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
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
cp9 USA
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Libyen / Libya
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
Trump's Veto: Siehe / Look at cp9a
(** B K)
Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset: Yemen War Death Toll Surpasses 70,000
More than 10,000 people have been reported killed in Yemen over the last five months, bringing the war’s total death toll to over 70,000 since 2016 according to data collated by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).
Total conflict fatalities:
ACLED records over 70,200 total reported fatalities1 from 1 January 2016 to 13 April 2019 More than 7,600 have been reported so far in 2019:
Approximately 2,350 in January; 1,930 in February; 2,330 in March; and 1,000 so far in April Fatality rates have shifted significantly across multiple governorates between the last quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019:
Reported fatalities increased most dramatically in Al Jawf and in Hajjah, though also in Taiz, Sadah, and Ad Dali
They dropped most significantly in Hodeidah, though also in Marib, Sana’a, and Al Bayda Civilian fatalities:
ACLED records 3,155 direct attacks targeting civilians resulting in over 7,000 reported civilian fatalities2 since 2016
The Saudi-led coalition and its allies are responsible for the highest number of reported civilian fatalities from direct targeting: over 4,800 since 2016
The Houthis and their allies are responsible for over 1,300 reported civilian fatalities from direct targeting
Notably, so far in quarter one of 2019, reported civilian fatalities are at their lowest point since the third quarter of 2017
Still, nearly 380 civilian fatalities have been reported this year stemming from direct targeting
https://www.acleddata.com/2019/04/18/press-release-yemen-war-death-toll-surpasses-70000/ = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-war-death-toll-surpasses-70000
My comment: This figure is more realistic than others. What has to be added: All those who had been killed, by famine, by diseaeses, by lack of medical treatment, due to consequences of war, destruction and the Saudi blockade. This figure even is much larger than those directly killed by the war.
Comment by Judith Brown: I guess this too is an underestimate- it always is.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157517880843641
(** A K P)
Dutzende von Notre-Dames sind auch mit militärischer Unterstützung Frankreichs in Schutt und Asche gelegt worden
Die Trauer über den Großbrand von Notre Dame und die Wiederaufbaubekenntnisse und Spendenfreudigkeit wären glaubwürdiger, wenn der Westen die Zerstörung in anderen Teilen der Welt endlich bedauern würde und vor allem aufhören würde, weiter zu zerstören und Millionen von Menschen das Zuhause zu rauben.
Notre Dame
Eine etwas andere Trauerrede
Je länger ich diesem Trauerspiel zusehe, je länger ich in diese betroffenen Gesichter schauen muss, desto weniger berührt mich das. Mein Mitgefühl schwindet.
Die Notre Dame steht nicht nur in Paris
Da brennt gerade eine Kirche (nieder).
Am selben Tag erfahren wir, dass „geheime“ Dokumente öffentlich gemacht wurden, die beweisen, was französische Regierungen (egal welche) immer bestritten haben: Sie beteiligen sich unentwegt an Kriegsverbrechen.
Sie gehören zu den größten Ausstattern eines Krieges, der barbarischer kaum sein kann. Die französische Waffen- und Kriegsindustrie versorgt Saudi-Arabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) mit genau den Waffen, die im Krieg in Jemen seit nun vier Jahren das Land dem Erdboden gleichmachen.
Ohne eine Kirche kann man – noch ganz gut – leben, aber ohne ein Zuhause?
Dieser Krieg findet seit vier Jahren statt. Wenn man will, vor unser aller Augen, auch den Augen französischer BürgerInnen. Seit Jahren klagen ganz Wenige die französische Regierung an, dass sie an diesen Kriegsverbrechen verdient und beteiligt ist. Seit Jahren wischt welche französische Regierung auch immer, diese Vorwürfe vom Tisch. Bis heute.
Das ist ein- und dieselbe Seite der Notre Dame.
Für sie wurden bereits Hunderte Millionen Euro an Spendengeldern zugesagt – für ihren Wiederaufbau in Paris, dem „Symbol für Paris und die Nation“ für „ein Bauwerk für die Ewigkeit“.
Für Jemen nicht.
Das Feuer in der Kathedrale Notre Dame ist ein Unglück. Was in Jemen passiert, ist kein Unglück, sondern gewollt … und sehr lukrativ – von Wolf Wetzel
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=51003
und
(** A K P)
BlickPunkt über Notre-Dame und den Krieg im Jemen: Was uns betroffen macht – und was nicht
Eine Milliarde Euro kamen in drei Tagen an Spenden zusammen, um Notre-Dame wieder aufzubauen. Warum berührt der Brand einer Kathedrale so viele Menschen im Innersten, während sie der Hunger von zig Millionen Jemeniten mehr oder weniger kaltlässt?
Denn: Notre-Dame ist viel mehr als einfach nur eine Kirche aus dem 12. Jahrhundert. Sie steht für ...
Bestürzung, Trauer und Hilfsbereitschaft erreichten deshalb ebenfalls historische Dimensionen – als handle es sich bei diesem Brand um die grösste aktuelle Katastrophe der Menschheit.
Nach Einschätzung der Uno jedoch gebührt dieser traurige Superlativ dem Krieg im Jemen
Doch über das unermessliche Leiden der jemenitischen Bevölkerung vergiesst die Welt keine Tränen, es treffen keine Trauerbekundungen ein; und dass innert drei Tagen eine Milliarde Euro an Spenden zusammenkommen, ist völlig ausgeschlossen.
Der Grund ist einfach: Es liegt in der Natur des Menschen!
Notre-Dame ist seit 800 Jahren ein Fels in der Brandung einer immer schneller rotierenden Welt. Wenn etwas so Bekanntes, so Beständiges jäh zerstört wird, erschüttert uns das – jedenfalls weit mehr, als wenn irgendwo in irgendeinem Krieg irgendwelche Fremden verhungern.
Es berührt den Menschen auch mehr, wenn ein enger Freund stirbt, als wenn 29 Touristen bei einem Busunfall auf Madeira ums Leben kommen. Das Los der 29 Deutschen wiederum schmerzt uns mehr als das von zehnmal so vielen Flüchtlingen, die bei einem Bootsunglück im Mittelmeer ertrinken – weil jeder schon mal Tourist gewesen ist, aber noch nie Flüchtling.
Ist das zynisch? Ja!
Kann man es ändern? Nein.
Dennoch tut es gut, wenn man den Schaden an einem Gebäude einmal bewusst in Relation setzt zum humanitären Elend auf der Welt. Gerade an Ostern, den ältesten und höchsten Feiertagen unserer abendländischen Kultur – von Christian Dorer
Mein Kommentar: Teilweiser Widerspruch: Die Medien tun (von einer Ausnahme wie dieser hier abgesehen) nichts, um unsere Perspektive in diesem Punkt zu erweitern. Die Vernachlässigung des Jemenkriegs ist eben – auch ganz unabhängig von anderen Ereignissen – bewusst und systematisch.
(*** B K P)
JEMEN: WAFFEN MADE IN FRANCE
Eine Recherche in Zusammenarbeit mit Disclose.ngo
Ein Geheimdienstbericht, der dem Investigationskonsortium Disclose zugespielt wurde, beweist, dass die französische Regierung über den massiven Einsatz französischer Waffen durch die arabische Koalition im Jemenkrieg informiert ist.
Der Bericht wurde dem Staatspräsidenten am 3. Oktober 2018 im Elysee-Palast vorgelegt, bei einer Sitzung des Verteidigungsrats in beschränkter Besetzung, mit Verteidigungsministerin Florence Parly, Ministerpräsident Edouard Philippe, sowie Europa- und Außenminister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Alle Teilnehmer kennen die 15 Seiten des Berichts des französischen Militärgeheimdienstes (DRM). Er listet alle Waffen auf, die Frankreich an die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und an Saudi-Arabien geliefert hat. Waffen, die heute im Jemenkrieg eingesetzt werden.
Der Bericht erläutert erstmals die Einsatzpositionen der französischen Waffen am 25. September 2018 im Krieg der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition gegen die Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen.
Die „Jemen-Papers“ widersprechen der offiziellen Version der Regierung: Französische Waffen sind im Jemen-Konflikt sehr wohl im Kampfeinsatz, am Boden, in der Luft und auf See.
Die offizielle Version der Regierung lautet also: Die von Frankreich an die Koalition gelieferte militärische Ausrüstung ist nicht offensiver Natur. Die saudische Armee benutzt sie ausschließlich zu Verteidigungszwecken.
Sie wurde niemals gegen Zivilisten oder zur Begehung von Kriegsverbrechen eingesetzt. Frankreich respektiert daher den internationalen Vertrag über den Waffenhandel (ATT). (Vertragstext ATT, siehe Artikel 6, S 6/7)
Was im Bericht steht: Leclerc-Panzer, mobile Artilleriegeschütze vom Typ Caesar, Mirage 2000-9, Raketen: Der Geheimbericht listet Dutzende von Frankreich gelieferte und von den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Saudi-Arabien eingesetzte Waffen auf. Er enthüllt damit einen Teil der französischen Waffenverkäufe an die Golfmonarchien.
Bliebe also zu klären, ob die Koalition diese Waffen zu Offensivzwecken und gegen Zivilisten auf jemenitischem Gebiet einsetzt. Genau das zeigen die Recherchen von Disclose an vier Beispielen: Artilleriegeschütze vom Typ Caesar, Leclerc-Panzer, Luftangriffe und Kriegsschiffe.
KAPITEL 2: LECLERC-PANZER AN DER FRONT
KAPITEL 3: ARTILLERIEGESCHÜTZE VOM TYP CAESAR IM OFFENSIVEINSATZ
Was im Bericht steht:
Offiziell dienen die von Frankreich an Saudi-Arabien verkauften Artilleriegeschütze vom Typ Caesar ausschließlich Verteidigungszwecken. Der Geheimdienstbericht zeigt jedoch das Gegenteil:
Auf Seite 4 stellt die Direktion des Militärgeheimdienstes fest: Diese französischen Geschütze „unterstützen die regierungstreuen und saudischen Truppen bei ihrem Vormarsch im Jemen“.
48 der mobilen Caesar-Geschütze stehen an der Grenze zwischen dem Jemen und Saudi-Arabien.
Der Militärgeheimdienst schätzt sogar das Risiko für die Zivilbevölkerung ein: „potenziell von Artilleriebeschuss betroffene Bevölkerung: 436.370 Personen“.
Was die Recherchen von Disclose zeigen:
Das Disclose-Team hat für den Zeitraum März 2016 bis Dezember 2018 starken Artilleriebeschuss in den Zonen recherchiert, in denen die Caesar-Geschütze stehen. Bei 52 dieser Angriffe starben 35 Zivilisten. Die folgende Karte zeigt alle Artillerieangriffe in diesem Zeitraum:
KAPITEL 4: LUFTANGRIFFE MIT FRANZÖSISCHEN FLUGZEUGEN
Was die Regierung sagt:
Im Februar 2019 versicherte Außenminister Jean-Yves Le Drian vor dem Außenpolitischen Ausschuss des Parlaments: Die „Saudis greifen vor allem aus der Luft an. Wir liefern nichts an ihre Luftwaffe.“
Was im Bericht steht:
Saudi-Arabien und die Emirate führen laut Militärgeheimdienst seit Beginn ihrer Militärintervention „einen massiven und kontinuierlichen Luftkrieg“. Die Koalition hat laut Geheimdienst 2015 rund 24.000 Luftangriffe geflogen, davon 6.000 allein im Jahr 2018.
Der Militärgeheimdienst stellt dazu weiter fest: Französische Mirage 2000-9 „fliegen Einsätze im Jemen“, und zwar von der Luftwaffenbasis Assab in Eritrea aus.
Laut Bericht sind diese von Dassault hergestellten Jagdflugzeuge mit dem „pod Damoclès“ ausgerüstet, einem französischen Steuerungssystem.
Was die Recherchen von Disclose zeigen:
KAPITEL 5: HUNGER ALS KRIEGSWAFFE
KAPITEL 6:GESCHICHTE EINER GEHEIMEN LIEFERUNG (mit Fotos, Filmen, Grafiken)
https://www.arte.tv/sites/de/story/reportage/jemen-waffen-made-in-france/?lang=de
Reporting in English was presented in Yemen War Mosaic 528: https://made-in-france.disclose.ngo/en/chapter/yemen-papers/
and film in French:
(* B K P)
Yémen : la fuite d'un document « confidentiel défense » qui prouve l'implication d'armes
Un rapport classé « confidentiel défense » montre l'implication d'armes françaises dans la guerre au Yémen, pire crise humanitaire mondiale.
Ce document ultra secret contredit le discours officiel du gouvernement français.
Révélations signées Disclose.ngo, explications par Hugo Clément.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1841547715949769
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* B H)
World Health Organization: Outbreak update – Cholera in Yemen, 14 April 2019
The Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen reported 27,840 suspected cases of cholera with 48 associated deaths during epidemiological week 15 (8 April – 14 April) of 2019. Severe cases constitute 18 per cent of the total. The cumulative total number of suspected cholera cases from 1 January 2018 to 14 April 2019 is 224,444 with 470 associated deaths (CFR 0.21%). Children under five represent 22.5% of total suspected cases. The outbreak has affected 21 of 23 governorates and 286 of 333 districts in Yemen since the beginning of 2019.
From week 13 to week 15 in 2019, the trend of weekly reported suspected cholera cases was stable at the country level. The districts reporting the highest number of suspected cases of cholera during epidemiological week 15 are Bani al Harith (869), Shu'aub (855), As Sabain (808), Ma'ain (737), and Hamdan (636).
Of a total 86,846 rapid diagnostic tests performed since January 2019, 48,808 have been confirmed as cholera-positive; the numbers for culture testing were 4873 samples and 2308 positive.
(* B H)
Massiver Anstieg der Cholera-Fälle im Jemen
Aus dem Jemen gibt es einen alarmierenden Anstieg an Cholera-Erkrankungen. Die Hilfsorganisation Oxfam berichtete von 195.000 Neuansteckungen seit Jahresbeginn. In Jemen herrscht seit dem Jahr 2016 eine weitreichende Cholera-Epidemie, die bisher etwa 3.000 Menschen das Leben gekostet hat. Laut Oxfam könnte sich der "schwerste Cholera-Ausbruch der Welt" noch einmal deutlich verschlimmern.
https://www.sn.at/politik/weltpolitik/massiver-anstieg-der-cholera-faelle-im-jemen-69050170
(* B H)
Oxfam befürchtet Ausbreitung der Cholera im Jemen
Die Hilfsorganisation Oxfam befürchtet eine Ausbreitung der Cholera im Jemen. In den vergangenen beiden Märzwochen seien pro Tag rund 2.500 neue Verdachtsfälle gemeldet worden, teilte die Organisation heute in Berlin mit. Seit Beginn der Epidemie im Jahr 2016 seien mehr als 3.000 Menschen an der Krankheit gestorben.
„Bomben, Hunger, und nun breitet sich erneut die Cholera aus. Die Verdachtsfälle haben sich seit Februar verdoppelt, die beginnende Regenzeit wird die Situation verschärfen“,
https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/102546/Oxfam-befuerchtet-Ausbreitung-der-Cholera-im-Jemen
(* B H)
Cholera Outbreak Continues to Surge in Yemen
According to Oxfam, the number of cases from the new cholera outbreak in Yemen has continued to surge.
If that figure is correct, the number of cholera cases has jumped by more than 80,000 in less than a month.
Almost 18 million Yemenis are without access to clean water and sanitation. That is more than half the population of the entire country. Almost as many are also malnourished and starving. Between the breakdown in sanitation from the bombing of treatment plants and non-payment of salaries for sanitation workers, the extensive destruction of health care facilities, the fuel shortage that prevents the pumping of clean drinking water, and the ongoing starvation of millions of people, the conditions are ripe for another explosion of cholera that could claim thousands more lives.
Oxfam issued a new report on the cholera outbreak today, and they warn that if the outbreak keeps spreading at its current rate it will be even worse at its height than the one in 2017.
Oxfam and other aid agencies are doing all they can to combat Yemen’s multiple, overlapping humanitarian crises, and their work is saving many lives, but aid alone will not be enough to end these crises. Yemen needs peace, an end to the Saudi coalition’s economic war and blockade, and a concerted international effort to stabilize and revive the country’s battered economy.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/cholera-outbreak-continues-to-surge-in-yemen/
(* B H)
Suspected cholera cases increase to 10,000 cases and 44 deaths
The number of suspected cholera cases in Taiz province has risen to more than 10,000, while the culture examination confirmed the infection of 609 cases, and 44 people died from the epidemic.
