Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 696 - Yemen War Mosaic 696

Yemen Press Reader 696: 26. Nov. 2020: Hungersnot im Jemen – Saudischer Krieg gegen Jemens Wirtschaft – Das Rote Meer im Focus – Jemen-Politik der Emirate – Britische Militärbasen im Ausland ...

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... Sonnenenergie im Jemen – 2009: Saudischer Kerieg gegen die Huthis – und mehr

Nov. 26, 2020: Famine in Yemen – Saudi war against Yemen’s economy – The Red Sea in focus – The Emirates Yemen policy – UK’s abroad military bases – Solar enegry in Yemen – 2009: saudi war against the Houthis – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-696b-yemen-war-mosaic-696b

Klassifizierung / Classification

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

cp1b Am wichtigsten: Großer Gefangenenaustausch / Most important: Great prisoner swap

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp9 USA

cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

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

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**

*

(Kein Stern / No star)

? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating

A = Aktuell / Current news

B = Hintergrund / Background

C = Chronik / Chronicle

D = Details

E = Wirtschaft / Economy

H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions

K = Krieg / War

P = Politik / Politics

pH = Pro-Houthi

pS = Pro-Saudi

T = Terrorismus / Terrorism

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:

Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke

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Rania Khalek: Yemen: The forgotten war

The war in Yemen is ignored because the US and its allies are responsible for the majority of the suffering. Watch my video for more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Qnc2JeaF8

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

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Even if famine isn’t declared, Yemen has a massive hunger problem

‘You go to work and you make money, and this money is worthless. It cannot even secure food on the table.’

In the coming weeks and months, a group of experts will decide if Yemen, a country the UN has deemed the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, is in the midst of, or at risk of, a famine.

Despite a recent stream of statements from aid officials – including last week’s warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres that “Yemen is now in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades” – such a declaration is not a foregone conclusion.

That’s because, although it’s an emotionally weighted and frequently used word, famine actually has a highly complex technical definition that is hard to meet and requires a level of quality data that doesn’t always exist in Yemen, which has been at war since early 2015.

For example, the threshold was not met in late 2018, and that was despite similar cries of alarm, despite the fact that some children were clearly starving to death, and despite the finding that nearly 16 million people were expected to be above “crisis” levels of food insecurity.

Two years later, and after more than five and a half years of war – Houthi rebels in the north are fighting an internationally recognised (but mostly exiled) government and its allies in the south, backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition – it seems to many Yemenis that almost everything that could possibly go wrong in one country has done so.

That still doesn’t necessarily mean Yemen, or parts of it, are in a capital “F” famine. But it is clearly in the midst of a devastating crisis, one that is damaging for its survivors and will likely impact the country for generations to come.

As one expert on food insecurity put it: “I kind of wish we would stop hyperventilating about [the word] famine.”

Even if you don’t quite breach the thresholds required for a declaration, they said, “it doesn’t mean that people aren’t dying, and kids aren’t malnourished. It just means it is not happening at quite the same pace.”

A UNICEF spokesperson told The New Humanitarian that “the conflict in Yemen has exhausted many families and is pushing them into destitution.” The agency said it had heard “stories of skipping meals, selling household items and many families going into debts, [which are] likely on the increase in a bid to make ends meet.”

Amal Nasser, non-resident economist at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank focused on Yemen, points out that even before the war only six percent of Yemenis held bank accounts, which offers some perspective on the options most people have when they are forced to draw down on savings.

“It’s a very cash-based economy,” Nasser explained, adding that “savings are not just money in accounts – you can have accumulated capital, houses, jewellery; gold is often seen as security for women and families.”

But “whoever had savings has spent them” by now, she said, adding that many Yemenis are now relying on friends, family, and neighbours to get by. “In Yemeni society, people show solidarity with one another,” she said. “But you show solidarity until you run out of it; you cannot just give when you don’t have anything left.”

An estimated 47 percent of Yemenis lived under the poverty line in 2014, a number that reached a projected 75 percent by the end of 2019, according to the UN Development Programme.

“We are not talking about people who don’t have incomes or are listed on humanitarian aid lists since the beginning [of Yemen’s war]; we are talking about the potential for food insecurity in households where people are actually still going to work. That’s very dark. You go to work and you make money, and this money is worthless. It cannot even secure food on the table.”

The reasons behind the collapse of Yemen’s economy and its currency are many and varied, but recently include a large drop in money sent home from abroad, as expatriate Yemenis suffer the impacts of COVID-19.

Now, there are two separate central banks, one allied with the Houthis in the north and one with the government in the south. The southern bank was propped up by an injection of cash from Saudi Arabia in late 2018 – an intervention Nasser and others say would be of clear humanitarian benefit if repeated now – but is running low on reserves again.

The Houthi authorities have banned the use of newer bank notes printed by the southern bank, resulting not only in separate monetary policies but also in divergent exchange rates between the regions.

In short, money is worth less in the south, where Banafi’ lives, than in the north, where Mughni lives. And food prices are up.

Widespread malnutrition

A range of factors – from conflict and displacement to job loss, inflation, price rises, and aid cuts – are forcing Yemenis like the Mughnis and the Banafi’s to eat less nutritious foods, or to skip meals altogether. That can easily tip a person, or a population, into various degrees of malnourishment.

This hits the most vulnerable in society first. As the UNICEF spokesperson put it: “Although famine has not been declared in Yemen, severe acute [short-term] malnutrition remains a major concern… Children suffering from acute malnutrition are susceptible to other diseases and conditions, including anaemia, cholera, and other diseases which increase their risk of death. That’s why urgent treatment is key, and for millions of children our work is thus the difference between life and death.”

There’s also an impact of malnutrition that is difficult to talk about or quantify, but there is evidence that foetal and neonatal malnourishment can impact brain development, and possibly lead to mental health problems.

That possibility has Nasser concerned. “What worries me the most are the long-term effects of food insecurity,” she said. “They could go on for generations. Maybe people won’t die [of hunger], but babies that were born in the past six years are at risk of growing up with various issues. It’s not just about having able bodies, it’s about mental capacities, and of course this will affect Yemeni society in the future… maybe for another 20 or 30 years.”

According to analysis on a limited part of south Yemen released in late October under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which the UN and its associates use to make its decisions on famine, over 40 percent of children under five (over 580,000), and more than 240,000 pregnant and breast-feeding women, are estimated to be suffering from malnutrition at present

Ideally the media would make a fuss, and donors would kick in money well before the catastrophic Phase 5 arrives, especially because famine declarations tend to come late, after all the sufficient data is compiled.

“We constantly face this challenge… how to get people to react to particularly Phase 3 and 4, before we get to 5,” said Haan, part of the faculty at Singularity University, which aims to expand the use of technology to solve problems. “That's where we try to draw attention to get people to respond.”

Aid bosses are well aware of the classification system and may hope their famine warnings will bring in more money to stop things getting worse, or even help jumpstart peace negotiations – by Annie Slemrod

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/11/25/yemen-famine-hunger-food-prices-war

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Bill for Economic Aggression Against Yemen Exceeds $ 100 billion

From the very beginning of the aggression on Yemen, the coalition leadership attempted to target the Yemeni economy.

The bill for the economic war was very huge, reaching shocking numbers exceeding $ 100 billion in the industrial, agricultural, telecommunications, fishing, transportation and electricity sectors.

Central Bank Transfer

The first step in the economic war was to move the Central Bank of Yemen from Sana'a to Aden and stop foreign banking dealings with the bank. This step hindered commercial activity as a result of not opening bank credits abroad in order to enable merchants to cover the internal market with the necessary needs of commodities and basic supplies.

The transfer of the Central Bank from Sana'a came at a time when it was providing its services to all governorates of the republic without exception, on top of which is the payment of salaries of all state employees and covering the needs of merchants in hard currency without discrimination to provide goods to the local market.

This measure resulted in many negative consequences for the Yemeni economy, especially by the halt in the payment of salaries to employees, the high level of unemployment and the deterioration of the national currency.

Tampering with currency

The economic war included the fabrication of the problem of liquidity crisis, and its gradual withdrawal from the market, so the coalition found a justification for printing a large amount of the local currency, the riyal, which led to a monetary inflation in the Yemen, causing a great deterioration to the Yemeni economy during the last three years.

Shocking Numbers

According to the report issued by the [Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Industry and Trade, the bill for the war on Yemen amounted to about $ 100 billion in physical assets and the private sector until November 2020. The costs of material asset losses amounted to $ 25 billion for damages to basic social services facilities, infrastructure and housing, including $ 19.83 billion for the initial cost of damages to housing units and urban infrastructure, $ 5.2 billion for direct losses incurred by the electricity sector, $ 770 million for initial cost of damages of roads and bridges, $ 480 million for damages of the water and sanitation sector, $ 1 billion for damages of the health sector and $ 7 billion for direct losses incurred by Yemen as a result of stopping oil production in various sectors.

The losses of the private sector amounted to $ 75 billion, including $ 39 billion for direct losses as a result of the systematic targeting of factories and commercial facilities by the coalition airstrikes.

The telecommunications sector incurred huge losses amounting to $ 11 million due to the direct targeting by the coalition airstrikes for more than 400 sites and communications networks, including 333 antennae for cellular base stations belonging to Yemen Mobile and other private and government companies.

Blocking Fishing, Destroying Coral Reefs

The fishing sector suffered huge losses amounting to 3.1 billion dollars as a result of the aggression, overfishing and the destruction of coral reefs by the coalition's barges. These losses are doubled due to the coalition's blockage of traditional fishing activity in 12 marine areas, depriving over 50 thousand fishermen from practicing fishing in the Red Sea coasts, and targeting their boats. For the same reason, traditional fishing decreased by 75% in Taiz and Hodeidah, in addition to the blockage of the traditional activity in the coasts of Hadramout and the coasts of Abyan by the coalition.

The agricultural sector suffered large losses amounting to 16 billion dollars, including 703.9 million dollars were lost by governmental and cooperative institutions and farms, 500 million dollars were lost by the agricultural sector in terms of agricultural loans and aid that were agreed previously with donor countries, 112.3 million dollars were the losses of agricultural societies and cooperatives as indirect losses due to the aggression and siege, $ 5.2 billion were lost by agricultural production as a result of the war, and $ 145.1 million initial losses for grains in addition to losses for the fruit sector, legumes sector, crops such as Yemeni coffee, cotton and other cash agricultural products.

The livestock sector also was targeted, its damages reached 6.7 billion dollars, including 1.5 billion dollars for the losses of the poultry sector as a result of the direct targeting of hundreds of farms, killing millions of poultry, causing the rise in feed prices and marketing losses, 2. $ 1 billion for livestock losses as a result of targeting and death, and $ 135.9 million for losses of bees and Yemeni honey production.

Total Blockade

The maritime and maritime transport sector was subjected to systematic targeting, with damages reaching 2.5 billion dollars, including 1.2 billion dollars losses from targeting airports, navigational and technical equipment, communications equipment, radars and the suspension of travel to and from Yemen, 900 million dollars for the maritime transport sector as a result of the aggression and blockade, 300 A million dollars are losses of the ports of Hodeidah and Mokha, and 3. $ 19 million in direct losses incurred by the road transport sector.

Destroying National System

The electricity sector was also paralyzed after the total destruction of the national system, and the damage amounted 6 billion dollars, including 2 billion, 77 million and 243 thousand dollars for damages to the institutions affiliated with the electricity, 659 million and 163 thousand dollars are cost of damage to the electrical system, and 750 million dollars cost.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16320/Bill-for-Economic-Aggression-Against-Yemen-Exceeds-%24-100-billion

My comment: From the Sanaa government. – These figures even are low; already several years ago, there had been an estimate that the Saudi coalition aerial war had destroyed a value of ca. US$ 150 billion.

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Ports, military bases and treaties: Who’s who in the Red Sea

The Red Sea is governed by an alphabet soup of international agreements and peppered with dozens of strategic ports and military bases. To help you navigate, here is a non-exhaustive list of the principal players and treaties and locations.

This is part 2 of a series.

A satellite image of the coast of the Red Sea depicts a desert coastline. But the image is not the entire truth. The long coastline of one of the busiest trade routes in the world is dotted with ports enabling the transportation of everything from oil to goats to consumer goods.

These trade hubs are accompanied by military bases that use the strategic geography of the Red Sea to defend and to strike.

Who manages the ports and the bases is a reflection of a myriad of power structures, political opportunism, and financial deals – the outcome of the complex regional dynamics of the Red Sea.

Regional cooperation initiatives

For decades, regional powers and international alliances have sought to govern and coordinate what goes on in the Red Sea.

