Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 716, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 716, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-716-yemen-war-mosaic-716
Fortsetzung / Sequel:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-716c-yemen-war-mosaic-716c
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 und 3 / In Italics: Look in part 1 and 3
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: Neue Jemen-Politik der USA / Most important: New US Yemen policy
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp2 Allgemein / General
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Interactive Map of Yemen War
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Yemen Map Updates
Jan. 9: https://southfront.org/mysterious-group-releases-poster-threatening-riyadh-with-missile-strikes/
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YEMEN: OUTLOOK FOR DEC 2020 - MAY 2021 (JANUARY UPDATE)
Risks:
Depletion of foreign currency reserves drives inflation up; eroded purchasing power and high food prices result in increased levels of food insecurity
The announcement of a new cabinet on 18 December 2020 as part of the Riyadh Agreement, and the approval in December of withdrawals from a Saudi deposit to cover letters of credit for the import of basic commodities, contributed to a sudden appreciation of the Yemeni riyal in areas controlled by the Government of Yemen (GoY). The riyal reached its highest value by the end of the year at 640 YER to 1 USD. As of January, the riyal in GoY-controlled areas resumed a steady depreciation. Contrarily, the value of the riyal in Ansar Allah-controlled areas remained stable at around 595 YER per USD during the same period.
Reduced capacity to deliver assistance – because of further cuts in humanitarian funding – impacts millions of people in need.
The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Yemen for 2021 has not been published yet, and the HRP 2020 only received an additional USD 200 million in January, leaving a gap of 44% in the total requirements (FTS accessed 09/02/2021). The Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of Ansar Allah on 19 January raised concerns about possible reduced humanitarian access in northern Yemen.
An attempt by Ansar Allah to enter Marib city intensifies the conflict, leading to mass displacement, civilian casualties, disruption to livelihoods, and lack of humanitarian access.
Sudden decline in public service provision in GoY-held areas leaves millions of people requiring external assistance for their basic needs, while humanitarian access is also reduced.
Fuel Crisis
FSO Safer tank oil spill/explosion
https://www.acaps.org/special-report/yemen-outlook-dec-2020-may-2021-january-update
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Commander of [anti-Houthi] west coast forces Tarik Saleh calls upon Hadi's government to withdraw from the Stockholm agreement so that they can join hands to fight Houthis in Marib & the west coast.
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1359592887684636673
Abandoning Stockholm now and pursuing Hudaydah port in particular, while defending Ma'rib, is a military escalation against an entrenched and now better experienced Houthi force.
https://twitter.com/KatieZimmerman/status/1359633027094167561
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Audio: PeterSalisbury & ElisabethKendall
Kendall: How does Biden start to pull away from the war without actually empowering the Houthis whom so many people see as the aggressors here? So how can he? How can he actually start to end the war without empowering the very people that they've been trying to drive back? And I think on the ground it is seen very differently because also there's not seen through the prism of just these two warring sides, the Houthis on then the Saudi led coalition and their partners, there are all sorts of interest groups. When you called it a multi layered conflict, it sure is. And there are so many actors, and every time you peel back a layer in Yemen, you find 10 layers underneath . And so I think perhaps there needs to be a few steps in between, such as building up more, inclusive side talks with a great many more, different local actors. Having a much better understanding of local dynamics, perhaps finding ways to start building mechanisms that seek transparency and more accountability in the existing political structures that we support . And then there are lots of things that need to happen, rather than just a rush towards signing a piece of paper which might then not go anywhere.
Salisbury: And this is really the core challenge. I think for the U. N. The U. S other countries that want to end this war where we're looking at what the United Nations says is the world largest humanitarian crisis. Constant warnings that the famine is imminent, a lot of people suffering from the conflict. But at the same time, ending the conflict sustainably in a way that suits... that creates buy in among all these different groups is phenomenally challenging.
https://www.conversationsix.com/p/rduyr3DWEkurWHsdR
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Audio: Krieg im Jemen - Der hohe Preis für Frieden
https://www.ardaudiothek.de/weltzeit/krieg-im-jemen-der-hohe-preis-fuer-frieden/86062606
Film: The Heat: Yemen’s war
Fast forward to the intervention of regional powers, including Iran, and Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia, creating a broader proxy war for control of the country, with the United States supporting the Saudis.
The Heat spoke with the former Foreign Minister of Yemen, Khaled Al-Yamani.
To discuss:
Abdallah Al-Mouallimi is Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United Nations.
Alexander Azadgan is a geopolitical analyst and an international political economics professor at Saddleback College.
Gerald Feierstein served as the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen in the Obama administration. He’s currently the senior vice president of the Middle East Institute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO27GTdvkr
My comment: By those selected as interviewees, this film appears to be biased.
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Civil Society Voices Key to Yemenis’ Push for Peace, Open Society Report Shows
Yemeni civil society organizations believe justice and accountability can play a decisive role in establishing a lasting peace in Yemen, according to a new Open Society Foundations report.
A Passage to Justice: Selected Yemeni Civil Society Views of Transitional Justice and Long-Term Accountability in Yemen highlights the leading role of Yemeni civil society in articulating the interplay between peace and justice, as well as the role that justice matters play in the peace process. It focuses on Yemeni’s views about accountability for violations committed in the war-torn country since conflict broke out there in 2014.
“Transitional justice is a transit from something to something. I believe transitional justice can help with transiting from wartime to peacetime, from destruction to construction,” the report quotes one civil society advocate from Mareb as saying. (Individuals quoted in the report are not identified by name to protect their safety.)
“As part of its new push to the end the war, the U.S. must also back Yemeni civil society’s efforts to ensure real accountability for the crimes committed, and for the lives destroyed,” said Chris Rogers, a senior program officer at the Open Society Human Rights Initiative and an editor of the report. “Because for many Yemenis, it is not U.S. bombs that are the real enemy to lasting peace—it’s impunity.”
Many civil society leaders interviewed for the report noted that the peace process must be attuned to the concerns and needs of victims of the conflict, now entering its seventh year. “Listening to victims makes us think about peace,” one civil society leader from Aden told the report writers.
A peace plan that is sensitive to addressing the needs of victims and their families must consider the social and economic costs of the conflict, in addition to gross human rights abuses and violations. Victims’ organizations, family associations, and other civil society organizations must have a way to have their voices included in peace negotiations.
The report also shows that language on accountability and on transitional justice has progressively been de-emphasized in Security Council resolutions and other key instruments since the conflict started in 2014. The report argues for a return of stronger language to Council resolutions. It highlights the important role such language can play in building political support and, at a later stage, the endorsement of an accountability and transitional justice agenda for Yemen.
Based on interviews with key Yemeni civil society organizations, the report finds that much more is needed to support a Yemeni-led vision of justice and accountability.
After registering a diversity of views amongst Yemeni civil society—from a need to address the economic and social costs of the conflict to the role of civil society in any future transitional justice processes—this report also highlights the obstacles facing Yemeni civil society. Additionally, the report proposes more tactics and strategies for supporting Yemeni civil society and victims’ groups, and to ensure they have an influence over the contours of an eventual peace.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/a-passage-to-justice
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The Biden Administration Should Prevent an ‘Atrocity Famine’ in Yemen
After declaring an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led offensive, there is more the president can do.
To grasp what is unfolding in Yemen, we need to move beyond considering acute, widespread hunger and disease as the unintended collateral damage of conflict. As a foremost expert on famine, Alex de Waal, has suggested, Yemen—like Syria, Somalia, Darfur, Somalia, and northern Uganda—is a case of an “atrocity famine.” Through sieges, blockades, and attacks on civilian infrastructure, belligerents destroy livelihoods, trade, and economic activity, and they disrupt humanitarian assistance. Atrocity famines are political projects, in which parties to the conflict consider some groups dispensable and not worth saving.
Of the 1,941 incidents in our database for Yemen between 2010 and 2019, 67 percent targeted the agricultural or fishing sectors, which includes farms, markets, flour mills, food-processing companies, fishing boats, poultry farms, and livestock. The vast majority of these attacks began after 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition used airstrikes to destroy civilian targets, including hospitals, agricultural infrastructure, roads, bridges, and water systems. From 2010 to 2014, reported attacks on infrastructure were rare, conducted primarily by nonstate actors affiliated with local tribes, and focused on sabotaging oil and gas pipelines and electricity installations, often in pursuit of particular concessions from central and provincial authorities. As the war intensified with the Saudi-led bombing campaign, Houthi forces, pro-Hadi forces aligned with the internationally recognized government, and political militias throughout Yemen targeted civilian infrastructures, causing additional harm to civilian health and livelihoods. Despite deconfliction measures where humanitarians provide parties to the conflict with the coordinates of humanitarian infrastructure, especially medical facilities, there have been numerous attacks on these facilities by the Saudi-led coalition.
Attacks on civilian infrastructure are only part of the reason that the price of food has been pushed beyond reach of most Yemenis. By 2017, the Yemeni economy had contracted to around half its 2015 size, while the poverty rate increased from 49 percent in 2014 to an estimated 62-78 percent in 2016. Depreciation of the currency after mid-2018 made food even more expensive, while further dramatic losses in the value of the Yemeni riyal and escalating food prices intensified the crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Economic effects on the energy sector and provision of electricity have been particularly dire, as the country cannot afford to import the fuel it needs to keep water plants, sewage plants, and electricity services functioning. The World Bank conducted a damage assessment of energy and electricity facilities in 16 Yemeni cities in 2020 and found that while only 10 percent had suffered physical damage, over 85 percent were not functioning, due primarily to lack of fuel.
The collapsing economy and degraded civilian infrastructures have undermined capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Biden administration has an opportunity to more profoundly shift U.S. policy in Yemen. To prevent an atrocity famine, the United States must reinvest in humanitarian and development assistance, support diplomatic efforts that bring all parties to the conflict to the table, and end restrictions on trade and imports to Yemen. Short-term emergency aid, however, is insufficient to restore livelihoods, facilitate income generation, and inject much-needed reserves into the Yemeni banking system. Restoring basic services and addressing reconstruction needs must also start immediately where possible, along with intensive diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
However, the United States must go further, prioritizing civilian welfare according to humanitarian principles as an essential pillar of foreign policy. Such a commitment would mean not only holding American forces and allies accountable to humanitarian welfare during war, but also finding ways to institutionalize restraint, including conducting pre-conflict assessments of humanitarian impacts before U.S. or allied armed interventions. These measures would significantly help the United States prevent an atrocity famine in Yemen and beyond.
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BBC Film: #US President Joe Biden is pushing for peace in #Yemen. The country's international recognised government may struggle just to stay alive. Our first report in a series from #Yemen
https://twitter.com/OrlaGuerin/status/1359110114020626432
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The tragedy in Yemen
However, the critical connection in the Houthis’ alliance with the ousted president was his son Ahmad Ali Saleh, who is living under the shadow of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hence, the UAE is also a direct party in the Yemen civil war. The UAE, which is also involved in another so-called “anti-Houthi” front with Saudi Arabia, continues to dig the Saudis’ grave.
