Nov. 23, 2020: Marib province – Shabwah province – Saudis and Islah Party – The US and Yemen – Cities and countryside in Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-695b-yemen-war-mosaic-695b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Großer Gefangenenaustausch / Most important: Great prisoner swap
cp2 Allgemein / General
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: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older 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
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Film: Jemen: Kinder leiden an schwerer Unterernährung
Akute Unterernährung ist insbesondere bei Kindern im Jemen weit verbreitet. UN-Organisationen warnten im vergangenen Monat davor, dass mindestens 98.000 Kinder unter fünf Jahren im Südjemen an schwerer akuter Unterernährung sterben könnten. Im Jemen herrscht bereits die schlimmste Nahrungsmittelkrise der Welt, die vor allem auf den dortigen Krieg zurückzuführen ist. Der Krieg und die Coronavirus-Pandemie haben dem ohnehin schon ärmsten Land der arabischen Welt aufeinanderfolgende Schläge versetzt. UNICEF-Vertreter Phillipe Duamelle fordert die Ausweitung der derzeitigen Programme sowie notwendige Mittel, um die Krise zu bekämpfen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RXIhusl8yk
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Film: Starving, malnourished children at risk in Yemen
18-month-old twins Mohamed and Ali are struggling to survive at a camp for displaced people in Yemen. Doctors fear that complications from malnutrition may take their lives.
https://www.nbcnews.com/video/starving-malnourished-children-at-risk-in-yemen-96291909837
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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MARIB GOVERNORATE
Marib city and Marib Al Wadi
Conflict around Marib between Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and local tribes supported by the internationally recognised Government of Yemen (IRG) and the Saudi-led coalition has increased since early 2020. Fighting intensified in August and September with the Houthis advancing in southern Marib governorate through Mahliyah and Al Rahbah districts. At the end of October, fighting was concentrated around Al Rahbah, Jabal Murad, and Al Joubah. From January to October, fighting displaced over 98,000 people into the governorate with 70% of IDPs located in Marib city and Marib Al Wadi. Estimates of the number of IDPs in the districts vary greatly, but the local authority in Marib city puts numbers there as high as 1.5 million people.
Both districts had already been hosting IDPs since the beginning of the conflict in 2015. In this report, we look in as much depth as we can at these two districts in Marib governorate – Marib city and Marib Al Wadi – to understand the increasing humanitarian needs as IDPs continue to arrive daily, putting pressure on public services and stretching operational actors as they respond to intense humanitarian needs. Needs are most critical in the areas of food, WASH, shelter, and education.
ANTICIPATED SCOPE AND SCALE
If fighting continues with no significant advances on either side, humanitarian partners have estimated that 3,500 households in locations close to the frontlines could be displaced towards Marib city and Marib Al Wadi. A worst-case scenario could see between 75,000–150,000 households displaced towards Marib Al Wadi and into Hadramaut – a governorate with a vast desert and extremely limited humanitarian services. This would require a large-scale humanitarian response. As fighting escalates, humanitarian access may be almost entirely blocked, as major highways into the governorate are cut off.
HUMANITARIAN CONSTRAINTS
Marib city and Marib Al Wadi, which have received the highest proportion of new IDPs, remain partly accessible. Security concerns are impacting access, which is also challenging because of pre-existing bureaucratic constraints imposed on aid agencies predominately by the Houthis, and also to some extent by government authorities. Response initiatives are ongoing but limited, and the number of new arrivals exceeds current capacity.
INTRODUCTION
Marib governorate covers approximately 17,405km2 divided among 14 districts. It is located 173km to the northeast of Yemen’s capital Sana’a. It borders Al Jawf to the north, Al Bayda to the south, Shabwah to the southeast, Hadramout to the east, and Sana’a governorate to the west. Marib has emerged as a key governorate in Yemen’s shifting balance of power during the conflict, as it is the only northern governorate that remains under the control of the IRG. If the government loses control of Marib, they will lose control of all of the north. This will further weaken the government and will threaten the southern governorates under IRG control. Oil and gas is by far the highest value industry in the governorate, though the biggest sources of livelihood and employment are agriculture, animal husbandry, and beekeeping. More recently, hotels, restaurants, construction companies, and other types of commerce associated with Marib city’s urban expansion have grown the economy (Sana’a Center 22/10/2020).
Marib city is the capital of Marib governorate and its only urban district. According to local authorities, the city’s population has grown from around 40,000 to more than 1.5 million since the beginning of the war in 2015, and the city’s population has become increasingly diverse. People from all parts of Yemen have settled in Marib in search of a better life — drawn by its reputation as the safest governorate among non-Houthi-controlled areas and with comparatively more economic opportunities. Marib Al Wadi is an agricultural area bordering Marib city, and its population has also grown compared to before the war. Agriculture is the main activity of its residents.
STAKEHOLDERS
Marib’s population has a strong tribal identity that has been a major factor in regulating society in the absence of an effective state. There are seven main tribal groupings in the governorate: Abidah, Murad, Al-Jadaan, Bani Jabr, Jahm Bani Abd, and Al-Sharif. The Abidah tribe has the largest geographical footprint in Marib, staking claim to all of Marib Al Wadi district, which covers the entire eastern half of the governorate. Abidah’s territory encompasses most of the governorate’s oil and gas fields and infrastructure, as well as important heritage sites and a Saudi military base. Marib’s governor, Sultan al-Aradah, hails from the Abidah tribe. In Marib city, the Abdiah and Al Ashraf tribes are the most dominant (Sana’a Center 22/10/2020).
Local authorities are made up of a mixture of tribal leaders and officially appointed staff aligned with the IRG. The governor acts as a central power in Marib, where he unites all the tribes and consults with them. In 2015 he managed to persuade all tribal leaders to sign an agreement vowing not to hand state institutions to the Ho
Marib is the only governorate in which all political parties are still functioning and operating at full capacity. The local governance model of decision-making generally includes consultations with various social groups – local authorities occasionally meet with tribes’ and parties’ representatives to consult with them and encourage participation in decision-making – but is intolerant of direct political dissent. The governorate has come to represent a unique and reasonably effective decentralised model of local governance in Yemen, bolstered by the unity of the population, tight-knit security, and economic resources (Rethinking Yemen’s Economy 07/2018; Carnegie 31/07/2019
and another report from October 2020: https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/11778
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Shabwa: Progress Despite Turmoil in a Governorate of Competing Identities
Executive Summary
Shabwa governorate, perched centrally at the foot of Yemen’s mountainous highlands and stretching to the Gulf of Aden, is at a crossroads of Yemeni identity as well as geography. As part of the former Marxist South Yemen that unified with the northern Yemen Arab Republic in 1990 and then attempted to break away four years later, Shabwa shares the southern sense of marginalization and alienation that has bred popular support for secessionist elements in recent years. In the 16 years that followed the 1994 civil war, many of Shabwa’s tribal and political elites were co-opted by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh into toeing the regime’s line. But those relationships did not prove strong enough to deliver the governorate into Saleh’s hands after he allied with the armed Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, to seize Sana’a in late 2014 and expand southward.
The Houthi-Saleh alliance briefly controlled large swathes of Shabwa, including its capital Ataq, in the early months of the war. By the end of the summer in 2015, Houthi-Saleh forces were confined to Wadi Bayhan in the governorate’s northwest corner, where they held their ground for two more years until their alliance of convenience unraveled in December 2017 infighting, ending with the killing of Saleh. Another non-state actor, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), had expanded in much of rural Shabwa prior to the arrival of Houthi-Saleh forces and managed to hold on longer than the alliance. While the Saudi-backed army of the internationally recognized government of President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi was credited with driving Houthi-Saleh forces out of Shabwa, UAE-backed tribal militias known collectively as the Shabwani Elite forces were responsible for routing AQAP and its local affiliate, Ansar Al-Sharia, from the governorate.
These were major victories for the coalition-backed Yemeni forces that allowed local authorities to turn their attention to governance. However, conflicting political agendas bubbled to the surface and by the summer of 2019, several brigades from the Shabwani Elite forces were working hand-in-hand with the UAE-supported secessionist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), to eject Hadi-appointed officials and troops from the governorate.
Shabwa has experienced some security improvements during the current war, which have aided development efforts despite the shifting backdrop of armed political struggle. The governorate’s oil reserves and network of pipelines extending to export facilities on the Arabian Sea have allowed Shabwa’s local authority to kick-start its economy. Having negotiated a 20 percent share of those oil sale revenues with the central government, local officials have been able to manage the governorate’s affairs with a degree of autonomy for the first time in modern history. Like the oil-producing Marib governorate to the north, Shabwa has used its newfound political autonomy and budget to launch development projects that long seemed out of reach.
This paper provides an overview of the political and tribal dynamics that resulted in Shabwa’s marginalization in recent decades. It then examines the most recent power struggles for control of the governorate and its resources since the outbreak of war in 2015 and details how it has become relatively secure compared to many parts of Yemen.
Introduction
Shabwa is the third-largest governorate by area in Yemen. Located in the center of the country, Shabwa is flanked by four governorates: Hadramawt to the east, Marib to the north, and Abyan and Al-Bayda to the west. Its geography consists of rugged mountains, plateaus and valleys in the northwestern and central parts of the governorate flanked by the Ramlat al-Sabatayn desert in the northeast and coastal desert along the Arabian Sea. Shabwa’s southern coast, consisting of about 300 kilometers of beaches, is dotted with fishing villages, the most important of which are Bir Ali, Hawra and Balhaf. The port of Balhaf at the eastern end of Shabwa’s coast is the site of the biggest foreign investment on Yemeni soil, the Balhaf liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal.
Composed of 17 districts spanning about 43,000 square kilometers, the governorate has one of the lowest population densities in Yemen. Shabwa’s estimated population of between 600,000 and 700,000 is dispersed across several small urban centers – the largest of which are the capital Ataq, Al-Alya and Azzan – as well as numerous villages and hamlets.[1]
The vast majority of Shabwa’s population falls within nine main tribes and several southern Hashemite families, almost all of whom are Shafei Sunni.[2] The largest tribe is the Al-Awaliq, mainly located in Al-Said, Nisab and Hatib districts, with a presence in Ataq and Merkhah al-Sufla districts. The Bani Hilal tribe is concentrated in Ataq, Merkhah al-Sufla and Jardan districts. The Masabain tribe is predominantly in Bayhan, Ain and Usaylan districts. The Noman tribe is in Mayfa’a and Al-Rawdah districts. The Balabaid tribe is in Arma, Al-Talh and Duhur districts. The Himyar tribe is in Habban and Rudum districts. The Al-Buraik is in Arma and Jardan districts. The Balharith tribe is in Usaylan district.
