... Saudis und Emirate in Mahrah, Südostjemen – USA, Emirate und Südjemen – Trump und Jemen – Deutsche Waffenverkäufe: Verkaufsstop; Deutsche Waffen im Jemen – und mehr
March 2, 2019: Yemen Accountability Project – Starving children in Yemen – Crisis Group Yemen Update 6 – Social fragmentation in Yemen – Federalism in Yemen – Fadi Baoom on Southern Yemen – Saudis and UAE in Mahrah, SE Yemen – The US, the Emirates and Yemen – Trump and Yemen – German arms sales: Effects of ban; German arms in Yemen – 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
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
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**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** A B H K P)
Yemen Accountability Project aims to document war crimes
Case Western Reserve University law students are working with the Henry T. King, Jr. War Crimes Research Office to initiate the first comprehensive mapping of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Yemeni Civil War.
This initiative, called the Yemen Accountability Project, has drawn over 70 student volunteers, and funding for the project was provided by Timothy Geisse and the John F. and Mary A. Geisse Foundation.
Crimes against humanity are outlined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute, and include, but are not limited to murder, extermination, enslavement, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture and rape “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
Volunteers to the Yemen Accountability Project will work in teams, each of which contributes to documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity. The investigative team researches reports of crimes in Yemen to determine if they meet the criteria required of war crimes. After determining that a crime was, in fact, a war crime, the analysis team analyzes the crimes within the context of the Yemeni penal code, the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions. Lastly, the registrar team reports on the conflict and archives the evidence uncovered by the other groups.
“The aim [of the project] is to methodically and meticulously document war crimes so that future prosecutors will be able to use the work we’ve done to subpoena and eventually try war criminals,” said Laura Graham, the executive director of the project.
http://observer.case.edu/yemen-accountability-project-aims-to-document-war-crimes/
(** B H)
What happened to 4 starving Yemeni children since The Washington Post visited their village in December
In the hunger zone of Yemen, one child miraculously improved, and another is receiving help. The third one, an infant girl, is still teetering on the edge, while the fourth child remains in need of help.
At least these are the fates of the children we know about.
In December, we had visited the village of Al Jarb, a remote hamlet ringed by craggy mountains in the hinterlands of Hajjah Province, not far from the Saudi border. It is a part of Aslam district, one of the worst affected areas for severe malnutrition in Yemen, if not the world.
As we left Yemen in late December, we wondered what would happen to the four children.
Would any survive?
The odds were stacked against them. After four years of war between the rebel Houthis and the Yemen government supported by a Saudi-led regional coalition, more than 20 million Yemenis, roughly two-thirds of the population, do not have enough to eat. A child in Yemen dies every 10 minutes, according to the United Nations, many of them from treatable ailments.
In the following days, Mehdi told us, Abdo began to gain weight with the nutritional supplements the clinic provided. But the child was also suffering from other ailments brought on by the erosion of his immune system due to months of severe hunger.
"He was affected by the changing weather and started suffering from acute pulmonary inflammation,” recalled Mehdi. “He was coughing a lot in addition to difficulty in breathing. We started giving him oxygen.” – by Sudarsan Rghavan (with photos, films)
(** B H)
The youngest victims of Yemen's war: Starving babies are being treated in hospital where medics fight to save their lives as millions suffer from famine brought on by the conflict
Babies and children are attended to at the Al-Sabaeen Hospital in Sanaa as the conflict in Yemen rages on
Mothers were seen cradling their children as they clung to life, suffering from severe malnutrition in Yemen
Horrifying images of Yemen's starving children have shined a light on the brutal reality facing millions of civilians due to famine caused by the ongoing conflict.
Parents were pictured cradling their severely malnourished children at the Al-Sabaeen Hospital in Sanaa as the Yemeni government's war against the rebels rages on.
In one of the disturbing images, a severely malnourished child who looks no more than a few weeks old, clings to life as his face is contorted in agony and wrinkles due to the lack of food and water (photos, films)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6724601/Pictured-youngest-victims-Yemens-war.html
(** B E P)
Crisis Group Yemen Update #6
Trendline: Putting Yemen to Work
Late February brought some hope to Yemen’s embattled population, large segments of which were on the verge of starvation at the end of 2018. The UN announced that it had both raised billions of dollars to pay for its humanitarian work over the coming year and had regained access to the Red Sea Mills
The huge sums of money the UN requires reveal the sheer scale of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. According to the UN and the World Bank, around 80 per cent of Yemenis now live in poverty, up from more than 50 per cent in 2014, and require some form of aid.
Humanitarian aid is necessary in the short term, but is ultimately a very expensive fix for a problem no amount of money can solve: an already weak and poorly managed economy that has atrophied since 2014. “The UN can’t feed 28 or 29 million people for a year, let alone forever”, a senior humanitarian official said. “Until people are earning wages and food prices are affordable, the entire country is going to be below the [poverty] line”.
Economic output measured in GDP has more than halved by some measures, while inflation has soared. The rival authorities in Sanaa and Aden have each struggled to pay salaries for an estimated 1.2 million civilian and military staff employed before the war, whose incomes underwrite the livelihoods of about a quarter of the population.
Equally worrying is that the government is prioritising salary payments to the military and security services, which have been the only employers creating new jobs since the war began.
Citing figures from the ministry of civil service and insurance, the Yemeni Development Champions – a group of economic experts – report that a little over half of the country’s 472,353 pre-war civil servants received wages from the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2018.
The conflict has taken a sharp toll on subsistence and commercial farming – a huge if unsteady source of work in rural Yemen before the war. Shocks to the oil and gas industry, once another important engine of economic growth, have shrunk the foreign currency reserves the government used to help pay for food imports. The World Bank estimates that 35 per cent of businesses have closed since the war began, most of them citing insecurity and financial constraints.
Once the war is over, Yemen will need more work opportunities to absorb ex-combatants and provide livelihoods, but how those will be generated remains unanswered.
Bottom Line: Getting Yemenis back to work is a crucial task, especially the tens or hundreds of thousands of ex-combatants who will be out of work in the event of a successful peace deal. Simply replicating the failed economic policies of the pre-war years could sow the seeds of future unrest. Donors should already be thinking about a mix of future initiatives, ranging from local job creation schemes to international support for the state budget and infrastructure development, to help Yemen’s transition to peace.
Political and Military Developments
The issue of force redeployments in and around the Red Sea port city of Hodeida and two nearby ports, Ras Issa and Saleef, still looms large.
Having agreed to postpone discussions of which “local forces” will secure Hodeida city and the three ports once frontline forces have been redeployed away from the area, the government of Yemen subsequently backtracked, telling Lt. Gen. Michael Anker Lollesgaard that they would not implement their part of the deal until the issue had been resolved
Then the Huthis raised their own objections. Their main issue is who will control the so-called “Kilo 8 triangle”, an industrial zone on the eastern edge of Hodeida that is currently one of the main frontlines.
The Huthis are also worried that the Yemeni government will try to renege on its part of the deal during the first phase of redeployments.
Though Huthi and Yemeni government officials have been engaged in a public spat over who is to blame for the delay in redeploying forces, they are not incapable of cooperation.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-6 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-6
(** B H P)
Addressing Social Fragmentation in Yemen
Executive Summary
After nearly five years of conflict, Yemen is more fragmented than at any time in recent history. The war has exacerbated long-standing grievances and created new fractures in Yemen’s social fabric. While the origins of the conflict lie in a political struggle for power, fighting has awakened a sectarian narrative, revived calls for secession in the south, and generally eroded Yemen’s social cohesion. These fissures are a legacy of the war and they threaten to destabilize the country long after a political peace settlement is achieved.
While the current depth of division in Yemen is unparalleled, the tensions manifesting in the war can be traced to historic frustrations that were never resolved. In Yemen’s north, the formation of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) in 1962 ended centuries of rule by Zaidi imams. Zaidis, a large minority who follow a distinctly Yemeni brand of Shia Islam, had enjoyed political and military supremacy in the imamate monarchy. The Zaidis’ loss of power due to the birth of the republic ultimately helped bring about the formation of the Believing Youth group in the 1990s, which sought to revive the community’s status and from which the Houthi movement would emerge.
Houthi forces fought six wars against the state over six years from 2004, and in 2011 the Houthi movement joined the popular uprising that forced Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. Houthi authorities later allied with Saleh to push out his successor, President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi
The conflict has transformed Yemeni society. The proliferation of checkpoints across the country has restricted freedom of movement and fragmented the territorial integrity of the nation. Fighting has rolled back nascent progress on women’s political and social participation, while the economic collapse brought on by the war has torn at the social fabric. More than 3 million Yemenis have been internally displaced and many Yemenis returned to their hometowns, often bringing an extra strain on communities whose resources were already scarce. The state is weak or absent in many parts of the country, and some Yemenis have turned to tribal structures to fill the vacuum.
The National Dialogue Conference (NDC), launched in 2013 to guide the political transition after the uprising, tried to tackle Yemenis’ social and political grievances. The constitution drafted after the NDC offers a framework that can be built on in the post-conflict political process, while its failures also present useful lessons.
The most urgent priority in Yemen is an end to the war, but the deep divisions that are a legacy of the conflict must be understood and confronted if any peace is to endure. This paper identifies aspects of the fragmentation of Yemeni society that require urgent attention and further study, and that must be addressed in any post-conflict transition.
Introduction
This paper begins by examining the historic roots of the current tensions in Yemen. It traces the origins of the Houthi movement in the fluctuating fortunes of the Zaidi community, who practice a uniquely Yemeni branch of Shia Islam. By examining Zaidi perceptions of marginalization in the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the shifting dynamics of their relations with the Shafei Sunni community, this paper offers insight into how political and territorial struggles fused with a sectarian narrative in the ongoing conflict.
The paper also looks at the recent revival of secessionist movements in the south in the context of southern discontent that predates the unification of Yemen in 1990. It tracks how the arrival of Houthi military forces from the north rekindled old resentments among southerners over their political domination by northern elites. This paper also looks at the resurgent role of tribes in the absence of a functioning state, and touches on how economic collapse has eroded traditional interdependence mechanisms, and how recent gains in women’s social and political inclusion have receded. While a comprehensive exploration of the fragmentation wrought by the conflict is beyond the scope of this paper, the multiple ways the war has transformed Yemeni society are highlighted and new fractures are surveyed. It concludes by presenting principles to guide the post-conflict political process to address Yemen’s deep divisions – By Abdelkareem Ghanim
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/7137
(** B P)
Federalism in Yemen: A Catalyst for War, the Present Reality, and the Inevitable Future
Executive Summary
The 2014 proposal to partition Yemen into a federal system was one of the major causes of the current conflict. The plan, proposed by President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi, was supposedly intended to put the country on the path to a more peaceful future by addressing long standing regional grievances toward the central government. These resentments stem largely from a sense of injustice regarding inequitable development in the country and the monopolization of political, economic and military authority in the capital, Sana’a. However, rather than achieving the goal of ensuring peace and the equitable distribution of resources in the country, the flawed and rushed proposal served to further fragment the country, exacerbate divisions, and harden demands for increased local autonomy.
A primary failing of President Hadi’s proposal for a federated Yemen was that it lacked a mechanism by which the country’s natural resource revenues would be distributed among the various regions. By this omission the proposal would have created sparsely-populated regions with autonomy over their natural resources, while more densely populated areas – particularly the capital and other northern areas – which had previously been dependent on these resources revenues would have been left without. Hadi’s proposal would have also landlocked the armed Houthi movement, a development which the group’s leadership had vehemently opposed.
Since the onset of the current war, President Hadi has continued to promote the 2014 federal map as a means of improving the prospects for long-term stability in a post-conflict scenario. Given that the plan faced intense opposition from many quarters upon its unveiling and was a major factor in motivating the military and political expansion of Houthi forces, popular support post-conflict for Hadi’s version of federalism remains a distant prospect.
Realities on the ground have changed significantly as a result of the prolonged violence and protracted political and military stalemate however, resulting in a situation in which some form of federalism in Yemen may have become unavoidable. Indeed, a federated Yemen is a de facto outcome of the war to date. Political forces in southern Yemen, who aligned with the Hadi government against the Houthi-Saleh alliance, have increased calls for autonomy and even secession. The Southern Transitional Council (STC), a secessionist group backed by the United Arab Emirates, currently holds more political authority in Aden – the Yemeni government’s temporary capital – than Hadi does. Meanwhile, oil and gas-rich governorates such as Marib and Hadramawt have attained a large degree of political autonomy and control over their natural resources during the conflict. As a result, the populations within these regions generally oppose a return to their previous subservient political and economic position.
It remains the case though that most of Yemen’s population, and correspondingly the lion’s share of civil servants and security personnel, are based in areas such as Sana’a that are devoid of natural resource revenue. Financing for state institutions in these areas will – at least in the near-term – remain dependent on revenues collected elsewhere in the country. Any future federal system would be highly unstable without addressing this reality.
It is widely agreed that there is little possibility of a military victory for any side in the ongoing conflict. Following any potential negotiated end to the war and subsequent reconciliation process, broad discussions on the subject of federalism – and indeed other possible alternatives – are needed to avoid a repeat of the flawed process that led to the current war. Rather than postponing discussions until after the conclusion of the conflict, preliminary discussions should be held with a variety of stakeholders to better understand their key demands and visions for governance in post-conflict Yemen. This diplomatic engagement should take place in parallel to the current UN-backed peace talks to end the conflict – By Maysaa Shuja al-Deen
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/7124
(** B P)
Fadi Baoom: "We want to drive Saudis and Yemiratis out of Yemen"
The head of the political office of the Revolutionary Movement for Liberation and Independence of South Yemen says they would accept the unity of the country in order to end the occupation
Fadi Hassan Baoom is the head of the political office of the Revolutionary Movement of Liberation and Independence of the South, headed by his father, Hasan Baum. On the eve of the war, he explains, the Emirates tried to co-opt the southern groups to fight the Houthis "in exchange for the money we wanted." Hasan Baum demanded that the independence of the south be recognized. There was no agreement. Fadi Hasan Baum has traveled to Barcelona invited by the Parlament de Catalunya.
Who leads the war, the Saudis or the Emiratis?
The northern part of Yemen, the Saudis and the south, the Emiratis.Both, with American advisors. The Saudis are not very strong, they depend a lot on money and they do not have a strategy. They have no plan or vision. They will not last long. They have lost the war. All they do is save face. The Emiratis have five ports on the southern coast of Yemen, which is 1,200 km., The island of Socotra and the oil pipelines of the provinces of Mahrah and Hadramaut.
Its objective is the independence on the borders of the old Popular Democratic Republic of the south?
Yes, but we would agree to continue in a united Yemen in exchange for the expulsion of Saudis and Emiratis from the south, for the time being. We want to expel foreign troops, it is our priority. We can give in to our demands for independence temporarily due to the humanitarian situation. Now the important thing is that nine million Yemenis die of malnutrition. But we maintain our claim. After this war, if for example the Houthis do something like the attempt to occupy Aden in 2015, our message is that we will fight against them.The fight will not be now, we are against those from the south who fight with the Emiratis against the Houthis, but we will benefit from their combat experience in the future. I am very frank in this. No matter what loyalties they have now, they are from the south and will join self-determination.
Is Iran's role as important as it is said?
The Houthis receive Iranian support but it can not be compared to the Saudi and Emirati support - to the Mansur Hadi government - in money, in arms ... They have Iranian logistical and moral support. I am against the ideology of the Houthis but I agree with them that foreigners have to leave.
What is the Houthi ideology?
I am a liberal, I am secular. That's why I'm against so much religion and politics together. The south, historically, has been socialist and secular, and the north has always been more religious, it was financed by Saudi Arabia in the sixties and seventies. Hence the shock, a secular and a religious part.
Do you think of an independent and socialist South Yemen?
Yes. A democratic state for all of the south.
Who is responsible for thousands of people dying of hunger, the Houthis, the Saudi-Emirati coalition ...?
Of course, to those who have imposed a blockade on us, closing the airports and ports. The airport and port of Mukala, in Hadramaut, is hundreds of kilometers from the war and there are no Hutis there.Why did they close them, why are they blocking us?
Saudi Arabia and the Emirates are financing the war with our own oil
Last Tuesday, at the donor conference in Geneva, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates promised 1.5 billion dollars in aid. What do you think?
I do not care about all this because it is neither true nor has anything to do with reality. Saudis and Emiratis are financing the war and paying their combatants with Hadramaut oil. Where will the money they promise end?
Who in the end will control it will be the Saudi ambassador. No one in southern Yemen has decision-making power. Many leaders who fight with the Emiratis have their families hostage in Abu Dhabi. They are taken to Abu Dhabi and told that they will live there better, but it is to ensure the loyalty of those who fight. It's not something new. It's very complicated.
(** B P)
Saudi Arabia and the UAE in al-Mahra: Securing Interests, Disrupting Local Order, and Shaping a Southern Military
Some areas, however, have managed to avoid the brunt of the war, mostly by virtue of their isolation and sparse population rather than a lack of strategic importance. One such place is Yemen’s easternmost governorate, al-Mahra.
Its size and geographic position along the border of both Saudi Arabia and Oman make the governorate a sought-after zone of control not only during the war but also whenever hostilities do subside. As such, al-Mahra is quickly becoming the site of a power struggle over the provision of security in the region, raising further questions as to the longer-term implications surrounding Saudi and Emirati interests and the proliferation of UAE-trained security forces.
