... Hadi-Anhänger sind enttäuscht; USA: Trumps Kriege echter Grund für Amtsenthebung – Es ist Zeit für einen historischen Paradigmenwechsel im Nahen Osten – und mehr
Nov. 9, 2019: Yemen fuel crisis takes heavy toll on agriculture – Houthis: Militant populism as political idea – Riyadh agreement: An opportunity for peace; more background; Hadi supporters disillusioned – US: Trump’s wars a real reason for impeachment – It is time for a new historic paradigm in the Middle East – 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
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 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Wachsende Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Mounting tensions at the Gulf
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
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**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
Neue Artikel / New articles
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Film von UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe: 5 Dinge, die man über den Jemen wissen sollte
Der Jemen ist Schauplatz der aktuell größten humanitären Katastrophe weltweit. Ungefähr 80 Prozent der Bevölkerung - 24 Millionen Menschen – brauchen Schutz und humanitäre Hilfe. Spenden Sie jetzt!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vldrxec05n4
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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Yemen fuel crisis takes heavy toll on agriculture
Yemen fuel crisis is leaving many farmers without irrigation water
Huge swathes of agricultural land and crops are at risk, experts warn
Solar energy is being used by some to power water pumps but costs are high
A fuel crisis in Yemen which has forced motorists to queue for days to fill their tanks is also having devastating consequences for agricultural land and crop yields, politicians and experts warn.
Majeed Al-Mutawakel, deputy minister for agriculture and irrigation in the Houthi administration, said that “more than 50 per cent of the agriculture sector in Yemen has been affected” by the latest crisis, which has entered its seventh week in a number of governorates.
The crisis was triggered in September when a Saudi Arabia-led alliance battling the rebel Houthi group ordered all imported oil shipments to obtain prior authorisation from the exiled government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Hadi’s government bans oil traders from dealing with Houthis in return for granting them licences to introduce their shipments to Hodeidah port on the country’s Red Sea coast.
Al-Mutawakel says the fuel shortage is putting around 230,000 hectares of agricultural land at risk, mainly in the northern and western areas of Tehama, Sa’dah, Hajjah, Ebb, Ta’iz, Muhweet and parts of Al-Jawf governorates.
This is not the first fuel crisis seen in Yemen but it has starker consequences for farmers, coming between two agricultural seasons, according to Yahia Al-Hadrami, project coordinator of the General Organisation for the Production and Development of Cereals.
Al-Hadrami told SciDev.Net: “The shortage in diesel and its soaring prices might lead to the damage of cereal yields that were planted this summer and are currently due to harvest. It also threatens the whole agriculture process in the upcoming winter season.”
Al-Hadrami said his organisation had provided assistance to some farmers in ploughing their land but that irrigation remained a major hurdle, with each farmer needing an average of 2,000 litres of water a day.
In many areas, farmers depend on rain water to compensate for water shortages and “unfortunately, this time termination of rains coincided with the fuel crisis”, said Mohsen Ghilan, a Yemeni farmer.
He told SciDev.Net: “On average, farmers who could afford it have paid one million Yemeni rial (US$2,000) each just on irrigation, whereas those who couldn’t afford, couldn’t save their land.”
Ali Abdel-Ghani Al-Makteri, an agricultural researcher in Tehama governorate, says cereal yields in many areas have been destroyed because farmers are unable to secure sufficient irrigation.
Farmers cultivating vegetables and fruits are also struggling to maintain continuous irrigation to save their crops, Al-Makteri added.
According to Ghilan, water shortage in some tomato fields has wiped out yields entirely, with the damage also extending to the roots of plants.
Even crops that survive thirst are still at risk until they reach a central marketplace, says Al-Makteri, as the increase in fuel prices has also hiked up transport costs beyond affordable levels for farmers – by Adel Aldaghbashy
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The Houthis of Yemen - on the formulation of a political thought rooted in armed militantism
If the genesis of the Houthis movement can be traced back to 1962, its impact on Yemen’s political order, and maybe more to the point the role it has played in laying waste the Republic reached its most forceful velocity in 2011
But can we claim to truly understands the nature of the Houthis movement - Ansarallah, when so much of what has been said remains tinted by political bias and a few layers of religious prejudices? Are we giving too much credence and traction to a movement which, while claiming to speak for the ‘people’ of Yemen by virtue of its armed resistance against a ‘foreign enemy’, has in actuality existed in an institutional vacuum devoid of any real popular legitimacy?
Much of the Houthis’s powerbase stems from a lack of opposition to their governance. We should not understand the movement’s ability to rule as a clear popular mandate, but rather the expression of Yemen’s republican failure in promoting political pluralism. For a lack of alternative many Yemenis have felt compelled to support a movement they do not believe in, and does not represent their political aspirations.
Since 2011, the Houthis were able to transform the power vacuum resulting from the Arab Spring upheavals into both a consolidation of their rule at home (Sa’ada Province) and an enormous territorial expansion throughout large parts of North Yemen. It was the group’s ability to tap into the frustration of Yemeni citizens over the slow pace of change, persistent corruption, and the poor economic and security situation on the back of the National Dialogue Conference (2014) which sealed Abdel Malek Al Houthi’s uncontested position as ‘leader’ of the disenfranchised. A populist ‘king’, Abdel Malek drew strength from the failure of the Republic, and its elite’s reluctance to admit political inadequacy before a people they were no longer connected to.
Too often have we limited our analysis of the Houthis to that of a proxy of Iran - yet another satellite of Tehran by virtue of the group’s religious creed and its willingness to abide by some of Iran’s revolutionary adages: mainly its rejection of both the United States and Israel, the two powers Iran has defined itself against.
The Houthi movement was born in reaction to a socio-political landscape which proved to be increasingly inhospitable to highlanders for a lack of economic integration, access to basic services: education and health, and acute political isolation by the hands of an elite for whom ‘power’ was a zero-sum game.
Because Sana’a central government failed to integrate the highlands to the new republican schema, the highlands withdrew behind its traditions, seeking comfort in its past glory, for fear of losing all relevance - whether socio-economic and/or political.
Where Yemen’s central government had to contend with relentless calls for secession in the South, it is ultimately the Highlands which precipitated the end of the Republic by directly challenging the relations the state kept with its periphery - ie the various denominations of power in Northern Yemen.
The changes prompted by the Arab Spring upheavals in the northernmost regions of Yemen – the Sa’ada Province and its adjacent areas, resulted in the disintegration of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s republican legacy. The sheer breadth of those changes, from the structures and the socio- political composition of power in North Yemen to the growing ambitions of a new class of statesmen vis a vis their immediate neighbours make a return to the pre-existing ‘status quo’ not only far-fetched but down-right impossible.
In hindsight it appears evident that Yemen’s Arab Spring very much opened up the floodgate of revolutionary dissent, thus leaving an already weakened Sana’a central government prime for an aggressive takeover.
Often dismissed by the ruling elite, for they lacked foreign patronage and religious clout, the Houthis were able to transmute from an initially Zaidi revivalist movement to a mass movement whose military agenda and organisational skills have been directed towards the creation of a new system of governance - that is not to say that the group managed to develop a clear political thought, quite the contrary.
The group’s enormous increase in importance and its expansionist impetus became particularly obvious during 2011 uprising and the ensuing National Dialogue Conference (NDC) which aimed to reform Yemen’s institutions to reflect its people’s hunger for change.
With the central government’s focus turned toward the capital, state authority in Sa’ada Province crumbled, allowing the Houthis to consolidate control over the administration of a province they had been contesting for over a decade. As the state grappled with the reality of its coming demise (2011), the Houthis left their ancestral ‘home’ to claim more territories to their nascent ideology - one rooted in military militantism and religious populism.
Needless to say that such recipe proved devastating to the state and President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s presidency. The man whose mandate was to transition Yemen to the Second Republic was largely interrupted by the ever-pressing demands of a movement which imagined itself of the people and for the people.
To a great extent it is the Houthis’ political participation at the NDC which cemented the group’s political influence by gathering to its banner those the elite had shun.
Today the Houthis have de facto created a populist state which legitimacy is entrenched in a Zaidist version of political Islam. And though the group’s agenda may echo from a distance of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, its schema is in fact very different. Iran’s Revolution revolved around the principles of the Governance of the Jurist whereas Ansarallah wishes to establish a form of populist tribalism cemented around the military and the religious - a far-cry from the reforms promised and ratified by the NDC.
By co-opting religion and fusing it with a narrow nationalism that constructs monolithic enemies, the Houthis have successfully risen themselves to the very height of power - to the tune of Yemen’s discontent. To dislodge the Houthis would require more than brutal force, especially if one considers that the group’s very existence is tethered to those principles of revolutionary resistance others in the region have exploited in order to expand, assert and affirm their reach.
The question today is not whether the Houthis will play a role in Yemen’s future, but rather what that role will be - integration, undoubtedly, will be the greatest test of Yemen’s Second Republic, one which will define much of Yemen’s future, both nationally and regionally – by Catherine Shakdam
https://elaph.com/Web/AkhbarKhasa/2019/11/1271054.html
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Despite the hurdles, an opportunity for de-escalation in Yemen
Decoding the signals
The official signing ceremony at al-Yamama Palace in Riyadh was rich with symbolism suggesting local actors will have difficulty moving forward with less regional involvement. First, it is clear that the Saudis are now in the driver’s seat, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s leading role in the ceremony illustrated. Although Riyadh has increased its leverage, bargaining power, and responsibility vis-à-vis the parties, the agreement will be a difficult test for Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who holds the Yemen file.
Second, by inviting UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed to the ceremony, whom the ROYG considered more of an enemy than a partner for “sponsoring” the STC’s “armed rebellion” and “counterbalancing militias,” Riyadh has indicated that while unifying the coalition front is important, its strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi is of far greater significance than its ties with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. But whether this engagement will pave the way for a Yemeni-Emirati rapprochement is as yet unclear.
The third message is local. That neither President Hadi nor Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed signed the agreement speaks volumes about the significance of the STC. Instead, it was Deputy Prime Minister Salem al-Khanbashi, from the eastern governorate of Hadramawt, who signed the deal on behalf of the ROYG (Republic of Yemen Government), highlighting two competing southern aspirations: federalism and secessionism.
A perceived win-win, but in search of a southern godfather
On the surface, both parties consider the deal a victory. President Hadi’s chief of staff, Abdullah al-Alimi, described it as a “national formula that contained the rebellion crisis,” while STC Deputy Chairman Hani bin Braik called it “the gateway for salvation,” enabling them to re-focus on the Houthi threat. Both sides have valid points.
The ROYG restructured
Including the STC and reducing the number of cabinet ministers by nearly a third to a maximum of 24 means Islah influence will be partly curtailed and the ROYG’s performance is expected to improve.
To bring about deeper changes and reshape the local distribution of power, new governors and security chiefs for Aden, Abyan, and Dhale will be appointed within 30 days, followed by other southern governorates a month later. From a UAE perspective, the deal transforms the STC and its military affiliates from “UAE-backed militias” to a state actor across the political, security, and military domains — formalizing Abu Dhabi’s hand within the ROYG.
Military and security challenges
The military and security arrangements outlined in the deal seem too ambitious to achieve within 90 days and are a huge responsibility for Riyadh to shoulder. Interestingly, the provisions transfer greater authority from the ROYG to the deal’s patron, Saudi Arabia, and by extension, the coalition, under which the UAE continues its counterterrorism campaign.
By collecting, storing, and centralizing the use of medium and heavy arms from STC-affiliated armed groups in Aden and not allowing the government to exercise legitimate control as outlined under UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2216, the coalition merely reinforces the existing dynamic of subordination rather than partnership and minimizes the already limited autonomy of the Yemeni government.
Considering that without medium and heavy arms the STC wouldn’t have taken over Aden and achieved its current political objectives, its armed affiliates are unlikely to fully disarm as the STC will likely seek to maintain autonomous military capabilities. Deception and symbolic surrender, especially if the coalition covers up facts to claim success, are a possibility — and one with a precedent. On Aug. 17, the Arab Coalition Joint Forces Command indicated that the STC-affiliated forces had “started to withdraw and return to previous positions,” which was false and refuted by the STC’s Bin Braik.
The integration of UAE-backed forces loyal to the STC under the auspices of the ministries of defense and interior will likely be onerous for several reasons.
The Houthis next
By concluding the Riyadh Agreement nearly a year after the Stockholm Agreement, the ROYG has normalized what it once considered a coup to strengthen its position in the southern governorates and remedy broken partnerships ahead of nationwide peace talks vis-à-vis the Houthis. With the prime minister set to return to Aden by Nov. 13, the idea that Sana’a is next seems unlikely on the military front, barring the outbreak of a popular revolution across the northern governorates like that of the late 1960s. For the Houthis, this deal sets a baseline for expectations. If the STC could achieve this much by taking over Aden, the Houthis’ demands will force the ROYG to make huge concessions far above and beyond UNSCR 2216. Despite all the hurdles, the Riyadh Agreement opens a window of opportunity for a nationwide peace agreement, especially as the Saudis reactivate backchannel talks with the Houthis, the international community increases its support for the UN special envoy to end the war, and neither the ROYG nor the Houthis has achieved an outright military victory – by Ibrahim Jalal
https://www.mei.edu/publications/despite-hurdles-opportunity-de-escalation-yemen
(** B K P)
Riyadh delays the inevitable; the Houthis have the power in Yemen, Hadi has no authority
The problem with this is that it remains to be seen whether the agreement can be realised in full on the ground, because it merely delays the inevitable, which is the looming failure to defeat the Houthis. This is partly because they are arguably legitimate and, practically speaking, they have the real power, which is what politics is all about in the end.
