as an informal royal adviser, and the U.S. is pressing the kingdom behind the scenes to hold him accountable, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
Saudi Arabia, however, has resisted U.S. pressure to take decisive action against Saud al-Qahtani, who previously served in effect as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the U.S. and Saudi officials said (subscribers only)
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Saudi Arabia Rejects UN Probe into Khashoggi Killing
Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, carried out a weeklong inquiry in Turkey into the Khashoggi killing and concluded in preliminary findings it was “a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of Saudi Arabia”.
Her final report is due in June.
Callamard said Saudi Arabia also “seriously undermined” Turkey’s efforts to investigate Khashoggi’s killing at its Istanbul consulate.
She has asked for access to Saudi Arabia and expressed “major concerns” about the fairness of proceedings for those facing trial in the kingdom over Khashoggi’s murder.
“The UN rapporteur that you talked to is not engaged in a UN investigation,” Jubeir noted.
“She is doing this on her own, in her capacity as rapporteur of human rights, and she went to Turkey and she came back and issued opinions that are her own, these are not United Nations’ opinions,” he added.
He said there was no reason to allow the UN access to the country for an investigation, adding that “we have done the right thing. We acknowledged that this happened, we acknowledged that these were officials of the Saudi government, we acknowledged that they had no authority to do this and we jailed them and now we’re putting them on trial”.
http://www.newnewss.net/saudi-arabia-rejects-un-probe-into-khashoggi-killing/
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Saudi Arabia ‘curtailed and undermined’ investigation into Khashoggi’s killing, U.N. expert says
The U.N. human rights expert leading an independent inquiry into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi said Thursday that Saudi Arabia had “seriously curtailed and undermined” Turkey’s attempts to investigate Khashoggi’s killing in the Saudi Consulate in October.
The expert, Agnes Callamard, released preliminary findings of her team’s inquiry Thursday after a week-long fact-finding mission to Turkey that ended Sunday.
“Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia,” she said in a statement.
The comments by Callamard, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, added weight to Turkey’s repeated assertions that Saudi Arabia had thwarted the work of Turkish investigators by limiting their access to Saudi diplomatic facilities and refusing to reveal the location of Khashoggi’s remains.
“Woefully inadequate time and access was granted to Turkish investigators to conduct a professional and effective crime-scene examination and search required by international standards for investigation,” Callamard said.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp8a
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In Polen beginnt die «Konferenz der Willigen», die eine Allianz gegen Iran schmieden wollen
Donald Trump sucht nach Verbündeten, die seinen Sanktionskurs gegen Iran mittragen. Nichts anderes bezweckt eine Konferenz in Warschau, die sich mit einem schönen Titel schmückt und an das Jahr 2003 erinnert – als der Kontinent in ein «neues» und ein «altes» Europa unterteilt wurde.
Doch da auf der Gästeliste vor allem ein Land prominent fehlt – Iran –, ist die eigentliche Stossrichtung des Treffens klar: Geschmiedet werden soll eine Allianz, die auch europäische Länder umfasst und die den harten Kurs der Amerikaner gegen das Regime in Teheran mitträgt.
Während aus den USA Vizepräsident Mike Pence und Aussenminister Mike Pompeo anreisen, werden mehrere westeuropäische Aussenminister, unter ihnen der französische und der deutsche, der Konferenz fernbleiben.
Hochrangig vertreten ist mit Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanyahu hingegen Israel, Irans Erzfeind. Und auch die Golfmonarchien sowie Ägypten, Jordanien, Marokko und andere sunnitische Staaten lassen es sich nicht nehmen, zumindest auf Ministerebene Präsenz in Warschau zu markieren, wenn die Amerikaner wie erwartet am Donnerstag die Entwicklung neuer iranischer Raketen und die Förderung von Terrorismus anprangern werden.
Diese Ausgangslage erinnert an das Jahr 2003. Die USA schmiedeten damals ein Bündnis, das den Angriff der Amerikaner auf den Irak politisch und militärisch unterstützte.
https://www.nzz.ch/international/nahost-konferenz-in-polen-gemeinsam-gegen-iran-ld.1459449
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Progressive activists are poised to get a big foreign policy win. It’s been an uphill battle.
The House is voting on ending US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The House is expected to pass a resolution Wednesday, February 13, to end US support for the war in Yemen. It’s the culmination of a years-long effort by progressive activists and lawmakers to claw back war-approving authority from the president and end US participation in a war that has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
But activists are still worried the final resolution might not carry the full weight that its original authors intended. Late Monday night, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who co-sponsored the resolution, offered an amendment to ensure the resolution would not “disrupt ... the sharing of intelligence between the United States and any foreign country if the President determines such sharing is appropriate.” The amendment will be getting a vote as well. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has written to Democratic lawmakers instructing them to vote against it.
Democratic leaders have generally been supportive of the Yemen resolution (Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is a co-sponsor, as was Nancy Pelosi last year, before she was speaker). But recently, progressives say Democratic leaders have tacked to the right on foreign policy, and activists are feeling a lack of enthusiasm toward the resolution. Hoyer accidentally voiced support for the Buck amendment in a private meeting with Democratic lawmakers, and then later clarified that he did not support it.
“There is a difference between leadership being supportive and leadership leading,” Stephen Miles, the director of Win Without War, a progressive group that advocates against military intervention abroad, told me.
On Tuesday, progressive groups Demand Progress, Indivisible, MoveOn, and Win Without War sent Democratic leadership a letter calling on them to be more aggressive when it comes to keeping Democrats in line on supporting the resolution and voting against the amendment.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/13/18222343/progressive-yemen-war-powers-resolution
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Film by RonPaulLibertyReport: House Yemen Vote Today: What's Pelosi's Goal?
While former Speaker Paul Ryan turned himself into a pretzel to prevent a War Powers challenge to Trump's ongoing military action in Yemen, Speaker Pelosi is allowing a vote to the House Floor today. Has the House turned against the war? Or is something else at play?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7iWgOyTu4Y
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Congressman Ro Khanna to Trump: If You’re So Anti-War, Get Out of Yemen
With the House preparing to vote on the fate of U.S. troops in Yemen, a leading voice for peace is daring Trump to add to the list of conflicts he gestures at wanting to end.
Trump, however, is vowing to fight Khanna’s resolution, much as he opposed the 2018-era congressional effort to get the U.S. out of Yemen.
On Tuesday afternoon, the White House threatened to veto the resolution.
While Trump professes antipathy for several U.S. conflicts, Yemen isn’t one of them.
It’s unclear what Trump’s new acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, thinks about the Yemen war and U.S. involvement, and if he’ll meet with Khanna to discuss the congressman’s resolution.