Saudi and Emirati Involvement and Interests in al-Mahra
Saudi Arabia began increasing its presence in mid-November 2017, taking control of the governorate’s facilities, Nishtun port, the Sarfit, and Shehen border crossings, and al-Gaydah Airport while establishing military outposts around key infrastructure and coastal areas (Arabi21, February 23). Shortly after, President Hadi sacked military and government leaders in favor of those aligned with Saudi Arabia. Most notably, Hadi appointed Rajeh Said Bakrit as Mahra’s governor on November 27, 2017, to replace Mohammed Abdullah Kuddah after he spoke out against Saudi Arabia’s presence.
Riyadh deployed its forces under the guise of reconstruction and counter smuggling operations, but there are underlying commercial and geopolitical reasons at play. Saudi Arabia claims that the governorate has served as a major transit point for arms, cash, and other materials smuggled through Oman and into Yemen for the Houthis
Saudi Arabia implemented exorbitant tariffs and restricted certain goods crossing the border from Oman and implemented restrictions on local fishermen.
The Saudi build-up sparked popular protests throughout 2018 by residents frustrated with what they described as a Saudi occupation of a historically peaceful region of the country.
The recent influx of Salafists and planned projects such as a Saudi-sponsored religious center in Qashan—similar to the one in Dammaj—have raised alarms over the potential rise of Salafism and radical thinking within the local population (Al Mandeb, February 27). While many tribal leaders initially supported the protests, several have since withdrawn support, creating a new division among tribes
Shaping Southern Military Forces
The UAE and, to a lesser extent, Saudi Arabia have demonstrated a proclivity for securing strategic locations and militarizing local communities across the governorates that once comprised the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), including the strategic island of Socotra. Saudi and Emirati interests in Aden and Mukalla—both vital seaports and the capitals of their respective governorates—have been well publicized, but their involvement in al-Mahra has mostly fallen under the radar.
The UAE’s security strategy in southern Yemen is based upon coopting, training, and equipping local military leaders, activists, tribes, and anyone with agreeable causes.
Conclusion
As Saudi Arabia and the UAE look to secure long term strategic and geopolitical interests in southern Yemen, their militarization of the southern governorates will serve to entrench the North-South divide as well as accentuate local divisions, potentially creating an opening for militancy and making it increasingly unlikely that these forces will demilitarize or be willing to integrate with a broader military in a still united Yemen when the war draws to a close. As the likelihood of a return to a North and South Yemen seems to be increasing, even if slightly, Mahra will be a key area targeted by both pro-unity/pro-government groups as well as pro-secession groups such as the STC.
Saudi Arabia’s ties with Hadi and Islah, as well as the influx of Salafists and plans to build a religious center stand in opposition to the UAE, STC, and likely a large portion of the would-be Mahri Elite Force’s members. Most Mahris are skeptical of all of these outside parties, and the convergence of their interests could spark issues similar to those already seen in Aden and Hadramawt – by Brian M. Perkins
(** B K P)
How America facilitates the UAE's occupation of southern Yemen
Washington's backing of Abu Dhabi is emboldening Al Qaeda and southern separatists alike
Medieval torture methods, kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, empowerment of Salafist groups and figures, and foreign military occupation of their country. Just a few of the things afflicting Yemenis as the United Arab Emirates expands its influence in southern Yemen, thanks to the help of the United States.
The UAE has used its position in the anti-Houthi coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, as an opportunity to fulfill its long-term ambitions to control southern Yemen's resources and the port city of Aden, which would expand Abu Dhabi's global maritime trade and give it greater access to East Africa.
Though part of Saudi Arabia's coalition on paper, it has divergent aims, as the Saudi-backed President Abdrabbo Mansur Hadi actually hinders the UAE's ambitions to control Aden.
While other countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Belgium sell the UAE weapons and provide military support, the United States plays a larger and more direct role in facilitating Emirati control of south Yemen.
Under the guise of "counter-extremism" against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State group in Yemen - as well as previously fighting the Houthis - the UAE has trained more than 60,000 militia fighters, who are concentrated largely in southern coastal and commercial cities such as Aden, Mukalla and Mokha.
These territories were seized during Yemen's ongoing war.
The militias are not accountable to the Yemeni government, but to the Emiratis, and are actually paid regularly - unlike Hadi-controlled troops - while rivalling them in number, suggesting they are the stronger force.
Now the Houthis no longer occupy the south, the UAE's militias supposedly fight extremist factions. Instead, they mainly consolidate the UAE's presence in the south.
a CENTCOM document reported by Yahoo! News also reveals that the US has taken a direct role in training UAE forces and air fighters specifically for "combat operations in Yemen". America clearly therefore plays a direct role in facilitating the UAE's geopolitical ambitions.
The US therefore needs to address whether its connection with Abu Dhabi over Yemen - which also undermines the current UN-led peace talks for the country - is unlawful due to Emirati support for extremists. And if such support does anything but add further complexities and divisions to Yemeni politics in the future - unless that support is halted – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey
(** B K P)
Trump and Counterterrorism in Yemen: The First Two Years
Introduction
In the war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the so-called ‘Islamic State’ group, or Daesh, the Trump administration came into office determined to reverse what it saw as the tendency of President Barack Obama’s administration to micro-manage and second-guess the military professionals.
By mid-2018, however, the Trump administration had reverted to Obama era numbers, carrying out 36 acknowledged strikes during the year and none in the final three months of the year. It is unclear whether this represents a shift in presidential policy (similar to drawdown in Afghanistan and the announced withdrawal in Syria) or whether the US simply lacked the targets in 2018 that it had in 2017.
The US-Led War Against AQAP and Daesh in Yemen
Since Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the US has essentially fought two discrete wars against AQAP and Daesh in Yemen. The first, which lasted into early 2018, was an aggressive, gloves-off approach that included multiple ground raids and a dramatic uptick in the number of drone and air strikes. The second war, which began in mid-2018 and is currently ongoing, has been a return to the norms established under the Obama administration.
2018: A Return to Obama-Era Norms
In 2018, US air and drone strikes dropped off significantly in Yemen, falling back to pre-2017 levels. The US carried out 36 strikes in Yemen in 2018, with the majority of those coming in the first half of the year.
There are at least three possible, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, explanations for the reduction in strikes.
The first is that President Trump may have rescinded the order declaring parts of Abyan, Shabwa and al-Bayda “areas of active conflict.
A third possibility is that the number of strikes did not drop off as much as the numbers suggest. Rather, the US may either have started using the CIA again to carry out strikes in Yemen, or outsourced some strikes on AQAP and Daesh targets to allies like the UAE.
US Support for the Saudi-Led Coalition
The Trump Administration and the Saudi-Led War
President Trump took his first official foreign trip to Saudi Arabia in March 2017, where he inaugurated the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center in Riyadh. Later that year, following a handful of Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Riyadh, a small team of Green Berets arrived in the Kingdom to search for and destroy missile caches and launch sites in Houthi-controlled territory.[54] But other than that it was business as usual.
When it came to the war in Yemen, the Trump administration largely continued the policies put in place by the Obama administration.
Under the Trump administration, the US also continues to provide what it calls “logistical and intelligence support” to the coalition. On the logistical side this means that, as the New York Times reported in December, “American mechanics service the (Saudi jets taking part in combat) and carry out repairs on the grounds. American technicians upgrade the targeting software and other classified technology, which Saudis are not allowed to touch.”
But despite the repeated assurances and years of advice and aid, the Saudi-led coalition’s targeting capabilities did not improve
The Khashoggi Effect
Overlapping Wars and Allegations of Abuse
According to the Department of Defense, US troops have been on the ground in Yemen since May 2016.[73] Indeed, in much the same way that the US supports Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the war against the Houthis, so too do Saudi Arabia and the UAE support the US in its war against AQAP and Daesh.
Conclusion
The Trump administration has pursued two separate policies in Yemen: countering AQAP and Daesh and rolling back Iranian influence. These two policy goals have involved the US in two separate wars in Yemen. Although both of these wars began under previous administrations, the Trump administration has greatly expanded the number of US counterterrorism strikes in Yemen while steadfastly maintaining its support for the Saudi-led coalition despite significant civilian casualties.
Pursuing these two policies has also had the awkward effect of putting the US in a position where it is fighting all sides in Yemen. The US is combating AQAP and Daesh, who in addition to fighting each other are also targeting the Houthis, who are themselves the target of the US’ two key allies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Yemen is in the midst of a messy and multi-layered conflict, which will not be easy to untangle or solve. The US has a counterterrorism policy and a counter-Iran policy, but it does not have a Yemen policy – by Gregory D. Johnsen
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/7105
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Germany’s ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s killing is having a bigger impact than expected
Ripple effects of last year’s decision are becoming increasingly apparent
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in October that her coalition government would halt all arms equipment exports to its second-biggest customer, Saudi Arabia, the move instantly put pressure on other major exporters to do the same.
None of those countries subsequently decided to join the Germans, but almost six months later, the fallout is now being felt in some of those places, too. Concerns in Britain and France are mounting that the German ban could have a severe impact on arms equipment exports to Saudi Arabia from other European nations. Representatives of BAE Systems, Britain’s key weapons company, have acknowledged concerns about their future access to crucial parts of Eurofighter Typhoon planes, which are partly produced in Germany.
When the Merkel government banned sales to the kingdom last year, it not only barred fully assembled products such as ships, but also high-tech components used by companies across Europe. Germany may have recently reduced its overall arms exports, but it remains a European hub for such high-tech components.
Europe increasingly appears to agree that a joint strategy is needed to compete with the United States and other arms producers. The far more consequential question is which approach will prevail: Germany’s responsiveness to human rights criticism, or the more lucrative alternative pursued by Britain, France and others – by Rick Noack
(** B K P)
Film: #GermanArms: Rechercheprojekt deckt Verwendung deutscher Waffen im Jemen-Krieg auf
Deutsche Waffen spielen im Jemen-Krieg eine weitaus größere Rolle als bislang bekannt. Wie Recherchen des investigativen Projekts #GermanArms ergeben haben, benutzen die Streitkräfte der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und Saudi-Arabiens deutsche Rüstungstechnologie für See-, Land- und Lufteinsätze. Sowohl Vertreter der Bundesregierung als auch der Verband der deutschen Rüstungsindustrie hatten bislang versichert, ihnen lägen keine Erkenntnisse zum Einsatz deutscher Rüstungstechnologie im Jemen-Krieg vor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BPwX-buAEI = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3BsKKiNyqU = http://mediathek.daserste.de/report-M%C3%9CNCHEN/GermanArms-Rechercheprojekt-deckt-Bet/Video?bcastId=431936&documentId=60654632
und
(* B K P)
ARD-Magazin deckt deutsche Waffen im Jemen auf - die Bundesregierung schweigt
Bereits nach zwei Wochen Recherche im Internet wurden die insgesamt 15 Journalisten fündig, heißt es in einem “Report München“-Beitrag, den die ARD am Dienstag ausstrahlte. Sie entdeckten im Internet unter anderem in sozialen Netzwerken Videos, auf denen Panzer mit deutschen MTU-Motoren im jemenitischen Kriegsgebiet zu sehen sein sollen. Diese seien zudem mit Schutzpanzerung des deutschen Herstellers Dynamit Nobel verstärkt. Im März 2017 habe die Bundesregierung dafür die Exportgenehmigung erteilt, obwohl der Jemen-Krieg zu dieser Zeit schon in vollem Gange gewesen sei, heißt es in dem Beitrag. Das sei entgegen der eigenen politischen Grundsätze.
Zwei weitere Videos sollen ein saudisches Tankflugzeug zeigen, einen Airbus A330 MRTT, der zum Teil aus Deutschland stammt und offenbar ebenfalls im Jemen-Krieg im Einsatz gewesen sein muss, sowie einen Eurofighter mit deutscher Technik. Durch den Abgleich des Videomaterials mit Satellitenbildern konnten die Journalisten die Rüstungsexporte im Jemen beziehungsweise an jemenitischen Grenzregionen verorten.
Bemerkung: Ausführliche Berichterstattung: https://www.dw.com/de/beweise-für-deutsche-waffen-im-jemen/a-47681315 (Deutsch) und https://www.dw.com/en/in-yemen-war-coalition-forces-rely-on-german-arms-and-technology/a-47684609, Film: https://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-uae-use-german-made-arms/av-47699853 (Englisch)
Und kürzerer Bericht https://www.noz.de/deutschland-welt/vermischtes/artikel/1667433/krieg-im-jemen-welche-rolle-spielen-deutsche-waffen-wirklich
Und
(** B K P)
So fanden wir vor der Küste des Jemen in Deutschland gebaute Kriegsschiffe
Gemeinsam mit dem Rechercheverbund #GermanArms hat der stern untersucht, wie die Emirate in Deutschland gebaute Schiffe im Jemen und vor der Küste des Bürgerkriegslands einsetzen. Ein Recherchebericht.
Das Recherchebündnis #GermanArms kann mit Satellitenbildern sowie Videomaterial belegen, dass die Emirate in Deutschland gebaute Kriegsschiffe im Jemen und dem Hafen von Assab in Eritrea einsetzen.
Deutsche Schiffe im Hafen von Assab in Eritrea
Aus den Rüstungsexportberichten der Bundesregierung wissen wir, dass aus Deutschland im Jahr 2006 zwei Minenräumschiffe der Frankenthal-Klasse an die VAE gingen. Andere Schiffe dieser Klasse liegen bis heute im Marinestützpunkt in Kiel. Man kann sie dort bei Google Earth aus der Luft gut erkennen, sogar mit ihren Registriernummern. Hier die M1065, die den Namen FGS Dillingen trägt.
Noch in einer Broschüre aus dem Jahr 2012 pries Lieferant MTU die Schiffe der Baynunah-Klasse als künftiges "Rückgrat" der VAE-Marine – sie würden eingesetzt, um die "Territorialgewässer" vor Abu Dhabi und Dubai zu sichern. Doch nun sind einige der Schiffe auch fern der Heimat vor der Küste des Jemen aktiv.
Der US-Hersteller Raytheon hat die Emiratis auch für diese Schiffe nach eigenen Angaben mit den Flugabwehrystemen RAM (ja, der Haken bei der Baynunah) beliefert. Wie gesagt: Im September 2018 genehmigte die Bundesregierung die Ausfuhr von 91 Zielsuchköpfen von Diehl Defence für das System RAM. Womöglich waren diese also auch für die Arialah bestimmt.
Eine der Korvetten vom Typ Baynunah – samt MTU-Motoren und Rheinmetall-Geschützen - ging im vergangenen Jahr auf eine ganz besondere Mission. Dabei spielt der Mann eine Rolle, der bei der Einweihung der Al Hili im Jahr 2017 – siehe das Video oben - mit grimmiger Miene durch das Schiff schritt. Er heißt Muhammad bin Raschid Al Maktum und ist in Personalunion auch Verteidigungsminister der Emirate sowie Emir von Dubai (azhlreiche details, Luftaufnahmen, Filme) – von Hans-Martin Tillack
und
(* B K P)
Audio: Deutsche Rüstungsexporte, deutsche Moral: Ein Widerspruch?
Deutsche Waffen spielen im Jemen-Krieg eine weitaus größere Rolle als bislang bekannt. Wie Recherchen des investigativen Projekts #GermanArms ergeben haben, benutzen die Streitkräfte der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und Saudi-Arabiens deutsche Rüstungstechnologie für See-, Land- und Lufteinsätze.
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* B H)
Film by Doctors Without Borders: Our intervention against measles
https://www.facebook.com/msf.italiano/videos/vb.65737832194/1019868188402478/
(* B H P)
TB disease kills detainees in Dhamar Houthi -controlled prisons
Hilal al-Jarf tasted the bitterness of kidnapping among his family and children by Houthi gunmen and feared to die under torture, which he found many, but death was lurking in prison and for another reason.
Three days ago, the family of the detainee Hilal al-Jarf, who lives in the area of Wesab al-A’ali west of Dhamar City, received a report of the death of her lone breadwinner, who was affected by tuberculosis, which was prevalent among detainees inside the prison under the control of the Houthi militia.
According to sources from inside the prison, tuberculosis symptoms spread among a number of prisoners a while ago but the prison supervisors did not care about it, the cases of infection increased through transmission of the disease among the detainees
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164762
(* B H)
A local source reported an increase in cholera cases in Mawyah district in Taiz city.15 cases have been recorded in Al-Saidi villages with the most being children and women, as a result of the water contamination (photo)
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1101127457007157256
(* B H)
World Health Organization: Cholera situation in Yemen, January 2019
In January 2019, the Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen reported a total 36 062 suspected cholera cases including 34 related deaths (case fatality rate: 0.09%), from 19 governorates.
The cumulative number of suspected cholera cases reported in Yemen since October 2016 to January 2019 is 1 455 585 including 2 906 related deaths with a case fatality rate of 0.19%. The country experienced a second wave of this outbreak from 27 April 2017. The total number of suspected cholera cases reported during the second wave were 1 429 758 including 2 777 related deaths with a case fatality rate of 0.19%.
Since January 2018, a total of 11 030 stool specimens were tested. Out of these, 3 481 were laboratory confirmed for Vibrio cholerae.
The 5 governorates with the highest cumulative attack rate per 10 000 are Amran (1 296.94), Al Mahwit (1 107.80), Sana’a (808.42), Dahamar (723.28) and Al Hudaydah (655.01). The national attack rate is 507.59 per 10 000.
The Governorate with high numbers of deaths are Hajjah (473), Ibb (381), Al Hudaydah (344) and Taizz (223).
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/cholera-situation-yemen-january-2019 = http://applications.emro.who.int/docs/EMROPub_2019_EN_22332.pdf
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
Siehe / Look at cp7
(* A K pH)
Army: As our forces began implementing deployment plan, coalition commits 644 violations
Brigadier General Yahya Sarie said in a statement to the Saba news agency that there were 644 violations by the enemy recorded in the last 48 hours .