Adding to the challenge of understanding the complex situation in Yemen, is the language often used to portray the Houthis as “rebels” in the north and the STC as “separatists” in the south; even MEMO is guilty of this. Thus we get a false image of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in exile as being legitimate and authoritative, while the Houthis are a militia acting as “Iranian proxies”. The reality is much more nuanced.
Contrary to the simplistic portrayal of the Zaydi Houthi movement, who refer to themselves as AnsarAllah, they have been in an alliance with some 60 per cent of the Yemeni army loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who was killed in 2017 by his erstwhile Houthis allies after seeking to defect to the Saudis. The 2014 Houthi takeover of Sanaa simply could not have happened without the support of the Yemeni army and Saleh’s intelligence networks, nor could it be maintained without the experience in government of Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC), as corrupt as it was.
It is worth reminding ourselves that Hadi was brought to “power” after Saleh was ousted, by winning an “election” where he was the only candidate. He was supposed to be there for a transitional period and to “relinquish his office after the vote”. If these are the standards of the international community for legitimacy and authority, then they are very low indeed.
By 2015, the elite Yemen Republican Guard (YRG) had been co-opted into the Houthi chain of command as a formidable YRG-Houthi hybrid, consisting of “ideologically motivated foot soldiers on the one hand and trained operators of heavy weaponry and advanced equipment on the other hand.” They not only proved to be highly resilient to the ensuing Saudi-led military intervention in the country, but also intensified their bold cross-border raids into Saudi territory.
Descriptions of “the Houthis” may well be for the benefit of the ordinary reader; or it could be a deliberate attempt to mislead us about who actually has power and authority in Yemen. Little attention is paid by Western and Gulf news sources to the existence of a rival government to Hadi’s, namely the Supreme Political Council, which came out of the GPC-Houthi alliance and enjoys partial power. Arguably, though, the real power lies in the “Revolutionary Committee”, with Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi at its helm; it’s an authoritative body founded solely by the Houthis. Hence, in “Houthi-aligned” media, a distinction is made between the joint forces of the Yemeni army and “popular committees” against the acts of aggression by the foreign coalition and puppet government. Suffice to say, despite ruling the most densely populated regions of Yemen and holding power in the rawest sense of the word, neither has been recognised by the UN.
Instead, we are expected by the mainstream media in the West to believe that the Riyadh-based Hadi leads the legitimate government of Yemen, even though it has no army of its own on the ground, relies heavily on the Saudi-armed Islamist Islah Party militia and Sudanese mercenaries, and has been ousted from not one, but two capital cities.
In the south, there are frequent skirmishes between the Islah militia aligned with Hadi and the Emirati-trained Security Belt and Elite Forces who are affiliated with the STC.
Not too long before the steady withdrawal of UAE troops from the south, and the handover of Aden to Saudi forces during weeks of negotiations in Jeddah, the Hadi government announced that Ataq, the capital of the oil-producing Yemeni province of Shabwa, would serve as its next de facto national capital. Essentially, it became capital city number three. For an apparently “legitimate” and UN-recognised government, it becomes increasingly difficult to see what sort of authority or power Hadi’s administration actually has.
In an attempt to better understand the Riyadh Agreement, I met up with the UK spokesperson for the STC, Saleh Al-Noud, at his London office one day after it was signed. “This is not a solution to the Southern issue,” he insisted.
Al-Noud contended that the STC only accepted the agreement on the basis that it was for a transitional period only — “the Saudis are very keen to get everybody together to continue with the fight against the Houthis” — and then to revisit the other issues thereafter. He agreed with me about the alleged legitimacy of Hadi’s government, maintaining that it was always fragile and would cease to exist if the Saudis were not hosting and propping it up.
The Hadi government lacks power and a physical base in Yemen, and is not really popular among the people – by Omar Ahmed
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Deal with south Yemen separatists leaves Hadi supporters disillusioned
Families of those killed while defending president’s legitimacy in Aden accuse him of 'treason'
So, in theory, a reconciliation deal signed in Riyadh between the Yemeni government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) should have been received warmly. However, Zahra said she was “shocked” to watch Hadi smiling next to Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed and signing the agreement in his presence.
The Riyadh agreement 'neglected victims'
A number of activists and journalists have criticised what they perceive as the Riyadh agreement’s neglect for the dozens of victims and their families.
Anes Mansour, a consulting journalist for the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh and chairman of the Aden Centre for Studies, said he opposed the agreement because it overlooked the Emirati role in the killing of Yemenis.
“They are talking about preventing bloodshed, but have forgotten who killed an army and chased the wounded to hospitals to kill them, and those who died because of [UAE] air strikes,” he said in a tweet.
“We are against the agreement and we are sure it will fail and collapse, and the coming days will prove this.”
Ahmed Alshalfi, the editor of Yemen news at Al Jazeera TV, also tweeted his opposition to the agreement.
“Any agreement between two conflicting parties has an annex that guarantees the rights of victims and their families, except the Riyadh agreement, which Hadi and the Saudis signed,” he said, accusing them of failing to hold the UAE accountable for its actions against the Hadi government.
He added that the agreement has provided the UAE a chance to participate in Yemen's government “without accountability”, despite its perceived role in killing the pro-Hadi Yemenis.
Ministers 'cannot return home'
During battles between pro-Hadi forces and the STC in Aden, some ministers like Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maisari and Transport Minister Saleh al-Gabwani struggled until the end and kept supporting Hadi.
Those ministers, along with other military leaders originally from the south, fiercely defended Hadi's right to govern the south, but are not permitted to return to Aden by the Riyadh agreement, with only the prime minister allowed back.
“I believe that Hadi did not have any other choice,” Mohammed Abdu, a pro-Hadi resident in Taiz told MEE.
“By signing the agreement, he was forced to disappoint his supporters, including ministers and fighters,” he added, explaining that the agreement will cost Hadi many of his supporters.
For Abdu, the main positive point in the agreement is that Hadi can return to Aden and form a government, and then he can lead the battles against the Houthis from the city. Aden had been the Yemeni government's seat since it was expelled from Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014.
“I hope there will not be more chaos in Aden and that all sides will work shoulder to shoulder under the leadership of Hadi to liberate Yemen from the Houthis,” he said.
Gabwani, the transport minister, tweeted on Wednesday that the agreement “gave the pro-Hadi coalition full legitimacy for the management of the country”.
“The future of the [coalition] will depend on the men it will choose to manage the coming period,” he said.
Troops loyal to the coalition, not Hadi
With the unpopular Riyadh agreement inked, question marks remain over the level of loyalty Hadi commands among the troops fighting on behalf of his government.
Particularly in focus is the Guards of the Republic, a military unit under the leadership of Tareq Saleh, nephew of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The militia was established in Aden and the western coast after the death of Saleh in 2017.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/riyadh-agreement-disappointed-hadis-supporters-southern-yemen
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The Rule of Law or CIA Coup?
Americans should support the impeachment and removal of President Donald Trump, but not for Ukrainegate. In fact, they should oppose his impeachment on Ukrainegate grounds completely.
Trump’s real offense is waging an un-authorized, unconstitutional, illegal, treasonous and for-real genocidal war against the human beings of Yemen. His war crimes in Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Syria and Iraq have at least taken place in conflicts supposedly authorized by Congress, making the legal cases against actions there somewhat more complicated.
But in Yemen, no law, only presidential orders, have authorized our military, spies, arms merchants and mercenaries to “lead from behind” in this disastrous war of the so-called “Saudi-led coalition” against the civilian population there.
This is the war that President Barack Obama and then-Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman started back in March 2015. It’s not a war against AQAP at all. In fact, from the very beginning it’s been a war for AQAP and their allies against their deadly enemies, the Houthi movement of Zaidi Shi’ite tribes from the north of the country who seized the capital city of Sana’a at the end of 2014. The Houthis had been helping the U.S. to fight against AQAP.
Strikes against AQAP have continued as well, mostly to bad effect. But even the blowback from that failed policy amounts to nothing compared to the gains al Qaeda has made from fighting on what is now America’s side in the war, mostly due to their association with the mercenary forces of the United Arab Emirites, a major partner in the U.S.-led coalition.
The AUMF does not cover that.
And let’s get it straight. America is the “Superpower”; Saudi Arabia is our client state. Obama didn’t have to do anything. In fact, to hear his war cabinet tell it, they can barely remember starting the war at all.
Robert Malley, Obama’s coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf Region, recently wrote (get this):
So this treasonous war is unauthorized and therefore un-Constitutional. It’s also a war that is in violation of the War Powers Resolution, and not only technically speaking. So this treasonous war is unauthorized and therefore un-Constitutional. It’s also a war that is in violation of the War Powers Resolution, and not only technically speaking. Lo and behold the unbelievable fact that both houses of the U.S. Congress have voted to invoke the War Powers Resolution, demanding an end to the war. They even passed the same version at the same time and sent it to the president’s desk earlier this year. He ‘vetoed’ it. So the unauthorized, unconstitutional, treasonous war is also in the narrow sense, illegal.
But what’s this about genocide? That could fall under the War Crimes Act. That’s exactly what it is.
But Donald Trump could have stopped the war almost three years ago. He could stop it right now with one simple phone call to the secretary of defense. Instead he crows about how much money “we’re” making helping Saudi’s government kill.
This is the same reason why I have supported impeachment and removal against George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama before Trump: war crimes.
Not only should Trump be removed from office for this wanton murder, he should have to share a Supermax cell with his buddy Barack Obama for the rest of their lives over it too.
That would be the law and justice being applied to the powerful equally like in the theories they teach us in high school civics class about how our system is supposed to work – by Scott Horton
https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2019/11/06/the-rule-of-law-or-cia-coup/
(** B P)
Is it time for a historic paradigm shift in the Persian Gulf?
After the recent attempt by the United Arab Emirates to reduce tensions with Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sent a letter proposing a peace plan to heads of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain) and Iraq.
Since the 1979 Revolution, Iran and its Arab neighbors have never been able to forge a deep and sustainably friendly relationship. In fact, they have been trying to maintain minimalist diplomatic ties with each other, viewing the status quo as the most effective mode of relations.
Over the past few years, however, the degree of hostilities between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain has reached unprecedented levels, to the extent that observers saw prospects of military confrontation in the region.
The reasons behind the increasing tensions are worth discussing. After the Saudis waged war in Yemen starting in 2015, the UAE and Bahrain became parties to the conflict on the Saudi side, whereas Iran supported the Houthis. In 2016, Saudi authorities executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr — a popular Shiite cleric critical of the Saudi government — which was followed by an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran by an angry mob. As a result of the attack, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Iran, while the UAE reduced its diplomatic relationship. Last but not least, President Donald Trump's policy of maximum pressure against Iran was supported by US allies in the region, namely, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Israel.
While rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has taken hold all over the region, including in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, news about improvement of diplomatic ties between the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Israel shook Iran. Ongoing Israeli attacks on Syria and Iraq — including on Iran’s bases in these two countries — and the decision by the Trump administration to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel could not have come at a worse time for a Middle East experiencing mounting tensions.
With the new wave of turmoil in Beirut and Baghdad, where determined demonstrators have occupied streets for many weeks calling for the removal of the entire political class, the Middle East is desperate for a serious reconsideration of policies by all parties involved in the region. While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the most vital point of contention in the Middle East, resolving rivalries among the countries around the Persian Gulf, especially Iran and Saudi Arabia, would have a substantial impact on resolving crises in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. But for such efforts and a reshaping of policies t
First, for the decades following the 1979 Revolution, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have been allied against Iran, which has added much to the ethnically belligerent dichotomy of Arab vs. Persian.
The second point. It has been obvious to me that there are three main varieties of “fear of hegemony” among the smaller states in the Middle East, namely, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Third, all members of the GCC along with Iran and Iraq have complaints about the lack of respect for their sovereignty, interference in their domestic affairs and the tendency for sectarian policies to be bolstered. Therefore, the foundations of the new model for sustainable peace and security should be based on seven factors. These are non-interference; respect for national sovereignty; mutual respect; commitment to abandon sectarian and pan-nationalist policies; commitment maintaining the geographic status quo of the region; commitment to secure mutual interests among states; and commitment to collective security.
While Iran and its neighbors have both contradictory and opposing interests, they also have vital mutual interests. In fact, they share more common interests than contradictory ones. Hence, the neighboring countries must be willing to invest more on common interests rather than on those that are contradictory.
The time has come for a new and innovative model for peace in the Persian Gulf – by Sayed Hossein Mousavian
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
(A H P)
Film: UAE Red Crescent mobile clinics continue to provide medical services to residents of Al Tahita
The mobile clinics of the UAE Red Crescent Authority continued to provide free medical care and treatment to citizens in the Al-Ghuwairik area of Al-Tahita south of Hodeidah as part of its humanitarian efforts by the UAE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMAMzd1rIfw
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US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update for Thursday, November 7th, 2019
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=9661
(A K pS)
Film: The child Anas Abdul Karim was killed and his father and brother were injured in the explosion of a device in Tehtya district, south of Hodeida province.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1192472539722919936
(A K pH)
Film: Hodeidah # Tahita # Aggression Violations continue in Hodeidah and two women are injured in Suwaiq
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9XxwIMzpVw
(A K pH)
IN COINCIDING WITH SAUDI BOMBING ON HODEIDAH, INVADERS CARRY OUT FAILED INFILTRATION
The US-Saudi invaders and mercenaries carry out failed attempt of infiltration in coinciding with intensive shelling in Tuhaita directorate.
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AGGRESSION FORCES TARGET THE BESIEGED CITY OF DURAIHMI BY DOZENS OF SHELLS
This will also compound the tragic situation of the people of the city as a result of the siege imposed on them under the complicity of organizations of the united nations.
The source added that the forces of aggression fired more than 15 shells in the area of Al-Faza in the same district of Hodeidah province.