According to the center, 80% of the cases were recorded during the month of March-April.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166710
(B H)
New Epidemic Outbreak of Dengue fever, Measles and Cholera in Al-Mahfed – Abian
12 cases of cholera were reported during the past 72 hours in addition to reporting other cases with measles and dengue fever.
https://en.smanews.org/new-epidemic-outbreak-of-dengue-fever-measles-and-cholera-in-al-mahfed-abian
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A K pH)
In Hodeidah, the US-Saudi mercenaries targeted with over 30 artillery shells and 5 Katyusha missiles several areas of Attohayta district. The mercenaries fired over 8 artillery shells northern Hais district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6510
(A K pH)
The US-Saudi mercenaries targeted farms and property of citizens in At-tohayta district with 50 artillery shells. The aggression mercenaries bombed 15 artillery shells on Al-Awadi and Ma'in factories, in kilo-16, causing severe damage.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6500
(A K pS)
One soldier of al-Amalika injured in Houthi shelling of al-Tuhita, Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4038
(A K pS)
Two men killed by landmine in al-Hali, Hodeidah
Two people, riding a motorcycle, were killed on Friday, by a landmine explosion in al-Masana area of al-Hali district in Hodeidah governorate.
were immediately killed and their bodies torn to pieces when their motorcycle drove over a Houthi-laid landmine near a shop that they intended to rent to start a new business in al-Masana.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4036
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ZgQhmCbF4
(B K pS)
Yemeni Army: Houthis Smuggled African Fighters to Hodeidah
The Yemeni army has accused Houthi militias of smuggling dozens of African fighters into the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah to fight alongside the insurgents.
Yemeni National Army spokesman Brigadier General Abdo Abdullah Majali told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have forced a large number of migrants coming from the Horn of Africa region to enroll in their camps.
The insurgents later deployed them on several fronts, he said.
My comment: As claimed by “president” Hadi’s army. Do not forget all the thousands of mercenaries from Sudan fighting for the Saudi coalition. – And Islah Party news site changes from “dozens” to “thousands”: https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29309
(* B K P)
U.N. Mediation Effort in Yemen at a Crossroads
The U.N. special envoy to Yemen announced that the principal parties to the conflict are now prepared to implement key provisions of the Stockholm Agreement. Is this a done deal, or just one more false start for a process that is now the object of growing skepticism?
The stakes are high – and the risk to Griffiths (and by extension, the process he leads) is mounting – precisely because he has previously delivered such encouraging news, only to have hopes dashed by a failure of one or more of the parties to adhere to their commitments
In fact, if the Houthis fail to comply with their commitments this time around, it may be Griffiths’ approach that comes under the greatest
Others have questioned the two-party focus of Griffiths’ negotiations.
In fairness, Griffiths is playing with a weak hand as he tries to implement the Stockholm Agreement
The progress achieved at the Sweden talks was also made possible by the convergence of some unique dynamics that seem to have dissipated since then
If Griffiths is to succeed, he’s going to need more than just his own guile to do so. He’s going to need space, time, and a robust expression of international support – especially from the United States. In any complicated mediation there comes a time when the mediator himself becomes the issue. This may be that moment for Martin Griffiths, something he seemed to acknowledge in his remarks on Monday, when he asked for the support of the Security Council for his mediation effort, adding, “Let us together require those who can help us towards peace be encouraged and the sceptics set aside.” – by ex-US ambassador to Yemen Stephan A. Seche
https://agsiw.org/u-n-mediation-effort-in-yemen-at-a-crossroads/
My comment: This article is typically US-biased: The only side threatening the agreement are the Houthis; the Houthis still are in the state of an “armed insurgency” (with the Hadi government as the only government in Yemen), and the US should play an important role. – Seche had been better.
(* B K P)
Crisis Group Yemen Update #9
This is the ninth briefing note in Crisis Group’s Yemen Campaign. Notes are published fortnightly. This week, we return to the UN’s efforts to make the Hodeida agreement stick.
The main political sticking point for both sides has been the question of the “local security forces” meant to secure Hodeida port and city, along with two nearby ports at Saleef and Ras Issa, once redeployments are completed. The Hadi government generally sees the agreement as stipulating that these forces should be drawn from pre-2014 police force and coast guards and fall under their interior ministry’s supervision. The Huthis’ interpretation is that current security forces – which include many of their supporters – will remain in the city and ports, with minimal changes, once military forces have been removed. They view discussion of changing the local security forces as a Trojan horse – a way for the Hadi government to use the cover of agreed-upon military redeployments to claim sovereignty over the city and prejudice any future peace settlement. In fairness, both readings of the written agreement are defensible. That said, many who were present in Stockholm say the spirit of the agreement was to prioritise military redeployments, not sovereignty questions, which are to be addressed later, during national political negotiations.
Over the past four months, the RCC’s two chairs, Patrick Cammaert and his successor Michael Anker Lollesgaard, have worked to resolve technical disagreements over redeployments by working with the military-security representatives of the two sides on the committee, while Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy, pushes the political leadership to reach a deal on the local security forces issue. Some progress has been made within the RCC.
The announcement of agreement on the details of phase one redeployments at the 15 April UN Security Council meeting buys time, but frustration is growing. A series of holdups over the past four months have seen the early euphoria of Stockholm dissolve into deepening impatience among international and Yemeni players.
Under mounting pressure from the Hadi government and the coalition to acknowledge the perception of Huthi stubbornness, and have the UN do so, some Western embassies are now tempted to push for public statements calling the Huthis out. But while doing so may satisfy diplomats and the coalition, it is unlikely to help turn the Stockholm Agreement into a reality. Indeed, it could cause backlash from the Huthis and be used as a pretext by Hadi or the coalition to declare the process dead. At the same time, failure to apply pressure in the face of further delays is likely to undermine the credibility of the UN, confidence among the parties and faith that the international community is capable of brokering a solution to the Yemen war.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-9 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-9
(A K pH)
Al-Amalika forces repulse Houthi attack on Hays, Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4030
(A P)
Massive Armed Stand on Anniversary of President Al-Sammad Martyrdom, Hodiedah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6495
(A K pS)
[Victims of Houthi landmine, killing 2, injuring 5, at Hodeidah, reported Yemen war Mosaic 528]
https://twitter.com/ycmhrv/status/1117814849478823942
Film: Two children injured in a mine explosion of Houthi in Durahmi Hodeidah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMtlCLHSnlY
(B K pS)
Yemen FM warns against breakdown of Sweden Agreement
He further said that the Houthis’ intransigence is behind the breakdown of the agreement, pointing out that the Houthis still refuse to deploy security forced in Hodeida city as the agreement stipulated.
Al-Yamani has said that the Houthis dig 750 trenches in Hodeida since the beginning of the war.
Al-Yamani told Sputnik that Satellites’ images proved in the beginning of the Yemeni crisis that about 70 trenches were dig, and the number increased to 750.
He said that the Houthis plant mines and refuse to demine them, signaling out that the United Nations staff in Hodeida hardly move inside Hodeida city due to the planted mines.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29310
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29271
My comment: The Hadi government claims that their own security personal should overtake the city: They want to use the Stockholm agreement to get the city under their control, claiming the agreement would stipulate this. This obviously is bullshit.
My remark: As claimed by the Hadi government.
(A K pS)
Film: Al-Munadh district south of the city of Hodeidah is the best witness to the ongoing Houthi crimes
This elderly woman is a resident of al-Muntar district, south of the city of Hodeidah, where she lost her son and her husband in a previous bombardment by the Houthi militia on their home, until she became single without a breadwinner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSelBuw1W-s
(A K pH)
In Hodeidah, US-Saudi mercenaries targeted with 14 shells on Kilo-16. The mercenaries also targeted with artillery shells, machineguns and guided missiles several areas of Hodeidah.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6478
(* A K P)
U.N. envoy sees troop withdrawal in Yemen's Hodeidah within weeks
Martin Griffiths said he had received on Sunday the formal acceptance of the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi group to implement a first phase of troop redeployments, while discussions were still underway for the second phase.
“The two parties agreed formally to the concept of operations for phase one. What we are doing now is ... moving on as planned from there to agree on phase two,” Griffiths told Reuters in a telephone interview without elaborating, adding that talks would “intensify” in coming days.
“So we don’t have an exact date at the moment for the beginning of this physical redeployment,” he said. “It’s got to be weeks ... hopefully few weeks.”
Sources have told Reuters the first phase would see the Houthis leave the city’s ports and pro-government forces leave some areas on the city’s outskirts. In the second phase, both sides would pull troops to 18 km from the city and heavy weapons 30 km away.
(** B H K)
Devastation in broken Hodeidah: 'My daughters died hungry'
As a voluntary agreement is struck for forces to withdraw from the port city, two friends recount the horror of conflict in their neighbourhood in Yemen
Friends Majed Al-Wahidi and Ali Al-Zazai remember the constant buzzing of drones overhead in Hodeidah on 18 November last year.
Majed, a teacher and father of six daughters, had left Ali’s house to return to his home nearby, but went back because he had forgotten his lighter. It was about 5pm and Majed’s daughters were in their bedroom, having taken a break from studying to pray in their modest, corrugated iron-covered home.
“The drone kept hovering above us. I was asking myself what on earth it was doing there,” says Ali.
Ali’s daughter Sonya, 16, was walking along the street towards home. “I looked up at the sky and I saw a flash,” she says. “I didn’t feel anything. I heard an explosion and felt something hit my body, then I got scared. I was screaming that my sisters were killed, but the shell had hit our neighbours’ house.” Smoke was coming from Majed’s home.
“The street was full of shrapnel. My legs were getting heavier. I couldn’t utter a word,” says Majed.
At Majed’s house, two of his daughters, bleeding heavily, were frantically asking people to come and help their sisters. “When we entered we saw two girls half dead, the eldest one about to die. They took her outside the house but there were no ambulances. By the time she reached hospital she had died,” says Ali.
Four of Majed’s six daughters were killed. Rufaida, the eldest, was 16. He describes her as having taken on the roles of “mother, father, comrade and friend” since he and his wife divorced. The youngest, Amat Al-Wahhab, was nine. She was found holding on to Amat Al-Salam, 14, one of twins, and besides them Amat Al-Hakeem, 12.
Nazeeha, 13, suffered major injuries. Still in hospital four months later, with more than 30 pieces of shrapnel in her body, she remains unaware that her sisters were killed – by Karl Schembri and Rod Austin
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/18/devastation-in-hodeidah-yemen
(A K pH)
Continued violations of the cease-fire forces in Hodeidah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533360.htm
(B H)
IOM Supports a Cleaning Campaign in the Port City
Al Hudaydah’s littered streets are a constant reminder of fighting.
While the peace talks have led to some stability, the continued lack of public services, including waste management and refuse collection, shows that normalcy has not fully returned. Insecurity and inconsistent salary payments, as well as continued and recurring displacement, have resulted in many staff leaving the Cleaning and Improvement Fund — the body in charge of waste management across Yemen’s fourth largest city. The ensuing piles of garbage are more than just an eye sore, they pose health and safety risks for the city’s residents.
In February 2019, IOM launched a citywide cleaning campaign in partnership with the Cleaning and Development Fund to support displaced, returnee and conflict-affected communities in Al Hudaydah, with funding from the Government of Kuwait.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-supports-cleaning-campaign-port-city
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON APRIL 20, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-20-2019-map-update/
(* B K P)
Yemen in Focus: Why France is complicit in 'war crimes' against civilians
This week we look at Trump's veto, Sudan's commitment to the Saudi-led coalition, the exposure of France's hand in civilian deaths and the under-reporting of sexual assaults on children.
Brace yourself, there's plenty of Yemen developments to chew on this week.
France exposed
Hadi shows up
Children sexually-assaulted
'Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'
Solutions to end the conflict
Time's Most Influential
(* B K P)
Film: Radhya Almutawakel On The War In Yemen, Human Rights, Staying Positive & More | TIME 100 (B H)
Film by Nada Al Ahdal : Let’s make little girl ,our daughter & protecting her is a protection for all community children consider any violations against the girl's harm to the interests of our homelands. Are not these changes a guarantee of building an advanced community?
https://twitter.com/nadalahdal/status/1119518843678994432
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_9rYN6nio
(B K P)
Yemeni victories and aggression`s failure: Report
The UN failed to protect civilians and showed a lack of political will to stop atrocities when it could, mainly under pressure from the United Kingdom, which was preserving its colonial relation to the South Asian region. A contemporary example is the UN Security Council’s failure to take any decisive action to end the war in Syria.
What is different about Yemen is that the main state preventing the UN from taking decisive action is Saudi, which is not a member of the UN Security Council and, even if it was, would not have veto power. However, two of Saudi’s biggest supporters are the United States and United Kingdom, both permanent members of the UN Security Council. The United States and United Kingdom have strong economic and security relations with Saudi.
They see Saudi as a partner in countering violent extremism in the region, and also are dependent on Saudi oil. The Gulf country is also a major customer of arms from the United States and United Kingdom.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533519.htm
My remark: Houthi viewpoint.
(B P)
Thousands of Violations against Media Workers, Including 18 Deaths
Sada, a national organization for Yemeni journalists, said it monitored 4364 cases of violations against journalists all over Yemen.
In a conference press held today in Marib province, situated North Yemen, the organization said in its released annual report that 18 Yemeni Journalists were killed in 2018, Yemeni State Saba Net reported.
The report showed that 98.2% of the overall violations were committed by Houthi rebels.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16574
My comment: This report obviously puts a blind eye on violations in (nominally) Hadi-governed Yemen.
(B K P)
On Trump’s Shameful Decision for Yemen
As well, the United States and its NATO allies had the chance to be a champion of peace in the Arabian Peninsula, yet they erroneously provided logistical support for the Saudi-led campaign of air raids and henceforth became complicit with Saudis in war crimes and in the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe.
It is because of the deliberate actions and mistakes of the Saudis and allies that tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, have been killed, millions of poor families have lost their homes, and the blockaded country is on the brink of famine and mass starvation. What else did they expect? This was predictable right from the outset.
The Saudis and their allies are mistaken to assume that risking the lives of millions of civilians to famine, blockade and airstrikes is a price worth for the pointless war to restore to power President Hadi. President Trump is dead wrong to think his veto could help win the battle and protect America’s security and interests in the region.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13980131001003
My remark: Iranian viewpoint.
(A K P)
Yemeni Commander Defects Saudi Coalition
A security official told a Yemeni news agency on Friday that Colonel Ahmad al-Mojnehi who commanded a military police unit in al-Jawf Governorate of Yemen has officially announced his separation from the Saudi coalition and expressed allegiance with Yemeni army and Ansarullah popular forces.
The same source added that Colonel al-Mojnehi, along with two caravans of the forces under his command, entered Sana’a early on Friday and was pardoned based on the framework set for welcoming defectors.
“Fighting the aggressors’ plots against Yemen” has been the main motivation for the colonel and his forces, according to the Yemeni ministry of interior.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13980131000819
(* B K P)
Crisis Group Yemen Update #9
Political and Military Developments
The Hadi government and the Huthis both made plays to demonstrate their political legitimacy this week, with the government inaugurating a parliamentary session in the eastern city of Seiyun and the Huthis describing this meeting as “illegitimate”, while holding parliamentary elections in the territory they control. The secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which had threatened to derail any attempt by the Hadi government to host parliament in the southern city of Aden, also criticised the meeting.
Bottom Line: As the Stockholm Agreement falters, the power struggle that has consumed the country continues unabated elsewhere. While the push for political legitimacy could be seen as a positive signal that Yemen’s power centres see a political process in the offing, in practice it may trigger renewed violence among purported allies in the anti-Huthi camp.
Regional and International Developments
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-9 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/crisis-group-yemen-update-9
(B H K P)
Reporting on Yemen in the face of indifference
Opinion: Three reporters insist on covering a remote conflict despite the world's indifference to the suffering of civilians faced with war, hunger and disease.
Reports of suffering children break our hearts for a moment before we turn the page to other news.
But some journalists insist on reporting, despite readers' indifference, so that we can learn about the terrible abuse in Yemen's prisons, the torturer, the war crimes and the rampant corruption of officials who are blind to the suffering of their people.
As Yemenites are trapped, unable to leave, these three journalists are praised for their persistence but they too will be forgotten soon.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5496369,00.html
My remark: Overview article, events of the last ca. 7 days.
(B K P)
Saudi Arabia seeking face-saving withdrawal from Yemen
Saudi Arabia is looking for a way out of the war in Yemen, according to International Crisis Group study. The International Crisis Group has called on the United States to help the Saudi regime escape from the Yemen quagmire.
The International Crisis Group in its report emphasized that Saudi Arabia is unwilling to continue the war in Yemen, and that the United States can play a key role in Saudi withdrawal from Yemen.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83285441
My comment: I doubt; for Saudi Arabia, a “way out” only will be a victory of any form – a precondition which will be difficult to fulfill. The study is here: https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/003-ending-yemen-quagmire-lessons-washington-four-years-war
(* B H K P)
Film: Why won’t Trump hold S Arabia accountable for its role in devastation & humanitarian crisis in Yemen?
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=433905213821337
(A P)
@abducteesmother called to make 18 April as a national day for the abductee to reveal their suffering to all bodies, inside and outside Yemen.They call also for establishing a national,social &human rights alliance to empower the abductees to get their rights.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1119368475955347456
and
(A P)
Today, April 18th, marks the day of the abductees in #Yemen. A day where we remind world of mass injustice where hundreds have been abducted and continue to be forcibly disappeared. It's not only I who suffered when taken, but my family and friends too. Save the abductees.
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/1118972298768396293
(B P)
Time to end the war in Yemen
The clueless Houthis are only fooling themselves to think that the ongoing humanitarian crisis is a price worth paying for controlling Sanaa and continuing the resistance. The Saudis and their allies are mistaken to assume that risking the lives of millions of civilians to famine, blockade and airstrikes is a price worth paying for the pointless intervention to restore President Hadi to power.