He affirmed the violations of the aggression and its mercenaries were distributed on firing 29 rockets, 387 shells, 198 firing operations using heavy and medium arms , 12 reinforcements acts, while the coalition's warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft carried out 14 violations on the town of Hodeidah and other districts. (more details)
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news528038.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Friday, March 1st, 2019
A civilian was injured by US-Saudi mercenaries' shells targeted civilians' houses in Ad-durayhimi. US-Saudi mercenaries launched 41 shells, targeting several areas northern and eastern Hais. (and more)
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5671&cat_id=1
(A K pH)
A Child Killed by US-Saudi Invaders, Mercenaries Gun Fire in Hodeidah
A child was killed by US-Saudi invaders and mercenaries gun fire on Friday in Hodeidah, in a new violation of Stockholm agreement.
The invaders and mercenaries targeted by a shell a house in Hawk district. They also targeted the area of Al-Faza and Durahmi district by more than 55 artillery shells and Katyusha.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5661&cat_id=1
(* A K pS)
Al-Houthi shelling kills 5 children in Al-Faza south of Hodeidah
Five children were killed when Houthi militants shelled a residential compound in al-Faza area south of the coastal city of Hodeidah on Thursday night.
Mortar shells fired by the Houthis fell on the children as they played in the vicinity of their houses in the coastal area of Al-Faza, which is under the control of government forces. (photo)
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164824
(A K P)
Member of Yemeni National Delegation: US-Saudi Forces Obstinacy Voids Stockholm Agreement
The member of the National Delegation, Abdulmalik Al-Ajri, said that "the US-Saudi forces obstinacy will make the Stockholm agreement has no way to be implemented. " In a call with Almasirah TV he explained how "difficult it is to proceed with advanced steps in the implementation of the Stockholm agreement without the UN-pressure on the other party."
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5670&cat_id=1
Remark: from the Houthi side.
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Armed Forces Spokesman: Yemeni Army Implemented First Phase in Hodeidah’s Redeployment
The spokesman of the Armed Forces, Brigadier Yahya Sare'e, confirmed, on Thursday, that the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees started to implement the first phase of the redeployment in Hodeidah, the US-Saudi aggression committed 644 violations in 48 hours. He said that the US-Saudi mercenaries targeted by 387 artillery shells, 29 missiles and operations with various medium and heavy weapons residential neighborhoods, farms and Yemeni Army' sites in several districts.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5653&cat_id=1
Remark: By the Sanaa government
And
(A K P)
Supreme Revolutionary Head: Unilateral Redeployment Step in Hodeidah, Ignored by Aggression Forces
"The United Nations has been informed of the unilateral redeployment in Hodeidah and, so far, we have not received the start signal from the UN team to start," Supreme Revolutionary head, Mohammad Al-Houthi, said on Thursday night.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5654&cat_id=1
and
(A K P)
The date of redeployment has ended without completion. Al-Yamani calls on the United Nations to determine who refuses to implement the Stockholm Agreement
Foreign Minister Khaled Alyemany held discussions on Wednesday with Deputy of the UN's Envoy Ma'een Shareim about the latest developments relating to peace and underway efforts put Stockholm's Agreement in place.
Alyemany stated that Houthis' systematic plan to spoil peace's efforts has become very clear and there is no need to waste more time.
He said" The UN and International Community (IC) need to act firmly and stop Houthis' insistence on foiling everything agreed on of confidence building steps and phases".
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164823
Remark: By the Hadi government.
(A P)
Yemen's FM demands UN to press Houthi militia to honour Stockholm Agreement
Yemen has demanded that the United Nations, UN, should take a tough stance towards the procrastination by the Houthi militia in implementing the Stockholm Agreement, reached in Sweden last December.
Al-Yamani, who is also head of the Yemeni government delegation to the peace consultations, said that he held the Houthi militia responsible for the failure of the agreement and the fresh setback, particularly in terms of humanitarian issues, because of their stubbornness.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302743690
(A H)
Film from within the Red sea Mills (Arabic)
https://www.facebook.com/almayadeen/videos/564394287376633/?
(A K P)
Our forces are committed to restraint, Sweden agreement, redeployment plan: Deputy Chief of Staff General
Maj. Gen. al-Mushki, who chaired a joint meeting held in Hodeidah province with members of the redeployment committee, affirmed the keenness of the supreme political and military leadership to implement Sweden agreement and achieve a just and honorable peace.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news527938.htm
Remark: from the Sanaa government.
(* A K P)
Spotlight: New obstacles emerge as military withdrawal from Yemen's Hodeidah remains in deadlock
The UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths concluded on Thursday his two-day talks with senior leaders of the Houthi rebel group.
However, he did not achieve concrete results to break a deadlock over the withdrawal of troops from the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
A local Yemeni official based in the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa said the conversations with the UN envoy were "not productive," as senior Houthi leaders laid down new conditions for withdrawing their fighters from Hodeidah.
"The UN envoy exerted hard efforts and conducted talks with a number of key Houthi leaders, but did not succeed in convincing them to withdraw from Hodeidah," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"The Houthi leaders laid down some conditions that must be met before the withdrawal of their forces from Hodeidah," he added.
One of the conditions included appointing forces linked to the Houthi group to be in charge of managing government institutions and Hodeidah's seaport following the fighters withdrawal, according to the source.
On Wednesday, Yemen's Houthi rebels said they were ready to withdraw unilaterally from the ports of Hodeidah if requested by the UN, according to a statement released by Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03/01/c_137859038.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5630&cat_id=1
(* A K P)
Little hope for peace in Yemen's Hodeida
War-weary residents of the flashpoint Yemeni port city of Hodeida have little hope of peace even as the UN regains control of vital food aid warehouses on the front lines.
The mission on Tuesday came after an agreement struck on February 17, in which the sides in Yemen's conflict agreed to redeploy their fighters outside the ports and away from areas crucial to the humanitarian relief effort.
On Wednesday, however, the streets of the city were empty amid rising tension as gunfire was heard overnight coming from the south, residents said.
"There is no hope as long as we can hear the sound of gunfire," said 26-year-old Eman, a Hodeida resident.
Hani, a bus driver in the city, said he did not expect the situation to change any time soon.
"I expect that the humanitarian situation will change a little and aid will reach some citizens, but I don't think there will be major change to the current situation," said the 40-year-old.
"The fighting never stopped in the first place."
"The wheat is infested with weevil, which is something we anticipated. We need to fumigate the wheat," said Herve Verhoosel, a WFP spokesman, in a statement.
"We need sustained access to the mills in order to fumigate the wheat and then start milling it," said Verhoosel.
"It will take weeks of sustained access to the mills to get the facility back to normal operations."
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6751903/Little-hope-peace-Yemens-Hodeida.html
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression Commits New Violations, Injuring Elderly Woman and Man in Hodeidah
An elderly woman and a man were wounded by the aggression forces gunfire in Hodeidah province on Tuesday night, violating the agreed ceasefire in the province.
Al-Masirah Net reporter confirmed that the elderly woman was injured by the aggression forces’ shelling, that targeted Al-Rabsa neighborhood in Hodeidah. While the other citizen was wounded by bullets of the US-Saudi invaders and mercenaries in Al-Sator area in Zabid district
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5620&cat_id=1
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K P)
Film: Hassan Al-Haifi war live.
https://www.facebook.com/hassan.alhaifi/videos/vb.100001109315667/2149815111732112/
(B H P)
Yemen: Al Razehi (refugee), "my country has become a cemetery, we end the war"
"Italy makes the bombs that are used to kill us: to kill our dreams, our dignity and our humanity". The complaint is by Ashtar Al Razehi, a young Yemeni refugee woman, currently a guest of the Sprar of Mugello, who has launched a heartfelt appeal to "end the war, to say 'no' to the bombs that slaughter us". "My country has become a huge cemetery. The sky is no longer blue, but has only the color of sadness, "
"This video should be circulated," said Stefano Fassina, Rome's deputy and municipal councilor, for whom "the role of communication and information is fundamental". Also to "disassemble the alibi" for which "there are no possible alternatives to the production of weapons".
(* B K P)
Where does Yemen's Taiz stand, eight years after uprising?
Hopes kindled during the 2011 Arab Spring protests have evaporated while war has thrived nationwide
Thousands of people in Taiz - including Sharabi - took to the streets on February 11, marking the anniversary of the uprising that ended up toppling Saleh's 33-year rule. The euphoria among participants was obvious as the participants raised placards and chanted slogans, showing their pride that they took the lead in effecting change.
Taiz, one of the most populated cities in Yemen, is still beset by dire humanitarian circumstances and an unstable security situation. But that didn't stop the town from celebrating the anniversary.
"We celebrate this uprising to show that we have not abandoned hope. Those who blame the 2011 popular call for change are wrong. The enemies of the uprising should be blamed. We did not call for war; we demanded change peacefully. The politicians and warlords opted for the route to destruction in the country, and today all the people are suffering," said Sharabi.
On Saturday, mass protests flared up in Taiz, calling on the legitimate government of Yemen and the Saudi-led Arab coalition to quicken the liberation of Taiz province from the Houthis. They also demanded the implementation of December's UN-sponsored agreement on ending the Houthi siege of Taiz.
Civilians here have been struggling relentlessly for better conditions in a province that has been beset with fighting and sieges over the past four years.
The cost of war in Taiz has been horrendous, and no uprising enthusiast in 2011 could have envisioned where Yemen stands today.
The UAE has been known for its hostility towards the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen and other Arab countries. The Brotherhood has a strong base of support in Taiz, and this has influenced the UAE's approach here.
"The situation seems to persist unchanged, unless the legitimate government has a clear and decisive vision on what it wants to see in Taiz," said Ghabiri.
(* B H P)
Countries bombing Yemen now donate aid
A special conference raised over $2.6 billion for the United Nations to aid Yemen as it undergoes one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Ironically enough, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the largest donors – the same countries that put Yemen in the present situation. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof sits down with RT America’s Manila Chan to discuss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-vWYj4Jjc
(* B P)
The difference between the famine in Yemen and the economic crisis in Venezuela could not be more stark. You do not have to do much research into Yemen to see thousands of pictures of starving children, whose skin is stretched taut over their bones. Yet the economic crisis in Venezuela which is in no way comparable fills our media with a call to action “to oust the dictator Maduro”. There are no similar calls to oust Mohammed Bin Salman, who orders journalist executions with bone saws.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/02/28/the-uk-lobbies-germany-to-sell-arms-to-the-saudis/?
(* B H K P)
Film: Schaltgespräch mit Johan Moolj (Leiter CARE International Jemen) am 26.02.19
Thomas Bade im Skype-Schaltgespräch mit Johan Moolj (Leiter CARE International Jemen) in Sanaa zum Krieg im Jemen, zur humanitären Hilfe und zur UN-Geberkonferenz für den Jemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos6_514j1A = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9swmNLESb0
(* B H P)
The following is the text of Nasser’s speech:
As an economist, however, I feel the overwhelming focus on the humanitarian situation distracts us somewhat from the point – that the humanitarian crisis is actually an economic crisis, and that this economic crisis is a result of a political conflict.
This means that the only true solution to the humanitarian crisis is to end the war. Until the war is over, we have to realize that any successes we have in addressing the crisis will be temporary and fragile.
That said, there are ways the current situation can be improved, and I would like to talk about them today.
Most of Yemen’s 1.2 million public sector workers have not received a regular pay check since August 2016.
While there have been some recent efforts to restart Yemen’s Social Welfare Fund, it ran out of funds for cash disbursements in December 2014. This means millions of Yemenis have been without state support for more than four years.
These two things combined have contributed more to the suffering of Yemenis than the war itself. As a consequence gender-based violence, child marriage, and child recruitment hit record levels like never before in Yemen.
That is why an economic de-escalation of the conflict is so critical. Basic state finances must be allowed to function and to provide for the basic needs of Yemenis.
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/news/7100
(* B P)
Middle East: Everyone for Himself
Chairman of the PIR Center Council Lt-Gen Yevgeny Buzhinsky (Ret.) speaks on the prospects for a collective security system in the Middle East, regional divergences and the influence of external forces in an interview with www.valdaiclub.com on the sidelines of the Valdai Club’s Middle East Conference.
The idea of establishing a collective security system in the Middle East raises skepticism for many objective reasons. To begin with, there are many players in the region that claim a leading role, primarily, Saudi Arabia and Iran, cooperation between which is seriously complicated by religious divergence. The same applies to Egypt
However, for now it is hard to imagine an alliance in which one of these countries would accept a role as second in command. For this reason, US plans to establish some form of NATO in the Middle East are doomed to failure. Eventually I don’t see any streamlined collective security system in the Middle East.
The main goal today is to end the conflict in Syria and embark on economic recovery there.
Second, something has to be done about Libya.
Third, it is necessary to avoid a conflict with Iran as far as this is possible.
Western policy negatively affects the situation in the region.
In general, attempts to impose Western-style democracy on countries that are founded on tribal principles are not feasible. Russia is not involved in this and this is why it has good relations with Saudi Arabia despite shouts from Washington.
http://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/middle-east-everyone-for-himself/
Remark: A Russian view.
(* B H P)
Why UN Should Be Concerned Over Saudi-UAE Aid Funding for Yemen
Humanitarian aid leaders say the two Persian Gulf countries give large cash flows amid their vicious military campaign in the war-torn country. Worse still, aid chiefs note that the Saudi-led coalition members have been committing war crimes in Yemen, including bombing villages, torture and the use of child soldiers.
For instance, Jan Egeland, who previously headed United Nations aid operations, railed against the “hypocrisy of nations trading in arms or raining down shells and bombs on Yemeni civilians” in a strongly worded statement earlier this week.
Indeed without US participation and arms, this Saudi-UAE war and “humanitarian” theatre in Yemen would not be possible.
By looking the other way as this double standard and hypocrisy unfolds, the UN cannot bring stability to Yemen, nor can it increase prospects for lasting peace. The inaction will only help to turn a horrible circumstance into a nightmare.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13971208001254
(* A K P)
Film: Hassan Al-Haifi war live.
https://www.facebook.com/hassan.alhaifi/videos/vb.100001109315667/2146407715406185/
(* B H P)
La ignorada catástrofe humanitaria en Yemen y la impotencia de sus cooperantes
[Überblicksartikel, spanisch)
(A P)
Sharm El-Sheikh summit declaration: Investing in Stability
We the Leaders of League of Arab States (LAS) and European Union (EU) member states held the first Summit on 24-25 February 2019 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, under the co-chairmanship of H.E Abdelfattah Al Sissi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and H.E Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, to discuss and address common and current challenges across the two regions comprising 12% of the world’s population and to embark on a new era of cooperation and coordination; confident that strengthened interaction between the member states of LAS and EU has great potential to enhance the stability, prosperity, and well-being of the two regions and the world at large, working in tandem within the multilateral, rules-based global order.
My comment: Which „stability“? The stability of a prison? The Europeans met with tyrants and dictators – which democrats did they meet there?
(B P)
Group of experts accuses UAE of circumventing Security Council resolutions on freezing assets and funds
The Panel of Experts of the United Nations Sanctions Committee has referred to possible circumvention of decisions concerning the freezing of assets, funds and financial resources of individuals and entities listed in the sanctions list.
The report alluded to the involvement of the UAE and its lack of commitment to the implementation of Security Council sanctions resolutions, including Khaled Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, who is likely to run the assets and funds of his father and brother.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164804
(B P)
Der Kreislauf von Zerstören und Aufbauen
Und während etwa die USA und ihre Verbündeten in Sachen Venezuela eindringlich verkünden, es gehe um die Demokratie und um nichts anderes, darf man sich schon wundern, warum dies nicht für andere Länder gilt. Saudi-Arabien beispielsweise ist einer der wichtigsten Partner der westlichen Welt im vorderen Orient. Ein Land, in welchem nach wie vor ein archaisches Gesellschaftsbild, insbesondere mit Blick auf Frauenrechte gilt. Das Land gilt in diesem Jahr wieder als besonders blutbefleckt beim Thema Todesstrafe.
Demokratie und Menschenrechte sind eben doch immer Auslegungssache und eng mit Rohstoff- und Wirtschaftsinteressen verbunden. Da schaut man auch mal freundlich weg, wenn der Scharfrichter das Blut vom Krummsäbel wischt oder wenn neueste deutsche Waffentechnologie in einem Stellvertreterkrieg zum Einsatz kommt, der ein ganzes Volk zu vernichten droht.
http://zlv.lu/spip/spip.php?article22267
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
Yemen: almost 300 health facilities destroyed or damaged
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that nearly 300 health facilities in Yemen have been damaged or destroyed, and around half of the remaining facilities are fully functioning. The WHO said the instability of the Yemeni currency has also driven up the cost of medicines and supplies, and thousands of health workers have not been paid for months.
(B H)
Film: Vulnerable women & kids fetching water for drinking and cooking from a spate watercourse in Algharaq village #Taiz.
https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1101539530182672385
(* B H)
UN Development Programme: Hope for Yemen: How UNDP is building for the future in the midst of conflict
The devastation of war
The ongoing conflict has had a devastating impact, causing poverty to spiral out of control and hurling the country back decades in its development. [Overview]
We respond to food insecurity by helping fishermen and farmers continue to work. We provide cash-for-work and employment for people who have no other income. We promote the dignity of Yemenis as they rebuild their communities brick-by-brick, road-by-road. We provide solar power to allow schools to continue, hospitals to provide vaccines and small businesses to run late into the night.