We all know the following narration about Prophet Solomon.
This is how it is. If something belongs to you, is a part of you, you will even endure being separated from them for their safety.
This is the sensitivity lacking in Yemen today. While Saudi Arabia and Iran are claiming rights over Yemen, the “child” is being divided between them.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/columns/tahakilinc/the-tragedy-in-yemen-2047758
My comment: From Turkey, specially blaming the UAE, foe of Turkey.
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Why the “end the Yemen war” narrative is problematic
While Lenderking’s appointment is a much-needed step, the “end the Yemen war” discourse championed by Western policy analysts, diplomats, and peace advocates is highly problematic and disconnected from the reality on the ground. Since 2014, successive U.N. special envoys for Yemen have tried to broker a political settlement between the Hadi government and the Houthis to end the conflict and resume the political transition process that was thwarted when Houthi forces allied with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and captured Sanaa in September 2014. This effort is commonly known as the “peace process” and is widely supported by the international community, including the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and the European Union.
There are no easy answers
The urgency to reach a political settlement is largely driven by the desire to address the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen — and understandably so.
While the Biden administration can successfully put pressure on the Saudi-led coalition and the Yemeni government, it does not have the same leverage on the Houthis, who currently have the upper hand militarily. A political settlement, therefore, risks tipping the military balance in favor of the Houthis, who have failed to demonstrate any commitment to cease-fires in the past.
The Biden administration appears to have revoked the FTO designation unconditionally in the hope that the Houthis will reciprocate and engage in negotiations in good faith. As former USAID official Dave Harden argues, however, the Houthis will perceive this rescission as a sign of American weakness.
Politically, the U.N.-led peace process overlooks new actors that have emerged over the past few years, including the Southern Transitional Council and forces on the west coast. Both have animosity toward the Houthis and Hadi’s government and both have the ability to jeopardize any future political settlement that does not include them. Recently, local initiatives in Hadramout and Shabwa governorates took steps to strengthen their autonomy and demands for political representation, a sentiment most Yemenis who are currently not represented in the peace talks share with them.
Failed international interventions
In recent years, Yemen has paid the price for well-intentioned international interventions in the name of peace that have not only failed but also backfired. In 2011, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative resulted in a power-sharing deal between former President Saleh and his opponents and outlined a plan for a political transition process. Focused primarily on the power struggle among the political elite while neglecting the long-standing grievances of ordinary Yemenis, the deal granted former President Saleh immunity, which effectively allowed him to remain in control of most of the armed forces. Saleh then allied with the Houthis and overthrew the government in September 2014, dragging the country into a devastating civil war.
Looking ahead
Moving forward, the Biden administration should be cautious and assess the unintended consequences of using diplomacy to force a political negotiation process that fails to consider Yemen’s complex domestic dynamics and the reality on the ground.
In order to address the Yemen problem, the Biden administration should first embrace the complexity of the conflict and develop a Yemen policy that reflects it. The administration has to come to terms with the fact that conditions might not be ripe to end the conflict, much less bring about peace. While it can hold the Saudi-led coalition accountable for their role in mismanaging the war and for the civilian casualties their intervention has caused, it is not the responsibility of the United States to solve the conflict. Second, rather than using its political capital to push through a shaky deal that will likely be counterproductive, the new U.S. administration should work with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Yemen Martin Griffiths to mitigate the impact of the conflict on civilians by easing access to humanitarian aid and opening airports, seaports, and key roads to cities. Third, it should work with Saudi Arabia to stabilize the Yemeni currency, support the local economy, and strengthen governance and security where possible.
Increased U.S diplomatic engagement to address the conflict in Yemen could help pave the way to end the war if it factors in the complexity and power dynamics on the ground. It could also potentially exacerbate the conflict if the administration is too focused on a quick fix that lacks the essential ingredients for sustainable peace. The administration should recognize its limitations and make decisions wisely – by Nadwa Al-Dawsari
https://www.mei.edu/publications/why-end-yemen-war-narrative-problematic
My remark: Ba an anti-Houthi Yemeni author.
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US and UK consider military-backed clean-up of Yemen tanker
As UN efforts to stop 'FSO Safer' oil spill are thwarted by Iran-aligned Houthis, US and UK may step in to avoid catastrophe
The US and Britain are increasingly worried about a rusting oil tanker stranded off Yemen’s coast, and are considering a military-backed mission to end the threat of environmental devastation it poses.
Former UK foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan and Ian Ralby, chief executive of IR Consilium, a maritime security consultancy, said the FSO Safer could spill 1.1 million barrels into the Red Sea at any moment, causing chaos on a vital shipping lane and hurting coastal towns.
Experts have described a growing appetite in the Biden administration, Britain and elsewhere to act now and avert an ecological disaster.
“Don't miss this chance to get it sorted,” Mr Duncan, a former UK minister of state for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told The National.
“You’ve got to empty it and scrap the ship, otherwise the entire Red Sea is at risk.”
“The enlightened change of policy is a fantastic opportunity to sort this environmental threat," Mr Duncan said.
"It would be negligent if this sensible turnaround in approach is not accompanied by a clear policy to make the Safer safe."
He said he spoke to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson about their shared concerns over the tanker.
A joint clean-up mission could mark an “early success” in Anglo-American ties in the Biden era, said Mr Duncan, a former oil trader who held government jobs including as envoy to Yemen.
“If the UK and the US work together with the UN, there's a good chance of getting this sorted,” he said.
The 45-year-old vessel has been stranded off Ras Isa oil terminal, 60 kilometres north of the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, since 2015.
The UN says it could spill about 1.1 million barrels of oil into the ocean – four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster near Alaska.
The Houthis say the mission can still go ahead, but analysts say the Iran-backed rebels want the Safer in place to profit from future oil sales and to raise the risks for any seaborne assault by Saudi forces.
Mr Ralby, who advises governments on the vessel, said UN efforts had failed.
He urged the US, Britain and others to push for authorisation of a military operation in the UN Security Council.
The mission would include engineers, backed by armed forces, demining water near the floating storage and offloading platform, and spending one month carefully draining the tanks before the tanker was scrapped, Mr Ralby said.
A US State Department official said the Houthis were "negotiating in bad faith" and urged them to let UN engineers aboard to repair the leaky hulk.
"The only real option is to do everything we can to prevent a spill or explosion, and that requires immediate action," the official told The National.
My comment: The UK still wants to play the role of colonial power – and both countries prefer to play the military cards in international poltics – whatever happens.
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Washington’s signals in Yemen encourage the Houthis to push ahead in Marib
The UN envoy to Tehran's visit was considered by observers as tantamount to exposing Iran's role in Yemen but also reserving a seat for Tehran at the negotiating table for a final settlement in Yemen.
Yemeni political sources told The Arab Weekly that the Iran-backed Houthis are seeking to achieve as many military gains on the ground as possible before a final regional and international position is fleshed out regarding a ceasefire and the push for a political settlement to the Yemeni crisis.
The sources say that the Houthi attack on the strategic governorate of Marib is an attempt by the Houthis to take advantage of US leniency towards Iran and Washington's decision to remove the Yemeni militant group from the list of terrorist organisations, following pressure from the United Nations and affiliated humanitarian organisations.
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul-Malik said, according to the Yemeni cabinet's official website, that the Houthi militias' targeting of residential neighborhoods in Marib and Al-Jawf with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones, in conjunction with international calls and moves to find a political solution to the Yemen conflict, “provides new evidence to the international community that these militias do not believe in peace and are continuing to carry out Iran's subversive agenda in the region."
https://thearabweekly.com/washingtons-signals-yemen-encourage-houthis-push-ahead-marib
My remark: A biased anti-Houthi overview article by a pro-UAE news site.
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Nach dem Jubel kam der Krieg
„Enttäuschung“, ist das Wort, das Hadil immer wieder hört, wenn sie mit Freunden und Bekannten im Jemen spricht: ein sehr junges Land. Fast jeder Zweite ist unter 15 Jahren. Die neue Generation hat Frust statt Perspektiven:
„Sie sehen ihr Land täglich mehr ins Chaos rutschen. Und sie können nichts dagegen tun. Sie haben keine wirtschaftlichen Chancen. Sie sehen zu, wie ihre Zukunft ins Nichts verschwindet. Sie leben jeden Tag ohne Ziel und deswegen sind sie frustriert. Sie glauben nicht, dass es bald Veränderung geben wird. Manche bereuen, dass sie protestiert haben. Andere halten noch an der Hoffnung fest, dass Chaos nach einer Revolution erst einmal normal ist und die Veränderung noch kommen wird. Aber sie sind frustriert und enttäuscht, weil sie nichts zu sagen haben, bei dem, was gerade in ihrem Land passiert.“
Audio: https://podcast-mp3.dradio.de/podcast/2021/02/08/jemens_revolution_nach_dem_jubel_kam_der_krieg_weltzeit_drk_20210208_1830_827149d5.mp3 = https://beta.ardaudiothek.de/weltzeit/jemens-revolution-nach-dem-jubel-kam-der-krieg/86062606
Mein Kommentar: Wenn man eine Anti-Huthi-Aktivistin interviewt, wird es halt etwas einseitig…
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Coalition returns child soldier recruited by Houthis to his family
The coalition’s Child Protection Unit handed over the child to the legitimate Yemeni government, in the presence of the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Saudi Red Crescent and the Human Rights Commission.
He was among 146 former child soldiers who have been returned to their families after having participated in combat operations on the battlefield or taken up arms, in violation of international humanitarian law and children’s rights.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32177
Film: https://twitter.com/aawsat_News/status/1358504044168417281
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GCC looks forward to working with new US administration to end Yemen crisis
The Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday said it is looking forward to working with the new US administration to find a comprehensive solution to the Yemeni crisis and stabilise the region.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23025.html
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Jemen: Zehn Jahre Revolution
Im Jahr 2011 erhoben sich die Jemeniten gegen das autoritäre Regime von Präsident Ali Abdullah Salih. Doch der Aufstand mündete in einen Bürgerkrieg, der rasch internationale Dimensionen annahm. Eine Bestandsaufnahme.
"Die ersten Tage waren wunderbar", erinnert sich Reem Jarhum an den Beginn der Revolution im Jemen vor zehn Jahren. "Wir versammelten uns auf dem Tahrir-Platz und freuten uns, Gleichgesinnte zu treffen", schildert sie die nun zehn Jahre zurückliegende Aufbruchsstimmung in der Hauptstadt Sanaa.