And President Trump is dead wrong to think his veto could help win the battle and protect America's security and interests in the region.
Far from it, the battle cannot be won by anyone and it's a fantasy to insist otherwise. The warring factions and parties should realize the vision of UN-brokered ceasefire agreement instead, and work for a solution to the humanitarian crisis. They should attend peace talks in good faith and without preconditions, and stick to any agreement reached there.
The time to face their modern ignorance, selfishness and exceptionalism is here and now. – by Bobby Naderi
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514f3045544d34457a6333566d54/index.html
My comment: This sounds like a view from quite far away from Yemen.
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A)
Update on Yemen ports situation
The North of England P&I Club correspondent has confirmed the situation with regard port status in Yemen, as of 17 April
https://safety4sea.com/update-on-yemen-ports-situation/
(A E P)
YPC: None of the 4 ships, waited by company at Hodeidah port have arrived
The Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) on Friday confirmed that none of the four ships that have been announced earlier that they will reach to the port of Hodeidah.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533502.htm
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6503
and
(A E P)
Film: Fuel crisis in the capital #Sanaa.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1119381433519415297
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(B H)
National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response: Recently, NFDHR has completed all rehabilitation activities in 19 health facilities in Sa'ada governorate funded by UNICEF
The rehabilitation activities included constructing rain water harvesting tanks, and rehabilitating the health facilities' structure and facilities in addition to supplying the health facilities with solar power systems adequate to operate the facility, the purification equipments, and the refrigerators used to preserve vaccinations.
The Heath facilities are now offering health care services to 82153 beneficiaries of both genders and all ages.
The rehabilitated health centers and units will contribute in improving the health care system, and providing primary health care including comprehensive care of children's health, reproductive health, and treatment of SAM and MAM cases in addition to vaccinating children (photos)
http://www.nfdhr.org/en/news/591#.XLqRV-gzaUk = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/recently-nfdhr-has-completed-all-rehabilitation-activities-19-health-facilities-saada
(B H)
NFDHR continues to implement the construction works for the water projects in Sahar district
The construction works are believed to benefit 22,474 individuals of the conflict affected communities.
As for the components of the projects, AlElaby water projects includes constructing a ground water tank with capacity of 100 cubic meter, supplying and installing a 5800 meter of pumping pipelines, and constructing a pumping room equipped with a solar power pumping unit to operate the project.
http://www.nfdhr.org/en/news/590#.XLqRqOgzaUm = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nfdhr-continues-implement-construction-works-water-projects-sahar-district
(B H)
World Health Organization, Health Cluster: Yemen: Health Cluster Bulletin, March 2019
HIGHLIGHTS
A total of 2,596 Health Facilities (18 Governorate Hospitals, 122 District Hospitals, 69 General Hospitals, 22 Specialized Hospitals, 712 Health Centres and 1,653 Health Units) are supported by 71 Health Cluster Partners.
From 1 st January to 31st March 2019, 164,684 suspected cholera cases with 351 associated deaths and a CFR of 0.21%. Out of the 147 priority districts there are 38 districts with >500 cases which will be prioritised for urgent intervention.
https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/yemen/document/yemen-health-cluster-bulletin-march-2019 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-health-cluster-bulletin-march-2019
(* B H)
What’s it like working on Yemen’s sea operations?
Behind the scenes with logistician Fatouma Omar Mohamed
31-year old Fatouma Omar Mohamad from Djibouti City first joined WFP in July 2017. Fast forward almost two years, and today she follows the sea cargo operations from Djibouti to the Yemeni ports of Aden and Hodeidah, a role that is critical to ensure lifesaving assistance gets to where it needs to on a daily basis.
“My first assignment with the WFP-led Logistics Cluster was to manage the bookings of the passengers travelling back and forth between Djibouti and Aden on the same vessel that also transports the cargo. Little by little, my supervisors started to give me more responsibilities and trained me to manage the cargo transport requests, in terms of both online tracking and hands-on logistics operations,” she says.
From memorable moments, to balancing life, work and family, we speak with Fatouma on her time on the Logistics Cluster’s Yemen operation.
https://insight.wfp.org/whats-it-like-working-on-yemen-s-sea-operations-7baf1d9c8c5a
(B H K)
Film: He thought he had found a toy on the street. He had just picked up a landmine. We helped almost 90,000 people injured by landmines and unexploded devices in Yemen last year - 38% were children.
https://twitter.com/ICRC/status/1118711749207896070
(A H)
Turkish Red Crescent sends food aid to war-weary Yemen
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190418-turkish-red-crescent-sends-food-aid-to-war-weary-yemen/
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
[Living in a refugee camp, Hodeidah province. Film used for anti-Houthi propaganda]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYzNUshy3RM
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yemen: Hajjah Displacement/Response Update, 14 - 18 April 2019
The conflict frontline in Abs district was relatively calm this week and the number of IDPs arriving in IDP hosting sites decreased. DRC reported the arrival of five newly displaced families at one IDP hosting site in Abs district of Hajjah governorate while other 35 IDP families from the same IDP hosting site departed to unknown destination.
NFI distribution completed by NRC for 590 families at three IDP hosting sites in Abs district and ACF assisted 260 families in Aslem district. NFI and EESKs distribution completed by NRC for 356 families displaced from Kushar district into Abs district,
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-hajjah-displacementresponse-update-14-18-april-2019
(B H)
Audio: Episode 31: Out of Options - Syrian & Yemeni in Malaysia
Hashed had to flee Yemen after his father was killed, and what followed was an odyssey that has taken him from Djibouti, to India, to Malaysia, where his struggle is far from over.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Houthi minister dies in Lebanon
Iranian-backed Houthi militias announced Saturday the death of Interior Minister of the internationally non-recognized government, Abdul Hakim Al-Mawri in a Lebanon where he was receiving medical treatment.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4040
(A P)
Security arrests 11 Saudi-paid collaborators in Jawf
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533635.htm
(* B K P)
Film: How Houthis Have Thrived in Yemen’s War
With no end in sight, fighting in Yemen has entered a fifth year. The war began when the Houthi militia moved on the capital Sanaa at the end of 2014. Within months, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia began a bombing campaign. So how did something that began as a theological movement turn into a force that now rules much of Yemen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtQEF7hFUpg&t=13s
(* B P)
Yemen’s Divided Huthis Are Sending the US Mixed Signals
Yemen’s divided Huthi movement is sending mixed signals to the US. After President Trump vetoed Congress’ bipartisan resolution to end Washington’s support for the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen, Mohammed Abdelsalam, the spokesman and top negotiator of the Huthi movement, stated that this proves the Americans were also “behind the [Saudi] decision to go to war” in 2015. “Surely we are interested in having a good relationship with the United States.
A static framework of negotiations: UN-led diplomacy still adopts Security Council Resolution 2216 (April 2015) and the conclusions of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference (2013-2014, also including Huthi delegates), as a framework for negotiations. The Huthi movement rejects both: in their eyes, the first would imply some sort of large-scale surrender, requiring their withdrawal from occupied territories (the capital Sana’a included) and relinquishment of the arms seized from the (once) regular army. The second document comprises a federal reform scheme, approved by internationally recognized President Abd Rabu Mansur Hadi but not implemented so far, which clusters Huthis’ main territories into a new macro-region (Azal), poor in natural resources, with no access to the sea and with high population density.
Dwindling tribal support in controlled/influenced regions: Since late 2018, tribal support for or passive toleration of the Huthis by local populations has been deteriorating in at least three areas, Hajja, Amran and Al-Dhalae.
More warfare and less welfare means potential upheavals: “Everyone in America and in Europe should know that our government receives only 30% of the assistance”, Abdulla also stated in the interview, referring to international aid entering Yemen. Declining tribal support and rising violence and repression in Huthi-controlled areas could be symptoms of financial weakening
A bourgeoning, but composite and divided movement: Since the Huthis have grown in numbers and responsibilities, wings and groups are emerging within the movement, although leadership remains a matter of one family, the Al-Huthi, of and based in Sa’da
A mounting opinion campaign in the US to end the war in Yemen
A way to confirm that the Yemeni insurgents are not Iranian puppets as often described, but pragmatic, smart players able to play with multiple identities, maximizing tactical and territorial gains, although different internal wings have become too complex to handle for the Sa’da leadership, especially in a post-conflict perspective. And this could be exploited by President Hadi and Saudi Arabia – by Eleonora Ardemagni
https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/yemens-divided-huthis-are-sending-us-mixed-signals-22911
(A P)
Yemenis rally on anniv. of senior Houthi official’s assassination by Saudi Arabia
People in Yemen have taken to the streets of three cities in the country to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of a senior official from the Houthi Ansarullah movement by Saudi Arabia.
The protesters held rallies in Sana’a, Sa’ada, and Hudaydah on Friday to pay tribute to Saleh al-Samad, the chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/04/19/593840/Yemen-rally-Houthi-official-murder-Saudi-Arabia
(A P)
Mass Rally on Anniversary of President Al-Sammad Martyrdom, Sana’a
A mass rally was held in the capital Sana'a on Friday afternoon to commemorate the first anniversary of the martyrdom of President Saleh Al-Sammad, who has been assassinated on April 19 during visiting the western province of Hodeidah.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6493
Film: https://ruptly.tv/en/videos/20190419-027
(A P)
Mass Rally on Anniversary of President Al-Sammad Martyrdom, Sa’adah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6487
(A P)
Yemen Protests Trump Veto of Congressional Resolution to Stop Supporting Saudi War
Tens of thousands of Yemenis held demonstrations in the country’s capital, Sana`a, Hodeida, Sada`a and others provinces on Friday to condemn U.S. President Donald Trump’s veto of a U.S. congressional resolution directing him to end support for the Saudi-led Coalition’s war against Yemen.
In what can only be described as boost to the Saudi-led Coalition and a tragedy for the civilians of Yemen, Trump vetoed a bill passed by Congress to end the U.S. role in the devastating Yemen war, dismissing concerns raised by U.S. senators, human rights organizations, and global activists fighting to bring an end to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Friday’s demonstrations came in response to a call to action from the Houthi movement,
“My message is only to the American people: is spilling more Yemeni blood acceptable to you?” a man in his seventies told MintPress.
Protesters accused the U.S. of being complicit in alleged war crimes committed in Yemen, where thousands have died and millions have been forced to the brink of starvation.
“There is no difference between the vampires and Donald Trump. Trump is a real character who insists on sucking more Yemeni blood,” a young protester told MintPress.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed AbdullSalam held the United States responsible for the “massacres, crimes and the unjust siege of Yemen” and told a crowd of protesters that Trump’s veto “proves that the United States is not only involved in the war on Yemen but also was behind the decision to go to war.”
https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-protests-trump-veto-of-resolution-to-stop-supporting-saudi-war/257604/
(A P)
Yemenis Preparing Marches For ’Anniversary of President Al-Sammad Martyrdom’
Yemenis are preparing to participate in the mass rallies which will be hold on Friday in the capital Sana'a and the governorates of Sa'ada and Hodeidah in the first commemoration of President Saleh Al-Sammad martyrdom.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6483
(A P)
The #Houthis are violating human rights in their attacks against women and children in #Sanaa this time one of the #Houthis is chasing the students with a machine gun and firing because the girls refused the chant/slogan
https://twitter.com/munaluqman/status/1118810534298693632
(A P)
Houthis seize 20 workers of ACTED
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have ben seizing 20 workers of the French Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED).
The Yemeni News Agency (Saba) sourced Fatah as saying that ACTED’s workers were prevented from leaving Bani Qais directorate in Hajjah governorate, blocking the roads, investigating them and confiscating their passports.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29273
and also https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166743
(A P)
The Houthis are prosecuting the US president for the murder of Al-Sammad
On Wednesday, the Houthi group began the trial of United States President Donald Trump and the rest of his Aids accusing him of assassinating the former President of its political council.
According to Saba (the Houthi version), the specialized Criminal court in Hodeidah began the first trial of the defendants in the assassination of the group leader Saleh al-Sammad, who was killed by a raid carried out by coalition fighters last year in the coastal city of Hodeidah (western Yemen).
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166712
(A P)
Conduct of elections is great democratic achievement: President al-Masha
"Conducting the elections embodies the state's keenness and commitment to pursue the constitution and the law to promote democracy in Yemen,"
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533443.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A)
Powerful explosions are rocking Yemen's #Taiz city after a day of violence. Local factions are killing people and destabilising this city which used to be the cultural capital and most civilised city in the country.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1119745221066145793
(A P)
Saudi Arabia withdraws its troops and the Patriot batteries that protected the Parliament in Seiyun
The Saudi forces, which have been involved in securing the city of Seiyun, the capital of Wadi and Desert of Hadramawt, during the sessions of the House of Representatives last week, left the Yemeni territory through Al-Wade’ah border outlet on Friday morning, military sources said.
Saudi troops, who had arrived Seiyun two weeks ago, left the city on Thursday, and their last unit crossed the border with Saudi Arabia
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166777
(A T)
A woman and a soldier killed by sniper fire following Abu al-Abbas brigades in Taiz
A woman and a soldier were killed Saturday morning less than an hour between the two incidents with sniper fire following the Abu al-Abbas brigades in the centre of Taiz City (southwest Yemen).
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166779
(A T)
Gunmen assassinate Deputy security and order officer at Taiz Police Department
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166763
(B)
Marib has grown massively over the past few years. Investment needed to improve its infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth. In this photo: midday traffic, a new building, & [of course] Assalam market for all types of qat.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1119451460943716353
(A T)
Al-Qaeda field leader killed in Abyan by security forces
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166783
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4031
(A H P)
MSF continues to suspend activities in Aden due to lack of security
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it will continue to suspend its activity in Aden because the authorities have not taken measures to improve the security situation in the city.
MSF in Yemen issued a new statement confirming the organization's continued suspension in the southern city of Aden for another two weeks on the backdrop of the kidnapping and killing of a hospital guest earlier this month.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166739
(A T)
Explosion hits Abyan
A grenade exploded on Thursday into a mosque in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan, residents said.
The grenade, which was thrown by Saudi-backed unknown gunmen, heavy damaging into the mosque in al-Najdah village of Laodar area.
http://en.ypagency.net/102050/
(A P)
Hadi Adviser to Asharq Al-Awsat: Militias Exploited Yemen Divisions to Stage Coup
After years of working behind the scenes, Rashad al-Alimi, adviser to Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, unveiled last week the largest coalition of political parties.
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said that the coalition will isolate the Iran-backed Houthi militias socially and politically.
The alliance was the largest to be formed since the Houthi coup in 2014.
Yemeni parties have learned the lesson that their differences and divisions had a direct role in allowing the militias to take over the state and its institutions, Alimi said.
The coalition is aimed at restoring the authority of the state, achieving peace and easing the suffering of the people, he added.
He revealed that efforts to form the largest coalition began in Riyadh in 2015. The late Dr. Adbulkarim al-Eryani had first come up with the idea to form an alliance of political forces based on the idea that marginalization and the monopoly of power had allowed the situation in Yemen to deteriorate.
“The alliance is therefore built on consensus and partnership between all political factions without exception,” he stressed. “The idea of the alliance was not born yesterday, but it is a product of years of efforts and meetings.”
Alimi also credited the Gulf Cooperation Council in ensuring that the coalition was formed.
“Partisan divisions were one of the factors that allowed the Houthis to seize the state and abuse it for Iran’s expansionist agenda at the expense of Yemen’s national interest,” he continued.
My comment: The old propaganda story, told again and again.
(A P)
Foreign Minister Yamani: al-Houthi's classification of a terrorist group is possible but may eliminate the possibility of a political solution
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khalid al-Yamani said the al-Houthi group's classification as a terrorist group after Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was an issue, but it could cut the road to the political solution to the crisis and called on the Houthis to exploit the existing opportunity for peace.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166711
(* A P)
Coalition fighters bomb Security point at al-Mahra Governorate entrance
Fighters of the Arab coalition launched an air raid on a security post on an entrance of al-Mahra province, eastern Yemen, on Thursday evening.
Yesterday, clashes erupted between members of the "Labeeb" point, which was bombed and the escorts of Al-Mahrah governor, who was declared to have been subjected to an assassination attempt.
A news site loyal to parties opposing the military presence of the coalition in al-Mahhra quoted private sources as saying that "Saudi air forces " launched several raids on the point of " Labeeb " without any casualties.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166740
and
(A T)
Al-Mahrah governor survives assassination attempt during return from Seiyun City
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166706
(A E)
The shortage of cooking gas crises hits the most districts in Shabwa governorate
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1118938827534622721
(A P)
Speaker of Parliament Sultan al Barqani met with U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 18. Barqani also met with President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, Chairman of the UN Redeployment Coordination Committee Michael Lollesgaard, and the Hadi-aligned Governor of al Hudaydah governorate in Riyadh on April 17. [1]
and
(A P)
US Ambassador praises resumption of parliament’s sessions
The United States Ambassador to Yemen Mathew Tueller has said that the resumption of the Yemeni parliament’s sessions is a good step to restore the Yemeni state.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29272
and
(A P)
US Ambassador to Yemen Meets PM and Parliament’s Chairman
Matthew Tueller, US Ambassador to Yemen, met today Prime Minster Dr. Moaen Abdulmalik in Aden, the interim capital of Yemen.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16535
My comment: Ambassador Tueller is one of the most extreme backers of the Saudi coalition. He has a very great influence – much more than an ambassador to a failed 3. World government would have – and seems to be an important and horrible puppet master in the background: https://theintercept.com/2017/12/13/yemen-war-peace-talks-matthew-tueller/
(A P)
Why did the Government ask Griffith to transfer his destination to Riyadh after he told it that he wanted to meet the parliament in Seiyun?
