Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 710, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 710, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-710-yemen-war-mosaic-710
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 / In Italics: Look in part 1
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: USA stufen Huthis als Terroristen ein / Most important: US terror designation against Houthis
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
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
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp16a Saudische Luftangriffe: Saudische „Untersuchungen“ / Saudi air raids: Saudi “investigations“
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Army prisoners freed in Sa'ada
6 prisoners have been freed in a prisoner swap in Sa'ada, said the head of the National Committee on Monday.
The National Committee for Prisoners explained the exchange deal was mediated by local brokers.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3125016.htm
(B H P)
181 containers of spoiled pea bags in the yard of Hodeidah port belong to the WFP, awaiting the fumigation process to be entered & distributed to the citizens.
https://twitter.com/snono201/status/1351190959506259970
(B P)
Film: The Voices of Sustaining Peace - UNITAR Division for Peace Advisory Board Side Event
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) delivers innovative training and conducts research on knowledge systems to increase the capacity of beneficiaries to respond to global and constantly evolving challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knKXsErOVsU
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(B E P)
One of our young activists discovers that #Saudi govt has stopped publishing unemployment numbers. Things are really bad it seems.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1351898836206301184
referring to https://twitter.com/NasserAlajmi89/status/1351883571171094529
(A P)
Saudi Arabia: Loujain Al-Hathloul among finalists for prestigious human rights prize
The shortlist of nominees for the 2020 Václav Havel Prize, which honours outstanding civil society action defending human rights, is comprised entirely of women, from Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain Al-Hathloul, to a group of Buddhist nuns in Nepal and Julienne Lusenge in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Like her fellow nominees in Nepal and Congo, Loujain Al-Hathloul is a strong advocate for women’s rights, having boldly campaigned for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia as well as against the repressive male guardianship system.
The 31-year-old has already spent two and a half years behind bars and was recently sentenced to five years and eight months in jail, on spurious charges. She is expected to be released in March 2021, considering the suspension of part of her sentence and backdating the start of her jail term to account for time already served. Mayaa Al-Zahrani was issued the same sentence for a similar list of charges.
and
(A P)
Lujain Al-Hathloul's Brother Accuses Saudi Embassy in Canada of Trying to Lure and Liquidate him
The brother of the detained Saudi activist, Lujain Al-Hathloul, accused the Kingdom's embassy in Canada of trying to lure and liquidate him, in the same manner as of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, noting that he had records confirming the validity of his words.
Speaking to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added, "Do you want me to publish the registration with the embassy regarding the renewal, on the day they were trying to lure me to the embassy, or leave it for later?" Walid Al-Hathloul wrote on his Twitter account: “Mohammed bin Salman wants to punish the entire family, and the evidence is that the embassy in Canada and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuse to renew my passport.”
(A P)
Saudi appeals court reduces sentence of U.S.-Saudi physician - documents
Fitaihi will not have to serve any more jail time as the appeals court took into account time served and suspended the remainder, the documents showed.
Weird #Saudi News: Saudi govt celebrates the achievements of dual Saudi #American Dr Walid Fatihi just 3 days after its courts moved fast to end his case & suspended his prison term in fear of @SenatorMenendez taking the helm of @SenateForeign next this week (image)
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1351173720480559107
(* B P)
Dramatic drop in Saudi executions after laws changed in 2020
Saudi Arabia, for years one of the world’s most prolific executioners, dramatically reduced the number of people put to death last year, following changes halting executions for non-violent drug-related crimes, according to the government’s tally and independent observers.
The Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission said Monday it documented 27 executions in 2020. That’s compared to an all-time high of 184 executions the year before as documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The change represents an 85% reduction in the number of people put to death last year, compared to 2019.
“The sharp decrease was brought about in part by a moratorium on death penalties for drug-related offenses,” the Saudi rights commission said.
When asked by The Associated Press, the commission said the new law ordering a stop to such executions came into effect sometime last year. The new directive for judges does not appear to have been published publicly and it was not immediately clear whether the law was changed by royal decree, as is typically the case.
The AP previously reported that Saudi Arabia last year also ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by minors and ordered judges to end the controversial practice of public flogging, replacing it with jail time, fines or community service.
(B P)
Saudis vowed to stop executing minors; some death sentences remain, rights groups say
Five people who committed crimes in Saudi Arabia as minors have yet to have their death sentences revoked, according to two rights groups, nine months after the kingdom’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) announced an end to capital punishment for juvenile offenders.
The state-backed HRC in April cited a March royal decree by King Salman stipulating that individuals sentenced to death for crimes committed while minors will no longer face execution and would instead serve prison terms of up to 10 years in juvenile detention centers.
The statement did not specify a timeline, but in October, in response to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), it said the decree had come into force immediately upon announcement.
The decree was never carried on state media nor published in the official gazette as would be normal practice.
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
(* A P)
Biden pick for Intel chief vows to release report on Khashoggi killing
Avril Haines, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, told a Senate panel Tuesday that if confirmed she would order the release of an unclassified report about the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
“Ms. Haines, if you are confirmed, you have an opportunity to immediately turn a page on the excessive secrecy and lawlessness of the outgoing administration,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Tuesday during Haines’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Congress passed a law requiring the DNI to submit to Congress an unclassified report on who was responsible for the brutal murder of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi,” Wyden continued. “If you are confirmed, will you submit to Congress the unclassified report required by the law?”
“Absolutely, I will follow the law,” Haines replied.
Wyden in 2019 brokered a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act requiring the release of a full report on Khashoggi’s death, but it was never released under the Trump administration.
“It was refreshing to hear a straightforward commitment to follow the law from DNI-nominee Haines, after a year of stonewalling by the Trump administration to conceal the identity of who ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,” Wyden said in a statement following the hearing.
(* A P)
Democracy Organization Calls on CIA to Publish Report on Khashoggi's Murder
The Organization for Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) has filed a lawsuit calling on the CIA to publish a report on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The complaint was filed with the law firm Jenner and Block, against the office of the CIA.
The lawsuit relies on the Freedom of Information Act to compel the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to publish the contents of a confidential report it sent to Congress in February 2020. The report details the names and roles of the Saudi officials involved in the killing of the founder of Democracy for the Arab World Now, Jamal Khashoggi.
The DAWN statement notes that the Director of National Intelligence's refusal to disclose this information is bad faith, and not valid security interests. "His silence also goes along with the public statements of the Trump administration that makes protecting Mohammed bin Salman part of maintaining arms sales," the statement explains.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1b, cp9a
(* B P)
Biden hebt Einreiseverbot aus muslimisch geprägten Ländern auf
Der neue US-Präsident Joe Biden hat das von seinem Amtsvorgänger Donald Trump verfügte Einreiseverbot für Menschen aus mehreren überwiegend muslimisch geprägten Ländern aufgehoben. Der Demokrat ordnete am Mittwoch (Ortszeit) ein Ende der Visa-Sperren für die betroffenen Länder an - nur wenige Stunden nach seiner Vereidigung. Das teilte die neue Sprecherin des Weißen Hauses, Jen Psaki, am Abend mit.
Trump hatte das Einreiseverbot in seiner ersten Form im Jahr 2017 nur eine Woche nach seinem Amtsantritt verhängt. Betroffen waren vor allem Länder mit muslimischer Bevölkerungsmehrheit wie der Iran, der Jemen, Libyen, Syrien und Somalia. Trump löste damals mit dem Schritt weltweit Entsetzen aus. Es kam zu Chaos an etlichen Flughäfen und massiven Protesten.
(* B P)
Biden signs executive order repealing Trump's 'Muslim ban'
President Joe Biden used his first day in office to reverse multiple immigration policies that formed the cornerstone of his predecessor's time in the White House, including the 2017 travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries.
Out of the 17 orders, memorandums and proclamations revealed on Wednesday, six dealt with immigration — mostly an attempt to undo some controversial Trump-era policies.
Biden signed an executive order ending the travel ban on citizens from more than a dozen countries, including Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria and Sudan. The bar was imposed by former President Donald Trump when he first entered office. Criticized as a "Muslim ban" when it was first revealed, it went on to eventually include some non majority-Muslim nations.
The incoming president had referred to the policy as discriminatory.
The move to repeal the ban has been hailed by several civil rights organization, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which called the policy a "cruel Muslim ban that targeted Africans."
https://www.dw.com/en/biden-signs-executive-order-repealing-trumps-muslim-ban/a-56296866
(* B P)
Gesprächsangebot an Iran, Druck auf Saudiarabien und Türkei
Die neue US-Regierung will den Atomvertrag mit Teheran wiederbeleben – jedoch mit einem „stärkeren Abkommen“, das dem Iran mehr abverlangen würde als 2015. Der saudische Kronprinz, Mohammed bin Salman, muss mit Kritik aus Washington an seinem Krieg im Jemen rechnen.
Im Nahen Osten endet die unversöhnliche Feindschaft der USA mit dem Iran und die bedingungslose Freundschaft mit Saudiarabien: Die Regierung des neuen Präsidenten, Joe Biden, verabschiedet sich von den Grundsätzen der Nahost-Politik unter Vorgänger Donald Trump. Der Iran soll eine Chance auf ein Ende der US-Sanktionen erhalten, aber keinen politischen Freifahrtschein. Dem saudischen Thronfolger, Mohammed bin Salman, steht Ärger wegen des Krieges im Jemen und dem Mord am Dissidenten Jamal Khashoggi bevor. (Bezahlschranke)
https://www.diepresse.com/5925574/gesprachsangebot-an-iran-druck-auf-saudiarabien-und-turkei
(* B P)
Analysis: Why would Biden seek ending Yemen war?
As Joe Biden prepares to assume office at the White House, signals coming out of his administration’s West Asia policymakers render Saudi Arabia is concerned about bilateral ties and also Yemen's case.
Saudi disturbed dream
Saudi Arabia’s hasty welcome of the anti-Ansarullah move and its readiness to pay its expenses firstly proved that Riyadh after six years of fierce bombardment have not made any achievement in the Yemen war and thus seeks to shut the doors of negotiations and diplomacy both with Sana’a and among the Yemenis themselves. Secondly, thinking that the designation of Ansarullah as a terrorist organization would help weaken the resistant movement, the Saudis observe this measure by Trump as the last chance to obtain the minimum goals they sought in the anti-Yemeni campaign.
Still, growing denunciation of the move by the Congress and also incoming administration officials carries a message to the Saudis: The last hope of making achievements in the war against Yemen is a disturbed dream and that they cannot fish in the muddy water caused by Ansarullah designation.
Biden under pressure to end Yemen crisis
Meanwhile, the pro-peace approach of the Democrats in Yemen cannot be a source of optimism because the Saudi-led Arab coalition was formed when Barack Obama was president of the US. Obama gave go-ahead to the aggression by offering political and military support on the ground. But now Biden finds himself in front of no way but to end the war.
First, Biden who was under home and world public pressure to end the Saudi massacring of the Yemenis in his campaign speeches made two promises: To end the Trump travel ban and also to end the American support to the Saudi war on Yemen that has so far killed thousands, injured hundreds of thousands, and displaced millions of Yemeni people.
From another aspect, Biden who thinks of restoring the US credit in the international organizations feels a need to comply with the world community as the United Nations and also Washington’s European allies oppose Trump's decision.
Washington knows that there should not be waste of time because prolonged war means a complicated settlement process.
Even a fear of future Ansarullah power, either realistic or overstated, which is now an excuse to continue the war and direct intervention in Yemen developments can be addressed and removed by Iran’s proposal for regional dialogue and a non-aggression treaty between Saudi Arabia and Yemen on condition that Riyadh quits intervention, aggression, fueling sectarian fights, export terrorism, occupy oil-rich areas, and hostility to Yemenis— a condition largely unlikely, at least currently, with regard to the Saudi welcoming of Ansarullah designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
https://en.abna24.com/news//analysis-why-would-biden-seek-ending-yemen-war_1107781.html
(* A P)
Film: Important turning point for ghastly #YemenWar: @ABlinken to @ChrisMurphyCT: “The President-elect has made clear that we will end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and I think we will work on that in very short order.”
https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1351709386700419075
(* B K P)
Biden promised to end a devastating war. He must act – today
It did not have to be this way. It was a mistake for the United States to give a greenlight to Riyadh’s intervention in Yemen, which has killed hundreds of thousands. This initial mistake has been compounded by the decision to provide arms and U.S. military support. This is why I was so glad to hear President Biden signal a major shift during his presidential campaign. He correctly called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and specifically stated that he would make it “very clear” that his administration would halt weapon sales to Saudi Arabia.
