April 29, 2019: Judith Brown on Yemen – Survivors of the air raids – The UAE and Socotra Island – The UAE’s seedy influence operations in the US – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp2 Allgemein / General
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
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
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(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
Neue Artikel / New articles
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Film: The war in Yemen is not as complicated as some believe, and it is not a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A brief and simple explanation of what is happening to Yemen from the journalist @BenjaminNorton
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1122557965226082304
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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My own research demonstrates that only one narrative is used in newspapers and media throughout U.K. and the media has access to a wide range of sources on the Yemen situation. The media is failing in holding the government to account in its coverage of the Yemen war and the one dimensional narrative that is repeated over and over again. I am not pro any group in Yemen - all of the warmongers are just test, fighting for power and not caring about the civilian population that is paying the price.
But if people heard differing narratives - for example, currently two groups who are anti Houthi are fighting in Taiz causing mayhem to the lives of an already suffering population, and in Aden 'liberated' in July 2015 there has been no attempt to restore order and jobs, and the precious Island of Socotra - a jewel in the world's crown - is now being developed by UAE into a super resort for the rich which must destroy its fragile ecology and spoil what is so precious.
For over 2 years the narrative had been that there have been 10,000 killed - the reality is so much higher that that figure is almost laughable if it wasn't so tragic. If people only knew governments would be forced to act in stopping this war - which my research and the research of Channel 4 recently proves that without western assistance the Saudi coalition that is inflicting so much damage would be forced to stop, and if they stopped then it would be easier - not easy but easier - to bring peace to this suffering land.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157533874198641
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Between life and death: Yemen air strike survivors relive bombings
Victims of alleged Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa describe realising that they were still alive but that their loved ones were gone
"When I heard the first bomb, I embraced my son to calm him, but the next bomb destroyed our house while we were inside it," said Um Osamah.
Um Osamah is a mother of four children living in Sanaa's Saawan district.
Once Um Osamah regained consciousness she started to speak to her child, and when she realised he was safe she started shouting to people to let them know where they were.
"I could not walk even one metre from my place as the pieces of wood from the roof were over me, so I was very worried that people would dig over the wood and a wall might fall on us," she said.
"That was my only concern, so I kept shouting all the time to let people know where I was."
Um Osamah does not know how long she and her son remained under the ruins, poised between life and death.
"I was shouting and praying to Allah to save me and my child, and finally I came out from under the ruins," she said.
"When I got out, I could not believe that we were safe as the house was completely destroyed, as well as three other houses.
"My children, husband, relatives and neighbours were waiting to meet me, and they were very happy to see me safe."
Along with the 11 dead, dozens of other civilians were injured in the bombings, with many residents losing everything they had.
Um Osamah told people to look for her jewellery and other valuable items under the ruins. She managed to get most of them but most of the furniture was broken.
"Life was the most important thing for me. Now we live in my uncle's house but I feel happy as I am still alive and all my family members are good," she told MEE.
'Death is better'
Zabeebah Fuad lost her husband, Mohammed, in the same bombing in Saawan on 7 April and has been left devastated by the death of her partner.
"The bombing happened while I was cooking at my house and my husband was in the sitting room. I do not remember the details very well because I fainted after the bombing and recovered consciousness after they found me under ruins," she told MEE.
"I was happy that I was still alive, but after I knew that my husband was killed, I hated life as I have five children without a breadwinner."
Fuad and her children live in her brother's house, who is now the breadwinner of the family but is currently without a job.
"My children are looking for their father and I cannot forget him at all, moreover my brother cannot provide us with all our needs," she said.
"Life has become very difficult, and death is better than this life."
Zabeebah is very pessimistic about the future and feels that her children will suffer in their future life.
"I hope that my children can overcome all obstacles and achieve their dreams," she said.
Happiness of finding someone alive
Residents do not hesitate to help victims of the bombings when they happen in their area.
When Ali Al-Faeq, 29, heard the bombing in Saawan, he immediately ran to help the victims.
Psychological trauma
Muneer Qaed, an expert at the Ministry of Education, disagrees with Faeq's rallying call and advises civilians to flee from any targeted areas as air strikes usually involve double-tap strikes in the same place.
"We have heard about many people who were targeted by air strikes while they were rescuing civilians under rubble, and walls falling on other rescuers, so it is not at all safe for civilians to rescue people after bombings," Qaed told MEE.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/between-life-and-death-yemen-air-strike-survivors-relive-bombings
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Is the UAE Gearing Up to Annex Yemen’s Socotra Island?
The UAE has taken over Socotra after setting up a military base on the Yemeni island and carrying out extensive social and economic development. Is the UAE merely providing humanitarian and economic aid or is it laying the groundwork for the island's future “secession” from mainland Yemen?
Socotra, which has been largely forgotten in the ongoing Yemeni crisis, has been a focal point of the UAE. After Socotra was devastated by the Chapala and Megh cyclones in November 2015, the UAE provided significant humanitarian aid to the island’s residents. It launched several projects to improve infrastructure, including the rebuilding and development of schools, hospitals, and roads.
Since Dubai’s Jebel Ali became the most congested port in the Middle East, the UAE has started building and expanding other ports in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf to monopolize the area and undermine Iran’s influence as it too tries to gain control of the major shipping channel.
In fact, Socotra is strategically located in the middle of one of the world’s most important oil trading routes. The UAE intends to become central to a future East-West trading route, according to academic Andreas Krieg. Socotra’s location would enable the UAE to control the trade that goes through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.
The UAE stationed tanks and troops on Socotra in May 2018, seeking to boost its presence and consolidate its power in the channel. In the same month, the UAE established a military base on the island, seizing Socotra’s airport and seaport and building maritime infrastructure and communication networks.
This move is a “mix of the UAE’s both hard and soft power strategies both in Yemen and in the wider sort of Horn of Africa region,” said Bethan McKernan, journalist and author of the first witness report on UAE troops in Socotra.
The UAE’s military base has created up to 5,000 new jobs. The UAE also conducted a censusfor the island’s population, took a number of Socotris to Abu Dhabi to receive free medical examinations, and even offered some special permits to work in the UAE.
As the island is home to extraordinary and unique flora and fauna, Abu Dhabi’s move has been seen by some as a quest to transform Socotra not only into a permanent Emirati military base, but also an important holiday resort. Emirati businessmen are planning to build luxurious hotels across the island, according to McKernan.
A Future UAE Territory?
The UAE has exploited the semi-absence and dysfunction of the Riyadh-backed Yemeni government to strengthen its hold in south Yemen. Since 2017, the UAE has supported the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a movement calling for independence in southern Yemen governorates, including Socotra.
In a meeting with a group of Socotran sheikhs and residents in late December 2018, Emirati historian Hamad al-Matrooshi said that the people of Socotra would “be part of the UAE and deserve citizenship without a request,” claiming historical ties between the Emiratis and Socotris.
Despite its coalition with Abu Dhabi, Yemen’s government-in-exile has criticized the UAE’s takeover of Socotra, calling the move “unjustified” and an “assault on Yemen’s sovereignty.” Moreover, in May 2018, inhabitants of the island protested to express their indignation at the UAE’s military deployment across the island.
The UAE has categorically denied all accusations regarding its alleged attempts to undermine Yemen’s sovereignty – by Youssef Igrouane
https://insidearabia.com/uae-gearing-up-annex-yemens-socotra-island/
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The UAE’s seedy influence operations are a footnote in the Mueller Report
Over the past decade, the UAE became a big player in the think-tank scene in Washington DC, which had previously been dominated, on matters Middle Eastern, by the large ranks of big, pro-Israeli American funders like Haim Saban–and to a lesser extent by the Saudis.
Not surprisingly, when MBZ wanted to “be influential in American politics”, he followed as much as he could of Saban’s playbook. Not being an American citizen meant that following some of Saban’s three paths to success was a little harder and more complex—but he had two trusty lieutenants to help him out.
George Nader
One was George Nader, a veteran Lebanese-American fixer who has worked for MBZ for many years and who is also a close associate of big GOP fundraiser– and Trump buddy– Elliot Broidy.
Yousef al-Otaiba
Another, even higher-level US bagman for MBZ has long been the UAE ambassador in Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba. He has also worked diligently to follow the Haim Saban playbook for how to win friends and influence policy in Washington—including the campaigns to control think-tanks.
Controlling the narrative on Yemen
All these shenanigans on the behalf of the Gulf-Arab super-rich are important– for a number of compelling reasons. First, the investments that all of them have made, over the past several years, have had a strong effect on public understanding of key issues in the Middle East, and on policy. As noted earlier, these issues include Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Iran.
Of these issues, Yemen is the one regarding which these Gulf Arabs have—recently– been least successful in controlling the narrative. Their argument that the Houthi alliance that has controlled the capital, Sanaa, and considerable surrounding areas for many years is illegitimate, is totally controlled by Iran, and is solely responsible for the country’s suffering—and that therefore Americans and everyone else should support the Saudi/UAE alliance that has been battling the Houthis, has finally been exposed on every count. J
It has taken four years for the US Senate to get to where it is on the Yemen issue, which is a shockingly long time.
Secondly, the capture by these ruthlessly ideological forces of so many of the Washington think-tanks that previously had long reputations for fair-minded, objective research means it is almost impossible these days for anyone reading their output—whether directly, or indirectly, through the way they get quoted in the media—to get anything like an accurate picture of the situation in the countries being described.
This applies particularly to Syria
Bottom line: If you read something from someone billed as a “think-tank expert” look carefully at their institution’s funding before you judge the value of their work – by Helena Cobban
https://mondoweiss.net/2019/04/influence-operations-footnote/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
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230,000+ Affected by Yemen’s New Cholera Outbreak
Save the Children reports on the latest developments in Yemen’s new cholera outbreak.
The conditions created by the war and the Saudi coalition’s policies are allowing an otherwise preventable, treatable disease to rage across Yemen. Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has not abated in the slightest. On the contrary, it shows many signs of getting much worse in the months ahead if there is not an urgent and persistent effort to rein in all warring parties, including and especially the Saudi coalition, and a massive relief effort to avert the many thousands of preventable deaths from hunger and disease that will occur otherwise. Unfortunately, Yemen’s crisis has once again vanished from most of our media coverage, and the governments most responsible for creating that crisis continue to wreck and starve the country with impunity. Opponents of U.S. involvement in the war on Yemen must keep up the pressure on the administration and the Saudi and Emirati governments to stop destroying the country and killing its people – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/230000-affected-by-yemens-new-cholera-outbreak/
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UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report (March 2019)
Two years after Yemen suffered its worst cholera outbreak, the disease remains endemic. The number of reported suspected cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea spiked in March. The data collected by the Ministry of Public Health and Population, with the support of the World Health organisation (WHO), indicates that 164,833 suspected cases and 355 associated deaths were recorded between 1 January and 31 March, with about one third of the cases being children under the age of five. UNICEF’s WASH, Health and Communication for Development programmes have accelerated and expanded their activities in the 38 high priority districts in an effort to deliver a comprehensive response
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-march-2019
(B H)
Patients at a Cholera treatment center in #Yemen's northwestern Hajjah province Oxfam has warned that war-torn Yemen risks a "massive resurgence" of cholera, with around 195,000 suspected cases of the disease recorded so far this year. Photos by @AlragehiEissa
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1122160596164730881
(A H)
Along with the Oral #Cholera Vaccination campaign that is taking place in #AmanatAlAsimah in three districts,@UNICEF_Yemen Yemen is conducting a Water and Sanitation Hygiene campaign with variety of cleaning activities to help eliminating cholera in #Yemen (photos)
https://twitter.com/UNICEF_Yemen/status/1121497999841144835
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A K pH)
In Hodeidah, the US-Saudi mercenaries targeted civilians' farms and properties with 25 Katyusha missiles and 20 artillery shells in Al-Fazah area and targeted Hodeidah Airport with artillery shells and machineguns.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6639
(A K P)
Government Spokesman Condemns Sudanese Sexual Assault on a Woman in Hodeidah
The spokesman of the Salvation Government, Dhaifallah Al-Shami, condemned the raping crime of a women, 50 years old, by one of the Sudanese mercenaries in At-tohayta district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6643
(A K pS)
Fierce nocturnal clashes erupted in Hays, Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4105
(A K pH)
Citizen Injured by Saudi-Mercenaries’ Gunfire in Hodeidah
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6626
(A K pS)
Houthis continue to breach Hodeidah ceasefire
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4099
(A K pH)
The mercenaries targeted with artillery shells and machineguns several areas in Attohayta district and the Airport.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6625
(A K pS)
Film: The case of destruction caused by indiscriminate shelling Houthi on the homes of citizens in the neighborhood of landscape Hodeidah
hit by missiles and heavy weapons at houses in the Al-Hawk district of al-Hok district south of Hodeidah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ0bR9zf8I4
(A K pS)
Three soldiers of Al-Amalika killed by a Houthi-laid mine in Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4090
(A K pS)
Houthis intensify their violations in Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4093
cp2 Allgemein / General
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Interactive Map of Yemen War
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MAP UPDATE: ANSAR ALLAH PUSHES TO ISOLATE QATABAH CITY HELD BY SAUDI-LED COALITION
Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) are developing its advance against forces loyal to the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni province of Dhale. According to Yemeni sources, Ansar Allah have made a series of tactical gains in the Azariq district aiming to ilsoate the town of Qatabah.
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON APRIL 27, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-27-2019-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON APRIL 26, 2019 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-april-26-2019-map-update/
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Film by Press TV Iran: Débat : Yémen: fin de partie pour MBS?
Riyad commence à redoubler la pression sur la junte soudanaise : outre la cagnotte de trois milliards de dollars allouée aux généraux de ce conseil, il a demandé à ce que le général al-Burhan, chef de la junte, largement contestée par la rue soudanaise, désigne le chef des opérations commandos soudanaises au Yémen comme son adjoint. Mais au point où en sont les opérations militaires saoudo-émiraties, la partie semble déjà perdue pour Riyad. Robert Bibeau, éditeur du webmagazine Les 7 du Québec, et Bernard Cornut, analyste et écrivain, s’expriment sur le sujet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw6gf99gOhM
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Yemeni Women: Making the Most of the Space Available
In the country’s modern history, three major events have influenced these struggles and women’s political rights: 1) the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, 2) Yemen’s uprising in 2011, and 3) the war that has been ongoing since 2015.