On Sunday evening, the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffith, told the Yemeni government that he wanted to visit Yemen to meet the Parliament, which held its sessions in Sieyun in Hadramawt province (eastern Yemen).
A knowledgeable source told Al-Masdar online that Martin Griffith has been waiting for the government's response to Monday evening in order to move to Seiyun
However, Griffiths is still wondering as other followers ask why the government refused his request to go to Seiyun to attend the House of Representatives session and preferred to meet the Council presidency in Riyadh.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166782
(* A P)
Yemen's parliament revives legitimacy of embattled government
But the recent session signifies that the parliament is now effective again and will play a positive role, at least in governing the Houthi-free areas – provided that the external players, particularly the Saudi-led Arab coalition, stops its unneeded intervention when it comes to managing the internal affairs of Yemen.
However, the recent resumption of the parliament means a dose of strength and a revival of the government legitimacy and authority.
This is the first time since 2015 that the internationally recognised government of Yemen has scored such a political success.
Although the Arab coalition seems to be serious in supporting the parliament, it remains unclear if this support will continue for long. If it wants to disrupt the operation of the parliament, it can do so while the Yemeni government can do nothing.
The other source of disturbance is the southern separatists who have strong ties with United Arab Emirates. The parliament is convening in the south where the secessionist voices openly express their resentment of Hadi, his government and the parliament – by a Yemeni journalist
My comment: The author obviously is a supporter of the Hadi government – the other factions of the Yemen conflict have a different view. – There was no such opinion on the international stage when the Houthis and the Saleh side managed to assemble the parliament at Sanaa in 2016.
And
(* B P)
Hadi's return to Yemen's parliament shores up Saudi interests
Yemeni president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's rare visit to parliament is likely provoke further tensions and serve Saudi interests
It was the first House of Representatives session since Yemen's war erupted over four years ago. Around 145 Yemeni MPs had attended the session, which could be the start of further meetings to reinstate the legitimacy of Yemen's internationally-recognised and Saudi-backed government.
However, implementing parliament in this way will mostly serve the government itself and its Saudi Arabian backers
Furthermore, rather than bringing political stability, it could likely provoke further tensions and risk destabilising efforts to bring peace to the country.
Hadi himself and other figures have already echoed pro-Saudi rhetoric in parliament, admonishing the Houthis for allowing Iran's presence into the country.
Meanwhile, Yemen's prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed praised Saudi Arabia's supposed role in bringing stability to Yemen's government, even though Riyadh's bombing campaign has destroyed much of Yemen's key state infrastructure. Clearly, such pro-Saudi rhetoric government will struggle to win the favour of Yemenis, many of whom now oppose Riyadh's war on them.
During the session, the House of Representatives declared the Houthis a "terrorist" organisation, blaming them exclusively for the violence, and obstructing the Hodeida ceasefire, suggesting the Hadi government and its supporters in Riyadh are not taking the peace process seriously.
It is, therefore, too premature to attempt to reinstate a single Yemeni regime, and peace talks should focus on forging unity between conflicting parties, rather than isolating one another.
Yet for Riyadh, a strengthened pro-Saudi regime like Hadi's would help it gain hegemony over Yemen.
The Houthis had already recently arrested parliamentarians and lawmakers in Sanaa in response to the parliamentary convening in Hadramout, showing that further efforts to impose the Hadi government could lead to further Houthi aggression, and thus derail the peace talks even more.
Any sign of the pre-conflict political environment, as well as a blacklisting of the Houthis, will only worsen the conflict at this stage.
It could also trigger increased dissent from other communities, such as southerners who desire secession from Yemen's north.
If Yemen's parliament does not adapt, consider the wishes of other political actors and try to compromise with them, this, in combination with Saudi Arabia's attempts to shore up the Hadi regime mean domestic infighting could continue, even if the Saudi-led coalition's military campaign comes to an end – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
Security Council Press Statement on Yemen
The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern that, four months after the agreements reached by the Government of Yemen and the Houthis in Stockholm, those agreements have not yet been implemented. They reiterated their endorsement of the Stockholm Agreement, circulated as document S/2018/1134, and reiterated their call for it to be implemented without delay.
The members of the Security Council underlined their full support for the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen and the Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and welcomed their tireless efforts to support implementation of the Stockholm Agreement.
The members of the Security Council welcomed the agreement by the Government of Yemen and the Houthis to the Concept of Operations for Phase 1 of redeployments under the Hodeidah Agreement. They called on both parties to engage constructively with the Special Envoy and the Chair of the RCC to swiftly agree on local security force arrangements and the Concept of Operations for Phase 2 of redeployments.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13785.doc.htm
My comment: Nothing really new.
(A P)
UN lauds Saudi, UAE pledge of $200m Ramadan aid for Yemen
The UN Security Council has commended Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates afterpledging $200 million in humanitarian relief aid for Yemenis for the holy month of Ramadan, Saudi Press Agency said.
My comment: This is totally odd, when taking into account what the Saudis and UAE did and do in Yemen.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(A P)
Iraq to host regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia at conference
Iraq will host senior parliamentary officials from arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Saturday as Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi seeks to bolster his country’s nascent role as a mediator in the region.
Delegations including the heads of parliament from Turkey, Kuwait, Syria and Jordan will also attend the one-day conference in the Iraqi capital to discuss regional security, diplomacy and economic issues.
(* B P)
Competition in the eastern Mediterranean
The center of gravity of the struggle in the Middle East is moving toward the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. The tension between the U.S., Gulf countries and Iran has been on the Hormuz Strait and its surroundings. When we remember the war in Yemen with this, it can be said that in two of the most significant international waterways through which oil and trade are running, Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandab, there is congestion.
Iran, with its military deployment and control in Hormuz as well as its support to Houthi militias in Yemen, has the potential to slow down the transfer of oil and gas from the Gulf to Europe and to the Far East.
It is not hard to see that Saudi Arabia and other countries are looking for alternative ways to transport their oil and gas. It seems that Saudis are planning to transport the oil via pipelines directly to the Red Sea, bypassing Hormuz and Bab al Mandab. Therefore Egypt, Jordan and Sudan become important actors and critical countries for Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi support to Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government in Egypt after the 2013 military coup, widening of the Suez Canal, investments in Sinai, building of great depots and deep ports are proof to that.
With the Neom City Project, Saudi leadership wants to make the north of the Red Sea coast a hub and attraction center opening to the West.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
Saudi Arabia Detains Three More Bloggers – No Reasons for Arrest
The Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] reported on Thursday urged Saudi authorities to immediately stop persecuting journalists and release those swept up in their recent detention campaign.
Saudi authorities arrested blogger Naif al-Hindas on April 4 or 5 and bloggers and columnists Ali al-Saffar and Redha al-Boori on April 9, according to a statement and Twitter posts by the London-based Saudi rights organization Al-Qst and a statement by the Beirut-based rights organization Gulf Center for Human Rights.
According to CPJ, Saudi authorities have not publicly stated any reasons for the arrests, which come as part of a larger wave of detentions since the beginning of April
https://english.alahednews.com.lb/essaydetails.php?eid=47628&cid=525
(B P)
In an hour, I will participate in the program #Hashtak on @AJArabic
And talk about the issue of preventing my kids from traveling
And what families of activists at home are exposed to violation of their rights
https://twitter.com/alihashimS/status/1119327266230689794
#Saudi Klansmen deprive young children from leaving the country to see their dissident father.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1119385253238464512
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia accused of torturing Rohingya detainees to end hunger strike
Rohingya detainees began the hunger strike to oppose their deportations and indefinite detention in Saudi Arabia
Scores of stateless Rohingya refugees detained inside a Saudi detention centre have gone on hunger strike to demand an end to their indefinite detention in the Gulf kingdom.
Using phones smuggled into the Shumaisi detention centre in Jeddah, Rohingya detainees told Middle East Eye that dozens of refugees had gone on hunger strike to oppose their continued detention and potential deportation.
Members of the stateless minority had been swept in Saudi raids against undocumented workers after coming to the Gulf kingdom on passports obtained via fake documents.
Many had spent up to five years in Saudi detention without trial or charge, with some Rohingya detainees developing mental health conditions due to their prolonged detention.
The hunger strike comes after hundreds of Rohingya with Saudi residency papers were released by Riyadh in March after spending years in detention.
Since the beginning of the hunger strike on Saturday, at least six Rohingya inmates have been hospitalised, according to activists and detainees.
Detainees told MEE that the Saudi authorities had begun "mentally torturing" them by taking away their blankets and bedding on Monday.
"The air conditioning is on 24/7, and now they have taken away our pillows and bed sheets," said Hasan.
"We are sitting on our metal bed frames feeling light-headed and weak from not eating.
"They are trying to make things as uncomfortable as possible to stop."
(A P)
‘Barbaric and inhuman’: Two Indian men SECRETLY decapitated by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has secretly beheaded two Indian nationals without notifying either the embassy or the men’s relatives of the brutal executions. To add to the shock, the Kingdom will not surrender the remains to the families.
Satwinder Kumar of Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana were decapitated on February 28, in connection with the case of the murder of another Indian man back in 2015. The verdict was reached without the knowledge of the Indian embassy and without any prior warning issued to the men’s families.
https://www.rt.com/news/456866-indians-decapitated-saudi-arabia/
(A E P)
Oil prices inch up on signs of tighter global supply
Oil futures edged up on Thursday as a drop in crude exports from OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, and a draw in U.S. drilling rigs and oil inventories supported prices.
(A P)
Two More Saudi Sisters Appeal for Help, Joining a Growing Number of Runaways from the Kingdom
Two Saudi sisters appealed for help Wednesday from the former Soviet republic of Georgia after fleeing their country, in the latest case of runaways from the ultra-conservative kingdom using social media to seek asylum.
Using a newly created Twitter account called “GeorgiaSisters,” they identified themselves as Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25. Like other Saudi women who have fled and turned to social media, they posted copies of their passports to establish their identities.
The sisters claim they are in danger and will be killed if they are forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia. They said their father and brothers have arrived in Georgia looking for them. Wafa said they fled “oppression from our family” without elaborating.
http://time.com/5572896/saudi-arabia-sisters-runaways-georgia
Earlier reporting: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/saudi-runaway-sisters-plead-unhcr-protection-social-media-190417062719848.html
https://twitter.com/GeorgiaSisters/status/1118137772622135296
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(A P)
Turkey arrests suspected UAE spies in Istanbul
Turkey has arrested what it says are two intelligence operatives who confessed to spying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
Turkey is investigating whether there may be links to the murder last year of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate, a senior Turkish official told Reuters.
"We are investigating whether the primary individual's arrival in Turkey was related to the Jamal Khashoggi murder," said the official, adding the person had been monitored for six months before the arrests in Istanbul on Monday.
"It is possible that there was an attempt to collect information about Arabs, including political dissidents, living in Turkey."
Turkish officials seized an encrypted computer found in what the official said was the spy ring's base in Istanbul
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47991187
cp9 USA
(A P)
Film: Peace activists tell MSNBC: Stop ignoring devastating US-Saudi war on Yemen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWUfMmPS2Iw
(A P)
.@StateDept just invited a xenophobic& anti-Semtic #Saudi minion @azizkasem as part of its International Visitor Program. He toured #US on our tax dollars while he prayed to curse #Jews & #Christians (thread)
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1119292091094401026
(A P)
Shaikh Abdullah meets Pompeo in White House
Issues of common interest including resolving conflict in Yemen discussed
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Washington on Friday where he met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House National Security Advisor John Bolton.
https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/shaikh-abdullah-meets-pompeo-in-white-house-1.63437359
(B P)
It’s Now Time to Get Serious About Ending US Support For the Yemen War
If Congress really wants the US out of Yemen, it will remove funding for any military activity associated with Yemen, and it will do so in a must-pass budget bill. If this doesn’t happen, it means that a lot of the folks who voted to end our support of the war were just cheap talkers who were only willing to do so when they knew the bill would be vetoed and their vote wouldn’t really matter. We’ll find out later this year.
(* A K P)
Expecting Trouble? U.S. Deploys F-35s to UAE, Naval Assets to Red Sea, Persian Gulf
The United States has deployed a number of its military assets to the Middle East. It could just be part of a normal rotation, or maybe there are concerns that the planes and ships are there to address.
The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday that the U.S. has sent a number F-35 Lightning stealth fighters to the United Arab Emirates. The fighters jets arrived earlier this week at al-Dhafra Air Base in the UAE.
“The F-35A provides our nation air dominance in any threat,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein said in a statement announcing the deployment. “When it comes to having a quarterback for the coalition joint force, the inter-operable F-35A is clearly the aircraft for the leadership role.”
This marks the first operational deployment of the advanced aircraft by the United States in the Middle East.
(* B P)
Is the Trump Administration Helping the Saudis Build a Bomb?
The crown prince can't be trusted with a bone saw, let alone nuclear weapons.
Now Energy Secretary Rick Perry is acting as chief nuclear procurer for the Saudis. “By ramming through the sale of as much as $80 billion in nuclear power plants,” The New York Times warned recently, “the Trump administration would provide sensitive knowhow and materials to a government whose de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has suggested that he may eventually want a nuclear weapon as a hedge against Iran and has shown little concern for what the rest of the world thinks.”
Obviously, Trump has not endorsed a Saudi nuclear weapon. However, his administration’s ongoing attempt to provide the Kingdom with nuclear technology raises serious questions about U.S. policy.
American officials like to promote the Saudis’ antediluvian absolute monarchy as the foundation for Middle East stability. Alas, the price is unrivaled repression.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration is pushing the sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. And no one seems to know what safeguards will be imposed and whether MbS will abide by those limits. “There’s a legitimate question over whether such a government could be trusted with nuclear energy and the potential weaponization of it,” worries Senator Marco Rubio.
The transfer of nuclear reactors is usually not controversial, so long as it’s accompanied by a cooperation agreement under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act
In fact, the Saudis, in contrast to the Emiratis, want to enrich uranium, which offers a principal opportunity to divert nuclear materials for military use.
The Trump administration’s fixation on Iran has malformed American policy towards the rest of the Mideast, including Saudi Arabia.
Washington should drop its support for MbS’s irresponsible policies and be on guard against the Kingdom’s possible acquisition of nuclear weapons. A Saudi bomb would unsettle the region, guarantee a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race, and encourage sectarian conflict. MbS can’t be trusted with a bone saw, let alone nukes – by Doug Bandow
(A T)
Case Against Accused USS Cole Bomber Stalled Again
The trial against the al-Qaeda terrorist accused of killing 17 American sailors in the attack on the USS Cole—which was was hit by explosives while harbored in Yemen in 2000—suffered a serious setback this week.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/04/19/case-against-accused-uss-cole-bomber-stalled-again/
cp9a Trumps Veto gegen Jemenresolution / Trump vetoing Yemen resolution
Frühere Berichte / Earlier reports: Siehe / Look at Yemen Wair Mosaic 528, cp9a
(* B P)
Film: The Jimmy Dore Show: Trump Veto Continues Yemen War With Obama Logic
U.S. support of a Saudi-led genocide of Yemen continues, thanks to the Obama administration. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposed Yemen resolution, fails, as Trump vetoes and claims “no constituting hostilities.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FPFmxaqbGA
(B P)
Congress Power 'Effectively Diminished' in Relation to Trump: Canadian Analyst
A member of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War said the power of the US Congress has been “effectively diminished” as it failed to override President Trump’s veto of a bipartisan bill to end US military involvement in Saudi Arabia’s murderous war against Yemen.
“There are two results: one is that the war in Yemen will go on for a while yet; the other is that the power of Congress has been effectively diminished in relation to the US president,” Ken Stone told Tasnim in an interview.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/04/20/1993247/congress-power-effectively-diminished-in-relation-to-trump-canadian-analyst = https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-involvement-in-the-war-against-yemen-trumps-veto/5675046
(* B P)
Add Trump’s Yemen Veto to Obama’s Legacy
The president's decision to maintain U.S. support for a disastrous conflict relied on legal arguments crafted by the last administration.
Donald Trump loves to present himself as the anti-Obama. But this week, when he handily vetoed a congressional resolution directing him to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition war in Yemen, he leaned heavily upon his predecessor’s policies—an inconvenient fact for both presidents’ supporters.
Because Congress, with a few exceptions, had no interest in claiming responsibility for this intervention with a war declaration or statutory authorization, Obama faced a dilemma: Would he have to end U.S. airstrikes after the sixtieth day, as required by the WPR?