Josh Geltzer, a Justice Department and National Security Council counterterrorism official in the Obama administration, didn’t see Trump’s promotion of the Yemen war and his antipathy to the Syrian and Afghanistan ones as necessarily inconsistent. But he considered the Yemen war less central to U.S. security than the wars Trump’s gestured at ending.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/congressman-to-trump-if-youre-so-anti-war-get-out-of-yemen
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ACLU STATEMENT ON SAUDI-YEMEN WAR RESOLUTION (H. J. RES. 37) AND AMENDMENTS
Vote “YES” on the McGovern Amendment
The ACLU supports the McGovern Amendment because it will remove any colorable argument by the Executive Branch that the scope of the resolution is somehow unclear, or that the joint resolution, if enacted, would have no legal effect because of the Executive Branch’s mistaken interpretation of the term “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution. As amended by the McGovern Amendment, H.J. Res. 37 would make clear that the President must “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities directed at Houthi forces in or affecting the Republic of Yemen,” which is a clear statement of the scope of the hostilities that must end.
Vote “NO” on the Buck Amendment
The ACLU strongly opposes the Buck Amendment to H.J. Res. 37 because it appears to suggest that the United States may share intelligence with any foreign country, presumably including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “if the President determines such sharing is appropriate and in the national security interests of the United States.” This provision of the Buck Amendment mistakenly implies that the President has unfettered authority to provide foreign countries with intelligence related to the hostilities referenced in the resolution, as long as the President himself or herself determines “such sharing is appropriate and in the national security interests of the United States.”
https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-statement-saudi-yemen-war-resolution-h-j-res-37-and-amendments
Comment: The Buck amendment to this bill is very nefarious and evil and there is some danger that Eliot Engel and other powerful Dems will vote for it. There hasn't been much coverage of the amendment but you can read a bit of background here.
Basically, this amendment could be interpreted to allow the U.S. to keep sharing intelligence with Saudi Arabia, which could mean continuing to help the coalition identify bomb targets in Yemen. This could potentially undermine the push to end U.S. support for the war.
https://twitter.com/sarahlazare/status/1095732944533155840
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Antiwar Yemen Resolution Is Expected to Pass Today
Rep. Khanna has been a tireless advocate in the House for ending U.S. involvement in this indefensible war, and thanks to his leadership and perseverance and the support of his many colleagues this resolution is finally going to pass. Similar resolutions were torpedoed twice before by the Republican leadership in 2017 and 2018, but now that Republicans no longer control the House there is no chance of that happening again.
The passage of the resolutions in the House and the Senate is only the beginning of an overdue effort to pressure the Saudi coalition to end their war. There are other measures that Congress will be considering this year related to the war on Yemen and the U.S.-Saudi relationship that can be used to bring additional pressure to bear on Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Kate Kizer explains them here:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/antiwar-yemen-resolution-is-expected-to-pass-today/
and history, full text of the bill:
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H.J.Res. 37: Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hjres37
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Film by rep. Ro Khanna: I’m proud to partner with @SenSanders and others, and work to end U.S. military participation in the Saudi regime’s war in Yemen by reasserting Congress’ constitutional role on matters of war and peace. I am confident this will pass in the House when brought for a vote.
https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/status/1090671485130141696
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‘This wasn’t on people’s radar’: Khanna set for victory in Yemen vote
In 2004, a little-known 27-year-old lawyer ran one of the first campaigns centered on opposition to military intervention at the height of the Iraq war. He lost by 54 points.
Fifteen years later, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is preparing to claim success on a historic legislative effort to cut off U.S. involvement in Yemen’s civil war.
The Democrat-led House is voting Wednesday on Khanna’s bill to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. And it’s expected to pass overwhelmingly with near-unanimous support from Democrats, plus a handful of conservative, non-interventionist Republicans.
Proponents expect it to clear both chambers with bipartisan support. And even though President Donald Trump is expected to veto the measure, it will mark the first time in history that the House and Senate adopted a War Powers resolution, and it will represent a major rebuke of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, particularly its posture toward Saudi Arabia.
Khanna has sometimes been a source of tension within the House DemocraticCaucus.
Shortly after Khanna came into office in 2017, anti-war groups pinpointed him as a likely ally in their efforts to spotlight the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and end U.S. support for the bombing campaigns that have claimed thousands of lives and have led to famine and cholera outbreaks. Khanna, one of the most progressive members of Congress, said he was surprised to learn that lawmakers weren’t already pushing a Yemen anti-war effort.
“I said why not get someone more senior, why not get someone on the foreign policy committees,” said Khanna, who serves on the Armed Services panel. “So I was willing to do it, and we were persistent.”
Khanna found willing partners in Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), all of whom criticized the Obama administration’s use of military force without congressional authorization.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/13/yemen-saudi-arabia-congress-1166635
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U.S. senators from both parties introduced a resolution on Tuesday requiring that any deal to share U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia block the kingdom from making a nuclear weapon.
Under the measure, any U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, or 123 agreement, with Saudi Arabia would prevent enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium made in reactors - two routes to making nuclear weapons.
It is unclear whether a majority of the 100-member Senate would support the resolution of Democrats Jeff Merkley and Ed Markey and Republican Rand Paul. The resolution is also non-binding on the U.S. government.
But with significant support, it would signal concern in Congress over Saudi-led bombing campaigns in Yemen and over the killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been holding quiet talks with officials from Saudi Arabia on sharing U.S. nuclear technology. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted nuclear power executives on Tuesday for talks on keeping the industry competitive on exports with France, China, and Russia.
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Qatar revamps investment strategy after Kushner building bailout
When news emerged that Qatar may have unwittingly helped bail out a New York skyscraper owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, eyebrows were raised in Doha.
Kushner, a senior White House adviser, was a close ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - a key architect of a regional boycott against Qatar
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Congress, Saudi Arabia, and the Conflict in Yemen: Where do We Go from Here?
In a welcome resurgence of congressional interest in asserting its constitutional prerogatives, Congress is considering two types of bills relating to the U.S. role in the devastating conflict in Yemen: legislation currently in the House focused squarely on cutting off U.S. involvement with the Saudi-led coalition, and legislation in the Senate spurred by the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that addresses a broader range of issues in the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship, including involvement in Yemen’s civil war.
Both bills are back in the new Congress, but it remains unclear whether either has a path to becoming law. Even if they fail as stand-alone bills, however, today’s debates are worth watching closely: they could inform content on the Yemen war and our relationship with Saudi Arabia in a must-pass vehicle, like the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that Congress is almost certain to put on the President’s desk later this year. With recent revelations that Saudi coalition members have transferred U.S. weapons to al-Qaeda linked groups and other extremists in Yemen, and the Trump administration choosing to skip a deadline last week to report on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for Khashoggi’s death (as the Senate determined last year), Congress has every reason to keep the pressure on the Executive branch on both U.S. involvement in Yemen’s civil war and Saudi human rights abuses.