When the two Yemeni states unified in 1990, a reform of the family law took place that was considered an advancement for Northern and a setback for Southern women, as the South had already introduced more progressive women’s rights than the North, for instance, legal equality in family affairs.
Then, in the wake of the 2011 uprising, women fought hard for greater and more effective political participation, eventually achieving an unprecedented 30 per cent quota for women in Parliament.
Women also took part in the Constitution Drafting Committee for the first time in the State’s history.
Yet, today, all these advancements in the name of women’s rights have been eroded. As the four-year-long war rages on, the political system as a whole has descended into chaos and the push for women’s representation has shifted from political institutions to diplomacy and advocacy.
During the time from the Houthis’ takeover of Sana’a in September 2014 to the Saudi-led military intervention in 2015, the formal political process has ground to a halt. Militarisation has meant a significant loss for women’s political voice and role in decision-making. In fact, the discussion of women’s political rights in Yemen right now, in its current apocalyptic state, seems an extravagant thought.
What I lament the most is that pre-war Yemen, with all its institutional injustices against women, had nevertheless overtaken Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its advancement of women’s rights – progress that today is basically undone.
Meanwhile, women are pushing back. At the grassroots level, with some 12,000 men arrested and more than 3,000 forcibly disappeared, mothers, sisters, and daughters of those abducted have begun to gather in front of the central prison or police stations across major Yemeni cities in search of their sons, fathers, or brothers. They have organised themselves as a collective named “Mothers of Abductees Association.”
Even though Yemen has not witnessed a strong women’s movement in recent history, women have become an important pillar in the formation of a new democratic Yemen since the 2011 uprising. Their activism under the difficult circumstance of continuing conflict has played an important role in shedding light on gross human rights violations and in peace advocacy. The future of Yemeni women depends on the future of Yemen – by Afrah Nasser
http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/2019/04/yemeni-women-making-most-of-space.html
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233,000 Have Died in the War on Yemen
The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) has released a report on the effects of the war on Yemen, including the long-term effects on the country’s future development.
The report is the most comprehensive assessment yet of what the people of Yemen have endured over the last four years, and its findings are a damning indictment of the Saudi coalition intervention and our government’s support for their war. Beyond the estimated 233,000 deaths caused by the war (102,000 from fighting, 131,000 from hunger and disease), the war has set back the entire country by a generation. It will take decades for Yemen to recover, and that’s assuming that the war stops now.
By enabling and fueling this conflict from the start of the Saudi coalition intervention, the U.S. shares responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, and it is very likely that a large majority of those deaths wouldn’t have happened if not for that intervention and our government’s support for it. Outside intervention usually prolongs and intensifies conflicts, and this one certainly has – by Daniel Larison
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/233000-have-died-in-the-war-on-yemen/
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Film: Landmines are a "silent killer" in Yemen’s war
Since Yemen's civil war broke out in 2015, almost 9,000 people have been maimed or killed by landmines. 65,272 landmines have been located and destroyed since the war began
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z2PHsszDmM
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Film: Roundtable: Is Yemen's war entering a new chapter?
Yemen is involved in an extremely complex war. It's hard to know who is fighting whom. There are so many opposing and allied sides - allegiances shift - and so do power bases. Right now is a crucial time if there is ever to be peace. The humanitarian crisis is severe. Thousands of civilians have died. Where is it heading? At the Roundtable was Baraa Shiban - a Yemeni human rights activist. He works with Reprieve campaign group as a Middle East and North Africa Caseworker; Abdulaziz Alghashian - who researches Middle Eastern politics at the University of Essex; Arwa Ibrahim- News Editor and journalist for Middle East Eye; and Kim Sharif - the Director of Human Rights for Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-wakwEHwhY
(* B H K)
Yemen death toll to surpass 230,000 by end of 2019: UN report
More Yemenis die from side-effects of war than from fighting, study finds
By the end of 2019, fighting in Yemen will have claimed about 102,000 lives, according to new figures from the United Nations that indicate the war has killed far more people than previously reported.
A UN-commissioned report by University of Denver also revealed that more Yemenis were dying of hunger, disease and the lack of health clinics and other infrastructure than from fighting.
About 131,000 Yemenis will have died from these side effects of the conflict between the beginning in 2015 and the end of 2019, according to the 68-page study, called Assessing the Impact of War on Development in Yemen.
The combined death toll from fighting and disease is 233,000, or 0.8 percent of Yemen's 30 million-strong population.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-death-toll-surpass-230000-end-2019-un-report
My remark: Again the figures of victims here. The study already had been presented earlier: http://www.arabstates.undp.org/content/rbas/en/home/library/crisis-response0/assessing-the-impact-of-war-on-development-in-yemen-.html
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No Legal or Moral Justification for Yemen Suffering
After US President Donald Trump’s veto of the War Powers Act demand by Congress to end the illegal Yemen war, a new report from the UN Development Program now says the US-backed, Saudi-led war has set back the poorest country in the Middle East more than 20 years.
Of course, this is still good news for the American military-industrial complex – the reason Trump vetoed the War Powers Act by the Congress. More specifically, war profiteers: The five largest US arms makers - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics - and their dealings with Saudi Arabia worth over $110 billion dollars and counting. By their own account, of all the wars underway from which they are profiting, “none is greater than the Saudi war on Yemen.”
The criminal Saudi air campaign, fueled by the US war profiteers, has hit endless civilian targets, using American smart bombs and missiles, without any protest or complaint from the War Party in Washington. Even though the UN Security Council has appointed a group of experts to detail US-backed Saudi war crimes and egregious attacks on Yemeni civilians, including people attending weddings and funerals, nothing has so far come out of the UN headquarters in New York to suggest that the war and the blockade are coming to a decisive end anytime soon.
This is while the naval blockade of the country by Saudi Arabia and the UAE has also cut humanitarian aid ships docking in the port city of Hodeida. The result: far less food and medicine entering the country, creating a disaster for Yemenis, a deliberate disaster that according to the World Bank, has put “some 8.4 million people on the brink of famine.”
It gets worse
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13980207000825
My remark: From Iran.
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Yemen Continues Military Progress as Native Mercenaries Abandon Saudi Coalition
Native Yemeni mercenaries, including officers and sheiks, have abandoned the Saudi Coalition and returned to their homes after being offered general amnesty by the Houthi-allied Yemeni army.
Return of native mercenaries offered amnesty
Infuriated by the Coalition’s policy of starvation, native Yemeni mercenaries, including officers and sheiks, have abandoned the Coalition and returned to their homes after being offered general amnesty by the Houthi-allied Yemeni army. Meanwhile, major reconciliation efforts are taking place between the Houthi and local mercenaries as hundreds of prisoners captured on the battlefield fighting alongside coalition forces have been released.
The al-Hosn (Castle) tribe, which calls the Directorate of Khawlan home and is among the largest of Yemen’s tribes, received dozens of free prisoners on Thursday, including Colonel Ali Nasser Hajar, commander of the 3rd battalion, who fought alongside Coalition forces for four years. “We finally realized the enormity of the mistake we made when we joined the Coalition, which kills and starves our people,” Colonel Hajar told local residents as they celebrated his return.
Ansar Allah welcomed the returnees, saying that the homeland is enlarged for all Yemenis
(* B K P)
Film: Panel One: Yemen at a Crossroads
Moderator: Ambassador Edmund Hull, Former US Ambassador to Yemen
“Yemen: Not a Proxy War but a Multi-Dimensional Conflict”: Sama’a Al-Hamdani, Yemeni Researcher and Visiting Fellow at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University, and Director of the Yemeni Cultural Institute for Heritage and the Arts
Still Off-track, U.S. Policy on Yemen: Dr. Nabeel Khoury. Nabeel Khoury is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
4 Years of conflict: The Status of the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen: Basma Alloush, Advocacy and Communications officer, Norwegian Refugee Council, USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy5fbthx4M
(A P)
After #Saudi #UAE #USA have despaired of defeating #Yemen-i ppl they’ve decided2silence their voices&block them from the #world &punishing them by cutting off the only #internet provider &destroying #TeleYemen in order2 lose the communications from #Yemeni ppl
https://twitter.com/YmnPrincess1/status/1121756839564148737
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A E P)
Yemen Petroleum Company Announces End of Crisis of Oil Derivatives
Yemen Petroleum Company announced, on Saturday, the end of the crisis of oil derivatives in the capital Sana'a and all provinces. The spokesman of the oil company, Amin al-Shabati, said that "large quantities of gasoline have arrived to the capital and all provinces to cover the needs of citizens of gasoline."
He pointed out that "the process of loading oil derivatives from the facilities of Hodeidah continues without interruption. Citizens can supply their needs of gasoline easily because the amounts discharged in the stations are sufficient and able to end the crisis."
He pointed out that the aggression is still holding 11 oil vessels. The continued detention of vessels of oil derivatives will lead to the return of food crises and disastrous consequences for the homeland and citizens.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6627
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
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Ibb: Houthi Rebels Detain 189 Aid Trucks
189 trucks loaded with humanitarian assistance have been detained for a month in Ibb province, central Yemen.
According to an official document issued by the UN World Food Program (WFP), the militia has been holding 189 truckloads of humanitarian aid in Ibb province for 22 days, Aden Alghad website said.
The trucks carry food aid, including tons of wheat and flour, provided by WFP and other international humanitarian organizations.
A source in a relief organization said the food is scheduled to be distributed to different Yemeni provinces in accordance with data collected by relief organizations.
The Houhti rebels refused to release the aid trucks __ detained in a customs clearance office recently established in Ibb province __ and demanded customs duties be paid, otherwise aid has to be distributed by them, the source reiterated.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16943
(* B H)
Yemen: vital public hospital in Dhalea faces possible closure
Medical centre has 200 new patients a day, many hurt as Houthis shell residential areas
Al Naser Hospital, the only public medical centre in the Dhalea province in southern Yemen, is under threat of closure with a severe shortage of medical equipment and an outdated building.
The hospital provides care for thousands of civilians caught in the bloody civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and put much of the country into famine.
The National visited the hospital in the centre of Dhalea city and met its vice manager and other staff, who work around the clock to provide care for many civilians.
The staff also tend to thousands of patients, mostly women and children, infected by an outbreak of cholera in the country.
“The situation in the hospital is getting worse and we are facing many problems,” said Dr Mohammed Mohsen, the vice manager.
"The infrastructure of the hospital is in a poor condition. The functioning rooms are old and don’t match the increasing need for new beds.
“The operational budget provided by the Ministry of Public Health is very small and we are suffering a lack in medical equipment and a shortage in medicine
(B H)
Film: Would you send your child to this school? Parents in Yemen don't have a choice. More than 2,500 schools have been damaged or destroyed by war.
https://twitter.com/ICRC/status/1122143360615981057
(B H)
World Food Programme, Emergency Telecommunications Cluster: Yemen Conflict - ETC Situation Report #33 (Reporting Period: 01/03/19 to 20/04/19)
The ETC is currently providing services in 11 hubs across Sana’a, Hodeidah, Ibb and Aden.
(B H)
Document: Unfortunately, my friend sent me a sample of the final financial reports of funds received by local & Int'l NGOs working in #Yemen to carry out projects and activities in humanitarian field. They mentioned nothing in their reports as you can see here.
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1122259256592539648
(B H)
Expired food is being delivered to #Yemeni people in #Yemen More than 17 million dollar was spent for coordination and safety by @OCHAYemen in one year. #whereisthemoney (photos)
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1121541284253114369
(* B H P)
UN Kills Yemenis With Expired Food
It is not the first and will not be the latest scandal of the World Food Program in Yemen, which is involved in the premeditation and storage of food which is unfit for human use, and was distributed to the needy and displaced amid the calls for a large distress launched to save the Yemeni people from the hunger knife due to the siege and brutal war on Yemen for more than four years.
This time, as a result of a complaint lodged by the people to the competent authorities in the Directorate of Malaf in the province of Hodeidah ,west of the country, there were two warehouses of the World Food Program , which were full of a large quantity of expired soy food on its way to the relief distribution centers in the Directorate . In a communication to YemenExtra , it confirmed that”It stopped the distribution process after it was proved its unfit for human use.
The World Food Program in Yemen continues to distribute expired and poor quality of food , committing violations against the needy who suffer from deprivation, poverty, dispersal and harsh conditions as a result of the continued war and unjust siege on their country.
The program also ignores its role in monitoring the quality and safety of the assistance provided to the needy of the Yemeni people, but also deliberately distributes many of them which is expired or about to expire as happened in a number of provinces recently, which may be harm to their health and increase the chances of life-threatening diseases.
The new scandal , in the Directorate of Al-Malaf in Hodeidah ,comes in a series of prior scandals of the World Food Program in Yemen, which is the storage and distribution of expired food, full of insects through a number of points in the capital Sanaa and a number of provinces.
The National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Response received reports from some of its branches about the existence of spoiled materials of the food program, including “soy”.
http://www.yemenextra.net/2019/04/25/un-kills-yemenis-with-expired-food/
(* B H)
Mothers in Yemen need peace
On-going conflict, poverty, and disease leave mothers with few good options to survive.
Health care or food? That’s a terrible choice many mothers in Yemen are facing each day as the war grinds on and families fleeing fighting struggle to find a place to live, employment, and money for food and health care.
As Mothers Day approaches here in the US, many women in Yemen would struggle to find much to celebrate. The country is in a grinding civil war.
“Mothers in Yemen have to make impossible choices all the time,” says Scott Paul, humanitarian lead for Oxfam in Washington. He says that during recent visits to the country, families recounted all sorts of terrible examples. Accessing health care is a constant concern for many: “If a child falls ill, it costs money to pay for transport to a clinic. And that’s a gamble: The clinic may be closed, or lack the required medicine,” he says.
Paul says families with young sons face terrible choices: Should they join a militia and fight? They might earn a reliable income the family needs for food and health care, but risk death.