Biden’s first opportunity to make good on his promise could come by the second day of his presidency.
Last month, the Trump administration notified Congress that it planned to sell $500 million worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, mostly consisting of precision-guided bombs that would most likely be used to inflict death and devastation on the people of Yemen in a time when we are struggling the most. Without action from the Biden administration or Congress, the latest weapons sale to Saudi Arabia might be executed on Jan. 21.
There is no problem in Yemen or Saudi Arabia right now that will be solved with more bombs.
In this important pivot, Yemen deserves to be at the forefront of the conversation. With the support of the United States, the Yemeni people can regain the space they need for a democratic future we initially fought for a decade ago. The sale of precision-guided bombs undermines what my people fought so hard for. But that is not all that should be done to support Yemen’s people – by Tawakkol Karman
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/20/biden-promised-end-devastating-war-he-must-act-today/ (subscribers) = https://www.facebook.com/Stopwaronyemen/posts/3827927173917147
(A P)
Audio: Yemeni American woman takes part in inaugural prayer service
Debbie Almontaser, a Yemeni American activist, was leading a protest against President Trump's Muslim ban four years ago. On Thursday, by invitation of the Biden administration, she will recite a Muslim prayer in the presidential inaugural prayer service. She tells host Marco Werman why, as a Yemeni American and as a Muslim, she now has hope for the future.
https://www.pri.org/file/2021-01-20/yemeni-american-woman-takes-part-inaugural-prayer-service
(* B P)
What Should Be Addressed in Austin’s Confirmation Hearing for Defense Secretary?
Biden has called for ending support to the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Despite some expressed concerns, the Trump administration largely stood by Saudi Arabia – and the United Arab Emirates – as their campaign against the Houthis inflicted massive harm on Yemen. Nearly a quarter million Yemenis have died, and 3.6 million more have been displaced, over the past six years. Seventy-five percent of Yemenis live below the poverty line and the country is on track to be the poorest country in the world in the next few years. In our counterterrorism campaign, the Emiratis (with the United States quite likely aware) have detained, tortured, and possibly even paid off al-Qaeda and ISIS members in Yemen. I am eager to hear Austin’s thoughts on when and how he will pull back U.S. support from the Saudi-led campaign and what options he thinks might be available to provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Yemen.
I am eager to hear Austin’s thoughts on when and how he will pull back U.S. support from the Saudi-led campaign and what options he thinks might be available to provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Yemen.
(* B P)
UNDER BIDEN, US POLICY TOWARDS YEMEN WILL BE MORE CAUTIOUS, BUT THE KEY TO PEACE IS IN THE COUNTRY
Biden’s win will undeniably lead to shifts in the substance and, arguably to an even greater degree, style, of the United States’ policy in Yemen.
In many regards, Biden is an archetypal Washington DC establishment figure.
THE RETURN OF MULTILATERALISM AND STABILITY TO US FOREIGN POLICYMAKING
One of the key changes expected to accompany the Biden administration is a renewed focus on many of the state institutions that Trump derided as arms of the “deep state”. This has two key implications for Yemen. First, it will make US policy more stable and predictable. Without the bombastic, sudden announcements via Twitter that have characterized the past four years, there will be far fewer surprises. Contacts familiar with the former senator and his team have frequently framed him as a careful deliberator – a marked difference to his mercurial predecessor.
Second, the re-empowering of institutional processes, particularly within the State Department, will provide an opportunity to strengthen American diplomatic engagement in Yemen and the broader region. This will also benefit multilateral talks such as the Yemen-backed peace process. Diplomatic sources have frequently cited the involvement of an engaged and cooperative US as key to previous negotiated successes in Yemen, most notably during the post-Arab Spring transitional period under Obama. Under Trump, there has been significant turnover in both regional and State Department diplomatic posts, making such engagement much more difficult.
Perhaps most importantly, however, we are likely to see a radical change in the US government’s attitude to foreign affairs that will profoundly affect how it functions abroad. Biden’s disposition towards multilateralism – epitomized by his support for the expansion of NATO – sharply contrasts with Trump’s somewhat chauvinistic conception of American interests and his personal and deeply transactional style of engaging in international relations.
PRESSURE FROM THE LEFT WILL SEEK TO AFFECT US DIPLOMACY IN THE GULF
For many Americans, Biden’s mainstream credentials are part of the appeal, a shift to business as usual following an unorthodox four years under Trump. However, they are also a source of frustration for elements of the increasingly vocal left flank of the Democratic party, the bulk of whom have long expressed hopes for more radical change.
Due to the broader regional implications, Yemen is likely to emerge as a significant sticking point with the left.
EXPECT PRAGMATISM RATHER THAN RADICAL CHANGE
That’s prompted concern in key Gulf capitals that Biden’s victory may leave them out in the cold. It remains unclear, however, to what extent – if at all – such sentiments will actually manifest themselves in the incoming president’s policy. The US’s longtime broader partnership with Saudi Arabia remains a staple of its policy in the region, making it difficult to imagine any president – let alone someone as mainstream as Biden – threatening that. This is particularly true given ongoing cross-border attacks targeting the kingdom, including missile attacks on targets as far as Riyadh.
That’s not to say there isn’t likely to be some sort of pushback against Saudi Arabia, particularly with regards to Yemen.
CONSTRUCTIVE DIPLOMACY HAS LIMITS GIVEN THE ONGOING CHALLENGES IN YEMEN
It is also worth remembering that this conflict is not about the US, and therefore even a radical change in administration alone would be unlikely to bring about peace in Yemen. While foreign involvement has exacerbated the situation, it did not, with some exceptions, create it.
Thus, the most constructive thing the US could do is use its diplomatic capacity and leverage to help – by Adam Baron
(* B K P)
Biden should reverse Trump's bomb sales to Saudi Arabia
The primary beneficiaries of the Trump administration’s ill-conceived arms deals with Saudi Arabia are weapons manufacturers like Raytheon and Boeing, the companies that will produce the bombs now being offered to the Saudi regime. Raytheon has strenuously lobbied Congress and the administration in support of its trade with Riyadh, and one if its former lobbyists was a key player in the decision to declare the 2019 emergency that helped clear the way for a prior sale.
It will ultimately be up to the Biden administration to reverse the Trump administration’s last-minute arms sales to Saudi Arabia, a move the president-elect may be inclined to make given his statement that his administration will not “check its values at the door” with respect to arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its role in the Yemen war. Doing so would not only save lives in Yemen but also signal to friends and foes alike that the United States will no longer look the other way as American arms are used to empower autocrats or kill civilians.
At a time when Biden has called for an American renewal, ending arms transfers to repressive regimes would be a welcome first step in ensuring that the U.S. role in the world reflects the values and commitments it seeks to promote at home.
(* B K P)
Film: Ending U.S. Involvement in the War in Yemen: What's Happening on the Ground, Congress's Role, and the Biden Administration
In this panel discussion, FCNL’s Legislative Manager for Middle East Policy Hassan El-Tayyab and a group of other distinguished experts briefed congressional staffers on the latest developments in this crisis and efforts to end U.S. involvement in the horrific Yemen war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy2odEl-S0U
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
(B P)
Can Russia Help Biden Get a Comprehensive Agreement with Iran?
Though Moscow’s stance on Iran’s regional activities might be ambivalent, Russian competition with Iran in Syria, as well as their military-defense cooperation, will afford Washington limited opportunities to rely on Russian leverage-plays with Tehran.
However, assuming that the Iran file could be a “low-hanging fruit” for cooperation in an otherwise strained U.S.-Russian relationship ignores Moscow’s ambivalent attitude toward Iran’s proxy activities and missile program—components of Tehran’s so-called “offensive defense” strategy. For the most part, Russia does not view Iran’s cultivation of proxy actors in Arab societies—from Lebanon via Iraq to Yemen—as a threat to its own interests. And where its views are more nuanced, as in Syria, Russia’s record of being able to rein in the Iranians is mixed at best.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/can-russia-help-biden-get-comprehensive-agreement-iran-176662
My comment: A typical US geopolitical thinking.
(A P)
Iran und Türkei blockieren Rivalen bei UN
Zu Beginn der diesjährigen Genfer Abrüstungskonferenz haben der Iran und die Türkei ihre jeweiligen Rivalen ausgebootet. Der Iran blockierte Saudi-Arabien – mit Verweis auf dessen Krieg im Jemen – und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate. Beide Länder wollen einen Beobachterstatus einnehmen.
(A P)
Iran Blocks Saudi Arabia, UAE Observer Status at UN Disarmament Talks
Iran’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva Esmayeel Baqayee Hamaneh pointed out that Tehran has acted to block Riyadh and Abu Dhabi from joining the conference due to its concerns about the forum’s status as the only multilateral international institution in the nuclear disarmament sphere.
He warned that Saudi Arabia’s “destructive attendance" at the Conference on Disarmament would run counter to the forum’s goals and mission.
(A P)
Political scientist accused of secretly working for Iran
A Massachusetts-based political scientist and author is accused of secretly working for the government of Iran while lobbying U.S. officials on issues like nuclear policy, federal authorities said Tuesday.
(A P)
Iran kicks off ground forces drill on coast of Gulf of Oman
(A P)
Iran imposes symbolic sanctions on President Trump
Iran on Tuesday imposed sanctions on President Donald Trump and a number of members of his administration over their alleged role in support of “terrorism,” according to its foreign ministry website.
Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that besides Trump, sanctions were imposed on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, CIA chief Gina Haspel and six other ranking U.S. officials.
(* A P)
Iran to form 'NATO' defence and security pact with allies
The Iranian parliament announced yesterday that it is preparing a draft resolution on a "defence and security treaty for the Axis of Resistance" which it will sign with its allies, states and non-state actors alike.
Although an informal alliance already exists, the aim of the "NATO-style" treaty is to oblige members to respond collectively to any attack on any members by Israel or other hostile states.
Members of the "Axis of Resistance" are said to include Iran, Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Houthi-led government of Yemen, Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
According to Fars News Agency, the deputy of Iran's parliament, Abu Fadl Abu Trabi, said that work is currently underway to collect the necessary signatures so that the draft resolution can be approved for discussion and voting.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210119-iran-to-form-nato-defence-and-security-pact-with-allies/
(A P)
South Korea moves warship from key strait to mollify Iran: Yonhap
South Korea has moved its naval unit operating near the Strait of Hormuz away from the waterway "to foster a positive mood" ahead of negotiations with Iran over a detained oil tanker, Yonhap news agency reports.
Seoul dispatched the 4,400-tonne Choi Young destroyer to the region after Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy impounded MT Hankuk Chemi on January 4 for endangering the marine ecosystem.
South Korea later sent its First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun to Tehran, but was told by Iranian officials that the detention was a prerogative of the Islamic Republic's judicial system.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sa'eed Khatibi said at the time that the matter was moving along its legal path and did not require a diplomatic trip.
“The Korean government’s behavior in this regard is incomprehensible. ... We urge them to approach this technical issue rationally and responsibly,” Khatibzadeh said.
(* B P)
Trouble at home may change Biden’s hand in Iran nuke talks
A lot of the characters are the same for President-elect Joe Biden but the scene is far starker as he reassembles a team of veteran negotiators to get back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump worked to blow up the multinational deal to contain Iran’s nuclear program during his four years in office, gutting the diplomatic achievement of predecessor Barack Obama in favor of what Trump called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
Down to Trump’s last days in office, accusations, threats and still more sanctions by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Iran’s decision to spur uranium enrichment and seize a South Korean tanker, are helping to keep alive worries that regional conflict will erupt. Iran on Friday staged drills, hurling volleys of ballistic missiles and smashing drones into targets, further raising pressure on the incoming American president over a nuclear accord.
Biden and his team will face allies and adversaries wondering how much attention and resolution the U.S. can bring to bear on the Iran nuclear issue or any other foreign concern, and whether any commitment by Biden will be reversed by his successor.