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(A K P)
Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize laureate condemns Saudi Arabia
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Yemeni human rights activist Tawakkol Karman has attacked the Saudi regime and its hostile policy toward Yemen.
In a tweet on her account on Twitter Tuesday evening, Karman said that the Saudi agenda is behind all the problems in Yemen, describing it as “satanic.”
She explained that the problem is in Riyadh itself, and not in the texts of agreements signed and sponsored by Riyadh.
Karman pointed out that Saudi Arabia has a “suspicious agenda and undeclared goals” that it seeks to achieve in Yemen.
https://www.uprising.today/yemeni-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-condemns-saudi-arabia/
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THE MIDDLE EAST’S NEW POST-REGIME CHANGE FUTURE
The fact that the Arab states of the Middle East were targeted for destruction by western geopoliticians over the last 40 years is not un-connected to the region’s historic role as “cross-roads of civilizations” which were once the bridge between East and West along the ancient Silk Road (c. 250 BC). Today’s New Silk Road has brought 150 countries into a multipolar model of cooperation and civilization-building which necessitates a stabilized Middle East in order to function.
When asking “how could a reconstruction of the Middle East be possible after so many years of hell” I was pleasantly surprised to discover that both great projects once derailed have been given new life with the new prospects for peace and also new projects never before dreamed possible have been created as part of the New Silk Road (Aka: One Belt One Road).
Just to get a sense of this incredible potential that is keeping western oligarchs up at night, I want to quickly review just a few of the greatest China-led reconstruction projects which are now taking hold in four of the most decimated areas of the Middle East: Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Yemen as Keystone of the Maritime Silk Road
The four year Saudi war on Yemen has been a humanitarian disaster of our times. However in spite of insurmountable odds, the Yemenis have managed to not only defend themselves but have pulled off one of the most brilliant military flanking maneuvers in history crippling the Saudi economy on September 29th. This victory has both forced the Saudis to eat yet-another mouthful of humble pie and created a breathing space for a serious discussion for Yemen’s reconstruction through participation in the New Silk Road. Sitting upon the entry of the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, Yemen is today as it was 2000 years ago: a vital node in both Maritime Silk Road and the land-based Silk Road connecting Asia with Africa and Europe.
Already several Yemeni organizations have been created endorsing this vision led by the Yemeni Advisory Office for Coordination with the BRICS, Yemeni Youth BRICS Cabinet and the New Silk Road Party which has gained the support of leading government officials since their founding by Yemeni poet/statesman Fouad al-Ghaffari in 2016. Courageous efforts such as these have resulted in the government’s signing an MOU to join the BRI in June 2019 – by Matthew Ehret
https://astutenews.com/2019/11/04/the-middle-easts-new-post-regime-change-future/
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Coalition of Aggression Insists on Preventing UN Maintenance Team from Reaching Safer Tanker
The coalition countries are trying to use all methods of extortion that are illegal, to pressure Sana’a to make concessions.
According to YPA, the team of the coalition of aggression countries, in theJoint Monitoring Committee on Ceasefire, informed the UN Supervisory Committee, its refusal to allow the UN technical team to inspect Safer floating tanker off Ras Issa port, on the west coast of Yemen.
Sources pointed out that the coalition of aggression alleged that the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees did not implement the Stockholm Agreement and used those allegations as a justification for not allowing the access of UN technicians to Safer oil tanker.
Sana'a government had launched several distress calls since the beginning of the war, in order to preserve Safer tank and avoid the potential disaster of the explosion of the dilapidated reservoir , but the United Nations did not respond to those calls until last August.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=9663
(B K P)
Riyadh agreement and Yemen conflict
The fact that two warring factions in Yemen have inked a peace agreement is not going to end the five-year old conflict. The agreement between Yemen’s Hadi government and the United Arab Emirates-backed separatists does not engage the main players – the Houthi Shia – which implies that the two reunited factions will surely unleash yet more fury on the Houthis.
The best course to end the war is to engage the Houthis in dialogue and sign a ceasefire deal. At a later stage, talks should involve all warring factions for a durable peace deal. *
https://dailytimes.com.pk/496869/riyadh-agreement-and-yemen-conflict/
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Towards peace in Yemen
If it doesn’t turn out to be fragile, the agreement is an important step in the collective efforts to advance a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Yemen, indeed a case-study in concerted conflict resolution.
The views of the southern stakeholders are important to the political efforts to achieve peace in the country. The UN has been anxious to avoid excluding the southern forces, since any agreement reached without their inclusion is likely to fall apart.
The agreement must at the end of the day lead to substantive talks on Yemen’s future.
However, there is a scintilla of hope with Saudi Arabia initiating talks with Yemen’s Iranbacked Houthi rebels in an attempt to end the country’s civil war. The multilateral cocktail is complex in itself.
https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/towards-peace-yemen-1502819446.html
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
Siehe / Look at cp1
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[Sanaa gov.] HEALTH MINISTER CALLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF AIR MEDICAL BRIDGE TO SAVE THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS
Minister of Health Dr. Taha Al-Mutawakil called on the United Nations to speed up the implementation of the Air Medical Bridge to transport critical medical conditions for treatment abroad. Al-Mutawakil told Al-Masirah TV that tens of thousands of patients are suffering because of the lack of potential in the country, and there are at least 30 thousand patients annually need treatment outside Yemen.
He said that “there are many agreements with the United Nations for the transfer of critical cases and in the last minute the US-Saudi aggression prevents the arrival of aircrafts to the airport in Sana’a.”
He pointed to a number of patients who were to be transferred within the Air Medical Bridge from the first batch died as a result of the aggression prevented transfer to receive treatment.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
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The use of stunting as a nutrition indicator in Yemen civil war
In the case of Yemen, rates of malnutrition were demonstrated by El Bcheraoui and colleagues using various indicators of nutritional status for both women 15–49 years old and children < 5 years old [1]. However, we would like to bring into question the use of the terminology “global acute malnutrition (GAM) stunting” and “severe acute malnutrition (SAM) stunting” in the results.
The misuse of terminology may have operational implications since GAM prevalence above 15% is considered critical and regarded as the threshold for an emergency, while this is not the case for stunting, since a stunting prevalence of 15% is considered “low” [5, 6]. Thus, the incorrect labelling of stunting as wasting would likely result in the overestimation of malnutrition rates, while the incorrect labelling of wasting as stunting would likely underestimate malnutrition rates. El Bcheraoui and colleagues indicate a national average of 52.3% for “Global acute malnutrition GAM stunting”, this figure is not indicative of GAM which can be expected to be significantly lower, but it is indicative of stunting, which was at 46.5% prior to the conflict [1]. Additionally, data from more recent small-scale surveys conducted in Yemen by humanitarian organizations have also found similar levels of stunting.
Even with the adjusted labelling, the use of stunting as an indicator for malnutrition in a humanitarian crisis also has operational implications.
https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-019-0502-x = https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186%2Fs12992-019-0502-x
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Jemen Kinderhilfe: So hilft das Aichacher Hilfsprojekt
Die Jemenhilfe kauft das Kinderhaus "Salam" in der Stadt Taizz. Hier sollen Kriegswaisen, Witwen und mittellose Alte auf 230 Quadratmetern unterkommen.
Ein Haus des Friedens soll es werden, das Kinderhaus „Salam“ der Aichacher Hilfsorganisation Jemen Kinderhilfe. In Taizz im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen sollen darin schon bald Kriegswaisen, Witwen und mittellose Alte eine sichere Bleibe finden. Möglich machen will dies die Aichacher Hilfsorganisation Jemen Kinderhilfe unter ihrer Vorsitzenden Aenne Rappel, die sich in Taizz und Umgebung seit mehr als 20 Jahren intensiv sozial engagiert.
Wie berichtet, betreut die Jemen Kinderhilfe unter anderem in einer Wohnung mitten im Kriegsgebiet derzeit 73 Kriegswaisen-Buben und einige Alte. Nachdem der Hauseigentümer den Mietvertrag wegen Eigenbedarfs gekündigt hatte, war in der von den Saudis zerbombten Stadt kein geeignetes Mietobjekt mehr zu finden. Die Hilfsorganisation hat sich daraufhin zum Erwerb eines eigenen Hauses entschieden. In einem relativ sicheren, von Regierungstruppen kontrollierten Stadtteil von Taizz, konnte schließlich ein geeignetes Objekt gefunden werden.
Wer etwas zum Ausbau des Kinderhauses „Salam“ beisteuern möchte, kann dies tun mit einer Spende an die Jemen Kinderhilfe, Stichwort „Bausteine Kinderhaus“, Konto Stadtsparkasse Aichach-Schrobenhausen, IBAN DE49 7205 1210 0560 1916 45.
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US Agency for International Development: Yemen - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2020
U.S. Government (USG) partners the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN World Food Program (WFP), and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an assessment mission to Al Hudaydah Governorate’s Durayhimi city, which has remained inaccessible since June 2018 due to continued fighting between Al Houthi and RoYG forces. In addition to assessing humanitarian needs, the UN agencies distributed emergency relief items, including food assistance, hygiene kits, medicine, nutrition supplements, and safe drinking water, to the estimated 200 civilians remaining in the city.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-complex-emergency-fact-sheet-1-fiscal-year-fy-2020
Yemen - Active USG Programs for Yemen Response (Last Updated 11/08/19)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-active-usg-programs-yemen-response-last-updated-110819
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Hunger im Jemen: Ein Kinderarzt erzählt
Dr. Karanveer Singh hat mehrere Monate das Ernährungsprogramm des Kinderhilfswerks UNICEF im Jemen geführt. Im Video-Interview erzählt er von seiner Arbeit und von dem einen magischen Moment, der ihn immer wieder neu motiviert.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9RRssxpl1g
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Assessment Capacities Project: Access to Basic Needs in Yemen: Scenarios - Possible developments affecting Yemeni’s access to basic needs and services in 2020
Introduction
Problem statement Yemen has been in a state of protracted conflict since 2015. 24.1 million people, 80% of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Taking into account a range of variables that affect Yemeni’s access to basic needs and services, these scenarios consider developments that could have humanitarian consequences and impact on access to basic needs within Yemen throughout 2020.
Scenarios for October 2019 – December 2020
These scenarios are not attempts to predict the future. Rather, they describe situations that could occur in the coming 15 months and are designed to highlight the possible impacts and humanitarian consequences associated with each scenario. The aim is to support strategic planning, create awareness, and promote preparedness activities for policymakers and others working in Yemen. The timeframe is until December 2020 although the scenarios may remain valid some months longer. See the Methodology section for more information on how these scenarios were developed.
Limitations Scenarios can seem to oversimplify an issue as the analysis balances details against broader assumptions. Scenario-building is not an end in itself; it is a process for generating new ideas that should, in turn, lead to changes in project design or decisionmaking. These scenarios focus primarily on the potential ways in which people are able to access basic needs and services and the resultant impact and humanitarian consequences.
and full document: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20191106_acaps_yemen_analysis_hub_scenarios.pdf
(B H)
A very long engagement, Yemeni-style
Israa Waheeb has not seen her fiance Samed al-Ameri since July 15, 2016 — four days after they got engaged in a small ceremony attended by their families.
Ameri, a young doctor with a winning smile, was detained by Houthis who picked him up from his home in Taiz, a city in southern Yemen, according to the Arab-language media. He has been detained at Al-Saleh City Prison in Taiz, though no charges have been brought against him. Al-Monitor could not verify this information.
Waheeb only consented to talk with Al-Monitor after assurances that as an international publication it would report on what she said, without interpreting it. "This is definitely not about politics, and I am definitely not involved in any political parties,” she kept saying throughout the interview.
Ameri was one of the people who wanted to help those in need, according to Waheeb and Ameri’s brother who talked to Al-Monitor.
Waheeb said her fiance had set up an initiative called Cordial that aimed to help families in Taiz, the third-largest city of the country. Taiz was sieged by Houthi rebels and forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2015.
"Everyone can fall in love and stay in love when times are good,” she noted. "But only genuine love remains steadfast in the face of war and difficult circumstances."
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/a-very-long-engagement-in-yemen.html
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Ethiopia: Refugees and Asylum-seekers as of 31 October 2019
From Yemen: 1,382
https://reliefweb.int/map/ethiopia/ethiopia-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-31-october-2019
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Jemen: Der Gewaltmarsch der Oromo
Die Volksgruppe der Oromo stellt ein gutes Drittel der Bevölkerung in Äthiopien, aber viele von ihnen leben in so bitterer Armut, dass sie bereits zu zehntausenden zu Gewaltmärschen von gut 2000 Kilometern aufgebrochen sind, um am Ende im reichen Saudi Arabien hoffentlich Arbeit und eine Zukunft zu finden
Dieser Weg ist eigentlich unpassierbar, wegen seiner Länge, der vielen Gefahren durch Plünderer und Menschenhändler, der Steinwüste in den Galafi-Bergen und der sengenden Sonne an der Grenze zu Dschibuti. Sie brechen auf mit kaum mehr als dem, was sie am Leib tragen können, sie hungern tagelang, der Durst zwingt sie immer wieder in die Knie.
Vom Hafen in Obock aus überqueren sie nachts und in völlig überfüllten Booten das Rote Meer, um schließlich am Strand des gefährlichsten Teils ihrer Reise zu landen, dem Jemen, einem Land mitten im Bürgerkrieg. Dort herrschen kriminelle Banden über die Routen der Migranten: Sie kidnappen viele Oromo und foltern sie so lange, bis die Angehörigen von zuhause ein Lösegeld überwiesen haben. Damit ruinieren sie auch noch das Leben der Familien in Äthiopien. Unsere Reporter Charles Emptaz und Olivier Jobard liefen mit, auf diesem Gewaltmarsch der Migranten aus Äthiopien.