In addition to tribes, Shabwa has a presence of Hashemites, or descendents of the Prophet Mohammed. Prominent Hashemite family names in the governorate include Jeffri, Mihdhar, Hamid, Jailani, Shareef and Junaidi. Another group, the Bahaj, are what is known as mushayekh, or religious clerics, and are in Habban district.
Conclusion
Shabwa governorate has experienced tremendous changes in the past five years, coming under the control of a variety of warring groups. It has witnessed progress despite the turmoil in the form of development projects, a restoration of some public services and improved security — all made possible by securing a degree of financial autonomy in the absence of a strong state.
Yemen’s warring parties and Shabwanis, however, have widely differing views about the governorate’s proper identity and its future. To the STC, Shabwa is the southern governorate lost to the “northerners”; for Hadi’s government, Shabwa is the southern governorate that chose unity. Should the Houthis succeed in overpowering coalition-backed government forces in neighboring Marib, which has been the rebels’ top military objective in 2020, taking control of Shabwa’s oil and gas infrastructure would be a logical next step. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda, while currently active only in remote areas in Al-Bayda, has proven resilient over the years, and reluctant to leave areas in which it has operated. Amid these competing pressures, Shabwa’s continued stability remains tenuous until broader political settlements among the warring parties are reached – by Majd Ibrahim
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/11930
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Saudi alliance with Yemen's Islah on the brink over Muslim Brotherhood tensions
Islahi leaders are nervous that their patron Riyadh has turned its back on them, which may push more into the arms of the Houthis
The unlikely alliance between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Islah party has come under strain like never before, as fresh moves by Riyadh targeting the Muslim Brotherhood have left its Yemeni affiliate fearful of its status.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long opposed the Brotherhood, labelling the Islamist group a terrorist organisation in 2014.
Yet the Saudis have for decades found a partner in Islah, whose status as a client of Riyadh only grew following the 2015 Saudi-led intervention into Yemen’s war.
As Saudi Arabia provided weapons to Islah fighters battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, and even deployed its troops alongside Islahis, Riyadh refrained from hostile speech and moves against the Brotherhood.
That changed last week, when Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Scholars issued a statement calling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, which sent Islah officials in the kingdom scrambling.
“The Muslim Brotherhood Group is a terrorist group and [does not] represent the method of Islam, rather it blindly follows its partisan objectives that are running contrary to the guidance of our graceful religion, while taking religion as a mask to disguise its purposes in order to practice the opposite such as sedition, wreaking havoc, committing violence and terrorism,” the council said.
This is the first official statement by Saudi Arabia against the Brotherhood since 2014 and has left Islah exposed.
Saudi ally the UAE has targeted Islah several times during the war, despite the two ostensibly being on the same side of the conflict. The UAE employed US mercenaries to kill Islah leaders, and its local proxies have clashed with Islah’s fighters.
Riyadh’s patronage has always previously stopped hostilities getting out of hand.
In response to the Saudi statement, Islah leaders like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman criticised the kingdom, accusing it and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of suppressing freedoms.
Many Islah officials live in Saudi Arabia, often working in Hadi’s government and presidency, which has operated from the kingdom since the war began.
“The Emirates has been fighting us since early 2017 and it supported the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to fight the army in the south, but Saudi Arabia used to be neutral,” an Islahi member told Middle East Eye, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Saudi Arabia intervened more than once to solve the dispute between the STC and Hadi-backed forces from Islah, and we accepted all agreements as Saudi used to be neutral.”
The source said the party has often felt let down by Saudi Arabia, but never expected to begin being labelled as terrorists while the kingdom hosted Islahi leaders and fought alongside the party.
“Before 2015, Saudi Arabia accused the Muslim Brotherhood of terrorism and the relationship wasn’t good, but in 2015 a new alliance was started and Islahi fighters were fighting in Yemen together with Saudi fighters,” the Islahi member said.
According to the source, Saudi Arabia tried to force Islah into allying with the UAE and following its orders, but “Islahi members are loyal to the country and not to any other country”.
The member said the accusations of terrorism are baseless, but have now changed the dynamic between the party and the coalition - though stressed this does not mean Islah will join the Houthis’ ranks instead.
Mohammed Ali, a seasoned Yemeni journalist, believes Saudi-Emirati loyalty supersedes all other alliances for Riyadh.
“There are disagreements between the UAE and the Muslim Brotherhood in several countries, and Saudi Arabia took this step to let the world knows that it supports the UAE against the Muslim Brotherhood,” he told MEE.
“In Yemen, I think the Islah party knew very well that Saudi Arabia is against them even before this accusation,” he said, pointing to weak support for Yemeni government forces when clashes between Hadi’s forces and UAE-backed southern separatists have broken out before.
The UAE and Muslim Brotherhood are locked in an international battle spanning Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, Ali noted, adding that Islah has now been drawn in and faces a difficult period ahead.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-saudi-islah-alliance-muslim-brotherhood-tensions
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Shocking New Figures Show How Just Much the US is Fueling the Violence in Yemen
New figures from the UN and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that since the war in Yemen began, the US has sold over $13 billion in high-tech weapons to Saudi Arabia, making the Kingdom a cash cow for US weapons makers.
Despite presenting itself as a force for good and peace in the Middle East, the United States sells at least five times as much weaponry to Saudi Arabia than aid it donates to Yemen. The State Department constantly portrays itself as a humanitarian superpower with the welfare of the Yemeni people as its highest priority, yet figures released from the United Nations and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that since the war in Yemen began, the U.S. government has given $2.56 billion in aid to the country, but sold over $13 billion in high-tech weapons to Saudi Arabia, the leader of the coalition prosecuting a relentless onslaught against the country.
Figures like these are always debatable. What constitutes legitimate “aid” is a question everyone would answer differently. Furthermore, the $13 billion figure does not include the enormous weapons deal Saudi Arabia signed with Donald Trump in 2017, which will reportedly see the Kingdom purchase $350 billion over ten years.
SIPRI is skeptical of the size of these numbers, but if they prove to be correct, once the orders begin arriving, they will make the paltry aid donations seem like small change by comparison. Sales include all manner of military equipment, from radar and transport systems to F-15 fighter jets, TOW missiles, Abrams tanks, and Paladin howitzers.
While the Saudis pay in petrodollars, Yemenis pay in blood.
“Making billions from arms exports which fuel the conflict while providing a small fraction of that in aid to Yemen is both immoral and incoherent. The world’s wealthiest nations cannot continue to put profits above the Yemeni people,” said Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Yemen Country Director.
In addition to supplying the weapons, the U.S. (and many of its European allies) train Saudi forces, have provided critical military infrastructure and logistical support, and even refueled Saudi bombers in the air and provided targeting guidance to help Saudi forces find their marks more efficiently. On top of that, the U.S. has shielded Riyadh from international censure by defending it at bodies like the United Nations. In essence, the U.S. is involved in every area of the Yemen conflict, doing everything up to pulling the trigger itself.
“The U.S. must end its support for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and instead prioritize the people across Yemen fighting to survive,” Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead told MintPress in a statement.
The United States has a long history of mistreating Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has proven to be one of the United States’ most loyal allies in the region over the past 50 years — and its enforcer. In return for keeping the oil money flowing into the United States, Washington has been willing to defend the country’s abysmal human rights record, and even to overlook the assassination of journalists like the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi.
With an impending change of administration in the White House, there is some talk that a Biden administration will reverse direction on Yemen. Bennis, however, was skeptical of how profound a change Biden will implement:
There may be a rather abrupt change. The question, for me, is how deep it will be. Biden has made a commitment on his statement of intention on foreign affairs to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi War on Yemen. How that gets defined is the question. There will be some symbolic moves very quickly after he is inaugurated, hopefully in the first days or weeks of the new administration. The big question is will he actually stop the massive arms sales of basics- the F-15s and F-16s, the bombers and bombs, the drones, the ammunition and equipment that is responsible for so much death and destruction in Yemen. Is he prepared to do that? I’m hopeful but not terribly optimistic.” – by Alan MacLeod
https://www.mintpressnews.com/how-much-us-arms-sales-saudi-arabia-fueling-violence-yemen/273181/ = https://orinocotribune.com/shocking-new-figures-show-how-just-much-the-us-is-fueling-the-violence-in-yemen/?fbclid=IwAR18LkEq9l60ZILLdfrfdB9J3LHBqSQdbix4NrEDUWi_J2TI_ks_LVwjRqQ
and
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Designating The Houthis Is Another Senseless Attack On Yemeni Civilians
The Trump administration is preparing to go through with the terrible idea of designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization
Designating the Houthis is a mistake on the merits. but It will make it more difficult to reach a negotiated settlement to end the war. It will make an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis even worse. All of this was true when it was being floated earlier this year, and it is still true today. On top of all that, there is good reason to believe that this decision is being made as a last-minute gift to the Saudis. It is also another attempt to tie the hands of the next administration:
“They have been contemplating this for a while, but Pompeo wants this fast-tracked,” said one diplomatic source. “It’s part of the scorched-earth policy the sour grapes in the White House are taking.”
The Trump administration’s Yemen policy has been a disgrace for the last four years, so it isn’t really surprising that they would do the wrong thing on their way out the door. This is just about the worst thing they could do after having already suspended U.S. aid to Houthi-controlled territory, which is where roughly 80% of the population resides. The U.N. special envoy has urged the U.S. not to do this, as have several of our allies and the Secretary-General of the U.N. Even the Pentagon and experts at the State Department are against doing this
Humanitarian relief organizations have pleaded with the administration not to designate the Houthis because of the serious impediments this would create in doing their life-saving work in northern Yemen. A designation would not do much to harm the Houthis, and it would do nothing to Iran, but it would punish millions of innocent Yemenis who are already suffering from widespread malnutrition, starvation, and disease. Yemeni civilians will be made to suffer simply so that the administration can cater to its despotic clients one last time.