Another option, unthinkable under most circumstances, confronts families with girls: When presented with a marriage proposal, should they accept a bride price they need for health expenses and food? One mother who borrowed money to pay to have her son’s leg amputated after a car accident, accepted a dowry for her 14-year-old daughter.
How Oxfam is helping
End the war to end the suffering
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/mothers-yemen-need-peace/
(* B H)
UN Children's Fund: UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report (March 2019)
The first payment cycle for the Education Teachers' Incentives (ETI), started on 28 February and ended on 9 March, targeting 109,456 teachers and school staff across 11 governorates. A total of 97,710 teachers and school staff (89 per cent) have collected their incentives. The ETI aims to provide incentives to those teachers and school staff who are not in receipt of salary but who report to work, in order to keep education accessible to children throughout Yemen.
The UN Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (UNCTFMR) verified 44 children as killed (22 boys; 22 girls) and 75 as injured (54 boys; 21 girls), whilst the recruitment and use of children by parties to the conflicted affected 22 boys. Most of the verified incidents were documented in Taizz governorate (constituting 36 per cent of all incidents), followed by Al Dhale and Al Hudaydah governorates, where 20 and 16 per cent of this month’s incidents were documented.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-march-2019
(B H)
Acting as a neutral intermediary .@ICRC_ye facilitated on Friday the transfer of 7 unaccompanied children from Marib to Sana’a via Sayoun. The tears, the embraces and the laughter were priceless. We’re glad the transfer brought comfort to the families (photo)
https://twitter.com/ICRC_ye/status/1121740589400252416
(* B H)
ALNAP: SOHS 2018 Case Study: Yemen
This case study is one in a series of five research pieces which fed into the analysis for The State of the Humanitarian System 2018.This research was conducted and written in April 2018.
Executive Summary
The humanitarian crisis
The situation in Yemen has been described as an ‘entirely man-made catastrophe’ (OHCHR, 2017). The internal conflict between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, combined with the misuse of many key agricultural and household resources for khat production and consumption, has led to crippling poverty and a high rate of global acute malnutrition (GAM). The continued insecurity, instability and violence have caused the displacement of approximately 3 million people, and have had a devastating impact on food security and livelihoods.
As the conflict has continued, the state of the country’s health system, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and schools has deteriorated. In addition to the high number of casualties requiring emergency medical care, the health sector response has also had to deal with the indirect impacts of the war, such as the deterioration of public health systems, people’s fear of using health structures due to their frequent bombing, and significant levels of health-related malnutrition. In April 2017, the difficulty of managing contagious diseases, combined with the degraded economic situation, led to one of the worst cholera outbreaks in recent times, with almost 1 million suspected cases and 2,216 associated deaths (WHO, 2017). Almost 2 million children (27% of the 7.3 million schoolaged children in Yemen) are currently unable to attend school, with more than 1,800 institutions affected by the conflict.
A humanitarian response implemented under major constraints
Delivering aid in Yemen is extremely challenging. Numerous constraints exist ranging from insecurity in front-line areas to administrative restrictions and logistics problems in reaching rough and mountainous terrain. As the conflict has become protracted and the humanitarian crisis has deepened, the response has struggled to cover the needs of the population.
Humanitarian workers have accused the Saudi-led coalition of hampering the delivery of humanitarian assistance by imposing a blockade and then, when it was partly lifted, by continuing to impose excessively cumbersome procedures (UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, 2018). Import restrictions and localised blockages imposed by these local armed groups on the ground are hindering the rapid delivery of critical supplies to people in need. In addition, the presence of checkpoints controlled by armed groups in many districts, and regular air strikes, have restricted the movements of humanitarian operators.
Operations in these areas are very difficult and sometimes impossible.
Humanitarian workers have been denied travel permits to different cities and the parties to the conflict impose arbitrary and excessive restrictions. The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen has criticised all parties to the conflict for increasing the suffering of civilians by impeding the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Overall effectiveness of the response
Despite all these constraints, life-saving operations have been reasonably effective.
https://www.alnap.org/help-library/yemen-case-study-%E2%80%93-sohs-2018 = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/sohs-2018-case-study-yemen
and full report: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SOHS%202018%20Yemen%20CS.pdf
For ALNAP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALNAP
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Republic of Yemen: Shelter/NFIs Fact Sheet, March 2019
Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster assisted 18 percent out of 3 million people planned to be reached in 2019.
More than 151,800 people were displaced by the conflict in the first quarter.
The situation on the conflict frontlines remains intense and generates new waves of displacements for over 25,300 families (or 151,800 people) to mainly Hajjah and Al Hudaydah, Al Dhale'e and Amran governorates.
Most frequent Shelter/NFIs issues cited by affected population are overcrowding, families unable to afford rent payments, high cost of shelter materials in the local market, lack of basic household items in the local market, and when available families do not have the means to purchase them and lack of lighting in their shelters.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/republic-yemen-shelternfis-fact-sheet-march-2019
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yemen: CCCM Factsheet – March 2019
Conflict between Hajour tribesmen and defacto-authority led to displacement of more than 5,000 individuals in Hajjah Governorate.
SMC trainings delivered in Hajjah and Aden Governorates with participation of NGO Partners and local authority.
Gap of funding hindering SMC expansion to cover more than 1,060 IDP hosting sites accommodating 412,000 IDPs.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-cccm-factsheet-march-2019
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Monthly Situation Report - March 2019
The Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster assisted 260,147 people through 25 active partners during the reporting period.
The displacement from Kushar district continues, reaching to about 8,400 families who fled the conflict between Hajour tribesmen and the de-facto authorities.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/shelternficccm-cluster-monthly-situation-report-march-2019
(* B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 26 April 2019
Despite the on-going conflict at the frontlines, UNHCR continued to provide lifesaving emergency assistance to those fleeing violence. On 24 April, UNHCR began distributing an additional 1,000 core-relief items (CRIs) to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kharab Al Marashi district in the northern Al Jawf governorate.
In Hajjah city, Hajjah governorate, needs assessments have been finalized for 2,748 IDP familieswho require immediate intervention and additional CRIs.
In the northern governorate of Amran, UNHCR through partner YRC provided 140 IDP families with CRIs at the Huth IDP site.
During the reporting period, a total of 714 CRIs were distributed to IDP families close to the southern frontlines
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-26-april-2019
(* B H)
Film: This question must be answered by @OCHAYemen along with other international NGOs working in #Yemen If billion of dollars were spent in the right way do you think that we will see displaced people living in this situation? Footage in Sanaa
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1121848891601838081
(B H)
Yemenis who fled the war in Bani Hasan near the border with #Saudi Arabia, at a makeshift camp in the district of Abs in #Yemen's northwestern #Hajjah province. Photos by @AlragehiEissa
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1122169368320913408
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Film: An art exhibition displaying art work by Yemeni painters to show the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the ongoing Saudi-led war at the People's Development Foundation in Sanaa
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1122532575774425088
(A P)
Hamis Rajeh, a civilian, died of torture 48 hours after being abducted by Houthis (photo)
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1122445891024166913
(A P)
Hodeidah Criminal Court holds hearing to try accused of assassinating Martyr al-Samad
The Specialized primary criminal court in Hodeidah on Saturday held its second public hearing to try those accused of involvement in the assassination of Martyr President of the Supreme Political Council, Saleh Ali al-Samad and his companions.
Their number is estimated at 52 accused, including foreigners and Yemenis
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534509.htm
My remark: Samad was killed by a Saudi coalition air raid which directly had targeted him personally.
(A P)
Parliament listens to reply of British House of Commons
The Parliament in its meeting on Saturday listened to reply of Speaker of British House of Commons John Bercow to its letter addressed to speakers of parliaments of Arab, Islamic and foreign countries, including Britain.
The Parliament's letter directed to the world's parliaments stated that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had gathered some members of the parliament from capitals of Saudi-led coalition countries to convene a meeting of the so-called Yemeni parliament, which represented an aggression and a flagrant interference in internal affairs of Yemeni people and a violation of Yemen's sovereignty and independence.
The letter stressed that the Parliament in the capital Sanaa is the only legislative institution that represents the Yemeni people with all its political, social and cultural components.
Bercow's reply included thanks to the Parliament's Speaker for his letter, dated April 15, on the situation in Yemen, which confirmed that British MPs follow-up the developments of events in Yemen.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534468.htm
(A P)
Houthis transfer Yemeni journalists to solitary cells
Families of the Yemeni journalists held in the Houthi-run Political Security prison have complained that “the journalists are being subjected to severe torture and mistreatment”.
They spelt out that the journalists were subjected to investigation sessions and were transferred to solitary cells.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29468
and
(A P)
Families of Abducted Journalists Say They Endure Severe Torment
In a press statement, families of the ten abducted journalists affirmed that the journalists, who have been imprisoned by Houthi rebels since June, 2015, have been physical and psychological torture in Houthi-run National Security prisons in the capital Sana’a.
The families said they had been prevented from visiting the abductees and confirmed that the journalists are tortured during investigation sessions as well as being locked inside individual cells, after depriving them of their clothes and medicine.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16803
and
(A P)
YJS condemns torture of journalists, holds Houthis full responsibility
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) has said it received reports about constant torture of the Yemeni journalists detained in the Political Security prison in Sana’a.
YJS strongly condemned the torture, demanding to immediately release the journalists and hold the perpetrators of torture accountable.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-29467
and
(B P)
Psychological and physical torture against journalists in al-Houthi prisons escalates
The families of the kidnapped journalists--in a press release--said they have been subjected to physical and psychological torture for weeks in the political security prison in Sana'a, and have called for the rescue of journalists abducted since June 9, 2015.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167046
(A P)
Academics have been dismissed. Houthis emptying universities from their cadres
Al-Houthi militias decided to dismiss the academic and media spokesperson of the Supreme Council of Teaching unions at government universities and the academic officer of the Teaching syndicate at Hodeidah University, Dr. Mansour al-Qadasi.Al- Qadasi said that Houthi militias had displaced him from Hodeidah after they stormed and looted his university residence at night and failed to arrest him, and al- Qadasi was seen as academics who refused to obey the Houthi militias and continued to demand the disbursement of academics salaries from the beginning of their suspension more than two years ago.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167047
(A P)
Al-Houthi militias kidnap lawyer Abdulrahman Kudaish
Al-Houthi militia abducted the lawyer Abdul Rahman Kudaish after he was taken to a street around Hodeidah about a week ago.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167023
(* B P)
Hintergrundinformationen und bisheriger Verlauf der Verfolgung der Bahá’í im Jemen (Stand 16. April 2018)
Gruppeninhaftierungen: Eine erste Verhaftungswelle von Bahá’í – unter ihnen auch Stammesangehörige – ereignete sich im Nordjemen im August 2016 mit der gleichzeitigen Inhaftierung von 60 Männern, Frauen und Kindern während einer Erziehungsthemen gewidmeten Konferenz.
Eine weitere Gruppeninhaftierung im April 2017 betraf 25 Personen, mit ähnlichen Vorwürfen.
Der Fall Hamed bin Haydara: Bereits im Dezember 2013 wurde Hamed bin Haydara von den Strafverfolgungsbehörden in Sana'a festgenommen und inhaftiert. Es wurden ihm haltlos verschiedene Taten vorgeworfen, unter anderem Gefährdung der öffentlichen Ruhe durch Verbreitung des Bahá’í-Glaubens und Spionage für Israel. Während seiner Untersuchungshaft wurde er verschiedenen Formen von Folter ausgesetzt.
https://iran.bahai.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Menschenrechtslage-der-Bahai-im-Jemen-.pdf
(* B P)
Persecution of the Bahai’is in Yemen: Hamed bin Haydara’s death sentence
Concerns over the situation of the followers of the Baha’i faith in Yemen are growing. The minority is currently caught up in the middle of a conflict in one of the poorest Arab countries. A number of Baha’is have been accused of espionage and apostasy during trials held in Sana?a, the capital city of Yemen. Human rights activists have questioned the validity of the trials, describing the charges as baseless.
Hamed bin Haydara is one of the members of the Baha’i community sentenced to death. Local and international rights groups, including Amnesty international, immediately criticized the death sentence as “cruel” and “degrading”, and called on Yemeni authorities to “immediately quash” the sentence. Hamed bin Haydara’s appeal hearing will be held on 30 April in Sanaʽaa.
https://en.radiozamaneh.com/29287/
(* A P)
Baha'i community concerned over fate of its members in Yemen
A Baha'i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha'is at the hands of Yemen's Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.
The Baha'i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/bahai-community-concerned-over-fate-of-its-members-in-yemen
and also https://apnews.com/2da14147cb5a4f9dbf9560102a190e43
and
(A P)
Shirin Ebadi’s Protest to the Death Sentence for Hamed bin Haydara and to His Attorneys Being Called Apostates by Yemeni Houthis
In a letter addressed to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, attorney and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, called the death sentence against Yemeni Baha’i Hamed Kamal bin Haydara, and the calumny against his two lawyers by the Houthi court in Yemen, which called them “apostates” and “devil worshippers”, a violation of the freedom of religion and thought.
In January of last year, the judge at the Houthi court condemned Baha’i Hamed Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara to death for “endangering the independence of the Republic of Yemen”, and “promotion of the Baha’i Faith”. His attorney had previously said that many of the court sessions, including the session in which he was sentenced to death, were held without his client being present, and that he was denied the opportunity to defend himself against the charges.
The full text of Shirin Ebadi’s letter to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers follows
Shirin Ebadi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirin_Ebadi
(* A P)
Yemen’s Houthis begin radical reforms plan
The Houthi Ansarullah movement’s new “National Vision” lays out Sana'a's road map towards building a “modern, stable and democratic state,” which seeks peace and equal cooperation with the international community.
The Ansarullah’s incumbent President of the Supreme Political Council in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, Mahdi al-Mashat, announced the implementation of the movement's manifesto this week.
Press TV was among the first to receive the English translation of the document, which contains 175 strategic aims on how to rebuild the badly damaged nation.
The reforms plan, known as the National Vision, aims to protect the Yemeni people and rebuild the war-torn country, while at the same time, “strengthen state institutions,” which have been rendered inadequate due to the war.
Speaking to Press TV, the chairman of the International Solidarity Committee with Yemen, Rune Agerhus, explained why this new vision is so important.