“His ability to move the needle is ... I think hampered by the doubt about America’s capacity and by the skepticism and worry about what comes after Biden,” said Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Nasr was an adviser on Afghanistan during the first Obama administration.
Biden’s pick for deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, acknowledged the difficulties in an interview with a Boston news show last month before her nomination.
“We’re going to work hard at this, because we have lost credibility, we are seen as weaker” after Trump, said Sherman, who was Barack Obama’s lead U.S. negotiator for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. She was speaking of U.S. foreign objectives overall, including the Iran deal.
Biden’s first priority for renewed talks is getting both Iran and the United States back in compliance with the nuclear deal, which offered Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for Iran accepting limits on its nuclear material and gear.
“If Iran returns to compliance with the deal, we will do so as well,” a person familiar with the Biden transition team’s thinking said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record. “It would be a first step.”
But Biden also faces pressure both from Democrats and Republican opponents of the Iran deal.
They don’t want the U.S. to throw away the leverage of sanctions until Iran is made to address other items objectionable to Israel, Sunni Arab neighbors, and the United States. That includes Iran’s ballistic missiles and substantial and longstanding intervention in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq. Biden promises to deal with all that too.
Getting back into the original deal “is the floor and not the ceiling” for the Biden administration on Iran, the person familiar with the incoming administration’s thinking on it said. “It doesn’t stop there.”
“In an ideal world it would be great to have a comprehensive agreement” at the outset, said Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “But that’s not how these negotiations work.”
Connolly said he thought there was broad support in Congress for getting back into the deal.
(A P)
Iran Rejects Rumors on Release of South Korean Tanker
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh ruled out recent rumors on the possible release of the South Korean tanker, stressing that any decision on the issue would be announced by Iran’s judiciary.
Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that the rumors on releasing the South Korean tanker, which has been seized on charges of polluting the marine environment, are false and it is the Iranian judiciary which is responsible for announcing official decisions on the issue.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991028000105/Iran-Rejecs-Rmrs-n-Release-f-Sh-Krean-Tanker
(A P)
Iran wirft europäischen JCPOA-Partnerstaaten Versagen bei Erhaltung des Atomabkommens vor
Der iranische Außenminister Mohammad Javad Zarif hat den Spitzenpolitikern der drei europäischen Partnerstaaten des Atomabkommens vorgeworfen, nichts zur Aufrechterhaltung dieses internationalen Vertrags unternommen zu haben.
"Die führenden Politiker der E3-Länder (Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien), die zur Erfüllung ihrer Verpflichtungen aus dem JCPOA auf die Unterschriften von OFAC, der Kontrollbehörde des Finanzministeriums der Vereinigten Staaten, angewiesen sind, haben nichts unternommen, um das Atomabkommen aufrechtzuerhalten", schrieb Zarif am Sonntag auf Twitter.
Damit reagierte er auf die jüngste Erklärung dieser drei europäischen Länder sowie das Interview des französischen Außenministers Jean-Yves Le Drian mit the Journal du Dimanche vom Samstag.
Zarif betonte, dass JCPOA wegen Iran und nicht wegen E3 noch am Leben sei.
(A P)
JCPOA alive because of Iran, E3 did ‘zilch’ to maintain deal: FM Zarif
Iran’s foreign minister says since its inception in July 2015, the three European signatories to the landmark nuclear deal with Iran have done nothing to protect it and it is only alive because of Iran’s efforts to maintain the accord.
and
(A P)
Iran's Zarif: avoid 'absurd nonsense' about Tehran's nuclear work
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday dismissed a claim by France that Tehran was in the process of building up its nuclear weapons, calling it "absurd nonsense." French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche published on Saturday, said Iran was building up its nuclear weapons' capacity and it was urgent that Tehran and Washington return to a 2015 nuclear agreement. "Dear colleague: You kick-started your cabinet career with arms sales to Saudi war criminals. Avoid absurd nonsense about Iran," Zarif said in a Twitter post.
"Reality check: YOU are destabilizing OUR region. Stop protecting criminals who chainsaw their critics and use YOUR arms to slaughter children in Yemen," Zarif tweeted, referring to Le Drian's previous post as French defense minister.
and also https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-france-idUSKBN29M0CZ
(A K P)
Iranian missiles land within 20 miles of ship, 100 miles from Nimitz strike group in Indian Ocean: officials
Long-range missiles from Iran splashed down close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday and 100 miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, Fox News has learned, in the latest example of rising tensions in the region.
U.S. officials say at least one of the missiles landed 20 miles from the commercial vessel but refused to offer more specifics about the ship, citing privacy concerns. The officials requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
Iran tests missiles frequently. Senior U.S. military officials say 100 miles was a long way from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Another source says these missiles did not cause alarm, and this was a fairly standard routine exercise.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/iranian-missiles-100-miles-nimitz-strike-group-indian-ocean
(A K P)
Top IRGC commander: We can hit moving targets in the ocean from the heart of our land
The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, said on Saturday that targeting aircraft carriers and warships by long-range ballistic missiles is part of Iran's defense strategy.
Speaking at the final stage of the Great Prophet 15 military drill on Saturday, Salami said, "One of our most important goals in defense policies and strategies is to reach the ability to hit enemy weaponry, including aircraft carriers and warships, using long-range ballistic missiles. It is usual to hit moving targets in the sea by low-speed cruise missiles, but using long-range missiles is a great defense breakthrough for us because we can hit moving targets in the ocean from the heart of our land,"
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vt85CUiWv4 = https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1350417234108305408
(A P)
Zarif Reacts to US B-52s: We Do Not Shy Away from Crushing Aggressors
Iran’s foreign minister has reacted to recent overflights by US strategic B-52H bomber planes, noting that the Iranian nation will never be intimidated by such shows of force.
(A K P)
US 5th fleet: #DesertStorm30 >1,000 aircraft sorties (E2- Cs/AWACs-controlled) were flown by U.S. aircraft, Saudi & British Tornados, French Jaguars, Kuwaiti A-4s. @USNavy launched 228 combat sorties on 1st day of Operation DESERT STORM from 6 aircraft carriers in the Red Sea & Arabian Gulf
https://twitter.com/US5thFleet/status/1350676597075017730
Comment: While #Americans are dying in the 1000s everyday & #COVID19 vaccine is not being delivered #US govt is polluting the Gulf & Red Sea with 100s of expensive missiles.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1350756245947482113
(A P)
Iran asks watchdog not to publish ‘unnecessary’ nuke details
Iran urged the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday, a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its development of uranium metal.
The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(* B K P)
UK Military Puts Earnings Before Ethics
The British military complex is a shadow of its former empirical past plagued by huge budget deficits, deteriorating equipment, and a very demoralized staff. Therefore, in order to bolster the bank balance, the British have leaned on their experience in the service sector and have turned their military into a training facilitator for paying customers.
Following a freedom of information request by an anti arms sales group, it has become apparent that the UK military has recently been responsible for training foreign military forces from over 150 countries around the world, equating to some two thirds of all countries, and it has included tasks ranging from battle training to military band practice.
Whereas this could be seen as a sensible way of making money, the reality is that some 15 of the countries who have paid for the training have been reviewed by the British authorities for violations of human rights, raising the question as to just how serious the British are when it comes to human rights, and why they would agree to train such countries?
This is a difficult situation in that the opposition parties in Parliament have raised the question. The campaigning organisation at the centre of the current story, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), has tried through the courts to bring into force a more coherent British ethical foreign policy. But that has not happened so far and the Minister of Defence considers that its relationships, particularly with certain Gulf monarchies, is very strong and important to Britain and, therefore, it is basically giving them a green card to go ahead and do what they want.
British government downplayed allegations
Yet the British government and military complex downplayed the allegations, stating that such cooperation was merely part of the statecraft designed to improve international diplomatic relations, claiming that all decisions are made on a country by country basis.
With the UK on its knees financially from the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems that when it comes to income, one can turn a blind eye to certain events, as every little bit helps when it comes to earning money.
When the former British Prime Minister Theresa May, traveled to the Persian Gulf, to meet the leaders of Bahrain, the sole intention of the visit was to represent and sell British made weapons to the island, a strategy that is emulated today with other such nations in the West Asia region.
UK is ‘second-biggest’ arms dealer in the world
The UK has dominated the global arms trade in the last decade coming second only to the United States.
With Saudi Arabia also a loyal customer of Britain when it comes to the arms trade, it seems that money flowing in from the arms trade to Britain is enough to divert attention away from the repressive regimes that they sell to.
In fact the Saudi led war on Yemen is a prime example of such oppression, with Saudi bombs killing over 100,000 people in the country, making up nearly half of the 233,000 people who have lost their lives as a direct or indirect result of the war on Yemen.
British culpability
With the supply of arms knowingly being sold to the Saudis to perform such actions are then the British not an accomplice to the crimes being committed by Riyadh, and if so, should the UK not be sanctioned for its role in the deaths of so many innocent civilians?
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17309/UK-Military-Puts-Earnings-Before-Ethics = https://www.yjc.ir/en/news/50283/uk-military-puts-earnings-before-ethics
(* B P)
‘THEY’RE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS ON THE PLANET’ – LANCE CORPORAL AHMED AL-BABATI SPEAKS
IN AUGUST 2020, BRITISH SOLDIER AHMED AL-BABATI WAS ARRESTED BY MILITARY POLICE OUTSIDE THE MOD FOR PROTESTING AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BOMBING OF YEMEN. HE SPEAKS TO STOP THE WAR.
There are multiple factors that inspired me to take the stand I took, the main one was my religion. As a Muslim I believe that the life I live on earth is a test for the life to come and that every single person will take judgement one day. I asked myself would I be content with dying knowing I was at service to the same people selling arms and supporting the destruction of Yemen. You see I wasn’t comfortable, I felt like a hypocrite for staying silent whilst attending protests (before refusing to serve) and running fundraisers. We were being ignored by the government and that’s when I knew that I had a part to play.
Britain has not only sold 6 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia but they’re also giving direct support and training to Saudi troops. I was outraged to find out that the RAF were training Saudi pilots to kill innocents and destroy the country I was born in.
I was even more surprised to see a lot of fellow soldiers that share the same view or respect the stand I took. Obviously, there were people that didn’t within the army but that’s because they misunderstood the point and felt like I disrespected the army. It wasn’t about the army, it was about our government and the foreign policy, it was about making our voices heard.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A P)
"In Sachen Frieden keine Illusionen über Joe Biden"
Kathrin Vogler, friedenspolitische Sprecherin der LINKEN im Bundestag, blickt illusionslos auf die Amtseinführung von Joe Biden Kamala Harris
Ob daneben bruchlos an der von militärischen Interventionen und Regime-Change-Operationen geprägten, imperialen Außenpolitik der USA festgehalten wird, liegt auch in der Verantwortung der Bündnispartner und hier ganz besonders der Bundesregierung
(A P)
Sevim Dagdelen bei “Stop the War, Stop Arming the Saudi Coalition”
Wie kann der Krieg gegen den Jemen beendet werden? Wie erreichen wir einen Stopp der Waffenlieferungen an die Kopf-ab-Diktatur in Riad, an die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, Ägypten und die anderen Länder der Jemen-Kriegsallianz? Darüber diskutieren am Donnerstag auf Einladung der britischen Menschenrechtsorganisation „Liberation“
https://www.sevimdagdelen.de/event/sevim-dagdelen-bei-stop-the-war-stop-arming-the-saudi-coalition/
(? B K P)
Ethische Betrachtung deutscher Waffenexporte an Saudi Arabien. Folgen der Rüstungsgüter- und Waffenexporte
Die Arbeit stellt die Frage nach den Folgen sowie ethischen Gesichtspunkten von deutschen Rüstungsgüter- und Waffenexporten nach Saudi-Arabien. Saudi-Arabien gehört in die Kategorie der sogenannten Drittländer. Exporte in Drittländer sind als kritisch zu betrachten, da diese Länder oft keine Demokratien sind, Teile ihrer eigenen Bevölkerung unterdrücken, Menschenrechte missachten und in nationale oder internationale Gewaltkonflikte verwickelt sein können.
