Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 695, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 695, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-695-yemen-war-mosaic-695
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 / In Italics: Look in part 1
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus 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
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe / Look at cp1
(** B P)
'Night of the beating': details emerge of Riyadh Ritz-Carlton purge
three years on, some of the Saudi detainees reveal what they say took place
In early November 2017, nearly 400 of Saudi Arabia’s most powerful people, among them princes, tycoons and ministers, were rounded up and detained in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, in what became the biggest and most contentious purge in the modern kingdom’s history.
The arrests shook the foundations of Saudi society, in an instant turning untouchable establishment figures into targets for arrest. Statuses were discarded, assets seized and business empires upended. A conventional pact between the state and its influential elite was shredded overnight.
Now, leading figures caught up in the detentions have revealed details of what they say took place. The former detainees, many of whom were stripped of fortunes, portray a scene of torture and coercion, and of royal court advisers leading chaotic attempts to understand the investments behind the wealth of the kingdom’s most influential families, then seizing what they could find.
The accounts of what occurred in the Ritz, provided through an intermediary, are from some of the most senior Saudi business figures, who claim to have been beaten and intimidated by security officers, under the supervision of two ministers, both close confidantes of the man who ordered the purge, the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
The Ritz-Carlton detentions often started with a phone call, summoning targets for meetings with Prince Mohammed, or King Salman himself. In another case, two prominent businessmen said they were told to meet in a home and wait for a royal court adviser to join them. Instead, state security officials showed up, ushering them to a five-star prison, where guards and senior aides were waiting.
“On the first night, everyone was blindfolded and nearly everyone was subjected to what Egyptian intelligence calls the ‘night of the beating’”, said a source with intimate knowledge of what took place. “People were asked if they knew why they were there. No one did. Most were beaten, some of them badly. There were people tied to the walls, in stress positions. It went on for hours, and all of those doing the torturing were Saudis.
“It was designed to soften them up. And then the next day, the interrogators arrived.”
(B P)
##Yemeni account says #SaudiArabia allowed #MuslimBrotherhood leader #Yemen Abdulmajod AlZandani to leave for #Turkey. He was listed by #US as a global terrorist but #US never said #Saudi is a state sponsor of terrorism.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1330567373867376640
referring to https://twitter.com/wesamalamery/status/1330532413403959296
(B P)
Will Turkey intervene in Yemen?
Saudi-Turkish relations have been at an all-time low and were primed to deteriorate further due to five key developments.
(5) Turkey’s use of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a means of periodically escalating pressure on the kingdom, embarrassing it, and trashing its international image by highlighting its human rights violations.
What worries the Saudis most is that Turkey, in the wake of its triumph in Azerbaijan, could challenge it in two key areas: the war in Yemen; and its leadership of the Islamic world in its capacity as custodian of the holy places in Mecca and Medina. The two issues are, of course, connected.
Last week, Yasin Aktay, the Turkish president’s advisor and one of his closest confidants, published an article in the governing AKP party’s mouthpiece Yeni Safak that was widely circulated and translated by pro-Turkish media outlets. It was titled: “Comparing Yemen’s plight to Turkey’s success in Libya, Azerbaijan, Somalia”
The article reads like a warning to Saudi Arabia and the UAE about Turkey’s next move. Turkey weighing into the Yemen war would alter all the country’s political and military equation given the immense experience it gained from its military interventions in Libya, Syria, Somalia and latterly Azerbaijan.
Saudi Arabia only has three options: either talk to Turkey and resolve their disputes; mend fences with Syria and Iran and their ‘resistance axis’ allies; or normalise and align with Israel as its Emirati partners have done.
https://www.raialyoum.com/index.php/will-turkey-intervene-in-yemen/
(A P)
Film: Leaked video from #G20showing #KingSalman cognitive decline . He asks his son #MBS”Where was the last #G20 , MBS says in #Japan. King says “Did we go to Japan? #MBS says, yes we went. We will be on live stream shortly, please be ready.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1330438501804945415
and here he is speaking officially: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGAbnakA_xE
(A P)
Saudi Arabia has always envisioned normalization with Israel would happen: FM
Saudi Arabia has always envisioned that normalization with Israel would happen, but the current focus should be on bringing Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Thursday.
“We have always envisioned that normalization [with Israel] would happen, but we also need to have a Palestinian state and a Palestinian-Israeli peace plan,” the Saudi FM said.
and from August 2020: https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-fm-no-israel-normalization-without-peace-with-the-palestinians/
(A P)
Saudi Arabia confident Biden will pursue regional stability, foreign minister says
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Saturday he was confident that Democrat Joe Biden’s incoming U.S. administration would pursue policies that help regional stability and that any discussions with it would lead to strong cooperation.
(A P)
Saudi Arabia resumes consular services in Yemen
Saudi Arabia restarted consular works in Yemen after months of suspension due to coronavirus.
The Kingdom has renewed consular services in Yemen to support locals and provide them with chances of travel and work, Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohamed Al-Jabir said on Twitter.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30574
(A P)
Turkey's Erdogan, Saudi king agree to solve issues through dialogue: Turkish presidency
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz agreed in a phone call improve bilateral ties and solve outstanding disputes through dialo
(A P)
American Hostages In Saudi Prison, Pompeo The G20
The Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs Ali AlAhmed sent a letter today to the American Sectary of State Michael Pompeo asking him to demand the release of all American hostages in Saudi prisons before he participates in the G20 meeting next week held in Riyadh.
https://www.gulfinstitute.org/american-hostages-in-saudi-prison-pompeo-the-g20/
letter: https://www.gulfinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Pompeo-hostages-letter.pdf
(A P)
REGIERUNGEN DÜRFEN SICH NICHT VON SAUDI-ARABIENS VERMEINTLICHEN REFORMEN TÄUSCHEN LASSEN
Am kommenden Wochenende ist Saudi-Arabien Gastgeber des virtuellen G20-Gipfels. Amnesty International fordert, dass die Staats- und Regierungschefs der G20 die saudischen Behörden für ihren scheinheiligen Umgang mit Frauenrechten in die Pflicht nehmen: Die Frauenförderung steht ganz oben auf der G20-Agenda Saudi-Arabiens. Die saudischen Behörden propagieren beispielsweise neue Initiativen zu Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten von Frauen – gleichzeitig sitzen zahlreiche Frauenrechtsaktivistinnen im Gefängnis oder müssen Gerichtsverfahren fürchten.
Amnesty International fordert die Staats- und Regierungschefs der G20 auf, sich der Forderung nach der umgehenden und bedingungslosen Freilassung von Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassima al-Sada, Samar Badawi, Nouf Abdulaziz und Maya’a al-Zahrani anzuschließen. Sie alle wurden 2018 wegen ihrer Menschenrechtsarbeit inhaftiert.
"Für die Regierung Saudi-Arabiens ist der G20-Gipfel eine sehr wichtige Gelegenheit, um der Welt ihre vermeintliche Reformagenda vorzustellen und deutlich zu machen, dass das Land der Wirtschaft offensteht. Die Staats- und Regierungschefs der G20 sollten bei diesem Vorhaben aber nicht mitspielen, sondern den Gipfel dazu nutzen, sich vor die Aktivistinnen zu stellen, die für ihren Einsatz für die Rechte von Frauen hinter Gittern sitzen", fordert Dr. Julia Duchrow, Leiterin der Abteilung Politik und Activism bei Amnesty International in Deutschland.
und auch https://www.ref.ch/news/g20-gipfel-soll-ueber-frauenrechte-in-saudi-arabien-sprechen/
(A P)
COVID deals blow to Saudi Arabia's G20 summit ambitions
When Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and a leading U.S. ally, took over the G20 presidency in December 2019, hopes in the kingdom were high.
A global summit would help rehabilitate the country on the international stage and turn the world’s attentions to key reforms launched by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to open up the kingdom and diversify the economy.
But instead of hoped-for photo ops in opulent palaces, this year’s summit is mostly virtual due to COVID-19, dealing a blow to the prince’s ambitions in a year of global economic downturn.
and
(A P)
As Yemen teeters on the brink of famine, IRC urges G20 leaders to fulfil humanitarian commitments at Saudi Arabia summit
As the G20 convenes in Saudi Arabia, the IRC is calling for world leaders to release their funding commitments towards Yemen’s humanitarian response plan and to support a recovery package for Yemen’s beleaguered economy . Moreover, we call on the international community to use their diplomatic leverage - including a suspension of arms sales - to push for a nationwide ceasefire, and bring parties to the conflict to the negotiating table to reach a political settlement.
(A P)
Online G-20 summit lacks glam, and maybe results, amid virus
This weekend’s summit of leaders from the Group of 20 stands out more for what it is not than for what it is.
Held online this year because of the coronavirus, the gathering of leaders of the world’s preeminent rich and developing nations will not be an opportunity for kings, presidents and prime ministers to conduct the intimate diplomacy of closed-door meetings or pose for memorable photo-ops. Without red carpet arrivals, it will not be an occasion for its Saudi hosts to dazzle the world’s media.
(* B P)
For Trump's Middle East allies, Joe Biden is a new nightmare
The president-elect's actions in the Middle East will be dictated by events. But the loss of Trump represents a body check for the ambitions and aspirations of Gulf hegemons.
You can detect the shadow of Donald Trump fading from the Middle East in the nervous twitches of his closest allies.
Top of the list of nervous allies is the man who used Trump to fashion his rise to power.
To become crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had to get rid of, and trash the reputation of his elder cousin Mohammed bin Nayef, who was at the time the CIA’s prime asset in the country and the Gulf region. Before he did this, bin Salman phoned Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law and Middle East adviser, to ask permission. It was given, sources with knowledge of the call told Middle East Eye.
Biden knows bin Nayef personally. Bin Nayef’s chief of staff and former interior minister Saad al-Jabri has fled to Toronto. A few days after Khashoggi's assassination in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, MBS despatched another crew from the Tiger Squad to kill al-Jabri, according to a lawsuit filed under the Torture Victim Protection Act in the US District of Columbia.
Al-Jabri was lucky. Border agents at Toronto International Airport detected the operation and sent it back home. All this is active evidence. None of this has been dealt with. The CIA’s own assessment that MBS ordered Khashoggi’s killing has never been published.