Where we are on the War Powers Resolution
Last night, the House Rules Committee voted 9-3 to advance H.J. Res. 37, the House version of legislation under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (WPR)
How could a bill under the WPR fail to constrain U.S. involvement in Yemen’s civil war? While important as a symbolic rebuke, the bill directs the President to cease activity that the Trump and Obama administrations both argued has never occurred — the involvement of U.S. forces in “hostilities” in Yemen’s civil war.
If H.J. Res. 37 passes in the House, the new Senate will still need to pass a companion bill. It’s not clear whether a bill in the Senate currently has a path forward, particularly if it would need to be reconciled with a House bill that has been altered by either of the amendments described above. If it did pass, both Houses would still need to override a veto by President Trump before the bill could become law.
The Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 2019
Meanwhile, timed to coincide with the Trump Administration continuing to dig in its heels on failing to hold Saudi Arabia to account for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a bipartisan group in the Senate has introduced the Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 2019, originally introduced in 2018.
Where do we go from here?
Congress may find a path forward on one or both of these bills. But even if Congress is unable to pass legislation under the WPR or as a comprehensive stand-alone bill, the debates on these bills still give members a good place to start in crafting provisions that could become part of a must-pass vehicle, like the NDAA. Provisions in the Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 2019 provide a good starting point on accountability for human rights abuses and humanitarian access in Yemen’s civil war, for example.
If the new Congress is also serious about curbing U.S. participation in Yemen’s devastating civil war, it should include a provision explicitly cutting off specific forms of U.S. support — not just directing withdrawal from “hostilities” — in a must-pass vehicle. Congress has a number of very good options for doing so at its disposal – by Tess Bridgeman
https://www.justsecurity.org/62560/congress-saudi-arabia-conflict-yemen-here/
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Saudi Arabia and the US – a Partnership between the Hedgehog and the Snake
However, there remains that so-called democracy, the United States of America. Donald Trump, the US President, after careful consideration, chose to dispense with long meaningless speeches about democracy, and instead came out in support of the Saudi Crown Prince. He justified this choice in the simplest, most cynical way possible: if he were to put pressure on Saudi Arabia then the latter might choose to cancel its arms contracts with the US and buy from Russia and China instead. As they say, money talks. In addition, Saudi Arabia is still a faithful ally of the USA in their joint campaign to stifle Iran’s economy, and if Riyadh were to take offence then it would put that “project” at risk.
Everything seemed cut and dried, until the Democratic Party, always looking out for an opportunity to unseat the erratic Donald Trump, decided to take action.
In turn Saudi Arabia, aware that it had the personal support of Donald Trump, criticized the US Senate’s decision to pass the resolutions calling on Washington to stop supporting Riyadh in the Yemen conflict, and implicating Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi Foreign Minister declared that the Kingdom would not accept any “disrespect” for its leaders. Saudi Arabia also expressed the hope that the Kingdom would not be “drawn into domestic political debates in the United States of America” to avoid any negative effect on the “important strategic relationship” between the USA and Saudi Arabia.
In an article published on the Al-Arabiya site, Turki Aldakhil, a close advisor of the Crown Prince and the director of the news channel – which is funded by Saudi investors – even gave some clues about the form that the retaliation might take: oil prices “jumping to $100 or $200 a barrel, or even double that figure”, discontinuing purchases of arms from the USA, ceasing to cooperate with Western governments on security issues, opening Russian bases in the North of the peninsula, and even a rapprochement with its archenemy Iran! “The USA would be stabbing itself”, he resentfully added.
Washington also needs to continue financing Syrian terrorists, who seek, jointly with Washington and Riyadh, to topple Bashar al-Assad.
Washington’s and Riyadh’s plans in Syria have gone up in smoke, and the huge amounts of money spent by the latter have failed to bring it any strategic or economic dividends. Similarly huge sums have been spent on the completely unnecessary war in Yemen, in which the main victims are non-combatants: old people, women and children. It seems that, as a result, there is no longer much enthusiasm for the “Saudi Vision 2030” program.
Given the way things are developing, the royal family needs to weaken Iran as much as possible, in order to prevent it from seizing the initiative in such a way. In these difficult times for the Al Saud dynasty, it will need its alliance with the USA and President Trump – that partnership between the hedgehog and the snake – more than ever before – by Victor Mikhin
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Citigroup sees Saudi, UAE as top Mideast markets for deals this year: executive
Citigroup expects the majority of investment banking opportunities in the Middle East to come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this year, said Miguel Azevedo, Citigroup’s head of investment banking, Middle East and Africa.
The U.S. lender, which is working towards a full banking license in Saudi Arabia, ended a five-decade presence in the kingdom in 2004 but in 2015 won permission to invest directly in the local stock market and last year gained approval to begin investment banking operations.
My comment: For banksters, there’s nothing as sexy as big money is.
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Film: Real reason US is in Yemen
RT America’s Michele Greenstein reports for the News with Rick Sanchez on Yemen’s significant untapped oil resources. She explains how Yemen’s oil potential might shed new light on the current conflict there and the US role in it, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO66fAdJReo
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Trump objects to measure ending U.S. support for Saudis in Yemen war
The Trump administration threatened on Monday to veto an effort in the U.S. Congress to end U.S. military support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the war in Yemen, continuing a stand-off with lawmakers over policy toward the kingdom.
Democrats and Republicans re-introduced the war powers resolution two weeks ago as a way to send a strong message to Riyadh both about the humanitarian disaster in Yemen and condemn the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The administration said the resolution was inappropriate because U.S. forces had provided aircraft refueling and other support in the Yemen conflict, not combat troops. It also said the measure would harm relationships in the region and hurt the U.S. ability to prevent the spread of violent extremism.
The White House has angered many members of Congress, including some of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans, by failing to provide a report by a Friday deadline on the murder of Khashoggi last year at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Khashoggi was a U.S. resident and columnist for the Washington Post.
“It’s hard to feel any affection or some obligation to a regime that does that kind of stuff,” Democratic Representative Ed Perlmutter said at a House of Representatives hearing on the resolution on Monday.
Democrats view the war powers resolution as a way to assert Congress’ constitutional right to authorize the use of military force in foreign conflicts. Republican opponents of the measure, echoing Trump, argue that support for the Saudis constitutes a security agreement, not the use of force.
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The Saudis ‘have leverage over Trump’ that will let them get away with murder: Retired admiral
Retired Rear Admiral John Kirby on Monday suggested that Saudi Arabia has some kind of “leverage” over President Donald Trump that would allow the country to skate on accusations that its top officials ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
During a discussion of the Trump administration missing a Congressional deadline to report its findings on the Khashoggi murder, Kirby said that the administration was dragging its feet in issuing a report on the killing because it would likely be bad news for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been accused of personally orchestrating Khashoggi’s assassination.
“They are slow rolling this,” he said. “This whole episode shows you the degree to which this administration has gone all in on Saudi Arabia. It shows you the degree to which their Middle East policy is about Iran, and they see Saudi Arabia as the biggest counterweight against Iran.”