Dennoch sind die Exporte von Rüstungsgütern und Waffen in solche Länder in den letzten Jahren gestiegen. Die Auswirkungen dieser werden am Beispiel des Kriegs im Jemen, der Problematik von Kindersoldaten sowie der Verbreitung von Kleinwaffen über den afrikanischen Kontinent verdeutlicht. Über das Modell des Homo Oeconomicus und die utilitaristische Ethik wird sich dem Thema genähert und eine Gegenüberstellung von wirtschaftlichem Nutzen sowie den damit verbunden Folgen versucht und im ethischen Kontext hinterfragt (kostenpflichtig)
https://www.grin.com/document/979589
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
Emirates: Siehe / Look at cp1
(B P)
Russian Ambassador: Russia supports the start of negotiations in Yemen with the participation of all parties
The negotiation process to resolve the crisis in Yemen is not going through the best of times, and Russia stands for its immediate start with the participation of all the warring parties, Russian Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Dedushkin told TASS.
Dedushkin recalled that the [UN-prepared peace-plan] document was coordinated with them for a whole year and found a balanced framework. "It provides for a complete and universal ceasefire, the resolution of humanitarian and economic issues, primarily ensuring the unhindered access of merchant ships to the port of Hodeidah and the opening of the airport in Sana'a," the ambassador continued. "But even more important are the provisions of the Joint Declaration on the immediate start of inclusive negotiations on ending the war and the future state structure of Yemen."
(* B K P)
Approval of Australian military exports to Saudi Arabia and UAE condemned by human rights groups
Australia has approved at least 14 permits for the export of military goods to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates over the last year and a half, despite their involvement in the Yemen conflict which has created a humanitarian crisis.
The latest figures have prompted calls for the Australian government to show more transparency in the way it discloses exports of weapons and other military goods, which are shrouded in secrecy.
“It is deeply disturbing that our government could allow weapons to be sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who the UN has said are responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law, including the killing of children, in Yemen,” the chief executive of Save the Children Australia, Paul Ronalds, said.
The government has not released information about the particular equipment that has been exported, arguing such details were “commercial in confidence”. But it said such goods can include weapons and munitions but also armour, radios, simulators and training equipment “which are not necessarily for a military purpose”.
Defence said all export applications were “assessed on their individual merits against 12 legislative criteria that consider international obligations, national security, regional security implications, foreign policy and human rights, informed by the contemporary geopolitical situation”.
But Elaine Pearson, the Australia director of Human Rights Watch, said it was “very disappointing to learn that Australian arms sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE were continuing in the face of pervasive evidence of airstrikes and other attacks by the Saudi and UAE-led coalition in Yemen that has unlawfully killed civilians”.
Pearson said the government should not hide behind “commercial-in-confidence” clauses as a reason for withholding information.
Ronalds, from Save the Children Australia, also called for “full transparency” on any approvals.
(* B P)
Human Rights Watch: UAE: Reality of Abuses Contradicts Tolerance Rhetoric
Human Rights Violations at Home, Abroad
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was responsible for serious human rights violations at home and abroad in 2020, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2021. The government held peaceful critics in jail, fostered labor abuses against low-paid migrant workers, and contributed to abuses abroad in Libya and Yemen.
UAE prisons and detention centers hold detainees in dismal and unhygienic conditions, and overcrowding and denial of medical care are widespread, putting detainees at heightened risk of serious complications of Covid-19. On June 10, Human Rights Watch reported on the prison administration’s inadequate response to Covid-19 outbreaks in at least three detention facilities. Prisoners living with HIV are denied regular access to life-saving medication and are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. Repeated calls for the UAE authorities to open prisons and detention facilities to inspection by international and independent monitors have gone unheeded.
“UAE authorities jail peaceful critics on baseless charges, and the Covid-19 pandemic further threatens the lives and well-being of vulnerable detainees in abuse-ridden detention facilities,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite presenting itself as an open and rights-respecting country and amid mounting allegations of serious abuses, the UAE forbids inspection of its prisons and detention centers by independent, international monitors.”
Especially in cases related to state security, people in the UAE experienced arbitrary and incommunicado detention, torture and ill-treatment, prolonged solitary confinement, and denial of access to legal assistance. The prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor remains in solitary confinement more than three years after his arrest in March 2017.
The UAE provided weapons to and conducted air and drone strikes in Libya, some of which killed and wounded civilians, to support the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) armed group. In Yemen, UAE-backed Yemeni troops and armed groups committed grave abuses.
Labor abuses persist, driven by an exploitative kafala (visa sponsorship) system, under which employers control migrant workers’ presence in the country. Low-paid migrant workers especially face serious abuses, most commonly unpaid and delayed wages. The Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed and amplified the ways in which migrant workers’ rights are violated. Tens of thousands of migrant workers faced massive unemployment and were left stranded in dire conditions without legal residencies. Many struggled with unpaid wages and wage theft, and were unable to pay rent or buy food.
Despite amendments to the law regulating personal status matters in 2019 and 2020, some provisions still discriminate against women. UAE laws also discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/13/uae-reality-abuses-contradicts-tolerance-rhetoric
and
(* B K P)
HRW: Tel Aviv, Washington Support UAE’s Violations in Libya, Yemen
Human Rights Watch reported that despite declaring 2019 the “Year of Tolerance,” United Arab Emirates rulers showed no tolerance for any manner of peaceful dissent. The forces it supported in Libya and Yemen continued to commit violations against civilians.
On Saturday, the Human Rights Watch website re-published the Emirati violations and the international parties assisting it, in its global report for 2020.
The international organization stated in its report that the UAE authorities continued to invest in a “soft power strategy” aimed at portraying the country as a power that respects rights.
The report indicated that the United States of America and Israel were involved with the UAE as two main parties in financing its violations. It pointed out that the normalization of relations with Israel paved the way for strengthening cooperation with the UAE in the field of cybersecurity and surveillance technology, which raises concerns about further local and regional repression and violations by Abu Dhabi.
The report stated that the normalization agreement entailed the purchase of US F-35 fighter jets, which would impose airstrikes in Yemen and Libya that would cause civilian casualties.
HRW’s report included an explanation under the title “Unlawful Yemen Attacks and Detainee Abuse,” as it confirmed that despite announcing the withdrawal of most of its ground troops in June 2019, the UAE remained part of the Saudi-led military operations in Yemen and restated its intention to maintain a presence in Aden and southern governorates and its support for certain Yemeni forces.
The report pointed out that UAE-backed forces and armed groups committed grave abuses including enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, and torture and other ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence.
The report also stated that during 2018 and continuing into 2019, UAE and UAE-backed forces have used threats and intimidation to prevent journalists in Aden who were critical of UAE of accessing areas under their control.
http://en.althawranews.net/2021/01/hrw-tel-aviv-washington-support-uaes-violations-in-libya-yemen/ = https://english.almasirah.net/post/17242/HRW-Tel-Aviv%2C-Washington-Support-UAE-s-Violations-in-Libya%2C-Yemen
(* A K P)
Israel Behind Report on Iranian 'Suicide' Drones Sent to Houthis in Yemen
A high-ranking Israeli official is the source behind reports published two days ago by Newsweek saying Iran has sent “suicide drones” to its allies in Yemen, military sources in Tel Aviv revealed Friday.
Newsweek said Thursday that imagery seen by the magazine and confirmed by an expert, who follows Iranian activities in the region, indicate the presence of Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munitions deployed to the northern Yemeni province of Al-Jawf, an area of the country controlled by the Houthi militias.
The release of the report aims to convey a message to Iran that Israel’s security agencies “see everything that it is doing to boost its military powers in the region and increase its threats to Israel and its allies,” the sources said.
They stressed that the report also coincides with official reports published this week in Tel Aviv saying Israel deployed Iron Drone batteries around the southern Red Sea city of Eilat amid concerns of an attack from the Houthis and had stepped up its flights near the border with Lebanon and Syria.
“Israel is indirectly saying it is ready to confront Iran and its proxies,” the sources added.
Meanwhile, Israeli media published statements delivered by current and former Israeli military officials about Tel Aviv’s plan to confront Iran, including its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and even its presence in Syria.
My comment: A propaganda story, as I had presumed.
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
(* B P)
Yemen to Reap the Fruits of GCC’s Reconciliation
Since the inception of the Gulf crisis, war-ravaged Yemen has endured further political and ideological polarization. After the Arab Spring broke out a decade ago, Yemen’s government underwent a diplomatic spat with Doha over President Saleh’s allegations of Qatari support for the uprisings and a “terrorist” group — a direct reference to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated al-Islah Party. Together with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi set up an Arab axis against the Qatari-Turkish alliance and the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” under the banner of countering political and revolutionary Islam. It is clear that the escalation of the war in Yemen has been directly entangled with the Gulf dispute, and while it remains to be seen, exactly how the crisis’ resolution will correlate with Yemen’s path forward, the trajectory will likely be towards de-escalation.
Mending GCC Ties May Lead to End of War in Yemen
The ongoing dispute between Qatar and the blockading states has molded the crisis in Yemen as in a number of ways. First, as already illustrated, Yemen has become a direct arena for the Gulf states’ competing regional agendas. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have confined themselves to military and political control, while Qatar tried to garner influence through its strong media outlets. Second, the GCC’s internal divisions have been projected onto Yemeni forces. The division heightened Yemeni doubt regarding the Saudi-led coalition’s objective in starting the war in Yemen: was it to battle the Houthis, or the al-Islah Party? Finally, the harsh posture of Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Qatar has evoked similar apprehension for Oman
This blossoming political reconciliation may redeem the GCC’s credibility and prestige, as well as that of the Saudi-led coalition role in Yemen, which has gradually attracted rising international criticism and suspicion over its unclear intentions and shifting agenda. Furthermore, the potential influence of the GCC reconciliation would help to restore trust between Yemeni parties fighting the Houthis.
It is hoped that the Al-Ula summit agreement will relax the divide between Qatar and the UAE in concert with Yemen’s Riyadh Agreement, and that Doha may resume financial assistance to the Yemeni government. Crucially, by re-establishing ties with Doha, Saudi Arabia expects Qatar to help bridge the rift between Riyadh and Ankara
https://gulfif.org/yemen-to-reap-the-fruits-of-gccs-reconciliation/
(A P)
Bahrain seizes 130 properties belonging to Qatar’s royal family
https://www.dohanews.co/bahrain-seizes-130-properties-belonging-to-qatars-royal-family/
(A P)
Katar will Streit zwischen Saudi-Arabien und dem Iran schlichten
Katar ruft die Golf-Staaten zu Verhandlungen mit dem Iran auf. Aussenminister Scheich Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani sagte Bloomberg-TV, sein Land sei bereit, die Gespräche zu moderieren.
(A P)
Qatar Says It’s Time Gulf Arabs Start Talks with Iran
Qatar has urged Gulf Arab nations to enter a dialog with Iran, saying the time was right for Doha to broker negotiations now the neighbors have begun to patch up their own differences. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who’s long called for a summit between leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and the Islamic Republic, said his government was “hopeful
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/qatar-says-it-s-time-gulf-arabs-start-talks-with-iran
(* B P)
The Interests Behind the Saudi-Qatar Rapprochement
The dispute between Saudi Arabia and Qatar stemmed from several factors: Qatar’s support for Iran, with which it shares the largest natural gas field in the world; its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the nemesis of the Saudis; and its support for anti-Saudi propaganda media outlet Al Jazeera. These factors went hand in hand with a historical element: the refusal of the Thani family, which rules Qatar, to join the Saudi kingdom despite the fact that in Qatar, as in Saudi Arabia, the Hanbali school of religious law and its Wahhabi branch hold sway.
The quarrels between Riyadh and Qatar did not begin three years ago but many years earlier. However, the Saudis were unable to contain Qatar’s opposition until the advent of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who discovered that Qatar was aiding the Houthi rebels in Yemen and decided to crack down. The ending of the dispute points to the reunification of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an organization comprising the states of the Arabian Peninsula (excluding Yemen).
Over the past three years, messages have been passed between the Saudi and Qatari leaderships (mainly through the governments in Kuwait and Oman) in an effort to calm the tensions between the two states — both of which were aware that the dispute was weakening them in the face of Iran’s expansionism. The efforts of Trump administration officials brought these contacts to fruition.