Doch die Hoffnung mündete in eine politische Katastrophe. 2012 brach im Jemen ein neuer Bürgerkrieg los, mit desaströsen Folgen.
"Der Krieg hält sich vor allem aufgrund der Finanzierung von außen und der verschiedenen Stellvertreterkräfte, die sich an ihm beteiligen", sagte Samaa Al-Hamdani, Polit-Analystin beim Middle East Institute in Washington, im DW-Gespräch. "Der Iran, Saudi-Arabien, die Türkei und viele weitere Länder waren in diesen Krieg verwickelt und wollten, dass er weiterging", so Al-Hamdani.
Im Jemen selbst stehen viele Menschen noch heute zur Revolution, ungeachtet ihres katastrophalen Ausgangs. "Unsere Biografien haben sich 2011 verändert", sagt Farea al-Muslimi. "In jenem Jahr haben wir ein neues Verständnis von Macht entwickelt. Es war das Jahr, in dem das Regime begann, unseretwegen durchzudrehen." Allerdings leide die Bevölkerung auf vielerlei Weise. Darum sei es kaum vorstellbar, dass es in nächster Zeit zu einem weiteren landesweiten pro-demokratischen Aufstand komme, befürchtet er.
Ähnlich sieht es Al-Hamdani. Die Idee eines demokratischen Prozesses sei zwar wichtig und künftig weiterhin erstrebenswert. "Aber es ist wirklich schwer, dass sie in absehbarer Zeit politische Wirklichkeit wird."
https://www.dw.com/de/jemen-zehn-jahre-revolution/a-56527286?maca=de-rss-de-region-nahost-3328-rdf
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Yemen: 10 years after the Arab Spring, new hopes sprout
Yemen's Arab Spring uprisings led to a raging civil war that has inflicted immense suffering on the population for the past seven years.
The downward spiral of the past 10 years, almost seven years of which have been taken up by a civil war, began with the political failure of Saleh's successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who, like the former president, had no solution for corruption, unemployment and food insecurity.
It may come as a surprise that despite the more than 100,000 wartime deaths, the suffering caused by many diseases including cholera and COVID-19 and the widespread starvation over the past 10 years, the Yemeni uprising of 2011 itself is not seen with bitterness in the country.
"Our biographies have changed. It was the year we changed our understanding of power. It was the year the regime started to freak out because of us," Farea Al-Muslimi told DW.
Yet with the population suffering misery on many different levels, it is hard to imagine another countrywide pro-democracy uprising anytime soon, he said.
Al-Hamdani agrees."I think the idea of a democratic process is really important and something they should aim for in the future, but it is really hard to see it as reality in the short term," she said.
Reem Jarhum, who now works from Berlin for a project on COVID-19 awareness in Yemen, also believes that the revolution was worth it. "Politically things went down
https://www.dw.com/en/yemen-10-years-after-the-arab-spring-new-hopes-sprout/a-56514275
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Fotos: Jemen: Aufstand und Albtraum
Vor zehn Jahren, im Februar 2011, gingen die Jemeniten für Freiheit und Rechtsstaatlichkeit auf die Straße. Doch stattdessen mündete der Aufstand in einen jahrelangen Krieg. Eindrücke aus einem zerrissenen Land.
https://www.dw.com/de/jemen-aufstand-und-albtraum/g-56507940
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
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Houthis accuse coalition of holding 12 fuel ships of Saudi city of Jizan
The Houthi group on Monday accused a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen of holding 12 fuel vessels off the Saudi Jizan port and preventing them from entering Hodeidah seaport.
Penalties to be paid for the delayed delivery of the fuel cargoes are four times the customs duties of the cargoes, the manager of the Sanaa-based Yemen petroleum company Ammar Al-Adhru'e said in a statement carried by Almasirah TV.
Not a single litre of fuel has entered the country since the company started rationing fuel consumption 83 days ago, he said.
11 ships are carrying 324.782 tons of diesel and benzene and one carrying mazut, he said.
All the ships have been inspected by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen in Djibouti and granted licences to enter Yemen, he added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23049.html
and
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YPC: US-Saudi Aggression Detains 12 Oil Ships Off Jizan
The Director General of the Yemeni Petroleum Company, Ammar Al-Adhrae'e, confirmed, Monday, that the forces of the Saudi-led aggression are detaining 12 oil ships off Jizan coast.
In a statement to Almasirah, Al-Adhrae'e explained that the fines for delaying the entry of oil ships are equal to 4 times the cost of oil itself.
Adding to that the YPC has regulated oil distribution in order to rationalize consumption, stressing that Hodeidah port hasn't received any oil derivatives in 38 days.
The company stated that the coalition of aggression continues to detain 12 oil ships with a total of 324,782 tons of gasoline and diesel. “The coalition
https://english.almasirah.net/post/17670/YPC-US-Saudi-Aggression-Detains-12-Oil-Ships-Off-Jizan
(A P)
Tweeting Campaign Launched, Denounces US-Saudi Detention of Oil Ships, Accelerating Yemen Crisis
A tweeting campaign was launched, Tuesday, on the social networking site, Twitter, to denounce the US-Saudi continued detention of oil derivative ships and preventing their entry to the port of Hodeidah, the artery of Yemen.
(B K P)
All services could be disrupted as coalition continues to hold fuel ships, Houthis warn
The Houthi-run Yemeni telecommunications corporation on Monday warned of serious consequences of maritime piracy and continued holding of fuel ships by a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
We are watching the fuel crisis with great concerns amid tight blockade and prevention of fuel from entering Hodeidah seaport, it said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Debriefer.
The statement condemned serious violations of international humanitarian law and their impacts on the lives of the Yemeni people for six years.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23053.html
(B H K P)
Republican Hospital Authority in Sana'a warns of stopping its medical services
The Republican Teaching Hospital Authority in the capital Sana'a warned on Tuesday against stopping its services due to the depletion of fuel due to acts of maritime piracy and the continued detention of oil derivatives ships and their entry to Hodeida port by the aggression.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3127915.htm
(B H K P)
Al-Gumhori Hospital Warns of Halting Its Services While Saudi-led Aggression Continues Preventing Oil Ships Delivering Fuel
(B H K P)
At least 141 Yemeni health centers threatened with total shutdown due to Saudi blockade
The [Sanaa gov.] Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen has on Tuesday said that, if the Saudi-led aggression continues to prevent the entry of oil derivatives, hospitals “would be turned into cemeteries, and thousands of patients: children, women and men, would be sentenced to death.”
Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Najib al-Qubati told Saba News Agency that the continuation of piracy and the denial of the entry of oil derivatives will lead to the suspension of the services of 141 health facilities.
He warned of a health disaster that could stop life-saving interventions in many departments, especially emergencies, obstetric and neonatal emergencies, operating theatres, intensive care, neonatal nurseries, dialysis units, medical equipment and oxygen-generating plants.
Dr. Al-Qubati pointed out that the continuation of the blockade and the denial of the arrival of oil derivatives ships has exacerbated the health situation and will cause catastrophic humanitarian repercussions, which come in addition to the bombing and destruction of this sector by the aircraft of aggression,
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23067.html
(A H K P)
Oxygen Plant Warns Discontinued its Production Due to Lack of Diesel
Modern Yemen Oxygen Plant has warned of the cessation of its production of oxygen needed for hospitals and medical centers, due to the lack of diesel.
In a statement, the factory indicated that the factory supplies oxygen to many hospitals in the capital and the governorates.
The statement emphasized that the plant's stopping the production of oxygen would lead to a health disaster threatening the lives of patients.
(A H K P)
Kuwait University Hospital Condemns Oil Ships Detention by US-Saudi Aggression
(A K P)
Water Corporation Warns of Danger Due to Shortage of Fuel, Saudi-led Forces preventing Oil chips Entry
The Director of the Water Corporation, Eng. Muhammad Al-Shami, warned of the total suspension of water projects due to the lack of fuel, due to of the US-Saudi aggression’s preventing entry of oil derivatives.
In a statement to Almasirah, Eng. Al-Shami called on international organizations and the United Nations to avoid the disaster of stopping water pumping and to pressure the countries of aggression to allow entry of oil derivative ships.
He explained that the decline in the level of the institution’s revenues in light of the cut in salaries led to the inability of the institution to cover the deficit that the organizations were paying, calling at the same time the organizations not to excuse the lack of support.
It is noteworthy that the US-Saudi aggression continues to detain oil and food ships, despite obtaining UN permits, and they are not allowed to enter the port of Hodeidah in light of the silence of the international community.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
This Yemeni Doctor Has Treated COVID Patients for Months Without Pay While Living in the Hospital
Since March 2020, Dr. Tariq Qassem has been living at the hospital in Yemen where he works.
It’s not because he’s sick — although at one point, lacking proper protective gear while treating patients in the COVID isolation ward, he caught the virus himself.
It’s because he can’t afford to live anywhere else.
As the new FRONTLINE documentary Yemen’s COVID Cover-Up explores, like many other government doctors in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled north, Qassem hasn’t been paid a regular salary since 2016. He has received no payment at all since March, when the World Health Organization ended supplemental pay for Yemeni doctors, citing funding cuts.
But Qassem and a number of other doctors at the main hospital in Amran, Yemen, have kept on working.
“We swore a medical oath: If we could help anyone in need, we’d do so,” Qassem tells correspondent Nawal al-Maghafi in the above excerpt from the film. “Yes, I’m struggling financially, but it won’t stop me working. It doesn’t matter that I’m exhausted. What’s important are the people of my country.”
The lack of supplies has had a dire impact on Yemeni health care workers’ ability to treat COVID patients, the film reports: “Lack of oxygen caused most of the deaths,” Qassem tells al-Maghafi. “If we’d had more oxygen, there’d have been fewer deaths.”
Al-Maghafi, a Yemen-born reporter for BBC News Arabic, returned to her home country in July 2020 to investigate how the coronavirus pandemic was impacting the country. The first journalist from an international broadcaster to be allowed into Yemen since the pandemic began, al-Maghafi uncovered evidence of a far higher death toll than Houthi authorities were admitting. Her findings unfold in full in Yemen’s COVID Cover-Up, premiering Tuesday, Feb. 9.
In the above excerpt, she asks the Houthi health minister, Dr. Taha al-Mutawakkil, why the government has failed to pay doctors while continuing to pay its fighters on the front lines.
“The Saudi-led coalition controls our land borders, ports and airports,” al-Mutawakkil argues, claiming: “We are under siege. We don’t have any resources.”
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/covid-crisis-yemen-doctors-going-unpaid/
(B H)
Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative: January 2021 Situation Overview
The JMMI incorporates information on market systems including price levels and supply chains. The basket of goods to be assessed includes ten non-food items (NFIs), such as fuel, water, and hygiene products, reflecting the programmatic areas of the WASH Cluster. The JMMI tracks all components of the WASH and Food Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) as well as other food and non-food items. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, REACH has adapted the JMMI to begin assessing the potential impact of the pandemic on markets and on respondents' businesses.