Kirby then explained how the Trump administration is so dependent on the Saudis that the country likely now believes it can get away with anything.
“They have leverage over Trump,” he said. “I think they are absolutely seeing signs from the Trump administration that they’re going to continue to get away with this. It’s what both sides are doing — the Saudis and the Trump administration — just playing for time.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/saudis-leverage-trump-will-let-get-away-murder-retired-admiral/
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Apple and Google accused of helping 'enforce gender apartheid' by hosting Saudi government app that tracks women and stops them leaving the country
Apple and Google have been criticized by rights groups for hosting Absher, an app which allows men in Saudi Arabia to track and control where women travel.
Absher is a Saudi government website, which INSIDER reported on at length last week. It is available on Google Play and iTunes, and has been downloaded more than one million times.
Under Saudi law, every woman has a legal "guardian" who can restrict her travel to specific airports and routes, and get automated alerts when they cross borders.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a women's rights activist told INSIDER that Apple and Google should reconsider hosting the app.
Yasmine Mohammed, a critic of Saudi Arabia, said: "There's a definite tragedy in the world's most technologically progressive platforms, Apple and Google, facilitating the most archaic misogyny."
Neither Apple nor Google responded to repeated requests for comment.
Comment: What is an Arab woman’s freedom worth? Ask these American multinational companies.
https://twitter.com/amelscript/status/1094791467149742080
and
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Google and Apple under fire for hosting Saudi app for tracking women
For women living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, smartphones have made it harder to escape from abusive families and a social system that restricts their choices. Now, activists including Human Rights Watch are calling on Google and Apple to pull an app published by the Saudi government that helps men keep track of women and prevent them from leaving the country.
Activists say Absher is one of the main reasons women are caught trying to leave the country for sanctuary elsewhere. They point out that both Apple and Google have policies that ban apps that facilitate abuse or harassment. It's not a stretch to say that Absher does that. As of now, Absher is available in the Play Store and iTunes. We've reached out to Google for comment and will update if we hear back.
https://www.businessinsider.de/apple-google-criticised-for-saudi-government-app-activists-say-fuel-discrimination-2019-2 = https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/02/11/google-and-apple-under-fire-for-hosting-saudi-app-for-tracking-women/
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The Middle East Strategic Alliance Has a Long Way To Go
The Arab world needs a collective security architecture. The U.S. project of a Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) could in theory be a step forward, especially as it links military security to political and economic security. But so far, MESA has been conceived to meet U.S. needs—to target Iran and to reduce U.S. regional presence without allowing China or Russia to gain influence—while disregarding the priorities, and constraints of prospective Arab member states.
U.S. and Arab officials acknowledge that MESA is a collective work in progress. Another working group meeting on MESA is expected to take place later this month. Certain elements will be crucial to address if it is to happen, and even more so if MESA is to succeed in building regional security rather than merely fueling the regional arms race.
As time has passed, U.S. officials have developed the MESA concept in a variety of ways that would allow the United States to reduce its military presence without losing clout in the region. In addition to getting Arab states to invest more in their own (and each other’s) defenses, U.S. officials will be trying to use MESA to push back against growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region, including their support to Iran.
MESA LACKS A CONVINCING SECURITY FRAMEWORK BEYOND CONFRONTING IRAN
Some Arab members do not agree that Iran is an imminent danger, nor do they agree on the best way to deal with it. While U.S., Saudi, UAE, and Bahraini statements express a need for MESA to confront Iran, Egyptian, Jordanian, and even Qatari officials have publicly expressed reluctance. Kuwait and Oman have not shown fervent support for MESA.
ARAB STATES SEE MESA AS PRIMARILY SERVING U.S. AND SAUDI INTERESTS
Some regional partners are wary of establishing a new alliance instead of building the capacities of existing Arab and GCC security mechanisms. Those mechanisms embrace a wider and more consensual vision on collective security that includes but goes beyond defense against Iran. MESA, so far, is U.S. made and is perceived by skeptical partners as an attempt to transform them into economic, political, and military tools, rather than “allies,” in the U.S. strategy against Iran – by Yasmine Farouk
https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/02/08/middle-east-strategic-alliance-has-long-way-to-go-pub-78317
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Stop making excuses for Middle East's monsters and siding with 'lesser of evils'
This follows an unfortunate pattern of administration officials and others soberly proclaiming that as bad as one group’s behavior is, we should still support them because their opponents are worse.
This is nonsense. It is also a betrayal of America’s interests. And, above all, it is a betrayal of America’s values. We should not presume to judge which monster is worst.
Setting aside Israel and various outside powers backing clients, three major groups vie for power in the region: secular Sunni Muslim authoritarians, religious Sunni Muslims, and Shiite Muslims.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince bin Salman, Egypt’s General al-Sisi, and the United Arab Emirates lead the informal alliance of relatively secular Sunni Muslim autocrats. Prominent religious Sunni states include Qatar and Turkey, whose economy Qatar just bailed out. Much of the rest of the Saudi royal family, the Afghan Taliban, elements of the Pakistani intelligence services as well as Al Qaeda and ISIS are also highly religious Sunnis. Our mishandling of Iraq’s occupation inhibited the growth of more secular Shiite forces. As a result, Iran leads a loose Shiite alliance including the regimes in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Houthi faction in Yemen. Major fractures exist within each of these groupings.
Arguing which faction is better is a fool’s errand.
All three are guilty of atrocities.
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/429286-stop-making-excuses-for-monsters-in-the-middle-east
My comment: There never had been any “American values in American foreign policy since 1823 or so – except you would take “making more money and securing full control” to be these “American values”.
(* B P T)
‘Neither dead nor alive’: Former Gitmo inmate recalls horrors of infamous camp & CIA black sites
Being detained in the Guantánamo Bay camp was like hovering between life and death but the CIA-run ‘black sites’ were even worse, a man who spent 15 years –without charge– in the infamous facility has told RT’s Going Underground.
Mansoor Adayfi, from Yemen, who was confined in the US’s most notorious detention camp between 2002 and 2016, is still tormented by the traumatic experience he had there. Detained because of alleged ties he had to Al-Qaeda, he was eventually released without charge.
“We were totally disconnected from the world outside. I was really afraid and confused. Did not know what was going to happen to me. We felt like [the Americans] were going to kill us,” he told the show’s host Afshin Rattansi, adding that living there was “like hell, really.”
The interrogators applied “some torture techniques to interrogate detainees” and openly threatened the inmates with death, claiming also that the world would not even know about their demise.
Some detainees could not stand physical and mental torture and eventually succumbed to insanity, he claims. “I watched some detainees lose their minds, break down,” the Yemeni, who was just 19-years-old when he was placed into Gitmo, recalled.