It is not just Biden himself the crown prince has to fear - although the presidential candidate reserved his sharpest words for the killing of Khashoggi - but the return of the CIA to the top table of decision making in the White House.
Overnight MBS goes from having a president in the White House who "saved his ass", as Trump put it, to a successor who is not remotely interested in doing the same. Biden has every incentive to encourage MBS’s many enemies in the royal family to step forward to prevent the over-ambitious prince from becoming king. There are enough of them, by now.
An Oval Office under new management leaves MBS with relatively few options.
He could use Israel as his get-out-of-jail card, by pushing for recognition and normalisation. There is bipartisan support in Congress for the Abraham Accords signed between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel.
The custodian of the Two Holy Mosques recognising Israel? Not over many Muslims' dead bodies.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/us-elections-2020-joe-biden-trump-allies-middle-east
(A P)
#Saudi_Arabia launches the first women soccer league with the participation of 24 teams (photo9
https://twitter.com/NabeelNowairah/status/1328727674592899072
My comment: Playing soccer this way?
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp8, cp9a
(* A P)
Jemen: USA wollen Huthis zu "Terroristen" erklären – Hilfsorganisationen warnen
Berichten zufolge plant die US-Regierung, die in Jemen kämpfende "Ansar Allah" (Huthis) zu einer terroristischen Organisation zu erklären. Hilfsorganisationen warnen, dass dadurch lebensrettende Hilfe für Millionen von Zivilisten behindert und der Friedensprozess gestört werden.
In der Erwartung, dass die Trump-Administration die Huthi-Bewegung im Jemen als Terroristen einstufen wird, sind in dieser Woche bereits mehrere US-Amerikaner, die für die Vereinten Nationen und internationale Hilfsorganisationen in dem kriegsgebeutelten Land arbeiten, vorübergehend aus dem von den Huthis kontrollierten Gebiet in Sanaa ausgereist.
Am Montagabend hatte die UNO eine dringliche Nachricht an Hilfsorganisationen geschickt, in der sie auf die möglichen Folgen einer geplanten Umbenennung durch die Trump-Administration von Ansar Allah hinwies und US-amerikanische Hilfsarbeiter in den von der Gruppe kontrollierten Gebieten warnte, dass "höchstwahrscheinlich die Benennung von AA [Ansar Allah] als terroristische Organisation heute Abend durch die US-Regierung erfolgen wird. Die UNO ermutigt alle US-Bürger, den Nordjemen zu verlassen, da die Auswirkungen unbekannt sind".
Unter Berufung auf Aussagen derzeitiger und ehemaliger US-Beamte hieß es zuvor, dass die Entscheidung unmittelbar bevorstehe. Es wurde davon ausgegangen, dass US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo die Entscheidung der Trump-Regierung, Ansar-Allah als terroristische Organisation zu bezeichnen, auf seiner Reise in der Kommenden Woche in Saudi-Arabien verkünden werde.
Derzeit scheint es Beobachtern zufolge jedoch eher so, als würde Washington diese Option als Druckmittel für seinen im Jemen Krieg führenden Verbündeten am Golf behalten, damit Saudi-Arabien in aktuellen Gesprächen die Huthis zu einem Waffenstillstand bewegen kann.
https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/109428-gefahr-fuer-jemen-durch-plaene-washingtons/
(* B P)
Peter Salisbury: As chatter around a U.S. designation of the Huthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation grows, I'm re-upping this @CrisisGroup commentary from October. https://crisisgroup.org/united-states/yemen-should-be-factor-us-yemen-policy…
We received a lot of pushback after publishing from ppl who see a designation as building needed leverage with the Huthis. As we wrote, the lack of leverage w/the huthis is a source of deep frustration in Washington, Riyadh, and within the ranks of the Yemeni government.
But the concerns we raise remain valid. The material support provisions of an FTO designation would make trade with Yemen -- any part of Yemen -- a legal nightmare for major international firms. This would not, as some suggest, be like the Hezbollah FTO designation.
The Huthis control Yemen's main population centres (circa 70%) and tax everything that enters their areas, be it food shipped into Hodeida or trucked into the north via Aden, or currency transfers to banks in Sanaa. That makes pretty much everything fair game under FTO.
If you're an international bank, or shipping firm, or insurance firm, you'll have a choice: make a small return on doing business in Yemen and risk being sanctioned/fined in the US -- or de-risk and get out of the Yemen game. It's not hard to guess what firms will do.
And again, this will be the whole of Yemen, not just Hodeida/Sanaa. Eventually, yes, things will get sorted out in some parts of the country. People will find workarounds. But can Yemen afford the short-term impact of a near-halt to imports and forex inflows? Nope.
The humanitarian collateral damage could be huge. And that's before considering the political/diplomatic -- and reputational -- fallout of a designation, which could push the Huthis further into Iran's arms and further constrain diplomacy.
The U.S. really needs to rethink this one -- unless the Trump admin want its legacy to be of tipping Yemen into famine and the Huthis into closer alignment with Iran.
https://twitter.com/peterjsalisbury/status/1329894464878473217
(* A P)
US Representatives Call on Pompeo & Craft to Prioritize the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen and Warn of Consequences of Houthi Designation
Today, U.S. Representatives Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Ro Khanna (CA-17) led a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft calling for the administration to prioritize the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen and to support productive measures to expedite needed assistance to the Yemeni people.
"Years of civil conflict, together with the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have greatly increased the risk of famine and starvation to Yemeni civilians, especially women and children, a problem exacerbated by funding shortfalls in the international humanitarian response."
The letter warns of the consequences of designating the Yemeni Houthis as it would likely interrupt the already overstrained humanitarian response and disrupt the precarious UN-led political process in Yemen. As the Members acknowledge, "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."
Specifically, the Members urge the Trump Administration to:
https://teddeutch.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402893
and
(* A H P)
Yemen aid workers fear possible U.S. blacklisting of Houthis
Humanitarian agencies say a possible U.S. designation of Yemen’s Houthi group as a foreign terrorist organisation would prevent lifesaving aid to the conflict-riven country, where fears of famine are rising.
Two separate sources told Reuters around a dozen American aid workers had left the country this week. Other sources said an informal note had been sent to American aid workers last week, in anticipation of potential safety concerns in Houthi-controlled areas.
Aid agencies worry their work would be criminalised. The Houthis - also called Ansar Allah - are the de facto authority in northern Yemen and humanitarian organisations have to get their permits to carry out aid programs, as well as work with ministries and local financial systems.
Should the U.S. government proceed, it should also issue a ‘General License’ that ensures humanitarian groups can still work with Houthi authorities and provide aid, said Jan Egeland, a former U.N. aid chief who now heads the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which works in Yemen.
“We must be able to negotiate access for our aid and protection of civilians with all sides to all conflicts,” he said.
“A potential designation is coming at a time of unprecedented need ... but our ability to respond is diminishing,” said the NRC’s Sultana Begum from Yemen.
Aid workers also worry a designation - with the increased burden on banks’ compliance mechanisms - would impact Yemenis’ access to financial systems and remittances from abroad, as well as complicating imports and raising goods prices further.
My comment: Another grotesque proof of claimed (and world-wide granted) US global dominance. The US as master of the universe issuing “General Licences” for humanitarian organizations – not in the US, but in Yemen!!!!
and
(* A H P)
'Terrorist' tag for Yemen's Huthis raises fears of aid blocks
Indications that the US is considering declaring Yemen's Huthi rebels a "terrorist organisation" have alarmed humanitarian groups who say it could cripple aid delivery and tip the country into famine.
The Iran-backed Huthis are at the centre of a flurry of diplomacy as the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has made isolating its arch foe Tehran a centrepiece of its regional policy, enters its final weeks.
Officials confirmed to AFP reports that the US is laying the groundwork for a designation of the rebel grou
"The issue here is that if they are defined as a terrorist organisation, that has many consequences," said one Western diplomat in the Gulf who oversees Yemen.
"Some or many countries will have problems in dealing with them at all, and that can complicate the whole 'peace' process and the UN's work," he said, referring to hopes for an end to the conflict.
The impact on the Huthis, who are already under US sanctions, may be limited but ordinary Yemenis could pay the price, with further damage to programmes already cut back due to record-low funding during the coronavirus pandemic.
Everything from interacting with Huthi officials, handling taxes, using the banking system, paying health workers, buying food and fuel and arranging internet services could be affected.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said his organisation joined other humanitarian groups "in expressing deep concern at the prospect of additional, near-insurmountable hurdles to providing lifesaving aid in Yemen".
If the US goes ahead with the move they must issue "clear and unambiguous exemptions" that will allow aid workers to operate without fear of legal repercussions, he said.
The Huthis reacted angrily to the prospect of the US designation, saying Trump had no right to make the ruling after failing to win a second term.
"The US elections are over and someone else won but he still insists that he was victorious. This man's statements have no meaning any more," said Sultan Al-Samee, vice president of the political council of Ansar Allah, the movement's formal name.
"If he designates Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation, then this would be coming from an unqualified person who is going totally insane," he told AFP.
However, the move is expected to be welcomed by Saudi Arabia,
While US congressional sources confirm the issue is being deliberated, it remains hotly contested and it is unclear whether the process can be completed before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on January 20.
State Department counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales said: "We don't sneak-preview any designation actions that we might or might not be contemplating."
Democratic members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling for efforts to protect Yemenis from the fallout.
The looming designation "is likely to only worsen this devastating humanitarian crisis and poses a serious obstacle for both the already overstrained humanitarian response and precarious political process in Yemen," they said.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201120-terrorist-tag-for-yemen-s-huthis-raises-fears-of-aid-blocks = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-8968657/Terrorist-tag-Yemens-Huthis-raises-fears-aid-blocks.html
and also https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-united-states-blacklist-houthis-cost-innocent-lives
and
and
(* A P)
Statement by Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, on the potential designation of Ansar Allah, Yemen, as a terrorist organisation
“The Norwegian Refugee Council joins other humanitarian organisations in expressing deep concern at the prospect of additional, near-insurmountable hurdles to providing lifesaving aid in Yemen.