“This document is truly historic. First of all, it completely shreds the narrative of supposed ‘violent rebels’ holding the capital, but rather shows a competent government institution showing a willingness to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, it re-establishes the Yemeni democracy and seeks to make Yemen a prosperous nation.”
“It's also a sign of Yemen opening its arms to the international community. They want to re-establish good and equal relations with the countries of the world, as well as open up for foreign investments.”
The idea of a new National Vision was initially proclaimed by the former Yemeni President Saleh al-Sammad. Samad was killed during a coalition airstrike last year.
A famous quote by the former president, "one hand protects, the other hand builds," has been used as the slogan for the Sana'a government’s new vision.
Some of the many critical areas of focus for the government include raising the average life expectancy and improving electricity and water supplies, while also reducing the illiteracy rate and tackling corruption.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/04/26/594431/Yemens-Houthis-begin-radical-reforms-plan
My comment: Paper is patient. As a first step, release the bulk of political prisoners. And treat humanely the others. All this could be achieved today without needing any funds.
(A P)
Money, ammunitions and food for the fighters in the battlefields. This happened yesterday here in Yemeni capital Sanaa at the tomb of the late President Saleh Samad. The donors are from Saada, where Samad originally came from (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1121776883593547776
(A P)
ِAl-Hosn tribes celebrate return of misled by coalition, including military commander, to homeland's ranks
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534323.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Al- Shabaniya Elite forces prevent Radhoum sons from sit in front of gas company to demand electricity
The UAE-backed al-Shabaniya elite forces prevented the procession of the Sons of the Radhoum directorate from passing through the gate of the gas company in Belhaf.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167084
(A K P)
New batch of southern troops graduates in Shabwa (Photos)
A new batch of southern troops graduated in a special ceremony held today in their camp in Awsilan and Bihan sahara, Shabwa governorate.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4100
My comment: „Southern troops”? The “army” of southern separatists? This just is a militia. And closely look at the flags shown here: Former South Yemen (now separatists), Saudi Arabia, Emirates.
(A P)
Elected a 23- presidency board members... Southern National Coalition to hold first conference in Aden
The Southern National Coalition held its first constituent meeting in Aden, the interim capital in southern Yemen, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ahmed al-Mayseri.
The meeting, which is the first General Conference, was devoted to discussing the political and human rights vision of the coalition, as well as the bylaws of the Southern National Coalition, which concluded its first session with the election of a 23- presidency member comprising leaders of the southern movement close to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and others support the federal project.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167045
(A T)
Hamas leader in Aden resistance Bassam al-Mihdhar survive assassination by an improvised explosive device
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167029
(A T)
Violent Explosion Shakes Yemeni Occupied City of Aden
Local residents later said that the explosion was caused by a bomb located between the area of Sheikh Othman and Mansoura near Abdul Qawi's tour.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6614
(* A P)
Map: made this to illustrate more or less control of neighborhoods by warring parties in Taiz #Yemen
https://twitter.com/carvajalf/status/1121798107266605059
(* A P)
Taiz.. The agreement on the exit of the Abu Abbas brigades to Al-Kadaha and the presidential guard to secure the Old City
The truce committee tasked by the Governor of Taiz, Nabil Shaman, on Friday reached an agreement with representatives of the Abu Abbas brigades on a ceasefire in the old City after five days of confrontations.
A source who attended the meeting told "Al-Masdar online " that the pacification committee headed by Arif Jamil agreed with the representative of the Abu al-Abbas brigades Mo’amen Al-mikhlafi on a ceasefire and the extradition of security wanted.
The agreement also stipulated that the forces of the Fifth Brigade presidential guard should take over the security of the Old City and its environs, and protect the withdrawal of the gunmen from Abu Abbas to al-Kadaha in the Ma'afer district
On Thursday, Mo’amen, who were accused of assassinating Capt. Mahmoud al-Humaidi, deputy security and system officer, had handed over the accused of assassination of the officer to Bab al-Kabir police station.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167021
and also https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167051
and in short: https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121795936751984645
and
(* A P)
Abu Al-'abbas brigades ' gunmen exit from Taiz to Al-Kadaha with the protection of the Presidential guard
Gunmen from the "Abu Abbas" brigades arrived at the al-Kadaha front in the al-Ma'afer district from the old city of Taiz in southwest Yemen after several days of clashes between them and the security campaign.
Local sources told "Al-Masdar online " that the elements of the "Abu Abbas" Brigades moved from the old City to the Kadaha on the board of 30 vehicles and 20 cars, and were secured with by the Fifth Brigade presidential guard who oversaw the implementation of an agreement to end the confrontations and evacuate the old city of militants.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167022
(* A P)
Unbearable Situation In The Old City Of Taiz
Local residents in the old city of Taiz on Thursday have said that the attack launched the Islah militias on the city on the pretext of searching for wanted people from the radical Salafist group Abu Abbas resulted in the death and injury of more than 100 citizens, mostly children and women.
The residents explained that Abu Abbas militias fortified themselves in homes of civilians and faced the campaign launched by Islah militias, (the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen), with a counter-campaign using snipers and thermal rockets.
They noted that the civilians remained in their homes under the fire of the two sides, calling for help, but no one gives a dim about their cry “while artillery shells were falling on houses and their voices reverberating throughout the city.”
Since Thursday morning, the old city has been witnessing attacks that the owners of shops have not been able to open, which doubling food and nutritional crisis that the people of the city have suffered as a result of blockade imposed by the coalition countries since more than four years ago and malnutrition getting higher in Yemen as a whole.
Other sources said that many residents of the old City were forced to flee to mosques as safe places, and its minarets launched calls for those who rescued them from what they called the storm owners, referring to the militias of the coalition which named its war on Yemen with the decisive storm, but to no avail, in the time when the loudspeakers were repeating calls, the shells were falling on the city on both sides.
As clashes between coalition rival militias increase, the health situation in the city is worsening, residents said.
http://www.yemenextra.net/2019/04/27/unbearable-situation-in-the-old-city-of-taiz/
(* A P)
Rebellion against legitimacy in Taiz
The security and military leaders loyal to Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood rebelled against the constitutional legitimacy in Taiz by refusing to comply with the governor's orders to stop the armed campaign against the inhabitants of the Old City in Taiz.
The governor of Taiz said that he will not allow any disorder or outlaw actions within the security and military institutions.
Taiz's security chief, Brigadier Mansour Al-Akhali totally rejected the governor's orders and went on to accuse him of escaping from his tasks, affirming that the security crackdown will continue as planned and will not stop.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4092
My comment: This is from a pro-Separatists news site. The separatists and their UAE masters are supporting AQAP-related Abbas brigades and label Islah Party (Muslim Brotherhood) militia as “rebels”. – Islah media are exactly opposite:
(* A P)
Taiz.. 2 soldiers, 3 gunmen, 10 civilians killed in past hours
Two soldiers, three gunmen and 10 civilians were killed and 11 civilians were injured as a result of clashes and ongoing shelling between the security campaign and the Abu al-Abbas brigades of the 35th Armoured Brigade south of Taiz City.
Security sources told Al-Masdar online that the clashes had been expanded, accompanied by artillery shelling and sniping operations between the security campaign forces and the Abu Abbas Brigades, which is funded by Emirati in the old city and adjacent areas.
According to sources, the soldier Rabie Mahjub Naaman and another military police soldier were shot dead by snipers of Abu al-Abbas brigades in front of the Republican hospital building, in return, killing three Abu al-Abbas gunmen.
A citizen called Al-Wisabi and six other members of his family were killed in Wadi al-Madam, the child Uday Jalal Osman was killed in Bab al-Kabir as a result of the shells, and a citizen was killed and a motorcycle driver in a Aqbat Mofreh by sniper fire.
In addition, 11 civilians, including three seriously wounded, were taken to AL- Thawrah Republican Hospital and Al-Safwah hospitals.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167004
and also https://www.facebook.com/fuad.rajeh/posts/10213116377096247
(* B P)
Game of Thrones: Coalition-backed government militias battle it out in Yemen
Though all armed factions stand against the Houthi rebel group, militia groups in the south of the country have become increasingly divided and have, on several occasions, locked heads and arms in battles across major cities, including Aden and Taiz.
Last year, a bloody battle erupted between the armed factions, one of which loyal to the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) and backed by the Emiratis, while the other served Hadi's government and fell comfortably into Saudi hands.
This week, similar battles have taken place between forces loyal to the Hadi government in Yemen's third largest Taiz city, where the armed groups have taken their eyes off the Houthi enemy surrounding the city to challenge each other instead.
But the truth is, despite standing alongside each other in the fight against the rebels, the militia groups have proven themselves incapable of coexisting. Each faction is willing eliminate the rival group in order to remain unchallenged and in control, local journalist Fuad Rajeh told The New Arab.
"I believe president Hadi and the Saudi-led coalition are seeking to weaken both sides because they are not allowing the local authorities to do their job.
"The incompetent government can't control the forces under its own command and this is because it can't make decisions independently - the coalition has the decision of war in Yemen, Rajeh said.
But coalition states, most notably Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have had a face off in Yemen in a bid "to serve their own agendas at the expense of the country, and their actions are a proof of this," Rajeh said.
Concerns have been raised surrounding the UAE's intentions in the south of Yemen
"The problem exposes disagreements between the government and some coalition states," he added, despite the coalition's numerous attempts to project a united front against the Houthis in YemenSome of these militias are accused of war crimes and other serious violations, including during the recent offensive on the port city of Hodeida and in the UAE-backed network of secret prisons in southern Yemen.
But beyond the death and destruction, the coalition's recklessness in the south of the country, including its puppeteering of local militia groups to achieve its divided agendas could prove to have a serious impact on the authority of the internationally recognised government of Yemen for decades to come – by Sana Uqba
Comment by Judith Brown: This is another story of the battles between those in the anti Houthi side of the Yemen war. The coalition was always a loose tie between people's who all aimed to defeat the northern militias, but they had differing aims - they include Islah, who have a strong political and commercial base and want a stake in future united Yemeni government, Salafist militias and Al Qaeda types who have their own anti western ideology, southern secessionists who want southern independence, militias paid by UAE who mainly are recruited from conservative Sunni groups, some of whom are ex-Al Qaeda, tribal groups associated with one province or area, Saudi with its anti-Iran agenda and also initially at least wanting military success to cement the succession of the line of King Salman, UAE who want commercial control especially of ports in the region, USA and U.K. that want to sell weapons, keep a close link with main oil producers, and dominate the region via their allies in the GCC. And many many more.
It was never likely that if and when they gained control that they could find any agreement. And so it has turned out. Since the first few months of war, there have been rumours and evidence of stark differences between each of these groups - causing a split with Qatar and the other coalition partners, and battles between groups affiliated with KSA and UAE. This is not a narrative that appears in Western headlines.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157534183563641
(A H P)
Hundreds of African immigrants flee Northern Aden detention site
Hundreds of African immigrants escaped last night from a football stadium in al-Mansoura district, north of the city of Aden, where security forces detained them earlier last week, local source and eyewitnesses told Al-Masdar online.
The source said that hundreds of African refugees from different nationalities from Ethiopia, Somalia and other African countries were seen crossing sub-roads in the Mansoura district after they managed to flee their place of detention at the Martyr Hamid Stadium in Mansoura.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167028
(* A H P)
Aden authorities request international help as over 3,500 migrants held
Over the last three days, authorities in the Yemeni city of Aden have detained thousands of migrants, mostly from Ethiopia, who have entered the country illegally after receiving reports that some had been fighting alongside rebel Houthi militias.
At the largest detention centre, authorities have detained roughly 3,500 people in a communal hall on May 22 Square in Aden since Wednesday. Yemeni sources have said as many as 5,000 may have been detained in total in makeshift detention centres such as a local football stadium.
“We are facing a big problem that is occurring at a very critical time, hundreds of migrants enter the city of Aden every day,” Cpt Abdulrahman Al-Nakeeb, spokesman for Aden police, told The National. “These migrants – who are mostly Ethiopians – enter by sea and gather in groups in the streets, in the public markets, near restaurants and started to enter the populated neighbourhoods causing many problems for the residents,” he said.
“The Houthi rebels capture them while they trying to come the country to Saudi Arabia through Sada [province] and take them to training camps before sending them to fight along with their fighters or use them to plant explosive devices in the routes used by pro-government forces in Hodiedah or in the southern areas,” Cpt Al Nakeeb said.
(* A H P)
International Organization for Migration: Deep Concern as Thousands of Migrants Rounded Up in Yemen
Authorities have rounded up and arbitrarily detained over 2,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopian nationals, in Aden, Yemen, since Sunday, creating an acute humanitarian situation, to which aid organizations are rapidly responding.
IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants.
“The rights of the people being detained should be respected, and alternatives must be considered,” said IOM’s Director of Operations and Emergencies Mohammed Abdiker.
“We urge the local authorities to work with the humanitarian community to find safer alternatives to detention and to ensure a full spectrum of protection services are available for those detained, particularly the hundreds of children and approximately 60 women, who have been rounded up.”
The detainees, including at least 400 children, were held at Al Mansoura Football Stadium in Aden city. Up to 1,000 people are also being detained at a military camp in neighbouring Lahj governorate, roughly a 35-minute drive from the city.
On Thursday night, local youths opened the gates of Al Mansoura stadium, allowing the migrants to escape. The authorities began rounding up the escaped migrants and are now detaining an unknown number at a second football stadium in the city’s Sheik Usman area. IOM is seeking further information on the new location in order to response to the needs of the detained migrants.
Neither open-air stadium is designed to accommodate large numbers people.
https://www.iom.int/news/deep-concern-thousands-migrants-rounded-yemen
and by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-migrants/thousands-of-migrants-rounded-up-in-southern-yemen-iom-idUSKCN1S21IE
My remark: Earlier reporting: Yemen War Mosaic 531, cp4.
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(* A P)
Implementing Hodeidah deal could lead to fresh peace talks, Yemeni official says
Movement towards finally implementing the first stage of an agreed withdrawal from the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah could pave the way for further talks in the coming months, a Yemeni government official has said.