“Everything around is designed to break you, to make you suffer. The treatment, the rules, the food, the cleaning, the clothes, everything.”
https://www.rt.com/news/451019-guantanamo-inmate-recalls-horrors/ and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCzwOBexl4A
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(* B P)
Why can't we talk about the UK sending arms to Yemen?
A Commons committee is scrutinising UK arms export controls – yet the Yemen conflict isn’t even on the agenda
This is the Parliamentary committees on arms export controls (CAEC) in action: a body responsible for scrutinising government policy and holding it to account.
Their current inquiry, into UK arms export policy in 2017, covers both the technicalities of policy – different types of arms export licences and how they are reported on, for example – and larger political questions, such as what happens in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Nowhere on the agenda is the issue of arms exports to the Saudi-led coalition or the war in Yemen.
Inevitably, part of the answer lies in the backstory to this parliamentary reticence. The previous CAEC dissolved in disarray after the committees couldn’t agree on whether to recommend a suspension of exports to Saudi Arabia in 2016.
The CAEC was reformed in October 2017, with Labour MP Graham Jones in the chair – whose apparent partiality is the immediate reason for the current contretemps. Jones went on the parliamentary record attacking what he calls “the dishonesty of non-governmental organisations in this country”, a week before he was to lead the committees in taking evidence from some of those same organisations. Accusing them of “gross exaggeration” in their reporting of civilian deaths in Yemen, and being part of a “bandwagon” of “NGOs and loony leftwing organisations”, his words have backfired, with some media coverage seeing this as bringing his neutrality into question.
As an avid supporter of the Saudi-led coalition, vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Saudi Arabia, MP for an arms-producing constituency and recipient of an expenses-paid trip to the UAE, Jones would do well to remember the edict that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones when castigating others.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/11/uk-arms-exports-yemen-conflict
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A P)
SCHLUSS MIT DEM KRIEG IM JEMEN
Die Friedensinitiative Stop the WAR in Yemen - gegründet im Februar 2017 in Berlin-Brandenburg, ruft zum 23. März 2019 alle Jemeniten*innen die in Deutschland leben, Friedensaktivisten und -initiativen, Kulturverbände bzw. alle friedliebenden Menschen auf, in Berlin gemeinsam laut und friedlich ihre Stimmen gegen den Krieg im Jemen zu erheben und unsere Forderungen zu unterstützen
1. März 2019, 15:00 bis 18:00 Uhr
Pariser Platz
Unter den Linden, 10117 Berlin
https://www.neues-deutschland.de/termine/84920.html
(A P)
Happy End für Familie aus Jemen
Nach drei Jahren des langen Wartens durften jetzt endlich die minderjährigen Töchter einer aus dem Jemen geflüchteten Familie zu ihren Eltern nach Deutschland kommen.
http://www.ln-online.de/Lokales/Segeberg/Familie-aus-dem-Jemen-wiedervereint
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(A P)
EU-Kommission setzt Saudi-Arabien auf Geldwäsche-Liste
Die EU-Kommission hat Saudi-Arabien trotz des Widerstands einiger EU-Länder auf eine Schwarze Liste von Drittländern mit Schwächen bei der Bekämpfung von Geldwäsche und Terrorismusfinanzierung gesetzt. Insgesamt befinden sich damit jetzt 23 Drittländer auf der Liste, teilte die Brüsseler Behörde am Mittwoch mit.
(* A P)
Bangladesh not to be part of Saudi-led armed struggle
Upcoming defense deal with S. Arabia doesn't mean Bangladesh will join Saudi-led war in Yemen, says top diplomat
Bangladesh will not take part in any Saudi-led military operation in anywhere including Yemen, its top diplomat said on Wednesday.
"Bangladeshi military will take action only in case of an attack on the two sacred mosques in two sacred cities -- Mecca and Medina," Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters.
On Feb. 4, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia agreed to sign a defense deal to enhance military cooperation while Bangladesh's army chief Aziz Ahmed was on a tour to visit the newly-built Bangladesh mission in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Once the deal is signed on Thursday, Bangladesh will deploy some 1,800 troops in Saudi Arabia to defuse and remove mines along war-torn Saudi-Yemen border.
Momen said the deal does not mean that Bangladesh is going to join the Saudi-led war.
Bangladesh will just work on removing mines along the Saudi-Yemen border as part of its commitment to any peacebuilding process, he added.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/bangladesh-not-to-be-part-of-saudi-led-armed-struggle/1391282
My comment: LOL.
(* B K P)
The secret drone deal that created an Israel-UAE rift
A secret deal for the sale of drones from an Israeli company to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that failed in 2009 caused a deep rift in relations between Israel and the Gulf state. Former U.S. and Israeli officials tell me the crisis was only resolved after two years of efforts by the Obama administration and Israel's Mossad intelligence service.
Show less
Why it matters: Israel and the UAE had formed a secret alliance in the fight against Iran's nuclear program and activity across the Middle East, which was damaged when the deal failed.
The backdrop:After Netanyahu assumed office in 2009, he was briefed by Mossad chief Meir Dagan about the proposed deal for the sale of sophisticated drones by a private Israeli company, former U.S. and Israeli officials told me.
(A E P)
Pakistan expects 8 investment deals during Saudi prince's visit
Saudi Arabia will announce eight investment agreements during a visit to Pakistan by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, officials said on Wednesday, a trip that is expected to set the seal on growing closeness between the historic allies.
(A E P)
Pakistan, India hope to reap investment from Saudi prince's visit
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to announce investments in energy and infrastructure during a visit to India and Pakistan in coming days as part of his efforts to wean the Saudi economy off oil exports.
He is also expected to visit China, Malaysia and Indonesia during a tour that will be his first through the region since the storm over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
Prince Mohammed is expected to sign agreements, mostly linked to a refinery and the power sector, during the trip to Pakistan this weekend, Pakistani officials said.
My comment: saudi money buys them all.
(A P)
Matthew Hedges: British academic freed from UAE concerned for detained UK football fan
The British academic, who was accused of spying, says he is worried Ali Issa Ahmad will be made to give a false confession.
A British academic who endured solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has told Sky News he is concerned about a British football fan detained in the Gulf State.
Matthew Hedges was speaking out more than two and a half weeks after Ali Issa Ahmad, 26, was arrested while on holiday in the country from his home in Wolverhampton.
The dual British-Sudanese national may have appeared in court today, but it was not possible to get immediate confirmation from the UAE authorities.
(* B P)
A Princess Vanishes. A Video Offers Alarming Clues.
Her escape — planned over several years with the help of a Finnish capoeira trainer and a self-proclaimed French ex-spy — lasted less than a week.
Within a few days of setting sail on the Indian Ocean in the Frenchman’s yacht, bound for India and then the United States, the sheikha went silent. She has not been seen since, except in a few photos released in December by her family, which says she is safely home after surviving what they said was a kidnapping.
Yet thanks to the video she made before fleeing, her face and voice have made their way around the world, drawing more than two million views on YouTube, spurring avid news coverage and marring Dubai’s image as a world capital of glitz and commerce.