The below tables provide an account of the main regional multilateral initiatives developed to enhance Afro-Arab cooperation on the Red Sea.

Ports

The map presented below is by no means exhaustive, but act as preliminary examinations of the operational ports (red points) in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The map aims to provide a baseline for analysis and visualise the various interests of Red Sea players on both sides of the sea

Due to the ongoing conflict, providing an accurate picture of open commercial ports in Yemen is problematic. According to international maritime insurers such as Gard or Skuld, Yemen has seven operational ports, including two oil exporting terminals. During the last three years, around 50 percent of cargo imports for the whole country landed at the Port of Aden which has received technical advice from the American aid agency USAID through the Pragma corporation and support from the United Nations development program UNDP.

The war has had a drastic impact on the activity of commercial ports in Yemen. For instance, activities in the strategic commercial port of Shehn bordering the Sultanate of Oman in Al-Mahra Governorate have been disrupted ever since the Saudi coalition occupied the area.

Military bases

The map below indicates the approximate location of the main military bases (black points) along the coast of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. A number of military facilities in the region are kept out of the public eye with limited information available about their operations.

Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal Naval Base hosts the country’s Western Fleet.

The Emirati’s naval base in Assab, Eritrea has played a pivotal role in Saudi-Emirati military operations in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates has expressed interest in increasing its presence across the Red Sea coast through military bases and the management of ports. In early 2020, the Emirate’s plan to build a military base in Berbera, Somaliland was cancelled.

The map does not include information on bases in Yemen because reliable and up to date information on air and war bases along Yemen’s Red Sea is very limited as the war rages on. Factions have recurrently fought over control over Al Anad Air Base in the Lahij Governorate, the biggest in Yemen. After the UAE’s drawdown in 2019, Yemeni military commanders told Reuters news agency that Saudi Arabia’s military took command of bases at the ports of al-Makha and al-Khokha and sent troops to the port city of Aden and Perim Island on the Bab Al Mandeb strait. There are contradictory claims regarding – by Andreu Sola-Martin

https://www.theafricareport.com/49957/ports-military-bases-and-treaties-whos-who-in-the-red-sea/

and

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The Horn of Africa and the Gulf: Shifting power plays in the Red Sea

The Gulf has the resources and the authority; the Horn the geography, the land, and the population. Everyone sees the asymmetries that push the complementary characteristics into a game of push-and-pull. In this fourth part of our series, we look into those constant power plays between the African and Gulf states in the Red Sea region.

This is part 4 of a series

The Horn of Africa and the Gulf States are bound together, yet far from being aligned. As long as financial, political, and military imbalances set the scene, short-term gains will define the development of the security complex over the Red Sea.

The GDP of Saudi Arabia is more than double that of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia combined. This is the reality setting the tone for the relations between the two coasts of the Red Sea.

For the Gulf, the Horn represents a cluster of allies that can be harnessed bilaterally or through nurtured networks to solidify influence on both sides of the sea.

For the Horn, the Gulf represents a deep pocket best utilised in the form of direct deals maximizing short-term gains.

Almost 10% of global trade, and 40% of that of Europe with the east, passes through the Suez Canal located on the northern end of the sea. In addition to representing a significant financial variable, the relations across the Red Sea set the tone for how the Arab world engages with the African one. These tones pick up their shades from the palette beyond the sea.

The Gulf looking at the Horn: from weakness to strength and opportunities

All countries on the western coast of the Red Sea find themselves on the latter half of the Human Development Index and share a history of political volatility combined with economic stagnation and instability. With this in mind, the Gulf gazes across the sea and sees strategic locations held by actors with limited negotiating power, but huge financial needs. These needs take the shape of military spending in Egypt, instability in Sudan, and political unrest in Somalia – to name examples.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are significant players in the Horn and their involvement in Yemen has solidified their presence in Eritrea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Yemeni islands.

Though working together, the allies have tactical differences with the Emirati actors focusing on developing port infrastructure with a vision of a post-oil economy, while the Saudis eye the green pastures of the Horn looking for economic diversification and food security. The Emiratis remain, for example, active in the port of Sudan and have solidified their presence in Somalia too. The Saudis have, in turn, supported Egypt financially with investments ranging from fighter jets to agriculture.

Despite their strategic goals, the economic and political wins have an added benefit to them, so long as it keeps these big players in the lead – far ahead from Iran, Turkey, and Qatar.

The Horn looking at the Gulf: Asymmetries, wealth and instability

To simplify a complex network of allies and adversaries, one can conclude that some in the Horn are eyeing the Gulf’s wealth, and have used existing rivalries within and between Gulf countries to gain access to resources for their individual survival.

The approach has been brought to light in the wake of the ongoing GCC crisis that has pitted Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt against Qatar. In other words, Horn countries in need of support have used the adverse dynamics between the Gulf states to negotiate better deals for their own benefit.

The approach has saved some Horn regimes from economic and political meltdowns, but at the price of stalling efforts to create a coherent regional approach that would position the Horn as a unit able to negotiate with the Gulf on equal terms. This short-term thinking has cemented endemic weaknesses to respective nations. Moreover, it has meant that complementary advantages remain untapped, bilateral rivalries flourish, and the vicious cycle of instability continues – By Abdeta Dribssa Beyene

https://www.theafricareport.com/50499/the-horn-of-africa-and-the-gulf-shifting-power-plays-in-the-red-sea/

and

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To avoid another Yemen, the Red Sea needs fresh governance

The Red Sea is a magnet for international and regional powers. And who governs the sea, governs one of the most valuable trade routes feeding and fuelling the east and the west. In this seventh part of our series, we look at why the region must put in place an inclusive framework of collaboration.

This is part 7 of a series.

Power-holders and decision-makers are not unaware of these currents. The need to change the status quo of managing the sea is clear, yet it comes without urgency. The sea is open to almost anyone, be they sailing on a tanker or a warship. And the current power-balances ensure that all actors know their place.

‘Not a novel idea’

The framework of collaboration is not a novel idea – the most recent Saudi-led initiative was launched less than a year ago. So the question is not so much why it should be established, but how to go about doing it.

Does the region want to remain defined by problematic dynamics or does it want to establish itself through strategically seized opportunities, which – if well played – could support the ailing economies along the coastlines.

These opportunities are based on natural, environmental, touristic, economic, and cultural resources as well as strengthening safe navigation.

Several initiatives have attempted to manage the sea and its various actors, yet most efforts have dried up or remained in place with limited effect. Despite the lack of long-term success for such frameworks, the need for one is not going away anytime soon – quite the contrary.

The Red Sea is a troubled basin. It is a geographical chokepoint defined by a series of internal and external challenges that take the shape of open-ended conflicts, authoritarian leaders, and significant power asymmetries. Recent months have seen these dynamics gain gravity due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that is expected to push the global economy into a new phase of recession.

Keeping instability at bay

If instability is to be kept a bay and a durable framework set, seven key principles are to be kept clear:

Exit guardianship – enter ownership

A common feature that most initiatives established to manage the Red Sea share is they have been established by external powers or coalitions. This has been seen in the European Union and African Union launched frameworks that give a platform to some, but not to all relevant actors.

For the Red Sea countries, this top-down approach has evoked, whether intended or not, colonial memories characterised by the notions of ‘custodianship’ and ‘guardianship’ in which greater powers overlook weaker ones.

If a multilateral structure is to be established, it is critical that ownership of that structure remains in the hands of the Red Sea countries themselves – across coasts. These actors also need to have final say on who is let in and on what conditions, be they littoral or not.

Avoiding power games

When observing common points in existing initiatives, a dissonance between how the initiatives have been presented and why they have been established has often been felt. Many, if not most, initiatives have been defined by the security concerns of founding members, rendering the initiatives unacceptable to others. Only those seeing the direct benefits from the structures have chimed in, while other have maintained a reserved distance – by Oraib Al-Rantawi

https://www.theafricareport.com/51650/to-avoid-another-yemen-the-red-sea-needs-fresh-governance/

and other articles from the series:

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan…Conflict or cooperation in the Red Sea?

https://www.theafricareport.com/50159/egypt-saudi-arabia-turkey-who-will-control-the-red-sea/

The Red Sea: ‘A vital artery for the world economy’

https://www.theafricareport.com/50046/the-red-sea-a-vital-artery-for-the-world-economy/

Yemen: What happens here sends waves all across the Red Sea

https://www.theafricareport.com/50882/yemen-what-happens-here-sends-waves-all-across-the-red-sea/ (had already been linked here)

Somalia: Caught in the middle of a deeply divided region

https://www.theafricareport.com/51316/somalia-caught-in-the-middle-of-a-deeply-divided-region/

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[from May 2019]: The UAE’s foreign policymaking in Yemen: from bandwagoning to buck-passing

Abstract

The military intervention in Yemen is analysed in this paper within a context dominated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There are several scholarly works regarding the Emirates’ involvement in Yemen, but there are only a few about the recent series of transformations that the policymaking has undergone. This research aims to fill this gap by arguing that the prioritisation of national interest has transformed the Emirati policy regarding Yemen from ‘bandwagoning’ to ‘buck-passing’. The main objective in this paper is to scrutinise the UAE’s motivations in engaging in a buck-passing strategy towards Qatar and Saudi Arabia. From this point of view, any proper examination of the UAE’s drivers in policy change must begin by investigating the relationship between internal and external motivations. The assessment combines levels of systemic and individual dimensions in order to examine two main motivations as to why the buck-passing is articulated to bandwagoning. A structural complexity is embedded in the UAE’s strategies. Prioritisation of economic gains over military interests and the consolidation of internal power are two reasons for such policy transformation.

Introduction

Almost five years after the war began, the fight to control Yemen remains in a stalemate. The Yemeni Civil War is a repercussion of the Arab Spring and, moreover, a triggering element for substantial disagreements and conflicts among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The United Arab Emirates (which will be referred to herein as the UAE or the Emirates) is a rising small power in the Gulf due to its economic, political and military role in a multipolar power structure under the competing interests of Iran and Saudi Arabia. In other words, Gulf politics is imbued with the Saudi hegemony over the GCC states, and, thus, the potential hegemonic influence of Iran in the wider Gulf cannot be ignored. Setting off the UAE’s involvement with a Saudi-led military intervention, Operation Decisive Storm (OPD) – and later Operation Restoring Hope – which was carried out in March 2015, the Yemeni civil war has become an important factor indicating a change in the UAE’s foreign policy. This change is an overall process of sustaining a multi-dimensional and hyperactive foreign policy that exemplifies offensive tendencies, when it is possible for the national interest. With a realist approach, this study argues that the prioritisation of national interest has transformed the Emirati policy on Yemen from ‘bandwagoning’ to ‘buck-passing’. However, the change in policymaking does not refer to a total elimination of bandwagoning; rather, the current version is a fallacious articulation of buck-passing to bandwagoning with regards to Saudi Arabia. This revised strategy of the UAE also overlaps with the fact that the objectives of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in Yemen, especially in the South, have been dissociated.

This article primarily scrutinises political means of buck-passing, referring to the cost of failure and the cost of dealing with Iran in Yemen, although in realism buck-passing implies passing on the economic burden of handling an aggressor to another state. Thus, to study a combination of economic and political dimensions and the relationship between domestic and international politics, two levels of analysis – system and individual – are undertaken in this paper, based on the theoretical structure of realism. It is important to note that this paper does not evaluate GCC policymaking towards Yemen; rather, its scope is limited specifically to the UAE’s policymaking. The absence of common policy among GCC countries is the main reason for this decision, given the fact that Oman is not a member of the coalition, and Qatar has been isolated following the blockade.

The discussion is divided into three main parts, which explore the transformation of the UAE’s policies in Yemen from bandwagoning to buck-passing. The first discussion summarises the UAE’s bandwagoning behaviour in foreign policymaking and renders a theoretical framework for applying the realist approach to this case study. The second part aims to illustrate how the buck-passing has been articulated to the bandwagoning by critically engaging with two practices of buck-passing on Qatar and the Saudi-led coalition. The mobilisation of the Emirati military resources in Yemen is also briefly addressed in this section in order to link it with the UAE’s economic policies. The third discussion scrutinises why the buck-passing is articulated, through prioritising economic interests over military and the consolidation of internal power, highlighting the structural complexity of the UAE’s strategies embedded in the structural complexity. At this point the paper aims to present a short outlook on the parallel story of the Horn of Africa in order to compare it with Yemen. It is concluded that the UAE has converted its multi-dimensional foreign policy strategies from bandwagoning to buck-passing towards Yemen since the eruption of the Arab Spring through prioritising economic interests over military and internal power – by Betul Dogan-Akkas

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2020.1842730

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REVEALED: The UK military’s overseas base network involves 145 sites in 42 countries

Britain’s armed forces have a far more extensive base network than ever presented by the Ministry of Defence. New research by Declassified reveals the extent of this global military presence for the first time – as the government announces an extra 10% spending on defence.