But Martin Griffiths, UN envoy to Yemen, said he believes the process of withdrawing forces from the port city could begin soon and added that both sides “are working very constructively”.
Now a senior Yemeni official has told The National that this could get the diplomatic efforts back on track.
“We hope to get some implementation in Hodeidah, there are some signals that it’s happening. This will open the door for discussions for the next round of peace talks,” the official said on condition of anonymity on Sunday.
The withdrawal of troops from Hodeidah could occur next month, the official said.
While he did not give an idea of when new talks could be held, he said the government was not expecting discussions during Ramadan, which is likely to start around May 5.
(A P)
Yemen Quad meeting in London - joint declaration
Statement on behalf of UK, US, UAE and Saudi Arabia following Yemen Quad meeting in London on 26 April
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United States acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, met today (26 April) in London to discuss the situation in Yemen.
The Quad nations underlined their commitment to a comprehensive political solution for the conflict in Yemen and their endorsement of the agreements reached in Stockholm by the Yemeni parties in December 2018. The Ministers underlined that the firing of Iranian made and facilitated ballistic missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Houthi forces into neighbouring countries posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict. The Ministers expressed full support for Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns and called for an immediate end to such attacks by Houthi forces and their allies.
The Quad members expect the Yemeni parties to start the implementation of the Hodeidah Agreement immediately and in particular called on the Houthis to redeploy from the ports of Saleef, Ras Issa, and Hodeidah.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/yemen-quad-meeting-in-london-joint-declaration
My comment: This is a scam. The four most horrible power which have interfered in the Yemen War are playing “peace brokers”. – What a bias: Saudi air raids against Yemen – which are much more horrible than any Houthi missiles – are not even mentioned, as if they would not have “posed threats to regional security and prolonged the conflict”. And any “full support for Saudi Arabia and its legitimate national security concerns” is absurd by itself as the Yemen War started as an aggression from the Saudi side – without any threat to Saudi security existing before.
Comment by Judith Brown: The band of rogues who are planning how to destruct Yemen whilst appearing to be working in Yemen's interest. Hypocrites.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157536432273641
and the statement by the Houthi government:
(A P)
Yemen : Quartet statement to repeat precedents, what is required is to stop aggression, to lift siege
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that statement issued on Saturday by the so-called quartet of the two countries of the Saudi-UAE aggression coalition, supported by the US administration and the UK government, is a repetition for previous statements.
Those statements do not care about the rights of the Yemeni people in live and their suffering during the past four years because of the US-saudi aggression coalition, an official source at ministry told Saba.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534511.htm
(A P)
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, UK and US hold Yemen talks in London
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1488486/middle-east
(A P)
UN envoy: we can soon begin redeployment in Yemen’s Hodeidah
Jeremy Hunt met with Martin Griffiths, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Adel Al Jubeir in London as part of an effort to find a way to end the country’s civil war
Martin Griffiths, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, said he was optimistic about reaching peace in the war torn country, on his visit to London where he met with senior foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UK and the UAE.
Mr Griffiths attended a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al Jubeir. Veteran US diplomat David Satterfield also attended the meeting.
“I think we can soon begin the process of redeployment in Hodeidah and frankly both parties are working very constructively. And it’s helped by you [Mr Hunt] and the diplomatic consensus that you bring together to make it happen. It’s the year of Yemen, I hope,” Mr Griffiths said in a video released by the UK’s Foreign Office.
(A P)
Yemen: Foreign Secretary to host meeting with Saudi, Emirati and US counterparts
Foreign Secretary is to hold a meeting in London today to discuss steps with international partners towards a peaceful future for Yemen.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will host a meeting on Yemen in London today (Friday 26 April) with representatives from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Yemen meeting will discuss the next steps in the UN-led peace process and how best to support the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
Photo. https://twitter.com/HMAMichaelAron/status/1121794464932974594
My comment. This is a scam. The four most horrible power which have interfered in the Yemen War are playing “peace brokers”.
Comment: Isn't it amazing - the government is meant to be restoring President Hadi but he is not invited to peace talks to discuss Yemen's future. This is certainly not a war to restore democracy.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157533837358641
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
(A P)
Iranian official Reveals Dangerous Saudi Official Admission
Speaker of Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, on Sunday said that "during a meeting with Saudi security officials about Iraq and Lebanon, one of them said that Saudi Arabia has done two mistakes about Iran and, now, regrets them: making Taliban and helping, with $40 Billions, Iraq to invade Iran. That amount just came from one country."
Larijani said that the US and its allies in the Middle East created the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but, after a while, they lost control of terrorist group; they had the same problem in Afghanistan as well. They decided to suppress it, which shows that they cannot understand the Muslim World.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6642
(A P)
Saudi Arabia, UAE Overstating Oil Production Capacity Amid Washington’s Anti-Iran Sanctions
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of exaggerating their ability to replace the country's oil in the wake of a renewed push by Washington to zero Tehran's exports by implementing "brutal" economic sanctions.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6601
(A P)
After 'Wink' From Trump When a Journalist Butchered, Says Iran's Foreign Minister, 'Not a Whisper' When Saudis Behead 37
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif denounced U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration for their total silence after Saudi Arabia beheaded 37 people this week.
"After a wink at the dismembering of a journalist," Zarif tweeted Tuesday, referring to murdered reporter Jamal Khashoggi, "not a whisper from the Trump administration when Saudi Arabia beheads 37 men in one day—even crucifying one two days after Easter."
Zarif added that members of the so-called "B team"—which consists of U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are effectively above the law.
My comment: When he is right, he is right.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
Saudi Arabia to host Rally Dakar for the next 10 years
A new and exciting chapter in the prestigious history of the Dakar Rally is ready to be written as the world’s biggest and most challenging rally confirmed it will debut in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in January 2020.
At a special event held on Thursday in Qiddiya, the location that marks the finish line at the end of the 9,000-kilometer endurance race on the outskirts of Riyadh, officials, VIPs, leading international pilots and media gathered as organizers revealed the event dates and route as part of a cultural celebration filled with colour, music and dance.
My comment: They give a stage to an abhorrent regime.
(* C)
CIA cables talking about Saudi Arabia executing 4 Shia in October of 1998 (Clinton) Notice how they assume that they are automatically pro-Iranian.
In 1980, New York Times did an article about how Saudi Shias are second-class citizens:
In 1979, it said "Troops have said to fire on the Shia." I am not sure who the troops were, whether they were American or not
A disturbing example of the US government being in the pockets of the Saudi Royal family. Look at this 1978 diplomatic Cable from the Carter Administration about the Shias in Saudi Arabia.
The entire cable can be found here:
CIA cables talking about Saudi Arabia executing 4 Shia in October of 1998 (Clinton) Notice how they assume that they are automatically pro-Iranian.
If you are wondering what motivated such a brutal crackdown, here is a diplomatic cable from 1979 where Saudi General Malik explains their fear of the Shias. Also, look at the casual bigotry pandered by the American consulate.
(documents; and more)
https://twitter.com/historic_ly/status/1121427138832470016
(A P)
Press Release: Civil Rights Organizations, Family, Call for Protest Against #Saudi Executions (document)
https://twitter.com/OppressionOrg/status/1122132511239356417
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia Puts To Death 37 People In Mass Execution
Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd speaks with Ali al-Ahmed (@AliAlAhmed_en), director of the Gulf Institute in Washington, who is a critic of the Saudi government.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/04/26/saudi-arabia-mass-execution
(* B P)
Photo: Out of these 6 young men, 5 were either assassinated in broad daylight or decapitated behind bars. The 6th youth was shot & imprisoned. Their crime is protesting against tyranny, as one sign reads, "They shoot us because we demanded our rights"!
https://twitter.com/PrintempsArabeS/status/1121558869967290368
(* A P)
Films by RT:
Saudi Arabia beheads 37 people, puts body on display (while still on UN human rights council)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bri0P-xxCIE
and related text: https://www.rt.com/news/457375-saudi-executions-sham-trial/
UN condemns Saudi executions, US barely reacts
Amnesty International and members of the US Congress are expressing outrage over the mass execution of 37 prisoners in Saudi Arabia. While their trials failed to meet international standards of fairness and their deaths have drawn worldwide rebuke, the US State Department has refused to condemn them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqJfTf0rgjA
Human rights groups slam Saudi Arabia's 'grotesque' execution of 37 people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIrmeD9g_FU
(** A B P)
US-backed Saudi Regime Beheads 37 Political Prisoners
None of these individuals were allowed to speak to lawyers during investigations that were carried out by means of torture. They were denied visits from their families and kept in solitary confinement during these ordeals, and were sentenced to death in sham mass trials that lacked even a modicum of due process.
The barbaric mass state murders carried out by the regime in Riyadh constituted a calculated political act driven by both domestic and international objectives. Its immediate aim is to intimidate the Shia minority, which constitutes approximately 15 percent of the population and is concentrated in the Eastern Province, a key oil-producing region.
At least three of those put to death were minors at the time of their alleged offenses, making their executions a flagrant violation of international law barring the death penalty for children.
The main responsibility for the crimes of the Saudi regime rests with its principal patron, US imperialism. The savage monarchy in Saudi Arabia, with its public beheadings, is not merely some remnant of feudal backwardness. It is rather the direct product of US imperialist intervention in the Middle East, from the concessions secured by Texaco and Standard Oil in the 1930s and 1940s to the current massive arms sales that make the Saudi monarchy today’s number one customer of the US military-industrial complex.
Washington has responded to the mass beheadings in Saudi Arabia with a deafening silence. While the day before the beheadings were announced, the State Department issued a statement in connection with its severe tightening of punishing sanctions against Iran, demanding that it “respect the rights of its people,” there was no such appeal to Riyadh, much less any condemnation of minors having their heads chopped off in public squares.
The Pentagon and the CIA are full partners in the Saudi monarchy’s repression at home
The executions in Saudi Arabia provide an appropriate prism for viewing the entire US policy in the Middle East. The bloodbath is a manifestation of the predatory aims pursued by US imperialism in the region. Washington’s defense of and reliance upon this ultrareactionary regime expose all of the pretexts given for successive US military interventions, from the so-called “war on terrorism” to the supposed promotion of “democracy” and “human rights.”
In the end, a US foreign policy that is founded upon a strategic alliance with the House of Saud will inevitably prove to be a house of cards that will come crashing down with the revival of the class struggle in the Middle East, the United States and internationally – by Bill van Aucken
https://www.globalresearch.ca/saudi-regime-beheads-37-political-prisoners/5675739
(** A P)
Saudi Arabia said they confessed. But court filings show some executed men protested their innocence
Long before Saudi Arabia announced it had carried out one of the largest mass executions in its history earlier this week, some of the men condemned to death had made impassioned pleas to the courts in a bid to save their lives.
Many said they were totally innocent, that their confessions had been written by the same people who had tortured them. Some claimed to have evidence of their abuse at the hands of their interrogators. And one reaffirmed loyalty to King Salman and his son, Mohammed bin Salman, in hopes of getting leniency from the court, trial documents show.
None of these arguments swayed the judges overseeing their trials in 2016, and the suspects were convicted of terror-related crimes and sentenced to death.
CNN has obtained hundreds of pages of documents from three 2016 trials involving 25 of the men whose executions were announced this week. Eleven were found guilty of spying on behalf of Iran, the country's regional nemesis. Another 14 were convicted of forming a "terror cell" during anti-government protests in the largely Shia city of Awamiya in 2011 and 2012. Most of them were from the country's much-maligned Shia minority.
For the authorities, the trial of those involved in the Awamiya protests was an open and shut case -- the men had confessed, and "justice was served," in the words of one Saudi official to CNN on Tuesday.
But the documents obtained by CNN show that far from owning up to their confessions, some of the men in the Awamiya case repeatedly told the court that the admissions were false and had been obtained through torture. In some cases, the suspects said they had provided nothing more than their thumbprints to sign off on confessions which they claimed had been written by their torturers.
"Those aren't my words," said one of the accused, Munir al-Adam, during the trial
Most of the prisoners who were executed were members of the kingdom's minority Shia community, which has long protested against the political and economic marginalization of the religious group.
Several of the cases involving those who were executed center on Awamiya, the Shia city in the country's Eastern Province, where Arab Spring protests took root in 2011 – By Tamara Qiblawi and Ghazi Balkiz
https://us.cnn.com/2019/04/26/middleeast/saudi-executions-court-documents-intl/index.html
and a shorter survey: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/saudi-men-executed-confessed-duress-report-190427072137621.html
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia beheads and tortures man for sending WhatsApp message
SAUDI ARABIA has reportedly conducted a “mass execution” with a man who was detained as a teen killed for sharing anti-government messages on WhatsApp.
Abdulkarim al-Hawaj, now 21, was beheaded in front of a sick crowd after being accused of being a "terrorist" for sending the message about a protest when he was just 16.
He was a Shiite Muslim – a group that is often called heretical and persecuted in the Sunni dominated desert kingdom – and was allegedly tortured with electrical cables and forced to confess.
Another victim, Munir al-Adam, was just 23 when he was arrested in 2012 and reportedly had his feet so badly beaten he was forced to crawl on his hands and knees for days.
(A P)
Film: “He called me today and said I will call you next Tuesday if I were alive”. Mother of Abdullah Al-Tareef was calling on the human rights organisations to help her son. Her video was recorded following upholding death sentence against her son.
https://twitter.com/FatimaYazbek1/status/1121723386382540800
(B P)
Here is a video of the *crimes* They say "No More Mohd Fahd" Mohammed Bin Fahd was King Fahd's son. King Fahd died in 2006. In 2012, Mohammed Bin Fahd was in charge of the Eastern Province.
https://twitter.com/eshaLegal/status/1121746717106425857
(B P)
This is a video from December 2011 of the "crimes." Their chants are soothing!
https://twitter.com/eshaLegal/status/1121532581554606081
(A P)
Canada issues muted criticism of Saudi mass beheading
Canada is “very concerned” by Saudi Arabia’s mass beheading of 37 citizens, Global Affairs Canada said Wednesday, but officials in Ottawa stopped short of condemning the execution
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2019/04/25/canada-issues-muted-criticism-of-saudi-mass-beheading/
My comment: “Very concerned” is senseless bla bla bullshit.