Two administration lawyers—humanitarian interventionist and human rights icon Harold Koh in the State Department and his White House counterpart, Bob Bauer—quickly crafted a legal rationale that allowed Obama to bypass the WPR predicament.
Accordingly, when Obama began supporting the Saudi-led war in Yemen in March 2015, he did not file a report to Congress within 48 hours, as would be required by the WPR, precisely because he did not believe U.S. forces were engaged in hostilities.
Because the Obama administration established the precedent in 2011 that consistent bombing did not rise to the level of hostilities, the Trump administration was easily able to claim that U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition—merely refueling jets and intelligence sharing, well short of direct airstrikes—does not constitute hostilities – by Gunar Olsen
https://newrepublic.com/article/153639/add-trumps-yemen-veto-obamas-legacy
(* B P)
Bernie Steals the ‘No More Wars’ Issue From Trump
With sufficient Republican votes in both houses to sustain Trump’s veto, that should have been the end of the matter.
It is not: Trump may have just ceded the peace issue in 2020 to the Democrats. If Sanders emerges as the nominee, we will have an election with a Democrat running on the “no-more-wars” theme Trump touted in 2016. And Trump will be left defending the bombing of Yemeni rebels and civilians by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
Does Trump really want to go into 2020 as a war party president?
Does he want to go into 2020 with Democrats denouncing “Trump’s endless wars” in the Middle East? Because that is where he is headed.
The center of gravity of U.S. politics is shifting towards the Trump position of 2016. And the anti-interventionist wing of the GOP is growing.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/bernie-steals-the-no-more-wars-issue-from-trump/rds the Trump position of 2016. And the anti-interventionist wing of the GOP is growing – by Patrick J. Buchanan
(* B P)
What President Trump’s Veto on Yemen Means for the Saudi-U.S. Alliance
Yet, the White House’s dismissive response to SR7 all but confirms a continuation of the status quo. The Trump administration has not budged from its alliance with the Gulf hegemon, even amidst rising international pressure on both states following Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
The Khashoggi episode exemplifies exactly why Trump will not weaken his relationship with the Saudis for their role in Yemen, even in the face of damning evidence by the CIA.
Trump has also invested heavily in Saudi Arabia as a hegemon and a military deterrent to Iran.
Moreover, the power of Congress to use the War Powers Resolution has never truly hindered presidential military action
The House of Representatives passed a similar resolution in 2014 to prevent President Obama from sending 275 military advisers to Baghdad, Iraq without asking Congress, and they were simply ignored. It would thus be difficult to argue that the War Powers Resolution now has the legal standing that it formerly did not during the Obama era.
If an international coalition is to end the Yemeni Civil War, it will not be led by the United States, who has followed Saudi Arabia’s lead every step of the way since Mohammed Bin Salman first initiated bombings in 2015. While bipartisan consensus against Saudi Arabia’s actions has been achieved, the Trump Administration will continue their alliance with the Saudi regime for the foreseeable future – by Albert Gunnison
(* B P)
Trump missed an opportunity in Yemen
Prolonging American involvement in Yemen is reckless. The conflict offers the United States abundant risk and no reward.
Withdrawal, on the other hand, would both respect the will of the American people; and maybe even open a path to resolution of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It could also avert grave, unintended consequences for U.S. security.
Most Americans are not aware of this hazard, but they know enough to recognize this is not a conflict in which our country should be involved
The most compelling case for removing the United States from Yemen’s civil war is that it could help bring the conflict to an end.
(* B P)
TRUMP’S YEMEN VETO WON’T STOP CONGRESS FROM TRYING TO PUNISH SAUDI ARABIA
Congressional rage over the war in Yemen and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi isn’t going away.
Trump’s opponents in Congress don’t have the votes to override his veto, but they hope the historic nature of their action will send a strong signal to Saudi leaders.
“Presidents come and go, but what defines stable partners and alliances of the Unites States is deep-rooted, broad support in Congress,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). “This should be a wake-up call for them that they lost that support for the first time in recent history.”
But short of shaming Saudi Arabia, Congress is hatching other plans to punish the country, not only for the war in Yemen but also for the extrajudicial assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October
The group, which includes members with diverse political views — Khanna and other progressives, libertarians like Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Trump allies Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.)— is beginning to discuss their options, and proposals are already floating around Capitol Hill.
(* B P)
Academic Outlines Three Reasons Why Trump Vetoed Yemen Resolution
"There are likely multiple reasons why President Trump vetoed the joint resolution", Jeffrey S. Bachman, the director of the Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs MA programme at the American University's School of International Service, told Sputnik. "First, President Trump's decision is consistent with long-standing US foreign policy in its relations with Saudi Arabia".
Second, "there are various economic interests involved, including those that extend beyond natural resources", according to the academic.
"Third, there seems to be a belief in circles in Washington that the US must, for all intents and purposes, unconditionally support Saudi Arabia because doing so acts as a counterbalance to Iran's position in the region", Bachman presumed.
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201904191074289486-yemen-trump-veto/
(* B P)
The Shameful Yemen Veto and Trump’s Foreign Policy
If Trump follows through on ending these other wars, there is nothing for Congress to do. The only reason there would need to be “engagement” from Congress is if he chooses to prolong them. I don’t believe for a second that Trump actually wants Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Bernie Sanders to focus on the illegality of our ongoing military presence in Syria, and if they were able to get houses to pass another war powers resolution to force Trump to complete the so-called withdrawal that he ordered last year I wouldn’t be surprised if he vetoed that resolution, too. He brings up these other wars to deflect attention from the fact that he is refusing to end U.S. involvement in the one war that he can end immediately. Trump’s rhetorical opposition to “endless wars” has proven to be nothing more than that. His Yemen veto shows that he will do everything he can to keep an unjust and horrific war going for as long as possible when it is within his power to end U.S. involvement and to try to bring the conflict to an end. There was never any doubt that he would veto the resolution – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-shameful-yemen-veto-and-trumps-foreign-policy/
referring to
(* B P)
This month, Trump was handed a seemingly perfect out from this mess. A resolution that landed on his desk last week, which had bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, invoked Vietnam-era limits on presidential war powers to force an end to American participation in the Yemeni war.
“Without U.S. support, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would likely be forced to end the war,” noted a Washington Post editorial in March. “Unfortunately, the Trump administration is doubling down.”
Though the resolution’s impact was always largely symbolic, critics of the Trump administration argue his veto only encourages a Saudi regime that has shown a propensity for recklessness abroad.
What explains this commitment to Riyadh? Of course, there is the administration’s deep hostility toward Iran and Iranian influence in the Middle East, as well as the White House’s desire to keep the Saudis onside as it carries out its quixotic quest toward a peace plan between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
“Donald Trump’s presidency makes plain that global supremacy has become an end in itself, unmoored from the interests of the American people and most of humanity,” political historian Stephen Wertheim wrote last month. “‘Our military dominance must be unquestioned,’ Trump has declared, ‘and I mean unquestioned.’ Trump has stripped supremacy of ethical pretense and strategic justification. He values it for its own sake, as a gesture of brute domination.”
And in his unflinching support for a disastrous war, it is ordinary Yemenis who feel the force of that brutishness – by Ishaan Tharoor
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/04/18/trump-now-owns-yemen-war/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e3afefc499ec = https://www.denverpost.com/2019/04/18/tharoor-trump-now-owns-the-yemen-war/
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Where Trump’s veto leaves the Yemen resolution
If the congressional debate over Yemen has accomplished anything, it has made clear just how unpopular Trump’s Yemen policies are even among members of his own party. While his veto authority may allow Trump to avoid any legal restrictions, employing it comes with a political cost.
Other portions of Trump’s statement hint at new, broader legal arguments that the Trump administration may be considering. Specifically, Trump asserts that U.S. involvement in the Yemen conflict is “first and foremost” motivated by “our duty to protect the safety of the more than 80,000 Americans who reside in certain coalition countries that have been subject to Houthi attacks from Yemen.”
This shift is notable, as the executive branch has repeatedly argued that the president has the inherent constitutional authority to use military force overseas in defense of U.S. nationals and personnel absent express congressional authorization—including in Somalia in 1992, Haiti in 2004, and Iraq in 2014.
Other parts of Trump’s veto statement, however, may push even further. He also objects to S.J. Res. 7’s “dangerous” efforts to “prohibit certain tactical operations, such as in-flight refueling, or require military engagements to adhere to arbitrary timelines,” on the grounds that “[d]oing so would interfere with the President’s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces[.]” Caveats that statutory provisions “could” infringe on the president’s constitutional authority are not uncommon in executive branch comments on statutes: they essentially preserve the argument in the event that circumstances triggering such concerns, however unlikely, may arise. But asserting that such restrictions “would” necessarily interfere with the president’s constitutional authority, no matter the circumstances, implies a more aggressive potential argument—namely, that such actions are inherently within the president’s exclusive constitutional authority, and thus not subject to any statutory restrictions Congress might seek to impose.
The president’s decision to specifically reference “in-flight refueling” in this context is particularly revealing.
But if the congressional debate over Yemen has accomplished anything, it has made clear just how unpopular Trump’s Yemen policies are even among members of his own party. While his veto authority may allow Trump to avoid any legal restrictions, employing it comes with a political cost—one that will only grow as Congress continues to demonstrate its bipartisan opposition to his policies through additional legislative measures. At some point, even President Trump may determine that these political costs—combined, perhaps, with the imminent possibility of Congress eventually forcing his hand through binding legal restrictions—are too much to sustain – by Scott R. Anderson
https://www.lawfareblog.com/where-trumps-veto-leaves-yemen-resolution = https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/04/18/where-trumps-veto-leaves-the-yemen-resolution/
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Trump’s Yemen Veto Could Still Cost Saudis
Democratic lawmaker mulls sanctioning Saudis tied to the humanitarian blockade on the war-torn country.
Lawmakers and experts are torn on the impact of Trump vetoing the resolution to cut off U.S. military support in Yemen. Some saw the resolution as an unnecessary symbolic measure that would have made things worse in Yemen. Others saw it as an important move that could have helped the United States regain the moral high ground and advance U.N. peace talks.
“The resolution would have had a very limited practical effect on the course of the fighting,” said John Hannah, a former senior George W. Bush administration national security aide now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. “If anything, the withdrawal of U.S. intelligence support would only have exacerbated the shortcomings in Saudi targeting, perhaps resulting in even more mistakes and greater unintended casualties and suffering.”
Proponents of the resolution, including Murphy and Khanna, say a withdrawal of U.S. military support could have pressured the Saudi-led coalition into making more progress in U.N.-brokered peace talks.
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Trump Owns the War in Yemen Now
His veto of a congressional effort to end U.S. involvement violates the public will and the national interest.
So how did Trump explain his veto?
“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” he declared in a statement.
The explanation is preposterous. The president has no constitutional authority to enmesh America in a foreign war that Congress rejects. Indeed, as David French observes, “If a president can fight when he wants, where he wants, and for as long as he wants, then Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 is meaningless.” And if the danger posed to Americans by Houthi rebels were sufficient to justify war, the U.S. would be at war in dozens of other countries, too.
As if all that weren’t enough, the war is also a moral abomination – by Conor Friedersdorf
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/trump-veto-yemen/587332/
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Trump’s Veto Will Trigger More US Arms to Kill Civilians in Yemen
Trump’s veto on April 16 is expected to ensure the uninterrupted flow of American-made weapons into a war zone described by the United Nations as the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster”.
Justifying US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Trump has repeatedly said that if the US doesn’t sell weapons, the Chinese and the Russians will sell them.
Asked if this a valid argument, NRC’s Solvang told IPS : “I have no idea if the Chinese or the Russians would step in to replace US arms sales. As we now know, there is no shortage of countries willing to sell arms to the (Saudi-led) Coalition “ – judging by the latest revelations out of France and the previous information out of the UK.
“The argument is basically irrelevant, and avoids the question of whether the US wants to be complicit in supporting the killing of civilians in Yemen. Congress thinks the US should not be and that’s what’s important here,” he said.
Meanwhile, US arms supplies to the Saudi-led coalition are also viewed as a move directed at Iran which is allied with the Yemenis caught in the middle of a larger confrontation between Iran on one side and the US and the Saudis on the other.
Solvang said that was also Trump’s justification for the veto.
He pointed out that the US views Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, as an Iranian proxy force, and US aid to the Coalition is part of the wider struggle in the region against Iran.
This does not, however, relieve the US of its obligations to do what it can to protect civilians. That includes putting as much pressure on the coalition as it can – privately and publicly – to abide by the laws of war,
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/04/trumps-veto-will-trigger-us-arms-kill-civilians-yemen/
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Trump’s Veto on Yemen War Is a Sign That the Strongmen in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia Are Winning
Far from an effort to protect the Constitution, as Trump claimed, the veto was rather the latest example of the autocratic, tit-for-tat deal-making that has in recent years increasingly dominated the geopolitics of the Middle East.
Trump made clear that his decision was intended to augment his executive powers. In his statement, he called the bill — which would have made history as the first legislation under the 1973 War Powers Act to receive bipartisan support — a “dangerous attempt to weaken [his] constitutional authorities.”
The bill, though, just like the president’s objection to it, had much more to do with Trump’s relentless and ill-advised devotion to MBS.
By calling for an end to U.S. support for the war, Congress took aim at Trump’s obstinate and increasingly untenable loyalty to MBS
IT WAS NO great surprise, then, to see the president resort to veto power to protect MBS’s disastrous Yemen campaign. Beneath the shallow appeals to constitutionalism and national security, Trump is acting in accordance with a now-familiar pattern: gravitating toward fellow strongmen and personality-driven deal-making
This entrepreneurial narcissism has fueled much of the president’s volatile foreign policy
This trend has dramatic implications in the Middle East. Since the collapse of the Arab Spring and in the wake of years of foreign intervention, hopes of democracy in the region have in large part given way to a cast of authoritarian rulers.
Among this fray, Trump, along with his his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, identified MBS as an ideal partner.
The president has repeatedly availed himself of these personalized, unilateral mechanisms of power. The effects of such a pattern cannot be held at bay by the occasional congressional override or dissident judge. Americans must recognize this dangerous erosion of democratic principles and, fighting fatigue, continue to resist – by Sarah Aziza
https://theintercept.com/2019/04/18/trump-veto-yemen-saudi-arabia-mbs/
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Trump’s Politically Tricky Yemen Veto
The second veto of the Trump presidency divides his core supporters, and erodes some of his anti-establishment bona fides.
The reality is that Yemen is a metapolitical battle, which was renewed again Tuesday night by President Donald Trump’s veto of a congressional rebuke of his administration.
As neoconservative reporter Eli Lake wrote earlier this month: “When combined with the growing number of Democratic presidential candidates pledging to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, this vote shows a party ready to embrace neutrality in the conflict for the future of the Middle East.” The horror.
Candidate Trump once all but pledged such neutrality—inspiring terror in the Republican establishment. But such heterodox suggestions thrilled an anti-establishment political coalition that seized power in 2016.
Successive White Houses have pledged to deeply reform America’s war on terror; it's the follow-through that’s underwhelmed. With Bernie Sanders and a resurgent left running strong in the Democratic primary, the president risks having the antiwar vote, such as it is, stolen out from underneath him.
As the administration remains persistently understaffed, plucky outfits like SSG, and the more experienced Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) and Center for Security Policy (CSP) remain ex officio parts of Trump’s political apparatus.
A presidency has never been more ripe for capture – by Curt Mills
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/trump%E2%80%99s-politically-tricky-yemen-veto-53027
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Trump's Saudi veto is a disgrace — and a danger — to America
The president made an unconvincing speech about how he's protecting American lives when the truth is that his foreign policy is putting the lives of American soldiers and civilians at risk
Trump claims Congress’ resolution is unnecessary. Yet the constitutional power to declare war lies with Congress — not the president — making the resolution entirely necessary. For the last 70 years, Congress has shamefully abdicated its constitutional authority over war. This is partly a means of avoiding the political buck on potentially unpopular conflicts, but it has allowed the executive branch wide latitude in using the military overseas.
So, yes, any Congressional effort to reclaim its war-making power is both welcome and absolutely necessary. Yet President Trump also describes the resolution as an attempt to “weaken my constitutional authorities.” Indeed, it is — and that’s the point. The balance of power has shifted much too far in the direction of the executive and needs a recalibration.
These were not Trump’s authorities to begin with.
Trump’s belief that withdrawing US support endangers American lives, both “today and in the future,” is merely the same, tired interventionist argument. Supposedly, because it’s possible that some day a bad guy on Yemeni soil might try to harm Americans, Trump thinks we have to contribute to a bombing campaign that’s setting an already poor country back 1,000 years. This is threat inflation, pure and simple — a risk threshold so low that any attempt to scale back is seen as dangerous and destabilising. And it’s a sorry way to conduct foreign policy.
If anything, the bigger threat to American lives is from the Trump administration’s warmongering. The Saudi-led war in Yemen is part of a proxy war with Iran, the Saudi kingdom’s regional adversary. And Iran is Trump’s foreign policy bogeyma
A war with Iran risks the lives of thousands of US military personnel in the Middle East – by Jerrodd A. Laber
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Trump's Yemen veto sets stage for potential Supreme Court confrontation
In addition to the significance of the veto itself, Trump's decision could lead to a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution, which would dramatically expand or limit the President's power to use military force abroad.