UK military has base sites in five countries around China: naval base in Singapore, garrisons in Brunei, drone testing sites in Australia, three facilities in Nepal and quick reaction force in Afghanistan

Cyprus hosts 17 UK military installations including firing ranges and spy stations, with some located outside UK’s “sovereign base areas”

Britain maintains military presence in seven Arab monarchies where citizens have little or no say in how they are governed

UK personnel are stationed across 15 sites in Saudi Arabia, supporting internal repression and the war in Yemen, and at 16 sites in Oman, some run directly by British military

In Africa, British troops are based in Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Mali

Many UK overseas bases are located in tax havens such as Bermuda and Cayman Islands.

Britain’s military has a permanent presence at 145 base sites in 42 countries or territories around the world, research by Declassified UK has found.

The size of this global military presence is far larger than previously thought and is likely to mean that the UK has the second largest military network in the world, after the United States.

It is the first time the true size of this network has been revealed.

GUARDING GULF DICTATORS

RAF flights from Cyprus also frequently land in the Gulf dictatorships of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where the UK has permanent bases at the Al Minhad and Al Udeid air fields, run by around 80 personnel.

These bases have been used to supply troops in Afghanistan as well as for conducting military operations in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

Qatar has a joint Typhoon squadron with the RAF based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire which is half-funded by the Gulf emirate. Defence minister James Heappey has refused to tell Parliament how many Qatari military personnel are based at Coningsby amid plans to expand the base.

Even more controversial is Britain’s major military presence in Saudi Arabia. Declassified has found that UK personnel are installed across 15 key sites in Saudi Arabia. In the capital, Riyadh, British armed forces are spread out over half a dozen locations, including the air operations centres where RAF officers observe Saudi-led coalition air operations in Yemen.

Under the Ministry of Defence Saudi Armed Forces Project (MODSAP), BAE Systems has made 73 accommodation units available to UK military personnel at its Salwa Garden Village compound in Riyadh.

RAF staff, some of whom are on secondment to BAE Systems, also serve at the King Fahad air base in Taif, which services the Typhoon jet fleet, the King Khalid air base in Khamis Mushayt close to the Yemen border and at the King Faisal air base in Tabuk where Hawk jet pilots train.

There are separate contracts for Britain to support the “special security brigade” of Saudi Arabia’s National Guard (SANG), a unit that protects the ruling family and promotes “internal security”.

British soldiers are believed to be stationed at the Guard’s ministry in Riyadh as well as at its Signals School (SANGCOM) in Khashm al-An on the outskirts of the capital, in addition to smaller teams at SANG command posts in the western and central regions at Jeddah and Buraydah.

The rest of the British personnel in Saudi Arabia are situated in its oil-rich eastern province, whose Shia Muslim majority is harshly discriminated against by the ruling Sunni monarchy.

A Royal Navy team teaches at the King Fahd Naval Academy in Jubail, while RAF staff assist the Tornado jet fleet at King Abdulaziz air base in Dhahran.

Accommodation for British contractors and personnel is provided by BAE at the company’s purpose built Sara compound at Khobar, near Dhahran. A British army lieutenant colonel advises SANG infantry units at their Eastern Command post in Damman.

These British personnel in the eastern province are close to the King Fahd Causeway, the vast bridge connecting Saudi Arabia to the neighbouring island of Bahrain where Britain has a naval base and a smaller presence (costing £270,000 per year) near the international airport in Muharraq.

In 2011, the SANG drove BAE-made armoured vehicles over the causeway to suppress pro-democracy protests by Bahrain’s Shia majority against its Sunni dictator King Hamad.

The British government later admitted: “It is possible that some members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard which were deployed in Bahrain may have undertaken some training provided by the British military mission [to the SANG] – by Phil Miller

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-11-24-revealed-the-uk-militarys-overseas-base-network-involves-145-sites-in-42-countries/

(** B E H)

Solar Energy Micro-Businesses in Yemen are Saving Lives

Besides violence devastating the economy, failure to restore electricity in war-affected areas and naval blockades slowing oil imports caused an increased demand for solar power. Many stores quickly ran out of resources and even when resupplied, many common civilians could not afford them. When foreign countries grew aware of the situation in Yemen, the United Nations Development Programme decided to assist the mass population affected by electricity shortages, specifically women.

The U.N. Development Programme trains women on how to generate energy with solar panels so they can run their own small businesses. Through solar energy, the U.N. hopes to alleviate poverty in Yemen as the availability of resources allows for economic opportunities. With materials and training provided by the Development Programme, women can “sell energy to power community services, such as water and health systems.” The income received from micro-businesses provides women and families with food security and household necessities. Additionally, Yemeni women can gain economic independence through the U.N. program under UNDP. Women traditionally do not work outside of the home but with the current crisis, they are often the money makers of the family.

There are currently 200 functioning micro-businesses in Yemen thanks to the UNDP. The more affordable energy source is providing electricity for households, businesses, schools and health facilities, lessening the cost of electricity services. Since more facilities have the energy to provide services, travel costs have also lessened. This allows more money to be saved by families for food and other necessities. Arvind Kumar, the U.N. project manager stated in a press release, “To overcome the risk of food insecurity you need to have income opportunities.”

One of the many sectors that have been positively affected by the surge of solar energy is the education system in Yemen. Currently, two million children have been displaced from education opportunities due to a lack of funding, energy and safety. Now, 21 schools are connected to solar energy and 159 schools have requested to receive solar energy with plans underway to distribute the resource and connect them. It is estimated that hundreds of schools in Yemen’s governorates will receive access to solar energy. Access to solar energy has encouraged more children to attend school as conditions are more comfortable, safer for their health and better for information retention.

Along with bettering education opportunities for the Yemeni youth, solar energy businesses help make up for the economic deficit created in the agricultural sector. Most men were drafted into fighting the five-year war, meaning the agricultural sector was low on field workers and soon food began to cultivate slower. This sector had employed 55% of the labor force in Yemen and when the war began, the number dropped significantly. Supporting the program that provides women with jobs outside of the house and economic independence spurs local economies and improves national gender equality.

This solar power project developed by UNDP strives to create resilience in Yemen’s rural areas where 70% of the population resides. An estimated 1,340,000 people will benefit from this program and the businesses that come from the program. Moreover, 400 health facilities and 800 schools will also benefit from these businesses and the program. Additionally, schools and facilities are directly affected, with carbon emissions dropping by 430,000 tons – by Marlee Ingram

https://www.borgenmagazine.com/solar-energy-in-yemen/

(** B K P)

[Nov. 23, 2009] Saudi Arabia goes to war

By attacking the Houthi rebels of Yemen, Riyadh is ill-advisedly turning up the heat on the region's cold war

A crucially important conflict, woefully under-reported in the west, has now come to a head in the Middle East. In response to an ongoing fight that could spill out beyond the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia has entered into direct war with the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen.

Saudi military intervention marks the first time in the kingdom's history that its army has crossed its borders without an ally. Previously, the kingdom engaged only in proxy wars. The Saudis used royalist Yemenis to fight Nasser's Egypt in the 1960s, Iraq's Saddam Hussein to fight Iran in the 1980s, and the US to fight Iraq in the 1990s.

Indeed, Saudi Arabia has fought every "ism" that has sought to dominate the Middle East, including Nasser's pan-Arabism, communism, and today's Islamism of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, the terrorism of al-Qaida and the Shi'ism of Iran. The tools it relied upon were oil money and Wahhabi Islam. During the 1980s, Saudi Arabia spent more than $75bn on the propagation of Wahhabi doctrine, funding schools, mosques, and charities across the Islamic world in an effort to bolster its influence.

A large share of these resources was reserved for its back garden, Yemen. Thousands of schools were established, covering every city and village in Yemen. Saudi Arabia created in Yemen a strong Wahhabi current that was politically and ideologically loyal to the ruling al-Saud. Indeed, Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, used imported Wahhabism to defeat his domestic opponents – first the communists, then the Houthis – despite being a Zaidi Shia.

But now this policy has backfired, with the Houthis openly rebelling against Wahhabi encroachment on their religious ideology, while themselves encroaching on neighbouring Saudi territory as they fight the government.

After four months of fighting, Saleh's domestic forces had failed to contain the revolt. So, unable to prosecute the war on his own, Saleh turned a domestic rebellion into a sectarian and security threat to the entire Arabian peninsula, thereby manoeuvring the Saudis – eager from the outset to help Saleh, whom they view as their proxy – into providing military backing.

The Saudis' justification for intervening is that their national territory is under threat. But that argument is weak, and there is no national support for this war in either country. Rather, Saudi military intervention reflects the kingdom's wariness toward a hostile Shia region on its southern border, especially given that the same tribes and sects that populate northern Yemen dominate the southern Saudi regions of Jizan and Najran. The Saudi state doubts the loyalty of its own Ismaili and Zaidi populations, whose natural sympathies are suspected to lie with the Houthis.

Southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen have thus become a microcosm of the broader civil war playing out in the Muslim world. But Saudi Arabia's intervention in the conflict has also turned what had been a cold war – a war of position and influence within the region – into a hot war with international repercussions.

The principal conflict is between the Saudis and Iran, which has established powerful political bridgeheads in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Gaza. Saleh played a key role in reinforcing Saudi perceptions of a dangerous Iranian security threat, thereby helping to turn the Houthi rebellion into a geopolitical conflict.

Both the Saudi and Yemeni governments have also claimed that there are strong links between the Houthis and al-Qaida, thereby gaining American support. But the Houthis are not terrorists. Abdul Malik al-Houthi, a leader of the insurgency in Yemen's Sa'dah region, said this month that the Houthis, who are Zaidi Shia, are ideologically and strategically antithetical to Wahhabi Sunni al-Qaida.

At the same time, al-Qaida has benefited from the conflict

But the Saudis are unlikely to succeed militarily in Yemen. Yemen's army of 700,000 could not suppress the Houthi rebellion, despite five attempts since 2004. Now they are leaving Saudi Arabia's untested army of 200,000 men to do the job for them. And, while the Saudis are currently relying on their air force, a full-scale land battle will have to follow – on the same harsh terrain that helped defeated Nasser's battle-hardened troops in the 1960s.

The Houthis, for their part, lack aircraft and armoured vehicles, but have tactical advantages owing to their numbers, experience of the terrain, and skilful use of land mines. They also benefit from disciplined training, reminiscent of Hezbollah's activities in Lebanon – by Mai Yamani

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/saudi-arabia-yemen-houthi-war

My comment: This really is a prophetic report! saudi Arabia exactly has reached the deadlock as it had been suggsted here.

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

(A H)

MSF: Scabies outbreak among Yemen's displaced

The international humanitarian medical organisation, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) announced on Monday that the contagious skin condition, scabies is spreading among Yemen's internally displaced population, which is estimated to be around four million people, with those most affected living in the populated displaced camps of the Ibb province.

In a statement issued on Twitter, the organisation explained: "Due to poor hygiene and crowded living conditions, scabies began to spread among people living in the camps."Adding that the MSF team conducted an intervention to combat the disease in the "22 May" camp in the city of south-western city of Ibb, the province's capital.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201125-msf-scabies-outbreak-among-yemens-displaced/

cp2 Allgemein / General

(* A K P)

Interactive Map of Yemen War

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* A K P)

PRO-SAUDI FORCES CONTINUE THEIR HEROIC RETREAT IN YEMEN (MAP UPDATE)

https://southfront.org/pro-saudi-forces-continue-their-heroic-retreat-in-yemen-map-update/

(* B H K)

Film: Yemen: Growing up in a war-torn country

Yemen has been labelled the "the world's worst humanitarian crisis" but with 60% of its population under 25, what’s it actually like growing up there? Three young people tell BBC My World about how their lives have changed, but also what they want people to know about their country. BBC reporter Nawal Al-Maghafi explains why Yemen is at war, as we see this crisis through the eyes of three teenagers living through it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REMHwa0kh-A = https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-55077165 = https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=292110795474854

(* B K P)

Film: Yemeni Journalist based in Sanaa, Naseh Shaker, discusses the ongoing conflict occurring in #Yemen.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=671333706898571

(A K P)

UAE replaces key commander in attempt to quell infighting

The UAE occupation forces have dismissed the commander of its forces on Yemen’s west coast, and appointed a new one, following the escalation of conflicts between UAE-backed military formations.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/25/uae-replaces-key-commander-in-attempt-to-quell-infighting/

(* B K P)

Why Does Saudi Arabia Only Admit Attacks On Its Oil Facilities?