(B P)
Notice that not a single international & independent media/reporter has made it to #Qatif after the mass executions of 34 Shia Arabs. Qatif holds largest oil exporting port in world. See how media is skewed?
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1121754572287029250
(A P)
Celebrities and politicians join Reprieve in condemning the killing of 37 people in Saudi Arabia
(* B H P)
The story of an eight-year-old girl: What happens when your parents are executed in Saudi Arabia?
Beenish says her parents have gone to heaven. But she's already been to the hell of a Saudi jail with them.
Just eight years old, her expressions are grave, as those of a much older person. Underscored by the dupatta wound tightly around her head, Beenish is a tiny child who never smiles.
She knows only silence and solitude. She often locks herself up in a room in her maternal uncle’s house so that no one can bother her. She does not play with other kids her age and has no interest in their games.
They did not play many games in prison.
Beenish was just five years old when her parents took her with them from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(* A P)
Top Saudi royal adviser 'is not one of 11 suspects being tried behind closed doors' despite 'playing key role' in journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder
Royal court media czar, Saud al-Qahtani, is said to have advised on the murder
He has not appeared at court alongside 'ringleader', Ahmed al-Assiri, in Rydah
It is unknown whether Saudis are trying to protect him or punish him privately
Of the 11 unnamed suspects, five could face the death penalty for the murder
Saudi prosecutors have said deputy intelligence chief Assiri oversaw the Washington Post columnist's killing in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October and that he was advised by the royal court's media czar Saud al-Qahtani.
'Qahtani is not among the 11 facing trial,' one of the officials told AFP.
'What does his absence mean? Are the Saudis keen to protect him or discipline him separately? No one knows.'
Diplomats from the UN Security Council's permanent members - the US, Britain, France, China, Russia - as well as Turkey are allowed to attend as observers of the legal proceedings that are held entirely in Arabic.
They are not allowed to bring interpreters and are usually summoned at short notice, the sources said.
My comment: The “public” in these trials will be a joke.
(* B P)
The Digital Surveillance And Blacklisting Of Women
In February, Apple and Google were put under intense public pressure to remove an app hosted on their platforms. Absher, an app launched in 2015 by the Saudi Arabian government, tracks the whereabouts of women allowing men to “control” the women whose guardianship they handle. Absher enables men to log the names and document identification numbers (eg. passports) of “their” women, thus setting up a profile for how many journies they are allowed to make, how long they may travel, what medical procedures they are allowed to undertake—if at all. Over the past two months, many have stepped up to defend this app as Egyptian-American writer, Mona Eltahawy, initially condemned it only to turn around and her followers to consider a response by a Saudi woman who wrote that Absher is a “symptom of a problem, not the problem itself.” Still, such an app can be both: a symptom of a larger cultural problem and still be a problem in itself, since the app literally tracks females.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Trump: 'We're Losing Our Ass Defending' Saudi Arabia
President Donald Trump described a phone call with the leader of Saudi Arabia in which he demanded more money from the rich nation during a Saturday rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“Look, Saudi Arabia, very rich country, we defend them, we subsidize Saudi Arabia. They have nothing but cash, right? We subsidize them. And they buy a lot from us, $450 billion they bought,” Trump began. “You know, You had people wanting to cut off Saudi Arabia. They bought $450 billion. I don’t want to lose ‘em! But the military, we subsidize Saudi Arabia!”
“I called the King,” he continued. “I like the King. I said ‘King, we’re losing our ass defending you, King, and you have a lot of money.’ That’s true. And he said ‘but why would you be calling me, nobody has ever made such a call before.’ I said that’s because they were stupid!
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw1Ao9e6cXE
(* B P)
The FBI knew for years that Saudi diplomats were helping fugitives in the US. Here's why they looked the other way.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly helped Saudi citizens evade prosecutors and the police in the United States and flee back to their homeland after being accused of serious crimes here.
The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have been aware of the Saudi actions for at least a decade.
But successive American administrations have avoided confronting the Riyadh government out of concern that doing so might jeopardize Saudi cooperation in the fight against Islamist terrorism.
https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-knew-that-saudi-diplomats-were-helping-fugitives-the-us-2019-4
(* B P)
Would Any Atrocity Turn Off Investors to Saudi Arabia?
The kingdom this week executed 37 “terrorists” after torture and sham trials. Corporations and governments should demand an end to the kingdom’s egregious violations of human rights.
This month, Saudi Arabia’s oil company, Aramco, revealed that it generated $111.1 billion in net income last year, making it the world’s most profitable company by far. So it is not particularly surprising that a scant six months after the murder and dismemberment of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by government goons stunned the world, businesses and banks are once again courting the kingdom.
The fact that there are issues in the press does not tell me I must run away from a place. In many cases it tells me I should run to and invest because what we are most frightened of are things that we don’t talk about,” explained Larry Fink, the BlackRock chief executive, who created waves earlier this year when he argued that business must provide leadership on social and political issues.
Mr. Fink’s statement appeared to be a variation on what many other corporate barons have used as justification for working with the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — that they are helping Saudis to reform and modernize their society. In that context, it might be instructive to revisit some of the “issues in the press.”
Yes, Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, and it is a fountain of petrodollars. But Prince Mohammed needs Washington’s arms and global business investment at least as much as it needs his money or oil. Demanding a modicum of civilized behavior must be a nonnegotiable part of any deal – by Editorial Board
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/opinion/saudi-arabia-executions.html
My comment: “Yes, Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally”: Yes, this is the main mistake: as long as this is taken for granted (and the NYT still even does now), the US will have blood on its hands.
(* A P)
USCIRF Calls on State Department to Lift Saudi CPC Waiver After Mass Shi’a Execution
USCIRF 2019 Annual Report Cites Numerous Violations and Recommends Additional Policy Actions by the State Department
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is deeply troubled by the Saudi government’s mass execution on Tuesday of 37 Saudi nationals, a majority of whom were Shi’a Muslim. Those beheaded included prominent Shi’a cleric Sheikh Mohammed al-Atiya, who was charged with attempting to “spread the Shi’a confession,” and Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, a Shi’a Muslim who was arrested after participating in a protest at the age of sixteen.
“The Saudi government’s execution of minority Shi’a Muslims on the basis of their religious identity and peaceful activism is not only shocking, but also directly contradicts the government’s official narrative of working toward greater modernization and improving religious freedom conditions,” said USCIRF Chair Tenzin Dorjee.
“The State Department must stop giving a free pass to the Saudi government, which, for many years, has punished numerous Saudi citizens and expatriate workers for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief,” said Dorjee, noting that USCIRF has consistently called for the removal of the waiver.
(* B P)
Testing the limits of war-making powers
Trump’s veto of the Yemen resolution has brought back to focus an unsettled question: can a President send troops abroad without congressional approval?
The U.S. Constitutiongives the President and the Congress some powers over war and peace, but grants the Congress alone the power to declare war. It also vests with the Congress the power to finance and fund the military. However, the President is the Commander-in-Chief and it is “generally agreed”, as per the Congressional Research Service, that he has the power to repel attacks against the U.S. As a result, there has for long been an unsettled question: can the President send troops abroad without the declaration of war or the Congress’s authorisation?
Mr. Trump is not alone in testing the limits of his war powers. Since its enactment, the resolution’s scope and contours have been tested by most, if not all, Presidents. For the Congress to now override Mr. Trump’s veto, a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate is required.
There remains the very real possibility that the conflict between the Congress and the President will find its way to the Supreme Court where the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution will have to be examined and addressed.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A P)
Yemen: Foreign Secretary to host meeting with Saudi, Emirati and US counterparts
Foreign Secretary is to hold a meeting in London today to discuss steps with international partners towards a peaceful future for Yemen.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will host a meeting on Yemen in London today (Friday 26 April) with representatives from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Yemen meeting will discuss the next steps in the UN-led peace process and how best to support the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
Photo. https://twitter.com/HMAMichaelAron/status/1121794464932974594
My comment. This is a scam. The four most horrible power which have interfered in the Yemen War are playing “peace brokers”.
Comment: Isn't it amazing - the government is meant to be restoring President Hadi but he is not invited to peace talks to discuss Yemen's future. This is certainly not a war to restore democracy.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157533837358641
(* A P)
[April, 10]: UK Government Defends Arming Saudi Arabia: Secret Court Hearing. Are British Forces in Yemen?
The Mail on Sunday has claimed that members of the Royal Navy’s elite Special Boat Service (SBS) have “forward air controllers” on the ground in Yemen. These are specially trained commandos who guide fighter jet pilots on bombing runs to ensure they hit targets.
Their presence in Yemen could explain the British government’s insistence that Saudi air strikes are not causing civilian casualties.
Sir James Eadie QC, a lawyer who represents the Department for International Trade, has repeatedly cast doubt on reports by Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres and even a UN panel of experts who say Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni schools, mosques and hospitals.
Mr Eadie said in open court yesterday that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is privy to more information than charities and the UN about the Saudi military’s decision-making process.
He refused to explain how this was possible in public session and promised to reveal more in secret court.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/government-defends-arming-saudi-arabia-secret-court-hearing/5674279
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(* A K P)
Deutschland bildet saudische Offiziere aus – trotz Jemen-Krieg
Trotz der Spannungen mit Saudi-Arabien wegen des Jemen-Krieges bildet die deutsche Bundeswehr saudische Soldaten aus. Das hat Deutschlands Verteidigungsministerin Ursula von der Leyen mit den Saudis vereinbart.
Mitte Jahr beginnt die deutsche Bundeswehr mit der Ausbildung von sieben Soldaten aus Saudi-Arabien zu Offizieren. Fünf von ihnen sollen im Juli einen Lehrgang beim Heer beginnen, zwei werden von der Luftwaffe geschult.
Dies erfuhr die Nachrichtenagentur DPA aus dem deutschen Verteidigungsministerium. Sieben weitere saudische Soldaten werden von Juli an Sprachkurse in Deutschland belegen, um dann 2020 ihre Offiziersausbildung beginnen zu können.
https://www.bluewin.ch/de/news/international/deutschland-bildet-saudische-offiziere-aus-trotz-jemen-krieg-243850.html = https://www.nzz.ch/international/deutsche-bundeswehr-bildet-saudische-soldaten-zu-offizieren-aus-ld.1478191
Mein Kommentar: Das Allerletzte.
(B H)
Eine unverzichtbare Hilfe
Als Nashwan Abdulwadod im Juli 2014 mit seiner Frau und Tochter aus dem Jemen nach Deutschland flüchtete, war die größte Barriere im fremden Land die Sprache. Heute ist der 40-Jährige in Kaltenkirchen als Dolmetscher in der Flüchtlingshilfe angestellt - und eine unverzichtbare Hilfe geworden.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* B K P)
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ditches US for North Korean nuclear tech
Abu Dhabi was contradicting its own narrative by holding secret nuclear deals with the US-sanctioned country, North Korea.
According to a leaked US State Department memo, the UAE purchased military weapons, worth $100 million, from North Korea in June 2015. Those weapons were used to support the Saudi-led war in Yemen that killed thousands of civilians, including children.
The UAE maintains good relations with President Trump, but its also sees Pyongyang as an important missile system supplier.
Moreover, the UAE and Saudi Arabia wanted to obviate North Korea from providing advanced military technology to Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
UAE’s master plan to avoid US sanctions
To avoid animosity with the United States, UAE carried out its covert military deals with North Korea via diplomatic backchannel. The purchases for nuclear technology were made through private companies to abstain from getting sanctioned by the US.
In 2015, the UAE signed an arms deal with North Korea through an Emirati company named al-Mutlaq Technology, which works in close liaison with both the countries for weaponry transfers.
Leaked documents have also revealed strong links between al-Mutlaq Technology and the International Gold Group (IGG), a prominent arms importer in the UAE. The fact that IGG is run by UAE Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed’s close friend Fadhil Saif al-Kaabi, evoked speculation of UAE’s undeniable involvement in North Korea deals.
Travel of North Korean officials to United Arab Emirates (UAE)
A report by the United Nations Security Council Committee shows UAE’s connections with Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), North Korea’s leading arms dealer and exporter of goods and equipment for ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.
The UAE officials have managed to sidestep the allegations of Abu Dhabi-Pyongyang nuclear cooperation, however, the Gulf nation is unlikely to suspend arms deal with North Korea. The UAE’s strong-arm, Mohammed bin Zayed has been openly challenging the US sanctions against North Korea, without any repercussions. But, why has the United States remained tight-lipped till now, with all evidences on the table.
https://asktruth24.com/uae-ditches-us-for-north-korean-nuclear-tech/
and read also https://asktruth24.com/uae-nuclear-dreams-nightmare-middle-east/
(* B P)
Panel: U.S. Base in Djibouti Key to American Interests in Africa
Camp Lemonier, the American base in Djibouti, is becoming more integral to U.S. interests in the volatile region surrounding the Red Sea, a leading regional expert said Thursday.
The Red Sea sees energy flow eastward to China and Japan while rice, other foods and manufactured goods flow westward to the Suez Canal on its way to the Mediterranean. The region presents an excellent opportunity for the United States “to have a unifying role,” for the maritime transit path, Zach Vertin, a fellow at the Doha Center of Brookings Institution, told USNI News on Thursday.
Speaking after a Brookings Institution forum on the Red Sea, Vertin said the United States had been focused early on ensuring freedom of maritime movement from its leading role in anti-piracy patrols and keeping the 15-mile-wide chokepoint at Bab al Mandab open during the continuing civil war in Yemen.
In short, what is happening is “two distinct regions are fast becoming one across the shores of the Red Sea,” he said at the forum and in conversation with USNI News.
The former French colony Djibouti offers possibly the best view of the coming together of commerce, security and foreign presence. Joining the Americans in Djibouti are two Indo-Pacific powers — Japan and China, which now has its first overseas base. Both came to the Horn of Africa to participate in the maritime patrols to rein in pirates, primarily operating from Somalia. The Chinese also use their facility as a logistics hub for its peacekeepers on the continent.