This agreement, like the crisis that preceded it, stands under the heavy shadow of Tehran and was affected by some important developments. First, Joe Biden’s imminent entry into the White House is expected to change US policy toward Iran substantially. Second, Iran has started enriching uranium to 20%, a significant step in the direction of the bomb. Third, Saudi Arabia has failed to fend off the pro-Iranian militias in Yemen and Iraq and avert the threat they pose to the kingdom and to its strained economic position. And finally, during the three years of the blockade, Iran provided aid to Qatar.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/01/18/the-interests-behind-the-saudi-qatar-rapprochement/
cp12b Sudan
(A P)
Armed men try to storm governor’s house in Sudan’s Darfur
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-middle-east-united-nations-e171c305da1c9d06f6c7764526079619
(A P)
Sudan protesters burn Israeli flag in rally against normalisation deal
https://news.yahoo.com/sudan-protesters-burn-israeli-flag-130453291.html
(* A P)
Death toll from clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur rises to 160
Hospitals in Sudan’s West Darfur province Tuesday received at least 29 more bodies, doctors said, bringing the tally from clashes between Arab and non-Arab tribes to some 160 dead, including women and children.
The violence in the province grew out of a fistfight Friday in a camp for displaced people in Genena, the provincial capital, and then escalated, lasting until Sunday.
The clashes subsided after authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew across West Darfur and deployed more troops and security forces to the province.
The doctors’ committee in West Darfur said they counted at least 159 people dead from the clashes that also left over 200 others wounded.
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-middle-east-united-nations-9fba4d4ff0aca675b4a2f80f868fa770
and
(* A P)
Tribal clashes leave dozens dead in 2 Sudanese provinces
The latest violence in West Darfur grew out of a fistfight Friday in a camp for displaced people in Genena, the provincial capital, and then escalated, lasting until Sunday.
The clashes, between members of the Arab Rizeigat tribe and the non-Arab Massalit tribe, displaced at least 50,000 people, according to the United Nations.
The doctors’ committee in the province said the clashes killed at least 129 people and wounded 189 others, including newborn babies. Among the dead was a U.S. citizen, Saeed Baraka, from Atlanta, who was visiting family in Darfur.
The committee, which called the violence “unprecedented,” said the casualty toll was likely to increase.
“The scale of the crisis in West Darfur is unimaginable. The transitional government should bear its responsibilities and declare the province a disaster area,” it said.
The committee is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded a popular uprising that eventually led to the military’s ouster of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
Adam Regal, a spokesman for a local organization that helps run refugee camps in Darfur, said families started to bury their dead after the clashes subsided. However, he warned of the potential for renewed fighting.
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-africa-violence-united-nations-08b791176d0c347091719ff12a6da844
and
(* A P)
Death toll from violence in Sudan’s West Darfur rises to 83
The death toll from tribal violence between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s West Darfur province climbed to at least 83, including women and children, a doctor’s union and aid worker said, as sporadic violence continued Sunday.
The ruling sovereign council met Sunday and said security forces would be deployed to the area.
The deadly clashes grew out of a fistfight Friday between two people in a camp for displaced people in Genena, the provincial capital. An Arab man was stabbed to death and his family, from the Arab Rizeigat tribe, attacked the people in the Krinding camp and other areas Saturday.
and
(* A P)
Deadly clashes kill 32 in Sudan’s Darfur
Clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s West Darfur have killed at least 32 people, according to a local medical official, as Sudanese authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew on the province.
Darfur remains scarred by war after a rebellion in the early 2000s was brutally suppressed. The most recent violence comes two weeks after the U.N. Security Council ended the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force’s mandate in the region.
Salah Saleh, a doctor and former medical director at the main hospital in the provincial capital of Genena, said the clashes wounded at least 79 others.
“It’s horrible,” he said. “Until now, people cannot reach any hospitals.”
Salah warned that the casualty toll was likely much higher.
The violence erupted Friday in Genena, when an Arab man was stabbed to death at a market in the Krinding camp for internally displaced people, aid worker al-Shafei Abdalla told The Associated Press. He said the suspect was arrested.
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp9, cp10, cp11, cp12
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(A P)
Yemen [Hadi gov.] asks UNESCO for help to recover stolen, smuggled antiquities
Yemen's internationally recognised government on Tuesday requested the UNESCO to help recover stolen and smuggled antiquities from other countries.
The request was made by minister of information, culture and tourism Muammar Al-Eryani at a virtual meeting with the director of the regional office of the UNESCO Anna Paolini.
He also asked the UNESCO to hold legal training courses to qualify the national team tasked with hunting smugglers and traders of antiquities.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22578.html and also https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2753411/yemen-asks-unesco-help-recover-stolen-smuggled-antiquities
(* A K)
[Hadi] Government accuses Houthis of destroying destroying historic palace in Hodeidah
Yemen's internationally recognised government on Sunday accused the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, of destroying ancient monuments in the western province of Hodeidah.
Minister of information, culture and tourism Muammar Al-Eryani said the group levelled the Al-Sukhnah Palace in an ISIS-style attack.
The Palace used to be a medical tourist attraction.
The group also destroyed the historic Midi Castle and turned the Kornich Castle and other ancient monuments in the cities of Zabid, Bajel, Al-Zaydiyah and Al-Zuhrah into military positions and training places, weapons depots and prisons for its opponents, Al-Eryani wrote on Twitter. (photo)
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22554.html
My remark: I could not verify this claim. It’s As-Sukhnak ca. 40 km east of Hodeidah, in Houthi-held territory. Look for Sukhnah, Hodeidah at Google Maps, a few photos of the castle.
(A)
Historical cemetery discovered in Hadramout
Riad Bakarmoum, Director of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums on the coast of Hadramout, announced the discovery of an archaeological cemetery in the Do'an District, which is 2,500 years old.
According to Cairo Times 24, the discovery was made during the incision process of a mountain in the Al-Mashhad area near the city of Rabion and the historic city of Al-Hajrin in the Doan District. It was found that there are caves and tombs that are 2,500 years old, dating back to the ancient Kingdom of Hadramout.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32010
Photos: https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1350934208659730437
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
(B E)
Photo: The owner of this money says: After six months without salaries, they spent half a salary for us today in this way in front of you.
https://twitter.com/baseem_aljenani/status/1351556514855727104
(A E)
Cash Consortium of Yemen - Flash Update 14: YER Exchange Rate Volatility December Week 4 & January Week 1
The IRG vs DFA exchange rate variation currently stands at a 132 YER difference. From the South to the North side there has been a 22% increase, with a 18% decrease from North to South.
The announcement of the implementation of the Riyadh agreement has brought additional confidence to the exchange rate market in the south.
The range of exchange rates from W4 Dec to W1 Jan shrank in the south (from 104 to 79) YER and shrank in the north (from 30 to 6) YER. The shrinking ranges indicate less volitility in the exchange market place from month to month.
While remittances are continuing to hold relatively steady, remittance payments have not returned to pre-COVID levels (see CCY Remittance tool).
The exchange rate in IRG areas has dropped below 800 YER for the second month in a row and at the end of W1 Jan it was below 700.
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
Salafists: Siehe / Look at cp1
(A K T)
Al-Qaeda Terrorists Fight with Coalition Forces, Leader Killed in Marib
Local sources in the Marib governorate revealed new information about the participation of Al-Qaeda terrorists in fighting with the coalition forces, during the battles on the southern fronts of the city during the past days.
The sources indicated that several members of al-Qaeda militants were killed on Saturday including a leader in battles of areas that separate Rahabah and Jabal Murad districts in Marib province
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
Water & Environment Minister: Int'l organization's work is disorderly
Yemen's Minister of Water and Environment said the international organizations are operating in Yemen in a disorderly way due to their being headquartered under the Houthi militia's influence in Sana'a.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44598
My comment: Of course, the Hadi government wants to take control. But, it really makes sense that the organizations are seated at Sanaa: ca. 70 % of all Yemenis are living in Houthi-held territory.
(A P)
The day the Houthis are designated terrorists, the day they assume a state’s major responsibility
Today, Tuesday, is the day that the US designation of the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization” should start to take effect.
It is also the day the internationally-pampered Shiit version of Daesh announced it will “resume” a major activity that should only be the exclusive business of the legitimate state: Issuing national ID cards in Sana’a.
The Automatic Issuance Center in Sana’a had stopped the issuance for years because of the Arab-backed government’s war to reverse the Houthi takeover of Sana’a. Early today the militant-controlled facility announced it “will begin from today Tuesday 2021-01-19 issuing electronic ID cards” inviting the public to come forward to apply for the cards.
Previously the militia abused the center to issue fake IDs for its “jihadist” cells as part of demographic changes and long-term military preparations in bracing for the government’s military advances.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44600
(A P)
The new Biden Administration may change the situation in Yemen
In this context, the new administration has to determine whether to adopt the UN-mediated framework that is currently on the table for a settlement in Yemen.
While there is no denying that the Saudi war in Yemen has fueled a humanitarian catastrophe, rushing into a settlement in the current state of play could easily backfire.
First, the crisis in Yemen is much more than a Saudi–Iranian proxy battle. In fact, a Saudi withdrawal is liable to aggravate the government forces’ breakdown and leave Yemen up for grabs among various groups.
This would play into Iran’s hands. As the Houthis have remained the most consolidated Yemeni actor throughout the war, a ceasefire in the current formulation would clear the way for them to wrest further swaths of land from the fragile government-aligned forces.
INTRINSICALLY, THIS will impose Iran’s clout on these territories: the Houthis’ alignment with the Islamic Republic (even if it was bolstered as a response to the Saudi intervention) is a fait accompli; the tie-breaking weapons that the Shi’ite group received from Tehran did not come without a return in the form of an Iranian foothold in Yemen.
One argument that is often echoed is that the Houthis are a merely Yemeni issue and do not harm anyone outside of the Yemen conflict. This is not entirely wrong. The Houthis’ hitherto cross-border attacks – whether airborne strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia or maritime attacks targeted at Saudi-led coalitions’ vessels – can be regarded as retaliation to Riyadh’s intervention in Yemen.
Nevertheless, the evinced success of such Houthi targeting, coupled with Iran’s growing sway over the group, gives Tehran a powerful asset that is sure to be utilized outside of the Yemen conflict.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/the-new-biden-administration-may-change-the-situation-in-yemen-656133
(A P)
Saudi Arabia Reiterates Support for Political Solutions in Yemen, Syria, Libya
The Saudi government reiterated on Tuesday the Kingdom’s support for achieving security and stability in the region.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the cabinet session that was held virtually in Neom due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The cabinet renewed Riyadh’s support for political solutions to be reached in the crises raging in Yemen, Syria and Libya.
(A P)
The path to Yemen’s salvation
When the coalition decided to intervene six years ago, it declared that its objective was to empower the legitimate government in Yemen, and bring stability to the country. Yet, neither the legitimate government could be empowered, nor was the unjust sovereignty of the Houthis put to an end. Thus, Yemen remains unstable.
The reason is simple. The UAE, in particular, completely disregarded its aim to save the country from the clutches of the Houthis and strengthen the legitimate government as soon as it entered Yemen. Instead, it started to pursue its own interests by conducting its own coup and establishing sovereignty in areas not occupied by Houthis, by invading Yemen’s territories, ports, and airports. It destroyed Aden port to in a bid to suffocate the legitimate government by closing off its exits. It destroyed Aden Airport in such a way that international flights were rendered impossible. It spread chaos in Aden through its militia in efforts to pave the way for its own arbitrary interventions. Yet, Aden was already in the hands of the legitimate government. It established countless assassination teams here and had important opinion leaders and political figures killed. It banned Yemen Airlines aircraft from parking at Aden Airport overnight, destroyed Al Rayyan Airport in Mukalla, and converted it into its own military camp and prison. Mocha port is still under UAE invasion, and by preventing the export of Yemen gas and oil, it continued the real war against Yemen’s legitimate forces.
As if that did not suffice, it invaded Socotra Island
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/columns/yasinaktay/the-path-to-yemens-salvation-2047737
My remark: An anti-UAE piece from Turkey.