In 2019 and beyond, with our implementing partners, UNDP continues to work with Yemen through one of their darkest hours.
UNDP engages Yemenis around the country in emergency and temporary work opportunities in the construction and rehabilitation of small-scale infrastructure – such as wells, toilets, roads and schools – and in the delivery of social services like post-traumatic stress and nutrition counseling.
Our cash-for-work and wage employment benefits Yemenis right away by providing income and improving access to clean water, hospitals, schools and markets. Our emergency employment projects specifically target the most vulnerable – youth, women and the displaced – to help ensure the possibility of a stable income to sometimes otherwise forgotten or ignored populations.
https://stories.undp.org/2c1cb95b37c6e2f69d1e39bd1f6cea22 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/hope-yemen-how-undp-building-future-midst-conflict
(* B H)
United Nations Population Fund: UNFPA Response in Yemen: Monthly Situation Report #1 - January 2019
Despite a difficult operating environment, 254 international and national partners actively coordinate to assist people with the most acute needs in priority districts across Yemen’s 22 governorates. Together they have assisted over 7.9 million people monthly with some form of humanitarian assistance.
In 2019, UNFPA will escalate its operations to reach 5.5 million people in urgent need of lifesaving reproductive health and protection services. UNFPA's interventions will aim at strengthening health systems to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care and integrated reproductive services to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity; strengthening mechanisms to protect women and girls from different forms of violence; and reach newly displaced people with emergency life-saving packages through the Rapid Response Mechanism.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-response-yemen-monthly-situation-report-1-january-2019
(B H)
Taiz witnesses accumulation of garbage in streets
Taiz province, Southwest Yemen witnesses accumulation of garbage and waste in streets and neighborhoods of the city, with an alarming environmental and health catastrophe that has doubled the suffering of citizens due to the ongoing war in the city.
Especially, some people have been burning the garbage and smoke and unpleasant odors that harass people near al-Saylah (Rainwater Bank).
http://en.ypagency.net/92132/?fbclid=IwAR34o2h2dQ1xAqmjIGrsRyiL36MX8RI5RQ71_xRnz-u8Iy2cxHyVT7IEhB8
(B H)
United Nations Population Fund: UNFPA Response in Yemen: Monthly Situation Report #1 - January 2019
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH
Conflict, protracted displacement, disease and deprivation continues to inflict suffering on the country’s population as the crisis in Yemen enters another year. Disruption to commercial imports, inflation, lack of salary payments to civil servants and rising prices of basic commodities are exacerbating people’s vulnerability. Only half of health facilities are fully functioning. Needs have intensified across all sectors. Millions of Yemenis are hungrier, sicker and more vulnerable now than they were a year ago.
Despite a difficult operating environment, 254 international and national partners actively coordinate to assist people with the most acute needs in priority districts across Yemen’s 22 governorates. Together they have assisted over 7.9 million people monthly with some form of humanitarian assistance.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unfpa-response-yemen-monthly-situation-report-1-january-2019
(B H)
Jemen-Geberkonferenz: Geld ist nicht genug
Hilfsorganisationen: CARE, Oxfam, NRC und Save the Children: Es braucht Sicherheit für Helfer, ein Waffenembargo und Friedensverhandlungen
Zitat Susanna Krüger, Geschäftsführerin Save the Children zum Beitrag Deutschlands:
„Vier Jahre Krieg im Jemen haben den Menschen fast alles Überlebensnotwendige genommen. Während die Kämpfe weitergehen, stehen jeden Tag immer mehr Kinder an der Schwelle zum Hungertod. 11 Millionen Kinder sind bereits auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen.
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemen-geberkonferenz-geld-ist-nicht-genug
(B H)
Film: Just imagine how bad the situation is which #Yemeni children are living in after four years of the war and blockade in the country. Millions of #Yemeni have no access to clean water.
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1101245239287865344
(A H)
MONA relief: Today @monarelief's team was able to reach out 100 people with special needs in the capital Sana'a. Our project was funded by @monareliefye's online fundraising campaign along with our partners in #Austria (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1101192785854640130
In a quick response before any other local or Int'l NGOs @monarelief's team in the capital Sana'a delivered today urgent food aid baskets to five families of IDPs who displaced months ago from #Hodeidah to Sana'a. (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1101175225591451648
(B H)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Yemen Humanitarian Update Covering 24 January – 19 February 2019 | Issue 3
KEY ISSUES:
The Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview indicates 24 million Yemenis will need some form of humanitarian assistance in 2019.
Scale-up of the humanitarian operation in 2018 saved millions of lives.
2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan released - humanitarian partners aim to assist over 21.4 million people this year.
Weekly trend of suspected cholera cases remains stable at the country level.
(A H P)
Audio: Wie lässt sich die Not im Jemen lindern?
Reicht die internationale Hilfe aus, die Hungersnot im Jemen zu lindern? Fragen an Franz Rauchenstein, Chef des internationalen Komitees des Roten Kreuzes für den Jemen.
https://www.ndr.de/info/Wie-laesst-sich-die-Not-im-Jemen-lindern,audio490216.html
(B E H)
ACTED: In Raymah Governorate, Yemen, ACTED is helping farmers sow the seeds of a brighter future
In the four years since the crisis in Yemen escalated, farmers are among those hit hardest by the conflict. Steeply increasing prices for fuel, seeds, and equipment, as well as a wildly fluctuating currency value means have created a perfect storm for families engaged in agriculture, leading to the failure of many small-farms.
ACTED has partnered with the Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF-OCHA) to develop programmes in Raymah Governate aimed at distributing farming equipment and seeds to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition in vulnerable households. This programme also provided them with agricultural training courses, equipping them with the key skills they need to thrive in challenging circumstances.
https://www.acted.org/en/https-www-acted-org-en-p1271831previewtrue/ = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/raymah-governorate-yemen-acted-helping-farmers-sow-seeds-brighter-future
(* B H)
We're running out of time and money to help the children of Yemen
Mark Lowcock is the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
Out of 20 million people who need help securing food, nearly 10 million are just a step away from famine. Our assessment found that this includes almost 240,000 people who are facing catastrophic levels of hunger and barely surviving.
Only half the health facilities in the country are fully functioning, the 2018 Health Resources Availability Mapping Survey found. Hundreds of thousands of people got sick last year because of poor sanitation and waterborne diseases. Needs have intensified across all sectors. Millions of Yemenis are hungrier, sicker and more vulnerable today than they were a year ago.
The United Nations and humanitarian partners are doing our best to provide children such as Fawaz with a fighting chance.
Throughout 2018, despite one of the most dangerous and complex operational environments, some 254 international and national partners actively coordinated with the UN to provide even more people in Yemen with life-saving support.
But much more needs to be done.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/27/opinions/running-out-of-time-and-money-in-yemen-intl/index.html
(* B H)
Film: Millions of Yemenis spend hours to find clean drinking water
UN says the number of people in the country who need humanitarian aid rose from two million to 24 million last year.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/millions-yemenis-spend-hours-find-clean-drinking-water-190227131947489.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vRLcQQKxpQ
and see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEyGZiLVQvM
(B H)
Film: Ein platter Ball, ein paar Spielzeuge und viele wertvolle Erinnerungen, das ist alles, was Hashim aus dem Jemen von seinem besten Freund Fareed geblieben ist. #KindheitbrauchtFrieden
https://www.facebook.com/UNICEFdeutschland/videos/530665897421689/
(* A H P)
Hungersnot im Bürgerkriegsland: Getreidevorräte im Jemen von Käfern befallen
Fast zehn Millionen Menschen sind im Jemen von Hunger bedroht. Nun haben Uno-Kontrolleure erstmals seit Monaten wieder Zugang zu umkämpften Silos erhalten, wo 51.000 Tonnen Weizen lagern. Sie fanden: Rüsselkäfer-Befall.
Bei einer ersten Inspektion der seit fünf Monaten blockierten Getreidesilos im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen haben humanitäre Helfer einen Befall mit Rüsselkäfern festgestellt. Wie viel von den 51.000 Tonnen Weizen betroffen ist, konnte ein Sprecher des Uno-Welternährungsprogramms (WFP) in Genf noch nicht sagen.
Die Silos befinden sich in einer Kampfzone nahe der Hafenstadt Hudaida am Roten Meer. Vertreter von Rebellen und Regierung hatten sich im Dezember nach mehreren Tagen bei Verhandlungen in Schweden auf eine Feuerpause geeinigt - und Zugang zu den Silos der Getreidemühle Red Sea Mills versprochen. Das Getreide würde reichen, um 3,7 Millionen Menschen für einen Monat zu versorgen.
Die Uno-Inspekteure haben nun Proben des Weizens zur Analyse in ein Labor geschickt. Sie seien zuversichtlich, dass das Getreide desinfiziert und weiter verwendet werden könne, sagte der WFP-Sprecher. Der Generator der Mühle sei in gutem Zustand gewesen. Damit bestehe die Aussicht, das Getreide direkt vor Ort zu mahlen, sobald die Sicherheit der Angestellten gewährleistet sei.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/jemen-ruesselkaefer-haben-getreidevorraete-befallen-ernaehrungskrise-a-1255357.html = https://www.proplanta.de/Agrar-Nachrichten/Verbraucher/Ruesselkaefer-Befall-bei-Weizenvorraeten-verschaerft-Ernaehrungskrise-im-Jemen_article1551329536.html
(* A H P)
New Scandal of World Food Program in Sana’a "Insects in legumes"
In a new World Food Program scandal in Yemen, the results of a field visit by the National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Recovery has showed that WFP is distributing rotten food that contained insect.
According to a statement issued by the National Authority, "on the basis of a report on the presence of spoiled foodstuffs at the distributing points of the World Food Program, in Mu'tasim school and Al-Shami School in the capital Sana'a, the Commission formed a committee to investigate these centers. We found out that there are small insects in legumes at the World Food Centers in these two schools.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5628&cat_id=1
photos: https://twitter.com/Maddllock2/status/1100859650130563073
(A H)
Parents in AlDali province #Yemen reported presence of cockroaches stuffed with biscuits distributed to children schools through the feeding & humanitarian relief Pro @UNReliefChief.They confirmed the retention of biscuit packets. demanding an investigation (photos)
https://twitter.com/I4Yemen/status/1101030773845565440
(B H)
Film: Please listen carefully but don't be shocked. A man in this footage asking people to buy his children because he isn't able to feed them. I'm very frustrated, I have no work, no home & no food, he says. That is happening only in #Yemen due to the misusing of the donation by INGOs
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1100885898932178944
(B H)
Forget Venezuela: 80% of Yemenis Require Urgent Humanitarian Aid, Up 30%
While the world focuses on Venezuela to validate coup threats, the manmade humanitarian situation in Yemen continues deteriorating. In fact, the very country claiming to help alleviate Venezuelan suffering, the United States, has played an active and intentional role in creating the crisis in Yemen.
According to a recent report from ReliefWeb, 80% of Yemen’s entire population require urgent humanitarian assistance. This figure is up 30% from last year. That means out of an estimated population of 30.5 million, 24.1 million require immediate aid for survival.
Facing starvation and famine due to the blockade, 20.1 million need urgent food assistance. Healthcare is also a vital concern. 19.7 million Yemenis lack basic access to doctors and lifesaving medicines. To top it off, 17.8 million don’t even have proper water, sanitation, and other supplies for keeping up with basic hygiene. By looking at these numbers, it’s easy to see that a majority of Yemenis need urgent assistance in all three areas.
This is a major problem because the lack of access to clean water and sanitation equipment is directly responsible for the fatal spread of cholera.
https://geopoliticsalert.com/venezuela-yemen-aid
(* B H P)
Wrong numbers have been thrown around by international agencies regarding the number of civil servants not receiving salaries in #Yemen. I will try to explain the numbers in detail in this thread.
First of all, the total public sector workforce on the payroll in #Yemen as of Dec 2014 is 1,247,783. Of those only 472,353 are in the civil service, with 652,752 in the military and security services, & the remaining ~122K workers in state owned enterprises and independent units
to a large extent, the military personnel actively fighting on both sides have received their salaries since the beginning of the conflict, be it with some irregularities. The main discussions on resumption of salary payments have been focused on civil servant salaries.
Of the 472,353 civil service employees, 242,657 have received their salaries from the government throughout 2018. 229,696 civil servants have not received salaries from the government in 2018, though they likely benefited from the half-month salary that Houthis pay irregularly
https://twitter.com/ymnraf/status/1100780228237029376
(B H)
Film: Over 1 million Yemenis have not received their salaries for more than 2 years. 4,500 families benefited from @ICRC_ye cash grants, yet, the needs in #Yemen remain immense.
https://twitter.com/ICRC_ye/status/1100727680172019712
(B H)
Film: Alone in the night, a girl in #Yemen
Alone in the night, a girl at a traffic light colapses exhausted and checks if her box is still with her.
It is always a war on children
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2447398888667754
(B H)
UNDP: Good Practices and Lessons Learned: Solar Interventions under ERRY Project in Yemen
The overarching objective of the programme is to enhance the resilience and self-reliance of crisis-affected rural communities by supporting livelihoods stabilisation and recovery, local governance, and improving access to sustainable energy. The ERRY Programme has been implemented in four governorates: Abyan, Hajjah, Hodeidah, and Lahj.
As part of its contribution to the ERRY solar interventions, UNDP conducted this study with an aim to identify good practices in Yemen. Such results could bear great significance to the humanitarian and development agencies,
www.ye.undp.org/content/yemen/en/home/library/crisis_prevention_and_recovery/good-practices-and-lessons-learned--solar-interventions-under-er.html = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/good-practices-and-lessons-learned-solar-interventions-under-erry-project-yemen-abyan
(B H)
UN Development Programme: UNDP Fast Facts: Yemen (26 February 2019)
UNDP works to ensure maximum and immediate impact at the community-level, assisting vulnerable Yemenis in meeting their most urgent needs while preparing them for potential future shocks. Working with local partners, we aim to help Yemen build back better and stronger than before.
http://www.ye.undp.org/content/yemen/en/home/library/crisis_prevention_and_recovery/undp-yemen-fast-facts-.html = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/undp-fast-facts-yemen-26-february-2019
(* B H)
8 Facts: Yemenis 'Dying Every Day' as UN Makes Record Appeal
"Yemeni people ... are dying every single day this war continues," the charities said in a joint statement.
Here are eight facts about the war in Yemen:
https://www.voanews.com/a/facts-yemenis-dying-every-day-as-un-makes-record-appeal/4804950.html
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* B H)
'Worse than an oven': Saudi-funded camp won't be liveable by May
Yemenis fear they could suffocate due to intermittent electricity and soaring temperatures in new housing units.
Markazi refugee camp, Djibouti – He survived Saudi-led air raids, Houthi snipers and a perilous boat journey from Yemen to Djibouti. But for Ahmad Muhammed Ali, the next few months could be the toughest of his life.
So, in November, when Saudi Arabia inaugurated 300 shipping-container style housing units, he thought his prayers had finally been answered.
In a ceremony marked with pomp and celebration, the Saudi and Djiboutian governments unveiled the units to accommodate around 1,200 Yemeni refugees at Markazi, along with a mosque, a school, and two medical centres.
Costing a reported $6.5m, less than the price of five Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles, Ali, like many of the camps residents rejoiced, hopeful that the project would generate more funding and development from the oil-rich kingdom.
But only three months in, temperatures inside Ali's unit are already exceeding 35 degrees, raising fears that intermittent supplies of electricity could make the steel units "worse than ovens," and potentially death traps.
"The authorities switch off the power at around 1pm because of fears the generators might get hot and damaged.
"So we stay in indoors for about an hour after lunch, but once it gets really unbearable, we head outside. It's cooler outside than it is inside".
'Ramadan will be very bad'
Many of the residents told Al Jazeera they were dreading the summer months which are accompanied by the "khamsin", a ferociously hot sandstorm.
With temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius and wind speeds as high as 60kph, this year's dust storm coincides with the start of Ramadan, the daily fasting period that begins in May.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/oven-saudi-funded-camp-won-liveable-190301121224205.html
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, CCCM Cluster, Shelter Cluster: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Monthly Situation Report - January 2019
The situation on the conflict frontlines remains intense and generates waves of displacements especially in Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, and Taizz governorates.
An IDP hosting site in Haradh district was struck resulting in the killing of 8 civilians.
In January, the Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster reached 59,500 people in need through 15 active partners.
The Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster has requested $222 million to provide assistance to 3 million people in 2019.
https://www.sheltercluster.org/yemen/documents/shelternficccm-cluster-monthly-situation-report-january-2019-en = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/shelternficccm-cluster-monthly-situation-report-january-2019
(A H)
Yemeni journalist drowned in Mediterranean Sea
A Yemeni sports journalist, Mohamed al-Ahdal was found dead inside a small boat that was moving in the middle of the Mediterranean, in Algeria, intending to reach Europe, media outlets reported on Friday.
According to the media, al-Ahdal was on an illegal migrant boat in Algeria
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 22 February 2019
Key figures:
24M people in need; 3.9M displaced in the last three years; 81% of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) displaced for more than one year; 1M IDP returnees; 1.2M IDPs given in-kind or cash assistance in 2018; 274,162 refugees and asylum-seekers
Funding
USD 198.6 M required for 2019 operations; USD 38.9 M received as of 6 February 2019
IDP Response
UNHCR’s first round of cash distributions in the southern governorates of Yemen will reach 9,000 beneficiary households. Assessments and verification have now been completed. Just over half of the assistance will be received by families identified by UNHCR and partners as having protection needs, while the remainder will assist families with shelter needs.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-22-february-2019
(* B H)
International Organization for Migration IOM Yemen: 2018 Achievements
In 2018, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen hit a new low. The man-made food security crisis, pushed many communities to the brink of famine. At the end of 2018, it was estimated that 80%of the population is in need of humanitarian response.