Like the young women who have fled Saudi Arabia’s restrictive regime, Sheikha Latifa has made sure no one can forget how few freedoms are allotted to women in the Middle East’s most conservative societies — or how costly crossing Dubai’s ruler can be.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/world/middleeast/princess-latifa-sheikha-dubai.html
(A P)
Hakeem al-Araibi: international pressure forced Bahrain to blink
The image of Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi – barefoot, shackled, and surrounded by guards – shocked many across the world, and reinvigorated the resolve of his supporters.
This contrasts wildly with the moment Araibi’s release was announced on Monday. The feeling of injustice drove the global pressure on Thailand to drop Bahrain’s vendetta against a young man who had escaped torture and imprisonment to continue his football career in Australia.
As we celebrate Araibi’s safe return to his home, wife, and regular life in Melbourne, we must remember those who have the misfortune of languishing in Bahrain’s prisons.
(A P)
Hakeem al-Araibi: Thailand to free Bahraini footballer
Thai authorities drop extradition case against refugee, meaning he can return to Australia
The refugee Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi is set to return to Australia on Monday night after Thai authorities withdrew an extradition case against him.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/thailand-to-free-bahraini-footballer-hakeem-al-araibi
and
(B P)
Now Hakeem is free, legal action against Interpol is a must
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
‘Compra de armas en Oriente Medio se duplicó durante 2013-2017’
La compra de armas por parte de países de Oriente Medio se duplicó durante 2013-2017 en comparación con los cinco años anteriores, revela un nuevo informe.
Conforme al ‘Informe de Seguridad de Múnich 2019’, publicado el lunes, el aumento en la compra de armas en la región del oeste de Asia incrementa el riesgo de confrontación en la zona.
“Entre 2013 y 2017, el valor de las compras de armas de los países de Oriente Medio se duplicó en comparación con los cinco años anteriores, por lo que corre el riesgo de una carrera armamentística y una confrontación militar”, alerta.
El reporte desvela a los principales compradores de armas en la región; sin embargo, se cree que son los países árabes ribereños al Golfo Pérsico que siguen comprando armas avanzadas, principalmente de Occidente, bajo el pretexto de la “amenaza” de Irán.
Entre tanto, el texto revela que el 53 % del total de las exportaciones de armas al Oriente Medio se originó de Estados Unidos, siguiendo por Francia (11 %), el Reino Unido (10 %) y Canadá (7 %).
https://www.hispantv.com/noticias/oriente-medio/410995/venta-armas-eeuu-reino-unido-francia-guerra
and Munich 2019 Security Report here: https://www.securityconference.de/en/publications/munich-security-report/
(B K)
Russian anti-material sniper rifle spotted in Yemen
A modern anti-material sniper rifle that appeared to be a Russain-made OSV-96 has been spotted in North Yemen.
Houthi rebels media have released footage shows 12.7mm OSV-96 sniper rifle during attacks on Saudi coalition forces at North Yemen.
Some source reported that OSV-96 sniper rifles developed by the Shipunov Instrument-Making Design Bureau would’ve been part of the limited deliveries of modern Russian arms to the Yemeni Army in the mid-2000s.
https://defence-blog.com/army/russian-anti-material-sniper-rifle-spotted-in-yemen.html
(* A K P)
60 nations to take part in defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi
Idex and Navdex 2019 will run from February 17 to 21 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).
More than 1,300 defence firms and entities are expected to flock to Abu Dhabi next week, for the 14th edition of the International Defence Exhibition (Idex 2019) and the fifth edition of the Naval Defence Exhibition (Navdex 2019).
The largest specialised defence exhibition in the region is expected to generate signed partnerships that are greater than the nearly Dh20-billion deals that were produced in the previous edition, said organisers.
Idex and Navdex 2019 will run from February 17 to 21 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec). Celebrating its silver jubilee, this year's exhibition is set to become the largest since Idex's inception in 1993, with representatives from more than 60 countries attending, exhibiting or holding demonstrations.
The five-day event, held under the patronage of the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will see a six per cent increase in the number of participating companies, from 1,235 in 2017 to 1,310 this year.
The International Defence Conference has this year been scheduled ahead of Idex, and will run from February 14 to 16 at the Emirates Palace Hotel. Set to convene about 1,200 experts, intellectuals and specialists - including defence ministers, chiefs of armies, representatives of diplomatic missions and military attachés - the conference will discuss topics related to technology, science, as well as the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), with a key focus on bolstering peace and security in the world.
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(A E P)
Government calls on international companies to buy Yemeni oil and gas
The Yemeni government's oil and minerals minister, Aus oud, Monday called on Indian and international oil companies to buy Yemeni oil and gas.
This was in Yemen's speech at the 13th International Energy Conference and Exhibition, launched yesterday, in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164236
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
The new UN Panel of Experts on #Yemen report notes that while #AQAP is still active in the south and Taiz, the group's capacity has diminished, AQAP's Ansar al Sharia has fragmented and turned to criminal activity, and describes AQAP as "a disparate network of individuals"
https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/1095745298318671874
(A T)
The Abu Abbas Brigade, a Salafi-jihadi militia fighting in Yemen’s Taiz governorate, may have suspended its relationship with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State. The Abu Abbas militia *targetedAQAP and the Islamic State *four *times *between January 19 and February 7 in *Taiz. The U.S.-sanctioned leader of the Abu Abbas Brigade probably remains ideologically aligned with the Salafi-jihadi movement and could rebuild these relationships.
The Abu Abbas Brigade has operated alongside AQAP for a few years and has received support from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
and also https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/1095753223439376384
(A T)
#AQAP #Yemen claims 3 roadside bombs in Tayyab, al-Bayda' yday killing & injuring several Houthis: 2 hit supply vehicle & 3rd hit vehicle sent to retrieve bodies. I make 2019 tally so far: 4 #AQAP ops on Houthis & 11 on #IslamicState in Bayda' & 4 on #UAE-backed forces in Abyan
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1095632015326629888
(A T)
The al Qaeda-affiliated al Sahab Media Foundation condemned a mass held by Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi in the newest issue of its al Nafeer bulletin on February 6. The publication called on Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula to embrace jihad and support al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Shabaab in Somalia.[1]
cp15 Propaganda
(A H P)
Child Soldiers Rehabilitation Program in Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2093261150964731
(* A P)
Yemen Nails US' Venezuela Lies
US-backed Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido has claimed that 300,000 of his compatriots will die from starvation – if American “humanitarian” aid is not let into the South American country.
No doubt, this opposition figure is being coached by his minders in Washington to set up a Western media drama in order to put pressure on the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
The events unfolding have an unmistakeable propaganda stamp, yet the Western media and certain disgraceful European governments have sheepishly gone along with this ruse for US-led regime change in Venezuela.