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/090427-000-A/jemen-der-gewaltmarsch-der-oromo/
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B P)
As a Hashemite, I am quite nauseated by #Houthi politicians' manipulation of #Yemenis by emphasizing the importance of genealogical lineage to Islamic Prophet Muhammed as a path to governance. The revering of Hashemites is bringing back an archaic system that Yemenis detest.
https://twitter.com/YemeniFatima/status/1192644797997158401
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MOHAMMED ABDUL SALAM “YEMENI PEOPLE REJECT SECTARIANISM BY CELEBRATING OF THE PROPHET’S BIRTH ANNIVERSARY”
The spokesman of Ansar Allah, Professor Mohammed Abdul Salam, said that the Yemeni people reject sectarianism, its commemoration of the anniversary of the Prophet’s birth on this scale is a good testimony to that.
Abdul Salam confirmed the importance of exploiting this honorable anniversary and make it a platform for the unification of the nation with its great Prophet.
He stressed the need to commemorate the birth of the Prophet because of its great impact in the hearts of Muslims and led them to the their prophet (PBUH) to follow his biography fragrant, and not to allow the enemies of the nation to keep Muslims away.
“As we work to get people to the Messenger of Allah, there are those who are working to bring Muslims to Trump and others like him,” he added.
The Yemeni arena is witnessing an unprecedented popular and official movement to prepare for the celebration of the Prophet’s birth anniversary.
(A P)
Sana’a lights up in green light to celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s birthday
The Yemenis have their own way to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday, Known as “Mawlid An-Nabawi”.
They decorate their vehicles ahead of celebrations of the birthday of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad.
Mass preparations are under way. Most of all the streets of the capital Sana’a, are decorated with green lights.
During the night, all state facilities and buildings are illuminated with a green light. The atmosphere gives the walkers spirituality and tranquility.
Despite the difficult economic conditions that the Yemenis are going through as a result of the aggression and the siege imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, this did not prevent them from celebrating and commemorating this religious event.
https://www.uprising.today/sanaa-lights-up-in-green-light-to-celebrate-prophet-mohammeds-birthday/
Films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaKtZwHpPIs
https://twitter.com/MohammedalKibsi/status/1192850444340670465
https://twitter.com/MohammedalKibsi/status/1192851285952868355
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FOOD CONVOYS FROM SAADA PROVINCE ON THE OCCASION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF PROPHET’S BIRTH
Food and financial convoys from all districts of Sa’ada province continue to support the heroes of the army and the popular committees stationed in the fighting fronts and organize tribal stances that are certain to continue with a steadfastness in conjunction with the anniversary of the Prophet’s birth.
Sons of Al-Safra district provided a food convoy has the name “The Great Prophet” in support of the army and the popular committees on the battlefronts on the occasion of the Prophet’s birth, to confirm the steadfastness.
Besides, the sons of Al-Salem and Sohar districts provided a food and financial convoy in support of those stationed on the fronts, containing dozens of cars loaded with fruit, dozens of sheep, large sums of money and various food items.
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Yemen's Bahai fear further abuses under Houthis
The Bahai International Community recently raised concerns that Yemen's Bahai, a religious minority that has been systematically targeted by the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah), seems set to face further persecution.
In September, a Houthi prosecutor asked an appeals court to affirm a lower court’s decision to "immediately deport" Bahais from Yemen, ban their re-entry, and restrict them from expressing their religious beliefs.
"By such a ruling, he would target and threaten an entire religious community in Yemen, which wishes for nothing more than to contribute to its nation's progress," said Diane Alai, a representative of the community to the UN.
Though the Houthis have been persecuting Bahai communities in the areas under their control, the minority group has found support and solidarity from Yemeni government officials and human rights activists.
"The concerns of the Bahai community are factual and real," Yemen's Deputy Minister of Human Rights Nabil Abdul Hafeez told Al-Mashareq.
All humanitarian organisations ought to stand with them, he said, because they have been subjected to numerous abuses, including imprisonment, arbitrary arrest and religious-based trials by the Houthis.
Abdul Hafeez attributed the Houthis' actions to an ideology that "does not accept others" and to the class stratification the militia is trying to establish, in which "they classify themselves as masters".
Confiscating assets and property is the easiest way the Houthis can accumulate wealth, he noted, "through a court ruling issued by the militia against anyone who opposes it".
The Bahais' fears that their property will be confiscated and they will be expelled are real, he said, pointing out that the militia has a history of such behaviour.
https://almashareq.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_am/features/2019/11/08/feature-03
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Graduation Ceremony of Police College Cadets in Sana’a (Photos)
Ministry of Interior held on Wednesday the graduation ceremony of the fourth batch of the special section of the Police College named the “Great Prophet Batch” in Sana'a.
The ceremony was attended by a member of the Supreme Political Council Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi and Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Aziz Saleh bin Habtoor.
Addressing the ceremony, the Prime Minister congratulated the 660 graduates and other successive batches.
He stressed that they are all essential tributary to control the internal front and maintain this security cohesion witnessed by the capital and the provinces run by the Supreme Political Council and the National Salvation Government.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=9650
and also https://www.uprising.today/new-recruits-graduate-during-parade-honouring-prophet-mohammeds-birth/
(A K P)
Security forces release several Saudi-paid mercenaries collaborators in Amran
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3078110.htm
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B K P)
UAE's true ambitions in Yemen take another blow
The deal agreed this week is just one of many obstacles to UAE's malign ambitions in Yemen
A deal agreed on Tuesday to end a deadly standoff between Yemen's government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council will likely complicate STC's long-term vision for an independent southern state.
Ultimately this is also a hindrance to the STC's Emirati backers, who have sought to divide Yemen and weaken the government for its own geopolitical ambitions.
Despite the fragility of the deal, it will be a temporary breather after fighting erupted between the two sides
While there was some speculation over a fallout between coalition allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, due to their support for rival factions, a pronounced rift never materialised. Rather, both states sought to compromise, in order to maintain their otherwise strategic alliance, as the deal shows.
Having publicly lauded the agreement, while hiding any ulterior motives, the UAE is conceding ground on its ambitions to separate Yemen's south from the north, and to control Yemen's southern ports. After all, falling out with Riyadh would delegitimise its intervention in southern Yemen, which was only possible under the guise of joining Saudi Arabia's coalition against the Houthis in March 2015.
The UAE has trained and supported the STC and its militias as a tool to fulfil its southern ambitions. The STC's merger into the government, while not ending the UAE's influence in Yemen, would certainly hinder it.
As a more pragmatic regional actor, the UAE seeks to prevent criticism and a backlash against its Yemen policies by voicing support for Yemen's unity, while maintaining its alliance with Riyadh. Had the fighting continued, further scrutiny would have surrounded the UAE's role in the violence. Now, it seeks to preserve its fallacious image as a 'peacemaker' there instead.
In agreeing to compromise, this deal will hinder Abu Dhabi's ambitions in Yemen, as it has sought to weaken Hadi's influence, who had terminated Abu Dhabi's control over the Aden port in 2012. Particularly as there is currently a shortage of international support for its secessionist aims.
For now, the UAE will seek to maximize its control in the south, as supporting the deal will give the STC more of a stake in the country's politics
The STC has yet to renounce its calls for southern independence, arguably seeing the agreement as a chance to secure autonomy.
Yet given Hadi's determination to regain control of the south after having lost the north to the Houthis, future disagreements are likely. So even if the deal breaks down, such a scenario could still give Abu Dhabi more of an opportunity to renew covert support to the secessionists, which it has not ended – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2019/11/7/uaes-true-ambitions-in-yemen-take-another-blow
and
(* B K P)
The UAE still has military ambitions in Yemen despite ‘withdrawal’
The United Arab Emirates once again claimed it was withdrawing from Yemen on Oct. 30, pulling its troops from Aden prior to a peace deal signed on Nov. 5, to unify the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC). Yet this represents a pragmatic PR move, considering Abu Dhabi still supports militias elsewhere in the south, as it seeks to gain influence in the country.
Though Abu Dhabi claimed to defeat enemy forces in Aden early in the war, Emirati-backed militias retained a presence after capturing the city. This was until the recent unification deal in October 2019, which demanded the scaling down of their presence there.
The UAE has staged withdrawals in the past, but it has not upheld them.
Significantly, using such a counterterrorism guise has given Abu Dhabi the opportunity to expand its own presence in the south throughout the war, with its militias eventually seizing Aden. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi had used counterterrorist rhetoric when carrying out airstrikes in Aden against government forces.
Not only does this show that the UAE still has not pulled back its support for southern forces, it uses such anti-terrorist narratives to justify its presence.
UAE military forces still occupy nine key military sites, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed paper. These locations include Mokha, Bab el-Mandeb, Aden, the port of the interim capital, Aden airport, Rayyan airport in Mukalla, Socotra Island, Mayon Island and Balhaf port in the oil-producing Shabwa province in southern Yemen, officials and observers claim.
Al-Araby al-Jadeed's report also reveals that the presence of UAE-backed militias has caused significant economic and infrastructural damage to the regions it has controlled for more than four years of the war.
On Socotra Island, the UAE has once again increased its militia presence.
As with past claims of withdrawal, the UAE is staging a drawdown from one key part of the country while imposing its will elsewhere. Ultimately, Abu Dhabi uses the cover of withdrawal to hide its efforts to control other southern locations.
It indicates that the UAE is not abiding by the terms of the deal. While it is contending with Saudi Arabia’s influence, it still seeks to maximize its influence over the south.
Such ongoing support for separatist militias could disrupt the recent peace deal, particularly as the UAE-backed STC has indicated it will not accept the long-term presence of Hadi’s forces. Especially as Saudi Arabia simultaneously seeks to empower Hadi. Furthermore, the separatist faction sees the deal as a chance to secure its control over the south.
It seems the UAE is temporarily withdrawing from Aden to preserve its alliance with Riyadh.
Moreover, while the UAE covertly imposes its will in south Yemen, it will continue to undermine Hadi’s government. This has been its aim throughout the wa
Therefore, while claiming to support the deal, the UAE's ongoing military presence could be a significant factor in provoking its collapse – by Jonathan fenton-Harvey
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/11/yemen-aden-uae-withdrawal-saudi-hadi-dispute.html
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Riyadh Agreement: Can Saudi-brokered ‘peace deal’ really help end Yemen war?
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince hailed the deal as a step toward a wider political solution to end the war, but what does this deal mean for the coalition and those on the ground?
The exiled government asked Saudi Arabia to step in and help restore it to power.
“It is at this point," says Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, "that the internationalised war began’’.
“There have been many different groupings in Yemen who are all vying for power, territory and resources, and since that war began we’ve seen some cracks in the government side," she tells Euronews.
One group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), wants an independent state in the south.
"At the moment they’re in quite a good negotiating position, because the government needs them to fight the Houthis with them," says Kendall.
What are the positives to the agreement?
“There are some real upsides to this agreement," Kendall tells Euronews. "One, it really does avert a war within a war within the immediate future at least."
"Two, it does enable the coalition to stay together, the UAE backed forces and Saudi backed forces will continue working together. And three, it enables everyone in coalition to focus on fighting the Houthis and containing Iran - not turning on each other."
What are the pitfalls?
The deal doesn't permanently solve the southern secession issue. "It essentially kicks the can down the road on this," says Kendall. "It says ‘Look, when we finish dealing with the Houthis, and Iran, then we’ll address the southern secessionist issue’ so it puts on hold the whole idea of an independent state."
She adds: "It places all of the southern military, security and police forces under the control of the so=called legitimate government. This will be really difficult, because that government is perceived to be dominated, at least right now, by pro northern ministers."
This view is echoed by Peter Salisbury of Crisis Group
What does the deal mean for Yemeni civilians?
“For ordinary Yemeni civilians the signing of an agreement probably doesn’t mean that much, there are 24 million yemenis in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance, there's still around 10 million close to starvation," says Kendall.
The deal is “welcome that it doesn’t open up another front within the war, but it doesn't really alleviate anything to do with day to day amenities for these civilians, and so actually the war is going to drag on," she adds.
"It would be very easy to mistake the signing of the Riyadh agreement for a huge step on the way to peace ... there’s still such a huge way to go." – by Helena Skinner
and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXXuUNg3Znk
(B P)
A Saudi-Brokered Deal Averts Yemen’s War Within a War—for Now
Whether the agreement holds—let alone precipitates an end to Yemen’s devastating civil war and a new way forward for its southern movement—depends primarily on if its ambitious reforms can be fully implemented.
The breakthrough seeks to bring an end to armed confrontations in recent months sparked by longstanding tensions between Hadi’s government and the military wing of the Southern Transitional Council. (subscribe)
(* B K P)
Film (in Spanish): Yemen: una paz a medias - El Zoom de RT
Este viernes 'El Zoom' posa de nuevo su mirada en Yemen, donde el Gobierno reconocido por parte de la comunidad internacional y los separatistas del sur han firmado un acuerdo de paz avalado por la coalición conformada por Emiratos Árabes y Arabia Saudí. Javier Rodríguez Carrasco analiza si el llamado Acuerdo de Riad servirá de cimiento de paz global para el pueblo yemení o solo será un cortafuegos tras el que seguirá la ofensiva contra los hutíes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV3QbAFcisI
(* A K P)
Mercenary force deployment rearranged by Riyadh Agreement
Mercenaries reshuffled across Southern provinces
Southern sources revealed the status of Al-Wadiah Port, in the Riyadh agreement, and the rearrangement of the situation in the occupied Hadhramaut Valley.
According to the sources, the Riyadh agreement stated the departure of Hadi forces as well as militias led by Ali Mohsen and Hashim al-Ahmar, from the port of al-Wadiah port and Sayun city in general.