In order to help address these expanding needs, IOM bolstered and expanded operations in 2018 in order to provide efficient multisector humanitarian response. IOM’s emergency response programming expanded by 200% since 2017.
IOM provides multi-sectorial humanitarian assistance within the following sectors of assistance of Health, Coordination and Safety, Food Security, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Shelter, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), Non-Food Items (NFIs), and Emergency Employment and Community Rehabilitation (EECR), and multi-sectorial assistance for migrants.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-2018-achievements-enar
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(* B P)
Yemen. Are the Houthis agents of Iran as the media companies say?
The Houthi movement is not an instrument of anyone, but a popular movement that defends itself, and defends Yemen, from foreign aggression, in an enormously unequal war and that nevertheless the powerful armies of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates - with the support and US help - they can not win. Mark Aguirre, good connoisseur of the Yemeni reality, gives the keys of the reason of that resistance.
The war in Yemen is usually presented as a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the hegemony in the region. While the presence of Saudi Arabia is diaphanous - leaders of a coalition of external and internal military forces - the presence of the Iranians in the war is a mystery.The lack of material evidence - no presence of Iranian soldiers or Iran's supply of weapons - has been replaced by posting a tagline linking the Houthis to Iran when they are named [1]. They also tend to present the Houthis as a hermetic and dark movement. Instead of being a subject of popular resistance they are presented as an object of geopolitical interests alien to the interests of the Yemeni people [2].
The truth, as the reader will see, is another. You can agree with them or not, but the Houthis, by their origin and trajectory, are a genuinely Yemeni movement that has its roots in the history of Yemen. Its success is one of those events that rarely occur in the history of a country. A small and minority political group, with a seemingly backward ideology, circumscribed to a small area of a marginalized province, manages to build in a short space of time a movement capable of taking power and successfully resisting an external military aggression. A process that by its exceptionality confuses many political analysts who can not understand how a minority movement born of impoverished and backward tribal peasants will be able to seize power and maintain it in the name of the nation in the face of the aggression of a foreign army armed with weapons. Sophisticated and aided by the world's greatest military power.
The history of the Houthis, as we have seen, is that of a social movement born from below, which feeds on symbolic religious identity references to resist the economic abandonment and political marginalization to which a corrupt and despotic political regime has subjected them. The extraordinary thing is that these tribal peasants, first adding to other tribal forces and then the ordinary people of the cities impoverished by neoliberalism, have been able to take power and firmly maintain it afterwards in a brutal war of external aggression. It is undoubtedly the national and popular character of a resistance movement that explains that the Houthis continue to have the majority support of the population despite suffering the greatest modern humanitarian crisis manufactured as a strategy of war by the Saudis. [11] Support that could not be explained if they operated on behalf of Iran.
Journalists who have had the opportunity to visit Yemen recently speak in their chronicles of how ordinary people suffer and resist war. [12] The militiamen who fight with the Houthis are officials, peasants, teachers ... normal people who resist the occupation. They talk about popular donations to finance the resistance. Those who have reached Saada, the epicenter of the resistance movement, report devastated territory. Saada has suffered more than 18,000 air strikes since the war began. In the city all government buildings have been destroyed. "There are no buildings left to bomb," they write. The suffering is enormous. They came to kill 40 children on a school trip. These journalists say that the bombs, instead of weakening the Houthis, are making them stronger. Yemenis, whether they agree politically or not with them, continue to see them as a national movement that defends the country from external aggression – by Mark Aguirre
https://www.elviejotopo.com/articulo/yemen-y-el-movimiento-huzi-ante-la-guerra/ = rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=253071
(B P)
Former teachers were deprived of it and replaced with Houthis, Complaints of manipulation of the Saudi scholarship
Teachers in Dhamar province have complained about the donation from Saudi Arabia through UNICEF as an incentive for teachers who have been stranded in Yemen for more than two years.
Teachers who contacted Al-Masdar online said that they were deprived of it even though they were old teachers and were surprised that their names were dropped from the incentive slips, while they included new names added by Houthi officials as replacements for teachers who left their areas or went to search for work that would provide their families with a living after Payroll Interruption.
Educational sources told the source online that the amount of money disbursed to the teachers through Alkuraimi bank was not done in accordance with the 2014 lists
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164832
(A P)
#Yemen-is from all parties, gathered today infront of #US embassy in #Sanaa in solidarity with #Venezuela against #USA interference Organisers Statement (photos)
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1101144021022531589
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1101294560112713738
(A P)
Readiness of branches of the HCER to conduct elections to fill vacant seats discussed
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news527955.htm
(* A H P)
Increase in the number of drug trucks and aid withheld in Ibb to 35 trucks
The al-Houthi militia's detention of new trucks in Ibb province of central Yemen carrying humanitarian and relief assistance destined for a number of provinces, an official said.
The Houthi militia in the eastern port of Ibb City of the Maytam area has detained six new trucks with humanitarian aid and medicines coming from the province of Aden, the source told Al-Masdar online.
According to the source, the number of trucks held has risen to 35, some belonging to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and another to the International Medical Organization (MSF).
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164799
(A P)
The Houthi group launched a kidnapping campaign against civilians in Al-Zubayra area in Heifan district in #Taiz city.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1100900923793199106
(A P)
Taiz.. Houthi militias kidnaps two girls, and liquidated their brother for terrorism
A local source told "Al-Masdar online " that the Houthi militias kidnapped Yasmine and Haifa Farhan al-Zarari, from the village of Goranah in Maqbana Directorate, in order to pressure their brother to surrender himself to the group.
Al-Houthi militia announced on Wednesday that Majid Farhan al-Zarari, Aka” Abu Hafs”, was killed and accused of forming al-Qaeda cells in the directorates of Maqbana and Sharab al-Rawna.
The fate of the girls Jasmine and Haifa al-Zarari is not known after their brother was liquidated by Houthi militias in mysterious circumstances
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164765
(* A K P)
Ministry of Human Rights condemns al-Houthi bombing of civilian homes in Hajjah
The Yemeni government's Ministry of Human Rights has condemned the al-Houthi militia's bombing of civilian houses in Koshar district of Hajjah.
"On Wednesday, the Houthi militia stormed a village in Namerah northwest of Al-Obseh, in Koshar- Hajjah, and detonated and blew up at least 13 houses from Bani Jabhan and Bani Jushaibi Homes," the ministry said.
"This crime comes with the continuation of the siege imposed by the militia on villages and the isolation of the directorates of Hajur for more than 40 days in collective punishment with indiscriminate shelling of the houses of the people there, resulting in serious victims of lives and property, and a number of women and children fell between a martyr and wounded," the statement added.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164818
and also https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1101056236760559616
Remark: By the Hadi government.
My comment: Just blaming the Houthis is shortsighted. For the background of this conflict, read https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/absurd-front-thousands-besieged-north-yemen-battle-no-one-can-win
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A E P)
All government filling stations and some private filling stations have been shut down in Yemen's temporary capital Aden over a fuel price dispute, trigging a fuel crisis. Meanwhile, black market is thriving, locals say.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1101774443704143872
(A P)
Film: Civilians are attacked in Al-Qaramesh, Marab governorate, by the Saudi coalition army.
https://www.facebook.com/javier.dias.75248795/videos/o.178437079767851/161863274801638/
(A)
Hadhramaut.. Destruction of the largest quantity of drugs seized in Yemen
the first military zone and the anti-drug command in Hadramawt province on Thursday destroyed 20 tons of hashish and narcotic pills.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164826
(A P)
"Tuhami Elite " Invade private security forces camp in Al-Khokha and arrest its leader
On Thursday, forces calling themselves "Tuhami elite" stormed the special security forces camp in al-Khokha district (160 km south of Hodeidah, west of Yemen) and arrested its commander.
Local sources told "Al-Masdar online " That these forces supported by Emirat, led by "Abdul Rahman Shoei " and "Murad al-Sheraee" stormed the camp, after confrontations, and kidnapped the commander of the special Forces, Brigadier Sadiq Attia.
According to the sources, the clashes resulted in the death of one person and the wounding of 11 other private security forces
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164817
(B P)
Photo: I could not tell what the publication was like.
Of # reality and model in the south of the country
Of the occupiers of the UAE occupier in the south of the occupied homeland, we have brought to you this picture as the least of the horrors and calamities perpetrated by the occupier Emirati two days
In secret prisons of kidnapping and torture in all forms and images
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1987573391538645
My comment: Unverified.
(A P)
Criminal appellate court endorsed the release of five detainees in Mukalla
The specialized appellate criminal Court in the eastern city of Mukalla issued a ruling on Wednesday to endorse the decision of the Court of first instance to release a group of detainees and to confine themselves to the time spent in prison.
The specialized appellate criminal Court in the city of Mukalla resumed the trial of 10 detainees in the central prison
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164798
(A P)
Hadhrami activists call for the release of Sheikh Bamakharmh, member of the National Dialogue Conference
Hadrami activists demanded the release of Salafist Sheikh Kamal Bamakhramah four days after he was arrested by Hadrami elite forces with two of his children.
Hadrami elite forces , an Emirati-backed forces, besieged the House of Bamakhramah, at dawn on Saturday, in the city of Ghail Bawazeer, east of Mukalla city, and arrested him and two of his sons.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164793
(* B P)
Minister of the interior: there are security imbalances in Aden and we arrested two cells accused of assassinating 11 imam and preacher
Yemeni Interior Minister Ahmed al-Mayseri said on Wednesday that unnamed authorities in the city of Aden, the interim capital and the government-controlled provinces, Undermines the authority of his ministry.
Since taking up his duties as interior minister, he has been working on the opening of assassination files, and has worked on collecting inferences.
"The killers of Sheikh Rawi are now in the hands of justice, after the investigations were completed in full criminal investigation and the file was transferred to the public prosecution, which took place silently six months ago."
He noted that the file will be handed over to the court and "The killers of Sheikh Rawi will receive their punishment."
The Minister of Interior confirmed the arrest of two cells that killed 11 imam and preachers, and that the elements of the two cells are still under investigation, and that work is continuing to trace the other cells and to hold accountable those who committed the crimes and who financed them and stopping those behind them and expose them to public opinion.
More than 30 imam and preachers were assassinated in Aden, and more than 200 others were forced to flee the country, said Endowments ministry undersecretary Mohamed Mashdood.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164791
and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-28058
(A P)
Yemen government pays thousands of civil servants in Hodeidah
United Nations hails decision amid efforts to implement ceasefire
Yemen’s government has paid the salaries of more than 30,000 state employees in Hodeidah province after a gap of more than two years, officials said.
The province was controlled by the Houthi rebels from the beginning of the civil war in 2014 until last year, when many areas were liberated by government forces.
“The department of finance in the province started paying two months' salary for 31,330 civil servants since Tuesday, in both government and rebel-held areas,” deputy provincial governor Waleed Al Qudaimi told The National.
“People suffered greatly under the strict siege imposed by the Houthis which deprived them of their income,” he said.
My comment: The reason of the delay was no “Houthi siege” (which siege??), but the crackdown of the financial admistration and the currency due to president Hadi’s catastrophic central bank policy.
(A P)
Head of Government urges donors to direct financial aid through central bank
Prime Minister Dr Ma'een Abdulmalik stated that Yemeni Government hinges great hopes upon brothers' and friends support in financing Humanitarian Response Plan in Yemen and shoring up the government' policies aiming to mitigate the humanitarian crisis and bring more stable situations.
In his opening remarks at the Fund Raising Conference held Tuesday in Geneva with purpose of securing necessary resources to fund the Humanitarian Response Plan in Yemen in 2019, he called for supporting the government's efforts, enabling it to function effectively, deliver on its commitments to the Yemeni people.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164757
My comment: A nice propaganda speech. The Hadi government wants to just get the money which is pledged for helping Yemen.
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(* A P)
Southern Yemenis warn exclusion from U.N. peace talks could trigger new conflict
A separatist leader from south Yemen said a U.N.-mediated peace deal that fails to address the south’s wish for self-determination would be “dangerous” and could trigger a new conflict.
Ahmed Omar bin Fareed, a senior member of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the southern separatist movement’s political body, told Reuters the south needed to be included in the peace process to avoid further conflict if a deal does not satisfy their demand for self-determination.
“They will not accept this. And they will fight again,” Bin Fareed said.
“So you have two choices: start another war against them to start another crisis, or to understand the aspirations of the people, and to avoid any political crisis or unrest in the region. They will likely defend their interests if they feel their interests are marginalized in the diplomatic process.”
The STC has met Griffiths three times and he understands their aspirations, Bin Fareed said.
“He promised us that we will be at the table. But when?”
Excluding the STC while talks progress on a new constitution, a national government and preparation for national elections would be “a difficult scenario for us”.
Comment: This is absolutely true. Whether separate or in unity, the north and south of Yemen have to make peace - either to live separately or together - in order for both portions of Yemen to live in peace and recover from the dreadful events of the past four years.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157406204698641
(* A P)
Hunt begins Gulf visit in attempt to salvage Yemen peace plan
Minister also under pressure to take tougher line with Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi murder
Britain’s foreign secretary has begun a three-day visit to the Middle East in an effort to salvage Yemen’s faltering ceasefire, telling Houthi rebels they must start withdrawing their forces from the port of Hodeidah in line with a UN peace plan.
Hunt met the Houthi movement’s chief negotiator, Mohamed Abdul-Salam, in Oman, telling him the withdrawal of troops from Hodeidah needed to happen soon to maintain confidence in the UN cessation of hostilities agreed in Sweden in December.
The UK is concerned that perceived Houthi delaying tactics may lead Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to return to a military solution to the four-year Yemen civil war.
My comment. Britain is warring party, not a peace broker; and even must be “pressed” to take a tugher line with Saudi Arabia.
And
(A P)
British minister urges implementation of Stockholm Agreement on Yemen during Gulf tour
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will meet Yemeni government officials and Houthi leaders during a trip to the Gulf region to urge the immediate implementation of the UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement.
Hunt visited Muscat on Friday where he signed a joint declaration on UK-Omani relations and met Houthi militia spokesman Mohamed Abdul Salem.
He will also visit Saudi Arabia where he will address a global conference on patient safety, and the UAE.
Hunt said his “aim is to build on the UN-backed agreement reached in Stockholm in December,” and that he will “urge all sides to accelerate the redeployments they agreed at Stockholm and ensure the flow of humanitarian relief.”
British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron said Hunt’s tour is “very important,” and that progress should be made in the coming days.
He told Arab News this week that the international community will react strongly if the Houthis put the peace process at risk.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1459921/middle-east
Remark: By Saudi news side. – Britain is a warring party, not a peace broker.
and
(* A P)
Chief negotiator for Yemen’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement Mohammed Abdul-Salam has met with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a rare meeting in Oman’s capital city of Muscat to discuss ongoing peace negotiations related to the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah.
Abdul-Salam reiterated Yemen’s commitment to an agreement reached in Sweden’s Stockholm in December last year in the meeting, Yemen’s official Saba Net news agency reported on Friday.
Speaking to Hunt, Abdul-Salam, however, expressed concern about what he described as the Saudi-led coalition’s attempts at introducing new conditions to the already-agreed “Phase 1” arrangement.
Abdul-Salam rejected any alteration of the previously agreed deal.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/03/01/589914/Yemen-Houthi-negotiator-British-FM
and more detailed http://www.sabanews.net/en/news528027.htm
and
(* A P)
British Foreign Secretary’s remarks are scandalous: Revolutionary Committee Chief
Chief of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee Mohammed Ali al-Houthi on Saturday described British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s remarks on Yemen as “scandalous”.
“Jeremy Hunt should be well aware that the Yemeni people know that Britain is an active partner in the aggression on Yemen,” said al-Houthi on his Twitter account.
Al-Houthi added that “British draft resolutions are not for justice, but for serving the American-Israeli agenda in the Security Council.”
He explained that Hunt’s remarks aimed to improve the image of the aggression countries that commit massacres against civilians and starve the Yemeni people by imposing all-out siege on the country.
“Britain and the U.S. are the two countries that gave the signal to start the battle of Hodeidah and they want to repeat it,” he said.
http://en.ypagency.net/92225/ = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564/2162133300506355/
(A P)
Saudi spends $100 billion bombing Yemen* UN: *Saudi pledges $0.75 billion in humanitarian aid* UN: Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia #KSA for this year’s increased pledge of 750 million USD and your continued support to the humanitarian response in #Yemen @KSRelief_EN @ksamissionun
https://twitter.com/Hayder_alKhoei/status/1100806273652662273
https://twitter.com/UNReliefChief/status/1100364830337323008
My comment: This is UN hypocrisy and bias in a nutshell.
(A P)
Security Council renews sanctions against individuals and entities that threaten Yemen's stability
The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution renewing the financial sanctions and travel ban stipulated in resolution 2140 in February 2014, to be applied against individuals or entities that threaten peace, security and stability in Yemen for a period of one year, until February 26, 2020.
The UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo by resolution No. 2216 of April 2015 against al-Houthi group and forces loyal to the late President Ali Abdallah Saleh and his son Ahmed Ali Saleh.
The Council also extended the mandate of the Group of Experts until 28 March 2020, as set out in resolution 2216, expressing its intention to review the work of the expert mandate and to take appropriate action on its extension before the expiration of its mandate.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164750
My comment: Not including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Hadi government, US and UK to those who “threaten peace, security and stability in Yemen” shows how biased the UN actually is.