(A H)
WHO: Kuwait helps treat 35,000 cancer patients in Yemen
Kuwait has contributed to the medical treatment of 35,000 cancer patients in Yemen, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Tuesday.
"Thanks to the generous support from the state of Kuwait who provided cancer drugs for seven oncology centres across Yemen. Supporting the treatment of up to 35,000 cancer patients in need, of whom 10 per cent are children," the WHO announced on Twitter, adding that 16,200 of the patients are women and 4,300 are children.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210211-who-kuwait-helps-treat-35000-cancer-patients-in-yemen/
(B H)
Defying hardship, maternity clinic in Sana’a successfully delivers healthy triplets
Sabeen Maternity and Child Hospital in the Capital Sana’a has witnessed the birth of triplets to a woman in her mid-40s, carried out by caesarean section.
Dr. Magda al-Khatib, director of the Sabeen hospital, told Saba News Agency that a mother has successfully given birth to triplets.
The babies weigh between 1,500 and 2,000 grams, and have left the hospital in good health.
(A H)
Japan boosts FAO’s efforts to reduce acute food insecurity of conflict and Covid-19 affected population in Yemen
The Government of Japan boosts the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) emergency interventions in Yemen by contributing USD 2 090 909 allocated as part of its ongoing response in Yemen.
http://www.fao.org/neareast/news/view/en/c/1373549/
(B H)
Yemen commodity tracker (October 2020- January 2021)
This quarterly tracker monitors commercial imports to Hudaydah and Saleef ports via the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM). It also reports prices of basic food and fuel commodities as monitored by the World Food Programme. This edition covers data from October 2020 to January 2021. January data is not yet available for all categories. Food basket price data was also not available for quarter 4 of 2020; this data will be released soon.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-commodity-tracker-october-2020-january-2021
(* B H)
Yemen Protection Brief, January 2021
Operational Context
Almost six years ago, Yemen slipped into a deadly conflict that provoked the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Since its escalation in 2015, at least 7,825 civilians have been killed including 2,138 children and 933 women and more than 12,000 have been injured, and over 4 million people are estimated to have been internally displaced.
Indiscriminate attacks and the repeated use of explosive weapons continue to be the distinguishing features of the conflict. Almost all types of explosive weapons are believed to have been used in Yemen.
These weapons are notorious for failing to precisely hit intended military targets and for causing damage hundreds of meters away from their original target.
The protection situation in Yemen remains extremely volatile. Violations and abuse of rights, which may “amount to war crimes” have been reported.12 In 2020, new frontlines emerged and existing hotspots such as in Al Hudaydah and Taizz governorates witnessed increased hostilities that killed, injured and displaced civilians. In January 2020, Marib Governorate descended into large scale military escalation, which persists to endanger the lives of civilians including nearly 1 million IDPs. While years of conflict, natural hazards and recurring disease outbreaks including Covid-19 have caused widespread devastation to all civilians, persons with specific needs such as children, Descendants of Bilal colloquially referred to as the Muhamasheen, people with disabilities and older persons have been disproportionately impacted. This protection brief will focus on the protection situation of these four population groups.
Protection of Children
Protection of the Descendants of Bilal / Muhamasheen
Protection of People with Disabilities
Protection of Older Persons
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-protection-brief-january-2021
(* B H P)
Viewpoint: From Ethiopia's Tigray region to Yemen, the dilemma of declaring a famine
Mr Egeland went on to say: "The entire aid sector . . . must also recognise our failure to define the scale of the crisis."
In other words, will the United Nations call out "famine" and if so when? [in Tigray]
There simply isn't enough information for the UN to declare a famine.
About 15 years ago, humanitarian professionals in the UN developed a standardized metric for measuring food insecurity. They came up with the "integrated food security phase classification" system, known as the IPC.
It has five levels, from "minimal food insecurity" through increasing degrees of severity to the worst level, "famine". The IPC uses a standard set of indicators including food consumption, numbers of malnourished children, and death rates.
'No data, no famine'
This official definition of famine is much more precise than its everyday use as "large numbers of people suffering life-threatening hunger".
But in solving one problem, the IPC system set up another. Now the UN can only cry "famine" when it has certain very specific information.
And, determined to avoid getting a "famine" designation, governments often conceal or manipulate data to achieve their goal - and downplay the severity of hunger. Meanwhile, in the next levels down, "emergency" and "crisis", people are still dying - just at a slightly lower rate.
The UN has encountered this problem recently in other humanitarian disasters. In Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition, its client government and the Houthi authorities have denied humanitarian agencies access to hungry areas, meaning they can't conduct surveys.
Without data on malnutrition, child deaths and food consumption, the members of the IPC committee arrive at the cautious conclusion that it's an emergency, but they can't say "famine" because they don't have the information to prove it
The other big problem is politics. When the cause of mass starvation is military policy, humanitarian agencies face a terrible dilemma. Will they denounce the abuses and risk getting thrown out of the country? Or will they stay silent and become complicit in starvation crimes?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/viewpoint-ethiopias-tigray-region-yemen-004829394.html
(B H K)
ICRC: Remembering the full hearts of three colleagues killed in Yemen
ICRC’s global family was devastated to learn of the deaths of three colleagues after several explosions rocked the airport in Aden, Yemen on 30 December. Hamid Al-Qadami, Ahmed Wazir and Saidi Kayiranga made strong impressions on those they worked alongside with their good humour, dedication to work and interest in helping others. We take a moment to remember our three colleagues for the impact they had on the friends they made.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/remembering-full-hearts-three-colleagues-killed-yemen
(* B H)
"IT'S LIKE WORKING WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED": DELIVERING BABIES IN YEMEN'S CIVIL WAR
Years of brutal civil war have pushed Yemen's healthcare system to collapse. From a maternity ward in the battle-scarred city of Abs, MSF midwife Tamara takes us through the challenges of welcoming new life into this unstable world.
It’s like working with your eyes closed. I am here to help this woman give birth, but I don’t have all the information about what is happening.
That’s what working on the maternity ward is like in Abs. You can’t see anything, so it’s a surprise, whatever comes. You just have to be ready and you need to treat every woman as a high-risk case.
Not a single time can you think "No, she's fine. Everything is going to be fine. The baby will be born, and that's it."
You always have to have a red flag in your head thinking, "Hundreds of things can happen… so let's go and get ready."
I worked at the hospital in Abs for two months, on my first assignment for MSF.
The conflict causes so many situations that I just don’t have to imagine happening when I’m working in the UK. People are struggling, their country is at war, they have medical conditions which they can’t get treated, and all of this is exacerbated in pregnancy.
The Yemeni health system has collapsed, and most of the families in the area can’t afford antenatal care from private clinics, so a lot of complications that could have been spotted early or prevented are missed. And this means that many women arrive at the hospital with really urgent, serious conditions: obstructed labour, uterine rupture, haemorrhage, eclampsia.
I remember a woman who was readmitted to the hospital during my first week here. She’d had a C-section and her scars had become infected. It can happen anywhere, but it’s not that common in the UK, where I live.
When we talked to the family, we learned that they just didn’t have the water to keep the wounds clean while they healed. They couldn’t just go to the kitchen and turn on a tap.
On top of all of this, getting to and from the hospital is hard for people. The costs of transport and danger on the roads mean that women face dangerous delays in getting to care. However, once here, their families sometimes want them to leave before they’re medically ready.
This is because of situations caused by the conflict either mean it’s “now or never” to get home safely, that the family won’t be able to afford to come back to the hospital, of that nobody is able to take care of other children still at home.
Despite these challenges, most of the women who arrived at the hospital did go home with healthy babies.
We had a lot of breech presentation deliveries – a difficult birth when the baby is coming out feet first. These births are not common in Europe because they are diagnosed during antenatal care (which is basically non-existent in Yemen) and women are offered a caesarean section before going into labour.
But, in Abs, dealing with complications like this was a common event. I was so surprised at how well our midwife team were able to manage these and send mothers and their new babies home together.
(* B H)
Film: Solar energy empowers young women in Yemen
Ten women in Yemen’s Abs district have built and now run a solar microgrid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-55911767
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1a
(B H)
Flow Monitoring Points | Migrant Arrivals and Yemeni Returns in January 2021
IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 2,500 migrants entered Yemen and one Yemen from Somalia returnee during the month of January 2021. Currently, IOM Yemen DTM does not have access to Manfath Alwadeeah FMP, on the KSA-Yemen land border point, and therefore cannot report information on Yemeni returnees.
The migrant caseload has been primarily Ethiopian (90%) and Somalis (10%), with 100% of those tracked heading for Saudi Arabia. The migrants are predominantly male (70%), with 20% women and 7% boys and 3% girls also among the travelers.
Through the January 2021 reporting period, the highest arrivals were observed at Hadramaut governorate with 889 migrants entering at Tajamo Sharj Al Falahein point.
(* B H)
Humanitarian organisations in Yemen pilot ‘Durable Solutions’ to help reduce aid dependency
This puts huge pressure on humanitarian actors providing assistance and so more sustainable solutions are required.
To rise to this challenge, ACTED and its partner organisations are working in a Consortium to pilot ‘Durable Solutions’ in Yemen. This approach combines the key, life-saving elements of a humanitarian intervention with recovery and strengthening of social cohesion efforts as a foundation for actions which help families consolidate their resources and begin building a future.
What are Durable Solutions?
IDPs in Yemen face a daunting set of challenges.
Many of these families were forced to flee with little warning, not giving them time to take their belongings or inform their family members. The crucial connections with their communities have been severed, leaving them little in terms of a support network.
With no permanent home, they are often hostage to the whims of landowners who are able to evict them with little notice. These families are thus unable to rely on access to basic services, including clean water, food, health facilities and education. It also makes it very hard to find reliable work which has the knock on effect of reducing income. Children often pay the highest price for this as they miss out on education putting them at risk of early marriage or recruitment into armed groups.
‘Durable Solutions’ * are interventions that deliver long-term, sustainable benefits for communities, rather than a short-term, emergency response. These solutions support communities in building their resilience and allow them to become less reliant on humanitarian assistance.
We achieve a Durable Solution when an IDP no longer has specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement: They can enjoy their human rights without discrimination resulting from their displacement.
(B H)
IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 31 Jan - 06 Feb 2021
From 01 January 2021 to 6 February 2021, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 731 households (HH) (4,386 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.
Since the beginning of 2021, DTM also identified other 17 previously displaced households who left the displaced location and moved to either their place of origin or some other displaced location.