(A P)
Sec. Pompeo: A few final thoughts: The United States of America is the greatest country in the history of civilization.
https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1351522298847760384
My comment: LOL.
(A P)
Iran's Brutal Militias Pray for an End to US Sanctions
Now both Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Major General Qassem Soleimani lie in their graves. The militia strength which they built together, however, remains very much alive. It is part of an archipelago of client political-military organisations which Iran seeded across the Middle East, from the Gulf of Aden to the Mediterranean Coast. The creation of this network was Soleimani's life's work. Al-Muhandis was his friend, protégé, and key lieutenant in Iraq.
The demise of the two men, combined with intense US sanctions, has brought the Iranian militia structure in the Middle East to its knees. But whether the incoming US administration will maintain that pressure is an open question — one that keeps leaders up at night across the region.
Iran's proxy network was one of the main beneficiaries of the collapse of governance across the region that began with the Arab Spring. In Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the crumbling of the state allowed Soleimani to plant his client groups, building covert Iranian strength.
In all of these countries, the goal was the same. Tehran did not seek to capture official state power. Rather, it wanted to transform the state into a weakened host body, allowing its parasitic militia to act with impunity.
https://www.meforum.org/61944/irans-militias-wait-for-us-sanctions-to-be-eased
(A P)
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1351476853299675137
(A P)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Minister of Media Warns against Dissemination of Intrusive Khomeini's Brainwashing Rituals, Booby-trapping Kids' Mindsets
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Muaamar Al-Iryani reiterated warning against consequences of Iran-backed Houthi militia's acts on the social fabric, national accord, the values of diversity and sectarian co-existence among the Yemenis.
In a press statement he made to the Yemeni official news agency here today, he pointed to the sectarian indoctrination the Houthi militia conduct, in the areas it control in the context of a plan to distort the Yemeni identity, spread extraneous Khomeini's rituals and drifting the educational process.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182010
(A P)
[Hadi gov.] Minister: Intl groups settle disputes with coalition through Yemen
International organizations overlook Houthi breaches in Yemeni northern areas held by the group, and settle disputes with Arab coalition countries through the Yemeni file, Yemen's HR minister said Monday.
Some agencies or its researchers have disputes with or political stances against Saudi Arabia or Emirates, so they wink at Houthis and think they, by this way, settle those disputes, harming human rights in the war-torn country, Ahmed Arman added.
The Yemeni minister promised to save no effort in order to solve this issue.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22548.html
(A P)
US designation may be first step toward Houthis’ delegitimization
This decision aims to punish the Houthi movement for its crimes, including murder, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, the destruction of the country’s infrastructure, the military conscription of children, impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid, and catapulting the country into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history. In addition, this starvation siege has led to poverty and diseases spreading among the Yemeni people.
Though the US decision is belated, it has long been a demand of all the Yemeni people who have suffered because of the 2014 coup staged by this terrorist militia against the legitimate government and its hijacking of state institutions. This designation comes after years of the international community’s deafening silence on the Houthi militia’s domestic and regional crimes.
The decision is also consistent with the demands of the legitimate Yemeni government.
There is no doubt that, if this US decision comes into force on Tuesday and the incoming administration complies with it, it will be followed by subsequent steps. It will be a massive source of pressure on the Houthis and will boost regional and international efforts to settle the crisis in Yemen. The Houthi militia has so far played a significant role in obstructing attempts to achieve peace.
The US decision will result in the Houthi militia being besieged and isolated from its regional and international sponsors, and it will cut off its sources of funding and weapons from Iran, including the transfer of missiles, drones and other deadly weapons. This designation will also impact the movement of Houthi leaders, who have previously shuttled freely between countries.
In addition to the Houthi militia facing the aforementioned ramifications, its designation as an SDGT group will officially result in it being acknowledged as a rogue actor and a party that is unfit to establish any diplomatic relations or conclude any agreements with. In Yemen itself, the US designation will grant the Yemeni people the legal justification to counter the Houthis, who have led the country into a dark and terrible tunnel, endangering its unity, security and stability – by Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami, Head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah).
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1794741 = https://www.eurasiareview.com/19012021-us-designation-may-be-first-step-toward-houthis-delegitimization-analysis/
My comment: By a Saudi news site. What a propaganda joke: All this blame which is put upon the Houthis here would much more apply for the Saudis (and their US supporters themselves). And does the author really think that it should happen the US business to internationally “delegitimitize” any government or movement? The author is head of a Saudi propaganda think tank: https://rasanah-iiis.org/english/ and https://onthinktanks.org/think-tank/%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/
(A P)
US intent to designate Houthis as terrorists provokes the anti-Yemen hyenas
The US announced intent to designate Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization has provoked the hyenas: Immoral western journalists and so called “humanitarian” officials and agencies systematically backing the Shiit Daesh (Houthis) since the beginning of the Yemeni war.
Their campaign against the US Administration’s announcement is mind-blowing in terms of its stark contrast with the cheering and welcoming position of the Yemeni people, the directly concerned and the victims of the conflict!
In the western media, and some other outlets, the response was one of wrath and condemnations, under the usual pretexts of concerns about disruptions to “humanitarian” aid, “peace” undermining risks, and the rest of the stuff.
It is within everyone’s means to check the Yemeni media and western media for themselves and see this attention-grabbing polarization: The Yemenis mostly welcoming the designation of the Houthis terrorists and demanding a US beyond words to stop the Houthi terrorism, while the western reporters campaign fiercely against it!
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44567
(A P)
Time for UAE to pay for its crimes against Mehmet Ali Öztürk
The fact that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) considers the democratic developments in the Middle East as a threat has led it to adopt a scheming style of politics, where it supports and organizes coups everywhere. Underhandedly backing terrorism through all sorts of lies and violence is an inevitable part of such scheming. Labelling democratic forces as “terrorist,” and committing crimes directly in their name to have them convicted if necessary, to achieve this, is a result of such scheming operations. Hence, we are able to see them organize Al-Shabaab terrorism in Somalia, as well as similar terrorist organizations in Syria, fight against the Houthis in Yemen while cooperating with them elsewhere, betraying both its ally Saudi Arabia and the legitimate government they officially support.
My remark: A Turkish anti-UAE piece.
(A P)
Film: Eric Shawn: Iran threatens Pres. Trump’s life, he ‘will not be safe on Earth’
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6219853337001#sp=show-clips
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0-GcnnEu3c
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182016
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181997
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181991
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181981
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181960
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181639
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181605
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181325
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181298
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181078
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181066
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
Jan. 18: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1914620732021616/
Jan. 17: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1913848482098841/
Jan. 16: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1913847765432246/
Jan. 15: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1913847228765633/
(A K pS)
Saudi-led airstrikes hit Houthi missile depot in central Yemen: gov't source
Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition warplanes destroyed a missile depot of the Houthi militia in Yemen's central province of Bayda on Wednesday morning, a local government security source told Xinhua.
"At least five Houthis were killed in the airstrikes" that hit the depot in a mountain in al-Atf area of al-Qurashiyah district, the source in Bayda said on condition of anonymity.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/20/c_139684656.htm
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/32028
(B K pH)
Saudi-led Coalition Airstrikes Target Yemeni Fishermen
The coalition has so far targeted nearly 200 fishing boats in the coastal strip, killing hundreds of fishermen and injuring scores of others. The Saudi-led coalition has also arrested about hundreds of fishermen, with some still being kept in Saudi prisons.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17239/Saudi-led-Coalition-Airstrikes-Target-Yemeni-Fishermen
(A K)
Yemeni civilian killed in coalition airstrike in Marib
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22527.html
(A K P)
Außenminister [der Regierung in Sanaa]: Saudi-Arabien kann nicht in Sicherheit bleiben, solange es Jemen unsicher macht
Jemens Außenminister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah gab an, dass Saudi-Arabien als Land, das seine Kriegsmaschine immer wieder gegen das jemenitische Volk einsetzt, nicht erwarten kann, vor Vergeltungsmaßnahmen sicher zu bleiben.
Vor einigen seiner arabischen Kollegen sagte Abdullah: "Wenn dem Jemen seine Sicherheit verweigert wird, kann Saudi-Arabien auch als Angreifer nicht sicher sein", berichtete Jemens offizielle Nachrichtenagentur Saba Net am Sonntag.
"Diejenigen, die ihre Militanten in Richtung Jemen mobilisieren, mit dem Ziel Tod zu verursachen und seine Städte und Dörfer zu zerstören, können nicht erwarten, dass wir ihnen durch Winken antworten und ihnen Blumen und Friedenstauben schicken", sagte der jemenitische Minister.
(A K P)
Yemen not to send ‘roses’ in response to Saudi warplanes
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf has condemned the Saudi-led aggression against the country, noting that Saudi Arabia should not expect to be safe.
The Foreign Minister mocked on Saturday what is being circulated by the Persian Gulf and regional media outlets about the results of the meetings that the Saudi Foreign Minister holds with some of his Arab counterparts. Hisham Sharaf said the meetings are aimed at issuing separate statements condemning rocket attacks and drones targeting military targets in Saudi Arabia.
"Those who send their warplanes to us with the aim of killing Yemeni citizens and destroying our cities and villages should not expect us to send roses and doves of peace," Saba News Agency quoted Sharaf as saying.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/168639/Yemen-not-to-send-roses-in-response-to-Saudi-warplanes
and also https://www.saba.ye/en/news3124676.htm
(* B H K)
Memory Tape in Front of a Flagpole
On March 15, 2020, Khaled stood in front of the ruins of his bombed school, recalling the tape of his study memories. In every corner there is a story, and in every place there are details. While he was spreading his gaze on the place, his saw a square-shaped stone left on the floor on the north side of the school.
He took it and turned it over with his hands. It is a small part of what it has been before this devastation happened to (Darb Al Ashraf) Elementary Secondary School, in Majzar District, Ma’rib Governorate.
The stone was decorated, as if it had been plucked from somewhere inside. At the top of the ruined building, the flagpole is still standing, since the school was built by the Social Fund for Development in 2003 with the contribution of the community.
Khaled says, “The place has become different. The wreckage of the school blocked the roads between the outskirts of the village, because it was located at a crossroads.”
Khaled remembered his school mates and teachers, as they stood saluting the Republican flag every school morning before they set out for classes. He tried to express all this with verses of poetry. A question knocked on his head: “If his displaced school mates ever return to their homes, where would they go to continue their education?!”
Za’ed, (a pseudonym), one of the young graduates of (Darb Al Ashraf school), recalls sports competitions, as the school team used to participate in the District league, and go with the school admins in unison to As Sahari villages or to Al Humaydhah or Mellaha forts.
Za’ed also recalls Baraqish, a periodical newspaper that is published every three months and speaks for the activities it documents and promotes. Students race to write columns and different topics, and spread their various creativity through it.
Za’ed has not lost sight of the ceremony, at the beginning of the second semester, for honoring top and outstanding students and ideal teachers, while the parents were encouraging their children to compete to be honored at the next ceremony. He also remembers the prominent role of the Parents Council to correct the course of education and to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that appear from time to time during school days.
https://mwatana.org/en/memory-tape/
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17313/US-Saudi-Aggression-Launches-14-Raids-on-A-Number-of-Governorates Several prov.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17289/US-Saudi-Aggression-Launches-Series-of-Raids-on-Al-Jawf%2C-Sa-adah%2C-Marib%2C-Hajjah Several prov.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3125178.htm Marib p., Jawf p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17266/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Monday%2C-Jan-18%2C-2021 Marib p., Hajjah p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3124960.htm Marib p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17247/US-Saudi-Aggression-Launches-10-Raids%2C-Marib- Marib p.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17230/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Saturday%2C-Jan-16%2C-2021 Several prov.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3124645.htm Marib p., Jawf p.
cp16a Saudische Luftangriffe: Saudische „Untersuchungen“ / Saudi air raids: Saudi “investigations“
Joint Incidents Assessment Team Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces 1, 2, 3
Official Spokesman of the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) in Yemen Legal Counsellor Mansour Al-Mansour refuted a number of claims raised by global bodies and international organizations on errors allegedly committed by the Coalition Forces to Support Legitimacy in Yemen during their military operations in Yemen.