(A P)
UN envoy departs Yemen after three-day visit
Government, Houthis remain committed to implementing ceasefire in Al-Hudaydah, envoy says
Griffiths arrived in Sanaa on Tuesday to speak with Houthi leaders about implementation of a UN-backed ceasefire in Yemen’s coastal Al-Hudaydah province.
While in Yemen, Griffiths also met with Denmark’s Michael Lollesgaard, head of a UN observer force based in Al-Hudaydah.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-envoy-departs-yemen-after-three-day-visit/1405583
(A P)
Al-Mashat meets Martin Griffiths, Michael Lollesgaard
President of the Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat met on Wednesday with the UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and the head of Redeployment Committee, Michael Lollesgaard.
“If the other side backed by Saudi-led coalition continues to hinder the UN team to carrying the agreement in the first phase, we are ready to continue to implement the agreement unilaterally if United Nations requested that, al-Mashat said.”
http://en.ypagency.net/91815/?fbclid=IwAR36dqXQzvVkcg86CJAYLFOfqXB_S_3CrrjqC3ftR7lHmhJmW9OrLUz1PZE
Remark: Sanaa government, as the following:
(A P)
Foreign Minister: Other Side Does Not Care about Entire Peace Process
Foreign Minister, Hisham Sharaf, said during his meeting today with the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffith, that the National leadership in Sana'a is keen to implement the agreement immediately and has presented many ideas and proposals to ensure the success of the agreement. On the contrary, the Foreign Minister explained that the other parts is not showing any seriousness to follow what has been agreed upon.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5618&cat_id=1
(B P)
A big dose of colonialism is needed to fix Yemen
Suggesting a revival of colonialism in failed states like Yemen can get you into hot water these days, as I have learned
A more nuanced and careful understanding of the colonial past may help some countries like Yemen to embrace a temporarily colonial future.
A major dose of reality is needed for Yemen, as well as for other failed post-colonial states like the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have demonstrated a serial lack of capacity to self-govern. As I have argued elsewhere, the colonial past is a key resource for this new vision because it allows countries like Yemen or the Congo to ransack their historical attics for lessons about what made good governance possible under colonialism (which began in the Congo in 1908 to correct the abuses of the private fiefdom of the Belgian king and his Arab partners).
In the case of Yemen, a United Nations transitional administration should be established with a lengthy remit over the country and a group of countries as its trustees.
https://www.thearticle.com/a-big-dose-of-colonialism-is-needed-to-fix-yemen/
My comment: ???? I disagree. Anyway, the UN would not be colonialism. But, Western interference and neo-colonialism to a great extent is responsible for the mess in countries like Yemen and Congo. It’s absurd to think this could be fixed by more colonialism.
(A P)
President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi reiterated on February 26 that Yemen can only achieve peace in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2216 from 2015, which demands that al Houthi forces withdraw from all areas seized during the conflict and disarm. The.al Houthi movement rejected those terms in the most recent round of UN-led peace consultations in December 2018.[1]
My comment: Obviously, not. Res. 2216 certainly is one of the most biased UN resolutions ever. It demands the one side to capitulate and gives the other a free pass for everything – and to Hadi, it seems to grant a life-long presidency, at last as long as the war lasts.
(* B K P)
The Saudi-led coalition makes Yemeni women bleed!
During the past four years,the Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US, and its paid fighters caused incidents of abuse of women in Yemeni provinces , and these attacks have varied from bodily harm to rape, abduction and murder and trafficking of their bodies, especiay in southern provinces, under the control of the coalition’s forces
A Yemeni journalist from Lahj province published video footage of paid fighters ,loyal to Shalal Shaye, who is backed by the UAE forces, assaulting women and firing live bullets in order to intimidate them during a clash in the province of Aden, under the control of UAE
The coalition’s paid fighters kidnapped a group of women in Tuhaita district of Hodeidah province ,took them who were bringing water to their houses from a well, using the threat of weapons, and then took them to an unknown area.The paid fighters refused to tell the people about the abduction of women, or where the abductees are held.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) forces begun recruiting women in the Yemeni island of Socotra and sent them to Abu Dhabi to attend training courses, sources familiar with the issue told YemenExtra, whereas“over 20 girls from Socotra traveled to the UAE
The ISLAH Party ,loyal to the coalition, in Yemen’s eastern province recently sent a large number of women affiliated to the party to a training camps in remote desert areas.
Nearly 100 women, most of them unmarried, belonging to southern provinces, Ibb and Taiz provinces, were trained on explosive belts in secret camp in a desert area between Marib and Jawf.They (women) have undergone intensive training for 40 days on the use of various kinds of heavy and medium weapons, and security training was focusing on dealing with house-storming operations, thorough inspection, planting of explosive devices and wearing of explosive belts.
www.yemenextra.net/2019/02/25/the-saudi-led-coalition-makes-yemeni-bleed/
Remark: As claimed by a pro-Houthi news site.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(B P)
‘Iran Asked to Help Saudis Leave Yemen without Losing Face’
A leading Iranian journalist says Saudi Arabia has asked Iran to pave the way for Riyadh’s honourable exit from Yemen which has been the target of Saudis air raids since 2015.
Hossein Shariatmadari, the Editor-in-Chief of Iranian daily Kayhan, in a recent speech claimed the Saudis have asked Iran to help them end the Yemen crisis without losing more face.
http://yemenonline.info/politics/1901
My comment: I doubt. They certainly would prefer the Pope, or whom ever, to Iran for doing this.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(B P T)
Film (Arabic): #Saudi national Sultan AlShammari from Hail among #ISIS fighters surrendering to @DefenseUnits forces , Iraq
head of Saudi state security Avdulaziz AlHuwIrini sent thousands of young people to join terrorist groups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoGYhxccmXg
(A P)
Saudi scholar advises Muslim women not to wear coloured contact lenses
Speaking in the "Fatwa" programme aired on the first TV channel, he said that wearing lenses for non-medical reason amounts to tampering with God’s creation.
(A B P)
Saudis prepare trials of detainees identified as women's rights activists
Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is preparing the trials of detainees, identified by watchdog groups as women’s rights activists, after completing its investigations, state news agency SPA said on Friday.
The report provided few details but referenced a June 2018 statement which said that nine people - five men and four women - were arrested and held on suspicion of harming the country’s interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad.
and
(A B P)
Saudi Arabia: Women’s Rights Activists Charged
No Mention of Investigating Their Torture Allegations
Saudi Arabia’s public prosecution agency announced on March 1, 2019 that the country’s leading women’s rights activists who have been detained following arrests that began in May 2018 would face charges and be put on trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The prosecutors did not specify the charges.
“The Saudi prosecution is bringing charges against the women’s rights activists instead of releasing them unconditionally,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Saudi authorities have done nothing to investigate serious allegations of torture, and now, it’s the women’s rights activists, not any torturers, who face criminal charges and trials.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/01/saudi-arabia-womens-rights-activists-charged
(A P)
Saudi Arabia strips Osama bin Laden's son of citizenship
(* B P)
Saudi Arabia, a crown prince, and the bomb
Revelations of the Trump administration’s attempt to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia are part of a broader pattern.
Last week the US Congress House Oversight and Reform Committee released a new report alleging that members of the Trump administration sought to expedite the transfer of American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, a possibly illegal move.
The recent revelations bring up the question of why Saudi Arabia wanted this nuclear technology in the first place, and does the Kingdom have the intention to develop this infrastructure to produce nuclear weapons?
The American role
To analyse whether Saudi Arabia would pursue nuclear weapons, it is necessary to examine why the Kingdom did not seek these weapons in the past.
In the past, Saudi Arabia has cultivated extensive economic relations with nearly every major world power, including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Germany and France. Acquiring nuclear weapons would have brought a volatile element into the equation that would be unattractive to the foreign investors that drove this growth.
The US relationship with Saudi Arabia constituted a far safer and more robust deterrent to external aggression than nuclear weapons ever could, and a budding Saudi nuclear program would only have threatened the Kingdom’s scrupulously internationalised economy and its hard-won reputation for stability and pragmatism.
What changed after the death of King Abdallah in 2015 was the accession of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, as well the signing of the Iran deal, signalling a US modus vivendi with Iran under the Obama administration.
The pragmatism that characterised King Abdallah’s regional policy has now been overturned, evident with Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, the embargo of Qatar, and the intensification of the regional cold war with Iran.
In regards to the nuclear weapons, in March 2018 the Crown Prince declaredpublicly in a CBS TV interview that Saudi Arabia would develop a nuclear bomb if Iran does. In November 2018 he announced a project to build the first nuclear research reactor in the kingdom – by Ibrahim Al Marishi
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/saudi-arabia-a-crown-prince-and-the-bomb-24575
(* B P)
Saudi sisters hiding in Hong Kong face imminent deportation
Rawan and Reem fled their family trying to reach Australia six months ago – now their only hope is an emergency visa from a third country
Activists say hundreds of women try to escape the kingdom each year.
“We have received an increasing number of accounts of Saudi women attempting to flee Saudi Arabia for various reasons, which include escaping systematic discrimination in Saudi Arabia under the male guardianship system as well as fleeing domestic violence or threats of violence,” said Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Coogle said the organisation has worked with seven or eight similar cases. “The real number who attempt to escape is likely much higher,” he said.
(* B P)
MbS parrots China's propaganda, and betrays its Uighur Muslims
The Saudi crown prince's words were a shameless attempt to whitewash China's unacceptable treatment of its Uighur Muslims
Saudi Arabia has long sold itself as the "gatekeepers of Islam" and "defender of Muslims" around the world.
This claim has become self-evidently more spurious in recent years, given the Kingdom's calamitous and ongoing war in Yemen, and its coddling of foreign leaders notorious for persecuting Muslim minorities, including Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and India's Narendra Modi.
It was with these headwinds Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) flew from Riyadh to meet with President Xi Jinping in China last week.
I had thought that MBS would choose to not utter a solitary word about China's cruel and uncompromising effort to ethnically cleanse 13 million Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, or what was East Turkestan during the 1930s and 1940s.
But I was sadly mistaken. Not only did MBS speak about China's vast network of Muslim concentration camps, but also he actually used the moment to defend China's right to do what it's doing, in the name of fighting "extremism" and "radicalisation" – by CJ Werleman
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2019/2/26/mbs-shameful-betrayal-of-chinas-uighur-muslims
(A E P)
Saudi Aramco adds Goldman Sachs as bookrunner for planned bond: sources
(* B H P)
Saudi cyclist says it takes a ‘brave heart’ to normalize the sport for women
The bike path here is also one of the few safe places in Jeddah for women to cycle. In Saudi Arabia, women have only been allowed to cycle since 2013. Even with that freedom, they are still restricted to beaches and parks, must have a male guardian on hand and be dressed modestly.
In fact, Jeddah is more liberal than many other parts of the kingdom, but women cyclists here are still just a recent phenomenon, she says
Arshaye loves the idea and wishes she could ride a bike, too. Arshaye, who tried cycling as a kid, never really learned how to ride in earnest.
Likewise, cycling still hasn’t caught on in her town, at least not for women. “Not in Medina,” she said. “Maybe you can see three women in a month — not so much.”
And Naeem’s persistence has paid off. A few months ago, she got a call from the Saudi Cycling Federation. They told her they want to form a Saudi cycling female team. "To have a female contribution in that field, it’s really new," she said.
Naeem encourages her friends and family to join her on rides and helps them rent bikes and other equipment
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-02-27/saudi-cyclist-says-it-takes-brave-heart-normalize-sport-women
(* B H P)
Domestic workers flee torture and enslavement in Saudi Arabia
The number of migrants returning since the beginning of the year has reached almost 400. Last year there were over 1,500. Since 2015, at least 5,000 have managed to flee the Saudi hell. All of them report rape, torture and unpaid wages.
Ninety more Bangladeshi women employed in Saudi Arabia as domestic workers arrived at Dhaka International Airport yesterday.
They were met by representatives of Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC), an NGO that helps migrants who manage to escape from places of torture.
All of them “were tortured by employers,” says Shariful Hasan, head of BRAC’s Migration Program
With the latest arrivals, the number of migrant workers returning from the Saudi hell reached 200 this month, whilst another 182 women managed to escape in January.
According to the Bangladeshi NGO, more than 1,500 women returned home last year.
Around 5,000 female Bangladeshi workers have fled Saudi Arabia since 2015, due to various reasons, ranging from failure to adapt to the foreign culture, to torture, sexual abuse, and irregularities in the payment of their wages.
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(A B P)
Saudi minister talks about human rights, doesn't mention Khashoggi
A Saudi minister told the United Nations on Wednesday that it would cooperate with its human rights mechanisms, but he did not explicitly refer to a U.N.-led inquiry into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Agnes Callamard, a U.N. investigator on extra-judicial executions, said after a mission to Turkey this month that evidence pointed to a brutal murder “planned and perpetrated” by Saudi officials. Her final report is due in June.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B K P)
Saudi Arabia would end Yemen war without US support, experts say
Ending American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen would curtail Riyadh's war efforts and hasten the end of what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, experts say.
"If we suspend providing spare parts for their F-15s, their air force would be grounded in two weeks," Jordan told Middle East Eye last week. "So I think there is every prospect that if that occurs, they will find it more appealing to go to the peace table and negotiate than they currently do."
Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center Washington DC, said both Washington and Riyadh would like to downplay the impact of American involvement in Yemen, but the US role in the war remains "extremely important" logistically and politically.
Beyond helping with military assistance, Washington provides "psychological and strategic cover" to Saudi war efforts, he said.
"If it weren't for American support, if that were to be withdrawn in the future ... I think Saudi Arabia would feel compelled to end that war faster than they would like," Jahshan said.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-would-end-yemen-war-without-us-support-experts-say
(A P T)
Film: 9/11 attacks' survivors take Saudi Arabia to court
Survivors and families of victims accuse the kingdom of helping the hijackers who launched the attacks in 2001.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/9-11-attacks-survivors-saudi-arabia-court-190301114908022.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aytnphPZBc
(* B P)
Royal Wedding Received Triple The Media Coverage Of Yemen In 2018
The ongoing war in Yemen, called the world’s “worst humanitarian disaster” by the United Nations and independent aid agencies since early last year, received a grand combined total of 20 minutes of coverage on the ABC, NBC, and CBS weekday evening news programs in 2018.
That compared to a total of 71 minutes that the three major networks devoted to the British royal wedding and a combined total of 100 minutes dedicated to the rescue of a dozen young cave explorers from flooding in Thailand, according to the latest annual compilation by the authoritative Tyndall Report.
By contrast, the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in September received a total of 116 minutes of coverage by the three networks, making it one of the very few foreign-based stories to make it into the top 20 most-covered network news events in 2018.
Falling Foreign Coverage
Overall, the lack of coverage of the Yemen disaster is symptomatic of negative trends regarding foreign news coverage by the major networks, which together remain the biggest single source of international news in the United States.
Indeed, this year’s Tyndall Report found that network coverage from overseas fell to the lowest point since its publisher, Andrew Tyndall, began systematically tracking and coding the three weeknight newscasts in 1988. Altogether, foreign datelines accounted for only 7.5% of all the news generated by those programs
What Did and Didn’t Get Attention
Hopes among various humanitarian, human-rights, and peace groups that the media’s strong focus on Khashoggi’s killing would draw greater public attention to the catastrophic toll suffered by the civilian population during the four-year-old Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen seem to have been disappointed, according to Tyndall’s findings. Of the total 20 minutes devoted to Yemen in 2018, 13 minutes preceded the Saudi journalist’s death and only seven minutes followed it. The relatively greater (but still pathetic) amount of attention before the September assassination came mostly as a result of dire warnings issued by the UN earlier in the spring. (Of the 20 minutes, CBS accounted for 11, while NBC and ABC split the remainder.)
America’s Worldview
If the network evening news provides as good a measure as any of how Americans perceive the world outside U.S. borders, it’s not a great picture – by Jim Lobe
https://lobelog.com/royal-wedding-received-triple-the-media-coverage-of-yemen-in-2018/
(* B P)
State Department rejects more than 37,000 visas due to travel ban
New data is first comprehensive look at the human impact of Trump's travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries.
(* A P)
U.S. lawmakers press for oversight of any Saudi nuclear deal
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to ensure congressional oversight of any civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
“A government that cannot be trusted with a bone saw, should not be trusted with a nuclear weapon,” said Sherman
(* B P)
'Stop stalling': Pressure mounts on Apple and Google to end investigations and take action over Saudi app that monitors and controls women
Politicians and activists are piling pressure on Apple and Google to finish their investigations and start explaining why they are using their app store to host a widely-criticized Saudi government app which is used to monitor and control women.
INSIDER was first to report at length how Absher — an all-purpose app Saudis use to interact with authorities — can be used to grant and rescind travel permission for women, and to set up SMS alerts to track when women use their passports.
Earlier this month Google promised to review Absher to determine whether it is in line with its policies, shortly after Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged to "take a look" at the app. Neither company has mentioned their investigations since.
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I Ran the Air War Over Gaddafi. Here’s Why The US Should Stop Backing the Yemen War
The United States should disengage from Riyadh’s strategically counterproductive and morally pernicious war. The human and geopolitical stakes demand as much. While the reasons that prompted the United States to involve itself in Yemen once may have been valid, in 2019 there is little good reason to continue America’s role there.
I do not say this lightly. I led the air component of the coalition campaign against the government of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. I spent most of my professional life serving our country in uniform, in fact. That mission and my 31 years of service taught me that force cannot be the sole tool used to deal with complex conflicts. The war in Yemen, like many other seemingly intractable clashes roiling the globe, can be ended only if all stakeholders agree to pursue a political solution in good faith. That’s not likely to happen if the United States maintains unconditional support for Saudi Arabia.