Between 31 January 2021 and 06 February 2021, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 130 households (780 individuals) displaced at least once. The highest number of displacements were seen in:
(B H)
UNHCR Yemen: Rapid Needs and Vulnerability Assessment Update (1 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2020)
(* B H)
IOM Yemen: Situation Report December 2020
In 2020, the people of Yemen continued to suffer through the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. The situation deteriorated to further alarming levels after the confirmation of Yemen’s first COVID-19 case in April. While the crisis is causing great suffering and loss of life, the conflict has directly led to the death an estimated 233,000 people, including more than 3,000 children, since it began, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Throughout the year, displacement and migration challenges have been compounded by fuel, political and economic crises and a weakened public health system, in addition to the global COVID-19 pandemic. And as food insecurity continued to worsen for millions in Yemen, thousands of displaced persons and migrants worryingly cite access to food among their critical needs.
A consistent trend throughout the year, access obstacles, particularly in the north, continued in December. Staff movements and relief items for all agencies and international NGOs remained constrained by permit denials by local authorities or additional ad hoc bureaucratic requirements often imposed without prior communication. As of 13 December, 74 NGO projects were pending sub-agreement approval by the authorities, targeting over 4.7 million people.
IOM continues to advocate for migrants’ rights in Yemen and provide basic services for migrants transiting through and stranded in the country.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-situation-report-december-2020
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
Yemen: UAE Needs to End War on Earth Before Reaching for Space
A senior Yemeni official reacted to Abu Dhabi’s successful launch of a Mars-bound mission, saying the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should first make achievements on Earth, the greatest of which would be ending its role in the bloody Saudi-led war on Yemen, before reaching for the space.
“The UAE is one of the countries involved in the coalition of aggression that is besieging Yemen and killing people at the same time as it is following Amal (Hope) [probe] on Mars,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, wrote in a post published on his Twitter page on Tuesday, presstv reported.
(* B P)
The Houthis and the Hijacking of Yemen’s Education Sector
The Houthis’ attacks on schools and universities have not been limited to bullets and bombs, they seek control over these institutions. Ali Al-Sakani, journalist and graduate teaching assistant in Yemen, explained why the Houthis are so interested in dominating the education sector noting that:
‘Through this sector, Houthis can have easy access to a large number of Yemenis to mobilise and recruit. Houthis know that their beliefs and ideology are not accepted by the wide range of Yemeni society, especially young people, therefore they target the education sector to change the identity and national principles in the curriculums and replace them with their sectarian ideology and goals, which will make the next generations easier to control and influence.’
Hijacking Education: Tools and Approaches
To achieve their goals, the Houthis fired and persecuted many experienced professors and university administrators and replaced them with often unqualified supporters. For instance, Yahia Badreddin Al-Houthi, brother of the Houthis’ leader, Abdul Malek Al-Houthi, was appointed as Minister of Education in the group-controlled areas, while the Director of the University of Science and Technology in Sana’a, Dr Hameed Aklan, was kidnapped, imprisoned and replaced by a Houthi-loyalist, Dr Adel Al-Mutawakkil, in early 2020.
The Houthis have created a culture of fear. Detaining and torturing students for allegedly forming an opposition alliance or criticising the Houthis is also common. They have recruited students and staff to monitor and report on other students and staff, who express opposition to the Houthis or Iran.
To transform the national and cultural identity, the Houthis not only replaced staff, they also changed the names of the schools.
Recently, the Houthis built walls inside classrooms to separate male students from female students.
Dangerous Consequences
What the Houthis are doing to schools and universities in Yemen will have acute consequences for the country’s education sector.
‘Many parents have prevented their children from completing their studies as a result of the change of curriculum or their inability to pay the fees Houthis have imposed on public schools that [once] provided free education.
Many are left with only two options: drop out or submit. The lack of proper schooling and poor education will have extremely negative effects on the population and country. Education, while it may not be an immediate concern during the conflict, is highly crucial for post-conflict peace sustainability.
‘The impact will be catastrophic; it will create generations with sectarian and racist ideas, with an extremist religious identity instead of a national identity, a low level of scientific education, and an increase in illiteracy…’ Al Sakani explained.
‘Education needs to be kept out of the conflict, and UNICEF can play an important role by monitoring the educational process, printing and distributing the national textbooks, and paying teachers’ salaries.’
However, the Houthis complicate and obstruct UNICEF’s work and provisions of international humanitarian aid. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Houthis have been trying to seize cash incentives offered by UNICEF, co-funded by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to 130,000 teachers in regions under Houthi control.
Therefore, only a solution to the conflict can save the education sector and all the crises Yemen is facing.
https://www.egic.info/houthis-hijacking-education-yemen
My comment: By a pro-Saudi, pro-UAE, pro-GCC think tank, with anti-Houthi bias.
(A P)
Film: #Houthi senior leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti: We [Houthis] don't make our decisive and strategic decisions based on political, military, economic, or financial calculations, but rather based on God’s directives.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1359280047027331078
Comment: How do you negotiate with that?
https://twitter.com/Macoombs/status/1359292544077549572
(A P)
Hajjah receives 5 freed prisoners
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3127926.htm
(A P)
Yemen: Houthi-run court sentences lawmakers to death
11 parliamentarians sentenced in absentia over their support for government, according to lawyer
A court in Yemen’s capital run by the Houthi rebel group handed down death sentences in absentia Tuesday to 11 parliamentarians over their support for the Yemeni government.
Abdul Basit Ghazi, a Yemeni lawyer who defends exiled activists facing questionable trials, said in a statement on Facebook that the penal court in Sana’a charged the lawmakers with taking part in a meeting of parliament in Seiyun city in eastern Yemen in 2019 during which a new presidency was elected.
He added that the court ordered all their properties to be confiscated by the state treasury in Sana'a.
According to Ghazi, the court also decided to refer Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, former US President Donald Trump and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for investigation by the public prosecution for committing "aggression" against Yemen.
In March 2020, the same court also issued death sentences to 35 parliamentarians for supporting the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, [Hadi gov.] Yemeni Deputy Justice Minister Faisal al-Majidi said the Yemeni government does not recognize the court and its sentences have no legal validity.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-houthi-run-court-sentences-lawmakers-to-death/2139547
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23081.html
(A P)
Yemeni Christian priest detained, tortured by Houthis for four years
The 50-year-old priest has been imprisoned by the group’s intelligence services for four years, as part of a campaign of arrests launched by the group agains the estimated 2,000 Christians in territory it controls.
Sources in the Sana’a told Asharq Al-Awsat daily that the Houthi militia specifically targeted Yemeni Christians and arrested many of them, including Khalidi, a convert, who was allegedly subjected to torture in prison. Houthi intelligence continues to investigate others whose religious beliefs have not yet been disclosed, especially since most of the Yemeni converts to Christianity have already left the country.
Khalidi’s family have avoided talking about his imprisonment for fear of repercussions against him, but one former prisoner, recently released from a Houthi jail, told Asharq Al-Awsat that he met Khalidi and others in detention, and said that the priest was arrested after the militia took control of Sana’a, saying his jailers kept him in solitary confinement for weeks at a time. He added that other Christian prisoners had been forced to recant their religious beliefs under torture.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1806546/middle-east
My comment: Houthis have learnt a lot from their Saudi Wahabi ideological masters. It might be somewhat odd that Saudi news sites now decry it.
(A P)
The arrest of the accused of burning his wife "Al-Anoud Hussein Sheryan" in Saada while trying to flee to Saudi Arabia (photo)
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1358822011963924484
referring to https://spicy-news.com/news/yemen/12033
(A P)
Trial of spies for British intelligence begins in Yemen
The Specialised Criminal Court in the Yemeni capital Sana’a has on Monday begin the trial of a cell of spies working for the British intelligence service and other foreign entities on the territory of the Republic of Yemen.
The indictment stated that the defendants worked directly on recruiting, qualifying and training a number of spies in order to carry out espionage and sabotage activities in a number of Yemeni provinces.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/08/trial-of-spies-for-british-intelligence-begins-in-yemen/
(A P)
Launching Wide Campaign Calling for Lifting US-Saudi Siege on Yemen
Member of the Supreme Political Council, Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, called for a wide campaign calling for the lifting of the US-Saudi siege on Yemen.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* A K P)
As army fights defining battles, calls rise for ending mysterious salary suspension
As Yemen’s army is fighting a defining battle with the Houthi Shia extremists, calls are rising an end to the mysterious suspension of the salaries of the armed forces.
The army’s spokesman Brig. Gen. Abduh Mujalli said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV: “The army is confronting the terrorist Houthi militia despite not receiving its salaries for months. He called for their “quick payment”.
TV journalist and activist Basheer Al-Harithi wrote on his Facebook post: All the militias that fight the government receive their salaries from the state budget on a monthly basis… From the STC to the 4th Military Region’s traitors who switched side to the STC. Surprisingly, the army which is fighting for the state and for the Republic is one year behind with its payments.
Yemeni activists cite the mysterious long suspension of salaries as one of the myriad aspects of the conspiracy against the “legitimacy.”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45032
(A P)
Yemen parties say Houthis interpreted int’l ignorance of their crimes as a green light
(A P)
STC Official Abducted by Brotherhood's Militias in Sabwa
The Islah militias (Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood) abducted on Tuesday, an official of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Haban district of Shabwa governorate.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32190
(A P)
Aden: Mothers of Abductees Hold Protest Demanding Release of Their Families
Abductees Mothers Association organized a protest in front of Al-Maasheeq Palace to demand the disclosure of the fate of their relatives forcibly disappeared in the secret prisons in Aden, southern Yemen.
The mothers raised pictures of their arbitrarily detained sons, husbands and brothers, who were hidden for years, some of them over four years. They raised slogans calling for justice.
(A P)
Aden governor, STC officials arrive in Aden
Aden governor and STC's Secretary General, Ahmad Hamid Lamlas was part of a high-level delegation of the STC in Moscow in response to an invitation by the Russian government.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32183
(A P)
Emirati forces unloading suspicious cargo on occupied Yemeni island of Socotra
Informed sources at the port of Socotra Island, southern Yemen, said that an Emirati ship has unloaded a number of containers on Monday morning, under the protection of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional council (STC) forces.
The sources added that the STC forces have strengthened their military presence in the port, accompanied by Emirati officers, and are working to bring in huge containers, without it being publicly known what these containers contain.
(A P)
Armed clashes renew between two Emirati-backed SB groups
Armed clashes renewed late on Sunday between two units affiliated to the Security Belt (SB) forces of the Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the Yemeni southern governorate of Abyan.
This is the second time in 72 hours the two divisions engage in violence following dispute between two security commanders in the STC forces.
The clashes erupted late on Sunday, local source said, after dissidents from the SB forces attacked a security barrier in Zinjobar city, the provincial capital of Abyan.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23032.html
(A P)
U.S.-Linked Forces Are Detaining A Prominent Journalist In Yemen
Adel Al-Hasani has investigated his country’s crisis for the BBC, CNN and Vice. Allies of the United Arab Emirates have imprisoned him for nearly six months.