While the presence in Djibouti of military personnel from Japan, France and Italy is not well known to Americans, China’s has drawn increased attention and concern in Washington. That visible presence of the two great powers in such a small place “is a test case for China and a test case for us,” Vertin added in operating close by without falling into conflict.
https://news.usni.org/2019/04/19/panel-u-s-base-in-djibouti-key-to-american-interests-in-africa
My remark: And it’s of importance for the US in Yemen War, of course.
(A P)
ONE YEAR SCHOLARSHIP AND THE REJECTION OF MY APPLICATION FOR THE VISA TO FRANCE
Comment: Prominent #Yemen-i artist @muradsubay has been denied a visa to #France where he had a 1-year scholarship. Yemenis are under collective punishment by blind travel ban measures, targeting all people.
https://twitter.com/mohammedalqadhi/status/1122525726656299008
(* A P)
Macron verfolgt Journalisten wegen Aufdeckung französischer Waffenverkäufe für den Jemenkrieg
Die Regierung Macron bereitet die strafrechtliche Verfolgung von Journalisten vor, die aufgedeckt haben, dass Frankreich entgegen anderslautender Beteuerungen der Regierung den völkerrechtswidrigen Krieg von Saudi-Arabien im Jemen unterstützt. Es handelt sich um einen Angriff auf demokratische Rechte und die Pressefreiheit mit weitreichenden Implikationen.
Der Staat reagiert mit seinem Vorgehen auf einen Bericht, den die Journalistenorganisation Disclose am 15. April in Zusammenarbeit mit Intercept, Radio France, Mediaport, Arte Info und Konbini veröffentlicht hat. Ihre Informationen stammten aus einem geleakten vertraulichen Bericht des Geheimdienstes an den Präsidenten und führende Minister vom September letzten Jahres. Dieser Bericht enthält präzise Informationen über den Einsatz französischer Waffen im Jemen und widerlegt die Behauptung der Macron-Regierung, ihr lägen dafür keine Hinweise vor.
In einer gemeinsamen Erklärung vom Mittwochnachmittag berichten Discloseund ihre Partnerredaktionen, dass die Disclose-Mitbegründer Geoffrey Livolsi und Mathias Destal für Donnerstag polizeilich vorgeladen wurden und zu den Enthüllungen verhört werden sollen. Auch Benoît Collombat von Radio Francehat eine solche Vorladung erhalten.
https://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2019/04/27/macr-a27.html
(*A P)
French intelligence summons journalists after release of classified report on arms in Yemen
Three journalists face questioning next month by France’s domestic intelligence agency after releasing a classified report detailing French weapons being used in Yemen. In a statement on Thursday, 37 news outlets voiced support for their colleagues.
Yet in a twist, the three journalists responsible for releasing the document – Geoffrey Livolsi, Mathias Destal and Benoît Collombat – were summoned earlier this week to appear before the DGSI (Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure) domestic intelligence agency on May 14 for questioning.
Livolsi, Destal and Collombat’s summons have stoked fears that protections for journalists who shield anonymous sources and whistleblowers may be under threat.
“Basically, questioning us in a non-custodial interview means that we can be detained later, but it is also a way to discover our sources,” Livolsi told FRANCE 24’s sister station Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Thursday. “And that’s the crux of their investigation; they’re seeking to undo protections for journalists’ sources.”
Livolsi, Destal and Collombat have vowed to protect their sources, setting up a battle that could have broader implications for French news media.
“(Our line of defence) will be very clear: We will cite the right of journalists to protect their sources. We are going to exercise our right to remain silent and not divulge information about sources,” Livolsi said.
Thirty-seven major French news organisations have since voiced their support for the three men in a joint statement published on Thursday.
and
(* A P)
Film: Paris summons journos who exposed its complicity in alleged Yemen war crimes
Dozens of French media companies have backed three journalists who'd been summoned by French intelligence officials over what's been described as a 'breach of national defence secrecy'. It comes after a leaked document was published on the use of French weapons in the four-year-long civil war that's been tearing Yemen apart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSiPm4qmTE
and
(A P)
Solidarité avec nos confrères de Disclose et Radio France
Communiqué de la Société des Journalistes de La Tribune, associée à 37 sociétés de journalistes et rédactions de la presse française.
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
(A P)
Oud festival boosts Qatar’s image as a multi-cultural hub
https://www.gulf-times.com/story/630008/Oud-festival-boosts-Qatar-s-image-as-a-multi-cultu
My remark: This is how Qatar presents itself.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp12
(* A K P)
THAAD Sale to Saudi Arabia Moves Forward
The U.S. Defense Department announced March 4 that it recently awarded Lockheed Martin a nearly $1 billion contract to begin work on a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense package for Saudi Arabia. The contract marks the start of a $15 billion deal for the kingdom to receive 44 THAAD batteries, including 360 missile interceptors.
The contract followed November 2018 letters of offer and acceptance between the United States and Saudi Arabia formalizing terms for the sale of the THAAD launchers
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-04/news-briefs/thaad-sale-saudi-arabia-moves-forward
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(A P)
Hadramout's Museum, al-Ghowizi bastion to be repaired
Minister of Cultural Marwan Dammaj along with Hadramout Governor Maj. General Faraj al-Bohssani launched Saturday a project aims to rehabilitate and repair al-Ghowizi historical bastion and al-Mukalla's museum in al-Qoa'iti Palace.
Military museum also was re-opened inside the premises of al-Ghowizi bastion
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4106
(* B)
Amid all this chaos and starvation in #Yemen: theft and trade of antiquities and manuscripts are booming. Activists claim officials from ex-regime & current rival governments are involved. It's lucrative as activists say some pieces have been sold for millions of US dollars each.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1121928372685295626
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
More #IslamicState action vs #alQaeda in #Yemen: #ISIS claims it targeted #AQAP with heavy weapons, artillery, Katushya rockets in Lower Dhi Kalib, Qayfa on Fri 26 April
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1122610849879871488
(A T)
#AQAP announces 3 new martyrs. No details but may have worked with al-Malahim Media (photos)
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1122151399175917569
(* A T)
Suicide bomber kills 9 civilians in al-Baydha
At least nine civilians were killed Friday in a suicide bombing attack on a shop for a citizen in al-Quraishiah district in al-Bayda province, central Yemen, according to local source told al-Masdar online.
According to the source, a suicide bomber believed to be affiliated with "ISIS " blew himself up in the "shop " of the Citizen Shawkah Ahmed Abu Suraimah, in Thi Kaleb Al-Safil area «Al Abu Suraimah » which killed nine civilians who were inside.
He added that among the dead were the owner of the "shop " and his brother "Ali ", two of his children, and four other citizens.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167020.
and
(* A T)
#IslamicState in #Yemen claims suicide bombing yesterday, killing 8 military & #AQAP loyalists in Lower Dhi Kalib, al-Bayda'. Suicide bombings are still rare in Yemen. It's only the 2nd this year
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1122062674819461121
(* B T)
Al-Qaeda in Yemen Three Years after Mukalla’s “Liberation”
Shortly after the Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen, al-Qaeda’s local branch took over a major Yemeni city, Mukalla, for one year. Despite many hailing Mukalla’s April 2016 “liberation” by U.S.-backed forces on the ground as a major success in the struggle against terrorism in Yemen, the reality is that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula remains a grave threat in the war-torn country for a host of reasons, including a willingness by some of Washington’s allies to coordinate with the group in their fight against Iran-allied Houthis.
From Washington’s vantagepoint, AQAP’s capture of an airport, the port in Mukalla, and an oil export terminal constituted an unacceptable development in the Yemeni crisis. Thus, in no small part due to pressure from the U.S., Abu Dhabi, and its allies in Yemen concentrated on removing AQAP from power in Mukalla. The Emiratis amassed a force of 12,000 Yemeni and Emirati fighters, primarily made up of tribal fighters from Hadramaut, to expel AQAP from Mukalla.
That the U.S.-backed forces successfully took back Mukalla rapidly enabled the UAE to better position itself vis-à-vis Washington and other Western capitals as a rising power in the Arab world that carries out its responsibilities in the global “war on terror.”
Since AQAP’s loss of Mukalla, U.S.-backed Emirati operations against the terrorist group have also led to AQAP losing significant power
Over the past three years, AQAP has benefited from its established financial networks and ability to recruit disenfranchised Yemenis who support the group’s Salafist ideology. AQAP’s success in maintaining its foothold in Yemen since losing Mukalla has been largely attributable to the organization’s projection of a more moderate image in the eyes of Yemenis
Another factor which has boded well for AQAP has been the Saudi-led military coalition’s focus on combating Houthis
From an American standpoint, the gravest threats to U.S. national security out of Yemen are the local al-Qaeda and ISIS branches.
Looking ahead, the threat that AQAP poses not only to Yemenis, but to global security at large will remain real. Unfortunately, the odds are good that Yemen will continue to remain in chaos with the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
Hence, three years after Mukalla’s liberation, there is sound reason to be worried about an AQAP comeback soon – by Giorgio Cafiero
https://insidearabia.com/al-qaeda-yemen-three-years-mukallas-liberation/
Comment by Judith Brown: This story really is based on a fabrication. It is true that AQAP occupied Mukalla and part of Hadramaut in 2015-2016. In 2016 a deal was done and Al Qaeda moved from Mukalla and UAE forces moved in. Although it was claimed that there was a fight, there was credible evidence that this was a deal as fighters moved out in an organised manner with their equipment - and money presumably - to other governates like Shabwa. The graves of the alleged 800 dead fighters have never materialised.
A detailed investigation by AP asserted that many of the previous AQ fighters from Mukalla were then recruited by UAE for brigades such as Shabwa elite forces, Giant Brigades, Security Belt, although a denial by UAE said that these were fighters forced to align with AQ who then defected to support the UAE militias. Either way, these new UAE paid fighters were all from very conservative Sunni backgrounds, the same background that recruits AQAP members. This story gives the narrative from the perspective of the Saudi coalition in its entirety.
So it's not surprising that AQAP are in Yemen - they never left, although the hard core Al Qaeda have been attacked by UAE funded militias - and US drones - since then with some success. Interestingly recent rumours suggest that these AQAP fighters have recently been pushed back by Houthi militias, in places like Al Dhalea and Al Bayda, and they are now approaching Aden again four years after they were expelled. The Houthis have far more motivation to defeat AQAP than the UAE paid militias who are after all Al Qaeda lookalikes by many accounts. I also hear that Mukalla is tightly controlled by UAE forces and is more stable than many other parts of Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157534397173641
My comment: The comment refers to the fake story of Mukalla’s “liberation. Cafierp had been better before. His implications in the second part of the article areserious.
(A T)
Yemen’s al-Qaida branch vows revenge over Saudi executions
Al-Qaida in Yemen is vowing to avenge beheadings carried out by Saudi Arabia this week — an indication that some of the 37 Saudis executed on terrorism-related charges were members of the Sunni militant group.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is called, posted a statement on militant-linked websites on Friday, accusing the kingdom of offering the blood of the “noble children of the nation just to appease America.”
The statement says al-Qaida will “never forget about their blood and we will avenge them.”
https://apnews.com/194be9830310414caad611a786e40e79
(* B T)
Major Tulsi Gabbard said the only thing worth saying after mass beheadings in Saudi Arabia
Iraq veteran Tulsi Gabbard is fast becoming a leading voice against disastrous US foreign policies. And after Saudi Arabia’s latest mass execution, the 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful made a vital point about why ongoing Western support for the oil-rich nation is so dangerous.
Commenting on the mass executions, Gabbard made a link with the horrific recent massacre of over 350 people in Sri Lanka, which Daesh (Isis/Isil) has claimed responsibility for:
https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1121025866501279744
cp15 Propaganda
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Spokesperson for the coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen: we take the allegations concerning the recruitment of children in armed conflict seriously
The Spokesperson for The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen Colonel Turki al-Maliki asserted that the coalition command takes any allegations concerning the participation of under-aged fighters with coalition member states seriously, adding that it conducts deep-dive investigations into all allegations, in accordance with legal obligations under International Humanitarian Law and related conventions on the protection of children.
Col. Al-Maliki affirmed that the coalition prevents the participation of persons under the age of eighteen years in all coalition member states. He underscored the coalition's efforts to rehabilitate children recruited by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, adding that (120) Yemeni children participated in the coalition's Rehabilitation Program for Child Soldiers in Marib city, in cooperation with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief).
Col. Al-Maliki highlighted the partnership agreement the coalition signed with the United Nations to promote the protection of children in areas of armed conflict in Yemen through the Child Protection Unit led by Coalition Joint Forces.
https://www.saudiembassy.net/news/spokesperson-coalition-restore-legitimacy-yemen-we-take-allegations-concerning-recruitment = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/spokesperson-coalition-restore-legitimacy-yemen-we-take-allegations-concerning
My comment: The Saudi coalition in Yemen is using many child soldiers by itself – from Yemen and from Sudan.
(A P)
Houthi missiles a threat to region
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/565057/SAUDI-ARABIA/Houthi-missiles-a-threat-to-region
My comment: This claim is a propaganda joke as long as there are Saudi coalition air raids in Yemen.
(A P)
In Vetoing Congress’s Yemen Resolution, Trump Stood Up to a Lawbreaking Legislature
The veto was essential to upholding Trump’s oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” Many, no doubt, voted “aye” because they honestly believe that Congress must approve all military operations and thus has the authority to remove forces from Yemen. But ignorance of the law is no excuse.
The veto was also correct as a policy matter. While some support for the statute was simply politically partisan, some was clearly intended to protest the Saudi murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi or to address the tragic humanitarian crisis in Yemen — arguably the greatest such crisis in the world today. But the statute would have rewarded Iran (which provides ballistic missiles and other support to Yemen’s Shiite Houthis, who hate Israel, Jews, and the United States, and admire Iran’s Hezbollah terrorists), undermined peace and stability in the region, and placed at risk one of the most important maritime chokepoints to international petroleum commerce.