If we look closely at the media in Saudi Arabia in recent years, we find that they have a repetitive news policy on their agenda, which includes censorship, minimization, and sometimes refutation and denial. The Saudi media and officials, in a strange insistence, confirm the attacks of Yemeni Armed Forces on their oil installations. Their insistence seems to be done because of the sensitivity of the international community towards the issue of energy, the media and authorities have focused their efforts on this issue in order to gain an international consensus against Ansarullah.

For this reason, Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the alleged coalition against Yemen, described the attacks on Aramco in Jeddah to be in line with the previous attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais refineries.

Of course, in recent years, the attacks by Ansarullah on the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia as well as on the royal palaces were considered as being addressed. However, these media outlets were screaming due to the attacks on the Aramco facility.

This means that the Saudi media feel more frustration and despair than anyone else because of the inability of its country's officials to win the war in Yemen. In such circumstances, the unified assurances of Saudi officials and media professionals and their regional allies escalate demanding the United States to place Ansarullah on the US terrorist list, to achieve the idea of "global consensus" against Ansarullah, in order to compensate for the field failure and to ensure withdrawal of bin Salman from war "honorably".

Ansarullah operation in Jeddah showed that the 300-target list has not been completed yet, which means that the Yemen war will continue until the occupiers are completely expelled from the country.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16332/Why-Does-Saudi-Arabia-Only-Admit-Attacks-On-Its-Oil-Facilities%3F

My remark: A Houthi viewpoint.

(B K P)

Five Years In, Saudi Arabia Is Signaling It Wants Out of Yemen

Saudi Arabia’s window to exit the conflict in Yemen without jeopardizing all of its gains is quickly closing, as the United States transitions to a less Riyadh-friendly government, and as Houthi rebels seek deeper concessions on the ground. On Nov. 17, Saudi Arabia reportedly offered the Houthis a buffer zone along the Saudi-Yemeni border in exchange for drawing down its forces in the country. This move marks a significant downgrade to the original Saudi objectives in the country, as well as a tacit acknowledgment of the likely longevity of the Houthi political and military presence in Yemen (paywalled)

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/five-years-saudi-arabia-signaling-it-wants-out-yemen

and more from this Stratfor report you can read here:

(* B K P)

Saudi Arabia hints at its desire to get out of Yemen...

This coincides with the transformation of power in the United States to a new administration that is not very friendly to Riyadh, while the Houthi rebels seek greater concessions on the ground.

It is reported that Saudi Arabia offered the Houthis on November 17 this year to establish a buffer zone along the border between the two countries in exchange for reducing its forces in Yemen.

The Stratfor Center considered this step a major setback in Saudi Arabia’s original goals and an implicit admission of the Houthi movement – politically and militarily – in the country, perhaps for a longer period.

Moreover, the dwindling external support for the war in Yemen coincided with economic pressures due to low oil prices, and the outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), all factors – in the view of the American Center – the incentives that push Saudi Arabia to withdraw from Yemen and force it to accept the failure of its military intervention there Which spanned 5 years.

According to the Stratfor report, Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen has failed to achieve its main goal, which is to expel the Houthi group from the capital, Sanaa, and restore President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

However, Riyadh incurred great losses among soldiers and military equipment in order to reach its desired goal.

Saudi Arabia has suffered from declining support from its allies in the region as well, as the UAE recently withdrew its forces from Yemen in order to reduce Abu Dhabi’s exposure to attacks by extremists linked to the ongoing conflict.

Although the Saudi-led coalition has restored large areas in southern Yemen, its progress in the rest of the country has remained limited.

The Stratfor report pointed out that Saudi Arabia’s heavy reliance on launching air strikes and imposing a blockade on areas in Yemen resulted in civilian casualties and obstructing the arrival of food and fuel supplies to the Yemenis who need them most.

The American Intelligence Center expects that Saudi Arabia’s relations with the United States will be characterized by more rivalry when President-elect Joe Biden takes office officially on January 20, and at that time Riyadh will be subject to political pressure from Washington, which will deepen the mistrust between the two allies.

Moreover, Biden – unlike President Donald Trump – will not be much inclined to block congressional attempts to end US support for the Saudi intervention in Yemen.

The Biden administration may take a quick decision to reduce its involvement in the conflict and leave Saudi Arabia without logistical and intelligence support that it has been exploiting in launching its air strikes and operations in Yemen.

The Saudis began to worry about the Biden administration’s approach to Iran and Riyadh’s record in the field of human rights, especially after Saudi Arabia promised to turn it into a “pariah” country because of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, according to the Stratfor Center report.

The decline in the need for Saudi oil due to low global energy prices and the increase in hydraulic fracturing of gas in the United States contributed to Washington thinking that its relationship with Riyadh would be “loose.”

The retreat of the Saudi alliance and the intensification of the battles between the “separatist” Southern Transitional Council and the government of President Hadi would make the Houthis more bold, thinking that they are facing a “weak” enemy along the lines of fire.

Moreover, this will force the Houthis to seek greater concessions from Saudi Arabia, including extending their control over more territory and more influence in political negotiations with the Hadi government.

The more the Houthis are able to keep the Saudis in the midst of the conflict in Yemen, the more likely Riyadh will be forced – under American pressure aimed at ending the war – to make the concessions they demand.

The report concludes that the possibility of the United States resorting to classifying the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist group” would also complicate Riyadh’s ability to reach a political settlement with the rebel movement, as the Houthis may demand that this status be removed from them as a precondition for negotiations.

https://alkhaleejtoday.co/saudi-arabia/5436506/Saudi-Arabia-hints-at-its-desire-to-get-out-of-Yemen.html

(* B P)

Turkey seen planning more active role in war-ravaged Yemen

The Muslim Brotherhood is enthused by the arrival in Turkey of prominent leader in the Reform Party Abdul Majeed Al-Zindani from Saudi Arabia. The group is reportedly desperate to control the next government, and eventually provide political cover for a possible Turkish intervention in Yemen.

Political sources told The Arab Weekly that pro-Muslim Brotherhood media outlets’ jubilation at the departure of Yemeni preacher and prominent leader in the Reform Party Abdul Majeed Al-Zindani from Saudi Arabia and his arrival to Turkey portends new escalation in the Yemeni conflict.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Muslim Brotherhood and its backers Qatar and Turkey are planning to rekindle tensions on the Yemeni scene by using their proxies in the war-ravaged country.

Zindani’s arrival to Turkey comes amid an exodus of Pro-Brotherhood Islah party leaders. In recent months many prominent leaders of the Yemeni Brotherhood have moved to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, including the party leader, Muhammad al-Yadumi.

According to the sources, the departure of Zindani, whom Washington has placed on its terror list, is especially important given his influence, not only within the Islah party, but within the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Zindani is one of the group’s most prominent theorists and leaders, and also heads the Yemeni Scholars’ Association founded by the Muslim Brotherhood. He is also the former head of the Shura Council of the Yemeni Islah Party.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s media platforms and websites, as well as the group’s leaders’ accounts on social media have mobilised to depict Zindani’s departure from Saudi Arabia as a political victory, claiming that he had been under house arrest there since he moved after the Houthi coup in September 2015.

Yemeni sources close to Zindani, however, denied that he had been subjected to any form of restriction during his stay in the city of Mecca, during which he freely commuted to the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Zindani’s decision to leave Saudi Arabia to Turkey was expected, as his family had previously moved there.

In recent years, Istanbul has become the favoured destination of most leaders of the Yemeni Islah party.

The Arab Weekly previously published information on the Turkish foreign ministry opening communication channels with various Yemeni political components confirming that Ankara is increasingly interested in Yemen.

The latest developments indicate that Turkey is possibly waiting for the right moment to announce a direct intervention.

Sources told The Arab Weekly that Turkey has launched new efforts to open up to various forces and political components, after communication was previously limited to the Brotherhood’s Islah Party.

Turkish contacts with Yemeni forces include leaders in the General People’s Congress Party and the Southern Transitional Council, as well as other active political components that are usually classified as hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Qatar-Turkey axis.

The sources considered an increase in Turkish activity in Yemen to indicate Ankara’s desire to play a more active role in the Yemeni conflict. Turkey has traditionally limited its involvement to providing media and logistical support to the Muslim Brotherhood and providing intelligence about military movements under the cover of humanitarian and relief work.

https://thearabweekly.com/turkey-seen-planning-more-active-role-war-ravaged-yemen

My comment: By a pro-separatist, anti-Islah website, with a pro-UAE and anti-Turkey bias. Propaganda level might be high.

(* B H K)

Eine Krankheit, noch schlimmer als Covid-19

Die Krankheit heißt "Hunger". Gleich in mehreren Teilen der Welt steht die Alarmstufe auf Rot.

Im Zentrum der Aufmerksamkeit jedoch – sofern man überhaupt von Aufmerksamkeit sprechen kann, denn Covid-19 hat nicht viel davon übriggelassen – steht die Zuspitzung der Lage im Jemen: Dort zeichnet sich eine Hungerkatastrophe ab, wie die Welt sie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr gesehen hat. Ein "perfekter Sturm" hat sich zusammengebraut, eine tödliche Mixtur verschiedener Tragödien, von denen jede für sich schon furchtbar genug wäre. Der seit fünf Jahren andauernde Krieg verbindet sich mit einer Invasion von Abermillionen Heuschrecken, mit Überschwemmungen, die 160.000 Menschen obdachlos gemacht haben, und mit der Heimsuchung durch das Coronavirus: Es ist, als seien die biblischen Plagen in unsere Zeit zurückgekehrt.

Aber der Hunger ist keine Strafe Gottes und auch schon lange kein Naturphänomen mehr.

In der gesegneten Zeit, in der wir leben, gibt es deshalb keine Ausreden mehr. Hunger ist – ohne Ausnahme – das Ergebnis von Politik. Nirgendwo ist das leichter zu erkennen als im Jemen. Das Grundübel dort ist der Krieg: ein ursprünglich örtlicher Konflikt, den die mächtigen Staaten der Region zu einem verheerenden Stellvertreterkrieg aufgeblasen haben. Saudi-Arabien, die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und der Iran liefern Waffen und Munition, schicken Söldner, bomben mit Kampfjets, Drohnen und Raketen das Land in die Steinzeit zurück.

An der Zulieferung des Kriegsmaterials verdient sich der Westen eine goldene Nase, saudische Piloten trainieren auf Militärflugplätzen in Großbritannien die Fertigkeiten für ihre Angriffe. Donald Trump lässt es sich nicht nehmen, auf dem Weg aus dem Amt weiteres Porzellan zu zerschlagen: Die Konfliktpartei der Huthis, die mit dem Iran verbündet ist, will er schnell noch zur Terrororganisation erklären lassen. Hilfsorganisationen sind entsetzt: Die Sanktionen würden den Krieg weiter anheizen und es noch schwerer machen, Güter in die unterversorgten Regionen zu bringen.

Hunger ist Politik. Eigentlich ist das eine gute Nachricht. Denn wir müssen uns nicht verzweifelt gegen ein unbarmherziges Schicksal und die Unbill der Natur aufbäumen. Dem einen Teil der Kriegstreiber im Jemen geht mit Donald Trump ihr wichtigster Verbündeter verloren, und mit dem Iran auf der Gegenseite tun sich in der anbrechenden Regierungszeit Joe Bidens neue Gesprächskanäle auf

https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/id_88994744/hunger-eine-krankheit-noch-schlimmer-als-covid-19.html

(* B H P)

Ziel 30 Prozent - Politische Teilhabe von Frauen in Jemen

Die jemenitische nationale Dialogkonferenz legte 2015 fest, dass dreißig Prozent der öffentlichen Funktionen von Frauen zu besetzen sind. Fünf Kriegsjahre später tragen Frauen Verantwortung für die Zivilbevölkerung, während Männer die Zukunft des Landes verhandeln.

Im Gender Gap Rating des Weltwirtschaftsforums, das jährlich die Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern pro Land untersucht, steht Jemen an letzter Stelle. Die Gründe dafür sind vielzählig: gesetzliche Diskriminierungen, mangelnde Bildung, fehlende Beteiligung am Arbeitsmarkt und finanzielle Unabhängigkeit, weit verbreitete Kindesheirat und kaum politische Teilhabe.

Vor 2011 hatten sich vorsichtige Keime einer Frauenbewegung gebildet, wenn auch zunächst nur unter der urbanen, gebildeten Elite.