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United States Announces Additional Humanitarian Assistance to the People of Yemen
Today, the United States announced nearly $24 million in additional emergency aid to the people of Yemen
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2019/02/289724.htm
My comment: While the US made US$ 115 billion selling arms to the Saudis in 8 Obama years alone, and Trump even boosted these arms sales. 0,90 US$ for every Yemeni – this really will make all people happy whose house has been flattened, whose children had been killed, wo have been crippled, thanks to US bombs and US support to Saudi Arabia.
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Large Payments To Bolton Might Explain His UANI Tweet
Bolton’s personal finances and the president’s biggest campaign funder offer a couple clues.
Bolton’s financial disclosures show that between September 2015 and April 2018, he received $165,000 from the Counter-Extremism Project (CEP), a group with overlapping staffers, board members, and finances with UANI. According to the Bolton’s disclosures, the payments were “consulting fees.”
Following that money trail further, there are plenty of questions about where the $165,000 paid to Bolton by the CEP may have come from.
Emails originating from UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al-Otaiba’s email account appeared to suggest financial ties between the CEP and UANI and the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. UANI and the CEP regularly give voice to the same anti-Iran and anti-Qatar positions expressed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia
https://lobelog.com/large-payments-to-bolton-might-explain-his-uani-tweet/
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You cannot post “a bag of bones” on Facebook
By Bits of Freedom
However shocking our reality may be, sometimes you have to face it. By censoring a news article about the horrific war in Yemen, Facebook completely disqualifies itself as a platform for public debate.
This story should be heard
“Chest heaving and eyes fluttering, the 3-year-old boy lay silently on a hospital bed in the highland town of Hajjah, a bag of bones fighting for breath.” This is the first sentence of an article by the New York Times about the war in Yemen. But the article actually starts with a photo. Below the headline and above this first paragraph a picture of the seven-year-old Amal Hussain fills the screen. The picture is harrowing.
The article tells of the horrors of the unimaginable humanitarian disaster that is taking place in Yemen. For the third time in 20 years the United Nations is about to officially speak of famine. This story must be told and heard, no matter how painful it may be.
Censorship, censorship, censorship
That was also the opinion of freelance journalist Shady Grove Oliver, who shared the New York Times article with her followers on Facebook. Soon the post was removed because it was supposedly in violation of Facebook’s Community Standards. Why? The photo accompanying the newspaper article contained “nudity or sexual activity”, according to Facebook.
The journalist pointed out this shameful mistake to Facebook, but the platform stuck to its decision. Persevering, Grove Oliver asked for a real review by an actual human being.
https://edri.org/you-cannot-post-bag-of-bones-on-facebook/
Comment: This has happened to me - I was banned for showing pictures of Yemeni children in a state of starvation. In order to see how they are suffering it is necessary to have much of their body exposed, but I was told that my postings were of 'a sexual nature' and my account was blocked.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157400674878641
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Can These Senators Prevail Over UAE-Saudi Lobby for War?
If the vote to end our Yemen involvement passes next week it will be despite foreign cash aimed at stopping it.
Next week the Senate is poised to pass a historic resolution to exert Congress’s war authorizing powers and to end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the disastrous war in Yemen. But Saudi and Emirati lobbyists are likely doing everything in their power to make sure that never happens.
They’re spreading propaganda, meeting with key members of Congress and, in some cases, making campaign contributions to Senators just days before the vote. How do we know? Because this is exactly what they did a year ago to kill the same bill in the Senate.
Following the Saudi and Emirati lobbies’ successful attempt to block this legislation, Congress’s unwillingness to end U.S. involvement in the Yemen war continued unabated until October 2, 2018, when the Saudi government orchestrated the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – by James Allen and Mashal Hashem
and look at https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5483-Informational-Materials-20190131-37.pdf
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Senators plan another push to restrict U.S. role in Yemen war
Lawmakers are gearing up for their second attempt to pass a bill that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen’s brutal civil war.
After a similar House-backed bill hit a procedural snag earlier this week, Democratic Sens. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said they are planning to reintroduce their version of the legislation next week, senior Democratic aides tell The Washington Times.
“The U.S. Senate will have an opportunity to vote to end our unauthorized and unconstitutional involvement in the war in Yemen,” Mr. Lee said.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/28/senators-plan-another-push-restrict-role-yemen-war/
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GOP to Frame Dems as Anti-Semitic for Refusing to Prolong U.S. Involvement In...Yemen
As a Jew, given that anti-Semitism is on the rise in America thanks to Donald Trump and the alt-right, I find any “attack” on anti-Semitism coming from the GOP to be rich.
The GOP knows how powerful the Israel lobby is (which is NOT the same as a “Jewish” lobby), and how powerful some Jews like Sheldon Adelson are to money in politics. They exploit us at every turn, and now they have stapled a defense of me that I do not want in their aim to continue bombing children in Yemen. Per Politico:
A House-passed bill to halt U.S. involvement in Yemen’s deadly civil war will not get a vote in the Senate, a setback to Democrats and Republicans who sought to cut off U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled that an amendment to the House-passed bill which contains language condemning anti-Semitism was not “germane” to the Yemen War Powers resolution.
Eric Levitz highlighted in NYMag how important that last paragraph is:
That last point is worth emphasizing: If the Senate finds a way to pass new legislation ending American support for the Saudi war, House Republicans (reportedly) plan to attack House Democrats as “soft on anti-Semitism” — unlessDemocrats vote to (effectively) prolong American participation in war crimes against a vulnerable ethnic group.
Conservatives’ crocodile tears about the Holocaust have always been tough for me to swallow.
Comment: Crazy! Opposing to prolong Yemen war is anti Semetic!!! This slur really is used to silence anyone whose politics are not to the very right of the political spectrum.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157400659963641
(B P)
Whose University Is It?
Universities are rolling out the red carpet for war criminals like Mohammad bin Salman and taking money from profit-hungry corporations - all behind closed doors and without any say from students, faculty, staff, and local communities.
Please join us in this effort to imagine a university that’s for the people
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whose-university-is-it-tickets-55089471091
(A P)
Kushner, Saudi crown prince discuss 'increasing cooperation' in Riyadh: White House
White House adviser Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks on Tuesday that covered “increasing cooperation” between the United States and Saudi Arabia and Middle East peace efforts, the White House said.
The Riyadh meeting was their first face-to-face talks since the crown prince became embroiled in the scandal of the killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
(A P)
Son of American freed in Yemen says dad is ‘safe’
The son of an American oil worker recently freed after being abducted 18 months ago in Yemen said Wednesday that his father is getting reacquainted with his Yemeni wife and their children, and that he hopes to talk to him soon.
https://apnews.com/37e63f3731854c5198524b0cc15b7bca
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A P)
Yemen (Debate in the House of Commons)
Keith Vaz, MP: In a world beset by multiple crises, Yemen continues to exhaust all comparisons as a political and humanitarian crisis. There has never been a conflict quite like it. In 26 days’ time, we will be approaching the fourth anniversary of this gruesome and tragic war, when the first bombs fell near the city of my birth, Aden. By the minute, by the hour and by the day, Yemenis continue to die. Whether by air raids, landmines, starvation or illness, Yemenis from the north and the south are suffering unimaginable trauma, and are being killed.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2019-02-28a.632.6&p=10770
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The UK Lobbies Germany to Sell Arms to the Saudis
To make it an art: to really cement the United Kingdom as the arsehole of the world it really has to go over and above the call of duty.
A day after the Lords committee found UK weapons sales to Saudi Arabia unlawful, Jeremy Hunt was in Germany chastising the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas. (2)
“I am very concerned about the impact of the German government’s decision on the British and European defence industry and the consequences for Europe’s ability to fulfil its Nato commitments.” — Jeremy Hunt (3)
Why The UK Is Lobbying Germany To Resume Arms Sales To The Saudi Despots
The UK is part of a consortium manufacturing jets and other armaments alongside Italy and Spain. The German ban on selling the Saudi’s arms is having an effect on BAE’s ability to supply arms to the Saudi’s as they are reliant on the German manufacturer, Rheinmetall, to provide components.
Such a naked display of lobbying for the bourgeois interest on behalf of the arms industry shows the ease of corruption in the UK.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/02/28/the-uk-lobbies-germany-to-sell-arms-to-the-saudis/
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If Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt Wants to Build Peace in Yemen, He Must Stop Arming Saudi Arabia
Since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015, the UK has licensed £4.7 billion worth of arms
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: Jeremy Hunt talks a lot about the need for peace, but his words are hollow. The biggest change that he and his colleagues could make, and the one that would have the greatest impact on the ground, would be to finally stop arming and supporting the Saudi-led coalition.”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/jeremy-hunt-peace-yemen-stop-arming-saudi-arabia/5670127
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Foreign Secretary travels to the Gulf to boost momentum on Yemen peace process
The Foreign Secretary’s visit is part of sustained UK diplomacy to bolster the Yemen peace process. The Foreign Secretary’s discussions will build on the meeting of Quad – UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK and US – foreign ministers he chaired on 13 February and come after the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of £200million of new UK aid for Yemen.
The UK is putting its weight behind the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to accelerate implementation of the actions agreed at the Stockholm peace talks.
My comment: Britain is miming / pretending the role of peace broker, while it is one of the main arsonists – and a warring party in this war.
Comment: It seems a funny thing to sell weapons in huge quantities and expect peace to break out. The answer you inferior Jeremy is to stop selling your nasty bombs and warplanes.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157402119608641
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May's Yemen aid nothing compared to the billions made arming the Saudis, campaigners say
THE Prime Minister’s new aid package to Yemen has been condemned by campaigners who say she should stop arming Saudi Arabia if she truly cares about civilians.
Theresa May pledged £200 million in aid for Yemen today, but activists say this is nothing compared to the billions of pounds worth of weapons Britain has sold Riyadh since it started bombing Yemen in 2015.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has recorded £4.7 billion worth of arms export licenses so far.
(A P)
Family pleas for Briton held in Houthi jail
Luke Symons was accused of being a spy for Britain
https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/family-pleas-for-briton-held-in-houthi-jail-1.831122
Comment: This is terrible. The UK authorities refused this man to bring his family to U.K. and in consequence he was detained and tortured in a Houthi prison. The family were told to be quiet, but now after two years they have decided to speak out.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157400679538641
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp13a
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RÜSTUNGSEXPORTE: Mordgeschäft boomt
Mehr Leid, mehr Aufträge, mehr Gewinn: Bundesregierung will Exporte in Kriegsgebiete erleichtern
Die Profite der Rüstungsindustrie steigen trotz Ausfuhrstopp nach Saudi Arabien flott weiter.
»Die fetten Gewinne von Rheinmetall sind der laxen Haltung der großen Koalition geschuldet«, sagte Sevim Dagdelen, stellvertretende Vorsitzende und abrüstungspolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion, am Freitag gegenüber jW. »Die Bundesregierung muss endlich die Schlupflöcher für die Rüstungsindustrie schließen und darf Waffenschmieden wie Rheinmetall über Tochterfirmen im Ausland und Joint Ventures nicht länger blutige Profite mit dem Krieg im Jemen machen lassen.«
Auch der seit November gültige Exportstopp nach Saudi-Arabien konnte die Gewinne des Militärkonzerns nicht eindämmen.
Dieser temporären Entschlossenheit folgten keine greifbaren Resultate.
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/350129.mordgeschäft-boomt.html
(A P)
Debatte in der Koalition: Fällt das Rüstungsembargo?
Die Bundesregierung ringt beim Exportstopp für Rüstungsgüter nach Saudi-Arabien um eine gemeinsame Position.
Jetzt hat sich CDU-Chefin Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in die Debatte eingeschaltet. Sie sprach sich dafür aus, europäischen Rüstungspartnern bei den strengen deutschen Exportregeln entgegenzukommen. Kramp-Karrenbauer sagte dem Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, wenn Deutschland an einem europäischen oder supranationalen Projekt beteiligt sei, "dann müssen die Partner gemeinsame Regeln finden. Das kann auch bedeuten, dass diese Projekte nicht den strengen deutschen Regeln unterliegen." Andernfalls würden "solche Projekte in Zukunft ohne Deutschland stattfinden".
Sie warnte davor, Rüstungsexporte generell verhindern zu wollen. "Wer (...) Exporte um jeden Preis verhindern will, muss ehrlich sagen, dass er diese Industrie grundsätzlich in Deutschland nicht will und sollte es nicht über den Weg einer Regelauslegung machen, die genau dieses Ergebnis hätte." Und: "Dann soll man das den betroffenen Firmen und Arbeitnehmern auch ins Gesicht sagen."
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/ruestung-saudiarabien-101.html
(A P)
German conservative leader takes aim at SPD over Saudi arms embargo: media
The new leader of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has accused the Social Democrats (SPD) of jeopardizing Germany’s defense industry and jobs by refusing to soften its stance on arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia.
Kramp-Karrenbauer told the RND newspaper chain the coalition had agreed to hold the German arms industry to stricter rules, but said it was “fundamentally wrong to interpret those rules in such a way that essentially reduces exports to nothing”.
My comment: Odd.
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Rüstungsexportverbot an Saudis soll kurz verlängert werden
Die über die Zukunft der Rüstungsexporte uneinige große Koalition will das Lieferverbot nach Saudi-Arabien einem «Spiegel»-Bericht zufolge zunächst um zwei Wochen verlängern.
Darauf hätten sich Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) und Vizekanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) geeinigt, berichtete das Magazin am Freitag.
Eine offizielle Erklärung gab es zunächst nicht, eine Grundsatzeinigung wurde der Deutschen Presse-Agentur bestätigt. Unterdessen sprach Regierungssprecher Steffen Seibert am Freitag in Berlin von noch laufenden Gesprächen in der Regierung. Diese sei sich des Zeitdrucks bewusst. Entscheidungen müssten «im Laufe des März» getroffen werden.
https://www.zeit.de/news/2019-03/01/ruestungsexportverbot-an-saudis-soll-kurz-verlaengert-werden-190301-99-191424 = https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Koalition-verlaengert-Waffenlieferverbot-article20883652.html
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Germany likely to extend halt on Saudi arms exports, source says
The German government on Friday said it would decide before the end of March whether to extend its halt on weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia, making it likely the embargo will continue beyond the current deadline of March 9
A source familiar with the situation said the freeze in arms shipments to Saudi Arabia would be extended for about two weeks. The delay was first reported by Der Spiegel magazine on Friday.
The coalition government leaders were aware of time pressure and were committed to resolving the issue - which has split the ruling coalition - this month, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said at news conference.
(B K P)
Rüstungsexporte in Bezug zu Jemen-Krieg
Um Kriegswaffenausfuhren in Länder, die im engeren oder weiteren Sinn mit dem Krieg im Jemen zu tun haben, geht es in der Antwort (19/7967) auf eine Kleine Anfrage (19/7188) der Fraktion Die Linke. Die Bundesregierung listet Vergleichszahlen zwischen 2017 und 2018 zu den einzelnen Quartalen und nach Ländern aufgeschlüsselt auf. Sie äußert sich auch zu Einzelausfuhrgenehmigungen für verschiedene Waffenarten und in verschiedene Länder im vergangenen Jahr.
https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/627202-627202
(* B K P)
Moral oder Geld? Berlin zofft sich über Rüstungsexporte
Da wäre zum Beispiel die Vorderflügelklappe. Ohne die bewegliche Metallleiste an der Front einer Tragfläche hebt kein Flugzeug ab. Hergestellt bei Airbus in Bremen, ist die Vorderflügelklappe ein kleines, aber wichtiges Teil in der multinationalen Produktionskette des militärischen Tankflugzeugs A330 MRTT. Sechs dieser fliegenden Zapfsäulen hat Airbus schon an die Luftwaffe von Saudi-Arabien geliefert. Für sechs weitere besteht eine Kaufoption.
Riad will diese fliegenden Tankstellen und die dazu passenden Ersatzteile dringend haben. Das Land führt im Nachbarland Jemen eine Kriegskoalition gegen schiitische Huthi-Rebellen an. Können Kampfjets nicht in der Luft mit Kerosin versorgt werden, müssen sie zum Auftanken weite Wege zurücklegen. Derzeit müssen die Saudis auf neue Lieferungen warten, denn wegen der Ermordung des regimekritischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi hat die Bundesregierung seit November sämtliche Waffenexporte nach Riad gestoppt. Der Bann trifft nun auch das Tankflugzeug, denn obwohl in Deutschland nur 15 Prozent des Fliegers gebaut werden und die militärische Ausrüstung komplett aus Spanien kommt, kann Airbus nicht mehr liefern.
https://www.fr.de/politik/heisse-kartoffel-spiel-11812285.html = http://www.maz-online.de/Nachrichten/Politik/Ruestungsexporte-Warum-Deutschland-die-europaeischen-Partner-so-sehr-nervt
(A K P)
Anton Hofreiter zu deutschen Waffen im Jemen
Aus den zahnlosen deutschen Rüstungsexportrichtlinien müssen endlich klare und gesetzlich verbindliche Regelungen zur Begrenzung deutscher Waffenexporte gemacht werden.
(* A P)
Outrage at violation of German arms export rules in Yemen war
Opposition lawmakers and activists have expressed outrage, but little surprise, at revelations that German weapons are being used in Yemen. However, the German government insists it has no evidence that this is the case.
The apparent violation of Germany's arms export control regulations by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, revealed by Deutsche Welle and other news outlets on Tuesday, has drawn angry reactions from opposition politicians and anti-arms trade activists.