In September, he intervened with officials in Yemen’s port city of Mokha to help two international journalists who had been detained when they traveled there to cover the war. After Al-Hasani negotiated their release, they were deported back home to Europe.
Soon afterward, when he tried to return to his own home in Aden ― a major city controlled by forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. partner ― authorities there arrested him.
He’s been behind bars ever since, where he has been tortured into providing false testimony and repeatedly provided differing explanations of his charges, his lawyer, Liza Manea Saeed, told HuffPost. She said she has obtained legal paperwork clearing him of all charges, which should require officials to release him.
Because of his detention, Al-Hasani has been unable to meet his youngest child, a daughter who is less than month old.
“I have given my best to show the world what’s going on in Yemen, my country … what have I done, what have I committed to deserve all of this?” Al-Hasani recently asked in a message shared with friends working to free him.
On Friday, a family member told HuffPost his condition is deteriorating rapidly.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yemen-uae-adel-al-hasani_n_601dd8ffc5b6c56a89a0f58b
(* A P)
UAE-backed militants storm key gov’t offices in Yemen’s Aden
UAE-backed separatist militants stormed key government offices in Yemen’s interim capital Aden on Sunday demanding “northern” employees to leave and rejecting the presence of the “government in Aden.”
The state-run news agency reported that the militants on 12 military patrol cars “with all types of weapons mounted on such trucks stormed the offices of the Foreign Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Justice Ministry and other government offices” before “intimidating the employees.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-44980
and
(A P)
STC raid into gov't offices desperate attempt to foil Riyadh pact: Yemeni PM
Storming government offices in the interim capital is a desperate attempt to abort the Riyadh Agreement and hinder the application of its military section, the Yemeni prime minister said Monday.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23037.html
(A P)
Eyes should be on tension in east #Yemen Short thread: 1/ On 3FEB, the Hadrami Tribal Alliance called on President Hadi to declare #Hadramawt a separate region. Reportedly, it would incorporate #Shabwah, #Mahra and #Socotra where there is heavy opposition to the idea
On 7FEB, an *alleged* draft Presidential Decree appearing to heed the request began circulating. Presumably it’s fake as such a move would enrage the #STC & others, scupper the #RiyadhAgreement, fly in the face of UN-led peace efforts, & open new conflict fronts in the south
Meanwhile in #Mahra
1FEB the #Oman-backed Sultan (Muhammad) held a meeting in Ghaydah to discuss security concerns
10FEB the #UAE-backed Sultan (Abdallah) will hold a public meeting in Ghaydah to rally support
The #Saudi military presence has now endured over 3 years...
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1358752357199343617
(A P)
Yemen government sets conditions for talks with Houthi rebels
Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Saeed said on Monday successful peace talks with the Houthi rebels require a clear “path and intention”.
The country has been mired in a deadly conflict since the rebels drove the government out of the capital Sanaa in 2014.
“We support efforts towards a peace plan but the Houthis have no intention of doing so. We are working on ways to not complicate the lives of the Yemeni people,” Mr Saeed said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
In order for talks to occur there must be a “clear path and intention for discussion,” he said.
(A P)
Abductees Mothers Association stands in support with family of Zakaria Qassem
Abductees' Mothers Association stood in support with Zakaria Qassem's, an educator, family during their rally this morning by Ma'asheeq Presidential Palace in Aden, as three years have passed since he was forcibly disappeared.
http://ama-ye.org/index.php?no=1586&ln=En
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Siehe / Look at cp1b, cp2
(* B K P)
Despite Biden’s push, a difficult road to peace in Yemen
But reaching peace will be a difficult path. The warring parties have not held substantive negotiations since 2019.
Fighting on the ground and coalition airstrikes continue.
Peter Salisbury, Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, said Biden’s policy shift was “really welcome news.” But, he said, that “won’t automatically mean an end to the war, at all.”
Decisive military victory for either side has become highly unlikely, and all sides say they want negotiations. But corralling them all to the peace table means dealing with multiple factions each with different international backers with different agendas.
The anti-Houthi ranks have nearly fragmented several times. Most recently in 2019, forces of the Saudi-backed Hadi clashed with southern separatist factions backed by the United Arab Emirates, which is the other main power in the coalition but deeply distrusts Hadi.
Houthi demands ware outlined in a proposal last year. They called for a nationwide cease-fire, the lifting of the coalition’s air, land and sea blockade and the reopening of roads in battleground areas. An interim period would follow, with negotiations among Yemenis over the country’s future.
The Houthis insisted the deal be negotiated and signed between them and the Saudi-led coalition, clearly aiming to sideline Hadi’s government, Salisbury said.
The Saudis demand the rebels surrender their heavy weapons, particularly ballistic missiles.
Biden’s cutoff of support, meanwhile, does not immediately set back the coalition’s ability to keep waging the war.
The administration put on hold temporarily several big-ticket arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It said it would end offensive support to the coalition, though it underlined it would continue to help Saudi Arabia boost its defenses against outside attacks.
U.S. officials have not given further specifics
(A P)
[Saudi] Deputy Defense Minister Receives UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Yemen, US Envoy for Yemen
Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Defense received here today the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths and the US Envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2188525
(* A P)
Houthi demand international recognition of their government in return for ending war
The Iran-backed Houthi group has increased its conditions for resuming negotiations with Yemen's internationally recognised government in return for ending the war. Among its conditions is that the international community should recognise its government as a legitimate government.
Pro-Iran media outlets reported on Tuesday that Iranian officials told the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths about the new Houthi conditions.
Griffiths is currently visiting Tehran to discuss efforts to end the six-year conflict.
The pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen TV said the group will accept to end its military operations during negotiations, which it said should be attended by Saudi Arabia, in return for recognising its government as a legitimate government.
Other conditions include rebuilding Yemen and giving reparations for victims, according to the TV.
Iran told Griffiths it will not mediate with the Houthis unless war and blockade on Sanaa end, it said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23066.html
My comment: This sounds like a serious request. The UN will not succeed a a peace broker as long as it only recognizes one Yemeni government as the only “legitimate” one and requires the other to submit and to even disarm (as is required by the biased UNSC resolution 2216). Thus, the UN actually should recognize the Houthi Sanaa government – but not without using this concession for leverage: The UN should make clear that it will recognize both Yemeni governments “until further notice” only: until the peace process has succeeded and a new unity government has been formed. A second precondition should be that both Yemeni governments while undergoing this peace process commit to a strict ceasefire – i. e. that all Sanaa government’s offensives must stop immediately.
(A P)
Iran asks UN to recognise Houthi gov't to end Yemen crisis
Iran has demanded the United Nations recognise the Tehran-backed Houthi government in Yemen in order to end the crisis in the country; Al Jazeera quoted an Iranian official as saying.
The unnamed official told the news channel that recognising the Houthi government in Sanaa will accelerate putting an end to the crisis.
He explained that Iranian officials have informed the UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths who visited Iran this week, that statements made by the newly appointed government of US President Joe Biden are "insufficient", calling on the US administration to "take steps to stop the war in Yemen".
(* A P)
Yemen Houthis say they will cease attacks on S.Arabia if coalition stops
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Tuesday that their attacks against Saudi Arabia and loyalist forces would cease if the Riyadh-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government stopped its raids.
“I am directing a message to the new American administration and to the Saudis: Stop your attacks and we will stop ours against you. It’s as simple as that,” said Hisham Sharaf, foreign minister in the Houthi administratio
Sharaf said rebels had acted against “extremist groups” in the Marib area that had come to bolster groups supporting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The region, east of the rebel-held capital, is the government’s last northern stronghold.
http://jordantimes.com/news/region/yemen%C2%A0houthis-say-they-will-cease-attacks-sarabia-if-coalition-stops = https://www.barrons.com/news/yemen-huthis-say-will-cease-attacks-on-saudi-if-coalition-stops-01612890910?tesla=y
(A P)
UN Yemen envoy demands rebels halt Marib attack
The UN Yemen envoy on Tuesday demanded Iran-backed Houthis halt their large-scale offensive on the central city of Marib, saying the attack threatened diplomatic efforts to bring peace to the country.
Martin Griffiths tweeted that he was “extremely concerned about the resumption of hostilities in Marib, especially at a time of renewed diplomatic momentum to end the war and resume the political process.”
The envoy added that “a negotiated political settlement that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people is the only sustainable solution to end this conflict.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1806531/middle-east
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/32184
and
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni diplomat condemns UN Envoy’s latest statements
The head of the Yemeni national negotiating delegation, Mohammad Abdulsalam, has denounced the recently expressed stance of the UN Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths.
“Griffiths describes moves of the defenders [of Yemen] themselves as “hostility”, and his logic does not differ from the British ambassador’s logic,” Abdulsalam said on Twitter.
He added, “If the United Nations insists on approaching the Yemeni crisis from the perspective of the quadruple aggression, it contributes to the continuation of the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
Abdulsalam emphasised that” whoever mediates to make peace must adjust this crooked logic.”
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/09/yemeni-diplomat-condemns-un-envoys-latest-statements/
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991122000638/Yemen
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23068.html
My comment: ????
(A P)
Peace in Yemen depends on announcement of ending Saudi military operation
Peace in Yemen requires an announcement by the Saudi-led coalition of ending its military operations, senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi on Monday.
"Calls for peace by the coalition member states while they are continuing their aggression and blockade aim to make media excitement and to play the role of victim not the killer," he wrote on Twitter.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23048.html
(* B K P)
The sum of many mediators in Yemen's war
A flurry of diplomacy to end one of the Middle East’s worst conflicts suggests all sides might see a shared interest in peace.
With such high-powered mediators at work, can peace finally come to this corner of the Arabian Peninsula and end near-famine conditions for many in Yemen?
One reason for optimism is that the military side of the war is at a stalemate. The United States has cut off military support for the Saudi forces involved in the conflict. And Iran, which could be seeking better ties with the U.S., may be willing to end its support of the Houthi rebels who control most of the country. The tools of mediation are the only way to end this war.
The two main factions inside Yemen “need nudging,” said Mr. Griffiths in a recent speech. “They need to be supported. They need to be advised, let us be honest.”
Globe-trotting interlocutors like him have a knack for getting both sides to develop an appreciation for the needs and fears of each other. They bring humble listening for shared concerns and then use moral persuasion to convince each side to examine its own actions and attitudes.
The immediate needs are for a nationwide cease-fire and access for urgent humanitarian measures. A next step is for the Houthi movement to be turned into a political party that seeks its interests through peaceful means. Saudi Arabia and Iran also need to cease using Yemen as a proxy battleground for their competing visions for the Middle East.