Never mind sending "humanitarian aid". The best way to alleviate the hardship in Venezuela is for the US to stop hammering the country with illegal economic warfare.
But here is one word by which to divine the truth of the situation: "Yemen".
This week, the United Nations again reiterated desperate appeals for humanitarian intervention in the Arab country. Some 14 million people are on the brink of starvation, according to the UN. That is about half the country's population.
That truly enormous human disaster compares with the alleged number of 300,000 Venezuelans said to be at risk of malnutrition. That figure is unverified and is bandied about by the US-backed opposition. But let's take it as authentic for sake of argument. That equates to less than one per cent of the Venezuelan population.
The infernal, pandemic suffering in Yemen is barely reported by Western news media, save for the occasional report which is usually shorn of any meaningful context. Yet the situation is incomparably more urgent than what is occurring in Venezuela.
There are no plane-loads of food and medicines arriving from the US landing in Yemen. There are few anguished calls in Western media about imminent deaths of children and mothers.
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201902131072386703-yemen-venezuela-lies/
(A P)
UAE's Zaki Nusseibeh: Pope Francis's message can counter extremism
Minister of State warns against ideologies of hate and violence
A senior UAE minister has lamented the “tragic” collapse of societies in the Middle East and blamed the spread of hate-filled ideology.
Zaki Nusseibeh, Minister of State, warned that populist movements that fed on anger and marginalisation risked the fundamental breakup of social cohesion around the world.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The National, he said extremist groups that have turned to terrorism had fast become an international plague.
Part of the solution, he argued, was an increased focus on a message of tolerance and interfaith dialogue, just as Pope Francis had advocated on his recent trip to the UAE.
“In the Middle East we have been witnessing the tragic disintegration of states and the collapse of societies induced by the spread of the ideologies of extremism, hate and violence,” he said.
My comment: “lamented the “tragic” collapse of societies“: The Saudi / Emirati intervention in Yemen, the Saudi intervention in Syria are main contributions to this. – „ideologies of hate and violence“: On the Arabian peninsula, Wahabism is the most important of these ideologies.
(B P)
TRUMP’S FAVORITE TABLOID WORRIED ITS SAUDI PROPAGANDA WAS AS BAD AS IT LOOKED
Prior to the publication of an ad-free glossy praising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, A.M.I. reportedly asked if it should register as a foreign agent.
Last March, shortly before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in America to pitch his younger, hipper brand of authoritarianism, American Media Inc. produced an ad-free, 97-page tribute to M.B.S called The New Kingdom. Boasting of bin Salman’s multi-billion-dollar fortune and 54,000-square-foot palace, promoting his Vision 2030 plan, and dubbing the kingdom “Our Closest Middle East Ally Destroying Terrorism,” the whole thing read like a vintage issue of Tiger Beat. Except, of course, that instead of fawning over young actors and boy bands, the gushing was reserved for a dictator starving the people of Yemen and who, just a few months later, would allegedly order the hit on journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
The $13.99 magazine was presumably a hit in the Oval Office, held up as a piece of real journalism by Donald Trump and his son-in-law, who’d been working to forge a close connection with the Saudis since January 2017, but to the outside world it might as well have been a special issue praising the leadership of Benito Mussolini. In fact, the whole thing felt so bizarre and over-the-top obsequious that A.M.I. apparently had some qualms of its own.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the publisher “sought advice from the Justice Department” last year over whether its obvious propaganda would cross the line between substandard journalism and literally working as an agent of a foreign government.
(A P)
It’s been eight years since Yemen’s ‘youth revolution’. So what are we celebrating?
Eight meagre years have passed and the people of Yemen received nothing from the high priests of sedition except destruction and desolation.
It’s been eight years since the outbreak of the so-called “youth revolution” in Yemen, driven by the winds of the so-called “Arab spring” uprisings coming from Tunisia via Egypt. At the beginning and for most people, these uprisings seemed spontaneous and popular. But they turned out to be just an excuse for the execution of a malicious and carefully calculated plan to overthrow the Arab regimes, destroy their countries and displace their populations.
“The people want to overthrow the regime.” Brandishing this loathsome slogan, Yemeni youth launched their movement, thinking that it was only an expression of their desire to overthrow then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and then solve Yemen’s social problems caused by the corruption of his regime. Little did they know that whoever developed that slogan had meant it literally and nothing less.
Eight years down the road from the big disaster of February 11, the republican camp in Yemen is still engaged in a futile internal struggle. The only beneficiaries of that struggle are the Houthi terrorist militias. The latter have exercised a systematic policy of retaliation against the Yemenis. They’ve strived to create a social rift by all means necessary and ended up cornering Yemenis in a tight spot, all in the service of the Houthis’ sectarian project as they make sure to deliver Yemen to their masters in Iran.
https://thearabweekly.com/its-been-eight-years-yemens-youth-revolution-so-what-are-we-celebrating
My comment: Saudi anti-Arab spring propaganda, by a Yemeni mouthpiece.
(A P)
Shabwa Governor: Without Arab Coalition, Yemen Would Have Turned into Iranian State
Governor of Yemen’s Shabwa province Mohammed Saleh bin Adeow hailed the Saudi-led Arab coalition on its role in combating terrorism and the Iran-backed Houthi militias in his country.
Sitting down for an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, he said: “Had it not been for the coalition and its support for Yemen, we would have become an Iranian state.”
“The coalition had exerted massive efforts in combating the Iranian expansion in Yemen and its efforts are still ongoing,” he said.
“The whole of Yemen is indebted to the coalition.”
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
Feb. 12: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1550078480./1242545362562493/
Feb. 11: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1550078480./1242544445895918/
Feb. 10: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1549886889./1241072496043113/
(* A K pS)
Fighting continues. Hajur tribes capture 25 Houthis and coalition fighters launch seven raids
Fighting continues between al-Houthi militants and Hajur tribesmen in the district of Kushar in the northwestern province of Hajjah, while the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighters are intensifying their air raids on Houthi positions.
A field source told Al-Masdar online that the fighter jets launched seven sporadic raids on the Houthi sites, which impose a siege on the tribal men in the Directorate.
According to the source, the raids targeted the positions, gatherings, and reinforcements of the militants, resulting in scores of dead and wounded, as well as the destruction of an armored vehicle and a mortar cannon.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164274
(* A K pH)
In Serious Escalation of US-Saudi Aggression’s Violations, 8 Fishermen Killed in Airstrike Targeted Their Boat in Hodeidah
The US-Saudi aerial aggression targeted a fishing boat early Wednesday in Badhia island off the province of Hodeidah, killing eight fishermen, Al-Masirah Net reporter stated.