In a press conference held at the Armed Forces Officers Club in Riyadh today, Al-Mansour reviewed the results of assessing five incidents included in those claims as follows:
With regard to the statement of the (UN Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen) issued (07/08/2020), that strikes took place on (06/08/2020) in (Khab and Al-Shaaf) directorate of (Al-Jouf) governorate, resulting in the death of about nine children, and the injury of seven others, in (Haradh) area in (Khab and Al-Shaaf) directorate of (Al-Jouf) governorate. JIAT vetted the incident
JIAT found that on (06/08/2020) one of the Coalition Air Forces formations observed (pick-ups and fighters of Al-Houthi armed militia), on one of the main approach routes used by Al- Houthi armed militia to support its forces in the area of operations at (Khab and Al-Shaaf) directorate of (Al-Jouf) governorate, which at the time witnessed clashes between the legitimate forces and Al-Houthi armed militia.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182313
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182314
The Coalition Forces have repeatedly informed tribal leaders, and civilians in the area not to go to the areas of operation, or near gatherings of Al-Houthi armed elements.
In light of that JIAT reached the following conclusions:
the procedures taken by Coalition Forces, in dealing with the legitimate military target (pick-ups and fighters belonging to Al-Houthi armed Militia) on a dirt road in (Khab and Al-Shaaf) directorate of (Al-Jouf) governorate, were correct and in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law and its customary rules.
A truck was hit accidentally, after entering between military targets in the area of operations, which at the time witnessed clashes between the legitimate forces and Al-Houthi armed militia.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182315
Joint Incidents Assessment Team Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces 4
With regard to what was stated in the final report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen for the year (2019) No. (S/2020/70) issued on (27/1/2020) that on (16/12/2018) at around (10:30) a.m., a water truck was hit by an air strike in (Al-Sawadiah) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate, in a specific coordinate, killing two children.
JIAT vetted the incident,
JIAT found that on (16/12/2018) during clashes between the legitimate forces and Al-Houthi armed militia in (Qaniyah) front in (Al-Sawadiah) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate, the legitimate forces observed (a vehicle used to transport ammunition) belonging Al-Houthi armed militia in the area of ongoing military operations.
The Coalition Forces have taken the possible precautions to avoid accidental loss or damage to civilian and civilian objects or, in any case, minimize it to the lowest possible. The bomb hit the military target (vehicle used to transport ammunition), and was direct and accurate.
By analyzing the image attached to the claim, JIAT found the following:
The vehicle does not seem to be a water truck.
The Coalition Forces did not target (water truck) on (16/12/2018) in (Al-Sawadiah) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate, as claimed.
the procedures taken by Coalition Forces, in dealing with the legitimate military target (vehicle used to transport ammunition) belonging to Al-Houthi armed militia
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182316
Joint Incidents Assessment Team Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces 5
With regard to the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the reports of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General No. (A/HRC/42/CRP.1) issued on (03 September 2019), that at around (5:30) Wednesday evening (24/10/2018) a Coalition air strike hit a farm in the area of (Al-Massoudi station) in (Al-Mansouriah) directorate of (Al-Hodeidah) governorate, and the fragments of the explosion killed (21) civilians and injured (7) others, according to witnesses the victims were farmers who were harvesting and cleaning (okra) for sale in the market, when they were bombed twice
JIAT vetted the incident
JIAT found that Coalition Forces received intelligence information about (gatherings of Al-Houthi armed militia fighters) at a specific location in (Al-Mansouriah) directorate of (Al-Hodeidah) governorate, it was also observed and monitored by the surveillance and reconnaissance system, which is considered to be a legitimate military target that the destruction of it would achieves a concrete, direct and certain military advantage.
By examining the video recordings of the surveillance and reconnaissance system for the targeting process, JIAT found the following:
(1) The target site was observed, and the military target was monitored by the surveillance and reconnaissance system.
(2) Movements of persons at the targeting site, which have already been confirmed from ground sources as Al-Houthi armed militia elements.
In light of that, JIAT found that Coalition Forces did not target a farm in the area of (Al-Massoudi station) in (Al-Mansouriah) directorate of (Al-Hodeidah) governorate as claimed, and that the procedures taken by Coalition Forces, in dealing with the legitimate military target (gatherings of Al-Houthi armed militia fighters) in an open area, in (Al-Mansouriah) directorate of (Al-Hodeidah) governorate, were correct and in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law and its customary rules.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182317
Joint Incidents Assessment Team Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces 6
With regard to what was received by (JIAT), that at (10:00) p.m. on (25/09/2015), Coalition Air Force targeted the house of (A.S.B.) in (Azzah) area in (Al-Baydha) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate, resulting in the complete destruction of the house, the death of one member, and the injury of (2) of his family, attached photos and coordinates of the house.
JIAT vetted the incident
JIAT found that the Coalition Forces received intelligence information that there was (gathering of elements of Al-Houthi armed militia and weapons depots) in a specific location, in (Azzah) area in (Al-Baydha) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate.
In light of that, JIAT found that Coalition Forces did not target the house of (A.S.B.) in (Azzah) area in (Al-Baydha) directorate of (Al-Baydha) governorate as claimed.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182318
Joint Incidents Assessment Team Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces 7
With regard to what was observed by (JIAT) in the report of the Physicians for Human Rights issued (March 2020) entitled (Attacks by the conflict parties on the health sector in Yemen), which included that on (19/09/2015), a Coalition aircraft targeted the only health center in (Al-Nadheer) district of (Sa'da) governorate, the center was completely destroyed, leaving the area without a health facility.
The JIAT vetted the incident
By studying the Coalition Forces air missions carried out on the day of the claim (19/09/2015), JIAT found that Coalition Forces carried out an air mission on a military target (armoury) belongs to Al-Houthi armed militia in (Saqayn) district of (Sa'da) governorate, (13) km away from the (Al-Nadheer health center), using a single guided bomb that hit its target.
In light of that, JIAT found that Coalition Forces did not target (Al-Nadheer Health Center) in (Al-Nadheer) district of (Sa'da) governorate as claimed.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2182319
My comment: Another series of Saudi coalition fake self-“investigations” of air raids. The only real purpose of this Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) exactly is told in the headlines: It “Refutes Allegations against Coalition Forces”, i. e. it’s a propaganda body.
First case: Aug. 6, 2020, Jawf province, three vehicles targeted, more than 20 killed, mostly children and women:
All evidence (reports, films, photos: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-672-yemen-war-mosaic-672, cp1b. Links to photos: https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1291458653564874754 and https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1291435857275224067 .
Second case, Dec. 16, 2018, Al Bayda province, truck targeted, 2 children killed, father injured:
All evidence (reports, photos): https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-492-yemen-war-mosaic-492, cp16. Link to photos: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1947572428872075 and https://twitter.com/dietrich_klose/status/1074932613742235648. Video had been removed by youtube, saved by me.
Third case: Oct. 24, 2018, al Masoudi area, Hodeidah province, vegetable market targeted, 21 killed:
All evidence (reports, photos): https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-472-yemen-war-mosaic-472, cp1c. Links to photos: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1055178354075361280 and https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1055322233604923398. Films had been removed by youtiube and Twitter, main film saved by me.
Forth case: Sept. 25, 2015, Al Bayda province, house targeted: No evidence found.
Fifth case, Sept. 19, 2015: al Nazir area, Saada province, Health center targeted: Report by Physicians for Human Rights, report from march 18, 2020, https://phr.org/our-work/resources/i-ripped-the-iv-out-of-my-arm-and-started-running-attacks-on-health-care-in-yemen/, = https://mwatana.org/en/i-ripped-iv-out-of-my-arm/, documented attacks: https://phr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/PHR-Mwatana-Report-March-2020-Attacks-on-Health-Care-in-Yemen-ANNEX.pdf. I did not find any other evidence; more evidence from the ground would be needed.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp18
Im Jemen herrscht ein militärisches Patt. Eine größere Offensive mit größeren Erfolgen und Geländegewinnen für eine Seite bleiben seit der Offensive der saudischen Koalition gegen Hodeidah im Jahr 2018 aus. Kleinere Offensiven, ständige gegenseitige Angriffe und Gefechte mit Toten auf beiden Seiten und Opfern unter der Zivilbevölkerung gibt es aber ständig. Besonders betroffen sind die Provinzen Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, der Bezirk Nehm in der Provinz Sanaa, die Provinzen Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah und Saada.
There is a military stalemate in Yemen. A larger offensive with greater successes and territorial gains for one side has been absent since the Saudi coalition's offensive against Hodeidah in 2018. Smaller offensives, constant mutual attacks and skirmishes killing fighters of both sides and causing victims among the civilian population are constant. The provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, the district of Nehm in the province of Sanaa, the provinces of Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah and Saada are particularly affected.
(A K)
Ambush leaves Houthi deaths injuries in Baydha Yemen
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22592.html
(A K pS)
Masam, the #Saudi Project for Mine Clearance in #Yemen: As many as 1500 #Houthi-laid #landmines and explosive devices were removed from several Yemeni provinces in the second week of January.
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1351158843208855558
(B K pS)
Film from Taiz: In # Abaar and other areas whose residents were unable to displace because of the poor, the population, most of whom are women / children, lives in darkness day and night after closing the windows and all the vents in the barricades and dirt for fear of seeing the sniper in the middle of the houses and targeting them
https://twitter.com/EshraqAlmaqtari/status/1350709644130476032
(A K pS)
Two children, one man injured by Houthi landmine in Taiz
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32011
and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44568
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpcpN8DWdZQ
(A K pS)
Houthis killed by their own explosives in al-Dhale
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32006
(A K pS)
Civil Defense in Jazan: Military Projectile launched by terrorist Houthi Militia Falls on Border Village, Three Civilians Were Injured
The Deputy Spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan Region, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed bin Hassan Al-Samghan, has stated that the directorate received a report about the fall of a military projectile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist militia from inside Yemen towards one of the border villages in Al-Arda Governorate in Jazan Region.
Lieutenant Colonel Al-Samghan added the fall resulted in the injury of three civilians and damages to a civilian car due to flying shrapnel.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2181393
(* B K)
Wikipedia: List of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
Seit dem Abkommen von Stockholm vom 13. Dezember 2018 gibt es einen Waffenstillstand für Hodeidah. Zwar bleiben größere Offensiven aus, kleinere Gefechte gibt es aber laufend, und beide Seiten werfen sich ständig Verstöße gegen den Waffenstillstand vor.
Since the Stockholm Agreement of December 13, 2018, a ceasefire has been in place for Hodeidah. There are no major offensives, but smaller battles are going on and both sides constantly are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.
(* B H K)
Civilians wounded and killed in indiscriminate frontline hostilities
Renewed conflict on the frontlines to the South of Hudaydah Port on Yemen’s Red Sea Coast is intense and rising numbers of civilians need war-trauma surgery.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have treated 122 war-wounded patients in our trauma hospital in nearby Mocha since October.
Since the last week of November, the majority of severely wounded patients have been women and children.
“We treat everyone needing emergency surgery in our Mocha trauma centre – war wounded, traffic accident victims, and pregnant women needing emergency surgical delivery,” says Raphael Veicht, MSF head of mission.
“But when it’s suddenly almost all civilians coming with terrible weapon wounds, that raises serious questions. What we are seeing in our small hospital is disturbing, and outrageous. Killing and wounding civilians in conflict not only constitutes a severe violation of International Humanitarian Law. It goes further than that; our patients include children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and men working in a milk-bottling factory that was hit by shelling - and there is nothing that can justify this.”
https://www.msf.org/yemen-civilians-wounded-and-killed-frontline-hostilities
(* A P)
Clashes between mercenaries and local farmers claim several lives in Mocha
The town of Mocha, which is under the control of mercenary leader Tariq Saleh, had witnessed violent clashes on Wednesday, leaving several people dead and injured.
Sources pointed out that farmers tried to take control over a number of buildings, but failed as the UAE-backed militias confronted them and forced them to withdraw.
The farmers demanded compensations for their lands that they claimed are being looted by the mercenaries, one of the sources said.
(* A K P)
UN demands ceasefire after major Houthi offensive in Yemen
Ceasefire monitors request access to contested territory near the vital port of Hodeidah
The UN mission in Yemen is calling for an immediate ceasefire after heavy fighting between Iran-backed Houthi militias and Yemeni government forces.