One role for mediators in Yemen is to persuade each side that peace talks need not be a zero-sum game. If the level of diplomacy is any sign, that point is starting to add up.
(* A P)
UN envoy discusses revival of Yemen ceasefire with Iranian foreign minister
Martin Griffiths wants to make it easier for aid flights and freight ships to reach desperate Yemenis
UN peace envoy Martin Griffiths has discussed opening an airport and ports in Yemen with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in pursuit of a ceasefire deal to end the country’s conflict, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
Mr Griffiths spoke with Mr Zarif and other Iranian officials about reopening the long-closed airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and easing restrictions at the Red Sea ports in Hodeidah, a vital transit centre for aid into a country on the brink of famine.
“The special envoy’s immediate priority is to support an agreement between the parties to the conflict on a nationwide ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures and the resumption of the political process,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.
“The visit is part of the special envoy’s diplomatic efforts to support a negotiated political solution to the conflict in Yemen that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people.”
Mr Griffiths’ first visit to Tehran came after US President Joe Biden’s announcement of an end to US support for Saudi-led military operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The envoy’s two-day trip, which began on Sunday, also comes amid talk of reviving the nuclear deal between Iran and the US, and of efforts to ease tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia and other US allies in the Gulf.
“The special envoy is trying to weave together … more diplomatic, regional and international support to his efforts to end the war in Yemen," Mr Dujarric said.
"I think we've seen a few positive developments in the last few days.
“It's part of Martin’s mandate to engage not only with international but obviously regional actors in an effort to help bring the Yemeni parties together to find a comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable political deal in Yemen for the sake of the Yemeni people.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/02/iran-zarif-un-envoy-yemen-peace.html
(* B P)
Griffiths’ visit to Tehran exposes Iran’s role in Yemen
Yemeni political sources considered Griffiths’ surprise visit to the Iranian capital, Tehran, and his meetings with Iranian officials, an attempt to expand the number of parties that will play a direct role in drawing the shape of Yemen’s final settlement, in addition to recognising Tehran’s role as a regional player in the conflict.
The sources said the timing of the visit, which came hours after the US administration removed the Houthis from the list of terrorist groups, and appointed a special US envoy to Yemen, was an international effort to keep pace with the accelerating international changes on the Yemeni file.
The sessions were part of a broader effort to negotiate a political solution to the nearly six-year conflict pitting Iran-allied Houthi rebels against Yemeni government forces supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Griffiths’ “immediate priority” in Tehran is to push a nationwide ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures and the resumption of the political process, his office said. Those goals have repeatedly proven elusive over years of ruinous war that have left the country deeply divided. The visit was planned long before Biden’s announcement, Griffiths’ spokeswoman Ismini Palla said.
The UN envoy’s visit to Iran coincides with rapid diplomatic moves on the Yemeni file, most notably the visit of a delegation from the European Union to the interim Yemeni capital, Aden, headed by the European Union’s ambassador to Yemen, Hans Grundberg.
International efforts to resolve the conflict in Yemen are learning from the conflict in Libya through a plan to place the internal parties on the table for direct dialogue, with the aim of reaching a political settlement that guarantees the interests of regional and international actors in the Yemeni file, including ensuring the existence of any direct role for those parties on the ground.
This increasing the chances of transforming Griffiths’ vision — known as the “joint declaration” — into a general framework for a final solution in the country, while providing sufficient guarantees for Yemen’s neighbours to protect their security, in addition to recognising Iran as a new player and a regional supporter of the Houthi militias
https://thearabweekly.com/griffiths-visit-tehran-exposes-irans-role-yemen
My comment: By a pro-UAE news site. The headline is misleading: this visit doesn’t “expose” anything.
(A P)
Iran: Ende des Krieges, Aufhebung der Blockade, Gespräche zwischen Jemeniten - sind Schlüssel zur Beilegung der Jemen-Krise
Der iranische Vizeaußenminister für politische Angelegenheiten, Abbas Araghchi hat gesagt, die anhaltende Krise im Jemen könne nicht militärisch gelöst werden.
Araghchi forderte die Einstellung der von Saudi-Arabien geführten militärischen Angriffe, die Aufhebung der harten See- und Luftblockade sowie den Dialog zwischen den jemenitischen Gruppen zur Beendigung des Konflikts in diesem vom Krieg zerstörten Land.
"Seit dem Ausbruch der [Jemen] Krise [im März 2015] hat die Islamische Republik Iran betont, es gebe keine militärische Lösung für diese Krise und der Stopp des Krieges, die Aufhebung der [von Saudi-Arabien auferlegten] Blockade sowie die Aufnahme politischer Verhandlungen sind der einzige Weg aus der gegenwärtigen Krise",
und
(A P)
Iran begrüßt UN-Friedensbemühungen im Jemen-Konflikt.
Der Iran hat die Bemühungen des UN-Sonderbeauftragten Martin Griffiths für eine friedliche und politische Lösung im Jemen-Konflikt begrüßt. «Wir begrüßen und unterstützen alle Bemühungen der UN, die zu einer effektiven Lösung in Jemen führen könnten», sagte Außenminister Mohammed Dschawad Sarif bei einem...
https://der-farang.com/de/pages/iran-begruesst-un-friedensbemuehungen-im-jemen-konflikt
(A P)
Iran urges regional dialogue to settle disputes over Yemen
A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official on Monday urged for regional dialogue to settle disputes among the regional states over the crisis in Yemen, official IRNA news agency reported.
"From the beginning of the crisis, the Islamic Republic of Iran has believed that the issue of Yemen has no military solution," Abbas Araqchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, said in a meeting with the visiting United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths.
"The way out of the current crisis is to stop war (on Yemen), lift the siege and hold political talks," Araqchi was quoted as saying.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/09/c_139730914.htm
and
(A P)
West must stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia to end war in Yemen: Kharrazi
Head of the [Iranian] Foreign Policy Strategic Council Kamal Kharrazi on Monday said that the West must stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia in order to put an end to war in Yemen.
Kharrazi made the remarks in a meeting with the United Nations Special Envoy on Yemen Martin Griffiths.
https://en.irna.ir/news/84222753/West-must-stop-sending-weapons-to-Saudi-Arabia-to-end-war-in
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(A P)
#American educated AlAbbas Almaliki has been sentenced in #Saudi court to 4 years for a tweet about his jailed father.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1359506683437993990
referring to https://twitter.com/m3takl/status/1359502883050299403
(* A P)
Prominent Saudi women’s rights activist released from prison
One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent political activists was released from prison Wednesday, her family said, after serving nearly three years on charges that have sparked an international uproar over the kingdom’s human rights record.
Loujain al-Hathloul, who pushed to end a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to almost six years in prison last December under a broad counterterrorism law. Held for 1001 days, with stints in pre-trial detention and solitary confinement, she was accused of crimes such as agitating for change and pursuing a foreign agenda — charges that rights groups describe as politically motivated.
“Loujain is at home!” her sister Lina al-Hathloul declared on Twitter alongside a screenshot showing a flushed Loujain beaming on a family video call.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on her release.
Her early release was widely expected as the judge suspended part of her sentence and gave her credit for time already served. The move comes as Saudi Arabia faces new scrutiny from the United States, where President Joe Biden has vowed to reassess the U.S.-Saudi partnership and stand up for human rights and democratic principles.
https://apnews.com/article/dubai-saudi-arabia-united-arab-emirates-8732416346416c4e05707cfdd813eacd
and
(A P)
Film: President Biden praises Saudi Arabia's release of women's rights activist Loujain Al Hathloul.
https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1359599903689887756
My comment: This is the only reason why Saudis released her.
(A P)
Twitter suspends accounts, removes verification of Saudi political prisoners
Decision criticised as 'uncalled for' as the detainees are held in situations beyond their control
Twitter has removed the blue verified badge from the accounts of several Saudi political prisoners, including two prominent clerics who were detained in a crackdown against reformists, activists and government critics.
Among those whose verification label has been removed are Ali al-Omary and Awad al-Qarni, two senior religious figures who have been jailed since 2017. They were seized during a purge that followed Mohammed bin Salman's rise to the position of crown prince.
Similarly, the accounts of the Saudi philanthropist Khaled al-Mohawesh and journalist Khaled al-Alkami, also jailed in the 2017 purge, had their blue tick removed, according to the advocacy Twitter account Prisoners of Conscience. It added that the account of economist Essam el-Zamil, another political prisoner, has been suspended. He tweeted under the handle @Essamz.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-twitter-jailed-scholars-verification-removed
(A P)
Saudis take to social media to protest living conditions
Saudi social media users have taken to social media platforms to protest the interruption of salary payments and the rise in prices in the kingdom.
The Saudis used the hashtag "Salary is not enough" which appeared for the first time in 2013, to criticise the Saudi regime's economic and foreign policies as well as extravagant spending, describing it as a "devourer of the country's wealth, who squandered it in entertainment, absurdity, private items and arrogant wars".
The social media users denounced the Saudi regime's war in Yemen saying it had drained the kingdom's wealth, pointing out that earlier this month the kingdom had deposited $2 billion with the Central Bank of Yemen, which should have been used to benefit Saudi citizens instead.
The users said huge sums of money had been spent to purchase private items, such as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's acquisition of a yacht for $500 million, a painting for $450 million, and a palace in France for nearly $300 million.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210209-saudis-take-to-social-media-to-protest-living-conditions/
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia announces new judicial reforms in a move towards codified law
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Monday plans to approve a set of new draft laws designed to enhance the efficiency and integrity of the kingdom’s judicial system, a step that would eventually lead to an entirely codified law.
The state news agency (SPA) quoted the prince on Monday as saying that four new laws - the personal status law, the civil transactions law, the penal code of discretionary sanctions and the law of evidence - are currently being finalised and will then be submitted to the cabinet and relevant bodies as well as the advisory Shura Council, before they are finally approved.
“The new laws represent a new wave of reforms that will ... increase the reliability of procedures and oversight mechanisms as cornerstones in achieving the principles of justice, clarifying the lines of accountability,” Prince Mohammed said in the statement.
A Saudi official told Reuters On Monday that setting clear codes to four major and fundamental laws through applying the best international practices and standards means the kingdom is “definitely moving towards codifying the entire law” to meet the needs of the modern world while adhering to Islamic Sharia principles.
“While there is a decent and independent judiciary, the main criticism is that it is not consistent and judges have significant discretion on many of these issues, which leads to inconsistency and unpredictability,” the Saudi official said.
Having no written laws that govern certain incidents had for decades resulted in discrepancy in court rulings and prolonged litigation, hurting many Saudis, mostly women.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1b, cp2, cp9a
(A P)
Blinken, Saudi foreign minister discuss Yemen, defense: State Department
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed diplomatic efforts to end the war in Yemen and bolstering Saudi Arabia’s defenses in a call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said.