For over 40 years, Congress has not invoked its authority under the War Powers Resolution. Why? Because presidents have sought congressional authorization for their actions and informed Congress within 48 hours. In fact, presidents have done so more than 165 times since the resolution was passed.
But there's another reason Congress has not invoked the resolution: concern that it might not be constitutional.
Thus, the War Powers Resolution could arguably be an unconstitutional limitation on executive power. But we don't know, because there has never been cause for a court decision -- until now.
Trump's veto statement called this resolution "an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities." Assuming that there are no major defections in the vote, there are not enough votes to override the veto.
But that doesn't mean Trump has necessarily won this battle. Congress has standing to take the President to court for violating the War Powers Resolution, and a court decision could have significant ramifications for US foreign policy.
Presumably, the case would reach the Supreme Court, and if the court decides that the law is unconstitutional, it would remove one of the very few checks on the President's ability to engage "in hostilities outside the territory of the United States – by Jonathan Kristol
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Once Again Trump Demonstrates His Subservience to Riyadh
By all accounts, the civil war in Yemen should represent exactly the kind of situation Donald Trump promised to steer clear of militarily.
Contrary to all of his promises about removing the U.S. from endless military conflicts in the Middle East, Trump vetoed the legislation on Tuesday.
Given what we know about this president, it is safe to assume that he is ignorant of the complexities of the situation in Yemen, is unaware of the fact that the Saudi-led military intervention has been ineffective, and is immune to the suffering of the Yemeni people. One can only conclude that he is, once again, doing the bidding of the Saudi royal family. That could be because he is simply enamored with autocrats, or it could represent something much more sinister.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/04/17/once-again-trump-demonstrates-his-subservience-to-riyadh/
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Trump had a chance at making history, but he vetoed it
Trump had the opportunity to become the first president in U.S. history to sign a War Powers Resolution withdrawing the United States from an unauthorized overseas conflict — the sort of groundbreaking moment that would have appealed to his ego and sense of place in history.
Instead, Trump did the easy thing: He threw in his chips with the Saudis yet again, despite the colossal failure Riyadh’s quagmire in Yemen has become. Trump in effect transformed himself into a battering ram for the Saudis, laying on the tracks in order to stop a bipartisan bullet train advocating for a U.S. withdrawal from reaching the station.
This, of course, is not all about Trump, but rather what Trump’s veto represents. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already believe they have the United States over a barrel and hold most of the leverage in their relationship with Washington. Saudi and Emirati officials look at what’s going on in Washington and see an administration, and a Congress, deep into a maximum pressure campaign against Iran that relies in large part on cooperation from the Gulf states. They have used the situation to their advantage as any clever state would
Trump could have issued a much overdue correction by fully removing the U.S. from a conflict it had no business being involved with from the beginning.
He chose a different route. The veto is one more error in judgment for a foreign policy establishment in Washington that can’t seem to kick its addiction to meaningless foreign misadventures – by Daniel DePetris
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trump-had-a-chance-at-making-history-but-he-vetoed-it
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America’s War in Yemen Is Plainly Unconstitutional
The president’s veto of a bipartisan resolution demanding the end of American involvement in the conflict further degrades our constitutional architecture.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution grants Congress the exclusive authority to declare war. Yes, Article II declares that the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but reading the two clauses together, their meaning is plain: The president commands American forces when Congress declares war. Yes, the president has inherent authority to order immediate military actions in times of crisis, but he should also promptly seek congressional approval for such actions.
These are all good constitutional questions, but they’re beside the point because none of them apply to the conflict in Yemen. President Obama wasn’t responding to a true national emergency in backing the Saudis against the Houthis, and President Trump isn’t responding to a true national emergency in continuing to back the Saudis. They were (and are) waging a new conflict against a new enemy.
Presidents have opposed the War Powers Act ever since its passage, even as they’ve frequently complied with its terms. They have historically taken such a broad view of their commander-in-chief powers as to functionally write Congress’s war-making power out of the Constitution – by David French
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/americas-war-in-yemen-is-plainly-unconstitutional/
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Why Did Trump Let Us Down in Yemen?
So what does this veto mean? In short, it means the US will continue to participate in a futile regime change attempt at the expense of thousands of innocent lives and billions of American dollars.
So why are we there?
Short answer: Saudi Arabia. Remember that country who killed Jamal Khashoogi? Well, they keep paying us to help them conquer the region and so far it's pretty much been a futile effort.
Explaining the war in Yemen would be tedious and pointless because, more than anything else, we're just there to help Saudis who bribed our politicians.
But to anyone who's still convinced the US is capable of helping execute a regime change in Yemen, let me ask you this: did it work when we tried it in North Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, or Iran?
No, and it won't work in Yemen either.
Something happens when you go to DC. Non-interventionists get converted to interventionists faster than you can wrap a shrimp in bacon. Why?
I have a hypothesis about this.
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Trump Vetoes Measure To Curtail U.S. Support For War On Yemen
President Trump has not surprisingly vetoed a Congressional resolution to limit American support for the Saudi war on Yemen. His defense for doing so is utterly absurd.
Mr. Trump has spoken out for years against American military entanglements, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria. He has clashed with his generals over the timetable for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Syria.
As James Joyner noted earlier this month when Congress passed the resolution that the President has vetoed, this is part of a debate between the Executive and Legislative Branches that goes back decades if not longer.
As I have noted several times in the past, the history of the United States, especially since the end of World War Two, has seen Congress gradually cede more and more authority in this area to Presidents who have proven to be more than willing to take that authority and run with it, thus expanding the power and scope of Presidential authority far beyond where Article II of the Constitution intended it to lie.
Finally, Congress has generally until now been unwilling to exercise its authority as appropriator of funds to limit Presidential authority in cases of overseas military deployments, typically because most Congressman and Senators are loathed to be seen as taking money away from the troops that have been committed by the President even in situations where that deployment is clearly outside Presidential authority. Hopefully, this moves marks the beginning of a new trend in which there will be more oversight of Presidential action when it comes to foreign and military policy. So, while the President’s veto is inexcusable and unfortunate it may ultimately serve the purpose of making Congress reassert some of its authority in an area it has neglected for far too long.
At some point down the line, I’m afraid, we are going to pay a price for turning a blind eye to the war crimes and human rights violations that the Saudis and Emiratis are committing with our full support in their war on Yemen. What that price will be is unclear at this point – by Doug Mataconis
https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/trump-vetoes-measure-to-curtail-u-s-support-for-war-on-yemen/
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The War On Yemen, Congress, And The Constitution
The Wall Street Journal tries, and fails, to defend President Trump's indefensible veto of the Congressional resolution regarding the war on Yemen.
The Editors of The Wall Street Journal have posted a particularly galling, and historically and legally inaccurate, defense of President Trump’s decision to veto a Congressional resolution barring American support for the Saudi Arabian war on Yemen.
As Daniel Larison notes, this view of foreign policy under the Constitution goes against what the Founding Fathers understood and, indeed, the language of the Constitution itself.
The War Powers Act, of course, was passed in the wake of the Vietnam War in an effort to reign in Presidential war power. In reality, the law has had the impact of enhancing that power greatly and giving the President the ability to commit U.S. military forces without seeking Congressional approval under a wide variety of circumstances.
Presidents since Richard Nixon have argued that the WPA is unconstitutional because it unduly restricts the President’s powers as Commander In Chief, In reality, it seems that there is a strong argument that the act is unconstitutional because it delegates too much of Congressional war power to the Executive Branch.
It’s easy to see why Presidents would like the present state of affairs. After all, foreign policy, and especially the use of military force, is the one area where they have the most authority to begin with, and accumulating more power in that area allows them to act unilaterally and be, well, “Presidential,” if by Presidential you mean someone who orders the military to go in and blow things up without waiting around for Congress.
As Matthew Yglesias has noted in the past, however, Congress has simply stood by and let Presidents take this power because they don’t want to exercise it:
The other important point, of course, is that what the Constitution says about war powers at this point is largely irrelevant, what matters is nearly 200 years of tradition and history, during which Presidential authority to engage in military action without getting direct Congressional approval has gradually, but incessantly, expanded. It started in 1801.
This is why the Congressional vote on Yemen was so encouraging to those of us who have stood by and watched President after President assume more and more authority in the name of “national security” while Congress either rubber-stamped their action, as in the case of the Iraq War, or stood by and did nothing as in the case of President Obama’s unauthorized and mistaken decision to involve the United States in the Libyan civil war – – by Doug Mataconis
https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/the-war-on-yemen-congress-and-the-constitution/
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'Missed opportunity': Critics assail Trump's veto of Yemen bill
US politicians decry Trump's decision to veto bill that would have ended US involvement in the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen.
Members of the United StatesCongress criticised President Donald Trump's veto of a resolution that would have ended US military support for the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, calling it a "missed opportunity".
Advocates for the Yemen resolution are likely to turn their attention now to legislation in the House that would ban further US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a bill in the Senate that would also impose financial sanctions on individual Saudis.
"There are other bills that people will turn their attention to," said Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the CodePink peace advocacy group.
and
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With veto, Trump keeps the US in Yemen. Did he 'greenlight a failed strategy?'
Critics say with his veto, Trump is doubling down on a failing policy in Yemen that has extended the four-year civil war and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's most dire humanitarian crisis.
(A P)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard hammers Trump for turning U.S. into 'prostitute of Saudi Arabia'
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, on Wednesday accused President Trumpof prostituting the United States after he vetoed a congressional resolution this week calling for an end of U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Ms. Gabbard, a former combat veteran who served in the Iraq War, said Mr. Trump is turning the nation “into the prostitute of Saudi Arabia.”
“By vetoing the war powers resolution, Trump has again proven that he is the servant of Saudi Arabia, the theocratic dictatorship that spends billions of dollars every single year spreading the most extreme and intolerant form of Islam around the world,” the Hawaii Democrat said in a video. “The very same ideology that motivated al Qaeda and other jihadists.”
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/17/tulsi-gabbard-hammers-donald-trump-turning-us-pros/
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What Utah Sen. Mike Lee had to say about Trump veto of ending U.S. aid to Saudi-led war in Yemen
"I hope my colleagues will continue to recognize we’re fighting a war in which we have no business fighting. We’re fighting a war that’s never been declared by Congress," he said Wednesday.
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Audio: “The US is engaging in a duplicitous role of feeding Yemenis with one hand, and providing weapons to kill them with the other”- @NRC_Norway's @Karl_Schembri to @bbcworldservice about President Trump’s veto to the bill to end US support to Saudi-led coalition in the #Yemen war
https://twitter.com/NRC_MiddleEast/status/1118874900754776064
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Trump's veto of Yemen war bill is strategic: UAE
The UAE on Wednesday hailed as "strategic" President Donald Trump's veto of a resolution from Congress directing him to end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
"President Trump's assertion of support to the Arab Coalition in Yemen is a positive signal of US resolve towards America's allies," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash tweeted. "President Trump's important decision is both timely & strategic," said Dr Gargash.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/abu-dhabi/trumps-veto-of-yemen-war-bill-is-strategic-uae
My comment: LOL.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
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Film, Interview: Deutsche Waffen im Jemen-Krieg
Auch europäische und deutsche Waffen kommen im Jemen-Krieg zum Einsatz. Wie kann das sein? Und wird der Rüstungsexportstopp, den die Bundesregierung gegen Saudi-Arabien verhängt hat, Waffenlieferungen künftig verhindern?
MONITOR hat darüber mit Max Mutschler gesprochen. Er forscht am Bonn International Center vor Conversion (BICC) zu Rüstungsfragen und ist Vorsitzender der Fachgruppe Rüstungsexporte der Gemeinsame Konferenz Kirche und Entwicklung (GKKE).
https://www.facebook.com/monitor.wdr/videos/vb.186702484702033/2363467127274609/?type=2&theater
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Ein Gespräch mit Jürgen Todenhöfer über die „Große Heuchelei“ des Westens
JT: Schauen Sie, ich habe mir gestern ein Interview angesehen, das ein bekannter deutscher Politiker als außenpolitischer Sprecher für die CDU/CSU-Bundestagsfraktion zum Fall Jemen abgegeben hat. Und er hat gesagt – ich kriege das sinngemäß einigermaßen noch zustande – wir hätten bei dieser Entscheidung, jetzt mal weitere sechs Monate keine Waffen an Saudi-Arabien oder fast keine Waffen an Saudi-Arabien zu liefern, letztwertig die konstruktive Rolle Saudi-Arabiens im Prozess berücksichtigen müssen. Das müssen Sie sich überlegen, die konstruktive Rolle!
Ich habe in der FAZ gelesen, nachdem man jetzt nach mehreren Jahren Waffenlieferungen an die Saudis, die einen völkerrechtswidrigen Krieg im Jemen führen, nachdem man das jetzt mal für sechs Monate weiter gestoppt hat, das sei ein Sieg der Moral gewesen. Wir haben während des ganzen Krieges, der 2015 begann, den Saudis Waffen geliefert, die sie auch einsetzen, zum Beispiel Mörser und andere Dinge, über die breit berichtet worden ist. Das heißt, wir haben ein Land bei einem völkerrechtswidrigen Krieg, einem Angriffskrieg, mit unseren Waffen unterstützt. Das ist nach unserem Grundgesetz unzulässig und das ist schlicht und ergreifend so, denn in einem Angriffskrieg ist die Tötung Mord. Und wenn Sie einem Angriffskrieger Waffen liefern, begehen Sie Beihilfe zum Mord.
Und da schreiben diese unsere Medien, es ist nicht nur die FAZ, da schreiben die, ja, die Kritiker haben halt keine Ahnung von Interessenpolitik. Das war ein Sieg der Moral. Was ist das für eine Moral? Wenn ich zwei Jahre lang Beihilfe zum Mord begehe und dann sage: “Jetzt höre ich auf”, und zwar gar nicht wegen der armen Jemeniten. Sondern die haben aufgehört, weil der Knochensägen-Mord an Khashoggi so spektakulär und so schlimm war und so schlimm für die öffentliche Meinung war, dass die sich gesagt haben: “Jetzt entspricht es nicht mehr unseren Interessen, Waffen an einen Journalistenmörder zu liefern.“
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=50984
(* B E K P)
Rheinmetall entrüsten!: Totschießen ist ihr Geschäft
"Rheinmetall" verkauft an jeden. Die skrupellose Geschäftstätigkeit des Unternehmens führt aber auch zu Kritik - sowohl in den Medien als auch von Friedensaktivistinnen und -aktivisten. Bereits seit vielen Jahren wird die Hauptversammlung der Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin von Protesten begleitet.
Die RüstungsgegnerInnen lassen sich nicht einschüchtern
"Rheinmetall" spürt den Gegenwind. Die Blockaden tangieren die Produktion, und die Proteste im Rahmen der Hauptversammlung treffen sogar die Vorstände der Aktiengesellschaft. Eine Gegenstrategie - auch um politischen Einflüssen aus Deutschland zu entgehen - ist die schon betriebene Abwicklung von Aufträgen über das Ausland: Bei den "Mark 83"-Bomben von "Rheinmetall Denel Munition" funktioniert dieser Weg aktuell über Italien. Auch in Südafrika lässt der deutsche Konzern Waffen und Munition produzieren, um von den vergleichsweise lockeren Rüstungsexportrichtlinien zu profitieren.
Passend dazu hat die Bundesregierung Frankreich kürzlich bei gemeinsamen Rüstungsprojekten umfassende Freiheiten für den Verkauf an Drittländer zugesichert. In dem Vertrag mit dem Titel "Deutsch-französische Industriekooperation im Verteidigungsbereich - gemeinsames Verständnis und Prinzipien über Verkäufe", einem Zusatzabkommen zum im Januar 2019 von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel und Staatspräsident Emmanuel Macron unterzeichneten "Vertrag von Aachen", heißt es: "Die Parteien werden sich nicht gegen einen Transfer oder Export in Drittländer stellen" - für "Rheinmetall" heißt dass, sich verstärkt nach Frankreich zu orientieren, um unter das für sie günstigere französische Waffenexportrecht zu fallen.
https://www.graswurzel.net/gwr/2019/04/rheinmetall-entruesten/ = https://www.lebenshaus-alb.de/magazin/012206.html
Mein Kommentar: der erwähnte deutsch-französische Zusatzvertrag vom Januar 2019 (!!!!) verstößt ggen den Koalitionsvertrag und gegen geltendes deutsches recht, das Waffenexporte in Krisengebiete ausschließt.
(A K P)
Film: Stop the WAR in Yemen im Gespräch mit Domenik Laur
Mathias Tretschog von der Friedensinitiative Stop the WAR in Yemen, traf sich am 17.04.2018 mit dem Wahlkandidaten zur Europawahl von Menschliche Welt Domenik Laur, vor dem Bundestag zum Gespräch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRbZ-XqHz6M
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Frankreich / France: Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Marokko – König vor möglichem Besuch in Saudi-Arabien
https://www.maghreb-post.de/politik/marokko-koenig-vor-moeglichem-besuch-saudi-arabien/
(B K P)
Yemen: in nome di quale Dio?