In addition to impeding the delivery of aid, a designation gives the Houthis no incentive to compromise and encourages them to keep the war going as long as they can.
Designating the Houthis is the sort of senseless, harmful posturing that the Trump administration specializes in. It makes an end to the war less likely, it will further exacerbate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and it aligns the U.S. even more closely with the wretched client states that it has been supporting for the last five and a half years. Many more innocent Yemenis will needlessly die if the administration makes this designation, and the U.S. will bear responsibility for their preventable deaths – by Daniel Larison
and
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Analysts: Labeling Houthis ‘Terrorists’ won’t end Yemen war
“Designating an insurgency group as a terrorist group is pure semantics and will have an impact on neither the conflict in Yemen nor the attempts by external parties to find a diplomatic solution,” Dr. Andreas Krieg, a fellow at the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and assistant professor at the School of Security of King’s College London, told The Media Line.
What’s more, former US ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein, senior vice president at the Middle East Institute in Washington, says the US lacks grounds for labeling the Houthis terrorists.
“There would be no justification for [assigning this designation to] the Houthis, who bear substantial responsibility for the ongoing conflict in Yemen but are not ‘terrorists,’” he told The Media Line.
“It's unclear what purpose this move would be intended to achieve,” he continued. “Similar proposals have been made in the past but have not been implemented primarily because they serve no discernible purpose.”
Feierstein contends that labeling the rebels terrorists would be counterproductive to US policy, which is to help broker a peace deal there and in the wider region.
“Designating the Houthis as terrorists would make constructive US engagement in finding a diplomatic solution to the Yemen conflict and supporting the UN Special Envoy's efforts extremely difficult,” he said.
“Resolving the Yemen conflict can be an important step in reducing overall regional tensions,” he noted, “so obstacles to resolving it would be detrimental to regional stability.”
Krieg says a terrorist designation would hurt attempts by Washington’s European allies to bring about a peace deal.
“It will make it harder for Westerners to engage the group once [it is so] designated,” he said. “For the Europeans, this will send the wrong signal, as they believe in an inclusive decision that needs to have the Houthis at the table as well.”
For now, though, it would make little difference in Europe.
“None of the EU countries are dealing with the Houthis directly, so it will not affect them,” Krieg said.
Feierstein, who served as ambassador to Yemen under former president Barack Obama, said the move might be connected to President Trump’s defeat by President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20.
“One theory of why this idea has resurfaced at this moment is that it is part of the Trump Administration's overall effort to poison the well for the incoming Biden administration, and make it more difficult for the president-elect to pursue new diplomatic initiatives in the region,” he explained.
Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, believes that labeling the Houthis terrorists would make both the political and humanitarian situations in Yemen worse
“The peace process will end and the Houthis will continue their advance into eastern Yemen,” Iryani, who formerly worked for the UN Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, told The Media Line.
“Yemenis will see the coalition and their partners closing the door to national reconciliation, and their choice will be either endless war or shifting [back] to the Houthis to have a swift end to the war,” he said. “They’ll choose the latter.”
The designation might also isolate the civilians living under Houthi control, who desperately need aid.
“The result,” Iryani said, “will be a full-fledged famine.” – by Tara Kavaler
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/analysts-labeling-houthis-terrorists-wont-end-yemen-war-649852
and
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US mulls Houthi ‘terror’ label as groups say civilians to suffer
Aid groups, US legislators and experts say US plan to designate Yemeni rebel group will worsen dire humanitarian crisis.
United States lawmakers, international aid groups and rights advocates are warning the outgoing Trump administration against reported plans to label Yemen’s Houthi rebel group a “foreign terrorist organisation”, saying it would worsen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Citing unnamed US officials, Foreign Policy first said this week that the US State Department was considering the designation as part of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and its allies.
The Washington Post also reported that the announcement is expected to come in December.
“It’s a very scary prospect as the country teeters on the edge of famine,” said Hassan el-Tayyab, a Middle East policy lobbyist at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a US nonpartisan lobby group, about the potential designation.
El-Tayyab told Al Jazeera the designation would make it increasingly difficult for aid organisations to deliver much-needed aid to Yemenis living in the northern areas controlled by the Houthis, an Iran-aligned group.
“They would risk being hit with secondary sanctions and other penalties. It’s going to make delivering critical humanitarian assistance nearly impossible,” el-Tayyab said.
When a group is labelled as a foreign “terrorist” organisation by the US State Department, US citizens and organisations under US jurisdiction are banned from providing “material support or resources” to that designated entity.
Any US financial institution must also retain control of funds and report them to the US government if the designated group has an interest in that money, the State Department also says on its website.
El-Tayyab said the reported designation could also embolden Saudi Arabia and hurt international efforts to resolve the long-running conflict.
“It would have catastrophic impacts on the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and hamper UN-led efforts to secure a ceasefire deal and have a negotiated settlement,” he said.
Shireen al-Adeimi, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, told Al Jazeera that the US’s potential Houthi “terrorist organisation” designation is one of two last-minute Trump administration efforts to strengthen Saudi-led forces and put pressure on the Houthis.
“We have no illusions about the dangerous actions of the Houthis, but a blanket designation will dramatically increase risks associated with transferring humanitarian funds to Yemen,” the legislators, led by Ted Deutch of Florida and Ro Khanna of California, said in an open letter.
Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement on Thursday that if the US moves ahead with its plan, it must also issue licences to humanitarian workers to retain access to Houthi-controlled areas where they are providing civilian support.
The Houthis “are the de-facto authorities of the northern governorates in Yemen”, Egeland said.
“We must be able to negotiate access for our aid and protection of civilians with all sides to all conflicts. Our humanitarian work must not be criminalised. Where sanctions threaten to make our normal work illegal, they threaten the survival of people who depend on it.”
That was echoed by al-Adeimi, who said a Houthi designation would not get the group, which is already isolated, to acquiesce to Saudi demands, but instead would harm already suffering civilians.
“This is just one more action that they’re trying to get through in order to apply pressure, but yet again it’s going to affect civilians,” she said. “But that doesn’t seem to be a consideration for the Saudi-led coalition or the United States.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/21/us-mulls-houthi-terror-label-groups-say-civilians-suffer
(** B H K)
Yemen's villages increasingly urbanised as residents desert besieged cities
While some embrace the new services and jobs, others resent the 'strangers' among their traditional communities
Since the outbreak of Yemen's civil war in 2015, residents of many cities have been forced to flee to rural areas to start a new life, leaving some urban areas almost deserted.
While fighting may swiftly move from one village to another, cities like Taiz and Hodeidah have found themselves in a stalemate for years, stifling any hopes of development.
Cities are still seen as the most important places for the warring parties to seize - the location of public institutions, ministries, palaces, military camps and other major institutions - with neither side willing to give way.
However, with the exodus to the countryside, some officials have started to practice their work from the safer rural areas, many of which have become increasingly urbanised and offering many of the services found in the city.
It is estimated that more than 3.6 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Yemen since the start of the conflict in 2015, according to the UNHCR.
According to an official government report issued in 2016, in 2010 more than 70 percent of Yemen's population lived in rural areas, distributed in more than 130,000 villages and localities.
Around 29 percent were urban dwellers, living in 3,642 centres.
The continuing fighting means there are no recent figures, but the shift to the relative safety of countryside has had profound effects.
New clinics, institutes and shopping centres can be found in what were once rural backwaters, with large numbers of displaced people working on further construction.
As the price of land has spiralled along with demand, many villagers have given up their farming and sold their land to developers.
The influx of displaced people has also led to tensions in the traditionally closely knit communities, with new arrivals often labelled as "strangers".
Many villagers believe that urbanisation is a good development for their areas as there are now better services and more chances for work, but some resent the fact that often the villages are no longer the exclusive domain of of specific families.
Ahmed Hassan, a builder in his 50s in Al-Turbah, told MEE: "Before 2015, we used to travel to cities to look for work, but nowadays there are better chances of work in our area.
"This has led to an increase in land prices, so farmers are selling their land and they are being changed into residential areas," said Hassan.
He said farming was no longer a source of income for people in his area and that they preferred to sell their land for people to build on as this was more profitable.
"All that is a good face of urbanisation, but the bad thing is that our villages aren't our own any more, and now there are strangers in our villages," he added.
Traditionally in Yemen, specific families live in certain villages and usually no one from another area comes to build a home in that village.
The surnames of the families are also often named after the names of the villages.
"In our village, there are displaced people from Taiz city, Ibb, Dhamar and other governorates, and some of them are working as fighters," said Hassan.
"We aren't happy to see them in our villages as we used to live as one family, and now we can't practice our regular life freely because of those strangers."
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-villages-urbanised-residents-desert-besieged-cities
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(B H P)
In Yemen You have to do covid-19 test just to enter the airport Because all countries of destinations. aren't recognising the standards taken in Yemen for the test. So you pay multiple times just to make those corrupted health institutions & their international supervisors happy.
https://twitter.com/AmDerwish/status/1330467041896259586
(B H)
IOM Yemen COVID-19 Response Update (1 - 14 November 2020)
SITUATION OVERVIEW
2,072 Reported Cases
1,388 Reported Recovered
604 Reported Deaths
11.84K Tests Conducted
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening. Vulnerabilities are being driven by escalating conflict, an economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which have hit internally displaced persons (IDPs) and migrants the hardest. T
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local authorities of Yemen declared a nationwide health emergency and introduced many preventative measures similar to those adopted by the rest of the world starting in March 2020.