Should the Government of the United States proceed with the proposed designation of Ansar Allah, as a terrorist organisation, they must at the same time issue a “General License” that ensures humanitarian organisations are provided with clear and unambiguous exemptions, allowing aid to still be delivered. Ansar Allah are the de-facto authorities of the northern governorates in Yemen.
Our humanitarian workers are not armed, not parties to conflict, not taking sides. We must work with, for and among civilians in conflict and crossfire. 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.
and
(* A P)
U.N. Pulling Americans From Northern Yemen Ahead of Houthi Terrorist Designation
The Trump administration’s parting gift to Saudi Arabia has made it necessary to evacuate at-risk aid workers from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
American staffers for the United Nations and some workers at nongovernmental organizations have been relocated out of northern Yemen in anticipation of the Trump administration’s possible terrorist designation for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels that is likely to complicate aid deliveries and further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
Officials familiar with the decision said that more than a dozen Americans working for the U.N. and international relief agencies in Yemen have been transferred temporarily out of Houthi-controlled territory in Sanaa. It remained unclear whether they have been redeployed to southern Yemen or to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, or when they might return. Depending on conditions in the country, the staff could return to regular rotations after a short leave.
On Monday night, the U.N. sent an urgent WhatsApp message to relief agencies warning it was “most likely the designation of AA [Ansar Allah] as a terrorist organization will take place tonight by US Gov. UN are encouraging all US citizens to leave the North of Yemen as the implications are unknown.” Ansar Allah is the formal name of the Houthi movement, which recently freed two American hostages in the lead-up to the US election, which had been seen as a potential thaw with the group.
“While it is not likely to be too harsh e.g. kidnapping it could result in restriction of movement. A list of those wishing to leave Sanaa to Aden or Addis on the Wednesday flight will be accommodated,” the WhatsApp message continued.
The U.N.’s expectation that the U.S. designation would occur on Monday was not borne out, but U.N. officials went through with the relocation of American workers.
The U.N. is not characterizing the move as a formal evacuation but a forward rotation of Americans out of Houthi-controlled zones, akin to an early leave that officials take each month.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/18/un-pulling-americans-from-yemen-houthi-terrorism-designation/
Comment by Iona Craig: If this goes ahead, Trump’s legacy in the Arabian Peninsula will be to have made peace in Yemen impossible.
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/1329174726305083397
and
(* B P)
Trump team looks to box in Biden on foreign policy by lighting too many fires to put out
President Donald Trump's order of a further withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq is the latest foreign policy move on a growing list in his final weeks in office that are meant to limit President-elect Joe Biden's options before he takes office in January.
The Trump team has prepared legally required transition memos describing policy challenges, but there are no discussions about actions they could take or pause. Instead, the White House is barreling ahead. A second official tells CNN their goal is to set so many fires that it will be hard for the Biden administration to put them all out.
It's a strategy that radically breaks with past practice, could raise national security risks and will surely compound challenges for the Biden team -- but it could also backfire. Analysts and people close to the Biden transition argue the Trump team may act so aggressively that reversing some of its steps will earn Biden easy goodwill points and negotiating power with adversaries.
"The idea that Biden is some sort of softy doesn't correspond with many things," said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Pointing to the same baseline goals for a nuclear-free Iran, a withdrawal from Afghanistan and a way to manage the relationship with an increasingly assertive China, Parsi said, "The Biden administration is likely to continue many policies, but just with a different style."
Yemen
For months, Pompeo has been pushing to designate Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels as terrorists despite pushback from State Department and United Nations officials. He may soon be successful, two State Department officials tell CNN, and if so, the move could handicap Biden's ability to develop his own policy in Yemen, because rolling back a terrorist designation is not easy, the officials said.
Pompeo has received intense resistance from his own diplomats, who have discussed the matter with UN officials on the ground in Yemen. Both groups are anxious that a designation could upend the UN's work on peace talks in the country.
There are also fears that such a designation could impact humanitarian aid deliveries. One State Department official said Pompeo sees the designation as part of the maximum pressure campaign against Iran and doesn't care if it puts the Biden team in a challenging position.
"That is just how this cast of characters works," said one of the State Department officials. "Pompeo will do everything he can to make it hard for the incoming team."
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/trump-biden-natsec-transition-fires/index.html
(* B P)
Film: Will Biden end the Yemen war that he and Obama started?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMpxhFcUqcY
(* B P)
Yemen’s Chaos Creates a New Opportunity for the Biden-Harris Team
While the foundations of peace must be Yemeni-led, there is much that the new administration could do to support this process. The first and most important choice is simple, though fraught with risk: does the United States continue with the current policy focused on national reconciliation, or consider an alternative path?
But there is another potential pathway forward for Yemen. While the United Nations-led peace talks have struggled to make progress towards national reconciliation, there could be a more gradual and long-term pathway toward peace that offers promise. It is a pathway that may require the type of international leadership and vision that only the United States can offer.
Like it or not, U.S. interests in the Middle East crucially depend on stability in the Arabian Gulf. Yemen’s geostrategic location—neighboring key U.S. allies and waterways critical to global commerce—along with the presence of violent non-state actors, both Iranian-backed Shia militias and Sunni jihadists, makes for a volatile mix that could threaten U.S. interests. Resolving the civil war in Yemen may not serve just these interests, but also could help end the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Given the prevailing political and military conditions on the ground, the prospects for national reconciliation appear dim.
Both sides have become increasingly entrenched in their positions over time, and there now appears to be little appetite for national reconciliation.
Rather than push for national reconciliation, the incoming administration could look to quickly and decisively defuse the conflict by brokering a durable ceasefire between the Saudis and Houthis. By focusing on more limited objectives, like border security and eliminating Iranian influence, rather than the broader national reconciliation project that is the focus of current UN efforts, the administration could build an interim agreement that ends the violence and opens up the country to immediate humanitarian relief.
The international community might then focus its efforts on rebuilding the south of the country, where a dangerous power vacuum has emerged.
Achieving a peaceful resolution to Yemen’s civil war would not necessarily require direct U.S. involvement. The United States cannot be expected to manage the day-to-day demands of the peace process or conduct shuttle diplomacy among the parties. This job is best left to the UN and its Special Envoy to Yemen.
But the UN process has suffered from a lack of coherent and persistent support from the United States. Without committing forces or substantial funds, the United States still could have much to offer, providing leadership, vision, and a clear strategy for ending the conflict.
A peaceful resolution to the conflict in Yemen is possible, though it may not happen without leadership and commitment from the United States – by Daniel Egel, economist, and Trevor Johnston, political scientist RAND Corporation.
My comment: RAND Corporation is labeled as “nonprofit, nonpartisan” here. This is part of RANDs camouflage: RAND is an extremely biased, US centered propaganda think tank, actively involved in US global dominance politics and warmongering. The (quite short) German Wikipedia article clearly tells it (while the longer English version hides it): “RAND experts played a role in the Korean War and Cold War propaganda […] The topics RAND has worked on in recent years have included strategies to destabilize Russia and considerations about the war with China” (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAND_Corporation). – This article is a quite grotesque version of a typical US view taking US global dominance for natural and granted. It’s grotesque how the authors claim US leadership, and even more, claim that even a country like Yemen would “require the type of international leadership and vision that only the United States can offer” (in this way repeated several times). Actually, such an article should have been labeled as propaganda (and therefor transferred to cp15 Propaganda here), but as RAND’s influence on US politics is tremendous, an article like this one might be more: a clear roadmap for the new administration. And, such a roadmap obviously only has one ultimate goal: US global dominance, claiming that there are US interests worldwide, and of course in the Middle East. there is a broader Rand roadmap for the Middle East: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PE200/PE265/RAND_PE265.pdf.
(A P)
Pompeo touts Iran policy in Gulf ahead of Biden presidency
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended his tour of Gulf Arab states and the Trump administration’s continued efforts to squeeze Iran, even as a new U.S. administration led by Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House in January.
“Our policies don’t change. Our duty doesn’t change. My responsibilities don’t change,” he said. “I still have an obligation — every hour, every minute — to defend the American people and to keep them foremost in our efforts, and we’ll do that. We’ll do that to the very last minute.”
(* B P)
Zurück in die Zukunft – Was wir von der Biden-Präsidentschaft im Nahen Osten erwarten können
Joe Biden ist ein Empire-Politiker, ein US-Exzeptionalist, der überzeugt ist, dass die Welt in alle Ewigkeit von der Großmacht USA dominiert werden muss. Im Pulverfass Nahost wird er zum Status quo der Obama-Ära zurückkehren: Die eskalative Iran-Politik seines Vorgängers wird er hoffentlich umkehren und den so wichtigen Iran-Deal wiederbeleben. Seine Israel-Palästina-Politik wird im Ton gewiss moderater, doch als selbsternannter „Zionist“ wird er der israelischen Regierung nur minimale Grenzen setzen: Statt wie auf Steroiden, muss Netanyahu die Palästinenser nun wieder ganz normal unterdrücken. Biden wird in Nahost keinen neuen Krieg beginnen, doch auch keinen beenden. Als ausgewiesener liberaler Interventionist wird er den „forever war“ in alle Ewigkeit festschreiben.
Joe Biden hat im Wahlkampf wiederholt geäußert, er wolle dem Deal wieder beitreten. In einer Gastkolumne auf CNN im September streckt Biden die Hand aus und versichert, er werde dem Iran „einen glaubhaften Pfad zurück zur Diplomatie anbieten“.
Doch ein Zurück zum Iran-Deal wird aus vielerlei Gründen alles andere als ein Selbstläufer. So muss Biden gegen Widerstände bei Republikanern genau wie im iranophoben Neocon-Flügel der Demokraten ankämpfen. Auch die israelische Regierung sowie die emiratische und die saudische bringen sich bereits in Stellung, um in Washington gegen den Wiedereintritt ins JCPOA zu lobbyieren. Zusätzlich verhängt die Trump-Administration in ihren verbleibenden Wochen gänzlich neue Iran-Sanktionen, die es der Biden-Regierung erschweren werden, in den Deal zurückzugehen. Da diese neuen Sanktionen keinen Nuklearbezug haben werden, sondern an von Demokraten wie Republikanern gleichermaßen kritisierten Feldern der Menschenrechtslage im Iran, Teherans Ballistikprogramm und dessen regionale Aktivitäten gebunden sind, würde Biden zu viel seines politischen Kapitals verspielen, wenn er diese neuen Sanktionen ohne Gegenleistung aufhebt. Sollte er sie jedoch nicht zurücknehmen, verspielt er seine Glaubwürdigkeit gegenüber Teheran – ein geschickt hinterhältiger Schachzug der Trump-Strategen.