Bei der anschließenden nationalen Dialogkonferenz wurde das Ziel gesetzt, Frauen auf allen Ebenen mit einer Quote von 30 Prozent einzubinden. Hierauf basieren Frauenorganisationen bis heute nicht umgesetzte Forderungen, zum Beispiel auch in die UN-geleiteten Friedensgespräche ausreichend einbezogen zu werden.

Frauen sind mit die Hauptleidtragenden, von anhaltender Gewalt, zerstörter Wirtschaft, steigender Armut und mangelnder Gesundheitsversorgung. Gleichzeitig rücken sie immer mehr in die Öffentlichkeit und Verantwortung. Allerdings wird ihr vorheriger Aktivismus für Gleichberechtigung durch humanitären Einsatz und wirtschaftliche Verantwortung für ihre Familien ersetzt.

Die Zunahme der Erwerbstätigkeit von Frauen – vor allem im informellen Sektor – hat das Potential, Rollenbilder neu zu definieren. Sie birgt aber gerade bei Arbeit außerhalb des Hauses große Sicherheitsrisiken. Diese steigen aber auch innerhalb von Haushalten: Schätzungen zufolge hat die Anzahl von Gewalttaten gegen Frauen in Jemen zwischen 2015 und 2019 um 70 Prozent zugenommen. Außerdem wird davon ausgegangen, dass Kindesheiraten drastisch zugenommen haben. Mit geschlossenen Schulen und knappen finanziellen Ressourcen dient das Verheiraten von Mädchen sowohl als Erleichterung für den Haushalt als auch als Einnahmequelle.

Nicht nur Opfer – Frauen betreiben „Peacebuilding von unten“

Für Sama Naraghi-Anderlini, Gründerin von ICAN, einem zivilgesellschaftlichen Netzwerk, das die Rolle von Frauen in Friedensprozessen stärkt, betreiben Frauen „Peacebuilding von unten“ – indem sie Verantwortung für die Versorgung der Zivilbevölkerung übernehmen. Denn laufende Friedensverhandlungen beschäftigen sich mit der Frage der Machtverteilung und nicht mit den konkreten Fragen der Bevölkerung.

Ein Beispiel, wie Frauen in Jemen Verantwortung übernehmen, ist der Zusammenschluss von Müttern Entführter (Abductees Mothers‘ Association, AMA)

Mit Frauen wächst die Chance auf einen nachhaltigen Frieden

Der Beschluss des Nationalen Dialogprozesses spricht Frauen 30 Prozent der Stimmen zu.

2015 riefen das Büro des UN-Sondergesandten in Jemen und UN-Women „Tawafaq“ ins Leben, ein Pakt jemenitischer Frauen für Frieden und Sicherheit, der die UN berät, jedoch keine Delegationen zu Verhandlungen schickt. Zusätzlich wurde noch eine technische Beratungsgruppe von Frauen initiiert, die 2018 acht Frauen nach Genf schickte – als externe Beraterinnen, nicht als Teilnehmerinnen. Zu Friedensgesprächen in Stockholm 2018 lud der aktuelle UN-Sondergesandte Martin Griffiths anfänglich acht Frauen ein. Schließlich nahm eine Frau teil. In den Saudi-geführten Friedensgesprächen 2019 sowie den daran anschließenden Verhandlungen um eine Waffenruhe war keine Frau präsent.

Griffiths rief wiederholt – zuletzt im Oktober 2020 – die jemenitischen Verhandlungsparteien dazu auf, Frauen in ihre Delegationen aufzunehmen.

https://menschenrechte-durchsetzen.dgvn.de/meldung/ziel-30-prozent-politische-teilhabe-von-frauen-in-jemen/

(A P)

Houthis call US to apply JASTA Act to Saudi Arabia

Member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council on Sunday called on the United States to apply the 'Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act' (JASTA) to Saudi Arabia.
"I advise Trump and Pompeo to make progress in applying the JASTA Act, if they are concerned with bringing right to civil victims," Mohamed Ali al-Houthi tweeted in his first comment to remarks previously released by the US Secretary of State.
Earlier, Mike Pompeo said Washington was still considering the designation of the Houthi group in the terrorism list.
But for the Houthi official the US current administration seeks, through this move, to "get money for fulfilling Saudi orders," and "America fights and actually terrifies the Yemeni people."
Under JASTA Act, relatives of 11/9 victims may go ahead with the legal actions they filed 10 years ago against Saudi Arabia on charge of funding a terrorist group.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21354.html

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/23/mohammed-al-houthi-calls-on-un-to-designate-saudi-arabia-a-sponsor-of-terrorism/

(* A P)

UNO kann rostenden Öltanker vor Jemens Küste sichern

Die Vereinten Nationen haben die Erlaubnis erhalten, einen vor Jemens Küste liegenden Öltanker zu sichern. Es befinden sich noch eine Million Barrel Öl an Bord.

Vor der Küste des Bürgerkriegslandes Jemen befindet sich ein rostender Öltanker. Nun haben die Vereinten Nationen die Erlaubnis bekommen, das Schiff zu sichern. Die Huthi-Rebellen hätten in einem Brief Bereitschaft gezeigt, UN-Spezialkräfte an dem Tanker mit dem Namen «Safer» arbeiten zu lassen. Dem Brief war ein monatelanges Hin und Her mit den in dem Küstenabschnitt herrschenden Rebellen vorangegangen.

«Ziel der führenden Expertenmission der Vereinten Nationen ist es, das Schiff zu bewerten und eine erste Wartung durchzuführen. Zudem sollen Empfehlungen ausgesprochen werden, welche weiteren Massnahmen erforderlich sind, um das Risiko einer Ölverschmutzung zu neutralisieren.» So sagte UN-Sprecher Stéphane Dujarric am Dienstag.

Vor der Küste des Jemen droht nach Ansicht der UN eine Umweltkatastrophe wegen des verwahrlosten Tankers.

https://www.nau.ch/news/ausland/uno-kann-rostenden-oltanker-vor-jemens-kuste-sichern-65825168

und auch: http://www.dtoday.de/startseite/politik_artikel,-Huthi-Rebellen-erlauben-UN-Mission-zu-verlassenem-Oel-Tanker-vor-dem-Jemen-_arid,757974.html = https://de.nachrichten.yahoo.com/huthi-rebellen-erlauben-un-mission-132501975.html

(* A P)

FSO Safer: New deal to secure oil tanker abandoned off Yemen

Mr Dujarric said the new agreement, announced in an official letter from the Houthis on Saturday, would be more formal and "represents an important step forward in this critical work".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55066859

and

(* A P)

UN says Yemen 'floating bomb' oil tanker will be repaired early next year

Yemen’s Houthi rebels agreed to allow a United Nations mission to repair a decaying oil tanker moored off the coast that experts say could spill more than a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed group has been in talks with UN officials about accessing the FSO Safer tanker for months, but UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said an official letter from the Iran-backed group on Saturday confirmed that it could finally go ahead.

“It represents an important step forward in this critical work,” Mr Dujarric said on Tuesday.

“The objective of the UN-led expert mission is to assess the vessel and undertake initial light maintenance as well as to formulate recommendations on what further action is required to neutralise the risk of an oil spill.”

UN experts are now arranging a team of engineers and ordering the gear needed to repair the vessel, which has been stranded off Yemen’s Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for more than five years, Mr Dujarric said.

They expect to board the ship in January or early February next year, the spokesman said.

“Now that the UN proposal for the expert mission has been agreed, mission planning will immediately pivot towards deployment and deployment preparations,” Mr Dujarric said.

“This includes the procurement of necessary equipment, entry permits for all staff, agreement on the work order system on board and logistical planning.”

The rusting tanker is loaded with about 1.1 million barrels of crude oil, meaning it could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster near Alaska, according to the world body (with photos from Safer tanker)

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/mena/un-says-yemen-floating-bomb-oil-tanker-will-be-repaired-early-next-year-1.1117239

and also https://www.arabnews.com/node/1768331/middle-east

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/11/fso-safer-houthis-yemen-un-inspector-access-red-sea-leak.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/25/yemen-houthis-give-un-permission-to-inspect-stranded-oil-tanker

and

(* A P)

UN and Yemen [Sanaa gov.] sign agreement on urgent repair of Safer oil tanker

An official source in the Supreme Economic Committee has announced that an urgent maintenance agreement and a comprehensive evaluation of the Safer oil tankers had been signed with the United Nations.

The source explained that, after technical discussions between the national advisory team for the floating petroleum platform Safer, and the office of the UN Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, along with the team of the United Nations Office for Project Services, an agreement was reached on urgent maintenance and a comprehensive evaluation of the decaying oil tanker.

The source indicated that the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a message to the United Nations in this regard, expressing its welcome to the team of experts in charge of the urgent evaluation and maintenance of the floating tanker.

The source said, “The Yemeni national government is currently waiting for a letter from the United Nations to inform the date of the arrival of the team of experts, after they are granted the necessary visas to enter Yemen, and the state of the implementation of the work assigned to them alongside the national technical team.”

The source pointed out that during technical discussions with the United Nations, the United Nations Office for Project Services team refused to provide a nitrogen generator as a suitable alternative to the inert gas system with the equipment that will be brought in order to carry out the urgent evaluation and maintenance process.

The generator’s job is to pump the inert gas to the oil tanks to prevent explosions. However, thd United Nations Project Office team limited the operation to merely conduct maintenance and prevent oil leakage from the floating tanker.

The source added, “Although the UNOPS team refused to provide the nitrogen generator, we welcome the steps that have been achieved, out of our keenness to prevent an environmental catastrophe in the Red Sea, and we hope that the United Nations will speed up the implementation of the steps agreed upon and send the team of experts to carry out its duties expeditiously. “

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/25/un-and-yemen-sign-agreement-on-urgent-repair-of-safer-oil-tanker/

(A P)

[Sanaa gov.] FM to UN: Team of Experts, in Charge of Maintaining Oil Tanker, Safer, Are Welcome

Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein Al-Ezzi, confirmed, Sunday, that a letter was sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the United Nations welcoming the team of experts in charge of assessing and maintaining the Safer. Al-Ezzi said on his Twitter account: "We sent a message to the United Nations in which we welcomed the team of experts in charge of assessing and maintaining the Safer ship, and we are still awaiting the arrival date of the team to Yemen."

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16288/FM-to-UN-Team-of-Experts%2C-in-Charge-of-Maintaining-Oil-Tanker%2C-Safer%2C-Are-Welcome

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/23/yemen-welcomes-upcoming-un-team-visit-to-safer-oil-tanker/

(B K pH)

851 children killed, injured in mercenaries' raids, shelling: [Sanaa gov.] HR

The human rights office in Taiz province confirmed on Sunday that the number of children killed and injured since the beginning of the aggression on Yemen since March 2015 reached 851 children in the aggression airstrikes and mercenaries shelling.

On the occasion of International Children's Day, 427 children were killed and 424 were injured in the aggression airstrikes and the shelling of mercenaries on residential neighborhoods in the province, the office said in a statement to Saba.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117216.htm

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/16289/Human-Rights-Office-in-Taiz-US-Saudi-Aggression-Killed-and-Injured-851-Children-

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A H)

Dairy farmers rally to raise €200,000 for Yemen

Longford-based dairy farmer Mike Magan has expressed his gratitude to his fellow farmers after raising just under €200,000 for people suffering in Yemen. “It’s now close to €200,000. All of the co-ops got involved and they have collected, by one means or another, the equivalent of €10 from every one of 16,000 dairy farmers.

https://www.irishcatholic.com/dairy-farmers-rally-to-raise-e200000-for-yemen/

(* B H)

Film: Poor condition of children in Al-Sabeen Hospital, Yemen

Al-Sabeen Maternal Hospital in the capital Sana'a is a center for treating malnutrition, and many children in this hospital are suffering from it.

IranPress reporter has visited Al-Sabeen Maternal Hospital which is a center for treating malnutrition.

The reporter has met children with acute malnutrition who are mainly living in the capital city of Sana'a or the governorate.

Some mothers of the children said their children have been recovered a little bit since arriving at the hospital days ago.

https://iranpress.com/content/30235

(* B H)

United Nations: Looming Famine in Yemen Comparable to 1980s Africa

In 1984 and 1985, about a million people died in Ethiopia in a famine that was widely broadcast on international television.

Eventually, rock stars and royals swooped onto the world stage, raising millions of dollars slated for emergency aid.

Now, decades later, across the Gulf of Aden, a similar tragedy is unfolding in Yemen, only without the rescue efforts championed by the glitterati.