For Yemeni returnees from KSA through the Al Wadea border entry point, providing a COVID-19 PCR test report is mandatory by the Yemeni authorities. Authorities at Al Wadea entry point have installed a PCR testing facility at the entry point for travelers who arrive without a PCR test report. So far in November, only seven Yemeni returnees are estimated to have returned from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) through the Al Wadea border.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-covid-19-response-update-1-14-november-2020
(A H)
One new case of coronavirus reported in Lahj
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30571
(A H P)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni health ministry urges support for Covid-19 centers
Yemen's official deputy minister of health on Thursday highlighted the need for supporting the Covid-19 isolation centers and the medical teams at hospitals to ensure continuous provision of services and healthcare for patients in the war-torn country.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21291.html
(* B H)
Coronavirus cases in Yemen by day
https://georank.org/covid/yemen
(A H)
Patient dies from Covid-19 in Abyan
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30563
(A H P)
Aden prepares for next wave of covid-19
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30562
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(A K)
MAP UPDATE: SAUDI-BACKED FORCES RETREAT FROM MAAS BASE IN YEMEN’S MARIB PROVINCE
(* B H K P)
Webinar: A Cascade of Crises: Yemen
This was a webinar part of the "Humanitarian Congress Berlin", to discuss the humanitarian situation in Yemen, organized by Médecins Du Monde, the German Red Cross, the Berlin Chamber of Physicians, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and Greenpeace.
I was the moderator and the panelists were:
Sadam Al-Adwar, Co-founder & Executive Director, Musaala For Human Rights, Marib, Yemen
Sami Yahya al-Hajj, Physician, Sana’a Yemen
Majed Taleb, Deputy Coordinator, Doctors of the World org, Sana’a, Yemen
http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/2020/10/webinar-cascade-of-crises-yemen.html
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnAqhyNdmgg
(* A P)
Houthis, UN reach understandings on decaying Yemen tanker
There are positive understandings between the Sanaa-based salvation government and the United Nations on the issue of the stranded Safer tanker, Houthi deputy foreign minister Hussein Al-Ezzi said on Sunday.
The salvation government is looking forward to the arrival of the international experts tasked with accessing the tanker and assessing its condition, he said, hoping that they will not be late this time.
The tanker has had no maintenance since the civil war broke out six years ago. It is moored off Yemen's western coast, with more than 1.1 million barrels of crude on board.
Its equipment and systems are deteriorating, leaving it at the risk of sinking, exploding or causing a major oil spill.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21336.html
and
(B P)
Risks of spill or explosion to Safer increase
A source of Safer Company said that risks of oil spill or explosion of the floating Safer tanker are increasing as result of the decaying tanker.
The Yemen’s Safer tanker ducked off Hodeida in the Red Sea is at risk of causing oil spill into the Red Sea water or an explosion due to lack of repairing checks since early 2015.
The Chinese News Agency Xinhua quoted a source of the Safer company as saying that "The floating oil vessel usually revolves around a fixed pivot at the seabed, but several weeks ago it started to move unusually.”
The source emphasized that solutions are narrowing every day and that it is crucial to empty the tanker now, as maintenance measures are no longer effective.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43387
(* B H K P)
‘Moral cost is too high’: Legendary war reporter Martin Bell calls on UK to halt Saudi arms sales over civilian bombing in Yemen
We speak to legendary war correspondent Martin Bell. He discusses the horror of the crisis in Yemen, which the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, his first-hand experience of seeing the suffering in Yemen, the severe food shortage which has left Yemen on the brink of a catastrophic famine, the record of the Saudi-led coalition’s strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure, British assistance to the Saudi-led coalition, why British arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition must end and much more!
Bell, who is currently UK ambassador to UNICEF, made his comments after the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit kicked off in Saudi Arabia. Although the event will focus largely on the Covid-19 pandemic, Bell said delegates won’t be doing their jobs if they don’t bring up the incessant bombing of Yemen and resulting humanitarian crisis.
Former British war reporter and lawmaker Martin Bell said the UK must stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia because the desert kingdom’s military coalition is indiscriminately bombing civilians in its war with Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“The moral imperative is so great that if there is a cost to the economy, I think it has to be borne,” Bell told Afshin Rattansi, host of RT’s “Going Underground” program, in an interview on Friday. “We claim to be a civilised people. Why are we arming . . . the gang that can’t shoot straight?”
https://www.rt.com/uk/507441-bell-uk-end-saudi-arms-sales/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcA5dsneT68
(A P)
Saudi Arabia submits Abyan to Qaeda: Houthis
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have handed Abyan to al-Qaeda militants, the Houthi-appointed deputy governor of the Yemeni southern governorate said Friday.
Abyan now serves as a battlefield where the Saudi-led coalition's militias and tools are engaged in infighting, leading to collective displacement of hundreds of families, Saleh al-Jonaidi added.
The Houthi official blamed the Kingdom, UAE and their groups for humanitarian consequences of conflict in the governorate, according to the Sana'a-based Saba.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21310.html
(B K P)
Saudis host to G-20 summit of world leaders as Yemeni civilian deaths spike
“They don’t distinguish between young or old, man or woman,” the uncle of a 10-year-old boy killed in Yemen's civil war said. “They just shoot.”
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has courted criticism for presiding over the Group of 20 countries this year in spite of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives, its crackdown on human rights activists and its war in Yemen.
Rights groups have called on leaders to boycott the meetings, and the mayors of New York City and London, for example, refused to participate in a G-20 related meeting on urban development, citing the kingdom’s human rights record, according to The Associated Press.
Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s country director in Yemen, did not call on leaders to boycott proceedings but said they should call on parties to the Yemen conflict to return to the negotiating table and for G-20 members to “immediately stop” selling weapons to the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“These arms sales fuel this devastating war that continues to kill and maim children across Yemen,” he said in a statement earlier this week.
(B H K)
US, S. Arabia cause largest human tragedy for Yemeni children
On International Children's Day, the [Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Health stated in a statement that 2,643 children were killed by direct airstrikes and 4,205 were injured, noting that this is a testament to the criminality of the enemy.
“The suffocating siege on Yemen kills hundreds of thousands of children,” it added according to Almasirah.
“While millions are waiting for the same fate.”
The statement pointed out that nearly 2 million children under the age of five are malnourished, including 400,000 critically ill children and 12,000 children who have died
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/166129/US-S-Arabia-cause-largest-human-tragedy-for-Yemeni-children
(* B P)
Decaying Yemeni oil tanker sparks fears of explosion, spilling in Red Sea
An oil tanker, moored off the western coast of Yemen, loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil, continues to spark fears of explosion or spilling into the Red Sea.
An official source at the state-owned Safer Company in Yemen told Xinhua that the risks of a large oil spilling or explosion of the rusting oil-storage vessel off the port city of Hodeidah are rapidly increasing due to a lack of maintenance.
"The floating oil vessel usually revolves around a fixed pivot at the seabed, but several weeks ago it started to move unusually," he said.
The source emphasized that solutions are narrowing every day and that it is crucial to empty the tanker now, as maintenance measures are no longer beneficial.
The vessel, which has been docked in the Red Sea off the coast of Hodeidah since 1988, was used by the Safer oil company as a floating oil storage tank to store and export oil from inland oil fields around Ma'rib.
The oil tanker is currently under the control of the Houthi rebels, and its maintenance has stopped since 2015, which caused corrosion of the vessel's main body.
Meanwhile, the Houthis frequently blame the Saudi-led Arab coalition for preventing them from emptying or carrying out maintenance operations of the vessel.
Last week, Najeeb Al-Awj, the oil minister of the internationally recognized government of Yemen, accused the Houthis of blocking a UN technical team to access the vessel.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/21/c_139533234.htm
(A P)
The Sana’a Center Organizes International Media Visit to Shabwa
The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies organized a visit by an international press delegation to Yemen’s Shabwa governorate during the second week of November, bringing senior correspondents from North American and European print and broadcast media including Le Monde, the Los Angeles Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel, The Times, and others.
The seven-day trip included meetings with the Shabwa governor, senior security chiefs, members of the local Shabwa authority, local political parties’ representatives, families of detainees, women’s activists, representatives of local NGOs, and Ethiopian and Somali migrants, as well as an evening desert gathering with tribal sheikhs.
In an attempt to get a clearer picture of the COVID-19 situation in the governorate, the journalists visited Ataq General Hospital, as well as the quarantine center and PCR testing facility in the governorate capital.
The international press trip was the third to Yemen organized by the Sana’a Center during the conflict, following visits to Marib governorate in November 2017 and to Hadramawt governorate in September 2018.
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/news/11961
(A P)
International Day of Action on Yemen
January 25, 2021
People and organizations from the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, India, Spain, Bangladesh, Poland, and across the world, are coming together to call for an end to the war in Yemen and solidarity with the people of Yemen. We demand that right now our governments:
https://masspeaceaction.org/event/international-day-of-action-on-yemen/
(* B H K P)
Audio: Yemen: the people, the warriors, and the war
Arab Digest editor William Law in conversation with Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Oxford University’s Pembroke College, on the Yemen war now into its sixth year. Dr Kendall, an expert on Yemen and jihadist organisations, looks at the background to the war, the impact it is having on the people, especially young Yemenis and considers the possibilities of finding a road to peace amidst a myriad of competing factions and external forces.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Jv6szRFjwHP3jRT0POkyM
(* B H K)
Marib Governorate - Marib city and Marib Al Wadi District profile (19 November 2020)
Conflict around Marib between Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and local tribes supported by the internationally recognised Government of Yemen (IRG) and the Saudi-led coalition has increased since early 2020. Fighting intensified in August and September with the Houthis advancing in southern Marib governorate through Mahliyah and Al Rahbah districts. At the end of October, fighting was concentrated around Al Rahbah, Jabal Murad, and Al Joubah. From January to October, fighting displaced over 98,000 people into the governorate with 70% of IDPs located in Marib city and Marib Al Wadi. Estimates of the number of IDPs in the districts vary greatly, but the local authority in Marib city puts numbers there as high as 1.5 million people.
Both districts had already been hosting IDPs since the beginning of the conflict in 2015. In this report, we look in as much depth as we can at these two districts in Marib governorate – Marib city and Marib Al Wadi – to understand the increasing humanitarian needs as IDPs continue to arrive daily, putting pressure on public services and stretching operational actors as they respond to intense humanitarian needs. Needs are most critical in the areas of food, WASH, shelter, and education.