Was US-Präsidenten in Nahost eben machen
Joe Biden repräsentiert das verkrustete US-Politestablishment wie nur wenige neben ihm – die überparteilichen Seilschaften zwischen Großkonzernen, Wall Street und Politik, die Korruption, die globale Kreise zieht. Insbesondere die US-Außenpolitik wurde von Biden über Jahrzehnte entscheidend mitgeprägt
Im Frühjahr legte Biden im Fachblatt Foreign Affairs seine außenpolitische Agenda dar – der treffende Titel des ausführlichen Essays: „Why America Must Lead Again“. Die Essenz des 12-seitigen Aufsatzes könnte folgendermaßen eingedampft werden: Die Supermacht USA soll bis in alle Ewigkeit die Geschicke dieser Welt lenken. Andere Demokratien dürfen dies zwar „flankieren“, doch muss jeder Aspekt auf dem Globus von Washington dominiert werden. Sich widersetzende Akteure müssen um jeden Preis unterworfen oder „als letztem Ausweg“ mit Krieg in die Knie gezwungen werden.
Zum guten Ton gehört auch: „Es ist an der Zeit, die endlosen Kriege zu beenden, die die Vereinigten Staaten unermessliches Blut und Reichtümer gekostet haben.“ Dass Biden selbst einer der Architekten des „forever war“ ist, bleibt im Aufsatz geflissentlich unerwähnt.
Nein, ein Zurück zu neuen großen Kriegen samt Staatstreich und Auslöschen ganzer Länder, ein Zurück zu Afghanistan 2001, Irak 2003 und Libyen 2011 also, halte ich unter Biden für wenig wahrscheinlich bis ausgeschlossen.
Die Präsidentschaft Joe Biden wird genau so fad und grau wie die Person Joe Biden. Er ist eben der Mitte-rechts-Empire-Politiker, der verblendete US-Exzeptionalist, der er seit Jahrzehnten nun einmal ist. Wie könnte er auch aus seiner Haut? Bei der Frage nach Krieg und Frieden im Großraum Nahost werden wir keine fundamental einschneidenden Entwicklungen in die eine oder andere Richtung sehen. Präsident Biden wird in Nahost einfach das machen, was US-Präsidenten in Nahost eben machen: Bomben abwerfen – von Jakob Reimann
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=67111
(* B P)
Yemen May Be a Priority for Biden and the Democrats
A focus on Yemen also has the advantage of showing Biden’s supporters—especially the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which took the lead in passing the War Powers Resolution on the Yemen war, which Trump vetoed—that the era of US indulgence of Saudi Arabia, which has been characteristic of the Trump presidency, is over. Moreover, if Biden is able to tie a resolution of the Yemen war to Washington rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that might help to mollify some of the nuclear deal’s critics on Capitol Hill because one of their criticisms was that it did not address Iran’s “malign activities” in the region.
Biden’s Position on the Yemen War and the Saudi Connection
During the presidential campaign, Biden connected the Yemen conflict with US policy toward Saudi Arabia under Trump and called for a reassessment of that bilateral relationship.
Of course, critics of Biden have pointed out that he was part of the Obama Administration, which supported the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen beginning in March 2015.
Unanimity among Democrats…
After Trump took office, opposition to the Yemen war grew to become one of the few unifying policies of the fractious Democratic Party, besides opposition to Trump himself. Democrats, who have close links to human rights organizations, were inundated with reports of large-scale civilian casualties in Yemen, many of which were tied to the Saudi-led bombing campaign.
Yemen and the Iran Connection
During the campaign, Biden was highly critical of Trump’s approach to Iran, calling it a “dangerous failure” because since Washington pulled out of the JCPOA, Tehran has now “stockpiled 10 times as much enriched uranium as it had when President Barack Obama and I left office.”
Biden then outlined his approach: rejoining the nuclear deal if Iran returns to strict compliance; strengthening and extending the JCPOA’s provisions in concert with US allies; addressing Iran’s problematic human rights issues; and working with “our partners” to “reduce tensions and help end regional conflicts, including the disastrous war in Yemen.”
It is important to note that Biden specifically mentioned Yemen because he may believe that engagement with Iran could be the key to getting the Houthis there to accept a peace deal with the Yemeni government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. Although the extent of Iranian support for the Houthis ranges from minimal to substantial (with the truth probably somewhere in-between), Biden might see a return to talks with Iran as a way of putting the Yemen conflict on the table as part of a package deal. In other words, Iran’s possible return to the nuclear deal’s compliance, paving the way for substantive dialogue with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany), might lead to progress to end the Yemen conflict.
Of course, what the Iranians want first and foremost is the repeal of the US sanctions that were imposed by Trump (without the support of the other members of the P5+1) and which have severely hurt their economy.
The Road Ahead
None of this will be easy for the incoming Biden administration to pull off. Rejoining the Iran nuclear deal will be highly controversial even if it is connected to a possible peace deal in Yemen—not only in the United States but in Iran itself, where hardliners are ascending. Moreover, ending US military support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen as a way to induce Riyadh to scale back its involvement there is likely to encounter some resistance from elements in the Pentagon as well as among members of Congress who have ties to the arms industry. Nonetheless, if Biden wants to show that the United States is returning to the world stage through diplomatic engagement, he may well be advised that focusing on Yemen is worth the effort. Not only would he be able to please his Democratic Party supporters (as well as some Republicans), but such efforts, if successful, would end one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises since World War II. – by Gregory Aftandilian
http://arabcenterdc.org/policy_analyses/yemen-may-be-a-priority-for-biden-and-the-democrats/
(* B P)
Film: The Saudi war on Yemen: Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump
Former US diplomat to Saudi Arabia Michael Springman discusses with Naseh Shaker how designating Ansarullah as a terrorist organization by Trump is going to hinder Biden's efforts to stop US assistance for the Saudi war on Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujuYB90HSmQ
(A P)
Omar suggests Biden should 'reverse' Trump's Middle East agreements, says they 'weren't peace deals'
The congresswoman said the deals amounted to arms sales to countries that abuse human rights and were meant to increase the chance of war with Iran
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., laid out a scathing attack on President Trump's foreign policy Friday, arguing his Middle East agreements weren't actually "peace deals" but arms deals that should be reversed by the next administration.
"[Trump] recently inked so-called 'peace deals' between the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Israel," Omar tweeted, referring to deals that preceded Trump earning two Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
"The only problem?" she added. "They weren’t peace deals. They’re arms sales to human rights abusers, designed to empower the Gulf States and increase the risk of war with Iran."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/omar-biden-reverse-trump-middle-east-werent-peace-deals
(* A P)
Obama's Memoir Glosses Over His Horrific Drone War
The former president's 768-page memoir hardly mentions the drone program, which killed hundreds of civilians, and when it does it's pretty gross.
In A Promised Land, former President Barack Obama’s new 768-page memoir, the word "drone" only appears eleven times. Of those instances, only six are direct references to his drone war, in which he ordered hundreds of strikes and killed thousands of people, hundreds of them civilians.
Obama’s reflections on his mechanized reign of terror abroad are rather brutal, revealing a cavalier attitude with a dose of self-delusion. Just before diving into his justifications for the drone program, Obama reflects on the aspect of his former job that involved meting out death. Reflecting on a lethal operation to rescue an American sailor for Somali pirates, he says that he wanted to “save” the people he ultimately killed.
He proceeds to say that this reality necessitated “operating an arsenal of lethal drones to take out al-Qaeda operatives” and lauds the NSA for “[employing] new supercomputers and decryption technology worth billions of dollars to comb cyberspace in search of terrorist communications and potential threats.” The revelation that the NSA was spying on American citizens on a massive scale was, of course, one of the defining scandals and legacies of Obama’s presidency.
In another reference, Obama recalls balking at the assertion from Vice President Dick Cheney that "my administration wasn’t treating al-Qaeda as a military threat.” He scoffs at how that “was hard to square with the additional battalions I’d deployed to Afghanistan or the scores of al-Qaeda operatives we were targeting with drone strikes."
Data from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism makes it clear that “scores” of civilians were also targeted in Obama’s strikes.
Obama claims he “took no joy in any of this,” saying “it didn’t make me feel powerful,” but those sentiments don’t exactly match his comments in the book and elsewhere. After the extrajudicial drone strike killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011, Obama reportedly said, “Turns out I’m really good at killing people. Didn’t know that would be a strong suite of mine.”
In a rare moment approaching something like critical self-reflection near the book’s end, Obama seems to acknowledge that his drone program cost America hearts and minds rather early on in his presidency. In fact, it’s one reason why he felt the U.S. couldn’t negotiate with Pakistani officials on the ground during the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp3mx/obamas-memoir-glosses-over-his-horrific-drone-war
and
(A P)
Obama said he couldn't afford to look soft on terrorism as a 'liberal president,' but that he 'took no joy' in ordering people killed
Former President Barack Obama in his new book discussed his ambivalence over the killings he ordered while president as part of counterterrorism operations.
"I took no joy in any of this. It didn't make me feel powerful," Obama wrote.
Obama said he often felt as though he wanted to "save" young men who'd been lured into violent extremism, but that his job as commander-in-chief "more often had me killing them instead."
One watchdog group estimated the Obama adminstration oversaw a tenfold increase in covert air strikes over the Bush administration during the global war on terror.
A total of 563 strikes, primarily by drones, were conducted in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during Obama's two terms, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, killing between 384 and 807 civilians. There were 10 times more covert air strikes as part of the war on terror under Obama than Bush, according to the Bureau, which has tracked US drone strikes for years.
and
(A P)
Obama defends deadly drone campaign in new book
Strikes killing thousands of people, many civilians, one of the largest blemishes on former president's record
Barack Obama has forcefully defended his controversial killer drone policy in the former US president's first memoir written after his eight-year tenure in the White House.