"We see a dramatic degradation of the humanitarian situation," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a press conference. "And the risk … of a famine would probably have had no parallel in recent history, except for the famous famine in Ethiopia many decades ago."

https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/united-nations-looming-famine-yemen-comparable-1980s-africa?fbclid=IwAR0JIlAfoos-4GUgEbGlmVL5ZN8hI65xZLkij-vxmVFeAsqp5YzBT0Udx_Y

(* B H)

Yah CrisisInSight Core Dataset

This dataset brings together data from a range of sources to provide a greater overall and comparative understanding of the current situation and context inside each district. The core indicators consist of key drivers (conflict, basic commodity prices, exclusion and marginalization, and disrupted access to life-saving services and income sources) and their major expected humanitarian impacts (food insecurity, cholera). The dataset includes a mix of quantitative and qualitative data. Qualitative data is collected by ACAPS through daily media monitoring, secondary data review, thematic products and discussions with experts in Yemen and the region. ACAPS tracks changes in these indicators and alerts the humanitarian community to emerging trends or risks that could overwhelm local coping mechanisms in Yemen, triggering a humanitarian emergency. This dataset forms the core of ACAPS Yemen Crisis Insight bi-monthly products such as the Yemen: Crisis Impact Overview and Yemen Risk Overview, and ad hoc risk alerts.

https://data.humdata.org/dataset/yemen-crisisinsight-core-dataset-2020

(B H)

Until the end of October 2020 around 27,969 beneficiaries have been benefited from @IYCYEMEN Project "the Emergency and Life Sustained WASH and Health Response to the highly vulnerable IDPs, host communities and returnees in 3 districts of Taiz GOV" Funded by @YHF_Yemen

https://twitter.com/IYCYEMEN/status/1330977157854748673

(B H)

Today, the #Mukalla Cleaning and Improvement Fund received 12 NEW garbage collection trucks! These vehicles are the key to help improve #wastemanagement for 300,000 #Yemenis. Together, @UNDP and @MofaJapan_en support safety and hygiene in #Yemen.

https://twitter.com/UNDPYemen/status/1331242558467477509

(B H)

WFP Yemen Country Brief, October 2020

8.7 million people targeted in October 2020

74,000 mt of general food assistance

USD 7.3 million cash-based transfers

USD 11.6 million commodity vouchers

USD 442 million six-month net funding requirements (December 2020 – May 2021)

Operational Updates

Under the October cycle, WFP targeted 8.7 million people with general food assistance. Of these, 6.2 million people were targeted with in-kind food assistance, 1.6 million people with food vouchers, and some 928,000 people with cash assistance.

In October, WFP commenced its school feeding activities in areas under the Sana’a based authorities. Across the country, WFP reached some 600,000 students with nutritious snacks. Of these, over 9,900 students were supported with freshly prepared meals via the healthy kitchens programme in the areas under the Internationally Recognised Government of Yemen (IRG), started on 04 October.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/wfp-yemen-country-brief-october-2020

(* B H)

WHO Yemen Situation Report, October 2020 - Issue No.10

WHO HIGHLIGHTS

Acute malnutrition rates among children under five are the highest ever recorded in parts of Yemen, with more than half a million cases in southern districts.

New agreements were signed with the Republic of Korea and the Islamic Development Bank, respectively, to support the COVID-19 response in Yemen.

A total of 204,291 suspected cholera cases and 53 associated deaths were reported during the first ten months of 2020.

On 4 and 5 October, two UN chartered flights carried back to Sanaa a group of civilian Yemenis who had been receiving medical treatment in Jordan for different diseases and conditions that cannot be treated in Yemen.

Situation Update

Malnutrition surges among young children in Yemen as conditions worsen: Acute malnutrition rates among children under five are the highest ever recorded in parts of Yemen, with more than half a million cases in southern districts, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition analysis released in October 2020 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The analysis – which is for 133 districts in southern parts of Yemen only, home to 1.4 million children under five – has revealed a near 10 per cent increase in cases of acute malnutrition in 2020. The most significant increase is in cases of young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with a 15.5 per cent rise during 2020. This increase leaves at least 98,000 children under five at high risk of dying without urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition. A dangerous combination of factors, driven by conflict and economic decline, compound the situation for Yemen's youngest children. In the worst-hit areas included in this analysis - Abyan lowlands (23 per cent), Lahj lowlands (21 per cent), Taizz lowlands (22 per cent)-, around one in five children are acutely malnourished. In Al Hudaydah's lowlands, more than one in four (27 per cent) of children are acutely malnourished.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/who-yemen-situation-report-october-2020-issue-no10

(* B H)

AFTERSHOCK: Abuse, exploitation & human trafficking in the wake of COVID-19

Mid-year predictions that deteriorating protection conditions caused by COVID-19, conflict and climate change would lead to an unprecedented uptick in hunger, displacement, and the adoption of adverse coping strategies are proving worryingly accurate as we near the end of 2020.

Between September and November 2020, multiple Protection Clusters delivered lifesaving services amidst renewals of armed violence and a fresh wave of disasters, including heavy rains, flooding and cyclones that have driven immediate protection needs in Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen

https://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/wp-content/uploads/Global-Protection-Update_191120.pdf

(B H P)

Hunger Issue in Yemen Used for Collecting Money for International Organizations

International humanitarian organizations continue to invest the war on Yemen, to collect into their bank accounts millions of dollars annually.

Dozens of international organizations that are funded by donor countries and work in Yemen under various names and purposes within the framework of lack of food and medicine, outbreaks of diseases and epidemics and other fields.

The spread of hunger and malnutrition are the most common slogans that are raised by the organizations before the international community, to ensure the flow of funds to them. They did not forget to tamper with terms about the causes of the war on Yemen calling it a "forgotten conflict" or "internal fighting" without mentioning the coalition to ensure the sustainability of feeding its accounts in international banks.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/16318/Hunger-Issue-in-Yemen-Used-for-Collecting-Money-for-International-Organizations

My remark: A pro-Houthi viewpoint.

(B H)

Yemen: Health Cluster Achievements (September 2020)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-health-cluster-achievements-september-2020

(B H)

Yemen Nutrition Cluster: GAP Analysis (as of 31 October 2020)

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-gap-analysis-31-october-2020

Yemen: Nutrition Cluster Dashboard (January to October 2020)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-dashboard-january-october-2020

Yemen: Nutrition Cluster, Partners Operational Presence (Jan-Oct, 2020)

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-partners-operational-presence-jan-oct-2020

Yemen Nutrition Cluster Monthly Analysis (October 2020)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-monthly-analysis-october-2020

(* B H)

Der Jemen nähert sich der schlimmsten Hungersnot seit Jahrzehnten

Ein Statement von UNICEF-Exekutivdirektorin Henrietta Fore über die Lage im Jemen.

Während sich der Jemen immer mehr dem nähert, was der UN-Generalsekretär als «die möglicherweise schlimmste Hungersnot seit Jahrzehnten» bezeichnet hat, ist die Gefahr für das Leben von Kindern grösser denn je.

Die Warnsignale waren schon viel zu lange da. Mehr als 12 Millionen Kinder brauchen humanitäre Hilfe. In manchen Teilen des Landes hat die Anzahl Kinder, die an akuter Unterernährung leiden, neue Rekordhöhen erreicht. Allein in diesem Jahr ist sie um 10 Prozent gestiegen. Nahezu 325 000 Kinder unter fünf Jahren leiden an schwerer akuter Mangelernährung und kämpfen ums Überleben. Mehr als fünf Millionen Kinder sind einer erhöhten Bedrohung durch Cholera und akutem wässrigem Durchfall ausgesetzt. Chronische Armut, jahrzehntelange Unterentwicklung und mehr als fünf Jahre unerbittlicher Konflikte haben Kinder und ihre Familien einer tödlichen Kombination von Gewalt und Krankheiten ausgesetzt. Die Covid-19-Pandemie hat eine tiefe Krise in eine unmittelbar bevorstehende Katastrophe verwandelt. Der Jemen ist ein Land, das von Gewalt, Schmerz und Leid heimgesucht wird. Die Wirtschaft liegt in Trümmern. Das Gesundheitssystem steht seit Jahren am Rande des Zusammenbruchs. Unzählige Schulen, Krankenhäuser, Wasserversorgungsstationen und andere wichtige öffentliche Infrastrukturen wurden während der Kämpfe beschädigt und zerstört. Die Missachtung des humanitären Völkerrechts ist schockierend eklatant.

UNICEF ist seit Jahrzehnten im Jemen vor Ort. In den letzten Jahren haben wir unsere Präsenz ausgeweitet, um die Bereitstellung humanitärer Hilfe für Millionen von Kindern zu beschleunigen und dabei zu helfen, das Leid zu lindern und Leben zu retten.nAber wir können die Flut nicht unbegrenzt aufhalten. Alle Konfliktparteien müssen Kinder aus der Schusslinie halten und ungehinderten Zugang zu den bedürftigen Gemeinschaften ermöglichen - so wie es ihre Pflicht nach dem humanitären Völkerrecht ist.

Wir brauchen die Hilfe der Spender um dringend benötigte zusätzliche Mittel bereitzustellen. Wir nähern uns dem Ende des Jahres, jedoch hat UNICEF nur 237 Millionen US-Dollar der erforderlichen 535 Millionen erhalten. Das entspricht einer Finanzierungslücke von fast 300 Millionen US-Dollar.

Humanitäre Hilfe allein wird weder eine Hungersnot abwenden noch die Krise im Jemen beenden. Die Beendigung des Krieges, die Unterstützung der Wirtschaft und die Aufstockung der Ressourcen sind entscheidend. Wir dürfen keine Zeit verlieren. Die Kinder im Jemen brauchen Frieden. Ein Ende dieses brutalen Konflikts ist der einzige Weg, wie sie ihr Potenzial ausschöpfen, ihre Kindheit wieder aufnehmen und schliesslich ihr Land wieder aufbauen können.

https://www.unicef.ch/de/ueber-unicef/aktuell/statements/2020-11-23/jemen-schlimmste-hungersnot-seit-jahrzehnten

(* B H)

Millions of children’s lives at high risk as Yemen inches towards famine

Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore

“As Yemen slowly inches towards what the UN Secretary-General has described as potentially ‘the worst famine in decades,’ the risk to children’s lives is higher than ever.

“The warning signs have been clear for far too long.

“More than 12 million children need humanitarian assistance.

“Acute child malnutrition rates have reached record levels in some parts of the country, marking a 10 per cent increase just this year.

“Nearly 325,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are fighting to survive.

“More than five million children face a heightened threat of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea.

“Chronic poverty, decades of underdevelopment, and over five years of unrelenting conflict have exposed children and their families to a deadly combination of violence and disease.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has turned a deep crisis into an imminent catastrophe.

“Yemen is a country beset by violence, pain and suffering. The economy is in shambles. The health system has been on the verge of collapse for years. Countless schools, hospitals, water stations and other crucial public infrastructure have been damaged and destroyed in the fighting. Disregard for international humanitarian law is shockingly blatant.

“UNICEF has been on the ground in Yemen for decades. In recent years, we have expanded our presence to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to millions of children, helping alleviate suffering and save lives.

“But we cannot hold back the tide indefinitely.

“All parties to the conflict must keep children out of harm’s way and allow unhindered access to communities in need – as is their duty under international humanitarian law.

“Donors must step up and provide urgently needed additional funds. As we approach the end of the year, UNICEF’s humanitarian appeal has received just US$237 million of the US$535 million required, a funding gap of almost US$300 million.

“Humanitarian aid alone will not avert a famine nor end the crisis in Yemen. Stopping the war, supporting the economy and increasing resources are critical.

“There is no time to waste.

“Children in Yemen need peace. An end to this brutal conflict is the only way they can fulfil their potential, resume their childhood and, ultimately, rebuild their country.”

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/millions-childrens-lives-high-risk-yemen-inches-towards-famine

(B H K)

Yemen’s children continue suffering

The Geneva-based Sam Organization for Rights and Liberties said on Friday that World Children's Day comes and the children of Yemen experience the worse condition ever as a result of policies by warring parties represented by the Houthi militia and Saudi-led coalition that created the world worst humanitarian crisis.

The situation left over than 12 million children in need of humanitarian aid, according to the organization.

It indicated that that the war in Yemen deprived thousands of children from their parents who have been imprisoned or killed in battles, and forced thousands to leave schools and go to an insecure job market to support their families without legal guarantees

It explained that this condition made many of them vulnerable to falling victims into the hands of recruiting gangs by the Houthi militia, and other parties to the conflict.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43424

(* B H)

World Toilet Day: Investing in Yemen’s sanitation systems

Yemen is one of the world’s most water scarce countries.

The on-going war has made access to water and adequate sanitation services extremely difficult for Yemenis.