(A H P)
As Yemen teeters on the brink of famine, IRC urges G20 leaders to fulfil humanitarian commitments at Saudi Arabia summit
Aside from meeting great and growing financial needs, the IRC is calling on global powers - notably the US, UK and France - to suspend arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition. In the first half of 2020, Saudi-led airstrikes more than doubled compared to the rate of the previous six months and, in September, civilian casualties reached their highest levels thus far this year. Now is the time for all involved parties to change course, and as humanitarian funding falls, further arms sales will only exacerbate the humanitarian need.
(* B H K P)
STORY IN FOCUS – INTERVIEW WITH MS. MELISSA PARKE AND MR. ARDI IMSEIS, MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF EMINENT INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL EXPERTS ON YEMEN
Ms. Melissa Parke and Mr. Ardi Imseis are members of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, where they and their colleagues lead an investigation into violations and abuses committed by parties to conflict in Yemen and consider approaches for securing truth, justice, and redress for victims of the conflict.
Q1: Can you explain the role of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (‘Group of Experts’) and the importance of the extension of its mandate?
Q2: Could you outline the focus and main investigative issues prioritised by the Group of Experts since the start of its mandate in the collection of information and preparation of findings
A: The mandate of the Group of Experts is broad, in that we are charged, inter alia, “to carry out a comprehensive examination of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights and other appropriate and applicable fields of international law committed by all parties to the conflict since September 2014” [emphasis added]. Unsurprisingly, it has been a challenge to monitor and investigate all violations in this ongoing multiparty conflict. Accordingly, as a matter of economy the Group of Experts has been compelled to prioritise incidents for examination using the criteria developed throughout its recurrent mandates: namely, the gravity of the alleged violations; their significance in demonstrating patterns; access to victims, witnesses and supporting documentation; and the geographic locations of the incidents. Despite not being able to exhaustively document the huge number of alleged violations, the Group considers that its work illustrates the main patterns and types of violations taking place in Yemen. The Group has investigated and reached findings on violations showing consistent patterns of harm to civilians by all parties to the conflict, whether through ongoing unlawful airstrikes, indiscriminate shelling, interference with humanitarian aid, land mines, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearances, attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, and minorities, violations of the rights of women, men, migrants and children (including as child soldiers), and endemic impunity.
Q3: As mentioned in the Group of Experts’ September 2019 report, the World Food Programme (WFP) declared Yemen “the world’s largest food crisis”, referred to by many organisations as “entirely man-made”. Could you elaborate upon why you focused on looking into violations affecting access to food?
Q4: In its September 2019 report, the Group of Experts cited that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated in its 2019 humanitarian response plan that around 24.1 million people in Yemen would be in need of humanitarian assistance to survive. The same year the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator publicly confirmed findings of pockets of famine-like conditions in dozens of places across Yemen. How does the Yemeni humanitarian crisis feature in the Group of Experts’ 2020 Report?
A: The Group of Experts has continued to draw attention to the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen and to the ways in which conduct of the parties is contributing to and/or exacerbating this situation. According to OCHA, nearly 80% of the population remain in need of humanitarian aid and protection. WFP estimates that over 20 million people are food insecure, with malnutrition disproportionately affecting marginalised and at-risk groups.
Q5: Both state and non-state parties to the conflict in Yemen have been widely reported to have violated their obligation to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians. Have you observed further violations of this nature?
A: Yes. In its latest reporting period, the Group of Experts documented a range of conduct by parties to the conflict amounting to impeding humanitarian relief supplies in violation of international norms, either by unduly restricting access or by engaging in practices that undermine the ability of humanitarian organisations to carry out their work.
Q6: What has been the main issue for the Group of Experts in relation to the documentation and reporting on belligerent parties’ denial of humanitarian access for vulnerable civilians? Q7: In its previous report the Group of Experts stated that, while deep concerns were justified it remained to be established whether parties to the conflict have intentionally used starvation as a method of warfare. Could you explain the challenges in establishing such a determination?
A: Yes. In our 2019 longer report, the Group of Experts expressed concerns that parties to the conflict have used starvation as a method of warfare in Yemen by attacking objects indispensable to the survival of the population, imposing blockades or using siege-like tactics, and impeding the delivery of humanitarian assistance. We acknowledged, however, that further investigation would be required.
(* B H K P)
Film: End the Massachusetts War on Yemen!
We who live in Massachusetts bear a special responsibility for this carnage because the lethal bombs used by the Saudi Arabian coalition are manufactured by Raytheon Technologies, headquartered in our back yard, in the city of Waltham. The US government has sold billions of dollars worth of Raytheon munitions to Saudi Arabia. This presentation, created by the Raytheon Anti-War Committee, will give us the whole picture of this catastrophe, the immorality and corruption of US participation in the destruction of Yemen, and the culpability of Massachusetts’ Raytheon Technology. Most importantly, it will give us information about the opportunities for action emanating from present political realities and the powerful organizing going on. We will also learn how we can act in solidarity with an international movement on behalf of Yemen that is gaining force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJbQ83ctOAk
(A P)
Former South Yemeni president calls on Oman to step up efforts to achieve end to war in Yemen
(B K P)
SAM: The detainees in Houthi prisons, who were captured during the battles of the southern border of #SaudiArabia are deprived of their rights stipulated in international treaties, as they are unable to communicate with their families comfortably and do not receive medical care, their names were not published or the Red Cross is informed of them to check on them. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stopped their salaries, and they were not included in the negotiations of prisoners and detainee
https://twitter.com/SAM4rights/status/1329409432950751234
(* B P)
'UAE-Saudi relations in jeopardy,' says classified report
A classified Emirati report has revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that the future of the partnership with Saudi Arabia in Yemen is at stake and warned that: "A conflict of interests might create a hostile environment for the two parties."
According to the report issued by the Yemeni Studies Unit at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, maintaining the current situation in Yemen means the creation of a hostile environment for Saudi Arabia and the UAE alike, or could lead to the emergence of alarming developments for both sides, reported Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
The estimations made in the report were based on an assessment of the local parties to the Yemeni conflict regarding relations between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, indicating that all of the actors on the ground, except the Houthis, have no other option but to stick to their sponsor.
However, the report did not provide a solid analysis of the future of bilateral relations between the components of the Arab coalition.
The UAE's announcement to withdraw its forces from Yemen at the end of last year, "left some local parties hopeful," according to the report.
The Yemeni Studies Unit at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed that the Emirati partnership with Saudi Arabia in Yemen has undergone three stages, the first being "the stage of satisfaction and gratitude", which reflected a state (from the perspective of the Yemeni parties) of harmony between the two Gulf states to achieve a unified goal, which is to eliminate the Houthi coup.
The next stage was characterised by a state of confusion and division as: "Uncertainty and indecisiveness began to afflict the conflict scene. New forces started to emerge and the policies of the two countries and their positions in general became unclear and reflected contradiction in many instances," revealed the report.
The third stage, which the report called the "stage of doubt and revision", was significantly marked by the belief that the agreement and coordination between Saudi Arabia and the Emirates started to loosen without reaching the phase of total collapse. At this point, the Yemeni parties to the conflict began to see a rift between the two allies, especially: "In light of some developments, the last of which was the UAE's announcement to reduce its military presence in Yemen."
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201119-uae-saudi-relations-in-jeopardy-says-classified-report/
and
(* B K P)
Classified Report: ‘UAE-Saudi Relations In Danger’ Due To War In Yemen
According to the report, the UAE's announcement to withdraw its forces from Yemen at the end of last year "left various local parties hopeful."
Saudi and Emirati foreign policies have been at odds with each other in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia supports the Yemeni government forces while the UAE supports the southern separatists.
As both their proxies fight each other in Yemen, the consequences can be felt in the two countries’ bilateral relationship.
A classified Emirati report has disclosed that the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) future partnership with Saudi Arabia in Yemen is at stake.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned that: “A conflict of interests might build a hostile environment for the two parties.”
https://blog.siasat.pk/uae-saudi-relations-in-danger/
and this report (in Arabic). https://al-akhbar.com/Arab_Island/296602
(* B P)
from May 2017: Historical Factors that Contributed to Yemen's Uprising
Unlike other countries rocked by the Arab Uprisings, Yemen has received relatively little media attention. Even years later, as Yemen is embroiled in a civil war, media accounts typically focus on the country only when a US led military operation goes wrong or in reference to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In fact, the disproportionate focus on AQAP gives the impression that the group played a major role in Yemen’s uprising and is a major cause of the ensuing civil war. The reality of course, is much more complex. This paper argues that the uprising occurred as a result of Yemen’s uneasy and arguably failed unification process, tribal and regional tensions which President Salih exploited and exacerbated, and corrupted attempts at economic liberation. The role of jihadist groups in the uprisings were negligible, though they did of course, benefit greatly from the ensuing collapse of the central government and the resulting civil war. Teasing out the complex causes of the uprising in Yemen not only illuminates why the uprising led to a disastrous civil war, but it also raises important questions regarding US involvement Yemen. Questions that move beyond an obsessive focus on President Trump’s botched January 29th special operations raid and instead focuses on the larger military, political, and economic involvement of the US and its allies in the country – by Naiomi Gonzalez
https://www.academia.edu/33606169/Historical_Factors_that_Contributed_to_Yemens_Uprising
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
(B H)
Yemeni Development Network for NGOs (YDN) Monthly Bulletin, October 2020
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemeni-development-network-ngos-ydn-monthly-bulletin-october-2020
(* B E H K)
Conflict Resilience of Water and Energy Supply
Infrastructure: Insights from Yemen
Abstract
Political instability and conflicts are contemporary problems across the Middle East. They threaten not only basic security, but also infrastructure performance. Supply infrastructure, providing basic services such as water and electricity, has been subjected to damage, capacity deterioration, and the bankruptcy of public providers. Often, in conflict countries such as Yemen, the continuity of basic supply is only possible thanks to adaptation efforts on the community and household levels. This paper examines the conflict resilience of water and energy supply infrastructure in Yemen during the armed conflict 2015.today. It contributes to resilience studies by linking knowledge on state fragility and conflicts, humanitarian aid, and infrastructure resilience.