At its regular press conference on Wednesday, the government stuck to the same line as before the revelations emerged: insisting that it had no information about violations of the end-user certificates.
The revelations did not come as a particular surprise to Andrew Smith, spokesman for the UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade. "The German government does have a long history of arming human-rights-abusing regimes around the world," he told DW. "This war couldn't happen without the fighter jets which are flying over Yemen right now."
https://www.dw.com/en/outrage-at-violation-of-german-arms-export-rules-in-yemen-war/a-47715413
My comment: The government’s reaction is ridiculous: Arms are made, are bought for being used.
(A P)
Major humanitarian crisis in Yemen: Germany pledges support
Germany is helping to get supplies to people in need in Yemen. At the pledging conference held in Geneva on 26 February 2019, the Federal Government pledged 100 million euros.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
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Morocco-Saudi relations: Trouble amongst royals?
The spat illustrates Rabat’s concern about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) aggressive policies across the region. It also shows its desire to assert independence and maintain strong relations with as many actors as possible as it seeks to curry support for its position in the Western Sahara dispute, and to situate itself above Gulf divisions.
Despite the history of friendship, the tensions simmering in the Arab world since the 2017 Gulf crisis began has taken its toll on the relationship. Morocco has attempted to remain neutral in the dispute that pits Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain (among others) against Qatar and even offered to act as an intermediary.
(A P)
'Respect' for Luxembourg PM after he challenges Arab leaders on gay rights
Several top European politicians backed Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Thursday after he told Arab leaders he was gay and could be condemned to death in some of their countries, reportedly prompting an "icy silence" from some of those present at an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt.
(B P)
A young woman who escaped #UAE draconian laws is been mistreated by #France govt of @EmmanuelMacron who claim France is a republic of enlightenment but stands with dictators.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1101470636910743553
referring to
Today marks my 30th month here in france as an asylum seeker with nothing new happening to my status
https://twitter.com/anoudalali18/status/1100909367971459078?s=21
(* B P)
Gulf Monarchies’ Militarized Nationalism
Military expressions of national identity are helping Gulf countries boost loyalty to the state yet are likely to exacerbate regional polarization.
Leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are promoting militarization as a way to strengthen their rule. In a recent example, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait have introduced conscription for male nationals, which highlighted concerted efforts to introduce a militarized nationalism.
Over the past two decades, the Emirati and the Qatari governments (and to a lesser extent the Saudi monarchy) have been implementing top-down identity projects to forge homogeneous and recognizable national identities. This includes exhibitions and museums displaying national history and heritage, National Day celebrations, and heritage festivals. Social engineering through school curricula has also become critical for promoting an identity able to overcome confessional, tribal, and territorial divides.
In this context, Gulf monarchies’ post-rentier strategies are increasingly relying on a military dimension to drive their national identity projects. This is a new element in these countries’ state formation processes
In this framework, militarization bolsters regime security, thereby serving national security twice over. Although focused on resident citizens, militarized nationalism can also involve expatriates, as during National Days. However, rising nationalist feelings are likely to enhance regional polarization – by Eleonora Ardemagni
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EU states block putting Saudi Arabia, U.S. territories on dirty-money list
European Union member states unanimously rejected on Friday a proposal to blacklist Saudi Arabia and four U.S. territories for lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering, sources told Reuters.
Saudi Arabia, a major importer of EU weapons and goods, had lobbied against being branded a “high-risk” country, as had been proposed by the bloc’s executive European Commission.
Representatives of EU states meeting in Brussels on Friday agreed a statement on the matter, which was seen by Reuters and is expected to be formally adopted by justice and home affairs ministers meeting on Thursday.
My comment: Lol, LOL, LOL.
(* A P)
After Saudi king's letter, EU states move to block dirty-money list
The adoption of a European Union money-laundering blacklist, which includes Saudi Arabia as well as Puerto Rico and three other U.S. territories, is likely to be blocked by EU states under a procedure launched on Thursday, two EU sources said.
The potential blocking comes after Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sent letters to all EU leaders urging them to reconsider the inclusion of Riyadh on the list, one of the letters seen by Reuters showed.
For the list to be blocked, a majority of 21 states is estimated to be necessary. One EU official said that more than 20 countries, including Britain, France and all the largest members, have already declared their opposition to the listing.
The listing of the Saudi kingdom “will damage its reputation on the one hand and it will create difficulties in trade and investment flows between the Kingdom and the European Union on the other,” King Salman wrote.
Oil-exporting Saudi Arabia is a major importer of EU weapons and goods.
One diplomat said Washington has also pressured EU countries to scrap the list.
Riyadh has threatened to cut contracts with EU states if the list is approved, one EU official said. “They are really rolling out big guns,” another diplomat said.
My comment: LOL, LOL, LOL. – Saudi threats and money always do it. – Simply stop selling them any more arms. – And what about Britain and Brexit??
(* A P)
Saudi lobbying blocks its inclusion on EU blacklist
Riyadh rolled out its big guns during the summit of EU and Arab League leaders earlier this week in Sharm Al-Sheikh.
It was reported that at that meeting, British Prime Minister Theresa May discussed the issue with the Saudi King and that Britain and France were leading the group of EU countries opposed to the kingdom’s inclusion on the list. Concerns over being blacklisted promoted Riyadh to threaten to cut contracts with EU states if the list was approved.
According to a note of the meeting seen by the Financial Times, Saudi ministers warned that the blacklist would have “severe negative consequences” for the kingdom’s trade and financial flows with Europe.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190301-saudi-lobbying-blocks-its-inclusion-on-eu-blacklist
(A P)
This Jewish Comedian Offered to Marry MBS – and Sparked an Instant Controversy
When Noam Shuster-Eliassi, a 32-year-old Israeli comedian, made a joke in fluent Arabic about wanting to marry Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, she never imagined how hard her punchline would hit home. Her joke has since become a viral hit on Arab social media and sparked a debate about the Gulf state’s increasingly warm ties to Jerusalem.
The joke, which was featured on Shuster-Eliassi’s weekly satirical spot in i24 News Arabic, alluded to Israel’s once-secret relations with Saudi Arabia inching toward the public arena.
(A P)
U.S., Saudi Arabia and UK back 'global coalition' for Jordan
Jordan’s government fell last year after spending cuts and tax rises imposed under an IMF program caused rare public protests.
Saudi alongside Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates put together a $2.5 billion package in June to help shore up Jordan’s struggling economy.
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, whose government was hosting the event, said the international community needed to form “a global coalition to back Jordan”.
(A P)
Is Saudi Arabia Pulling Pakistan Into War With Iran?
For years, the Pakistani government has avoided taking sides between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, but now it may be forced to choose. Pakistan is in dire need of financial support and the Saudis have the means to help. Will Pakistan accept the strings attached to Saudi generosity?
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/is-saudi-arabia-pulling-pakistan-into-war-with-iran
(A P)
EU Ambassadors to Yemen visit Aden
The Head of the EU Delegation to Yemen Antonia Calvo-Puerta, jointly with the French Ambassador, Christian Testot, the Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands, Jaap van der Zeeuw and the Chancellor of the German Embassy, Tanja Roy, are currently visiting Aden for the first time since the outbreak of the Yemeni crisis.
The EU diplomats will discuss with H.E. Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek Saeed and other government officials the challenges facing Yemen at the political, humanitarian, economic and security level.
https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/56508/eu-ambassadors-yemen-visit-aden_en
My comment: They will listen just to one side – why?
(B K P)
Yemen pull-out shows Malaysia’s increasing independence over foreign policy, says academic
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp11.
(* A K P)
Airbus eyes warplane with no German parts after Saudi arms ban: sources
Airbus has decided to redesign the C295 military transport aircraft it builds in Spain to remove German components following Germany’s freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, company sources told Reuters.
Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said earlier this month the company could consider making products free of German parts because of Germany’s “moral superelevation” on arms exports, which was frustrating Britain, France and Spain.
My comment: “Moral superelevation”: An arms producer’s opinion of avoiding to kill and destruct.
(* A K P)
Amnesty urges halt to arms to Israel, parties in Yemen war
Amnesty International has called on all states to immediately suspend the sale and transfer of weapons to Israel and all the parties involved in the conflict in Yemen.
This suspension, it said, should remain in place until there is no longer the risk that these weapons will be used to carry out or facilitate serious human rights violations
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(* B E P)
Revitalizing Yemen’s Banking Sector: Necessary Steps for Restarting Formal Financial Cycles and Basic Economic Stabilization
Executive Summary
Yemen’s banking sector faces a litany of challenges stemming from the country’s ongoing economic collapse and the warring parties’ competition for financial control. The most critical challenge is the division of the central bank between Sana’a and Aden and the fierce competition between these two branches over the administration and regulation of the country’s commercial and Islamic banks. In February, this has seen Houthi authorities arrest senior officials from several banks in the capital for supposedly complying with policies set by the central bank in Aden and the Yemeni government’s Economic Committee.
Other obstacles facing the banking sector are a prolonged liquidity crisis, the deteriorating local currency exchange rate, the loss of revenue from freezes on assets and public debt repayments, obstacles to moving money within Yemen and internationally, and the general deterioration in private sector confidence in the banking sector that has spurred the migration of the financial cycle from the formal economy to informal markets and networks.
The weakening of Yemen’s commercial and Islamic banks has had wide-ranging consequences. Among the implications are a dramatic rise in black market activity, exchange rate destabilization, and increased difficulty for traders to finance imports. These in turn have undermined attempts to establish social and political stability, exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, and ultimately prolonged the conflict.
Since mid-2018 the Sana’a Center has been meeting with the heads of Yemen’s banking sector, current and former senior central bank officials on either side of the frontlines, financial authorities across the country, as well as prominent economists, business leaders and currency traders from Yemen and around the region.1 The following policy brief is an outcome of these discussions. In synthesizing the opinions of these experts, this paper lays out recommendations for revitalizing the Yemeni banking sector and offers a background on the challenges it has faced – By Farea al-Muslimi
http://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/7049
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A T)
AQAP claims attacks against the Islamic State and Emirati-backed forces in southern and central Yemen
(* B T)
Was kommt nach dem Kalifat?
Sehr bald wird der Möchtegernstaat des IS am Ende sein. Doch die globale dschihadistische Bewegung ist es nicht. Wie vier Experten die Zukunft des Terrors einschätzen
Elisabeth Kendall: Die Dschihadisten finden heraus, was die Menschen an einem gegebenen Ort umtreibt, und versuchen dann, das aufzunehmen. Ein Beispiel war der Ministaat, den Al-Kaida zeitweise im jemenitischen Hadramaut errichtet hatte. Dort kümmerten sich die Kaida-Leute um Wasser, Elektrizität, Müllabfuhr, Straßenbau, all solche Dinge. Ihre Botschaft war: Wenn wir herrschen, laufen diese Sachen besser. Die Scharia-Gesetze wurden erst nach und nach eingeführt. Man muss Al-Kaida als lernende Organisation begreifen, die aus Fehlern Lehren zieht.
Heute ist AQAP einigermaßen dezimiert. Städte wie Mukalla, die sie zwischenzeitlich regierten, wurden ihnen abgenommen. Spione und Drohnen haben ihnen so zugesetzt, dass sie in den Untergrund gezwungen wurden. Zudem kämpft Al-Kaida im Jemen physisch gegen den IS. Aber das alles kann sich schnell wieder ändern!
Und es ist sehr leicht, den Dschihadismus als Lösung für jedes lokale Problem zu verkaufen. Deshalb fürchte ich auch, dass die Lage im Jemen in genau dem Moment wieder schlimmer werden könnte, in dem es ein Friedensabkommen gibt, weil ein solches natürlich viele Menschen nicht zufriedenstellen wird.
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
MP: Yemen suffers of multi-aspect terrorism
Member of Parliament Abdul-Razaq al-Hajari has said that Yemen suffers of multi-aspect terrorism, stressing that the Houthis are not different of other terrorist groups.
http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-28083
and also http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164825
(A P)
Yemen FM calls for pressuring Iran to halt support of Houthis
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-28060
(A P)
Al Jubeir slams Al Houthi violations in Yemen
Official says Saudi Arabia committed to providing support to the Yemeni people
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al Jubeir, said Wednesday that the kingdom’s position is clear in Yemen, that it stands by its legitimacy and condemns Al Houthi violations there.
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/yemen/al-jubeir-slams-al-houthi-violations-in-yemen-1.62349558
and also http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302743504
(A P)
.@BBCArabic sinks to a new low by runing this buff piece about new #Saudi ambassador to US & calling her grandfather Sultan, famously known as “the Sultan of Thieves” to the sultan of good.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1100888226917687296
referring to http://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast-47351355
background also: http://www.alhejaz.org/seyasah/019713.htm (in Arabic)
(B P)
No peace in Yemen
A solution to the conflict in Yemen still seems as far off as ever, threatening generalised social breakdown and mass starvation
Most Yemenis are mystified about the war that is destroying their country, but slowly the facts are coming to light. The war has turned into a proxy conflict prosecuted by foreign countries, with the Houthi rebels not defending the homeland but helping to destroy it further, notably by refusing to allow the delivery of food.
The UN intervention has been particularly puzzling, since it is not clear to many whether the UN is with the Houthis or the people of Yemen. People are watching patiently, but if the war continues no one will be spared and the temptation for revenge may become irresistible.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/26641.aspx
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
March 1: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1551523592./1254731034677259/
Feb. 28: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1551523592./1254739291343100/
Feb. 27: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1551523592./1254731034677259
Feb. 26: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/pb.551288185021551.-2207520000.1551279174./1252692168214479/
(A K pH)
#Amran: At least two women, in a preliminary toll, were killed and a child was injured in two air raids waged by US-Saudi aggression warplanes on a citizen’s farm in al-Qaflah district.
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564/2160458967340455/
www.sabanews.net/en/news528009.htm
Photos, names and age of victims (women: 17 and 15 years old): https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1987235024905815
(A K pH)
2 martyrs, others injured in saudi-led airstrike on Amran
Two civilians were killed and others injured in a saudi-led airstrike which hit on Wednesday Amran province, a security official said.
The air strike hit a citizen' car in the public road in Qaflat Othar
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news527778.htm
(B K)
Film: Another victim of the Arab coalition aircraft led by #Saudi Arabia and the #UAE.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1101495208074727424
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
March 1: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news528013.htm Saada p.
Feb. 28: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news527945.htm Hajjah p.
Feb. 27: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5630&cat_id=1 Saada p., Hajjah p.
Feb. 26: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news527772.htm Hajjah p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pH)
Army shoots down enemy spy plane in Jizan
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news528031.htm
(A K pH)
A Girl Injured by Saudi Border Guards’ Gunfire in Sa’ada
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5664&cat_id=1
(A K pS)
Mines continue to harvest civilian lives in Taiz
A landmine planted by Houthi militants in Sabr Mawdem district, south of Taiz, killed a civilian on Thursday.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164822
(A K pS)
Saudi Coalition scores big advance in key northern Yemen district
The Saudi Coalition and their Yemeni allies scored a big advance in the northern region of Yemen on Wednesday, seizing several points from the Houthi forces in the Sa’ada Governorate.
According to local reports, the Saudi Coalition and their allies managed to link up with their forces in Kitaf wa Al-Boqa’i District after seizing the Jashiran mountain chain.
(A K pS)
Presidential directives to transfer troops from several military zones to un-siege Hajur
A circular of the Command and Control center, headed by the Military staff, revealed presidential directives to move troops from the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 7th Military Region and the al-Ghaidhah axis to break the siege of the Hajur tribes in hajjah.
According to the document on which Al-Masdar online obtained a copy, the directive ordered the troops to remove the siege of Hajur during a period of no more than 72 hours.
http://almasdaronline.com/articles/164803
Remark: Hajjur is fully surrounded by Houthi-held territory. Does Hadi want to start a new offensive in the north? For the background of this conflict, read https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/absurd-front-thousands-besieged-north-yemen-battle-no-one-can-win
(A K pH)
A citizen was injured by Saudi border guards gun fires in Razih border district, in Saada
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=5630&cat_id=1
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(-)
Film: Yemen Documentary 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h0dUWghiDA
(* C)
How to Prevent an Invasion? Build a Bridge! The Shaharah Bridge in Yemen, a Bridge of Sighs
The Shaharah Bridge was built in the 17th century in Yemen and though it may just look like a regular bridge at first, it has interesting stories connected to it. The structure was designed to fall apart in minutes in the event that Turks tried to invade and it was also a logical solution to another age-old problem.
(* B)
Tales of Yemen: The Beginning
The recent news of unrest in Yemen dismays me. I have amazing memories of my time spent in this beautiful, but often maligned, land. As the news continues to darken, I wanted to share some of my favorite stories of a place that forever changed me.
My first day in Yemen, I arrived at the airport in Sanaa exhausted but excited to finally be in the country I’d call home for the next year. (It turned into three. That’s another story.)
https://www.kimberlymitchell.us/stories/tales-of-yemen-the-beginning
(A)
Israel Prepares for Potential Locust Swarm Headed From Yemen and Sudan
Following heavy rainfalls in eastern Yemen and the Sudan-Eritrea border, Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a warning that locust swarms may arrive in Israel.
(A P)
Because of calling for the #March22Movement to peacefully protest the #Saudi Gov, @Twitter suspended my account @MajedAlasmariAP because of false reports by the dictator's trolls, or even worse, collusion by the Abu Dhabi Twitter office. I will not stop or give up
https://twitter.com/Majed22March/status/1100816285724827649
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-517-yemen-war-mosaic-517
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-517 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-517:
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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