Without toilets and sanitation systems that move, treat, and safely dispose of waste, communities struggle to maintain an environment free from disease.

Between January 2018 and May 2020, over 1.3 million Yemenis suffered from cholera after drinking water contaminated with untreated sewage. More than 140,000 people died.

In addition to human suffering, when human waste flows into the environment, our sea also suffers.

Aquatic life can die if exposed to the harmful toxins in human waste, and people cannot safely swim and enjoy the water.

So how can we build systems that prevent this damage to our health and environment?

Sanitation starts with the toilet.

Since 2018, UNDP Yemen has invested in the rehabilitation and construction of sanitation systems in 30 communities across Aden and Mukalla.

As a result, 250,000 Yemenis are now enjoying a safer, more hygienic daily life.

The safe management of human waste has also ensured that 62,000 cubic meters of toxic material is prevented from entering the sea and damaging fragile aquatic ecosystems each day.

By contributing to the health of the sea, we also help protect the environment from irreversible damage.

Toilets are crucial to hygiene and sanitation, but the waste highways beneath them are equally critical.

Investing in adequate sanitation in Yemen is key to preventing disease, protecting the environment and ensuring a more sustainable future for Yemen.

https://undpyemen.exposure.co/world-toilet-day-2020

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(B H)

IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 15 - 21 Nov 2020

From 01 January 2020 to 21 November 2020, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 27,364 Households (164,184 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.

Since the beginning of 2020, DTM also identified other 1,315 previously displaced households who left the displaced location and moved to either their place of origin or some other displaced location.

Between 15 November 2020 and 21 November 2020, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 389 Households (2,334 individuals) displaced at least once. The highest number of displacements were seen in

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-rapid-displacement-tracking-rdt-reporting-period-15-21-nov-2020

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

(* A P)

Strafgericht ordnet Todesstrafe für 91 Personen an wegen Hilfe für den Feind verurteilt

Das spezialisierte Strafgericht erster Instanz in Amanat Al-Asimah hat heute 91 Verurteilte zum Tode verurteilt, weil sie dem Feind geholfen haben, Handlungen zu begehen, die die Sicherheit und Stabilität der Republik Jemen beeinträchtigen.

Das Urteil in der heutigen Sitzung unter Vorsitz von Richter Mujahid Ahmed Al-Amdi in Anwesenheit des Staatsanwalts, Richter Ahmed Al-Qais, und des Staatsanwalts, Richter Khaled Omar Saeed, regelte die Einziehung sämtlicher Immobilien und beweglicher Sachen der Verurteilten und deren Übergabe an die Staatskasse.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft beschuldigte 91 Personen, den Feind bei Handlungen zu unterstützen und anzuregen, die die Sicherheit und Stabilität der jemenitischen Republik, ihre Einheit und territoriale Integrität beeinträchtigen.

https://www.saba.ye/de/news3117578.htm

(* A P)

The Criminal Court orders the death penalty for 91 persons convicted of aiding the enemy

The Specialized First Instance Criminal Court in Amanat Al-Asimah today sentenced to death 91 convicts of the crime of aiding and abetting the enemy to commit acts affecting the security and stability of the Republic of Yemen.

The verdict, in the session held today, chaired by Judge Mujahid Ahmed Al-Amdi, in the presence of the Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Al-Qais, and the Public Prosecution member, Judge Khaled Omar Saeed, ruled the confiscation of all real estate and movable property of the convicts and their transfer to the state treasury.

The Criminal Prosecution charged 91 people with aiding and inciting the enemy to commit acts affecting the security and stability of the Yemeni Republic, its unity and territorial integrity.

They also sought to help the countries of the coalition of the American-Saudi aggression to undermine the political, war and economic status of the country, and they criminally agreed with them to participate in waging war against the Republic of Yemen and issued decisions, statements and statements, through which they sought to support the countries of aggression in continuing their aggression against Yemen, occupying parts of its lands and targeting government facilities And public and private facilitie

https://www.saba.ye/ar/news3117556.htm

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-21407.html

(A P)

50 deceived army individuals returned to Sana'a

Fifty army officers and soldiers left the aggression mercenaries' camps and returned to Sana'a on Wednesday.

The returnees expressed their thanks to the leadership of the revolution and the political leadership for their pardon decision and forgive those who returned to the national side.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117584.htm

(A P)

New intimidation by Houthis against jewelry shops in Sana’a

The Houthis militants have carried out a new intimidation on jewelry shops in Sana’a which led to the shutdown of over 20 shops.

The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily Newspaper reported that the Houthis gunmen have been implementing armed visits to jewelry shops where they ask for fines accusing shop owners of not engaging in the Houthis’ recent event on the party they organized celebrating the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday using their own political agenda for the event.

The Houthis then imposed fees on shops and companies including clinics, schools, restaurants and banks and imposing forcible decoration on each shop with green painting and green light.

Each shop had to pay between YR80,000 to 200,000 and those who refused to pay the money were threatened shutdown of their shops and offices.

About 22 jewelry shops were closed in various streets of the capital Sana’a and scores of shops were closed operations in fear of new intimidations.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43465

(A P)

Houthi government calls on southerners to rise against Saudi-UAE occupation

Prime minister in the Houthi salvation government, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Habtour, on Tuesday called on the people in south Yemen to rise against the Saudi-UAE occupation.
"The tragic situation in Aden and other occupied provinces and cities require the honest people in the south with support from the free people across Yemen to rise against the occupiers and their criminal and puppet militias," he said at a meeting with his government, according to the Sanaa-based Saba news agency.
Developments in Aden and persistent disagreements between the internationally recognised government and the UAE-backed southern transitional council have disastrous impacts on the people, he said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21379.html

and

(A P)

PM: tragic situations in occupied provinces calls for a popular uprising

Prime Minister said on Tuesday the tragic conditions in Aden province and the rest of the occupied provinces require a popular uprising against the occupier and its criminal puppet militias.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117479.htm

and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201125-yemens-houthi-govt-calls-on-southerners-to-resist-saudi-uae-occupation/

(A P)

A woman from the northern Hajjah province screams and paints her face with the blood of her husband (Hammed Tafyan) who was killed by a Houthi militant:an escort of the Houthi Security Director for Hajjah (Hizam Tafyan). This is a viral story on large number of Yemeni media platforms.The face painting was probably the woman’s way to draw attention to her immense heartbreak and helplessness.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43446

Photo: https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1331002640000540679

(A H P)

Houthi militia dimiss 103 doctors from Sana’a main hospital Al-Thawra, a catastrophic decision. / Voice of Yemen

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43446

(A K P)

SPC member: Quds-2 missile striking Aramco was 100% Yemeni industry

Member of the Supreme Political Council has reiterated that the Quds-2 missile that targeted the Saudi Aramco facility last Monday was "100% Yemeni industry''.

The more Saudi Arabia continues its war on the Yemeni people and targeting its vital facilities, the more the Yemeni army and popular committees will continue to target Saudi facilities in defense of Yemen and Yemenis, Mohammad al-Houthi added.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3117590.htm

and

(A P)

Houthis: Saudi Arabia should only wait for legitimate defence as long as aggression continues

The spokesperson for the Houthi group Mohammed Abdulsalam on Tuesday said Saudi Arabia should only wait for legitimate response and defence as long as aggression and blockade on Yemen continue.
The Saudi regime could not get past the fact that it is just an aggressor on the Yemeni people despite its condemnations and attempts to play the role of the victim, he wrote on Twitter.
"The world knows the Saudi regime has been attacking and besieging Yemen. As long as this situation continues, it should only wait for legitimate defence until it stops aggression and lifts blockade," he said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21380.html

and

(A K P)

Yemen stresses right to self-defense as Riyadh resorts to UN over Aramco raid

Yemen says its armed forces reserve the legitimate right to respond to any act of aggression by the Saudi-led military coalition, after Riyadh complained to the UN Security Council over a Yemeni missile attack on an Aramco petroleum products distribution plant in the kingdom’s port city of Jeddah.
“The Saudi regime, despite all its appeals for condemnation and attempts to portray itself as a victim, cannot escape the fact that it is an aggressor and abuses the rights of Yemeni people,” Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, wrote in a post on its Twitter page on Tuesday.
He added, “The whole world knows it was the Saudi regime which launched an aggression and siege [against Yemen], and is pressing ahead with them.”
“As long as the Saudi regime continues such behavior, it should only wait for a response and legitimate defense unless it puts an end to the aggression and lifts the blockade,” Abdul-Salam said.
Moreover, Ansarullah politburo member Ali al-Qahoum told Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen television news network on Tuesday evening that the Riyadh regime’s confusion over the missile strike on the Saudi Aramco plant in Jeddah is proof of growing capabilities of the Yemeni armed forces.
Qahoum noted that the next strikes by Yemeni armed forces will be even more painful.

https://en.abna24.com/news//yemen-stresses-right-to-self-defense-as-riyadh-resorts-to-un-over-aramco-raid_1089232.html

(A P)

Iran, Yemen discuss agricultural cooperation amid growing ties

Iran's recently appointed ambassador to Sanaa met with Yemen's Houthi-led National Salvation Government's (NSG) Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Adulmalik Al-Thawr yesterday to discuss expanding agricultural https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201124-iran-yemen-discuss-agricultural-cooperation-amid-growing-ties/ to Mehr News Agency, the Yemeni minister noted Iran's experience in the field of agriculture, particularly in the field of research, agricultural machinery and combating desertification. He further stressed the importance of coordination between the two countries in order to prepare a cooperation agreement in the field of agriculture.

Tehran's envoy also emphasised Iran's ability to produce plant seeds and increase efficiency, which he explained has enabled the Islamic Republic to overcome economic sanctions in this field.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201124-iran-yemen-discuss-agricultural-cooperation-amid-growing-ties/

(A P)

Yemeni Islamic scholars call for Islamic unity against Zionist plots

The Yemeni Scholars Association has emphasised the necessity of the unity of the Arab and Islamic nations in light of the American and Zionist designs.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/23/yemeni-islamic-scholars-call-for-islamic-unity-against-zionist-plots/

(A P)

Detainees in Houthi prisons were threatened to be killed in courtroom in Sanaa on Monday, a lawyer said. An intelligence officer told them as they appeared in court "shut the fuck up or I will open fire on you". They just asked the officer why the judge was late, the lawyer said.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1331005936320847875

(A P)

Houthis escalate criticism of Saudi Arabia over meeting of MBS with Israel PM

Prime minister in the Sanaa-based salvation government, Abdulaziz bin Habtour, said on Monday the member states of the coalition are pushing for humiliating normalisation with Israel.
"The member states of the coalition which dare to close Yemeni airports have opened their airports to the Zionist enemy within their rush for normalisation," he said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21362.html

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/23/mohammed-abdulsalam-the-counties-that-invade-yemen-are-the-same-that-collaborate-with-zionism/

and

(A P)

Houthis criticise Saudi Arabia over meeting between crown prince, Israel premier

Abdulsalam accused the Saudi regime of turning the Saudi land which includes the Muslim holy places into a venue for plots against Islam and Muslims.
The Saudi leadership has encouraged some Gulf states to normalise with Israel in order that its normalisation becomes accepted by the regional countries later, he said, adding that countries attacking and besieging Yemen are now publically involved in the Zionist project.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21359.html

(* B H K P)

‘Like a ghost’: Yemen’s freed prisoners bear psychological and physical scars

“We drove to the hospital, where we found him lying motionless, like a ghost who doesn’t feel anything. It was clear that Mohammed had lost his memory because he reacted like a statue while I and his mother were hugging him and crying over him. He didn’t remember anything. He kept gazing at the wall before him silently.”

Mr Al Raee said that he was informed by prisoners detained with his son that the Houthis repeatedly tortured him after he resisted their ill-treatment.

“The Houthis left him bleeding, and whenever he appealed for treatment they gave him a sedative injection so he slept. They did that whenever he awoke, screaming in pain,” Mr Al Raee said, citing the account of a prisoner detained with his son.

Mr Al Raee said that a prisoner detained with Mohammed told him that the Houthis moved his son to solitary confinement in the last three months of his captivity, after he repeatedly resisted their attempts to subdue him.

He cited a psychiatrist who has been treating his son, who said he was subjected to an overdose of sedatives, in addition to ill-treatment that included isolation. The latter may have impaired Mohammed’s memory, causing psychological complications.

Mohammed’s father and friends appealed to international organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Crescent, to investigate why Mohammed, and many other prisoners recently released from Houthi prisons, suffer physical and psychological complications.