They noted that the agreement stipulated that the protection forces of the facilities are to be established under the supervision of the coalition and led by the UAE’s Southern Transitional Council.
The sources confirmed that the agreement also stipulated that local forces from Hadhramaut will take command of military positions in the Hadhramaut Valley, which will be left alone by the forces of Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and Hashim al-Ahmar.
According to the sources, Al-Ahmar’s forces, largely members of the Islah Party, will go to Ma’rib province, as stipulated in the agreement.
https://www.uprising.today/mercenary-force-deployment-rearranged-by-riyadh-agreement/
(* A P)
Southern National Salvation Council condemns Riyadh Agreement
Legitimate Southern Yemeni activists condemn imperialist meddling
The Southern National Salvation Council, a resistance movement in southern Yemen, has categorically rejected the Riyadh Agreement, the occupation and its leaders.
The organisation states that it rejects any agreement that “does not demand the departure of foreign troops and preserves our independence and sovereign decision.”
In a statement, the Council affirmed its rejection of any agreements that do not derive their legitimacy from the people through legitimate means such as elections, referendums or the consensus of all national forces.
The Southern National Salvation Council, in a statement said that “the Riyadh accord gave legitimacy to the Saudi foreign occupation to stay and give it the right to run local affairs in the country”.
“The Riyadh Agreement nakes access to power a reward for those who speak and rely on the power of arms and predominance, and try to derive their legitimacy from the support of foreign countries,” the statement read.
“The agreement gives legitimacy to the regional militias that are followers to external powers and considers them part of the institutions of the national state.”
The statement pointed out that the Riyadh agreement “carries with it time bombs that threaten our present and future with more divisions, fragmentation and wars.”
https://www.uprising.today/southern-national-salvation-council-condemns-riyadh-agreement/
(* A P)
HADI AND TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL ABANDON DETAINEES IN JEDDAH AGREEMENT
The families of the detainees and forcibly hidden in the prisons of the United Arab Emirates in Aden accused the government of Hadi and the Transitional Council of absenting the issue of their detained sons in Jeddah agreement signed between the government of Hadi and the Transitional Council.
In a statement to the families of the detainees in Aden, it revealed that the government and the
Transitional Council ignored the issue of the detainees.
The mothers of the detainees said that the official letter we sent last week to President Hadi, appealed to him to solve and work on the issue of the detainees and forcibly hidden at the top of the priorities of dialogue to liberate them but they paid no care.
and
(* A P)
NGO: Al-Riyadh agreement neglected release of illegal detainees
The Abductees’ Mothers Association said on Thursday that the Al-Riyadh agreement that was signed on Tuesday between the government and the southern separation rebels, ignored release of the illegal detainees.
The association said in a statement that it regrets fully negligence of the detainees and forcibly disappeared people by the Al-Riyadh agreement.
The statement indicated that the organization feels disappointed towards the absence of the detainees’ issue in the Al-Riyadh agreement.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-34133
(B P)
After the Riyadh Agreement, the risk of a schism between #Hadi and other members of his coalition, especially from #Islah, is rising. The ratification of a deal with the #UAE and #STC is anathema to some of these groups, as they believe the UAE invaded #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/SamRamani2/status/1192615302321840128
This is a good point and will undoubtedly happen in the very near future. For now, sources from the ground told me that Hadi is resisting the implementation of the deal or changing the cabinet. Institutional change is not exactly what Hadi is known for.
https://twitter.com/YemeniFatima/status/1192618292718034944
Hadi himself believe UAE invaded #Yemen & only signed after was subject to tremendous pressure by KSA. The fundamental problem with agreement is it assumes good faith from signatories which doesn’t exist. Vague language in agreement makes it easy for both to manipulate implementation
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1192735574429511680
(A P)
Info. Minister: There is no winner or loser in Riyadh Agreement
The Ministry of Information organized an extensive meeting for media personnel from various government media institutions to clarify the Riyadh Agreement between the government and the Southern Transitional Council.
There is no winner or loser in the Riyadh Agreement,” said Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani during the meeting, calling on the government media to ignore provocative rhetoric.
“It is the nation led by President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi who won,” he said.
“We need a national and moral discourse that highlights the positive image and provides a model for peace and harmony,”
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/08/info-minister-there-is-no-winner-or-loser-in-riyadh-agreement/
My comment: LOL.
(A P)
Film: Yemen's Ambassador to France: Riyadh deal a "step forward"
After "a civil war within a civil war", Yemen's ambassador to France Riyadh Yassin Abdullah hails the power-sharing deal between the internationally-backed government and southern separatists. But was it really just a deal between the Saudis and the UAE? "It's a deal between the people of Yemen themselves," says the ambassador.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKh-0ClCkVo
My comment: Nice propaganda.
(* A P)
Saudi-Yemeni Arrangements Precede Arrival of Legitimate Government to Aden
The Yemeni Interior Ministry has revealed arrangements with Saudi Arabia for a security plan in all liberated areas, including Aden, to protect vital sites and state and military institutions.
Yemeni Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salem bin Aboud al-Sharif told Asharq Al-Awsat that his ministry was coordinating with Saudi Arabia to place a comprehensive plan that would protect military and state facilities in Aden.“The arrangements, which are moving steadily, involve all governorates,” Aboud said, adding that such measures would help achieve better security and stability.
He also revealed that his ministry was working on the protection of the presidential palace.
“The Interior Ministry cannot make all these arrangements without Saudi Arabia’s help,” the Yemeni official said.
(A P)
Parliament to resume sessions in Aden
The presidency of the Yemeni Parliament discussed on Wednesday arrangements for resuming the parliamentary sessions in Aden. The parliament will hold its sessions to give a vote of confidence to the upcoming government that is expected to be formed soon in line to the Al-Riyadh agreement.
The parliament failed in the past four years to hold its sessions in the government-held areas due to armed opposition by the southern separation rebels.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-34132
My comment: And now, they will no more oppose it??
(A P)
FM hails Yemeni-American relation
Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hadrami praised Yemeni-American relationship and partnership in several spheres including in countering terrorism.
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/07/fm-hails-yemeni-american-relations/
(A K P)
Defense Minister: wounded servicemen’s file a priority
Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Muhammad al-Makdashi reaffirmed that the political leadership pays great attention to the file of the national military injured personnel.
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/07/defense-minister-wounded-servicemens-file-a-priority/
(A P)
STC delegation leaves Riyadh, heads to Abu Dhabi
The delegation of the Southern Transitional Council, led by the president Maj. Gen. Aidroos Al-Zubaidi left the Saudi capital Riyadh, after a few hours of the meeting with the Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Thursday, well-informed sources reported.
The STC delegation headed towards Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates in a two-day visit, then they will fly back to Aden, the same sources added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/14736
(A P)
Thirteen Yemeni political parties announced their support for the Riyadh Agreement on November 6. The General People’s Congress (GPC), al Islah Party, Yemeni Socialist Party, Nasserist Unionist People's Organization, and al Rashad Union were among the parties that announced their support for the agreement on November 6.[2]
(* A K P)
Clashes broke out between militia fighters loyal to the al Islah party near Akkad camp in Abyan governorate in southern Yemen on November 7, according to anti-al Islahi media.[3]
(* A K P)
Large Saudi military shipment arrives in Aden
As Saudi hold on Aden grows stronger, massive military reinforcements are sent in
A large Saudi military transport plane unloaded a large arms shipment on Tuesday evening in Aden International Airport, southern Yemen.
According to informed sources, the Saudi shipment also contained military communication equipment, radars and eavesdropping devices.
This comes days after the arrival of Saudi forces along with Sudanese mercenary troops at Aden’s container port, in addition to hundreds of tanks, armoured vehicles and military cars.
Saudi forces seek to consolidate their control over the camps, ports and Aden airport, as well as the Anad military base in the province of Lahj.
https://www.uprising.today/large-saudi-military-shipment-arrives-in-aden/
(A H P)
ADEN WATER INSTITUTION PREVENTS CITIZENS FROM WATER
People in Aden suffer from water scarcity in light of the continued disregard of the Water Institution for their appealing. In Sheikh Osman Water Institution increased the suffering on the people by cutting water in the light of high temperature, which made the people announce the escalation and threaten to take to the streets to denounce Hadi’s government and the Water Institution if the water cuts continue .
Since the UAE tookover the city , Aden has witnessed the deterioration of essential services to the citizens that enable them to survive.
https://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/aden-water-institution-prevents-citizens-from-water/
(* A P)
Hadi minister: “Riyadh Agreement has made Saudi occupation legitimate government of Yemen”
Saleh al-Jabwani states that the General People's Congress of exiled president Hadi has become just another party
Minister of Transport in Hadi’s government, Saleh al-Jabwani, has Wednesday said that the Riyadh agreement signed Tuesday between Hadi’s government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council “has given the Saudi-Emirati coalition full legitimacy to run the country.”
“The rest of the agreement terms and what will happen on the ground is the details of this management and its behavior,” al-Jabwani added in a tweet on his account on Twitter.
(A P)
Dialog im Jemen: Präsident und Rebellenchef treffen sich
Zwei Tage nach der Unterzeichnung eines Friedensabkommens zwischen den Rebellen des Südlichen Übergangsrates und der international anerkannten Regierung des Landes trafen sich Präsident Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi und der Chef des Übergangsrates in Saudi-Arabien.
https://de.euronews.com/2019/11/08/dialog-im-jemen-prasident-und-rebellenchef-treffen-sich
(A P)
Yemen's President Hadi meets separatist leader after deal ends power struggle
Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi met the head of the Southern Transitional Council on Thursday, in their first meeting since his Saudi-backed government and the separatists signed an agreement to end a power struggle in the south.
In the meeting with Aidarus al-Zubaidi in Saudi Arabia, Hadi praised the efforts to reach the deal, Yemeni state news agency SABA reported.
and
(A P)
Exiled Yemeni government, southern separatists hold post-bloodshed talks
Yemen's exiled government and southern separatists will host their first meeting in Riyadh on Thursday, two days after the signing of a peace deal aimed at sustaining stability between the conflicting factions.
A spokesperson for the Southern Transitional Council (STC) released a statement saying his group was set to enter talks with the Saudi-based government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on Thursday.
The talks will aim to "cooperate with President Hadi under the auspices and guarantee of the Arab Alliance, in order to improve services and address issues in the southern regions of the country", Nizar Haitham said.
and
(A P)
Yemeni President, Southern Separatist Leader Commit to Implementing Peace Deal – Reports
The two leaders held a meeting on Thursday. During it, the president noted the "importance of making steps toward the implementation of all details of the Riyadh agreement to stabilize the situation in the south of the country", Al Arabiya reported.
Zubaidi, in his turn, noted the STC’s readiness to support Hadi and work together with the government for the peace deal implementation.
Hadi also expressed his willingness to settle the situation in southern Yemen as soon as possible through comprehensive peace dialogue. The two sides signed a peace deal in the Saudi capital on Tuesday.
and by a pro-separatist news site:
(A P)
Hadi meets Al-Zubaidi and his deputy in Riyadh
The first ever such meeting took place after more than two years of Hadi's decision to dismiss Al-Zubaidi from his post as governor of Aden and Ben Brik as Minister of State.
They focused on the importance of unifying the southern ranks, especially after the signing of the Riyad Agreement.
Spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council, Nazar Haitham said in a tweet that the meeting also touched on "the southern cause, future of the South, aspirations of the Southerners and their right to self determination."
They highly appreciated the role exerted by the Arab Coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in making the 'Riyadh Agreement' possible." Haitham added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/14729
(B P)
Saudi-backed Yemeni government and separatists sign power-sharing agreement
Atlantic Council experts react
Nabeel Khoury is nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.
This is a partial agreement right now, concerning mainly the western part of southern Yemen. The main difficulty will be the merger of two military forces that don’t necessarily want to be united.
If the intentions of the Arab coalition are genuine, i.e. to help Yemen find peace, then many tough diplomatic challenges lie ahead. They have to unite the south on the basis of peace with the Houthis, and the latter have not been consulted yet. If the intention is to continue to dominate the south by the Saudis and the Emiratis, then some very tough battles lie ahead within the south and the north.
(A P)
SOUTHERN JOURNALIST ACCUSES TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL OF TRADING SOUTHERN ISSUE
The southern journalist, Fathi bin Lazrak, has implicitly attacked the Transitional, accusing it of trading the southern issue internationally.
“The events have proved that a great majority of separatists have used this demand to serve their own interests, ” the editor of Aden Tomorrow Newspaper, said on his Twitter account in reference to the Transitional Council.
“It time to the deceived people to understand the game and realize that the politicians are unscrupulous”, he added, in reference to the southerners who are on the front lines to confront the Houthis, either on the West Coast or on the Saudi border. ”
(* A P)
Hadi officials prevented from attending Riyadh Agreement signing
Saudi Arabia keeping close control over pro-Hadi and STC delegates in attendance
Saudi authorities have prevented officials in Hadi’s government from attending the signing ceremony of the Riyadh agreement to be held Tuesday in the Saudi capital, media sources said.
The sources revealed that those selected to attend the signing ceremony from Hadi’s government and the Southern Transitional Council, were stripped of their personal phones and watches, and were transferred to one of the royal palaces by buses before the start of the signing process.
https://www.uprising.today/hadi-officials-prevented-from-attending-riyadh-agreement-signing/
(A P)
In a sign of the #UAE's growing vulnerability to criticism in the United States, the sheikh of #Socotra Issa Salem bin Yaqut recently met with members of Congress to discuss the unpopularity of the UAE's policies on the island. Unlikely to have a policy impact but still notable.
https://twitter.com/SamRamani2/status/1192771845247909888
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
THE SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN MEETS WITH H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN
The UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths met yesterday in Riyadh with H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Griffiths congratulated the Crown Prince for his leadership in successfully mediating the Riyadh Agreement between the Government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council.