The paper presents adaptation responses of communities and public entities in the water and energy sectors in Yemen and critically evaluates these responses from the perspective of conflict resilience of infrastructure. The gained insights reaffirm the notion about the remarkable adaptive capacities of communities during conflicts and the importance of incorporating community level adaptation responses into larger efforts to enhance the conflict resilience of infrastructure systems.
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/11/3269/pdf
(* B H K)
Audio: Episode 21: Zaid Basha on Agriculture and Drainage in Yemen
In this episode, we speak with the management consultant Mr. Zaid Basha. Zaid has authored several papers and been on projects that explore the mismanagement of Yemen's public infrastructure and look at Yemen's public policy reform. In our conversation, we talk about what caused the current famine in Yemen and what steps need to be taken to combat the terrible hunger that is being felt across the country. We also touch on the mismanagement of water resources that have contributed to the famine and the importance of subsistence agriculture in the country. The conversation is a great addition to our growing English audio repository of the current state of Yemen
(* A H)
Heavy rains cause massive floods in Socotra
Socotra Archipelago witnessed heavy rains causing massive floods that hit several areas in the capital Hadibu.
According to local sources, the violent flowing of waters caused considerable material damage to properties and closed a number of roads impeding freedom of circulation and movement.
Dozens of families left their homes in search for safer areas in high mountains. No casualties were reported.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30586
and also https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1330426763135086594
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/22/socotra-suffers-under-torrential-rains-and-floodings/
(B H)
Film: @Cash4_Nutrition works differently with 160K households in the conflict-worn #Yemen in order to save the children's lives and future under #YECRP. Ms. Amnah from Dhamar tells her story.
https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1329893134319427588
(B H P)
Yemeni Students Are Caught in a Currency Exchange Trap
In 2014, the Central Bank of Yemen in Sanaa set the price of the dollar at 250 Yemeni rials, and it stayed at that rate until 2017. After the central bank moved to Aden, the power of the rial against the dollar declined, however, and most private universities are charging 400 to 500 rials. The dollar exchange rate varies from one city to another. Private universities in Taiz set the exchange rate at 400 rials for a dollar, but the universities of Aden and Hadramout set the rate at 500 rials. Some private universities require students in Aden to pay in dollars, and don’t accept rials at all. That forces students to resort to the black market, which has an exchange rate of 820 rials per dollar.
https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2020/11/yemeni-students-are-caught-in-a-currency-exchange-trap/
and a part: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201121142410796
(B H)
A man slaughters his one year old daughter and seven year old before killing his own self in Hamdan, Sana’a, because he was not able to put food on the table. This comes days after a teacher hanged himself to death in Ibb for the same reason.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43355
(B H)
Photos: A child sells tea in Aden, #Yemen. Very heartbreaking situation for Yemeni children! War must be over! Children must go to school!
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1329819756455669760
https://twitter.com/munaluqman/status/1329795908624654340
(B H)
Film: Cancer patients under aggression (in Arabic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkgdnqT2lRc
(B H)
RDP: Yemen: Monthly Situation Report (October 2020)
NUTRITION
63,040 CU5 & PLW were provided with 141.72 MTs of BSFP commodities through hundreds of food distribution points in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Dhamar governorates.
373 MAM cases were newly admitted to the TSFP program throughout 12 supported health facilities in Sama and As Silw districts of Taizz governorate.
18,166 individuals were benefitted from awareness-raising campaigns on health and nutrition key messages in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Dhamar governorates.
HEALTH
2,368 individuals received primary healthcare services through 2 health facilities and outreach activities in Rahaba district of Marib governorate.
FOOD SECURITY & LIVELIHOOD
661.05 MTs of food rations were distributed to 53,410 individuals within the general food assistance in Al Malagim, Wald Rabi, and As Sawadiya districts of Al Bayda governorate.
5,651 HHs were supported with ORS sachets to prevent diarrheal dehydration diseases caused by cholera in Al-Malagim and As-Sawadiya districts of Al-Bayda governorate.
5,700 brochures containing cholera messages were delivered to 5,651 HHs in Al-Malagim and As-Sawadiya districts of Al-Bayda governorate.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-situation-report-october-2020
(B H)
Film: Students continue to be taught in six temporary schools made of straw in Midi in Hajjah governorate. These schools were built as alternatives to the destroyed schools, however, they are still lacking educational supplies, school textbooks, and teaching staff
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1329437130976874497
(* B H)
Yemen’s children: A crisis within a crisis
Within the broader tragedy, Yemen’s children, especially the 2 million who are IDPs, are the most vulnerable. UNICEF says 12 million need urgent humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2020, the number of malnourished children under age 5 could reach 2.4 million—half the children under 5 in the country. The mental and emotional toll has also been high with over half of children struggling with depression—with long term consequences for their future as productive individuals.
As of June 2019, over 7,500 children had been killed in Yemen since the beginning of the war due to airstrikes, shelling, mines, and other ordnance. The U.N. says current figures are worse but unreported since monitoring is increasingly difficult. Yet the toll mounts unabated and even after the much-reported 2018 death of 44 children in a school bus bombed by the Saudis, such attacks continue. As do arms sales to the Saudis from, among others, the U.S., France, and Canada. The U.N. has also documented thousands of child soldiers, most with the Houthi rebels but also with the government and other fighting forces.
Before the pandemic, 2 million children were out of school and another 3.7 million were at risk of dropping out. Girls were at greater risk with 36 percent out of school versus 24 percent for boys. Pandemic closures increased that number to 8 million. While schools have begun to slowly reopen, many children will likely stay away, some succumbing to negative coping mechanisms like child labor, child marriages, child soldiers, or other forms of exploitation. Other children are kept home for fear of infection or because parents cannot afford the cost of schooling. Prior to the pandemic, 4.7 million children needed educational assistance across the country, including 3.7 million in acute need.
Some 2,000 schools, 20 percent of the total, have been rendered unusable, either destroyed or used to house IDPs, or as centers for isolating COVID-19 patients, etc. In the past five years, 380 schools have been attacked, caught in crossfire, or occupied by fighters, including 153 hit by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen’s teachers are largely unpaid, forced to take second jobs or move on to other employment. Many try to work out of a sense of responsibility, but their situation is not tenable as evidenced by recent strikes – by Omer Karasapan
(B H)
Yemen Women Protection Sub Cluster Services, October 2020
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-women-protection-sub-cluster-services-october-2020
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(* B H K)
Houthi war squeezes Marib IDP camps further inward toward city center
The Houthi months-long war on Marib, a safe haven for millions of escapees from the Shia militia, is squeezing IDP camps from the governorate’s outlying districts further toward the city center.
The Executive Unit for IDP Camps Management announced in a statement on Sunday that “200 displaced families in Raghwan outskirt have lately been forced to move closer to the city center” and adjacent districts of Alwadi and Serwah as a result of constant Houthi shelling.
More than 20 thousand internally displaced people from Houthi-held north Yemen had settled in Raghwan district before the new Houthi military attacks forced them to find a new safe place within the governorate, the last northern government stronghold and safe haven for millions of Yemenis in north Yemen.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43396
(* B H)
Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 20 November 2020
Conflict in several parts of the country continued to trigger new displacements. In Marib, over the reporting period, UNHCR provided tents and mattresses, blankets, and jerry cans for close to 600 internally displaced families. UNHCR and partners also provided protection services including legal counselling, psychosocial support and specialised services for children, reaching over 4,400 displaced Yemenis. UNHCR and partners assisted close to 3,000 families forced out of their shelter by the conflict with core relief items in Ibb, Sa’ada and Hudaydah governorates.
Some 500 displaced families in Hudaydah received transitional shelter and work is ongoing to deliver an additional 800. In Hudaydah, UNHCR and partners are working with the community to produce an innovative type of Shelter Unit using material that is available locally.
UNHCR and partners worked with the Government of Yemen to support the renewal of temporary identification documents (TID) to displaced Yemenis to allow them to continue to access services and receive assistance.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-20-november-2020
(* B H)
‘Dear people of the world’: Two girls in Yemen, two letters for Children’s Day
Elaf and Amina are survivors of an ongoing conflict — their displaced families are supported by the World Food Programme. Below, they offer a touching glimpse of their worlds. By Annabel Symington
A generation of children in Yemen — where the World Food Programme (WFP) provides food assistance to more than 13 million people — are growing up knowing only war. Up to one in four children are acutely malnourished in parts of the country, which for more than five years has been in the throes of conflict. More than 2 million are out of school.
To mark World Children’s Day, we invited two girls from displaced families to explain in their own words what life is like for them.
from Aminas’s letter:
But then the war came. I was 7 years old when it started. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Everything changed. We felt fear. Terrible fear. The bombing was so close to our house. I would run to my parents’ arms when the bombing started.
When they hit, my father let anyone who needed shelter into our home. He would call the children’s parents and tell them that their children were safe with us. I am so proud of my father. He is a hero. My father made them feel like we are all one family.
I remember the time one of my classmates was injured. Her name was Nada. Nada was hit by shrapnel and her hand was amputated. I asked my teacher about her and she told me what had happened. I felt so sad. I don’t know why this happened to Nada. She is not responsible for the war.
The bombing didn’t stop. People started leaving my neighbourhood. And then, one day, my father said that there were the only two families left. That’s when we decided to leave, too. We fled to Sana’a. When we arrived in Sana’a, we moved many times to many places until we found a house away from the city. It is very quiet here. It is better not to be in Hodeidah.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A K P)
Houthis call for end to coalition "crimes" against Yemeni children
The Houthi foreign ministry on Saturday called for an end to crimes and violations committed by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen's children during the six years of war.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21331.html
and
(A K P)
Saudi-led aggression caused largest human tragedy for Yemeni children - says Health ministry
(A P)
Parliament speaker receives Iranian ambassador
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117043.htm
(A P)
Houthis did 187 changes to school textbooks
Yemeni Teachers Union said that the union counted 187 modifications to the school textbooks made by the Houthis during this school year.
This increases the number of total modifications in textbooks made by the Houthis over the past years to 421 changes, according to a quote by the press officer of the union, Yahya Al-Yanaee published on Saturday by the local news website Al-Masdaronline.
He said that the new modifications added the Houthis’ coup on 21 September 2014 as a national day in the national education book for the fourth grade of the basic education.