In an excerpt from A Promised Land published in the Sunday Times ahead of its release on Tuesday, Obama said the evolving face of warfare meant that he had to resort to “more targeted, non-traditional warfare”.
Compared to his predecessor George W Bush, drone strikes under Obama increased tenfold, resulting in thousands of deaths in Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen, among other countries.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/obama-defends-deadly-drone-campaign-new-book
My comment: Propaganda BS for paper recycling. Shut up, guy.
(* B P)
Die Medien, Joe Biden und die Kriegstreiber
Das Übergangs-Team des mutmaßlichen Wahlsiegers in den USA, Joe Biden, besteht weitgehend aus hochproblematischen und kriegstreiberischen Personen. Wer sich aber nur in den großen deutschen Medien über die USA informiert, kann die aktuellen Vorgänge dort nicht beurteilen.
Detailliert beschrieben wird das Team von Joe Biden etwa in dem US-Medium „Grayzone“: Eine Reihe von Unternehmensberatern, Kriegsgewinnlern und Falken der nationalen Sicherheit wurden demnach von Biden in die Teams berufen, die die Agenda für seine Regierung festlegen werden, so „Grayzone“. Ein Paradebeispiel für die „interventionistisch gesinnten, betriebswirtschaftlich orientierten Persönlichkeiten“, die das Biden-Harris-Team zu Verteidigungsfragen bilden würden, sei etwa Lisa Sawyer.
Eine weitere problematische Besetzung sei die designierte Verantwortliche für afrikanische Angelegenheiten: Linda Thomas-Greenfield sei eine treue Verbündete der ehemaligen nationalen Sicherheitsberaterin der USA, Susan Rice, die auf einen Krieg in Libyen drängte und die Invasion des Irak unterstützt habe. Sie sei außerdem Teil der Albright Stonebridge Group, einer globalen Beratungsfirma unter dem Vorsitz der ehemaligen Außenministerin Madeleine Albright, die Lobbyarbeit für die Verteidigungsindustrie betreibt.
Die Liste mit vorbelasteten und problematischen Personen wird in dem Artikel von „Grayzone“ (auf Englisch) noch lange fortgesetzt. Fragwürdig sind nicht nur die außenpolitischen Vorhaben, sondern auch wirtschaftspolitische Pläne. Die absurde Diskrepanz zwischen einem (vor allem außenpolitisch) aggressiv ausgerichteten Biden-Team und den Vorschusslorbeeren als Friedensstifter, die es von großen deutschen Medien erhält, wird auch in diesem interessanten Artikel bei „Telepolis“ deutlich. Insgesamt offenbart sich auch beim Thema US-Wahl ein (mutmaßlich vorsätzliches) „Versagen“ der deutschen Medienlandschaft.
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=67064
(* B K P)
Senators move to block Trump's $23B UAE arms sale
A bipartisan trio of senators launched an effort Wednesday to block the Trump administration’s $23 billion arms package to the United Arab Emirates.
Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Rand Paul (R-Ky.); and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced four separate resolutions Wednesday that would kill the administration’s plan to sell the UAE F-35 fighter jets, armed drones, missiles and bombs.
“As I tried to warn the Trump administration, circumventing deliberative processes for considering a massive infusion of weapons to a country in a volatile region with multiple ongoing conflicts is downright irresponsible,” Menendez said in a statement.
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Last week, the Trump administration notified Congress that it approved selling the UAE up to 50 F-35s worth $10.4 billion, up to 18 MQ-9B drones worth $2.97 billion and a package of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions worth $10 billion.
The formal notification kicked off a 30-day period in which Congress can block the sales with resolutions such as the ones introduced Wednesday.
Under the law governing U.S. arms sales, such resolutions are considered “privileged,” meaning senators can force a vote even if Senate leadership doesn’t support them.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/526613-senators-move-to-block-trumps-23b-uae-arms-sale
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
(A K P)
US deployed strategic bombers to Middle East - US Central Command
The United States deployed B-52H strategic bombers to the Middle East on Saturday, US Central Command reported on its website.
"On November 21, 2020, two U.S. Air force B-52 bombers belonging to the 5th Bomb Wing, from Minot AFB, North Dakota, carried out a round-trip mission to the Middle East region," the US Central Command said.
According to the statement, "U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base have conducted a surprise, round-trip to the Persian Gulf area "to deter aggression and reassure U.S. partners and allies".
"The non-stop mission demonstrates the U.S. military’s ability to deploy combat airpower anywhere in the world on short notice and integrate into CENTCOM operations to help preserve regional stability and security," says the US Central Command.
https://tass.com/world/1226423
and also https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/22/639090/US-Air-Force-bombers-deployed-to-Mideast
(A P)
Trump making it difficult for US to rejoin Iran nuclear deal: Academic
US President Donald Trump is making it more difficult for the next administration, which would probably be of projected 2020 election winner Joe Biden, to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, an American political analyst and academic says.
Frank N. von Hippel, senior research physicist and professor of Public and International Affairs, Emeritus, at Princeton University, made the remarks on Friday in response to a question from Press TV.
The Trump administration has imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran in a last-ditch attempt to ramp up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic before he leaves office in January.
(A P)
Iran rejects New York Times' claim on Araghchi’s contact with Biden team
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman called the New York Times’ report on the Iranian deputy foreign minister's contact with Joe Biden's team a hoax.
https://iranpress.com/content/30017
(A P)
Iran’s allies on high alert in Trump’s final weeks in office
Iran has instructed allies across the Middle East to be on high alert and avoid provoking tensions with the U.S. that could give an outgoing Trump administration cause to launch attacks in the U.S. president’s final weeks in office, Iraqi officials have said.
The request — delivered by a senior Iranian general to allies in Baghdad this week — reflects the growing regional anxiety over President Donald Trump’s unpredictable behavior and the uncertainty in the chaotic transition period until President-elect Joe Biden takes over in two months.
Iran’s allies have collectively welcomed Trump’s election defeat.
(A K P)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches aircraft-carrying ship
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a heavy warship Thursday capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers amid ongoing tensions with the U.S.
https://apnews.com/article/persian-gulf-tensions-middle-east-iran-daff75875abc38399dc15c2009a4ff3a
(A P)
Iran candidate tells AP: US attack risks ‘full-fledged war’
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader who is a possible 2021 presidential candidate is warning that any American attack on the Islamic Republic could set off a “full-fledged war” in the Mideast in the waning days of the Trump administration.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Hossein Dehghan struck a hard-line tone familiar to those in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force he long served in before becoming a defense minister under President Hassan Rouhani.
(A P)
Film: #Iran’s FM @JZarif : If the US implements its commitments under UNSCR-2231, we'll implement our commitments under the #JCPOA. This can be done automatically & needs no negotiations. But if US wants to rejoin the JCPOA, then we'll be ready to negotiate how US can reenter the deal.
https://twitter.com/AbasAslani/status/1328793942704447490
(A P)
USA verhängen weitere Sanktionen gegen Iran
Die US-Regierung hat am Mittwoch neue Sanktionen gegen mehrere iranische Beamten wie den Geheimdienstminister Mohammed Alawi, die mächtige Stiftung Bonjad Mostasafan und insgesamt 50 Unternehmen aus mehreren Bereichen wie Energie, Bergbau und Finanzen angekündigt.
Dabei stehe die Stiftung Bonjad Mostasafan im Fokus, hieß es in einer Ankündigung von US-Finanzminister Steven Mnuchin. Irans Oberster Führer benutze diese Stiftung, um seine Verbündeten unter dem Vorwand der Nächstenliebe zu belohnen, erklärte Mnuchin.
Darüber hinaus hat der US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo am gleichen Tag in einer Erklärung dem Iran mit weiteren neuen Sanktionen in den kommenden Wochen gedroht.
http://german.cri.cn/aktuell/alle/3250/20201119/580238.html
(A P)
Nach dem verkündeten Wahlsieg Joe Bidens: Saudi-Arabien schließt atomare Bewaffnung nicht aus
Saudi-Arabien behält sich eine atomare Bewaffnung für den Fall vor, dass eine iranische Atombombe nicht verhindert werden kann. Der scheidende US-Präsident soll einen Militärschlag gegen Iran erwogen haben.
Saudi-Arabien betrachtet eine eigene Atombombe als möglicherweise "notwendigen Schutz seiner Bevölkerung" und behält sich eine atomare Bewaffnung für den Fall vor, dass der Bau einer iranischen Atombombe nicht verhindert werden kann. "Das ist definitiv eine Option", sagte der Staatsminister für Auswärtiges, Adel al-Dschubeir, in einem Interview der Deutschen Presse-Agentur.
https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/109356-saudi-arabien-schliesst-atomare-bewaffnung/
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A P)
CAAT urges Saudi Arabia G20 summit to end assault on Yemen
Campaign Against Arms Trade (Caat) urged G20 leaders today to use the summit, which was planned to take place in the Saudi capital city Riyadh until the pandemic struck, to work towards ending the conflict.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/caat-urges-saudi-arabia-g20-summit-to-end-assault-on-yemen
(A P)
Emily Thornberry MP, Film: Joe Biden has spoken powerfully about the murder of children in Yemen, and said US values should never again be sacrificed to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. Boris Johnson has a choice: will he stand with the President-elect or continue serving as an apologist for Mohammed Bin Salman?
https://twitter.com/EmilyThornberry/status/1329389781596446720
(* A K P)
Saudi fighter jet pilot killed in Yemen was trained in UK, minister confirms
A Saudi fighter pilot who died during an operation in Yemen was trained in the UK, a British minister confirmed for the first time this week.
Lieutenant Colonel Muhanna Al-Baiz was flying a UK-manufactured Typhoon strike aircraft when it crashed in southern Yemen in 2017.
UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey confirmed to parliament on Tuesday that Al-Baiz received training from the RAF prior to his death.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/11/19/saudi-pilot-killed-in-yemen-was-trained-in-uk
and also https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/minister-confirms-britain-involvement-in-the-yemen-war
and
(* A B K P)
Saudi pilot killed in Yemen was trained by Britain, minister admits
It is not known when Al-Baiz last received refresher training from the RAF, but Heappey has previously acknowledged that such courses have continued throughout the Yemen war as a matter of routine.