(A P)
More Saudi coalition “We are benefactors” propaganda
https://www.sabanew.net/viewstory/48863
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1488921/saudi-arabia and https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1697961/ksrelief-chief-meets-un-resident-coordinator-yemen
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4103
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4094
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A K pH)
Precision air strikes by Saudi-led coalition with intelligence and training support from the USA and the UK continue to kill civilians in #Yemen. Today, a Saudi-led airstrike hit the area of Al-Oud in Ibb province killing one civilian and injuring others.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1122154961637400578
My remark: This had been the earliest information I got, getting the number of victims wrong. Al-Oud area is situated in the very east of Ibb governorate, at the border to Dhalae governorate. But then:
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression Launches over 150 Airstrikes Aiding Terrorist Groups
The US-Saudi aggression launched over 150 airstrikes on Al-Dhale'e governorate, Thursday and Friday, to prevent the collapse of the terrorist groups of "Ansar Al-Sharea'ah" and other terrorist groups in Al-Azarik.
According to local sources, the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees continued to proceed towards the sites of terrorist groups in Al-Azareq, despite heavy airstrikes. The sources stated that Yemeni Army and Popular Committees cleared 6 sites in Al-Dhale'e.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6622
and
(* A K pH)
Saudi Airstrikes Leave Seven More Civilians Dead in Southern Yemen
At least seven civilians have been killed when Saudi military aircraft carried out airstrikes in Yemen’s southern province of Dhale as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its atrocious bombardment campaign against its southern neighbor.
Saudi fighter jets conducted aerial assaults against two civilian cars as they were traveling along a road in the al-‘Awd district of the province on Saturday afternoon, an unnamed local source told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network. The source added that there were women and children among the fatalities.
Earlier in the day, Saudi military aircraft launched airstrikes against residential buildings in the southwestern Yemeni city of Dhamar. There were no immediate reports about possible casualties or the extent of damage caused.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6619
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6623
Films: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2083322061967742 = https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1122205020689174529 = https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1122197774018187266
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3S49UUIM3U
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/2017796461849671
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1122200539494850560
Names, age of 6 victims: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/2018759601753357
and here maps of fighting and front line, April 23: https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2-41.jpg?x61513 and April 28:; https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/1-191.jpg?x61513
and
(* A K)
AP: Yemeni officials say bombing kills 7 family members
Yemeni security officials say seven family members have been killed in a bombing in the country’s southern Dhale province.
The officials say the seven, including two women, are from one family and were killed Saturday in the district of Qataba.
The Houthi rebels say a suspected airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition hit the family vehicle, while officials from the internationally recognized government say Houthi shells killed the family
https://apnews.com/53fa92b22d504376a07266f584b522c2
and
(* A K)
6 killed by bombardment in southern Yemen
At least six Yemenis, including three children, were killed on Saturday in a bombardment that targeted their vehicle in the southern province of al-Dhalea, a security official told Xinhua.
The security source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that a car belonging to a citizen named Ali Maarshi was bombarded while traveling on a sub-road in Qatabah district, west of al-Dhalea, 245 km south of the country's capital Sanaa.
He said that the unidentified bombardment led to the "killing of six civilians, including three children," and completely destroyed their vehicle.
"Residents rushed to the bombardment site and recovered the victims but some of their bodies were torn apart," the source said.
The area where the bombardment took place was a frontline of military confrontations between the pro-government forces and the Houthi fighters, he added.
Local Yemeni government officials based in al-Dhalea province did not comment on the incident.
The Houthis accused the Saudi Arabia-led coalition of targeting the civilian vehicle in al-Dhalea, according to the Houthi-affiliated Masirah television network.
Over the past days, the Houthi rebels continued to achieve rapid military progress into Yemen's southern provinces following fierce battles with the Saudi-backed government forces.
On Wednesday, scores of Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of al-Dhalea.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/28/c_138016503.htm = http://www.china.org.cn/world/2019-04/28/content_74730306.htm
(A K pS)
Raids targeting military reinforcements in Dhamar were on their way to Al-Dale
Arab coalition fighters targeted five air raids Saturday afternoon on military reinforcements belonging to the Houthi militia in Dhamar, which was destined for al-Dale province.
A local source told Al-Masdar online that the Arab coalition aircraft destroyed a number of weapons and various military mechanisms belonging to Houthis in Qaa’ Al-Al-Haql area in the district of Dhawran-Anas, west of Dhamar City was on its way to the province of al-Dale in the south of the country.
According to the source, the reinforcements targeted by the raids included vehicles loaded with fighters and military equipment.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167052
(A K pS)
Coalition fighter jets target Houthi sites and gatherings in Al-Dhale
The Arab coalition warplanes struck on Friday sites and movements of Houthi militia in the southern provinces of Lahj and Al-Dhale
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4091
and this is the Houthi side’s news:
(A K pH)
The US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition on Saturday launched five air strikes on Dhamar, an official told Saba.
The air strike hit Dharawn-Anis district, causing heavy damage civilians’houses, added the official.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534408.htm
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6625
(A K pS)
The Saudi-led coalition conducted six airstrikes on al Houthi forces in Dimnat Khadir district in eastern Taiz governorate in western Yemen on April 26. The strikes targeted al Houthi reinforcements that were en route to the frontlines in eastern Ibb and western Dhaleh governorates, according to pro-coalition media.[2]
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1917698
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:
April 28: https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6639 Saada p.
April 27:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534410.htm Sanaa p.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534413.htm Mahwit p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pH)
In Taiz, a child and his mother were injured with US-Saudi mercenaries' gunshots in Al-Mesrakh district.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=6639
(A K pH)
Missile, artillery forces launch joint attack on saudi-led troops in Najran
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534573.htm
My remark: On Saudi territory.
(* A K)
Another five-member family was killed today after a tank shell fired by Houthis landed on their house in the district of Al-Zahra'a in Yemen's #Bayda province.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1122487758730211328
(*A K)
A mother and four sons killed by a Houthi missile on their home West Taiz
A family of a mother and four children were killed Tuesday as a Katyusha rocket landed on their home in Jabal Habashi, west of Taiz province in southwestern Yemen.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167083
Photos: https://twitter.com/alminbarye/status/1122412211740213253
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515/2247220451997639/
Mentioning five killed children: https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1122464246149865472 and https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1122435113613189120
(A K pS)
Pro-gov't forces say capture 300 Houthi rebels in southern Yemen
Forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government announced on Sunday that nearly 300 members of the Houthi group were captured within a week of fighting in the southern province of al-Dhalea.
Yemeni Defense Ministry's official news website said in a statement that the captured Houthi members include prominent field commanders and military officers.
The Yemeni government forces positioned on different battlefronts in the northern and western parts of al-Dhalea managed to capture the Houthi fighters.
"A number of children who have been pushed by the Iranian-backed Houthis to join the fighting ... were found among the captured rebels," the statement said.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/28/c_138019161.htm
(A K pS)
Films: Battles continue on the northern and western fronts of Dhale’ The Yemeni Government Forces and the Security Belt Forces in Maris, north of Dhale’ continue to repel the Houthis’ attacks, where Houthi militants were able to take full control over Al-Hishah District, west of Dhale Governorate, the day before yesterday following clashes with the government forces that lasted for several days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAFYobBlLE4&t=2s
Violent fighting between government forces and Houthis continues north of Dhala Violent clashes continue between Yemeni government forces and security cordon on the one hand, and the Houthi group on the other, in several areas north of the southern province of Dhal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqlhtWBLPHg
(A K pH)
Army inflicts on US-saudi coalition heavy losses in Asir in missiles, rockets and artillery attacks
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news534494.htm
My remark: On Saudi territory. As claimed by the Houthi government.
(A K pS)
Video Footage: Government Forces Remove 32000 Landmines in Hajja
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/16807
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNhXAcGuqKc
and
(A K pS)
KSrelief MASAM Project Clears 2,321 Mines in Yemen During 4th Week of April
The MASAM project of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has successfully cleared 24 anti-personnel mines, 1,018 anti-tank mines, 197 improvised explosive devices, 1,082 unexploded munitions. The total number of mines and explosive devices which were removed is 2,321 during the 4th week of April 2019.
Since the start of the MASAM project, 63,719 mines planted by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have been removed.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1918048
(A K pS)
Demining teams destroy thousands of Houthi mines in Hajjah
The military engineering teams destroyed on Saturday morning thousands of mines planted earlier by Houthi coup militia in different areas of Hiran and Abs districts in Hajjah province, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense's official website 'September Net' reported.
More than 7 thousands Houthi-laid mines with different forms and sizes have been destroyed by demining teams of the 5th military zone during the past few weeks.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4102
(A K pH)
Army fires 17 Zilzal-1 missiles at Saudi-led mercenaries’ gatherings in Asir
www.sabanews.net/en/news534370.htm
My remark: On Saudi territory.
(A K pS)
Military source reveals heavy losses on Houthis in al-Dhale
A military source from the northern fronts of al-Dhale confirmed that the artillery unit managed to destroy military vehicles and equipment of the Iran-backed Houthi putschist militia and to kill at least 30 fighters of them during the past two days.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4104
(A K pS)
70 Houthi militants killed in Al-Dhale
At least 70 Houthi militants were killed on Friday during battles with national army in the southern province of Al-Dhale, the Yemeni Ministry of Defense's official website 'September Net' reported.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/4087
(A K pS)
Al-Dale .. Houthi gunmen control first security point in Al-Azariq and captivate one of its members
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167005
and also http://www.arabnews.com/node/1488736/middle-east
(A K pH)
Local people welcome the #Yemeni army heroes in Husha town which was just liberated from #Saudi-led coalition troops.
https://twitter.com/Sunkewei_China/status/1121636169253412864
(A K pH)
Another high-ranking commander of pro-#Saudi troops joined #Yemeni army. The commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Brigade Colonel Ali Nasser Hadjar arrived Bakim in the province of Saada and joined Yemeni army with his soldiers.
https://twitter.com/Sunkewei_China/status/1121712930624393216
(* A K pS)
While trying to move them to destroy them. mine depot explosion kills 8 experts West Yemen
Eight experts working on the Saudi Demining project ("Masam ") were killed after a mine exploded in a warehouse outside the coastal city of al-Mocha, west of Taiz province, southwest of Yemen.
A military source told Al-Masdar online that the explosion occurred in a warehouse in the Al-Tabilah area, east of the town of al-Mocha, which mines being transported to by engineering teams from the remnants of the Houthis, in preparation for destruction.
The store is an abandoned school, and the explosion occurred while the workers were transporting the mines to the warehouse, he said.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/166993
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-2X7ZxZX78
My comment: Only six are mentioned.
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(-)
Pinterest: Yemen. Collection by LightLamps &Love
https://br.pinterest.com/clilke/yemen/
(B D)
"Les abordamos al alba": hablan los militares de la fragata 'Navarra' que detuvieron a los piratas
Entrevista al contralmirante Ricardo Hernández López, a bordo de la fragata; los criminales habían atacado dos barcos en aguas del Índico.
La dotación de la Navarratenía que encontrar a los piratas, que habían secuestrado un barco yemení, en medio de la inmensidad del océano; detenerlos y evitar que se derramase sangre. Una operación quirúrgica en la que desempeñó un papel clave el equipo de Guerra Naval Especial, militares altamente cualificados para misiones de riesgo extremo.
¿Qué ocurrió con los yemeníes que habían sido secuestrados?
Todo este mundo de pescadores yemeníes, somalíes... son personas con vidas muy duras, muy modestas y muy sacrificadas. Esta dotación estaba resignada y habían sido atemorizados, pero se encontraba bien físicamente. Se les dio agua, comida, fruta fresca -no la ven ni una vez al año-, combustible para que lleguen a Yemen… De hecho, deben estar llegando ahora. Les estamos haciendo seguimiento con los aviones para comprobar que se encuentran bien.
¿Y qué hicieron con el esquife que utilizaron los piratas para abordar el barco yemení?
(A)
Locust swarms invade Qat, cereals and fruit farms in Sa'dah, Sana'a and Amran
Swarms of desert locusts invaded several directorates in Sanaa and Amran governorates, North Yemen.
Farmers in the Hamdan district said that swarms of desert locusts attacked their farms on Friday, causing extensive damage to trees and agricultural crops.
The farmers told a reporter of "Al-Masdar online" that swarms of locusts blocked the sunlight in some villages, and destroyed crops.
According to farmers, locust swarms have devoured most of the green trees in their areas, as well as their farms and agricultural crops.
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167075
and
(A)
Locusts invade Yemen now, Only to be gobbled up by Yemenis who have been under US-Saudi blockade and starvation for more than 4 years. Cooked and served as one of the best meals for majority of Yemenis always not only now as they live under such brutal US-Saudi aggression (photos)
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1122045770033782785
and also https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1122350600241463297
(* B P)
Why is supporting Yemeni journalists important?
I've been working as a journalist for more than a decade, experiencing work as a full-time staff reporter and as an independent freelance journalist. The latter type has been the most difficult because it has so many challenges.
Yemen isn't underreported in media just like that. It's underreported partially because there is a deliberate decision to ignore it - and dismiss its people's stories. I have so many stories about many Yemenis doing great things but I am frustrated with how I must push so hard to get just one story out, like Huda's story.
I am also fortunate to have some of the most supportive and understanding editors whom I cherish very much. Thank you so much, guys.
I think it's important for editors and publications to believe, trust and support Yemeni journalists who typically would bring untold stories about their community so people like Huda could also receive the recognition they deserve – by Afrah Nasser
http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/2019/04/why-is-supporting-yemeni-journalists.html
(-)
Music: Sada Alebda Studios: Game Of Thrones - Yemeni Hadrami Style (cover )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Ivh_8uqQk
(C P)
The story of the assassination of President Al-Hamdi in the front again. Is it a try to reveal the truth or paper within the Gulf conflict!
While the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel began broadcasting on the date of the broadcast of a documentary on the death of President Al-Hamdi titled "The Last Lunch", Yemeni activists and media officials published a declaration carrying the official Yemeni satellite logo for a similar documentary on the same subject, which is supposed to be aired on Friday evening.
President Al-Hamdi is the third president of the Yemeni Arab Republic (the old name of northern Yemen before the unification) from June 13, 1974 until October 11, 1977.
The surprising announcement of a similar documentary on the same issue was circulated by activists and media outlets titled "Who Killed the president?"
https://almasdaronline.com/articles/167001
Vorige / Previous
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-531-yemen-war-mosaic-531
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-531/ Yemen War Mosaic 1-531:
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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