New alterations included also photos of the dead Houthis’ leader, Saleh Al-Samad as a national figure in the national education book for the sixth grade of the basic education.
The Houthis have also included medieval wars in Yemen by the imamates as Yemeni revolutions that deserve care and celebration, Al-Yanaee said.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43367
My comment: They do what rulers, ruling classes, governments always do – worldwide.
(A P)
For this year’s high school leavers to receive their graduation certificates, Houthis stipulate a” compulsory military service” in the warfronts. A Facebook post by Mohammed Almaswari, lawyer of Yemen’s former president Saleh.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43355
(A P)
Dozens of phones were hacked in Sana’aas part of the acute rivalry between Houthi factions of Sana’a and Saadah. /Newsline.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43355
(A P)
Al-Mashat appeared to speak that he was unable to provide half the salary, and to express his regret because of Corona. In return, Al-Mashat and his cohorts take more than 30% of the same salary transfers that the legitimate government sometimes disburses to some employees. I mean, they only plundered the salary, they also took the salaries of the lucky ones coming from Aden.
You sit it ... a third of the amount is an internal transfer commission, this is happening now in Yemen ... The image is correct for magic and sorcery ...
https://twitter.com/GhamdanAlyosifi/status/1330086132521066498
https://twitter.com/hishamgaradi/status/1330059054333489152 (photo)
(A P)
Houthis launch an extortion campaign against gold and jewelry shops in Sana’a. /Newsline.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43338
(A K P)
Houthi militia launch a campaign to recruit [marginalized] female soldiers. /Almashehad Alyemeni.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43338
(A P)
Two senior Houthi militants reject the orders of the militia’s Political Council chairman Al-Mashat and the latter warns of a popular revolt in Sana’a that might “uproot everyone.” /Almashehad Alyemeni.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43338
(A P)
Battle with corruption is ongoing: President
President of the Supreme Political Council Mahdi Al-Mashat has said that the battle with corruption is ongoing and is not a political or media war.
In his speech in the consultative meeting for capacity-building and coordination among the State institutions' leaders, the President said the lack of capabilities could hinder achievements but it is an not acceptable to be an excuse to do nothing
"If there is a will and determination, then solutions, production and innovation can be easily achieved," he said.
"We have to be responsible and those who see themselves ineligible, they have to say so."
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3116858.htm
My comment: LOL. The Houthis themselves are totally corrupt – and even worse, quite often just take the money they want with a gun at the other’s head.
(A P)
Iran Envoy: Yemenis people to continue resistance till victory
Iranian Ambassador to Sana'a Hassan Irlou pointed to six years of aggression against Yemen and stressed that its people will remain steadfast and will continue resistance until victory.
https://en.irna.ir/news/84116779/Iran-Envoy-Yemenis-people-to-continue-resistance-till-victory
(A K P)
Film: The leader of the Houthi group, #Muhammad_A_Bukhaiti, who was recently appointed governor of #Dhamar Governorate, forced the people of the governorate to recruit children and men, and here they are, dozens of dead in the Houthi battles.
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1329439795051966470
(A P)
President Al-Mashat to Saudi Arabia: You Shouldn't Feel Optimistic As Long As Aggression, Siege Against Yemen Continues
(A K P)
Houthis to coalition, come to peace through humanitarian aspects
President of the Houthi group's supreme political council Mahdi Al-Mashat on Wednesday said none of the state members of a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen would feel positive or peaceful until they seriously come to peace and peaceful solutions.
"If the Saudis want to feel optimistic, they should come to peace through humanitarian aspects," he said at a meeting with senior Houthi leaders in the capital Sanaa.
Addressing the Saudi regime, he said: "Your optimism is not right as long as the aggression and blockade on Yemen are continuing".
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21254.html
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
Aden verbleibt in der Hand der Separatisten im Süden. Ihre medien verbreiten eine große Menge von parteiischen Berichten, die das Narrativ der Separatisten überihren Hauptgegner, die Islah Partei (genannt "Muslim-Bruderschaft"), über die Kämpfe in Abyan und Shabwa, ihre Herrschaft in Aden und den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten verbreiten.
Aden remains in the hands of southern separatists. Their media are spreading a bulk of biased reports, showing their narrative of their foes from Islah Party (labeled “Muslim Brotherhood”), the fighting at Abyan and Shabwa, their self-rule at Aden and the areas under their control.
(A P)
PM praises local authority's efforts in Aden
The designated Prime Minister Dr. Ma'een commended the efforts have been made by the local authority in the temporary capital Aden to manage challenges and improve basic services
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30584
My comment: LOL. Ma’een is a man of “president” Hadi, but he’s the separatist STC’s preferred candidate.
(A K P)
Saudi fresh military reinforcements arrived in Aden
The Saudi fresh military reinforcements arrived on Sunday in the city of Aden, southern Yemen, according to informed sources.
The sources confirmed that a Saudi military transport plane carrying modern military vehicles landed at the Aden airport.
The source indicated that military reinforcements moved from Aden airport towards the coalition camp in the city of Buraiqa.
Saudi Arabia pushed military reinforcements to Aden in light of heavy confrontations between the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council militias and the Saudi-backed Islah militants in Abyan province.
http://en.ypagency.net/198741/
(A K P)
Marib, Jawf battles rouse Yemeni President's concerns
Military escalation in Marib and Jawf has pushed the Yemeni President to intense calls on Saturday with senior commanders and local officials in the two northern governorates.
President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi asked his defense minister and chief of staff to stick to military plans on the ground and update them in accordance with developments so as to defeat the Houthi group, the Riyadh-based Saba reported.
Hadi hailed courage and sacrifices of armed forces and national residence at combating fronts.
"The Yemeni people is able to foil Iran's subversive project and vicious plots [carried out] by its arms in the region," the President told the two governors of Marib and Jawf in separate phone calls.
He also praised the role played by the Saudi-led coalition in support of the Yemeni legitimacy against the Houthi coup.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21332.html
(A P)
STC: Action must be taken to end conspiracy against the South
The General Secretariat made it clear that the STC no longer has patience for the insistence of the enemies to thwart in advance the Riyadh deal and turn it into a long war of attrition, affirming that action must be taken to end the cheap conspiracy against the South.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30581
(A P)
Designation Houthis as a terrorist group 'public demand', says Yemeni minister
Information minister in Yemen's internationally recognised government Muammar Al-Eryani on Saturday said that designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group is a public demand and the first step to resolve the Yemeni crisis.
Experiences and developments have proved that Yemen's stability requires defeating this group, he wrote on Twitter.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21325.html
(A P)
Brotherhood's militias arrest journalists in Shabwa
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30578
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/30583
(A K P)
Senior military officer fired in Yemen's Jawf amid reports of military treason
A new chief of staff of the government's sixth military command in Yemen's Jawf province was appointed on Saturday, military sources said.
Brig. Gen. Mohammed bin Rasiya replaced Brig. Gen. Mujahid Al-Ghulaisi who the sources said was fired in connection with military treason his brother committed months ago.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21317.html
(A K P)
STC forces capture sites from Yemeni army in Abyan
The Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces on Friday made tangible advance in ongoing infighting with the Yemeni official government army in the southern governorate of Abyan.
The Emirati-backed STC forces "looted a number of military machines in al-Tariah and costal fronts," military sources told Debriefer, "after the government troops treated from some sites."
On Friday, the government troops shot down an Emirati drone flown by the STC forces amid fierce infighting in Abyan, information deputy minister, Mohamed Qaizan, tweeted.
While no comment was released by Emirati officials on the event, STC forces spokesman tweeted that no drone has been downed.
"As usual, when they are most desperate with their hostile acts and feel how grave the losses in their ranks and ordnance are, the terrorist [Muslim] Brotherhood militias opt to sell false lies in order to gain pity or to justify other hostile acts they plan to do," Mohamed al-Naqib added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21309.html
(A K P)
The Information Minister’s Advisor Mokhtar Arahabi said in a tweet the UAE is providing the STC militia with armed drones to kill army members and civilians in Yemen in the same way it provided to militias in Abyan. /Almahrah Online.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43355
(A P)
A cleric delivers a sermon to the STC to incite them to keep fighting [against the government forces] in Abyan. /Aden Net
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43338
(A H P)
Film: Yemen: Security Belt Forces Seized Expired Food Items in a World Food Organization's Warehouse
The Commander of the Security Belt Forces in the capital, Aden, Brigadier General Jalal Al-Rubaie declared seizing a warehouse containing expired food items. Ahmed Ali Al-Daoudi, Director General of Mansoura Aden Directorate who joined the belt forces in the inspection, indicated that necessary action was taken, as he summoned the Standards and Metrology organization, which then launched an investigation. He confirmed that the World Food Organization warehouse was packed with expired food products because aid workers weren't delivering them to people in need, which is nothing but proof of deliberate manipulation by those workers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SiNtLLbvjk
(A K P)
Yemeni army downs STC drone in Abyan
The Yemeni official army on Friday shot down an Emirati drone flown by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in the southern governorate of Abyan, information deputy minister tweeted.
The UAV was downed amid fierce battles in al-Tariah and Darjaj east Zinjobar, the provincial capital of Abyan, Mohamed Qaizan added.
For his part, military spokesman for the STC in Abyan said their forces in al-Tariah fended off an attempted infiltration by the government troops
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21292.html
and
(A K P)
Wicked fate waits Emirates in Yemen: Official
The United Arab Emirates will meet worse fate than that it suffered in Libya, advisor to Yemen's information minister tweeted on Friday, after the official army downed a drone flown by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in the southern governorate of Abyan.
The UAE supplies the Abu Dhabi-backed STC with drones used against the Yemeni national army, Mukhtar al-Rahabi added.
These drones were given to STC by Emirates "that is expert in targeting the Yemeni army and people, the same role it played in Libya."
The UAE took "severe lesson in Libya, but in Yemen it waits even worse," the Yemeni official warned.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21296.html
(A K P)
Yemeni officials accuse UAE of arming separatists
UAE drones downed in clashes with southern separatists, say Yemeni officials
Two Yemeni government officials on Friday accused the UAE of providing drones to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group in the country's south.