The Special Envoy expressed his gratitude to the Crown Prince for supporting a comprehensive political solution in Yemen and discussed ways to work together to end the conflict.
https://osesgy.unmissions.org/special-envoy-yemen-meets-hrh-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman
My comment: “gratitude to the Crown Prince” obviously is grotesque.
and
(A P)
HRH Crown Prince Receives Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General for Yemen
During the meeting, Griffiths congratulated HRH the Crown Prince on the success of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's efforts to reach the signing of Riyadh Agreement between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council.
HRH the Crown Prince affirmed the Kingdom's keenness on all what may serve the interests of the Yemeni people and the security and stability of Yemen
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1995939
My comment: Mr. Griffiths must listen to a lot of bullshit in his job.
(* B P)
Taiz is Key to Peace in Yemen: A Chance to Save Three Million People
In his briefing on Yemen’s peace process on October 17, the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, causally mentioned the importance of bringing peace to the currently besieged city of Taiz. Although the inhabitants of Taiz appreciate Mr. Griffiths’ sentiments, we want more than his word. We need the international community to unite behind our cause and strongly support local peace initiatives by putting pressure on all parties to the conflict, in order to force them into committing to peace in this unfortunate city.
Taiz, my city, is home to more than three million people living under a harsh siege enforced on us by Houthis for over four years. The people of my hometown have suffered tremendous adversity as a result of the siege, particularly with the prevention of humanitarian agencies to adequately provide assistance to those who need it the most. Likewise, travel that used to take minutes before the conflict is now an excruciating hours-long journey through dangerous territories.
Since the early days of the conflict in Yemen, Taiz has been one of the cities most affected by the conflict because the city serves as a battleground for warring parties—and sometimes between the allies themselves.
This effort to create a humanitarian corridor in Taiz is not the first initiative of its kind, and I have personally been involved in several past initiatives aimed at breaking through the siege. However, there are lessons to be learned from previous failed initiatives to open a safe corridor in Taiz. At the top of the list, it is vital that the international community with the Arab Coalition, the P5, and the special envoy’s office all unite behind this cause in order to make real progress in Yemen’s peace process.
However, what is promising about this latest effort is that it comes at a time when the general public has reached a breaking point. For the inhabitants of Taiz, enough is enough, and now these citizens are putting real pressure on all decision makers to put an end to the current situation.
As such, Taiz has not received its due share of the world’s attention.
Now all sides have a new opportunity to remedy past mistakes. I believe that Taiz is key to achieving peace throughout Yemen. The conflict in this city reflects the dynamics and complexities of the national conflict, albeit on a smaller scale. Therefore, if warring sides can reach an agreement on Taiz, it is likely that these efforts can open communication channels and help ease the way towards reaching an agreement throughout the entire country.
In terms of the political track, the Arab Coalition, P5, and UN envoy should lead the negotiations as they represent the guarantors for executing any local agreement. These actors can use the carrot-and-stick strategy to get the local negotiators in the Stockholm-joint committee to meet and support the current local initiative to reach an agreement to open at least one route into the city, which can serve as an initial step towards lifting the entire siege on Taiz.
The humanitarian side should be led by the international relief organisations
The time has come to alleviate peoples’ suffering and achieve peace in Taiz. And this will only be attainable through regional and international pressure, good intentions on the part of local political forces, as well as the inclusion of women, youth, and civil society organizations in the peace making process – by Olfat Al-Duba'I, a founding member of Taiz Women for Life Initiative
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/taiz-is-key-to-peace-in-yemen-a-chance-to-save-three-million-people
(A K P)
6 CAPTIVES OF [Sanaa] YEMEN ARMY LIBERATED IN A NEW EXCHANG DEAL
The Chairman of the National Committee for Captives’ Affairs, Abdul Qader Al-Mortada, confirmed that “six” captives of the Yemeni army and popular committees were liberated today through local mediation, where they have been captured in the fronts of Karsh and Marib.
https://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/6-captives-of-yemen-army-liberated-in-a-new-exchang-deal/
(A P)
“Misk Foundation” Signs Partnership Agreement with UNESCO to Support Youth and Spread Knowledge
The Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz “Misk” Foundation signed a partnership agreement with the UNESCO for five years starting from 2016 to design and launch joint programs in education, culture, and media.
My remark: The UN prostituting itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiSK_Foundation
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(? B E P)
Saudi Arabia should listen to critics of its reform programme
Instead it locks them up (registered only)
(* A E P)
The Saudi government borrows $ 31 billion by the end of this year
According to a borrowing plan to finance development projects
Saudi Arabia is moving ahead with a borrowing plan to finance development projects aimed at borrowing 118 billion riyals ($ 31.5 billion) this year, according to a Saudi statistical report.
According to a report published yesterday by Jadwa Investment Company, the Saudi government issued bonds and sukuk worth 96 billion riyals ($ 25.6 billion) in the first nine months of this year, along with an imminent bond and bonds by the Ministry of Finance worth 16.3 billion riyals ($ 4.3 billion). The total issuance to date is approximately 115 billion riyals ($ 30.6 billion), including about 56 percent of domestic debt and 44 percent of external debt.
It is likely that any additional loans exceed the current target ceiling from the domestic market, not foreign, with the expected issuance of sukuk worth up to 4 billion riyals before the end of this year.
(A P)
#Saudi to introduce music in schools for the 1st time ever. The country still has ZERO institution to teach music. None of its universities has a department of music. Saudi education is in shambles & needs to be overhauled with modern methods & science based curriculum.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1192632753092792320
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1
(? B K P)
The Child Soldier Crisis: ‘Kids Are Cheap’
The Pentagon’s Middle East policy chief decries new recruitment of children in Syria and the Yemen civil war.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/08/child-soldier-crisis-kids-are-cheap-yemen-isis-my-star-sky/
My comment: Both wars hardly would exist without US meddling.
(* B K P T)
The Trump Doctrine Demands a Democratic Response
Still, in the interest of answering my critics, I thought it time to try—wildly difficult as it may be—to tease out something resembling a Trump “doctrine” for the region. As such, I hope to answer the vital question: what exactly is Trump up to in the Middle East? My tentative conclusion is, well, nothing new! The president’s sporadically anti-war language may be unique, but most of his policies adhere to the pre-9/11 formula of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Allow me to explain.
If there is a Trump doctrine, then, it’s little more than a bombastic, in-your-face revival of Clintonism. Back Israel and assorted regional autocrats, abet those regime’s bad behavior, including the killing or starvation of countless brown folks, occasionally fling a few cruise or drone missiles at “terrorists” (at this, Trump has outpaced even the assassin-in-chief, Barack Obama), maintain ample U.S. military bases in the area (but out of rifle range), all while limiting the deaths of U.S. troops.
Remember, the Clinton Doctrine didn’t end so well last time around. In fact, his strategy of loyally backing Israel, maintaining military bases near the Saudi “Holy Cities,” and sanctioning-to-death a half million Iraqi civilians found their reflection in Osama bin Laden’s three justifications for declaring war on the United States.
If, as I fear, Trump’s endgame is to pull U.S. troops out of direct combat but leave the infrastructure of our Middle Eastern hegemony in place, a new Bin Laden could strike us on American soil. There are many waiting in the wings, and they only need to get lucky once. Then Trump or perhaps an even more hawkish successor will feel obligated to respond – by Danny Sjursen
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-trump-doctrine-demands-a-democratic-response/
(* A P)
US Dep. of Justice: Two Former Twitter Employees and a Saudi National Charged as Acting as Illegal Agents of Saudi Arabia
Defendants Allegedly Acted as Illegal Agents of a Foreign Government by Providing Information About Twitter Users to Representatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ali Alzabarah, Ahmad Abouammo, and Ahmed Almutairi, aka Ahmed Aljbreen, were charged for their respective roles in accessing private information in the accounts of certain Twitter users and providing that information to officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abouammo was arrested in Seattle, Washington, on Nov. 5, 2019. All three defendants are charged with acting as illegal agents of a foreign government; and Abouammo also is charged with destroying, altering, or falsifying records in a federal investigation.
“Acting in the United States under the direction and control of Saudi officials, the defendants are alleged to have obtained private, identifying information about users of Twitter who were critical of the Saudi government,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “Two of the defendants – Alzabarah and Abouammo – are former Twitter employees who violated their terms of employment to access this information in exchange for money and other benefits.
and
(A P)
#FBI San Francisco is seeking Ali Alzabarah (http://ow.ly/KbqK50x53pT)and Ahmed Almutairi (http://ow.ly/hhkh50x53pS) for allegedly acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government
#FBI SF Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett: “The FBI will not stand by and allow foreign governments to illegally exploit private user information from U.S. companies.”
“These individuals are charged with targeting and obtaining private data from dissidents and known critics, under the direction and control of the government of Saudi Arabia,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.
#FBI SF Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett: “Insider threats pose a critical threat to American businesses and our national security.”
https://twitter.com/FBISanFrancisco/status/1192517419073515526
(A P)
Friends, family support Twitter employee charged in spy case
https://apnews.com/4e4cce1d78e84ab4909aab923a35368c
(B P)
Saudi recruitment of Twitter workers reflects insider risks
Allegations that two former Twitter employees spied on users for the Saudi government have spotlighted the threat posed by insiders who exploit their access to the mountains of sensitive data held by tech companies.
https://apnews.com/53b5271004c14644a749a2cd9ee7c7a2
(A P)
CIA-Chefin Haspel nach US-Spionageanklage gegen Saudi-Arabier bei König Salman
Nach einer Spionageanklage gegen zwei saudiarabische Staatsbürger in den USA hat Saudi-Arabiens König Salman CIA-Chefin Gina Haspel zu einem Gespräch in Riad empfangen.
Salman und Haspel hätten in der saudiarabischen Hauptstadt «eine Reihe von Themen von gemeinsamem Interesse» diskutiert, berichtete die staatliche saudiarabische Nachrichtenagentur SPA am Donnerstag. Ein US-Gericht hatte am Mittwoch zwei Saudi-Arabier und einen weiteren Mann angeklagt, weil sie Twitter-Nutzer ausspioniert haben sollen, die sich kritisch über die Königsfamilie äusserten.
Bei dem Treffen zwischen Haspel und Salman waren laut SPA eine Reihe hochrangiger saudiarabischer Vertreter anwesend, darunter Aussenminister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud und Geheimdienstchef Chalid al-Humaidan.
Die drei am Mittwoch in San Francisco angeklagten Männer wurden nach Angaben des US-Justizministeriums verdächtigt, im Namen der saudiarabischen Regierung versucht zu haben, die Identitäten der Nutzer hinter kritischen Twitter-Konten aufzudecken. Bei zwei der Verdächtigen handelte es sich demnach um ehemalige Twitter-Mitarbeiter. Das Trio soll im Namen eines Mitglieds der Königsfamilie agiert haben. Einem Bericht der «Washington Post» zufolge gehen die Ermittler davon aus, dass es sich dabei um den mächtigen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman handelt.
(A P)
Saudi king receives CIA chief in Riyadh: state media
It said the king and Gina Haspel discussed topics of interest but gave no further details about the meeting that was also attended by the Saudi foreign and interior ministers as well as the U.S. ambassador to the kingdom.
(A K P)
Elizabeth Warren slams US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE after CNN report
US Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following a new CNN investigation into American-made arms in Yemen.
Warren's new comments came as she tweeted CNN's report, published Wednesday, on a shipment of US-made military hardware to the Yemeni port of Aden last week.
https://us.cnn.com/2019/11/07/politics/elizabeth-warren-yemen-cnn-report-intl/index.html
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Wachsende Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Mounting tensions at the Gulf
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* A P)
Iran shoots down 'foreign' drone conducting surveillance over its southern port city of Mahshahr
State news agency IRNA reported a 'foreign' drone was shot down over Iran
Came down at port city of Mahshahr and debris was recovered from a lagoon
Iran's air defense force has shot down a 'foreign' drone in the country's southwest, the official IRNA news agency reported today.
The agency claimed the drone was shot out of the sky early Friday at the port city of Mahshahr, which is in the oil-rich Khuzestan province and lies on the Persian Gulf.
Provincial governor Gholamreza Shariati told IRNA that the drone belonged to a 'foreign' country and that parts of the drone had been recovered in a nearby lagoon.
A US Defense official told the MailOnline: 'There are no reports of a U.S. drone being shot down.'
(A P)
Iran’s nuclear commitment cuts ‘wake-up call’ for European signatories: Envoy
Iran’s ambassador to the UK has described the recent reduction in the country’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal as a “wake-up call” for other parties, warning European signatories of a crisis over the collapsing accord.
Hamid Baeidinejad told a group of UK mainstream media representatives on Thursday that Tehran’s move this week to inject gas into centrifuges at its Fordow plant was “adopted as a warning to the other sides and the international community that we are at a crisis.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/08/610665/Iran-warn-Europe-JCPOA-baeidinejad
(A P)
Iran resumes uranium enrichment at Fordow plant in 4th cut to nuclear commitments
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says it has officially started injecting gas into hundreds of centrifuges at underground Fordow nuclear plant in the fourth step away from the 2015 nuclear deal.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/06/610563/AEOI-fordow-nuclear-facility-uranium-enrichment
and
(A P)
Russia Says Iran’s 4th Step Away from JCPOA No Violation of NPT
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=9651
(A P)
IAEA monitor leaves Iran over concerns of carrying suspicious material
Iran says an inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency has left the country after she was prevented from entering a nuclear site of the Islamic Republic for carrying "suspicious" materials.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/11/06/610558/Iran-IAEA-inspector-suspicious-material-Natanz
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A H P)
Bundespolizei lehnt Abschiebung von jemenitischer Familie ab
Sie waren schon am Hamburger Flughafen: Die Bundespolizei hat die Abschiebung einer sechsköpfigen Flüchtlingsfamilie aus dem Jemen vorläufig gestoppt. Die Linke fordert die Kieler Landesregierung zum Handeln auf.
Die Bundespolizei habe die Annahme der Familie zur Abschiebung abgelehnt. Es hätte sich um eine unbegleitete Rückführung nach Griechenland handeln sollen. Die Familie durfte anschließend in eigener Verantwortung zu ihrem Wohnort Bosau zurückkehren, sagte ein Sprecher des Landesamtes für Ausländerangelegenheiten.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(B P)
Matthew Hedges: I’m still struggling to get over being jailed in Dubai 12 months on
A student from London who was jailed in the Gulf over spying claims that he always denied has revealed how he is still struggling to overcome the trauma a year on from his release.
Matthew Hedges was held in solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates for six months awaiting trial before being jailed for life over claims that he had been spying for MI6.
He was subsequently pardoned and freed after a public campaign by his wife Daniela Tejada.
But today, as the first anniversary of his release approaches, Mr Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University who lives in south-west London, disclosed that he has since been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
(* B K P)
UAE likely culprit of airstrike that killed 53 in Libyan refugee camp
War crime killed over 50 and wonder over 100 refugees in UN-designated sanctuary
A UN report has found that a foreign air force was behind an air strike on a Libyan migrant detention centre which killed over 50 people, with strong suspicion pointing towards the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The findings by the UN Security Council’s group of experts concluded that the rocket attack on 2 July on the Tajoura holding centre in Tripoli, which killed at least 53 and wounded 130, was likely carried out by a Mirage 2000-9 fighter jet, and is one of the worst single atrocities of the Libyan Civil War.
https://www.uprising.today/uae-likely-culprit-of-airstrike-that-killed-53-in-libyan-refugee-camp/
(* B P)
UK policies embolden human rights violations in Bahrain amid abuse of female activists, MPs warn
‚Officials have often acted outside of both the principles of due process, or have been found to have treated female prisoners appallingly on the back of trumped, politically-motivated charges,' says letter
Female human rights campaigners have been forced to endure physical and sexual assault in Bahrain and the British government’s policies embolden such human rights infringements, MPs warned in a damning letter to the prime minister.
Politicians from across the political spectrum hit out at the UK’s close relationship with Bahrain and urged Britain to stop providing the wealthy Gulf country with training for its judiciary and police.
Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al Khalifa family for more than two centuries, is “one of the Middle East’s most repressive states”, according to US NGO Freedom House.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
Yemeni Militias Continue to Receive US Military Equipment
American weapons are still finding their way to Yemen, even following both international backlash and bipartisan condemnation in the US Congress. Recent footage obtained and published by CNN showed shipments being delivered to the port of Aden, Yemen. Heavy armoured vehicles can be seen driving from the port through the streets of Aden in the video.
Illegal Transfers
Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are allegedly passing shipments of US equipment and weapons through to militias in Yemen, not arming their troops in the area.meni Militias Continue to Receive US Military Equipment
US law forbids the transfer of military equipment and technology by the purchaser, but last week’s occurrence is not the first time CNN has caught equipment making its way to regional militias.
Congressmen made several attempts in the wake of the CNN report and murder of Jamal Khashoggi to limit US support of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but they were consistently vetoed by Trump. Furthermore, responsibility for the shipments to Yemen in violation of US law is continuously denied.
Denials
“Oshkosh Defense strictly follows all US laws and regulations relating to export control,” the MRAP manufacturer told CNN.
After a similar incident was caught unfolding by CNN in October,Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Uriah L. Orland stated that he could not comment on any investigations by the US military and also insisted that American MRAP usage in Yemen is not forbidden. While that statement may be technically true, the Arms Export Control Act expressly prohibits customers from transferring American military technology to other state or non-state actors.
For Yemen militias, US weapons are a form of currency to sway local support in their favor. Militants are just as prone to human nature as everybody else and it is natural to want to be on the winning team.
“There are lethal and powerful weapons that the militias were using against the people. American weaponry is deadly. If the militias or others have them, they may be the winning side,” said Hussein Mohammed Talbi, Yemeni National Army soldier.
In some cases, American MRAPs have been found abandoned on roadsides and CNN reporters were even able to enter them. The leak of US equipment to militias in Yemen poses a significant risk beyond the immediate conflict.
https://www.insideover.com/war/yemeni-militias-continue-to-receive-us-military-equipment.html
(* B K P)
Film: Jemen: "Verteidigungs-Waffen" made in Franc für illegalen Angriff & zur Hungerblockad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82FGpg-WPts
(* A K P)
Ein VIDEO zeigt, wie schwere US-Waffen in Jemen landen
Der Film zeigt, wie in den USA produzierte Waffen im kriegszerstörten Jemen insgeheim ankommen, während das Land unter der weitergehenden Aggression der Saudis leidet.
Das Video wurde gestern vom CNN Sender aufgelegt und zeigt wie US-produzierte Oshkosh gepanzerte Fahrzeuge im Dunkel der frühen Morgenstunden in Aden, dem größten Hafen des Jemen angelandet werden.
https://einarschlereth.blogspot.com/2019/11/ein-video-zeigt-wie-schwere-us-waffen.html
(A K P)
The shroud of secrecy over the flow of #US weaponry arriving in the Port of #Aden, #Yemen despite Congressional outrage, The US-#Saudi genocide in Yemen has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people since 2015 according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project... (map)
https://twitter.com/YemenEdge/status/1192629829906026496
(* B K P)
Yemen: money over morality
Weapons and expertise provided by Western countries have enabled some of the world’s richest nations to bring high-level mechanised warfare to Yemen, one of the poorest places on the planet.
France, Australia, the UK and 100 other nations—although notably not the US—are signatories of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty, which obliges members to ‘monitor arms exports and ensure that weapons don’t … end up being used for human-rights abuses’. The leaked French intelligence report and research by investigative journalists and NGOs make it clear that arms and munitions supplied by Western nations are being used in Yemen and have been deployed in operations targeting civilians, transferred to third parties, and employed in other instances of broader human rights abuses.
A UN-led arms embargo could help end the coalition’s involvement in Yemen. Analyst Nelson Alusala has written that arms embargos ‘remain one of the most effective measures for maintaining or restoring peace and security’. It’s unlikely that the US, France and the UK would agree in the Security Council to such an embargo; however, mounting pressure from EU nations and the public might force their hands.
Susan Hutchinson recently argued that there are significant flaws in Australia’s multiagency system for defence exports and called for a parliamentary inquiry to assess our obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty. Other measures can and should be taken.
While the UN-established Arms Trade Treaty requires individual states to monitor and record their foreign arms sales, this obligation is clearly overlooked by many arms suppliers to the Saudi-led coalition.
As nations that profess to defend the rules-based global order and human rights, Australia, France, Britain and the US should cease arms exports to the Saudi-led coalition and starve the warring countries of the arms and munitions that are being used to prolong the devastating conflict in Yemen.
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/yemen-money-over-morality/
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B E P)
France and Total at war in Yemen?
From January 2018 to October 2019, we conducted an investigation into Total's activities in Yemen, in an attempt to examine its links with French foreign policy in the region. In Yemen, Total is the largest private investor and its activity has continued to expand in the country since its arrival in 19832
This report focuses particularly on the Yemen LNG gas site in Balhaf, which includes a gas liquefaction plant, a pipeline to supply it from the Marib field reserves and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. Little information is available on this highly protected site, which is recognized as the only US "anti-terrorism" port in Yemen. The activity started in 2009 before being brutally stopped in 2015. According to the official communication of Total, he went "in preservation mode" following the outbreak of the war in the country, with a reduced team remained on place to keep the facilities under the bell3. Private military or French security companies (Risk & co4, Surtymar5 and Pro-Risk6) declare that they are operating in Balhaf.
The French multinational is the main shareholder of the Yemen LNG consortium with 39.6% of the capital, alongside Yemeni, Korean and Japanese companies7
The results of the survey are overwhelming. According to open sources and testimonies, the Yemen LNG gas station in Balhaf has been home to a militia since 2016 - the elite forces of Shabwa - under the control of the United Arab Emirates. It is directly concerned by the network of "secret prisons" in the hands of these militias that surround southern Yemen. This armed tribal group is accused of torture and enforced disappearances
Human rights organizations such as Mwatana9 and Amnesty International 10. The composition of this militia, which is officially dedicated to the war on terror, is in fact driven by energy interests: the tribes close to the oil fields have been integrated into the militia, the others situated on a mountainous backhand were excluded. Three testimonies, two of which come directly from victims, as well as an open source11, record the detention of Yemeni citizens in Balhaf in a logistical area of the site managed by Total in 2017 and 2018. These testimonies relate to inhuman and degrading treatment ( deprivation of care, torture) committed by Emirati soldiers. These detention cases include members of tribes excluded from the militia, including members of the Al-Awlaki tribe.
Can Total and the French government ignore what is happening on the site? The firm is presumed classified "OIV" (Operator of vital importance) by the French authorities within the meaning of the Code of Defense. In accordance with this legislation, OIVs must share security information between headquarters and their subsidiary. And Balhaf is under the supervision of the Prime Minister in the event of a major crisis. If necessary, Total must comply with specifications that imply, for example, that the slightest incident must be notified to the authorities12
At this point, there are different questions that the French executive and Total have to answer.
https://www.amisdelaterre.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_yemen_total_final.pdf
(* B E P)
Yemen: why France is pushing for the restart of the Total gas site
The state supported the Yemen LNG gas liquefaction project with credit guarantees of € 216 million.
Pressure has been mounting for several months for Total to restart its Yemen LNG gas liquefaction plant, and to pay the Yemeni state the taxes it has been missing since the shutdown of the site in the spring of 2015 from the beginning. of the war.
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, who are waging a war against the Houthi rebellion, while keeping the economy of the country under perfusion, urge the French group in this direction; Washington and Paris, supporters of the Gulf monarchies, do the same. The Yemeni government is not left out, just like the rebels, masters of the capital, Sana'a, who have posted posters asking for the revival of gas exports. But the factory does not restart.
and
(B E P)
Total hopeful of Yemen LNG production restart
French energy giant and LNG player Total hopes to restart LNG production in the future at the Balhaf facility operated by Yemen LNG in which Total has a 39.6 percent interest.
The company’s expatriate employees left Yemen in 2015, as the operator stopped all production of chilled gas at the plant as fighting in the country pushed near. At the time, the liquefaction plant was put in a preservation mode.
Total noted that its actions since 2015 as a Yemen LNG shareholder have been solely intended to ensure the safety of local employees, and preserve the Balhaf site so that it can resume LNG production once peace has been restored in Yemen.
In April 2017, Yemen LNG informed Total that the U.N.-recognized government of Yemen had requisitioned some of the Balhaf facilities, which were de facto unused, for the coalition forces supporting the government.
Yemen LNG complied with the order by the Yemeni government. Two distinct areas were established. They are fenced off and have their own separate entrances. Responsibility for managing the requisitioned areas has been transferred in full to the coalition forces, with Total not having any information on how the requisitioned areas are being used.
https://www.lngworldnews.com/total-hopeful-of-yemen-lng-production-restart/
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
#AlQaeda continues to thrash #ISIS in #Yemen. Claims it pelted ISIS with bombs & rockets in Qayfa Tuesday #AQAP has not formally claimed any attacks on #UAE-backed forces since August. Over past 2 months I calculate 13% of ops targeted Houthis whilst a whopping 87% targeted ISIS
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1192776263339040768
(A T)
[Sanaa gov.] YEMEN SECURITY FORCES ARREST SERIOUS CRIMINALS OF AL-QAEDA IN BAYDA
(A T)
By Official account of the US State Department Rewards for Justice Program: BREAKING: Multi-million dollar REWARDS for information that brings two senior leaders of #AQAP to justice. Up to $6 million for al-Awlaki and up to $4 million for al-Qosi. Stop these terrorist extremists and earn a reward. Relocation possible (image)
https://twitter.com/Rewards4Justice/status/1192487540693045249
and as reminder: https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/1192499598629244928
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
The Southern Issue on the Kings’ Table
The guests began to enter the hall, the host was great, like his father, the world witnessed his generosity and wisdom and integrity. The details did not bother me but the stream of memories reassured me that my dream can come true. I recalled the discontent of those who opposed us and those who attempted to jump on the bandwagon of the sacrifices of the southerners once again.
On May 4th, 2017, we rallied and issued the historic Declaration of Aden, which authorized the formation of the Southern Transitional Council, the whole of the southern people came out on May 21st and supported our council and commend it.
The STC’s team was and still is, to this moment, enjoying statesmanship, wisdom and has a vision.
Moments later, the prince read his historic speech, at his side was Mohammed bin Zayed and the representative of the STC sat facing the legitimacy's representative. My stream of thoughts turned into tears of joy which I never felt before, I believed that my mission was over. But the prince assured me in a private conversation that I have an important assignment ahead which will double my mission. That came from a trusted friend and ally, who had never broken a covenant before, I knew that I, without any doubt, had to guarantee him that I will be the patron, I replied to him, “ Consider it done”.
I felt the warmth creped into me when we held hands during our exit, I was sure that all the southerners and the Yemenis felt it too. The dream came true.
I realise that whatever one attempted to do with goodwill and accuracy it will always come out fruitful – By Noura Almoteari
http://en.adenpress.news/news/14738
(A P)
Riyadh Agreement recognises that diplomacy is the only way forward for Yemen
The real threat to this regional and international consensus comes inevitably from Iran. It is the Iranian leadership in Tehran that has been a key cause of the conflict continuing. By supplying the Houthi Rebels with a wide variety of weaponry, including advanced missiles and high tech drones, they have encouraged efforts to disrupt Middle East stability by allowing the launch of those weapons against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.