The revelation about Al-Baiz adds to the evidence that the UK is a party to the conflict in Yemen, due to its extensive support for the Saudi military, despite government claims that it is not a member of the Saudi-led coalition.
Andrew Smith from the Campaign Against Arms Trade told Declassified: “This confirms what many of us have suspected but the government has failed to acknowledge. By arming, supporting and training Saudi pilots the UK has made itself an active participant in this terrible bombardment and ensured its complicity in the destruction that has followed. The Saudi-led coalition has inflicted a terrible humanitarian toll on Yemen.
“It is not just the arms sales that need to stop, it is also the uncritical political and military support that has gone with it. There must be full disclosure of who has been trained, what training they did and what role they have gone on to play in this devastating war.”
Heappey also revealed on Tuesday that “UK Defence personnel have accompanied the deployment of Giraffe radars to Riyadh.” The radars, delivered in February, track and identify objects in Saudi Arabia’s airspace, which is frequently targeted by drones flown by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The minister, who was fielding questions from Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, said: “This deployment is purely defensive in nature and helps Saudi Arabia with the very real threats it faces.” The deployment was first mentioned in the Ministry of Defence annual report which came out in October.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
G20 in Saudi-Arabien: Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen!
Im Wortlaut von Sevim Dagdelen, 20. November 2020
An diesem Wochenende treffen sich die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Gruppe der zwanzig wichtigsten Industrie- und Schwellenländer (G20) zu einem virtuellen Gipfel. Mit der Kopf-Ab-Diktatur Saudi-Arabien ist ein Land Gastgeber, das Demokratie und Menschenrechte mit Füßen tritt.
Die Menschenrechtssituation in der islamistischen Monarcho-Diktatur hat sich seit dem Machtantritt von Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman erheblich verschlechtert. Menschenrechte gelten in Saudi-Arabien nur unter Vorbehalt ihrer Vereinbarkeit mit der Scharia in wahhabitischer Auslegung. Jegliche Form von Dissens wird in der absoluten Monarchie barbarisch unterdrückt
Und die Bundesregierung? Anstatt wie zu erwarten Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman beim G20-Gipfel eine Bühne für dessen scheinheiligen Reformkurs zu bieten, sollte sie klare Worte für die dramatische Menschenrechtssituation in der Kopf-Ab-Diktatur finden.
Deutschland kommt laut Oxfam mit knapp 842 Millionen US-Dollar auf einen der vordersten Plätze bei den Geberstaaten für humanitäre Hilfe im Jemen. Mit Waffenlieferungen im Wert von 4,6 Milliarden Euro hat die Bundesregierung seit 2015 jedoch auch im großen Stil Rüstungsexporte an die von der Kopf-Ab-Diktatur Saudi-Arabien angeführte Kriegskoalition genehmigt.
Deutsche Rüstungsschmieden verdienen sich mit diesen skrupellosen Exporten eine goldene Nase - und die Bundesregierung leistet halbherzig humanitäre Hilfe
Der Waffenexportstopp für die islamistische Monarcho-Diktatur in Riad muss unbedingt verlängert werden! Ausnahmen darf es keine mehr geben. Auch Waffenexporte an die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und Ägypten, die zur saudischen Kriegsallianz zählen, gehören unterbunden. DIE LINKE fordert außerdem: Freiheit für Loujain al-Hathloul und alle anderen politischen Gefangenen! Solidarität mit den mutigen Frauen und Männern in Saudi-Arabien bei ihrem Kampf für Menschenrechte und Demokratie!
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(A P)
UN Experts Criticizes UAE Terrorism Law
UAE: United Nations experts have criticized the terrorism law in the UAE, considering that it infringes rights and freedoms and threats human rights principles and legal certainty.
This condemnation comes as part of the experts review of the legislation of Law No. 7 of 2014 regarding combating terrorism crimes.
In a detailed and lengthy report, the experts expressed their concern that applying this law would have serious implications for the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the United Arab Emirates. This includes the right to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of access to information, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the prohibition of arbitrary detention.
In this regard, the report pointed to grave concern about the prolonged administrative detention practices permitted by Law 7, in particular in articles related to empowering and functioning counseling centers.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16279/UN-Experts-Criticizes-UAE-Terrorism-Law
(A P)
Protests in Chile call for end to war against Yemen
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/21/protests-in-chile-call-for-end-to-war-against-yemen/
cp12b Sudan
(A P)
Sudan boycotts faltering talks over Ethiopia’s mega-dam
Sudan boycotted talks on Saturday between Nile Valley countries over Ethiopia’s controversial mega-dam, calling on the African Union to play a greater role in pushing forward the negotiations that have stalled for years.
https://apnews.com/article/boycotts-ethiopia-sudan-cairo-africa-9467c7fc3ce4fa32cb647a433c498896
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(* B K P)
The Yemen Civil War Arms Bonanza
“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.” So thundered Oxfam’s Yemen Country Director, Muhsin Siddiquey after consulting figures from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showing that members of the G20 have exported over $17 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the Kingdom entered the conflict in Yemen. “The world’s wealthiest nations cannot continue to put profits above the Yemeni people.”
They do, and will continue to do so, despite the cholera outbreak, coronavirus, poorly functioning hospitals, and 10 million hungry mouths. The latest illustration of this is the Trump administration’s hurried $23 billon sale of 50 F-35 fighter aircraft, 18 MQ-9B Reaper drones, air-to-air missiles and various other munitions to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE used to be a more enthusiastic member of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition that has been pounding Yemen since 2015. Despite completing a phased military withdrawal from the conflict in February 2020 to much fanfare, Abu Dhabi remains involved in the coalition and an influential agent.
With the imminent change of administration in the United States, there is a moral flutter in Congressional ranks, though much of it remains meek and slanted.
The US President-elect, Joe Biden, has thrown a few titbits of promise to critics of the US-Gulf States circle of love and armaments.
Progressive groups have picked up a scent they find promising. Policy director for Win Without War, Kate Kizer, expressed hope “that [Biden] starts by immediately undoing as many of the just-notified sales to the UAE as possible, and by putting the brakes on transfers that Congress has previously tried to reject under Trump.”
The moral wash on this is, however, thin. Menendez, for instance, is hardly giddy about the fate of Yemeni civilians in the context of such arms sales, citing “a number of outstanding concerns as to how these sales would impact the national security interests of both the United States and of Israel.” Priorities, priorities.
Biden’s top foreign policy advisor, Tony Blinken, seems less concerned about who will be the target of the weapons in the UAE sale than any upset caused to that most unimpeachable of allies, Israel. Sales of the F-35, for instance, were intended as a US-Israeli preserve. Selling it to other powers in the Middle East might well compromise the “qualitative military edge” doctrine Washington adopts towards the Jewish state. “The Obama-Biden administration made those planes available to Israel and only Israel in the region,” explained Blinken in an interview with the Times of Israel.
Mammoth arms sales continue to remain matters of business and politics, with business tending to be the crowing representative. Halting or curbing arms sales is only ever trendy and never permanent – Binoy Kampmark
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2011/S00100/the-yemen-civil-war-arms-bonanza.htm = https://www.eurasiareview.com/21112020-the-yemen-civil-war-arms-bonanza-oped/
(A K P)
Navantia launches the Al-Diriyah, the second corvette for Saudi Arabia
https://www.defensa.com/espana/navantia-bota-diriyah-segunda-corbeta-para-arabia-saudi
(A K P)
Higher Organising Committee of IDEX 2021, NAVDEX 2021 briefs diplomats and military attachés on upcoming exhibitions
The Higher Organising Committee for the International Defence Exhibition, IDEX 2021, the Naval Defence Exhibition, NAVDEX 2021, and the International Defence Conference, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has briefed the diplomatic and military attaché community on the upcoming exhibitions. IDEX and NAVDEX 2021 will be held from 21 – 25 February 2021 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, with the International Defence Conference being held on 20 February at the ADNOC Business Centre.
http://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395302887783
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2KD2sw9RQ4
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(* B H P)
UNESCO and its Partners Save 78 Historic Buildings from Collapse in Yemen
Indeed, within its EU-funded project “Cash for Work: Promoting Livelihood Opportunities for Urban Youth in Yemen” UNESCO and its partners have (as of 30 September 2020) : surveyed over 8.000 historical buildings, stabilized and/or rehabilitated 78 historical buildings consisting mainly of private houses and public spaces; enrolled over 848 young workers (781 males and 67 females, representing 5,513 household members) over 17,865 working days in urban rehabilitation works; engaged over 250 youth in cash-based cultural programming and communication campaign on heritage; organized 4 capacity building and consultative workshops for 50 culture operators; and disbursed small grants to 8 cultural CSOs to boost income-generation in the creative sector.
The UNESCO-EU project in Yemen approaches livelihoods and culture needs for youth and local communities through contextualized methodologies of modern heritage rehabilitation and social protection. Activities executed thus far have achieved progress in meeting the most urgent humanitarian needs of crisis -- providing access to livelihoods, strengthening economic resilience and restoring social cohesion -- while promoting local ownership over the safeguarding of World Heritage.
Participatory cash-for-work schemes in heritage restoration and urban regeneration are implemented in World Heritage Sites for the first time through cohesive community-led approaches. Community-based assessments of priorities and urban rehabilitation works supported by consultations with local government agencies and Master Builder’s associations were carried out based on both inclusive human needs and heritage concerns.
This unprecedented large-scale intervention reaffirms the importance of human-centered approaches to cultural heritage safeguarding and urban resilience that ensure community ownership over heritage management (photos)
https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-and-its-partners-save-78-historic-buildings-collapse-yemen
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(B E)
Film: Yemen – Rising from the ashes, the success of ladies of Taiz in entrepreneurship
In the wreckage, Amal Saeed, an entrepreneur demonstrated her experience in opening Hawa pharmacy in Taiz, southern Yemen. Hiba Saeed, specialized in Commercials, is looking forward to founding her own media production company. Such stories were born in an entrepreneurial support center, a branch of Yamani Business Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdLAQ_8N1rs
(B E P)
The UAE produces canned fish from stolen Yemeni fisheries, claiming ownership on them and depleting Yemeni fishery wealth. /Newsline
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43338
cp15 Propaganda
Siehe / Look at cp9
(A P)
Coming to the point of the peace process Will this action prevent the talks from moving forward? The talks are NOT moving forward because the Intl Community lack any leverage on the Houthis.
A designation at this time will make the Biden Administration at an advantage point when proposing a peace plan. If all agreements with the Houthis have taught anything, it is you need leverage to make peace with the Houthis.
https://twitter.com/BShtwtr/status/1330311095874170891
(A P)
Humanitarian considerations again used as ‘a shield to protect Houthis’, Yemen rivals say
All rival factions in Yemen, save the Houthis of course, say the humanitarian considerations are being used again by the UN “as a shield to protect the Houthis” from something, this time from their over-deserved designation as a terrorist organization by the outgoing US administration.
The Yemeni state-run news agency (Saba) quoted the Information Minister on Friday as saying, “tying the designation of the Houthi militia as a terror organization to the hopes of a peaceful solution of the Yemeni crisis is no accurate.” “The Houthi militia have obstructed, over the past six years, all the peace efforts of the international community and … stayed the course of spreading chaos and terrorism.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43372
(A P)
Over 24,000 abuses against children in Sana’a
The Houthis committed over 24,000 abuses against children of the capital Sana’a between November 2019 to November 2020.
The Human Rights Office of the capital Sana’a said that these reported abuses included murder, abduction, assault, military recruitment and the stealing of children’s aids.
Director of the Human Rights Office of the capital Sana’a, Fahmi Al-Zubairy, said the child’s world day is to expose abuses against children in Yemen.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43366
(A P)
FP report exposes unlikely culprit behind Yemen’s agony?
The US news publication, the Foreign Policy, reported on November 16 that the Trump administration is preparing to designate Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization.
The report exposes an unlikely culprit who pressures the US administration to get the move thwarted on flimsy “humanitarian” grounds, and wants to sustain the life of the barbaric rebels behind Yemen’s agony: The United Nations!
Along with the severity of the Houthi inflicted agony, the complicity of the UN in saving the militia is another thing that has rubbed salt on the wound of Yemenis for six years. Rightly so. The UN stance against the designation is only a confirmation to what Yemenis know all along.
The world body wants Yemen to stay a forever hostage in the hijacking of Houthis, while the theocratic militia get saved on the grounds of the very “humanitarian crisis” they caused!
The UN also seeks to salvage the Houthis on the grounds of keeping them in the “peace negotiations,” which the maximalist theocratic militia, have never taken and will never take seriously!
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43339
and
(A P)
Why we shouldn’t pin much hopes on the US designation of Houthis as terror organization?
Firstly, because the Houthi terrorism issue concerns us the Yemenis most, not others.
Secondly, the US “designation” may take place and may not. There are a lot of hurdles in the way and a lot of determination to prosecute the conspiracy.
The UN, which helped the Shia putschists retain their theocratic rule and run off the hook for six years, seems willing to help them further until they get through and declare victory. No matter how far-right theocrats the Houthis are. And no matter the massive scale of crimes against humanity they have persistently committed and will continue to commit.
One can read, in the Foreign Policy, about the earnest pressure the world body is exerting now to prevent Donald Trump from designating them as a terror organization!
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43335
(A P)
Why Do Houthis Curse the Jews?
Struck by Baafi’s report, ADL independently collected and examined the sermons it cited regarding Jewish people to confirm the documents’ authenticity. The following is a more in-depth examination of one of these particular sermons by Hussein al-Houthi that ADL independently verified, and that presents his most detailed arguments about the Jewish people.
Unsurprisingly, part of this incitement was directed at Israel, which he called a “cancer” requiring “elimination and eradication.” Labeling Israel a “greedy Jewish state,” he said it seeks conquest from the Nile to the Euphrates River, as well as Mecca and Medina.
But on top of that, Hussein al-Houthi proclaimed in this sermon that the Arab and Muslim nations “will not be delivered from the evil of the Jews except by their eradication, and by the elimination of their entity” Israel [emphasis added]. In addition, he described the Jewish people using dehumanizing and demonizing language, calling them filthy and likening them to apes and pigs as well as to Satan.
So when the Houthis routinely chant that they seek to destroy Israel – and America – we should believe them. Of course, we should be grateful that they lack the capability to do so. Yet we should also keep in mind the Houthis’ cautionary example when their Iranian sponsor propagates similar genocidal threats, not just in their schoolbooks but on ballistic missiles as well.
https://www.adl.org/news/op-ed/why-do-houthis-curse-the-jews
(A P)
Trump’s Parting Gift to Biden: A More Stable Middle East
He was successful because only an iconoclastic president could have rejected false assumptions and failed strategies.
The indictments of U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump are as varied as his critics. The mandarins of the foreign-policy establishment have led the charge by insisting that the norm-shattering president has weakened U.S. alliances and empowered the country’s adversaries. Overlooked is the fact that the Trump administration has pursued a successful Middle East policy. And it succeeded precisely because it challenged entrenched assumptions. In the end, Trump will hand President-elect Joe Biden a region that is more stable than it was four years ago and an alliance network that is stronger than the one Trump inherited. This is a worthy legacy that will be squandered by the Democrats if they are determined to eviscerate all things Trump.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/16/trump-biden-iran-israel-uae-middle-east/
(A P)
Saudi ambassador to US: Kingdom wants political solution in Yemen
Saudi Arabia’s sole goal in Yemen is to reach a political solution that would restore a “peaceful and prosperous state,” the Kingdom’s ambassador to the US said on Wednesday.
Princess Reema bint Bandar said Saudi Arabia has participated in every international negotiation and has honored every UN agreement aimed at achieving peace in the war-torn country.
Despite this, Houthi aggression has not stopped, and the militia responded to a cease-fire announced in April with a “rain of ballistic missiles on our soil,” the ambassador told the Arab-US Policymakers Conference.
“It has been the Houthis and their Iranian benefactors that break every agreement, walk away from every table and divert and block aid,” Princess Reema said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1765421/saudi-arabia
(A P)
[Hadi] Gov’t official: Designation of Houthis as terror group is a must to resolve Yemen crisis
[Hadi gov.] Minister of Information, Muamar Al-Eryani, said on Saturday that designation of the Houthis as a terror group represents the first step to resolve the conflict in Yemen.
“Experiences and events have confirmed that the stability of Yemen depends on the elimination of this racist terrorist group,” Al-Eryani said.
He indicated that the Houthi militia is a transnational terrorist organization that does not belong to Yemen, but to Khomeinist Iran.”
He added that terror threats of the Houthis are not confined to Yemen and that they extend to the region and the entire world.”
Al-Eryani indicated that “practices of Houthi militia confirm its terrorist ideology and that its behavior and slogans are like Al Qaeda and the ISIS.
He affirmed that “continued silence by the international community over Houthis’ crimes will prolong suffering of Yemenis and turn Yemen into hotbed of terrorism.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43385
(A P)
[Hadi] Gov’t official: Iran’s meddling must be stopped to end Yemen’s war
Minister of Information, Muamar Al-Eryani renewed on Wednesday his government’s care about ending the war in the country and suffering of the people.
He said that that this path begins with stopping Iran’s meddling in Yemen and pressuring the Houthis to engage in peace.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43326
and
(A P)
[Hadi] Yemeni gov't: Only way to peace through political, military pressure on Houthis
End of Yemen's war should start with stopping the Iranian interferences and pressing the Houthi group to seriously engage in peace course, the Yemeni information minister tweeted on Wednesday, but this "can only be achieved under political and military pressures on Houthis."
The Yemeni government is keen to end the war, Moammar al-Eryani added in comment to Brookings Institute's report that called on the US President Elect Joe Biden to end Yemen's war for urgently strategic and humanitarian considerations.
Saudi Arabia apparently began war in Yemen to prevent Iran from gaining a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula overlooking the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandeb, the report said Monday.
But after six years, the war further empowered Iran in Yemen, and also triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"We agree with the Brookings report," Eryani said, but Yemen's war was initiated by the "Iranian-backed Houthi group's coup in 2014 against and national consensus represented by the National Dialogue Conference's outcomes .. in whose wording the Houthis participated."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21272.html
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2160094
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2160083
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2159917
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2159857
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
Nov. 20: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1862964180520605 v
Nov. 19: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1862065993943757/
Nov. 18: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1862065373943819/
Nov. 17: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1862064440610579/
Nov. 16: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1862063673943989/
(A K pS)
Coalition airstrikes hit Houthi locations in Saada
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30565
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16287/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Sunday%2C-Nov-22%2C-2020 Marib p., Hajjah p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117183.htm Marib p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16269/US-Saudi-Aggression-Targets-Marib%2C-Al-Jawf%2C-Sa-adah-with-Raids Marib p., Jawf p., Saada p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3116912.htm Marib p., Jawf p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16256/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Friday%2C-Nov-20%2C-2020 Marib p., Jawf p., Saada p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3116826.htm Marib p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3116825.htm Bayda p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16249/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Thursday%2C-Nov-19%2C-2020 Marib p., Bayda p., Saada p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/16237/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Wednesday%2C-Nov-18%2C-2020 Marib p., Jawf p., Saada p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp18
Im Jemen herrscht ein militärisches Patt. Eine größere offensive mit größeren Erfolgen und Geländegewinnen für eine Seite bleiben seit der Offensive der saudischen Koalition gegen Hodeidah im Jahr 2018 aus. Kleinere Offensiven, ständige gegenseitige Angriffe und Gefechte mit Toten auf beiden Seiten und Opfern unter der Zivilbevölkerung gibt es aber ständig. Besonders betroffen sind die Provinzen Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, der Bezirk Nehm in der Provinz Sanaa, die Provinzen Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah und Saada.
There is a military stalemate in Yemen. A larger offensive with greater successes and territorial gains for one side has been absent since the Saudi coalition's offensive against Hodeidah in 2018. Smaller offensives, constant mutual attacks and skirmishes killing fighters of both sides and causing victims among the civilian population are constant. The provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, the district of Nehm in the province of Sanaa, the provinces of Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah and Saada are particularly affected.