Despite these outstanding issues, the prisoner exchange was hailed by some observers as a landmark event in the conflict, potentially paving the way for de-escalation. But for prisoners like Mohammed, who now need specialist care, a new and silent war is only just beginning.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/like-a-ghost-yemen-s-freed-prisoners-bear-psychological-and-physical-scars-1.1116444

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Aden verbleibt in der Hand der Separatisten im Süden. Ihre medien verbreiten eine große Menge von parteiischen Berichten, die das Narrativ der Separatisten überihren Hauptgegner, die Islah Partei (genannt "Muslim-Bruderschaft"), über die Kämpfe in Abyan und Shabwa, ihre Herrschaft in Aden und den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten verbreiten.

Aden remains in the hands of southern separatists. Their media are spreading a bulk of biased reports, showing their narrative of their foes from Islah Party (labeled “Muslim Brotherhood”), the fighting at Abyan and Shabwa, their self-rule at Aden and the areas under their control.

(A P T)

The UAE, through the first bank of Abu Dhabi, keep financing Al-AQaeda to carry out assassinations. /Aden News.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43469

(A K P)

A new shipment of heat-seeking missiles have been supplied to the Southern Transitional Council’s frontlines to use them in the war against the government forces in east of Abyan.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43469

(A P)

A Marib military court holds a 7th hearing session on the lawsuit against the Houthi coup leaders.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43469

My comment: One of these political fake trials of the enemy leadership.

(A P)

Yemen’s [pro-Hadi gov.] political parties have called for the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement beginning with military arrangements on the STC’s part and to be followed with the Cabinet formation on the government’s part. /Saba

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43469

(A P)

16-day campaign on GBV launched in Aden

The Women Charity for Fighting Poverty, an Aden-based NGO, has launched a 16-day campaign to resist gender-based violence against women and girls.
According to Saba news agency, the campaign consists of various activities including medical camps in remote regions and a radio program to ratchet up anti-GBV awareness.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/30606
(A P)

Ex-minister unveils Emirati actions harm Yemeni sovereignty in Socotra

Yemeni resigned minister of transport on Tuesday unveiled Emirati measures that affect the war-torn country's sovereignty in Socotra governorate.
"Socotra is abducted by the United Arab Emirates and its militias," Saleh al-Jabwani tweeted, as the "self-governance is still on place.
"In such a situation, [Yemen's PM] Maeen Abdulmalek permits a ship carrying 57 containers, including 36 full of arms and 21 loaded with parts of communication towers to connect the island with Abu Dhabi.
"This is blatant collusion, while the man is still designate to form a new government," he added.
The former minister attached a document to support his accusations against the UAE and the Yemeni caretaker prime minister.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21391.html

(A P)

Hadi advisor dubs Yemeni partners as Iranian project's tools

Houthi is the real enemy for the Yemeni people, President Hadi advisor said Wednesday, calling everyone to "appoint arrows" at this enemy, strengthen the legitimate front and boost relations between partners, whatever the disputes are.
The Houthi racist project and creasy ambitions have only brought war, death and destruction to Yemenis, Abdul Malik al-Mikhlafi added on Twitter.
Some parties supporting the Yemeni legitimacy seek to promote for and get in harmony with the Houthis in variable pretexts, by calls for an end to the Arab coalition's military intervention, he said.
"We tell these [parties], most of whom live abroad, 'come back to Sana'a to live in the Houthi paradise and to know the enemy confronting the people, if you have forgotten.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21396.html

(A K P)

STC leader tells US envoy Yemeni gov't militarily escalates to foil Riyadh deal

The Yemeni government troops' escalation in the southern governorate of Abyan is aimed at thwarting the Riyadh Agreement, chairman of the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) said Wednesday.
The STC has fulfilled all requirements to announce the government and apply other provisions of the Riyadh deal, Eidroos al-Zobaidi added at meeting in Riyadh with the US ambassador to Yemen, Christopher Henzel, praising the Saudi and Emirati efforts in this regard.
The dangerous military escalation led by political forces under Yemeni government umbrella in Abyan aims to foil the pact, he claimed, noting that "southern forces" stick to self-control and self-defense, lest the humanitarian and living conditions worsen.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21393.html

(A P)

Yemen Govt. Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Time for Int’l Community to Blacklist Houthis

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2645831/yemen-govt-spokesman-asharq-al-awsat-time-int%E2%80%99l-community-blacklist-houthis

(A K P)

Former Transports Minister accuses PM Maeen Abdulmalil of secretly licensing a UAE vessel to enter Socotra carrying 36 containers of weapons. Aden Alghad and multiple other websites.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43446

(A P)

We will see in the coming days “a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion against the Arab Coalition,” says Khaled Al-Nasi a senior member of the UAE-created STC militia. / Voice of Yemen and Yafe’a News.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43446

(A P)

Hadi affirms again on finalization liberation of Yemen from Houthis

President Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi emphasized on Tuesday the need to complete the liberation of Yemen from the Houthis rebels.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43445

My comment: He tells again and again: We want war, not peace.

(A P)

Yemen's Southern Transitional Council says Houthi terrorist label ‘long overdue’

Yemen’s southern political movement says it supports the US plan to designate the Houthi rebels as terrorists, a move that could hamper aid deliveries in the war-torn nation.

Mohamed Al Ghaithi, from the Southern Transitional Council negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, said the mooted US designation was “long overdue” in an online meeting on Tuesday.

The outgoing Trump administration is reportedly planning to classify the Iran-backed Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, a move that would make it harder for aid workers and others to co-operate with the group.

“This is a step that should have really taken place from Day 1,” Mr Al Ghaithi told The National.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/mena/yemen-s-southern-transitional-council-says-houthi-terrorist-label-long-overdue-1.1117229

My comment: From an UAE news site; UAE’s Yemeni puppets of course tell the same as their masters do.

(A P)

[Separatists on their website have changed section “Yemen” to “South Arabia”]

https://en.smanews.org/category/south-arabia/

(* A P)

Yemeni Islah Party rules out new gov't formation

The Yemeni Islah Party on Sunday ruled out the formation of a new government, as long as the military and security section stated in the Riyadh Agreement Acceleration Mechanism is not implemented.
More than one year passed since the Riyadh pact was inked, and over three months since it was renewed, Islah chairmen said in brief statement.
Non-application of the agreed-to military section would make it difficult for a new government to come into being, Mohamed al-Yadomi added.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21352.html

and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-43422

(* B P)

Yemen's Southern Transitional Council: Israel's next Arab ally?

The separatist non-state actor operates under Emirati patronage and could find itself pressured into warming up to Israel.

Perspectives on the Abraham Accords, which formalised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain’s diplomatic relations with Israel in August/September 2020, have varied throughout the Arab region

What about non-state actors in the Arab world? This brings us to the question of Yemen’s dominant separatist group in the south, the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Described as the UAE’s “proxy” in Yemen, it was unsurprising how the STC applauded the UAE-Israel diplomatic agreement.

But could the STC be the next actor in the Arabian Peninsula to openly embrace Israeli as a partner? Some analysts think so given the extent to which the organisation is under Abu Dhabi’s strong influence.

One sign may have been the STC’s President Deputy Hani bin Buraik’s reaction to the Abraham Accords, and his words about planning to visit Jewish Yemenis from the south of his country who are currently living in Israel.

“I think there is little substantive information about an Israel-STC relationship at this stage,” Samuel Ramani, a doctoral researcher at Oxford University told us during an interview.

“As Israel-UAE relations get stronger, it’s possible that the STC could engage with Israel on a tactical basis in the future. But any cooperation would be informal and covert, as the STC establishing formal diplomatic relations with Israel would severely undermine its claims to popular legitimacy.”

Indeed, the STC might have reasons to avoid appearing too close to Israel given how most segments of Yemen’s population view Israel negatively and share pro-Palestinian positions. The anti-Israeli views of the Houthi rebels, as well as officials within Yemen’s Saudi-backed and UN-recognised government, underscore this point.

https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/yemen-s-southern-transitional-council-israel-s-next-arab-ally-41717

My comment: from Turkey, Turkey is anti-STC and pro-Islah party and emphasizes its pro-Palestinian viewpoint.

(A P)

UAE-backed mercenaries release Yemeni academic after four months of imprisonment and torture

Human rights sources said that the Al-A’asifah Brigade forces released 47-year-old Dr. Abdullah Abdul Jabbar al-Qubati, after he was arrested at the entrance to Aden four months ago while returning from the city of Seiyun.

Earlier, sources had reported that al-Qubati was transferred to prisons in the UAE, and the STC militias refused to disclose it.

According to the sources, al-Qubati was detained in al-Tawahi prison and was severely tortured by the UAE-backed militias, in a solitary cell of one half square meter. He was also banned from any contact or visit, and banned from medical care

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2020/11/23/uae-backed-mercenaries-release-yemeni-academic-after-four-months-of-imprisonment-and-torture/

(A P)

STC says patience with government has rut out

The southern transitional council on Sunday accused the Yemeni legitimate government of waging a long war of attrition against its forces and that its patience has run out.
The council's presidency said at its periodical meeting in Aden that the powerful militia within the government is still playing a game after another to obstruct the implementation of the Riyadh agreement.
The government is seeking to impose hostile schemes to subjugate the south and continue looting its resources, it said.
"We have been patient for a year within our commitment to the truce. But that is no longer possible amid the insistence of the enemies of the south on turning the truce into a long war of attrition," it said.
"It is time to cut off this plot".
The government has not commented on the statement.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21347.html

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

(B P)

Yemen: When Will the War End at Last?

[Overview]

https://qoshe.com/new-eastern-outlook/viktor-mikhin/yemen-when-will-the-war-end-at-last-/92242716

(A P)

Houthis says refuse peace based on prohibitive conditions

The Houthi group on Tuesday criticised calls for unconditional peace as the government insists that peace should be based on the Gulf initiative which paved the way for power transition in 2012, the outcomes of the 2013 national dialog conference and the UN resolutions.
The group said it refuses any solution based on prohibitive conditions.
Senior Houthi leader, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, wrote on Twitter: "They say come to peace and at the same time they talk about references. This means they have preconditions".
"Actually nothing can be called a reference except what all parties agree to. Peace without wisdom leads to no result," he said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21384.html

(A P)

[Hadi] Yemeni gov't reiterates positive dealing with UN Joint Declaration

The Yemeni government positively deals with the Joint Declaration proposed by the UN as a solution for Yemen's crisis, the war-torn country's foreign minister said Monday.
The official government keenly seeks to secure peace requirements and to remove any causes for new waves of conflicts, Mohamed al-Hadhrami added at a virtual meeting with UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths.
He reiterated his government's support for the envoy's efforts and positive dealing with all his initiatives.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-21371.html

My remark: Just a few weeks ago, the Hadi government severely had rejected Griffths’ plans.

(A K P)

Saudi tells U.N. that Houthis to blame for Aramco attack

Saudi Arabia told the U.N. Security Council that Yemen’s Houthi group were to blame for a missile attack on a petroleum products distribution plant in Jeddah on Monday, urging the 15-member body to “stop the threat” to global energy security, Yemen’s political process and regional security.

“It has been identified that the Houthis militia backed by Iran is responsible for the terrorist attack,” Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi wrote in a letter to the council late on Monday that was seen by Reuters.

He also said Saudi Arabia would “spare no efforts” to protect its territory and citizens.

https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-saudi-un/saudi-tells-u-n-that-houthis-to-blame-for-aramco-attack-idUSKBN2842EQ

and also https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-saudi-un/saudi-tells-u-n-that-houthis-to-blame-for-aramco-attack-idUSKBN2842EQ

My comment: The saudis really do not have any reason to complain.

(A P)

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS – IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON YEMEN AND SAUDI ARABIA

The Secretary-General expresses concern over the reported missile attack on Aramco oil facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for which the Houthis have claimed responsibility.

The Secretary-General recalls that attacks targeting civilian targets and infrastructure violate international humanitarian law.

https://osesgy.unmissions.org/note-correspondents-%E2%80%93-response-questions-yemen-and-saudi-arabia

(* A P)

Yemen-Houthi prisoner swap imminent: UN envoy

Negotiations between government and Houthi rebels will center on new prisoner exchange process

The office of Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, said Monday that arrangements are ongoing for new negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal between the legitimate government and the Houthi militia.

In a statement to Anadolu Agency, the office said there are plans to “set an appropriate date” for discussions on the exchange of prisoners, adding an announcement will be made once “the arrangements are finalized.”

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-houthi-prisoner-swap-imminent-un-envoy/2053652

Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp8 – cp19

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-696b-yemen-war-mosaic-696b

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-695-yemen-war-mosaic-695

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-695 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-695:

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/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:

https://yemen.bellingcat.com/

Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:

https://yemeniarchive.org/en

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose

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