Heavy clashes took place in eastern and southern Hodeidah, western Yemen, according to the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement.
In a press release sent to The National from its press office, the mission said it had received disturbing reports of a significant increase in clashes in parts of the Hodeidah governorate in recent days, particularly in Hays and Al Duraihimi.
The head of the UN mission and chairman of the redeployment co-ordination committee, retired Lt Gen Abhijit Guha, said the new Houthi offensive was contrary to the obligations of the parties to the ceasefire, and the resulting casualties to civilians
“The safety and security of the local population remains of paramount importance and is the essential reason behind the ceasefire agreement. We will be doing everything possible to remind both parties of their obligations under the Hodeidah Agreement and international humanitarian law. I urge them to stop this escalation before it causes any further harm to civilians,” Lt Gen Guha said.
The statement emphasised that both parties must “enable UNMHA teams to visit locations of concern, including heavily-contested areas and sites of recent significant incidents”.
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/32020
(A K)
Yemeni pro-gov't JF, Houthis resume fighting in Hodeida
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22595.html
(A K pH)
Yemen's Ansarullah slams Hadi regime’s call for war in Hudaydah
Yemen's Ansarullah movement dismissed as provocative a call by the regime of fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for war in the port city of Hudaydah, saying the regime has repeatedly violated the 2018 Stockholm Agreement brokered by the UN.
Ansarullah has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the provisions of the Stockholm Agreement reached in December 2018 following a round of peace negotiations between Ansarullah delegates and Riyadh-sponsored loyalists to ex-president.
(A K pS)
Film: Houthi attacks a citizen and shoots him in the village of Al-Dinin in the district of Hays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHSzS2VqizQ
(A K pS)
Woman killed by Houthis in Hodeidah
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32007
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LSs5sibtWM
(A K pS)
Film: A child was injured by Houthi militia bullets in Hays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxiL0X90BlU
(A K pS)
Film: An elderly citizen was injured by Al-Houthi militia bullets in Al-Durhami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgAwN8Aig9Y
(A K pH)
Mercenaries shelling injures woman in Hodeida
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3124678.htm
(A K P)
Gov't forces, rebels clash in western Yemen
Houthi rebels killed, injured in violent clashes in coastal Al-Hudaydah province, Yemeni army says
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/govt-forces-rebels-clash-in-western-yemen/2116403
and
(* A K)
Rund 150 Tote binnen einer Woche bei Kämpfen im Jemen
Bei Kämpfen südlich der jemenitischen Stadt Hodeida sind übereinstimmenden Angaben zufolge rund 150 regierungstreue Soldaten und Huthi-Rebellen binnen einer Woche getötet worden.
(* A K)
Yemen Clashes Near Hodeida Kill 150 in a Week: Military Sources
Some 150 Yemeni pro-government soldiers and Houthi rebels have been killed in a week of fighting south of the strategic port city of Hodeida, military sources said Monday.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/01/18/yemen-hodeida-clashes-kill-150/
and
(* A K pS)
Intense Clashes Flare-up between Houthi Militia and Pro Govt forces South Hodeiah
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26837
and
(* A K)
40 Houthi rebels killed in clashes with Yemeni forces
Houthis attempted to breach front lines of government troops in Hays, Ad Durayhimi districts
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/40-houthi-rebels-killed-in-clashes-with-yemeni-forces/2113394
and
(A K)
Houthi fatalities in Hodeida battles with Yemeni troops [anti-Houthi militia]
https://debriefer.net/en/news-22531.html
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/32012
and
(A H K)
Intense fighting has escalated along southern #Hudaydah frontlines in #Yemen.
@MSF team in #Mocha Trauma Hospital engaging mass casualty plan to respond to influxes of wounded. We are intensely worried for civilians living near the frontline areas. (photo)
https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/1350817116488949760
(A K pH)
Daily violations
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
(B H)
Rückschlag im Kampf gegen Heuschrecken in Ostafrika befürchtet
In der seit Monaten währenden Bekämpfung der Heuschreckenplage in Ostafrika haben die Vereinten Nationen vor einem Rückschlag wegen fehlender Gelder gewarnt.
Im Januar 2020 rauschte eine erste Welle von Heuschrecken-Schwärmen durch Ostafrika und vernichtete Äcker und Weiden. Viele Länder konnten zunächst wenig dagegen ausrichten. In den meisten lagen derartige Plagen bereits 50 Jahre zurück. Besonders besorgt war die FAO über die Plage im Jemen, wo obendrein ein blutiger Bürgerkrieg die Nahrungsmittelsicherheit gefährdet.
Mit den bisherigen Erfolgen bei der Heuschrecken-Bekämpfung konnte nach Schätzungen der UN-Organisation die Existenzgrundlage für rund 28 Millionen Menschen gewahrt werden.
(B H)
FAO calls for more efforts to contain locust invasion in Yemen
Winter breeding continues along both sides of the Red Sea. In Yemen, maturing swarms appeared in the highlands west of Sana’a most likely coming from inaccessible areas on the coast and elsewhere, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement.
Scattered adults are present along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coastal plains but do not require control, the UN agency added.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32032
and
(B H)
Desert Locust situation update 18 January 2021
Winter breeding continues along both sides of the Red Sea. In Yemen, maturing swarms appeared in the highlands west of Sana’a most likely coming from inaccessible areas on the coast and elsewhere. Scattered adults are present along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coastal plains but do not require control. In Saudi Arabia, control operations are in progress against mainly second instar hopper groups and a few bands along the coast from Jizan to Lith, extending nearly to Duba on the north coast
http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts/en/info/info/index.html
(* B H)
A small narcotic leaf brings big comfort — and big business — to war-weary Yemenis
And make no mistake, qat is popular. What in decades past was an occasional indulgence for the country’s rich has become, one study says, a near-daily habit for a staggering 90% of the population — including men, women and children as young as 12.
Other studies dispute that figure, but even the most cursory look around suggests it’s not far off the mark. Come afternoon, it seems that almost everyone hunkers down for marathon sessions of qat-chewing, their eyes turning red and glassy from its initial amphetamine-like high, their cheeks bulging with a growing bolus of leaves picked fresh from the shrub.
All that qat makes for big business, no small feat in a country where the gross domestic product and currency have halved in value since a devastating civil war began in 2014, and where 85% of the population needs aid, according to a 2020 government report. Qat — also known as Catha edulis, or khat— is Yemen’s top cash crop, its cultivation the main livelihood for most of the 37% of the population working in agriculture, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
“Fighter? No. I’d prefer to be a qat merchant than go fight,” says Musheer Sadeq Shamiri, a portly 35-year-old qat trader installed on his perch in the Ajar market.
“I work in qat because it’s the best work I can get. It’s easier than working in anything else. For poor people it’s the best option.”
That may be, but critics also cite it as a primary driver of the country’s many ills because of its drain on both human and natural resources, such as water. For them, qat’s widespread use is a burden that Yemenis can ill-afford.
Getting supplies of the different varieties isn’t difficult. Even though qat grows exclusively in Yemen’s northern regions, where Houthi rebels hold sway, trucks laden with the crop cross battle lines every day, making deliveries with little trouble to areas controlled by the Yemeni government or to a different group of separatists in the south.
“You’ll have people fight the Houthis in the trenches, but then they’ll go buy qat sold from Houthi areas,” says Amar Aulaqi, deputy minister of water and environment, adding that the front lines are always quiet during chewing times. “Between noon and 4 p.m, there’s an undeclared truce in Yemen.”
The government also benefits from qat as a prime source of taxation.
Though qat is a nightmare for the coronavirus-conscious — most people enjoy it in groups, stuffing their mouths for hours with leaves from shared bags or bundles and spitting and lounging around in close proximity — the pandemic hasn’t dulled demand.
Yet the government has cause for some alarm.
Qat’s cultivation increasingly dominates the 2.3% of arable land in Yemen, crowding out other crops in a country where hunger and malnourishment are widespread. Detractors also say it fuels the war by putting money in the combatants’ coffers, and because it’s a thirsty plant, requiring deep-well irrigation and disproportionate use of water, it exacerbates the country’s water scarcity. And because it’s illegal in most countries, it can’t be exported, although that matters less when 97% of locally produced qat is bought and consumed domestically.
Meanwhile, nongovernmental organizations and other aid groups point out the obvious: that sitting for hours and chewing the leaf may not be the most productive use of time.
Qat’s supporters insist that it isn’t addictive — at least, no more than tea or coffee — and that it actually improves productivity by keeping users awake and focused, a sort of herbal alternative to Ritalin.
Besides, there’s a certain ritual to enjoying qat. It forces you to slow down. The constant chomping induces a languid, literally ruminative mood. It starts as a stimulant but, as the hours go by, mellows and inspires many users to slip into deeper discussions than those they might have in the Arab world’s coffeehouses.
Not everyone agrees on its benignity. No less a figure than the late Mohamad Mahmoud Zubairi, Yemen’s foremost revolutionary and poet, detested the plant, describing qat as a devil that “made the Yemeni people lust after it, and is fighting in their stomachs against valuable nutrients for the human body. Then it runs in their veins like Satan, and enters their pockets to steal their money.”
Zubairi wrote that denunciation in 1958. But he also acknowledged a truth that remains unwavering today: “It is truly the top ruler of Yemen.” – by Nabik Bulos
(A H)
Frost Kills Five People in Yemen
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/26841
Photos: https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1350505339695882240
(-)
Beautiful photos from Hadhramaut Governorate. #Yemen.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1350547346833219591
(* B P)
Jemen – Christenverfolgung
Die christliche Gemeinde im Jemen besteht überwiegend aus jemenitischen Christen mit muslimischem Hintergrund und ihren Kindern. Sie müssen ihren Glauben im Verborgenen leben. Sie erleben Verfolgung durch die Behörden (einschließlich Verhaftungen und Verhören), die Familie und islamisch-extremistische Gruppen, die „Abtrünnigen“ mit dem Tod drohen, wenn diese nicht zum Islam zurückkehren. Niemand darf seinen Stamm verlassen – man gehört von Geburt an zu einem Stamm und hat seinen internen Normen zu folgen. Die Abkehr vom Islam kann vom Stamm mit Tod oder Vertreibung bestraft werden. Sowohl männliche als auch weibliche Christen muslimischer Herkunft, die mit Muslimen verheiratet sind, riskieren die Scheidung und den Verlust des Sorgerechts für ihre Kinder. Die Christen leiden unter der allgemeinen humanitären Krise im Land. Jemenitische Christen sind jedoch zusätzlich gefährdet, da die Nothilfe hauptsächlich über lokale Muslime und Moscheen verteilt wird, die dem Vernehmen nach alle diskriminieren, die nicht als gläubige Muslime gelten.
https://www.opendoors.de/christenverfolgung/weltverfolgungsindex/laenderprofile/jemen
(* B D)
Indigenous Arabian horses lose race to hunger in war-torn Yemen
Hassan Mahdi, a keeper at an equestrian club in Yemen's Sanaa, covered one of his horses with a piece of faded and rugged plastic cloth.
"This horse died Wednesday at dawn," Mahdi said. "Hunger and illness killed it."
The boney animal drew its last breath with Mahdi watching by its side. But there was nothing Mahdi could do.
Horses in the equestrian club are the Yemeni Arabian horses, one of the world's finest and oldest breeds. They are well-known for their good temper, intelligence and can endure long-range traveling. But now, they cannot outrun starvation.
The six-year-old war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed Yemen to the brink of starvation. The prized indigenous horses are just one of its victims.
"All horses are hungry here, and in an extreme need of food and health care," Mahdi said.
All of the 135 horses in the equestrian club face various degrees of malnutrition and shortage of medicines. They look as thin as a rake and can easily get sick. And when they do, usually there is only one end that awaits.
Mohammed Abdullah Al-Taweel, a horseman at the club, said that at least 50 horses have died so far since the war and blockade started. Some of the horses died from air raids, some others of the diseases.
Al-Taweel worried the ongoing catastrophe will lead to "the extinction of the famous Yemeni horses."
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/20/c_139684393.htm = http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2021-01/20/content_77136984.htm
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-709-yemen-war-mosaic-709
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-709 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-709:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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