"The [Yemeni] army downed STC drones and advanced on the battlefront," said Mukhtar al-Rahbi, advisor to the information minister, on Twitter.
He added that the drones came to the hands of the STC fighters from the UAE and were used to "target the army and the people of Yemen as they did in Libya".
Deputy Information Minister Mohammad Qizan also confirmed the downing of drones in the Abyan province.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemeni-officials-accuse-uae-of-arming-separatists/2050417
(A K P)
Film: Pro-STC Salafi leader Ali Haidarah calling out to fight pro Yemeni @HadiPresident forces in #Yemen's southern Abyan. Salafis fought along Hadi, when he was a defense minister, agnst southern separatists in 1994 & along the Coalition agnst Houthis in 2015, & now against Hadi.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1329627189839589377
https://twitter.com/alsdy4978/status/1329492216352534532
(A K P)
Yemen Abyan witnesses gov't-STC infighting again
The Yemeni southern governorate of Abyan witnessed early on Thursday renewed infighting between the official government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The hostilities were prompted by mutual shelling using heavy weapons in Sheikh Salem and Tariah fronts east Zinjobar city, Abyan's provincial capital, local sources said.
Four government troops were killed and 7 others injured in the clashes, spokesman for the Emirati-backed STC forces tweeted.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21276.html
and as separatists tell it: http://en.adenpress.news/news/30566
(A K P)
Yemeni ex-minister: Riyadh pact behind STC extension in south
The Saudi-brokered Riyadh Agreement between Yemen's UN-recognized government and Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) has served as justification for the latter to expand anew into the two southern governorates of Abyan and Shabwa, the Yemeni resigned minister of transportation tweeted on Wednesday.
Its "architects thought the Riyadh deal to be antidote that would alter the STC from rebellious militia into legitimate," Saleh al-Jabwani added.
By means of the pact also, "leaders of legitimacy would be disposed of and the national army would be dubbed as [Muslim] Brotherhood militia.
"This has justified for them to expand into Abyan and Shabwa, reaching Hadhramout Valley and Desert and Mahara."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21269.html
(* A H P)
NGO condemns STC’s travel ban to 50 injured people
The American Center for Justice (ACJ) condemned on Wednesday the ban of travel for treatment by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces against 50 injured people from Taiz province.
The ACJ said that the STC held on 14 November the amputees at Al- Alam security checkpoint on the entrance to Aden, banned them from travelling and forced them return to Tawr Al-Baha district of Lahj on the border with their home province.
The 50 amputees were supposed to cross Aden on their land journey to Al-Mahra on Oman’s border to receive medical treatment there.
It noted that the 50 inured people are still lying on streets in Tawr Al-Baha where they are waiting for STC’s approval so that they can travel to Oman.
Omani authorities established a prosthetic limbs center for treating the war victims in Yemen.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43324
(A P)
In conjunction with resuming negotiations; Abductees Mothers Association in Taiz hold all Yemeni parties responsible for lives and safety of their sons
Abductees' Mothers Association in Taiz held all parties fully responsible for the lives, safety and freedom of their sons, and demanded the release of all abductees and forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained persons unconditionally.
Abductees' Mothers Association has documented 210 cases of civilian abductions and 47 cases of civilian force disappearance carried out by Houthi armed group as well as 6 cases of abduction carried out by the government forces in Taiz, and lived through the pain and suffering abductees' families endure during the war and siege, mainly the forced disappearance of their relative whose fate was never uncovered despite all the efforts of local mediators and international agreements.
In their rally by the governorate's administration building this morning and in conjunction with resuming the negotiations, the association demanded all parties to uncover the fate of the forcibly disappeared individuals and to fulfil their commitments by releasing all abducted, forcibly disappeared, and arbitrarily arrested persons, since their unlawful detention had been prolonged.
The rally statement called upon the UN Special Envoy to mount the necessary pressure upon Yemeni parties to uncover and release all forcibly disappeared persons and abductees,
http://ama-ye.org/index.php?no=1502&ln=En
and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43309
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqwDLsYoRcw
(A K P)
Internationally wanted terrorists captured in Abyan
A number of Islah fighters (the military wing of Muslim Brotherhood organization within Yemen's legitimacy) were captured on Thursday morning by the southern armed forces.
Military field sources said that the terrorist militants had been lured into a well-executed ambush set by the southern forces in the sector of al-Toriya where a number of them were killed in a surprise attack and the others were arrested.
The same sources affirmed that internationally wanted terrorists were among the captured Brotherhood's militants.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30561
My remark: As claimed by the separatists.
(A K P)
Another prisoner tortured to death by Emirati occupation force in Aden
A young man was reported tortured to death inside one of prisons run by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) occupation in the southern port city of Aden, local sources said on Thursday
According to the sources, Najib Ahmed Abadal, a resident of al-Ma’raiq neighborhood in Sheikh Osman district, was killed by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias, local sources said.
Abadal was tortured in a prison run by the commander of the so-called 8th sector of the Security Belt mercenary force, named Karam al-Mashreqi.
(A K P)
Government deploys more reinforcements into Abyan, STC says
The southern transitional council on Wednesday accused the government of deploying more military reinforcements into Yemen's southern province of Abyan.
The reinforcements included Al-Qaeda and ISIS members, and troops led by Brig. Gen. Mohammed Al-Zamiki, commander of the third presidential protection brigade, spokesperson for the council's fourth military command and Abyan front, Mohammed Al-Naqib, wrote on Twitter.
The government forces are committing suicide and will see worst end, he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21265.html
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(B P)
Film: "All you have to do is your best" - Melissa Fleming (UN) interviews Special Envoy for Yemen
In this episode of Awake At Night, Martin Griffiths, the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Yemen, a country that’s been devastated by civil war, speaks with Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. Martin’s job is to try to keep open routes to negotiation between the warring parties. He speaks candidly about his struggles with depression, the mental toll humanitarian work can have, and the importance of empathy when mediating between sides in a conflict.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nawkiFVT38
(A P)
Houthis: Uninterested in talks on buffer zone at Saudi borders
The Houthi group is uninterested in any Saudi-Yemeni official talks on buffer zone at borders between the two countries, member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council tweeted on Friday.
If it wants, Saudi Arabia may discuss the buffer zone with the Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi or his government, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added.
"This matter doesn't concern the Yemeni firmly established people," he said. It rather "concerns their guests.
"This matter doesn't concern the Yemeni firmly established people," he said. It rather "concerns their guests.
On Thursday, the Saudi ambassador to the UN said his country is not engaged in talks with the Houthis, whom he dubbed as unrecognized party.
"The buffer zone with Yemen is a matter that we discuss with the Yemeni legitimate government," Abdullah al-Moalimi added in remarks to media.
"This military issue is discussed between the two relevant countries' leaderships, and is agreed to in accordance with principles always applied in similar matters.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21306.html
(A H P)
UN warnen vor schlimmster Hungersnot seit Jahrzehnten
Die Vereinten Nationen warnen, dass im Jemen Millionen Menschen an Hunger sterben könnten. Sofortige Hilfe sei nötig.
Dem Bürgerkriegsland Jemen droht nach Angaben der UNO die weltweit schlimmste Hungersnot seit Jahrzehnten. Laut UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres könnten ohne sofortiges Handeln "Millionen Menschen ums Leben kommen". Die Hilfsgelder für den Jemen seien im Vergleich zu den Vorjahren drastisch gekürzt worden.
"Ich fordere all jene mit Einfluss auf, in dieser Sache dringend zu handeln, damit eine Katastrophe abgewendet werden kann", erklärte Guterres. Auch bat er darum, Handlungen zu vermeiden, welche die "ohnehin schon bedrohliche Lage" verschlimmern könnten.
https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2020-11/jemen-uno-hungersnot-vereinte-nationen-buergerkrieg
(A H P)
‘Act urgently’ to stave off catastrophic famine in Yemen: Guterres
Yemen is in “imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades”, the UN chief warned in a statement released on Friday, calling for urgent action on the part of the international community to “stave off catastrophe”.
Secretary-General António Guterres warned that without immediate action to protect civilians battered and starved, after more than five years of grinding civil conflict, “millions of lives may be lost.”
In his statement, the UN chief said a combination of factors had come together to create famine conditions, including “a drastic reduction in funding for the UN-coordinated relief operation this year compared to 2018 and 2019, a failure to sustain external support for Yemen’s economy, especially in stabilizing the value of the Yemeni Rial, and the impact of the ongoing conflict and impediments imposed by powerful Yemeni and other parties on the life-saving work of humanitarian agencies.”
To cap the crises rooted in human behavior, locusts and floods are compounding the problem, added the UN chief.
“I urge all those with influence to act urgently on these issues to stave off catastrophe, and I also request that everyone avoids taking any action that could make the already dire situation even worse”, said Mr. Guterres.
“Failing that”, he concluded, “we risk a tragedy not just in the immediate loss of life but with consequences that will reverberate indefinitely into the future.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1078212
statement in full: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2020-11-20/secretary-general%E2%80%99s-statement-yemen
and
(A P)
Mohammed al-Houthi approves of UN General Secretary statement on Yemen
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21314.html
(B P)
Film: UN Trying to Legitimize Blockade at Political Negotiating Table
(A P)
Griffiths’ office: Preparations underway to hold new talks on prisoners’ exchange
Office of the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths said on Wednesday that preparations are underway to hold new negotiations between the two waring parties on the release of prisoners and detainees.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43307
and
(A P)
New talks on prisoners’ exchange postponed
Office the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy to Yemen (OSEY) has informed representatives of the government and the Houthis rebels on the postponement of new talks on the release of detainees that were scheduled to start on Thursday 19 November in Jordan, to an indefinite time.
Member of the government delegation to the talks, Majed Fadayel, said that the new outbreak of COVID-19 in Jordan might be the reason for the delay of the talks.
The OSEY’s regional office is in Amman of Jordan and it is difficult to arrange the travel to the talks amid effective national measures taken to control the coronavirus, according to Fadayel.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43325
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp8 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-695b-yemen-war-mosaic-695b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-694-yemen-war-mosaic-694
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-694 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-694:
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 air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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