The way is now open for Iran to finally abandon its military support to the Houthi rebels. It can join in the efforts by its near neighbours in Saudi Arabia and the UAE by deploying its considerable political influence to ensure that the agreement reached at Stockholm in turn leads to a permanent and long lasting peace for Yemen. Iran has an opportunity through these further delicate and difficult negotiations of demonstrating its commitment to regional and international stability. Their outcome could be a test case of Iran’s attitude – by Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary under Tony Blair.
https://reaction.life/riyadh-agreement-recognises-that-diplomacy-is-the-only-way-forward-for-yemen/
My comment: This rally is propaganda bullshit – the role of the UK alone supplying the Saudis “with a wide variety of weaponry”, will outnumber Iran’s military support to the Houthis by 100:1, not to mention the US, France, and dozens of other arms suppliers.
(A P)
IRAN HAS MILITARY ADVANTAGE OVER U.S. IN MIDDLE EAST DUE TO ASYMMETRIC FORCES, REPORT SAYS
A new report has warned that Iran is leveraging its asymmetric warfare networks to establish a military advantage over the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East, as Washington and Tehran maintain a tense standoff over Iran's nuclear research program.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published a new report on Thursday—titled Iran's Networks of Influence in the Middle East—detailing Tehran's success in establishing a series of non-state forces across the region to protect and further its interests.
While the U.S. and its allies are operating with conventional military forces, the report said Iran's strength lies in its influence within non-state militias and insurgent groups in several nations.
IISS said this "third-part capability" has become more significant than Tehran's ballistic missile program, its nascent nuclear capabilities or its large—though outdated—conventional armed forces.
Though the conventional balance is still in favor of the U.S.—by far the most advanced and well-funded military in the world—Iran's capability in the so-called "gray zone" has shifted the balance of effective force towards Tehran.
IISS said Iranian investment in its asymmetric network "has consistently delivered Iran advantage without the cost or risk of direct confrontation with adversaries." It allows the nation to launch attacks on enemies with some level of deniability.
My comment: The IISS report had been presented in Yemen War Mosaic 595. – This article here shows what a lot of bullshit propaganda is involved. Just this point: Iran is a Middle East country, the US is not. Why should there be any US presence in a region where no square centimeter US territory can be found? The whole intenssion of this article is ringing false alarm and fearmongering. Actually, woldwide the US bully can excel anyone militarily.
(A P)
Iran’s support for terrorism has surged in 2019
The Iranian regime has been involved in and subsequently sanctioned for numerous terrorist and destabilizing activities in the Middle East in 2019. This has included the harassment of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, such as the seizing of the UK-flagged Stena Impero by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and attacks against four ships: Two Saudi oil tankers, a Norwegian-flagged vessel and one flagged in Sharjah, which were anchored off the coast of the UAE.
The Iranian regime has also continued to smuggleweapons and provide military, financial, intelligence and advisory assistance to proxies such as the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah, and Iraqi Shiite militias including Kata’ib Hezbollah. This has contributed to a greater propensity for Houthi rocket launches aimed at civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, the deployment of thousands of Hezbollah foot soldiers in Syria, and the regular bombardment of southern Israel by Iranian-funded Hamas rockets.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1580621
My comment: This is from terrorism hub KSA.
(A P)
Here is what the Legitimate Government of #Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council have said about #RiyadhAgreement
https://twitter.com/KSAmofaEN/status/1191768364747821057
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
http://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395302801166
http://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395302801165
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1996082
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/07/miftah-launches-oxygen-plant-in-mareb-hospital/
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
(* A K pH)
Over 240 air raids since end of October
Saudi attacks on Yemeni civilians still do not cease
During the past few days, the Saudi-American aggression has intensified its air raids on a number of governorates, especially Saada and Hajjah, targeting civilians and both public and private property, leaving martyrs and wounded citizens.
Reports indicate that during a week the aggression targeted a number of provinces, most of which focus on the provinces of Saada and Hajjah from October 29th until November 3rd , with more than 243 raids, including 150 raids on Saturday and Sunday, November 2nd and 3rd.
https://www.uprising.today/over-240-air-raids-since-end-of-october/
(A K pH)
Child Musa Ahmed Salem injured in the hand As a result of a cluster bomb explosion between their farms remnants of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression in #Baqim Directorate (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/2146971418932174
(A K pS)
Coalition airstrikes hit Houthi reinforcements in Sa'ada
http://en.adenpress.news/news/14735
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pH)
A WOMAN INJURED IN A SAUDI BOMBARDMENT ON RAZIH BORDER DISTRICT (photo)
https://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/a-woman-injured-in-a-saudi-bombardment-on-razih-border-district/
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=9661
(A K pS)
Two civilians injured by Houthi shelling in Taiz
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/07/two-civilians-injured-by-houthi-shelling-in-taiz/ = http://en.adenpress.news/news/14733
(* A H K)
Jemen: Krankenhaus von Ärzte ohne Grenzen bei Luftangriff teilweise zerstört
Am Mittwochabend wurde ein von Ärzte ohne Grenzen geführtes Krankenhaus in Mokka im Südwesten des Jemen durch einen Luftangriff auf ein benachbartes Militärlager teilweise zerstört. Zum Zeitpunkt des Angriffs befanden sich rund 30 Patienten sowie 35 Mitarbeiter im Krankenhaus. Glücklicherweise wurde niemand verletzt. Die meisten Patienten konnten sich selbst in Sicherheit bringen, einige Patienten in kritischem Zustand, darunter zwei Neugeborene, wurden von Ärzte ohne Grenzen in ein anderes Krankenhaus in Mokka überführt. Ärzte ohne Grenzen hat alle medizinischen Aktivitäten in der Klinik eingestellt.
„Es war reines Glück, dass bei diesem Angriff keine Patientinnen und Patienten oder Mitarbeiter verletzt wurden. Es hätte leicht Tote und Verletzte geben können“, sagt Caroline Seguin, Landeskoordinatorin von Ärzte ohne Grenzen im Jemen. „Da das Krankenhaus nun außer Betrieb ist, sind die Menschen in dieser Region ohne dringend benötigte lebensrettende Hilfe.“
Das Krankenhaus von Ärzte ohne Grenzen wurde durch die Explosionen und das Feuer nach dem Luftangriff auf das Nachbargelände, auf dem sich auch ein Militärlager befindet, schwer beschädigt. Die Apotheke brannte aus, die Bürogebäude wurden zerstört. Die Beschädigungen einiger technischer Gebäude, darunter jenes für den Stromgenerator, müssen noch untersucht werden. Die Fenster der Krankenstationen wurden durch die Wucht der Explosionen zerstört. Angesichts des Risikos durch nicht explodierte Sprengkörper auf dem Gelände ist eine Minenräumung erforderlich, bevor der Betrieb wiederaufgenommen werden kann. Ärzte ohne Grenzen hat einen Teil des medizinischen Teams nach Aden gebracht.
https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/presse/jemen-mokka-zerstoerung-krankenhaus
Meine Bemerkung: “Luftangriff” bleibt unklar. Es war ein Drohnen/Raketenangriff der Huthis auf die benachbarte Militäreinrichtung.
(A K)
UN condemns aerial attack that destroyed the only free and much-needed hospital in south-west Yemen. The attack obviously meant to destroy a warehouse of weapons belonging to brigades of militants linked to Qaeda/ISIS working with UAE and calling themselves Giant Brigades.
Dozens of militants were killed and injured by the attack. It’s not clear who was behind it. Saudis accuse Houthis who neither confirm nor deny.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1192708573069037570
(* A H K)
Yemen: MSF hospital partially destroyed in Mocha attack
A hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Mocha, in southwestern Yemen, was partially destroyed on Wednesday evening when an attack hit the surrounding buildings including a military warehouse. At the time of the attack, around 30 patients and 35 staff were present in the hospital. Fortunately, no casualties were reported among them. Everyone was rapidly evacuated. The majority of stable patients were able to leave the area on their own, while some critical patients, including two new-born babies, were transferred by MSF teams to another hospital in Mocha.
The MSF hospital was severely damaged by the explosions and the fire which followed the attack which hit a nearby military warehouse. The pharmacy was burnt and the office buildings were destroyed, while damage has still to be assessed on some technical buildings including the one housing the power generator. The windows of the hospital wards were shattered by the force of the blasts.
Medical activities in the hospital are currently suspended and a part of the medical team will be relocated to Aden. Given the risk of unexploded devices on the site, demining will be needed before any activity can restart.
The location of the hospital had previously been communicated to all warring parties and authorities and was well known by all warring parties in the area since the hospital opened in 2018.
MSF once again reminds that all parties to the conflict must proactively take all necessary measures to spare medical facilities.
“It was only luck that no patients or staff were harmed in this attack; it could have been carnage,” said Caroline Seguin, manager of MSF programmes in Yemen. “As the hospital is currently out of commission, the people in the area are now without much-needed, often lifesaving, care.”
MSF opened Mocha hospital in August 2018 to provide emergency surgical care for patients suffering from conflict-related injuries, as well as providing treatment of other surgical emergencies, such as caesarean sections for complicated deliveries.
The 35-bed hospital is the only free-of-charge, civilian hospital providing these services in the Mocha area.
Since the beginning of the year, a total of 1,787 patients were admitted to hospital, and 2,476 surgical procedures were performed, including 201 caesarean sections.
My remark: Earlier reporting: Yemen War Mosaic 595, cp17. This certainly had not been a Saudi coalition air raid, as it’s claimed here. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-saudis-bomb-another-hospital-in-yemen/
And
(A K)
For clarity: UN called #Yemen hospital attack "strikes", Medicins Sans Frontieres "aerial attack". Both careful not to cast blame. Local coalition forces pin this latest "mistake" on Houthis, apparently targeting nearby military stores. All eyes now on fragile #Hodeidah ceasefire
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1192839171427241988
And
(* H K pS)
Film: Médecins Sans Frontières Hospital in Mokha, which was targeted by Houthi militias by a drone
Local sources said that the militias targeted Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Al-Mokha and caused severe material damage and led to the burning of a number of departments and clinics in the hospital. The sources said that the hospital was crowded with civilian patients while it was being targeted, which led to a state of fear and panic among patients and the civilian population living near the hospital. The property of citizens was damaged by the Houthi targeting of the hospital, where an oil tanker and a car parked near the hospital were burnt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HX0gkwziKE
another Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF1-Be02SJs
And
(A H P)
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Strikes damage a key hospital serving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis
Preliminary reports indicate that a key hospital serving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis has been badly damaged by strikes which occurred on 6 November in Al Mukha, in Taizz Governorate on the western coast of Yemen.
The hospital, which is run by Doctors without Borders, has been forced to close, and a large warehouse of medical supplies has been destroyed. “Medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law,” said Ms. Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.
(B K pS)
MASAM pulls out 2209 Houthi-laid mines in three days
The Saudi Project for demining in Yemen, MASAM, managed to remove 2,209 landmines, explosive devices and unexploded ammunitions in the last three days of last October.
http://en.26sepnews.net/2019/11/07/masam-pulls-out-2209-houthi-laid-mines-in-three-days/
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/14734
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(B D)
"Die Lehmbauten des Lichts - Aufzeichnungen aus dem Jemen" Guy Helminger
Der Jemen stirbt. Seit Jahren zerstört Krieg dieses Land und die schönste Stadt, die der Autor Guy Helminger je in seinem Leben gesehen hat: Sanaa. 2009 war Helminger author in residence in der jemenitischen Hauptstadt, besuchte das Umland, die Stadt Aden im Süden und flog in den Hadramaut, um sich Shibam, das „»Chicago der Wüste« anzusehen, die legendäre Stadt aus achtstöckigen Lehmhochhäusern. Und wie immer auf seinen Reisen machte er sich Notizen, zeichnete Gespräche auf, beschrieb die Stimmung im Land, die politischen Begebenheiten, nahm an einer Trauerzeremonie teil, kaute Qat, jene Droge, die ab nachmittags das ganze Land zum Erliegen bringt, traf Autoren und bewahrte so in Text und Bild, was mittlerweile so gut wie inexistent ist. Die schiitischen Rebellen hatten bereits Teile des Nordens besetzt, Al Qaida hatte schon ihr Lager aufgeschlagen, aber niemand ahnte die Katastrophe, die folgen würde.
Guy Helminger: Die Lehmbauten des Lichts. Aufzeichnungen und Fotos aus dem Jemen. 224 Seiten, 19 x 11 cm. ISBN 978-99959-43-24-0. 20,00 €
https://www.rtl.lu/kultur/bicher/a/1428134.html
(B D)
Abdulrahman al-Amri: The Bulbul of the Sana’ani Chanting Art
When we talk about inshad (religious chanting) in Yemen from the early 1980s to today, Abdulrahman al-Amri is the voice that has surpassed all others in this genre.
Abdulrahman al-Amri was born to be a singer. He started chanting at the age of four and appeared on the television programs ‘Kalam Mawzoun’ and ‘Arab Sat’, as well as Sana’a Radio in 1984.
Al-Amri was born in Sana’a in 1973. He received his elementary and secondary education at Gamal Abdel Nasser School, which was located close to his home. He was the most famous student in the school at the time, and still resides in his family home.
As a young boy, he studied the Quran under the late reciter Mohammed Hussein Amer, as well as learning grammar and fiqh. Amer was also his first patron.
https://almadaniyamag.com/2019/10/27/abdulrahman-al-amri/
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-595-yemen-war-mosaic-595
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-595 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-595:
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/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected aur raids:
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