4° anno di guerra mentre continua la vendita di armi italiane alla coalizione saudita
L’Italia non è schierata attivamente nel conflitto in Yemen, ma indirettamente si.
E questo lo si può affermare con certezza analizzando la vendita di armi italiane all’estero.
In questo quadro s’inserisce la vendita di armamenti italiani alla coalizione saudita che sta devastando lo Yemen, l’asse capeggiato dall’Arabia Saudita composto da 17 nazioni.
Tra i primi 25 destinatari dei materiali di armamento italiani, 8 sono appartenenti con le proprie specificità alla coalizione saudita: l’intero export italiano di armi è rivolto specialmente a questo asse.
La vendita di armi alla coalizione capeggiata dall’Arabia Saudita è in contrasto aperto con l’ordinamento nazionale italiano.
Partendo dalla Costituzione (art.11), dove è espressamente dichiarato che l’Italia ripudia la guerra: è evidente che rifornire Paesi che bombardano un’altra nazione senza alcuna motivazione, se non interessi economici, è in aperto contrasto l’articolo.
https://www.meltingpot.org/Yemen-in-nome-di-quale-Dio.html
(B P)
Bahraini journalist Ibrahim al-Sheikh believed to be detained on false news charges
Bahraini authorities must immediately clarify whether they are detaining Akhbar al-Khaleej columnist Ibrahim al-Sheikh and, if so, release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
In an April 14 Instagram post, the public prosecutor's office announced that it had detained an unnamed journalist on charges of spreading false news and rumors. The prosecutor alleged that the journalist had "cast doubt on the capabilities of the defense forces and the coalition," regarding the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
https://cpj.org/2019/04/bahraini-journalist-ibrahim-al-sheikh-believed-to-.php
(* B P)
Hundreds of Bahrainis like me are being made stateless – and the UK is complicit
While Bahrain imprisons and harasses its critics with impunity, Britain continues to be one of its closest allies
This week, a court in my home country, Bahrain, reached a verdict in one of the largest mass trials in the nation’s history. Jail terms were handed to 139 people, including 69 life sentences, ostensibly for terrorism-related offences. All but one were stripped of their citizenship.
In 2015, after being targeted for my human rights activism, my citizenship was revoked alongside 71 others including human rights defenders, political activists, journalists, doctors and religious scholars. In 2018 alone, 304 individuals had their citizenship stripped
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/19/bahrainis-stateless-uk-allies
and more information on strip of citizenship and detainees in Bahrain here (threads):
https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1118265288028565505
https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1116799088937320450
(* B K P)
Film: Implication «humanitaire» de la France au Yémen : le «summum des mensonges» selon Alain Corvez
Entretien du 18/4/2019 avec Alain Corvez, conseiller en stratégie internationale. Invité sur le plateau de RT France, il réagit à de Florence Parly qui répète que les armes françaises «ne sont pas utilisées de façon offensive au Yémen». Cette information avait été démentie par les révélations de l'ONG Disclose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqfk9CMrhHg
(* B P)
Saudi Arabia, Israel, US All Sought Bashir’s Ouster: So How Real Was the Sudan Revolution?
Last week’s events in Sudan appear to be yet another example of foreign governments manipulating real dissent against an authoritarian government in order to install yet another authoritarian government more friendly to their interests but to the detriment of the people.
While Bashir’s lengthy rule over Sudan has been filled with many despotic, authoritarian actions and state-sponsored violence over the years, and while many Sudanese citizens were likely all-too-eager for a change in government, powerful forces — the United States among them — had long sought Bashir’s ouster for other reasons, much of their motive linked to the country’s oil reserves.
After South Sudan’s creation in 2011, Sudan lost control of most of its former oil reserves and then, in order to stall a burgeoning economic crisis and prevent the further destabilization of its economy and its government in the years that followed, forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. Though the Saudi-Sudanese alliance worked for a time, it ultimately soured, largely thanks to the war in Yemen.
Sudan has long been part of the Saudi-led Coalition, owing to Bashir’s effort to forge an alliance with the House of Saud that even saw his government cut ties with Iran — a long-time Bashir ally — to please the Gulf monarchies.
As part of the coalition in Yemen, Sudan has sent thousands of Sudanese fighters — many of them alleged to be child soldiers — in support of the Saudi-led effort to force Yemen’s people into submission.
Domestic discontent with Sudan’s involvement in Yemen first became clear in late 2017 — nearly two years after the African country had entered the war — when Houthi-aligned media outlets began publishing images of “slaughtered” Sudanese soldiers, an alleged effort by Houthi forces to portray the Sudanese as “cannon fodder” for the Saudis and Emiratis and aimed at reducing domestic support in Sudan for the war. The media offensive worked remarkably well and, after a major Houthi attack in April 2018 left scores of Sudanese soldiers dead, Bashir’s government was forced to reassess the country’s role in Yemen and many Sudanese lawmakers vocally called for an end to Sudan’s role in the war.
Declining domestic support for the war was combined with stalled investment initiatives that the Saudis and Emiratis had promised in Sudan, along with the Saudis’ failure to deliver on another key promise, to get Sudan removed from the U.S. government’s state-sponsors-of-terrorism list. Around this time, Bashir not only began to seriously reevaluate his government’s participation in Yemen, but also its regional alliances.
Indeed, not long before Sudan began to reconsider its role in Yemen’s war, Bashir began to cozy up to Qatar
On Saturday, the Saudi government unsurprisingly voiced its support for Sudan’s now-ruling military council, stating:
(A P)
Sudan Ba’ath: Sudanese People Refuse War Against Yemeni People
Secretary General of Sudanese Ba'ath Party in Sudan, AL-Tijani Mustafa, said on Thursday that the Sudanese People refuse the unjust war on the brotherly Yemeni People.
"The war on Yemen is unjustified and the decision to take part in it was the decision of the former regime,"
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6470
(B P)
How racing could save a young woman's life
SOMEWHERE in the United Arab Emirates is a 33-year-old woman who fears for her life.
Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – or Princess Latifa, as she is best known - is being held against her will by her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The same man is the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai.
You can read more about Princess Latifa's story in a story I wrote last month, but let's just address the basic point – a Prime Minister with strong connections to Australian racing is holding his daughter captive and our industry is doing nothing about it.
https://www.mattnichollsmedia.com/articles/how-racing-could-save-a-young-womans-life/
cp12a Libya
Protests Challenge Gulf Counterrevolution
The past eight years have not been particularly kind to the Gulf counter-revolution. Its one success, Egypt, has produced some of the harshest repression in the country’s history.
The Saudi and UAE intervention in Yemen has sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, tarnished the image of the two Gulf states, and provided an opportunity for Iran to expand its network of regional proxies.
In a twist of irony, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt, which justify the Yemen war by pointing to an invitation by the internationally recognized exile government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, support the rebel forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Libya.
Haftar’s forces are poised to march on Tripoli, the seat of the UN-recognized government of Libya, two weeks after the he met with King Salman in Saudi Arabia. The fighting in Libya has turned into a proxy war between Gulf rivals, with Qatar supporting the Islamist-dominated Tripoli government – by James M. Dorsey
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/protests-challenge-gulf-counterrevolution/ = https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/04/19/protests-could-prompt-new-democratic-revolutions-in-the-gulf/
(A P)
Trump and Libya: White House egged on warlord who intensified attack on Tripoli
Trump didn’t, however, call the country’s UN-backed prime minister
President Donald Trump encouraged a Libyan warlord to continue “fighting terrorism” shortly before he intensified his two-week assault on the North African nation’s capital and its United Nations-backed government, the White House disclosed on Friday.
The conversation between Mr Trump and Khalifa Haftar, a self-described “field marshal” backed by Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, took place on Monday.
According to the White House, Mr Trump recognised Mr Haftar’s "significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources.”
The two men also “discussed a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system."
(A P)
Trump praises Libyan general as his troops march on US backed government in Tripoli
President Donald Trump spoke with Libyan general Khalifa Haftar Monday, praising his role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya's vast oil resources even as Haftar's troops continue their offensive against the UN and US-backed government in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Trump "recognized Field Marshal Haftar's significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya's oil resources, and the two discussed a shared vision for Libya's transition to a stable, democratic political system," the White House said Friday in its official readout of the call.
The statement made no mention of Haftar's offensive on Tripoli, and Trump's praise for the rogue Libyan general signals a departure from previous administration statements condemning Haftar's march on the capital.
"We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar's forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement issued earlier this month.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/19/politics/us-libya-praise-haftar/index.html
(? A P)
Trump Discussed ‘Shared Vision’ With Libyan Militia Leader Challenging Tripoli Government
Khalifa Haftar recently launched offensive to seize Libya’s capital from U.N.-backed forces
President Trump recently spoke with Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive this month to seize the Libyan capital from the United Nations-backed government, and they discussed a “shared vision” for the country, the White House said.
Mr. Haftar’s offensive marked a turning point in the long political struggle in Libya since the fall of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. (paywalled)
(A P)
Via WH pool, Trump spoke with Libya’s Field Marshal Haftar on April 15 (image)
https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1119258386560843776
Explanation: https://countrycode.org/uae
My comment: This means, the Emirates (which are supporting Haftar) were involved in establishing this contact.
(A P)
A month ago, the US foreign secretary said America opposed Haftar's military campaign and warned against progress towards Tripoli. Today, the US president is personally talking to Haftar, praising his campaign and offering America's support for his war on terror in Libya. This is one of the results of the rapid UAE diplomatic mobility and reflects the rise of the influence of the international code 971
https://twitter.com/Abdulkhaleq_UAE/status/1119281050465730564
Senior Emirati commentator/adviser - UAE can in part be credited with President Trump's shift in position on Libya
https://twitter.com/Dr_Ulrichsen/status/1119288859613810688
(A P)
Now that #Trump call’s been publicized, the probability of #Haftar winning #Tripolitania is much closer to 100% Big question then becomes What form of victory will it be exactly? In all likelihood: Dirty, shallow, accompanied by an extraordinarily long period of urban violence
https://twitter.com/JMJalel_H/status/1119278688472838149
Today’s explicit “recognition” & official blessing of #Haftar’s military campaign in #Tripolitania by #US Prez Donald Trump increases the probability of a military intervention by foreign states, such as #Egypt, against the incumbent #Tripoli govt. #LNA isn’t likely to win alone
https://twitter.com/JMJalel_H/status/1119242187923959809
Libyen versinkt in Gewalt: Nato-Krieger fordern “Frieden”
Libyen beherrscht wieder die Schlagzeilen. Der ehemalige Gaddafi-Getreue General Haftar will das ganze Land unter seine Kontrolle bringen. Brüssel und Washington sind sich keiner Schuld bewusst. Stattdessen fordern sie Konfliktparteien zu einer “friedlichen Lösung” auf.
Seit dem Sturz Muammar al-Gaddafis versinkt Libyen im Chaos. Marodierende Milizen, Terrorgruppierungen und Sklavenhandel bestimmen das Bild des “befreiten” Libyen. Die von der UNO anerkannte Regierung beherrscht nur kleine Teile des Landes. Der mächtige General Haftar hingegen, weiß eine straff organisierte Streitmacht hinter sich. Die Situation ausnutzend, wagt er nun den Vorstoß Richtung Tripolis, um die gesamte Macht an sich zu reißen.
Die westliche Wertegemeinschaft reagiert überrascht. Auch die hiesigen Berichte öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunkanstalten, können offensichtlich keinen Zusammenhang herstellen, zwischen der aktuellen Eskalation der Gewalt und der NATO-Intervention des Jahres 2011. Zaghafte Hinweise, dass das nordafrikanische Land seit dem “Sturz des Machthabers Gaddafi” im Chaos versinkt, müssen reichen.
Alles begann jedoch im Jahr 1969 mit dem Putsch Gaddafis und seiner Anhänger gegen den von Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten eingesetzten libyschen König Idris. Im Zuge der Entkolonialisierung wurde die Förderung der libyschen Ölvorkommen verstaatlicht und die wechselhafte Entwicklung Libyens zum failed state nahm ihren Lauf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU_Jyf8c9O4&t=11s
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Frankereich / France: Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B K P)
France under pressure to come clean over Yemen arms exports
France’s lucrative arms exports to the Gulf came under renewed scrutiny this week following the release of a classified report showing that the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has made much wider use of French arms than officials in Paris acknowledge.
But according to Sébastien Nadot, a French lawmaker and former member of Macron’s LREM party, the classified document proves that Parly and her colleagues in government have been deliberately concealing the facts.
“Ministers are in possession of a document that shows they have been lying for months – and the source is our own intelligence service!” Nadot, who caused a kerfuffle in parliament last month by displaying a “France kills in Yemen” banner, told FRANCE 24.
“How can we speak of weapons of defence when we know French-made tanks are deployed 800 kilometres [into Yemeni territory]?” asked the now-independent lawmaker, whose calls for a parliamentary investigation into the use of French arms in Yemen’s conflict have been dismissed.
Pieter Wezeman, a Senior Researcher at Stockholm-based SIPRI, an independent Swedish institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament, said the French intelligence note confirms earlier findings about the extensive use of Western weapons in war in Yemen.
“The simple fact is that if you sell weapons to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, there is a very significant chance they have been, or will be, used in Yemen,” Wezeman told FRANCE 24.
“What is interesting is that French intelligence were given the assignment to compile this document,” he added, referring to the classified report. “It suggests there is enough concern within government circles for them to want to know more about what is going on in Yemen.”
https://www.france24.com/en/20190420-france-arms-exports-yemen-saudi-uae-khashoggi-disclose
(* B K P)
Film: Let's talk about arms transfers to Yemen and Saudi Arabia....
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=556586818168688
(* B K P)
INTELBRIEF: MORE ARMS, MORE PROBLEMS
Global arms sales are booming, with a spike caused by a years-long increase in spending from countries in the MENA region.
Countries exporting arms cite the link between deterrence and stability to justify these sales, while often downplaying the role these weapons play in helping autocrats oppress their populations and often prolong wars and insurgencies.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest arms importer and Egypt is the third largest; both countries are U.S. allies with abysmal human rights records.
The U.S. is the largest arms dealer on the planet, accounting for 36% of all sales from 2014-2018.
https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-more-arms-more-problems
(B K P)
Film: Honest Government Ad | Aussie Arms Industry
The Australien Government made an ad about how its plans to become one of the top 10 exporters of arms in the world, and it's surprisingly honest and informative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhfqQzMVJxI
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(B E)
During conflicts in #Yemen more than 62% of the companies shutdown! This unfortunately means: Thousands of job oppourtunties has been lost. #BRAVE created thousands of job opportunities & improve the services.
https://twitter.com/SMEPSYEMEN/status/1118898813530406912
and
(* B E)
Film: Brave project to be stronger and more courageous Al Amir Tailoring Factory
Al Amir clothing stores are one of the oldest establishments operating in this field in Yemen. The establishment started years ago with special capabilities and efforts. It is also one of the first establishments that have worked in a regular production line (line system) which means integration and specialization.
During the situation in which a country like Yemen found itself, for the first time, it was threatened to stop. The secret question of Husain, the proprietor of the facility, was: "Where are we going to stop?
Electricity cuts were a major reason for the decline in the rate of production .. The decline in production means loss of customers and a break in the profit and then layoffs for employees in the facility. Old machines also did not help production as before. Everything about Hassan was pushing him towards the stop. He is a brave and solid man. He said, and we hear that he can not in any way stop. He will not give up.
He needed someone to tell him that his decision to continue was a courageous decision. This is what the Brave project did not mean, not by moralization, but by his participation in the battle to win all these troubles.
Brave has contributed to the provision of sewing machines for the installation of pockets, rubber and jeans. Brave worked with the establishment to provide an integrated solar energy system in addition to the generator of energy .. to dispense with electricity and get rid of the problem of disconnection completely.
All of this led to the continuation of production and the exit of work with better quality and reflected on the sales, which rose significantly .. The establishment of a transport facility as part of the project's contribution with the establishment led to the improvement and ease of distribution of the product to small shops.
The increase in working hours and the decrease in the cost of fuel consumption have created new jobs for young people after the establishment workers themselves were threatened with losing their source of income.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqmmq-KUPrM
(* B P)
BUILDING PEACE AND A PEACE-DRIVEN ECONOMY FOR YEMEN
This blog is an edited version of a speech by Bushra Nasr Kretschmer, head of the Economic Portfolio for the Women4Yemen Network, delivered at the Yemen Peace Conference in New York in March 2019.
There is a tragic and overwhelming humanitarian crisis taking place in Yemen. We have all seen the devastating images of starvation – made only more shocking by the fact that such a famine can occur in the 21stcentury. The famine, however, is a very real consequence of the conflict and the resulting economic decline in Yemen.
It is the women who bear the greatest economic burden in this war and they are the ones who know how to turn the war economy into peace-driven economy. Women are heading up households in increasing numbers and are, therefore, also responsible for the family finances. We need to harness the economic power of women to build a peace economy. Women in Yemen can show the war profiteers that peace can also build an economy. That is why it is unfortunate that women are now absent from both Yemeni political life and the peace talks.
Here’s a snapshot of the Yemeni economy since the conflict began.
Clearly the economic situation of Yemen is extremely complicated, but here are some strategic insights.