Earlier, our reporter said that the raid led to the injury of five fishermen while ten others were still missed, amid combat aircraft of the aggression constantly fly over the region.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5386&cat_id=1
and also http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526533.htm
This is the only dead body that was found! 7 more dead bodies were torn apart into small pieces and drowned in sea! Only some of the wreckage of the boat, some fish, some clothes, & only this dead body were found after US-Saudi jet dropped a bombe over 15 fishermen fishing! (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1095742950095630337
More photos: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1095716147796852741 = https://twitter.com/A_mtrz/status/1095701559592263680
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5396&cat_id=1
Films: https://twitter.com/I4Yemen/status/1095800854899314691
https://twitter.com/A_mtrz/status/1095748904577089538
Comment: More deaths. These fisherman have the choice of fishing or starvation, but the fishing boats are only alllowed very limited access to the sea and those areas have been overfished - the risk of going out further puts boats in danger of air strikes, as has happened here. But of course not reported in UK news
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157365892053641
(A K pS)
Coalition raids on Kushar
A number of militants of the al-Houthi group were killed early Monday in raids by Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition fighters, targeting their sites in the Kushar district of Hajjah.
A field source told Al-Masdar online that two raids targeted two Houthi vehicles, with a number of militants on board in the Al-Mandela area.
The Houthis, who were killed and wounded, were on their way to reinforce the group's positions, after fierce fighting against the men of Hajur, he said.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164201
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
Feb. 12: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5378&cat_id=1 Dhamar p., Hajjah p., Saada p.
Feb. 11: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526378.htm Marib p.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5368&cat_id=1 and https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5366&cat_id=1 Various provinces
Feb. 10: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526282.htm Saada p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
(A K pH)
Yemeni Forces Shoot Down Saudi’s German-Made Spy Drone over Najran
The Yemeni forces managed to shoot down another Saudi spy drone in an attack on enemy positions in Najran, southwest of Saudi Arabia.
Yemen’s Al-Masirah news website reported on Tuesday that the country’s forces of the army and the popular committees have hot down a German-made EMT Luna class spy drone belonging to the Saudi coalition, which was conducting a reconnaissance operation over Al-Suh region in Najran in southwestern Saudi Arabia (film)
Photos: https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1095714762921570304
(A K pS)
The commander of the Sa'dah axis resigns after the Arab coalition's marginalization of the front
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164273
(A K pH)
Zelzal-1 Hits Saudi-Mercenaries Gatherings in Asir
The Rocketry Force of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees fired, on Tuesday, a domestically-designed missile "Zelzal-1" at the gatherings of the Saudi-mercenaries west of Asir
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5382&cat_id=1
Remark: Attacking Saudi territory.
(* A K pS)
About 1,000 mines eradicated in al-Jawaf
Masam Project of Landmine Clearance cleared over 22,000 landmines planted by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in in al-Jawafa governorate.
Meanwhile, about 16,000 sea mines have been rooted up and destroyed in Hajjah coasts, the Media Center of the Fifth Military Region has stated on Wednesday.
The center said that these sea mines were planted by the Houthis in the coasts of Midi, Abas and the international territorial water, pointing out that military experts of the Arab Coalition ruined them.
Yemeni farmers in Hairan district of Hajjah governorate have expressed their shock after hundreds of landmines were planted inside their farms.
Some farmers complained that their cattle died due to the landmines randomly planted in their farms.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-27690
(* A K pS)
MASAM Removes over 500 Houthi Mines in Yemen
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) Project for Demining in Yemen, MASAM, removed 578 mines, planted by the Iran-backed Houthi militias, during the first week of February, reported the Saudi Press Agency Tuesday.
This brings to 41,591 the number of mines that have been removed from schools, houses and other locations in the war-torn country.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1587936/masam-removes-over-500-houthi-mines-yemen
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1884730
(A K pH)
Marib p.: the mercenaries backed by the coalition fired artillery towards citizens' houses and farms, heavy damaging
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526378.htm
(* A K pS)
Fierce fighting in south Yemen after Houthi rebels blow up tribal leader's home
Clashes in Dalea province have been going on since Saturday
Houthi rebels clashed with government forces in Yemen's Dalea province for a third day on Monday in a battle triggered by the insurgents blowing up the home of a local leader.
The rebels stormed Al Makla village in Al Hasha district on Saturday and destroyed house of the tribal sheikh AbdulJaleel Al Hothaiyfi for allegedly collaborating with the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government, according to a journalist working for the Yemeni army in the area.
“The Houthis forced the family of Sheikh Al Hothaiyfi to flee the house, blew it up with TNT and burnt his car,” Ali Al Asmar told The National.
He said it was the first time Houthis had entered the area since the civil war began in 2014
Facing resistance from the residents, the rebels remained in the village and posted fighters on the hills around it.
Armed tribesmen from the area then threw a cordon around the village on Sunday to trap the rebels, Saed Abdullah, a resident of the area, told The National.
“They started clashing with them, preventing any rebel reinforcements from arriving from Ibb," Mr Abdullah said.
"This pushed the Houthis to blow up four other residences of civilians who stood up to them and joined the force surrounding the village," he said.
The fighting escalated on Sunday night with the arrival of government troops from central Dalea to support the tribesmen and of rebel reinforcements from Dammar province north of Ibb, according to Abdulwahab Al Mashriqi, a district official in Al Hasha.
(A K pH)
Civilian martyred by saudi soldiers fire in border area of Razih
A civilian was killed on Sunday by the fire of army saudi in border area of Razih in Saada province, a security official told Saba.
Ibrahim Bady was killed by saudi border guard's fire in Barakan area.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news526274.htm
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(B D)
Bathhouse in war-hit Yemen offers relaxation - and rare water
Yemenis go to the Fakhama Bathhouse in the capital Sanaa to relax with steam, scrubs and massages.
They also go in search of a rare commodity - hot and flowing water - as almost four years of war have left homes across Yemen without reliable power and water supplies.
“After the stress of work and the burdens of daily conditions here ... you can put your worries behind you,” said 35-year-old aid worker Wahib Abdullah, bare-chested and sweating in the steam of a black-stone chamber.
Customers at Fakhama and other traditional bathhouses around the city crave the comforts they cannot enjoy at home
(* -)
Far From the War, Yemen's Remote Mountain Villages
Reuters photographer Abduljabbar Zeyad recently traveled to western Yemen to photograph the lives of some of these villagers as they work, study, and play, high on Dhalamlam Mountain (photos)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/09/far-from-the-war-yemens-remote-mountain-villages/500585/
(-)
Photo: The Manhattan of Yemen
http://aserica.com/day_and_places/the-manhattan-of-yemen/
(-)
Film. This is our blood. Our culture. Our music that is played with love! Faisal Alawi, one of the greatest singers, dances while his son sings. What a beauty! This video is simply the peace we miss.
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1095383058558132229 linking to https://twitter.com/Mo3qy/status/1094691298089549825
(-)
Photos: Amazing shots come from Hadramout, it is all about silent magic!!
#Yemen is more than a war headline!
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1095380671512674304
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-511-yemen-war-mosaic-511
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-511 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-511:
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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