(A K)
Yemen's Houthis say attacked Saudi Aramco facility in Jeddah with rocket
Yemen’s Houthi group said on Monday it fired a rocket at a distribution station operated by oil company Saudi Aramco in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea city of Jeddah.
There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim announced on Twitter by a military spokesman of the group who warned foreign companies working in Saudi Arabia to exercise caution as “operations will continue”.
Film: https://twitter.com/Naseh_Shaker/status/1330736781294178305
and
(A K)
Yemen's Houthis Claim to Have Targeted Saudi Aramco Facility in Jeddah
The spokesman went on to say in a follow-up tweet that the operation "comes as a response to the continuation of the siege and aggression, and in the context of what the armed forces promised days before the implementation of large-scale operations in the depths of Saudi Arabia".
He also urged Saudi citizens and foreign companies working in the country to exercise caution, warning that the group's military operations will continue.
(A K pS)
Masam Dismantles 2,018 Houthi Mines in November's 3rd Week
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief)'s Masam Project for Clearing Mines in Yemen dismantle 2,018 Houthi-laid mines in several regions during the third week of November 2020.
The demining operations included 32 anti-personnel landmines, 393 anti-tanks landmines, 1569 unexploded bombs and 18 explosive device.
Since the beginning of the Masam Project up to 200,000 Houthi-planted mines and explosive devices have been removed in Yemen.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30582
(A K)
Fierce clashes break out in Yemen's Saada
Battles renewed on Sunday between government and Houthi forces in Yemen's Saada province on the border with Saudi Arabia.
The battles broke out in the areas of Al-Shamiya and Al-Rabou'ah in the north after a failed Houthi infiltration attempt into positions of the national forces, said Brig. Gen. Suleiman Al-Nuwayhi, commander of the third Border Guard Brigade.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21335.html
and
(A K pH)
In Sa'adah, the aggression targeted populated villages in Razih border district with missile and artillery shelling.
(A K P)
Yemen [Hadi] gov't troops claim shelling Houthi meeting with Iranian experts
The Yemeni official government troops on Saturday said they shelled Houthi senior leaders at a meeting with Iranian experts in the northern governorate of Jawf.
"The national army artillery targeted a meeting for the Houthi group's leaders, including elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG), in barracks southeast Hazm city, Jawf provincial capital," the Yemeni armed forces' media center said in a statement.
The bombing was based on intelligence obtained by the army, saying that IRG elements were at the meeting, the statement added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21328.html
My comment: This sounds like propaganda BS.
(A K P)
Reports about withdrawal of coalition equipment from northeast Yemen baseless, army
The spokesperson for the [Hadi] government's sixth military command, Rabia' Al-Qirshi, on Saturday denied reports that a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has withdrawn its military equipment and weapons from the northeastern provinces of Marib and Jawf.
Such reports were baseless and rumors, he said.
"Nothing has changed. The coalition forces are still stationed in their positions in the two provinces and continuing their support to the government forces across Yemen," he wrote on Twitter.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-21322.html
(* A K pS)
Three civilians killed, others wounded due to Houthi-laid mines in Al Jawf province
Three civilians have been killed and others wounded the past two days in three explosions caused by landmines laid by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Al Hazem district, the capital of Al Jawf province, northeast Yemen.
According to the Yemeni Observatory for Documenting Mines Victims in Yemen, a civilian named Jalal Musa was killed in a mine explosion laid by the Houthi militia while he was on his way home east of Al Hazem district, the capital of Al Jawf province.
This came hours following a mine explosion north of Al Hazem districtthe that killed a resident called Ali Dashlan, and left his son seriously injured, local sources said.
On Friday, another mine explosion took place on a road that links Al Hazem district to Al Rwaik district, leaving Mabkhoot Mohammed Al Koah dead and others wounded while they were in the car going back home.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26298
(A K pS)
[Hadi gov.] Military official: Large areas remain contaminated with Houthis’ landmines
Director of the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC), Amin Al-Aqili, said that large areas of Yemen remain contaminated with landmines planted by the Houthis rebels.
In his remarks he voiced during the meeting by state parties of the convention on the ban of personnel landmines, Al-Aqili affirmed that key areas of Yemen including urban centers and villages, roads, public facilities, farms and water sources remain contaminated.
He indicated that this contamination led to several deaths and injuries among civilians.
He explained that this continuation of this contamination led to huge economic and security challenges
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43368
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces on the brink of liberating Ma’rib city
Yemeni army forces have on Saturday tightened their grip on coalition forces in Ma’rib city, due to a series of rapid advances during the past hours on the southern fronts of the city.l
Local sources in Ma’rib province confirmed the Yemeni army and Popular Committees fought fierce battles against coalition forces on the southern fronts of Ma’rib city, during which they gained full control of the Rahum mountain range in Jabal Murad district.
According to the Yemeni military and strategic expert Brigadier General Abed Al-Thawr, the fall of the Mas camp in the Yemeni army’s hands means the Yemeni forces effectively control the city of Ma’rib already.
He noted that Mas camp is one of the most important strategic sites in which the coalition was located.
Dozens of Islah Party-affiliated military and political leaders have escaped from Ma’rib city, fleeing before the forces of the Republic of Yemen.
Various sources in Ma’rib affirmed that they saw several military vehicles transporting the families of these leaders, heading to the city of Ataq in Shabwah province.
The sources explained that the escape of the leaders increased after the coalition lost the Mas camp, and following the collapse of the rest of the military formations loyal to the invading coalition.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/21/yemeni-forces-on-the-brink-of-liberating-marib-city/
(A K pS)
The [Hadi gov.] army has defused on Thursday 957 landmines laid by the Houthis in Khab and Alshaaf areas in the northern Aljawf province. /Al-Hekmah Net.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43355
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces wrest control over major base in Ma’rib
Yemeni army troops, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have taken full control of a sprawling military base in the country’s central province of Ma’rib, following fierce armed clashes with Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
(A K pS)
Ahmed Al-Murisi is a #Yemen-I citizen who was shot dead by a #Houthi snipper positioned behind Alnoor city, Mudhafar district in the western part of #Taiz
https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1329764350161285122
(A K pS)
#Taiz Jaber al-Ghazali,15 yr-old, was injured by a mortar shell fired by #Houthis which landed on Wadi Alqadhi street When he was on his way home after Friday prayer (photo)
https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1329763446183899137
(A K pH)
At least 16 mercenaries killed in [Sanaa gov. army] Yemeni offensive in Saudi border province
(B K)
Houthi mines killed 842, wounded 1486 others in Taiz
Yemeni Observatory for Documenting Mines Victims in Yemen said it has documented 842 civilian deaths and 1486 injuries due to mines laid by the Iran-aligned Houthi insurgents in the five-year besieged city of Taiz.
According to the Yemeni observatory, Houthi-laid landmines and explosive devices have killed 189 children and 196 women and left 373 children and 302 women wounded since late 2014 in Taiz city, Yemen’s third-largest city.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26277
(A K pS)
The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception, Destruction of Bomb-Laden UAV Launched by Terrorist, Iran-Backed Houthi Militia Toward the Kingdom
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2159350
(A K P)
According to local news and Analysts Saudi Arabia has an intentions to pull out its military presence from Marib Governorate the main stronghold of Pro-Hadi forces in #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/MohammedHojily/status/1329093735980949505
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
Seit dem Abkommen von Stockholm vom 13. Dezember 2018 gibt es einen Waffenstillstand für Hodeidah. Zwar bleiben größere Offensiven aus, kleinere Gefechte gibt es aber laufend, und beide Seiten werfen sich ständig Verstöße gegen den Waffenstillstand vor.
Since the Stockholm Agreement of December 13, 2018, a ceasefire has been in place for Hodeidah. There are no major offensives, but smaller battles are going on and both sides constantly are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.
(* A K)
Scores of families displaced due to Houthi shelling in Yemen's Hodeidah
Intensified shelling by the Houthi militia sparked a new wave of family displacement from areas of Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a government official told Xinhua on Sunday.
"Scores of families fled their residential houses following random artillery shelling carried out by the Houthi militia's against Mandhar residential neighborhood in Hodeidah's southern part," the local military source said on the condition of anonymity.
"The random Houthi shelling forced the families to leave their houses seeking safety in other areas and protecting their children's lives," he said.
The source noted that the sporadic indiscriminate Houthi shelling caused severe destruction of the citizens' properties including their houses.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/22/c_139535234.htm
(A K pS)
Two people killed, one injured by Houthi shelling in Hodeidah
Two people were killed and one was injured in an indiscriminate shelling by the pro-Iran Houthi militia in Hays district, south Hodeidah.
Local residents said that the three men were on their way home on the outskirts of Hays when they were hit by mortar shell fragments during the Houthi shelling of the residential areas in the district.
The same sources affirmed that the two men were killed in the mortar attack as the third one sustained serious injuries and he was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30585
and also https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26315
Films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K3xzY2okFo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a8SwLcSWEk
(A K pS)
Film: A citizen was shot by a Houthi militia sniper in Hays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a8SwLcSWEk
(* A K pS)
Three civilians killed in mine explosion south the port city of Hodeida
Three civilians from the same family, including a child, were killed on Wednesday in a mine explosion laid by Houthi militia south the port city of Hodeidah, western Yemen.
Local sources said the victims were riding on a motorcycle on a road linking Al Gah district to Al Khokha town south Hodeidah when a mine planted by Houthi rebels went off, leaving the three of them dead (photo)
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26274
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21275.html
(A K pS)
Five Houthi drones detected in south Hodeidah
Local sources also said that at least five Houthi drones had been seen flying over al-Tuhita city.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/30560
(A K pH)
Daily violations
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
(A H)
Desert Locust situation update 20 November 2020
Strong southerly winds over the Arabian Peninsula during the past week caused immature swarms to move from the interior of Yemen to the Asir Mountains in southwest Saudi Arabia as well as in the interior north of Riyadh.
http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts/en/info/info/index.html
(B)
Photo: This is neither in Sanaa nor in Aden. It is the street leading to qat market in #Marib
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1330181531386736644
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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