An economy based on war, monopoly and corruption is not in the best interest of the Yemeni people as only serves to deepen the humanitarian crisis.
There are concrete actions that can be taken to build a peace economy:
https://nobelwomensinitiative.org/building-peace-and-a-peace-driven-economy-for-yemen/
My remark: By a supporter of the Hadi government, as it seems.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
#AlQaeda tries again to mediate its conflict with #IslamicState in #Yemen. New "Statement on Our Brothers, Captives of the Kharijites" offers prisoner swap. Vows to free all #AQAP captives "as long as our eyes blink & hearts beat; any hand that harms them will pay a swift price"
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1118895676866215937
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Sheikh Hani reveals the objectives of the recent Houthi actions
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4041
(A P)
Yemeni Official: The Houthi Militias Rejection and Intransigence of Stockholm Agreement Reduces the Chances of Peace
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1915084
(A P)
Veto of Yemen resolution protected presidency
The Wall Street Journal Editorial
His veto of a congressional demand that the U.S. withdraw support from the Saudis in their war in Yemen keeps responsibility for foreign policy in the White House, where it belongs.
Lest anyone forget — and Congress seems to — the Saudis are leading a coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Tehran aspires to use its proxies to build an arc of influence across the Middle East. Yemen is an inviting target since it controls the passage from the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea and offers a convenient base from which to launch rockets into Saudi Arabia.
These facts don’t make the war in Yemen less of a humanitarian disaster, or the Saudis more savory as allies. But they explain why both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded the U.S. has a stake in supporting Saudi Arabia in this fight.
This is true despite the murder of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-yemen-principles-11555542263 = https://www.dentonrc.com/opinion/editorials/guest-view-veto-of-yemen-resolution-protected-presidency/article_0fbf359e-c594-563a-81a1-0d38e7a4e6d4.html
My comment: A really cheap propaganda, as editorial of WSJ. – A reply: https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/the-war-on-yemen-congress-and-the-constitution/
(A P)
Rashad al-Al-Alimi: The Conference Party is no longer divided and our colleagues in Sanaa are prisoners
After years of working behind the scenes, Rashad al-Alimi, adviser to Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, unveiled last week the largest coalition of political parties.
“The alliance is therefore built on consensus and partnership between all political factions without exception,” he stressed. “The idea of the alliance was not born yesterday, but it is a product of years of efforts and meetings.”
Alimi also credited the Gulf Cooperation Council in ensuring that the coalition was formed.
“Partisan divisions were one of the factors that allowed the Houthis to seize the state and abuse it for Iran’s expansionist agenda at the expense of Yemen’s national interest,” he continued.
The alliance is hoping to isolate the Houthis to force them to yield to a comprehensive political solution that ends the coup and paves the way for the Yemeni people, backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, to restore the state, he went on to say.
The fact is, he continued, is that the formation of the alliance took too long, allowing the Houthis to continue their coup.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166756
My comment: A supporter of the Hadi government, parroting the Hadi government / Saudi propaganda. – Oups, what did I find here: https://en.arij.net/report/the-mysterious-company-of-a-former-ministers-son. And https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12213376, an old Saleh fellow.
(A P)
Trump card: Veto on Yemen hailed as ‘timely and strategic’
High-ranking officials in the region and many political analysts have been unanimous in their approval of Trump’s decision.
“Saudi Arabia and other partners in the Arab coalition are engaged in a war on terror,” said Saudi political analyst and international affairs expert Hamdan Al-Shehri.
“(The Houthis) have held the whole country hostage at the point of gun. They have been firing ballistic missiles on densely populated cities in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“Trump has done the right thing. Saudi Arabia and the US are allies in the fight against terror. The Houthis are an extension of the just-sanctioned Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.”
Al-Shehri said that US congressmen and women need to understand the ideology of the Houthis. “They are like Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.”
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1484131/middle-east
My comment: LOL. By a Saudi media; keep in mind that the ideology of Daesh and Al Qaeda is Saudi Wahabism.
(A P)
Trump’s resolve on Yemen sends an important message
Global community must condemn Al Houthis’ violation of ceasefire truce
Where the international community has dragged its feet, US President Donald Trump has made an important and bold statement on Yemen.
Because the international community has not firmly criticised Al Houthis’ intransigence towards implementing a ceasefire deal reached in Sweden in December, the militants have dragged their feet. This has only prolonged the suffering of the Yemeni people.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition which is fighting to restore Yemen’s internationally-recognised government has shown good faith by halting its hugely successful push along Yemen’s Red Sea coast to liberate it from the Al Houthi presence. Last year it launched the lightning offensive dealing a substantial blow to Al Houthi militants, pushing them further towards their heartland in Yemen’s north.
However, because of the importance of Hodeida port for Yemeni goods, the international community asked for a halt in the offensive to give peace talks a chance. The coalition did just that and attended the Sweden talks in good faith, sitting down face to face with Al Houthis for the first time.
When the deal was reached, Yemeni rival parties were globally lauded for their achievement. However, the fanfare was short-lived as in the following months Al Houthis violated the ceasefire more than one thousand times.
(A P)
The Folly of Abandoning Saudi Arabia in Yemen
Trump is right to veto measure that would end American role in Yemen's war
Virtually all analysts agree that a third Lebanon war would be disastrous, and that Hezbollah, an organization obedient to Iran, poses a severe threat to Israel's security.
This is the reality that Saudi Arabia is trying to avoid in Yemen with the Houthi rebels, who Iran hopes to form into another Hezbollah, this time on the Saudis' southern border. If Israel, the United States, and America's Western (and Arab) allies could travel back in time and prevent Hezbollah from becoming so powerful, they would jump at the opportunity. That may not be possible in Lebanon, but it is still possible to prevent the same outcome in Yemen. Saudi Arabia formed a military coalition against the Houthis in the first place to avert what Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has described as "the establishment of an Iranian-supplied ‘southern Hezbollah' on the Arabian Peninsula
https://freebeacon.com/blog/folly-abandoning-saudi-arabia-yemen/
(A P)
Trump’s Veto of Yemen War Resolution Protects US Security Interests
Trump’s veto is also strongly justified on policy grounds. The Yemen war resolution from Congress is a blunt instrument that could have inflicted severe collateral damage on a range of U.S. national interests in the Middle East.
It would have resulted in abandoning allies that are fighting in Yemen to defend themselves and to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemen, which was ousted by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015 in a bloody coup that violated a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.
the measure would have punished not just Saudi Arabia, but also the government of Yemen, and other countries fighting against the Houthis in the Saudi-led coalition: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, and Sudan.
An end to U.S. support would also benefit Iran, the Houthis’ chief source of support.
(A P)
Trump Veto — The Best Choice for America and Yemen
Foreign policy rarely consists of easy choices, and aiding Saudi Arabia is complicated.
As we have discussed earlier, the situation in Yemen is one that has few good options. Don’t get us wrong — the Saudis are no angels (the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi being but one relatively minor example). That being said, they are making progress in the right direction, including Mohammed bin Salman’s statement effectively recognizing Israel’s right to exist. In addition, the alternative is to let Iran take Yemen.
That would be a bad idea on geopolitics alone. Yemen sits astride the Bab el Mandab, a maritime chokepoint that controls access to the Red Sea. This makes it a potential lifeline to Israel, given the dearth of naval powers. It would not be hard to get convoys of aid to Israeli ports via the Red Sea if things came to that. But if Iran takes Yemen, America’s presence in the region will have to increase to deal with the threat.
But since critics of the veto are talking about human rights and other moral issues, let’s examine how Iran scores on that matter. Iranian leaders regularly proclaim a desire to wipe Israel off the map (in essence, a 2019 remake of the Holocaust)
https://patriotpost.us/articles/62463-trump-veto-the-best-choice-for-america-and-yemen
(A P)
Trump sends right signal on Arab Coalition
US President Donald Trump’s veto of a resolution from Congress and his assertion of support to the Arab Coalition in Yemen is a bold, timely and creditable move.
Trump’s arguments in support of his decision are also legitimate and truthful.
The president has appropriately asserted that the measure would harm bilateral relations and interferes with his constitutional power as commander in chief.
Trump has also lucidly highlighted the exact situation on the ground in Yemen by stating
https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2019/04/17/trump-sends-right-signal-on-arab-coalition
(A P)
Excellent Trump: POTUS Vetoes Congress’ Defunding Of Saudi Defensive War In Yemen
The Associated Press saw fit to frame the Yemeni civil war as being "Saudi-led," but such a characterization is highly tendentious at best, and distortional at worst
The Houthi rebels that Iran backs in Yemen, and against which the Saudi monarchy is fighting, happen to be an openly genocidal anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic jihadist menagerie.
The Associated Press' highly biased, anti-Saudi framing of the conflict is, alas, par for the course for the mainstream media
https://www.dailywire.com/news/46082/excellent-trump-potus-vetoes-congresss-defunding-josh-hammer
(A P)
The US Must Stop Iran's Takeover of Yemen
After President Trump's visit to the region, the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have ratcheted up their efforts to fight extremism. The UAE and other Gulf states have been participating with the US in a multinational mission.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been encircling Saudi Arabia with the apparent goal of taking over Saudi oil fields and holy sites, and the major international shipping lanes on either side of the Arabian Peninsula
The Houthis have been fortunate to have Iran as such a powerful ally. Their Iranian backers will not let them run out of ammunition.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14077/iran-yemen-takeover
(A H P)
Saudi coalition “We are benefactors” propaganda
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4034
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(B K pH)
20th April 2015 Faj Attan - Sana'a - #Yemen (thread; photos, film, document)
Never ever forget that day, The bomb's effect caused earthquake hit Sanaa, then massive explosion heard +84 killed & 495 injured from civilians after US-UK-Saudi-led bombed Attan area in Sanaa city
The area radiation survey proved US-UK-Saudi usage of atomic-like bomb in Attan Sanaa #Yemen 20-4-2015
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1119621599609511936
(* B K)
How a network of citizen investigators is tracking airstrikes in Yemen
Bellingcat uses social media and satellite imagery to verify and catalogue attacks
Now, he and a team of 16 staff at Bellingcat — an international group of professional and citizen journalists who use crowd-sourcing — are turning their attention to Yemen, where a civil war has continued for four years.
They've uncovered evidence of targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure, like water treatment plants and bridges, and the misuse of European-sourced military weapons.
"We're hoping with this project that we'll be able to shine a lot more light on some of the incidents that are happening in Yemen when, at the moment, there really isn't that great information out there,
Bellingcat's work is going well beyond news articles.
The growing outlet — which has received grants from the Google Digital News Initiative and the Open Society Foundation — is building databases to cover under-reported conflicts around the world.
And, they want to make those articles, videos and images accessible for decades to come.
"My hope is as the years pass, we'll have a growing number of organizations using the processes that we're developing to create archives of materials in all kinds of different conflict zones but all in a system that's easily searchable and accessible," Higgins said.
As they gather the materials and conduct research, each step of their work is documented and archived, Higgins says.
Higgins expects that their database infrastructure will be available to other groups with similar missions. Eventually, they will develop a searchable index of the various databases.
"That will allow organizations like, for example, the [International Criminal Court] to search a geographic area on a certain date and look for all the verified material that's been posted there by multiple organizations," Higgins said.
It's yet to be seen how Saudi Arabia will react to the Bellingcat's work on Yemen. Higgins says the website will start to release a cache of new evidence about airstrikes over a five-week period on April 22.
He expects there to be plenty of activity on his website when it drops.
My comment: Wait and see. Let’s hope that Bellingcat – which is quite biased against foes of the US – will be realistic in the case of Yemen: https://off-guardian.org/tag/bellingcat/, and also https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/20/there-goes-the-guardian-lying-about-ukraineagain/ and https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/10/bellingcats-very-obviously-fake-chepiga-photo/
(A K pS)
Coalition acts against Houthi drone capabilities in Yemen’s capital
The Arab coalition has began an operation to diminish the drone capabilities of the Houthi militia at a presidential palace camp in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Saudi Arabia’s AlEkhbariya TV announced early Saturday.
Earlier this month, a Houthi workshop manufacturing unmanned drones and a launchpad were destoryed in a coalition strike.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1485146/saudi-arabia
and parroted by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-sanaa/saudi-led-coalition-in-yemen-targets-presidential-palace-camp-in-sanaa-state-tv-idUSKCN1RW00Y and AFP: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-6942351/Saudi-coalition-destroys-Yemen-rebels-drone-cave.html and by Emirati News Agency: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302756774
My comment: This sounds very dubious. The Saudi coalition already had bombed the presidential palace several times already – the Houthis harldy will store any drones and military material close to this place. This story sounds like a pretense for further terrifying the population of central Sanaa.
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
April 20: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6510 Saada p.
April 19: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6500 Saada p., Dhalea p.
April 18: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533442.htm Ibb p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533379.htm Marib p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news533360.htm Ibb p., Hajjah p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K)
New bout of heavy fighting in Yemen kills dozens
Yemeni officials say heavy fighting in Yemen's southern Dhale province between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 85 people.
The officials say the Houthi rebels recaptured the district of Damt and the surrounding area from forces allied with the internationally recognized government after more than a week of fighting. They say dozens have been wounded.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-6942925/New-bout-heavy-fighting-Yemen-kills-dozens.html
(A K pS)
Houthis shell several villages of Al-Zaher in Al-Bayda
Iran-backed Houthi militia launched on Friday indiscriminate shelling on civilians’ houses in Al-Zaher district in the central province of Al-Bayda
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4037
(A K pH)
April 19: In Sa'ada, a child was killed by the Saudi border guards' gunfire in Razeh border district.
The populated areas of Munbara border district were hit by missiles and artillery shells, causing severe damage to the homes and property of the citizens.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6500
(A K pH)
Air Defenses Down Spy Drone, Sa’adah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6482
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6482
(A P)
Houthis Shoot Down Chinese-Made Pterodactyl I Drone Over Saadah In Yemen (Pictures)
https://muraselon.com/en/2019/04/houthis-shoot-down-chinese-made-pterodactyl-drone/
Film, Photos: https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/04/19/593847/Yemen-Saudi-drone-Saada
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1yUMs9zD9w = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1119605314641383424
Photos: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1119287648915529728
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1119234264934027264
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1119256942608822273
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(B P)
Jemen: „Seit drei Jahren ohne Priester”
Bischof Paul Hinder, der apostolische Vikar von Südarabien, hat am Karsamstag zu Solidarität und Gebet für die wenigen Christen im Kriegsland Jemen aufgerufen. Seit drei Jahren hätten die kleine Gemeinde dort keinen Priester
(A P)
Google ’Disables’ Press TV’s YouTube Account Without Prior Warning
Google has blocked Press TV and Hispan TV's access to their official accounts on the technology company's platforms, including YouTube and Gmail, without prior notice, citing “violation of policies”.
“Your Google Account was disabled and can’t be restored because it was used in a way that violates Google’s policies,” Google said in a message that appears after Press TV tries to log into its account.
The YouTube channels are open to public view for now, but the administrators cannot publish any new content.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6485
My comment: Google is serving US geopolitical interests. Now, Iran and Venezuela are hit. This is international censorship.
(A P)
Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia set to meet for first time at Baghdad Summit
The Baghdad Summit is scheduled to take place on April 20th with several Middle Eastern countries set to participate in this conference organized by Iraq.
For Syria, this is a big meeting because it will mark the first time since the start of the Syrian Conflict that they will be participating in a non-Syria related conference with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
(A K)
Jemen verdächtigt bulgarischen Geier Nelson der Spionage
Bewaffnete Kräfte in Jemen haben den Weißkopfgeier Nelson, der in Bulgarien beringt wurde, der Spionage verdächtigt und in Gefangenschaft genommen. Europäische Tierschutzorganisationen fordern dessen Freilassung.
http://bnr.bg/de/post/101108847/jemen-verdachtigt-bulgarischen-geier-nelson-der-spionage
(A K)
A Bulgarian vulture's odyssey into Yemeni war zone
Nelson was in a tight corner, tied up and imprisoned by men who believed he was a spy. It didn't look good.
When he was captured, they found a satellite tracker attached to his leg, more sophisticated than much of the equipment they had in Taiz, a town on the front line of Yemen's catastrophic war.
Nelson, they decided, was transmitting military secrets.
In any war it is bad news to be accused of spying. In Yemen, an isolated, dusty and desperate place, suspicions can race round groups of armed men and harden minds. Even if you're a vulture.
Nelson was a sad sight in his cell, tied up, obviously weakened and miserable.
In Bulgaria the conservationists lobbied the Yemeni embassy, and others in France and Ireland spread the word about Nelson.
It worked.
The Yemenis were persuaded that Nelson's tracker was not there to spy on them and he was released. The indefatigable Mr Hoot transported Nelson to Sanaa, where a vet examined the vulture
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47974725
and also (paywalled) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nelson-the-wayward-vulture-held-as-enemy-spy-by-yemen-wg6rqq957
Comment: As if we needed more evidence of lack of trust between #Yemen's warring sides... The good news is that Nelson, the Bulgarian vulture captured in frontline Taiz & accused of spying for the Houthis, has now been released.
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1119263675951374336
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-528-yemen-war-mosaic-528
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-528/ Yemen War Mosaic 1-528:
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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