The two officials “outlined diplomatic outreach to find a negotiated political settlement to the war in Yemen” and “discussed joint efforts to bolster Saudi defenses against attacks on the Kingdom,” the State Department said in a statement.
and Blinken tweet: https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1359683544109490178
(B P)
Biden's presidency poses obstacles for US-Saudi ties - opinion
Biden has been critical of the Saudis as unreliable allies for decades, notably because of their religious extremism at home and exported abroad.
The Saudis are trying to put a positive spin on their change of fortune by praising Biden’s “commitment to work with friends & allies to resolve conflicts.”
Israeli officials, on the other hand, are portraying the new president as a threat because of his desire to return to the Iran nuclear pact, which Netanyahu has opposed from the outset, even to the point of leading the Republican opposition to the Obama-Biden administration’s signature foreign policy achievement.
His blunt and highly partisan approach was offensive to Democrats
The Saudis also opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but took a much lower profile.
Biden has been critical of the Saudis as unreliable allies for decades, notably because of their religious extremism at home and exported abroad.
MBS has been hoping to formally normalize relations with Israel, as the United Arab Emirates and others have, as a way of winning favor in Washington, but it was vetoed by his father, King Salman, who insists Israel must first resolve the Palestinian issue.
Nowhere was the new Biden approach more apparent than in dealing with Saudi Arabia and Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/bidens-presidency-poses-obstacles-for-us-saudi-ties-opinion-658542
My remark: From Israel.
(A P)
White House condemns attack on Saudi airport, will continue effort to end war in Yemen
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the United States condemned an attack on a Saudi airport and will continue diplomatic outreach to end the conflict in Yemen.
(A P)
U.S. Yemen envoy meets Saudi foreign minister in Riyadh - SPA
U.S. special envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking met Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi state news agency SPA said on Wednesday.
“Developments concerning Yemen were discussed, and joint efforts to support reaching a comprehensive political solution to the Yemen crisis were reviewed,” the SPA report said.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen was also at the meeting, it said.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/10/biden-envoy-push-yemen-war/
(* B P)
Editorial: Settlements galore
The changing of the guard at the White House has raised hopes for diplomatic settlements to decade-long conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Syria. It has also promised reduced tensions in Iraq and Sudan, and support for their governments’ reconstruction programmes. Of course, whenever a new president enters the Oval Office, the people of the region hope for a fresh and balanced approach to the Palestinian question.
Washington certainly has a lot on its plate, probably more than at any time since the end of the Cold War, and it is struggling to order priorities. For our region, this raises the question of whether it is possible to rely on the US to achieve sustainable resolutions to Middle East conflicts. Despite all the excitement over the new faces in the White House, there are no clear indications of how efficacious US interventions would be under Biden.
Judging from his first few weeks in office, Biden’s approach to the Middle East, in general, rests on solid alliances with Washington’s historic partners: the Gulf countries, Israel and, of course, Egypt, Jordan and – according to observers, the latest addition to this group – Sudan. As his Secretary of State Antony Blinken put it, this is the time to restore and revitalise alliances.
The Biden team’s position on Iran, on the other hand, is still up in the air. Although Biden has stated that he hopes to return to the nuclear agreement from which Trump unilaterally withdrew, Blinken has said that this process could take a long time. He then cautioned that, if Iran lifted more of the agreement’s restraints it could come closer to having enough material to produce a nuclear weapon. The US is caught in the dilemma of having to determine how to tackle Tehran: by being tough or by inducements to encourage it back to the negotiating table.
Nevertheless, it does say something that, in his first major policy address last week, President Biden mentioned “the Middle East” only once (in connection with Yemen). As mentioned above, his administration is prioritising those foreign policy issues that impact his country’s interests most directly, such the competition with China over world leadership, clipping Russia’s wings and utilising the Western alliance for such purposes.
(B P)
Biden’s Appointments Could Destroy Middle East Peace
But further pitfalls await Middle East peace, given several of the Biden administration’s recent appointments. If the positions of these appointees prevail, U.S. foreign policy will be antagonistic towards Israel, Egypt, and our Gulf allies and will appease Iran, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Qatar.
https://spectator.org/biden-middle-east-peace-2/
(* B P)
U.S.' new Yemeni policy is influenced by its Iranian one
However, as it presently stands, the war has reached a military stalemate, as neither side is able to gain much at the other's expense.
For this reason, there are indisputably pragmatic reasons behind the U.S. deciding to do its utmost to resolve this conflict politically. But these efforts also greatly aid America's new approach to Iran.
The Biden administration is staffed by many Barack Obama-era influenced officials who regard the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a matter of prestige considering the fact that former President Donald Trump destroyed what had hitherto been regarded as one of his predecessor's most impressive foreign policy achievements. There's more to it than just that, though, which will now be explained.
The Obama administration, from which many high-ranking Biden administration officials hail, seemingly wanted to enter into a rapprochement with Iran to restore balance to America's regional strategy.
The prior perception of disproportionate dependence on the GCC perturbed some decision-makers, who regarded it as a strategic vulnerability.
There are no indications that either of those two strategic motivations, which aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, is no longer in force. In fact, the Biden administration's efforts to revive the JCPOA hint that they're returning to the fore of American regional strategy.
To this end and as a goodwill gesture to Iran of the U.S.' intentions of restoring the nuclear deal, the Biden administration decided to dramatically change its approach to Yemen. This new policy is largely regarded as being against the interests of Iran's GCC rivals, which Washington hopes will show Tehran how serious it is about negotiating even further and about more issues.
Of course, these plans could be unexpectedly derailed, including by meddling from the affected Gulf countries or others such as Israel, which is also very concerned about the Biden administration's outreaches to Iran.
Nevertheless, the trajectory seems clear enough at this point, and it's that the U.S. is sending strong signals to Iran that it wants their negotiations on the JCPOA to form part of a more comprehensive deal for regulating their regional relations.
As for the Biden administration, the JCPOA would form the basis for a new policy with Iran, though one which will also involve their broader regional relations as evidenced by its recent moves in Yemen.
It's unclear whether this will succeed, but there's little doubt that his team's decision to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as stop support for their offensive operations in Yemen, is related to the larger topic of the U.S.' new approach to the Mideast and in particular toward Iran. It wasn't driven by humanitarian reasons but realpolitik ones connected to the comprehensive deal that it wants to clinch with Iran.
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1b, cp9
(A P)
Farhan: Iran’s militias pose a threat to Arab countries
Iran’s support for militias across the region pose a threat to the security and stability of Arab countries, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Monday, during an emergency Arab League meeting in Cairo.
“Iran’s nuclear activities and its ballistic missiles threaten regional stability,”
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32189
(A K P)
340 combat speedboats join IRGC Navy fleet on Islamic Revolution anniversary
According to Press TV, the speedboats joined the IRGC Navy’s fleet in southern port city of Bandar Abbas during a ceremony on Monday, attended by Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, IRGC Commander Hossein Salami and IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri.
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tauptQJsZo
(A K)
US military convoys targeted in Baghdad, Diwaniyah
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/169706/US-military-convoys-targeted-in-Baghdad-Diwaniyah
(A P)
Biden must learn lesson from 42 years of US' futile pressure on Iran: Nuclear chief
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says US President Joe Biden must learn a lesson from failure of pressures and threats that the country's previous administrations used against the Iranian nation in the vain hope of bringing it to its knees.
(A P)
Iran may pursue nuclear weapon, intel minister warns West
Iran’s intelligence minister warned the West that his country could push for a nuclear weapon if crippling international sanctions on Tehran remain in place, state television reported Tuesday.
The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its course on the nuclear program. Tehran has long insisted that the program is for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and medical research.
(* A K P)
US general calls Iran the most challenging driver of instability in the Middle East
Centcom chief says Tehran and Washington are in a state of 'contested deterrence'
Gen Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, on Monday said Iran was the main and most challenging driver of instability in the Middle East.
Gen McKenzie, speaking at the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank in his first public remarks since President Joe Biden took office last month, said challenges to US interests in the region included Iran, violent extremism, and the rising influence of Russia and China.
Iran’s actions presented the “most challenging driver of instability” in the Middle East, he said.
“For more than 40 years, the Iranian regime has funded and aggressively supported terrorism, and defied international norms by conducting malign activities which destabilised not only the region but global security and commerce as well."
Gen McKenzie said Iran, not ISIS or Al Qaeda, was "the major source of instability in Iraq and uses Iraq as a proxy battleground against the United States”.
But he said the US military presence in the Gulf region sent a signal to Iran and resulted in what he called contested deterrence.
“Our presence in the region, mostly defensive in nature, has brought us to a period of contested deterrence with Iran,” Gen McKenzie said.
“This presence sends a clear and unambiguous signal about our capabilities and [the US'] will to defend partners and international interests, a signal that has been clearly received by the Iranian regime.”
When asked about Iran’s role in Yemen and the Biden administration's recent decision to halt offensive support to the Saudi-led coalition, Gen McKenzie described a solely “counter-terrorism interest” for the US there.
"Our interest in Yemen is a counter-terrorism interest against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and elements of ISIS there,” he said. "American national interest begins and ends there ... We are not a party to the Yemen civil war.”
and also https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/02/biden-yemen-centcom-saudi-coalition.html
My comment: This is really putting things upside down. Obviously, the “most challenging driver of instability” isn’t iran, but the US. Only if you take US hegemony for granted and for the God-given state of the wotld, you could claim is the “most challenging driver of instability” against US hegemony in the Middle East. – “For more than 40 years, the Iranian regime has funded and aggressively supported terrorism, and defied international norms by conducting malign activities which destabilised not only the region but global security and commerce as well.”: This rather does not describe Iran, but US activity. – Iran “uses Iraq as a proxy battleground against the United States”?? Oups, how should this work? The US is 7,000 miles away from Iraq; this man not even is taking into account that his calim is a contradiction into itself; this just effects US hegemony, but not the “United States” itself. – The best joke of all: “Our presence in the region, mostly defensive in nature” – this can’t be “defensive” – 7,000 miles away from the US.
(A P)
Macron, Saudi Arabia, What Can be Done to Iranian Nuclear Negotiations
The French President said, in statements that surprised everyone, that some regional partners of the international powers, including Saudi Arabia, would participate in the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
While little trace of the nuclear deal remains after the US embargo and the Europeans ’failure to take any action or measure to thwart it, Macron’s statements are surprising. From the point of view of the Islamic Republic of Iran, there should not be any new negotiations, but that in the event of reviving the nuclear agreement, first the US embargo on Tehran must be abolished, then the Western side should banish any thought about holding renewed negotiations on the previous agreement.
Fortsetzung / Sequel:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-716c-yemen-war-mosaic-716c
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-715-yemen-war-mosaic-715
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-715 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-715:
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:
