Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 717b- Yemen War Mosaic 717b

Yemen Press Reader 717b: 14. Februar 2021: Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 717, cp3 - cp19 / February 14 , 2021: Sequel to Yemen War Mosaic 717, cp3 - cp19

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Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 717, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 717, part 1:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-717-yemen-war-mosaic-717

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 / In Italics: Look in part 1

Klassifizierung / Classification

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

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

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

cp1b Am wichtigsten: 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

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

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A H)

FAO strengthens Desert Locus surveillance and control capacity in Yemen

Training workshop on Desert Locust surveillance and control concluded in Aden with three vehicles handed over to Ministry of Agriculture

http://www.fao.org/neareast/news/view/fr/c/1373829/

(B H)

Yemen: Nutrition Cluster Dashboard (January to December 2020)

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

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-bsfp-plw-gap-analysis-31-dec-2020

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-bsfp-u2-gap-analysis-31-dec-2020

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-iron-folat-gap-analysis-31-dec-2020

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

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-mnp-gap-analysis-31-dec-2020https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-nutrition-cluster-vit-gap-analysis-31-dec-2020

(A H)

Representatives from 21 public schools in the capital Sana'a received today food supplies to be delivered to 3000 students in the second week of @monarelief's project that funded by Partners Relief and Development and aims to support 180k students in 3 months (photos)

https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1360347549396271108

(A H P)

European Union, UNICEF and UNFPA Join Forces to Improve Health Services for Mothers and Children in Yemen

A contribution from the European Union (EU) is enabling UNICEF and UNFPA to continue providing vital lifesaving maternal and newborn health care services to the most vulnerable mothers and children in Yemen, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is heightening the challenges faced by women and children in accessing health services.

The EU funding of €14 million will help UNICEF and UNFPA to provide quality maternal and child health services in 25 hospitals and equip 300 midwives to provide community-based maternal and newborn health and family planning services across the country, during a period of three years.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/european-union-unicef-and-unfpa-join-forces-improve-health-services-mothers-and

(* B H)

UNO : 400.000 Kindern im Jemen droht der Hungertod

Hunderttausenden Kindern im Jemen droht nach Angaben der UNO der Hungertod. Die Hälfte der unter Fünfjährigen und damit rund 2,3 Millionen Kinder in dem verarmten Krisenstaat seien von schwerer Unterernährung bedroht, teilten mehrere UN-Organisationen am Freitag mit. 400.000 von ihnen drohen demnach zu sterben, falls sie keine Nothilfe erhalten. Dies sei ein Anstieg von 22 Prozent gegenüber dem vergangenen Jahr.

“Diese Zahlen sind ein weitere Hilferuf aus dem Jemen”, erklärte der Leiter des UN-Welternährungsprogramms (WFP), David Beasley. Die Krise im Jemen sei ein “toxischer Mix” aus einem gewaltsamen Konflikt, einem wirtschaftlichen Kollaps sowie einem akuten Mangel an Geld, “um die lebensrettende Hilfe bereitzustellen, die so dringend benötigt wird”.

Auch die Generaldirektorin des UN-Kinderhilfswerks Unicef, Henrietta Fore, forderte verlässliche finanzielle Ressourcen für die Hilfeorganisationen und einen ungehinderten Zugang zur notleidenden Bevölkerung im Jemen. “An jedem Tag, an dem nicht gehandelt wird, werden weitere Kinder sterben”, warnte sie.

Die humanitäre Krise im Jemen sei nach wie vor die größte weltweit, sagte Luca Russo von der Ernährungs- und Landwirtschaftsorganisation der Vereinten Nationen. “Die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit lässt nach und das ist sehr riskant.” Weiteres Leid könne nur verhindert werden, wenn die Kämpfe im Jemen eingestellt würden.

https://www.24matins.de/topnews/eins/uno-400-000-kindern-im-jemen-droht-der-hungertod-243689

und auch https://snanews.de/20210212/millionen-kleinkinder-jemen-hungersnot-uno-889732.html

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-laut-uno-millionen-kinder-von-mangelernaehrung.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=1226848

https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/121129/UN-Millionen-Kleinkinder-muessen-im-Jemen-hungern

(B H)

"Das sollte uns alle schockieren"

Rund sechs Jahre nach Beginn des Krieges im Jemen fordern Helfer mehr Engagement für eine Lösung des Konflikts. Dazu sei neben einer Aufstockung der finanziellen Mittel für humanitäre Hilfe ein Ende der Kampfhandlungen unabdingbar.

Das erklärte die Organisation Save the Children am Freitag. Neue Daten der Vereinten Nationen ließen befürchten, dass 2,3 Millionen Kinder unter fünf Jahren im Jemen bis Ende dieses Jahres hungern werden - die Hälfte aller Kinder in dieser Altersgruppe. "Dies ist ein Anstieg von 16 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr und die höchste Zahl, die jemals in dem Land verzeichnet wurde", so Save the Children.

Die Zahlen hatten zuvor vier UN-Organisationen bekanntgegeben.

https://www.domradio.de/themen/weltkirche/2021-02-12/das-sollte-uns-alle-schockieren-helfer-fordern-loesung-fuer-den-jemen-nach-sechs-jahren-krieg

(* B H)

Yemen: Acute Malnutrition hits record levels in Yemen with a devastating toll on children under five

Over 2.25 million cases of children aged 0 to 59 months, and more than a million cases of pregnant and lactating women, are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in the course of 2021 in Yemen. Out of the 35 zones included in the IPC Acute Malnutrition (IPC AMN) current analysis, two zones were classified in Critical (IPC AMN Phase 4), 26 in Serious (IPC AMN Phase 3) and the remaining seven zones in Alert (IPC AMN Phase 2) during the period of January – July 2020. The situation was projected to deteriorate further during the period of August – December 2020: the number of zones in IPC AMN Phase 4 was expected to increase to 13. An additional analysis of 22 zones in the north for which data is available shows that, during the period of January – March 2021, seven zones will be in Serious (IPC AMN Phase 3) and the remaining 15 zones will be in Critical (IPC AMN Phase 4). This additional projection analysis was only possible for the north since, according to the IPC protocols, projections can only be carried out up to 12 months from data collection.

KEY DRIVERS

High prevalence of communicable diseases (with 2 in 5 children suffering from diarrhoea in the north and 1 in 4 children affected by diarrhoea in the south, while about 60% of children in the north and 25% of children in the south are affected by malaria/fever);

Elevated levels of acute food insecurity (with all 22 zones projected to be in IPC Acute Food Insecurity Phase 3 or above in the north and 17 of the 19 zones projected to be in IPC Acute Food Insecurity Phase 3 or above in the south);

Poor Infant and Young Child Feeding practices (with only about 40% in the north and about 50% in the south meeting minimum dietary diversity requirements, while exclusive breastfeeding prevalence being less than 35% in the north and less than 25% in the south);

Poor access to nutrition and health services (limited access due to conflict in several zones and decline in access and utilization of health and nutrition services as a result of COVID-19);

Poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are a major concern in all zones.

Additionally, the direct and indirect effect of COVID-19 (e.g. reduction in remittances, reduced access to markets, difficulty maintaining employment, etc.), and economic shocks, such as delayed salary payments and conflict, have a compounding effect on acute malnutrition.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-acute-malnutrition-hits-record-levels-yemen-devastating-toll-children-under-five

and also https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/12/half-of-yemen-children-face-acute-malnutrition-un

https://apnews.com/article/yemen-united-nations-d572f66d92d4e708c70a94247c57fde0

https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-malnutrition-int/at-least-400000-yemeni-children-under-5-could-die-of-starvation-this-year-un-agencies-idUSKBN2AC18V

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/02/yemen-malnutrition-children-un-aid-houthi-designation-biden.html

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/12/yet-another-cry-help-un-report-warns-millions-yemeni-children-face-acute

and

(* B H)

Yemen: Over two million children expected to go hungry or starve in 2021 - Save the Children

Save the Children is horrified to find that an estimated 2.3 million children under five in Yemen are expected to go hungry or be on the brink of starvation by the end of this year – half of all children in that age bracket. Yemen faces an unprecedented hunger crisis after six years of conflict, the agency warned.

This is an increase of 16 percent compared to the same time last year and the highest number on record in the country.

New UN data published today projected that more than 2 million children will be malnourished in 2021. An estimated 400,000 of these children will suffer from the most severe form of malnourishment - without care, many of them could die of starvation or diseases.

The data also reveals that around 1.2 million pregnant and breast-feeding mothers will be malnourished by the end of the year, meaning more children are set to be born in hunger.

According to the data, conflict-hit regions such as Taiz, Hodeidah, Sa’ada and Ibb will suffer emergency levels of food shortages (IPC Phase 4). Data from health facilities supported by Save the Children in the North of Yemen, an area already hit hard by funding cuts, showed a 52% increase of malnourished children between July-Dec 2020 compared to 2019.

With the conflict in Yemen almost going into its 7th year, the largest humanitarian crisis in the world has been exacerbated by disrupted food supplies, rising fuel prices, a battered health system and a collapse of the economy.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-over-two-million-children-expected-go-hungry-or-starve-2021-save-children

(B H)

Yemen: Mental health and psychosocial support - Monthly report, July 2020

Overview:

The population in Yemen has been enduring more than a decade of internal disturbance and armed conflict. Living in such crisis/conflict setting can have a significant impact on the overall wellbeing of individuals and communities including mental health and psycho-social wellbeing with short-term and long-term consequences specifically on the vulnerable groups such as children, women, adolescent girls and elderly. In conflict settings people can be affected in many ways and might require complementary types of services at household, community and health facility levels. The mental health and psychosocial problems in emergencies are highly interconnected

Methodology:

Currently WHO is trying to aid Yemen’s needs in the MHPSS field and the method we are following is:
Building staff capacity
Conducting trainings on PFA, mhGAP and Psychosocial support
Rehabilitation of mental health hospitals
Providing psychotropic medications for health facilities

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-mental-health-and-psychosocial-support-monthly-report-july-2020

(B H)

Yemen Humanitarian Update - Issue 1 / January 2021

HIGHLIGHTS

Preventing famine is the most urgent priority now

2020 Response round up

WHO supports COVID-19 national response plan

Restrictions on official fuel stations continue in northern governorates while the unofficial market flourishes

Civilian casualties fall for a second year, but increase in the fourth quarter of 2020

Yemen Humanitarian Fund to address acute needs

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-update-issue-1-january-2021

(B H)

Yemen Emergency Dashboard, January 2021

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-emergency-dashboard-january-2021

(A H)

Yesterday, the largest educational complex in the history of Socotra Island was opened. Thank you so much #kuwait! #Yemen has a strong bond with Kuwait.

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1359978795349012481

(* B H)

Humanitarian Cash and Social Protection in Yemen: CaLP Case Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM

Cash transfers in Yemen, delivered through humanitarian actors and social protection systems, offer great opportunities for beneficiary impact and alignment with donor priorities – but this potential is not fully utilized, due to lack of a common vision and strategic direction.

In the Yemen context, cash programming takes place at large scale, in a context characterised by political, security and economic complexity. The scale of the program represents an achievement – but cash programming is fragmented. Humanitarian and social protection systems do not work together, beneficiary caseloads are likely to overlap and coordination mechanisms are weak.

This weakness has three major impacts: (1) the most vulnerable may not receive appropriate support and combined program impact is not maximised, (2) the humanitarian system’s resources are used inefficiently, and (3) risks associated with cash transfers are exacerbated.

Significant efforts have been made to ensure that cash programming has the maximum impact on saving lives and preventing humanitarian suffering in this challenging context.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/humanitarian-cash-and-social-protection-yemen-calp-case-study

(B H)

Yemen: Humanitarian Response Snapshot (November 2020)

In the year to November 2020, 203 humanitarian organizations continued to deliver aid to an average of 10.3 million people a month. While the number of people reached with assistance decreased across many cluster areas, partners continued to provide support to millions of people – an average of 9.99 million were reached each month with food assistance, over 4 million were reached with WASH services, 453,392 were supported by Health Cluster partners and 261,193 received nutrition treatment. In November 2020 most clusters were reaching more than 50 per cent fraction of the number of people targeted for assistance.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-snapshot-november-2020

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(* B H)

Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 11 February 2021

IDP Response

According to latest UNHCR and Food Security Phase Classification data, two out of three displaced Yemenis live in districts categorized as IPC4+ (emergency food insecure), making them four times more likely to experience hunger. Data suggests there is a strong correlation between displacement and extreme acute food insecurity. Of the four million IDP population across Yemen, over 67 per cent (2.6 million individuals) live in districts categorized as being in an emergency food insecure situation, just below the highest catastrophe phase.

UNHCR’s latest data collected through rapid needs and vulnerability assessments throughout 2020 indicate alarming levels of vulnerability among IDPs. Out of 221,732 families assessed across Yemen in 2020, some 92 per cent reported not having any income, or less than YER 25,000 (USD 40) per month. The same findings reveal that up to 79 per cent of assessed households reported having at least one family member with a vulnerability, including children and women at risk, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. Many of these families rely entirely on humanitarian assistance to survive.

The first distribution of cash assistance for vulnerable displaced Yemenis across the country will start in the coming weeks. Starting in February, UNHCR aims to reach over 55,000 vulnerable families throughout the country with multi- purpose cash assistance to support their essential needs.

Refugee response

During the reporting period, some 4,000 refugees and community members were reached with awareness-raising about hygiene measures and prevention of COVID-19 in Kharaz camp in Basateen neighborhoud

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-11-february-2021

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A P)

Fuel crisis is on the peak, U pay 20,000YER to get 20 liters of fuel from black market. Ppl stand btwn 30 to 60min or more to find public transportation, prices r too high & many women can't report to work as they can't afford standing for hours on the streets or be late for home

https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1359195170936356867

(A P)

10 deceived soldiers return home

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128082.htm

My remark: They had defected from anti-Houthi forces.

(B H K P)

Film: Moh. Mohsen,14, is an ex-child soldier from Dhamar. He was in 9th grade when #Houthis recruited & sent him to battlefronts. Gov forces caught him while fighting along the rebels 4 years ago. When asked about his family, he bursted into tears

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1360070922808483840

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

(A T)

Official Survives Assassination Attempt in Al-Buriqa

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32229

(* A K P)

New UAE reinforcements arrive in western Yemen

Military reinforcements of the UAE arrived on Thursday at Mocha Port, in the west of Taiz province.

Informed sources stated that a shipment of modern armoured vehicles landed at the port during the past hours, and was received by the commander in the so-called Al-Amaliqa Brigades, which are loyal to the UAE, Abdulrahman al-Mahrami al-Yafei, nicknamed ‘Abu Zar’aa”.

The move comes in light of the Islah Party forces expanding in the western districts of Taiz, overlooking the west coast of Yemen, and heading towards Tor Al-Baha district in order to control the areas near Bab al-Mandab strait in Lahj province.

The sources suggested that the UAE military reinforcements are to reinforce the Al-Amaliqa Brigades deployed in Abyan province.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/12/new-uae-reinforcements-arrive-in-western-yemen/

(A P)

Yemenis celebrate Revolution Day despite challenges

Yemenis celebrated the 10th anniversary of the pro-democracy Revolution Day, February 11, despite numerous challenges and the switch of international actors including the UN to supporting Houthis, a Shiit theocratic terrorist group.

Young men and women in hundreds crowded Al-Qahira historical castle, on the top of a mountain in downtown the six-year-long besieged city of Taiz on the eve of the anniversary, watched the Revolution Torch lighting ceremony, and chanted the Revolution’s slogan: “The People Want to Topple the Regime.”

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45060

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

(A P)

Yemeni Hadi reiterates commitment to peace course based on references

The Yemeni legitimate government is committed to political solutions aimed at stopping the 6-year war in accordance with the three terms of reference, Yemen's President said on Thursday.
At meeting with the US special envoy for Yemen, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi assured Timothy Linder King that he would support his mission aimed to achieve peace sought by Yemenis.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-23108.html

My comment: LOL. No news at all. Hadi still insists on his “three references”, which claim that Hadi’s government is the sole “legitimate” one and that the Houthis must capitulate. Hadi’s “peace” is: “I must get the whole cake” – a blockade to any peace since 6 years now.

(A P)

Accords make peace in Yemen: Houthi group

Peace cannot be made by calls, member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council tweeted on Thursday, calling for practical steps to achieve that.
"Peace is not be made by calls, but by inked agreements," Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added.
"If we don't see its application on the ground, any call will remain a feeling only. And we can exchange feeling for feeling only when we are sure that the peace caller's intention is right," he said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-23101.html

(A P)

[Sanaa gov.] Head of Prisoners Committee Accuses Other Party of Obstructing Negotiations

Head of the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, confirmed, Thursday, that there has been no progress in the negotiations in Amman for twenty days.

Al-Murtada told Almasirah that, "The agenda of the negotiations included the release of 300 prisoners from both sides, including Nasser Mansour Hadi, and this was agreed upon in Geneva, but we were surprised that the other side did not have any response."

He added, "There was a change in the delegation members of the other party after changing the head of their team, and when Al-Haij became the head of the team, we were surprised by his complete disclaimer of what was agreed upon in Geneva."

He explained that the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs put forward a proposal that it is possible to work on expanding the agreement, but the other party refused any discussion and demanded first that the previous agreement be completed, and although we did not object to that, the other party continued its obstinacy on everything we agreed upon.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17728/Head-of-Prisoners-Committee-Accuses-Other-Party-of-Obstructing-Negotiations%C2%A0

(A P)

[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni negotiators condemn Saudi-backed Islah Party for trying to derail prisoner exchange negotiations

The head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs has condemned the recent schemes of the Islah Party in the ongoing negotiations in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

Abdul Qadir Al-Murtadha said in a message on his official account on Twitter: “The representatives of the Islah Party are creating new conditions outside the prisoner exchange agreement, which can impede all efforts towards a solution.”

He called on the United Nations to put an end to the plots of the Islah Party representatives, in order to avoid the failure of the negotiations.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/11/yemeni-negotiators-condemn-saudi-backed-islah-party-for-trying-to-derail-prisoner-exchange-negotiations/

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23100.html

(A P)

THE SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN CONCLUDES HIS VISIT TO RIYADH

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, concluded a two-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, he met with Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman, Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Bin Mubarak, the US Envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, as well as other officials.

In his meetings, the Special Envoy discussed the latest developments, including the hostilities against Ma'rib and the prospects of resuming an inclusive political process. He further discussed the acute fuel shortages in Ansar Allah-controlled areas and the need for immediate actions to avoid further exacerbating the humanitarian and economic situation.

“There is a unique international momentum to support a political settlement to the conflict to reach sustainable peace in Yemen in line with the aspirations of the Yemeni people. But we are seeing an uptick in military hostilities and constant threats to the lives of Yemeni women, men and children. This must stop" Mr. Griffiths said

https://osesgy.unmissions.org/special-envoy-yemen-concludes-his-visit-riyadh

(A P)

4 captives of army, popular committees liberated in Marib

the liberation of the prisoners took place in an exchange deal with the Saudi-led aggression coalition mercenaries through a local mediator.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128110.htm

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

(B P)

The case of Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Nayef

The international community should now take up another cause and demand the release from prison of former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is being held not because of any crime he committed but because he presents a problem for the current crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

For Washington to press the Saudi leadership on his case would be a perhaps unusual move, but it should be an urgent task, as his is a special case given his considerable contributions to American security. Moreover, his life is very much in danger.

In addition to his international reputation as a resourceful spymaster, MBN is a hero in his own country as the result of an incident in which he nearly lost his life in 2009.

He is probably the most successful intelligence officer in the Arab world.

In April 2016, King Salman promoted MBN to be his crown prince.

With no explanation, he was removed from the position in June 2017 and replaced by the king’s son Mohammed bin Salman — who would become the architect of the disastrous war in Yemen and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Just a year ago, MBN was arrested on charges of treason. He has not been seen since and is held incommunicado. He apparently has not been given access to medical care or medicine. His life may well be in danger. Human Rights Watch has said his life is threatened.

He has not faced any judicial process that we know of. The charge of treason is absurd – by Bruce Riedel

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/02/12/the-case-of-saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-nayef/

Comment: So Bruce Riedel of @BrookingsInst is making the case that former #Saudi CP M bin Naif, who has lots of blood at his hand is a good person. Yes MBN was @Cia man but he shot protesters, ran deaths squads, & was cocaine addict. Yes & very corrupt

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1360281231607410696

(* B P)

Saudi Arabia's release of Loujain al-Hathloul an overture to Biden

Analysis: Mohammed bin Salman views the move as an attempt to engage the new US administration

Prince Mohammed views the decision to release the women’s rights activist as an attempt to belatedly engage the new administration, whose strident tone on human rights issues in its early weeks of office has all but conditioned a working relationship with Riyadh on righting the wrongs of the Trump years.

Ending the imprisonment of Hathloul, who during 1,001 days of incarceration became a cause célèbre for US critics of the Saudi regime, was near the top of Joe Biden’s foreign policy to-do list.

Things are very different now, as evidenced by Biden’s quick response to Hathloul’s release. “She was a powerful advocate for women’s rights,” he said on Wednesday, “and releasing her was the right thing to do.”

Two weeks into the job, Biden is yet to make direct contact with Prince Mohammed or his father, King Salman. The silence has been deafening in Riyadh

All told, those measures are unravelling the regional best-friend status Trump bestowed on Riyadh and putting bilateral ties back on a more conventional footing.

When Hathloul was sentenced in late December, Biden’s then incoming national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, affirmed that the new administration would make human rights central to its stance toward Riyadh

Senior Saudi officials see Hathloul’s release as a relatively low-risk gesture, which might spark some goodwill with the Biden administration. Some leading supporters of Prince Mohammed, however, responded with concern that the US would demand more for little in return.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/11/saudi-arabias-release-of-loujain-al-hathloul-an-overture-to-biden

My comment: Obviously this is the reason. The same reason for the hate speech case described below.

and

(A P)

MBS lying about reforms in Saudi Arabia: Released activist’s family

The siblings of a recently-released Saudi women’s rights defender have called for “real justice” in the case of their sister Loujain al-Hathloul, saying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is lying about reforms in the kingdom and oppressing his people.

Alia and Lina al-Hathloul made the comments at a press conference on Thursday, a day after Loujain, 31, was let out of jail following nearly three years of imprisonment in a case that sparked widespread international condemnations.

At the online presser on Thursday, Loujain’s siblings called on people not to say she had been “freed.”

“Loujain is not free. She’s been conditionally released,” said Lina from Brussels.

Both sisters said Lojain would avoid using social media and speaking to journalists for fear of violating her probation, but will continue to seek justice for the torture and sexual assaults she had been subjected to in prison.

“What we want now is real justice,” said Lina, a driving force behind the international campaign for her sister’s release, adding that her sister should be “completely” and “unconditionally” be freed.

“She is very determined to use all means that exist within the legal framework in Saudi Arabia in order to exhaust all the possibilities in order to, I would say, obtain her rights,” Lina said. “It was unjust, and she doesn’t like injustice.”

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/12/645117/Saudi-activist-Loujain-al-Hathloul-MBS-reforms-lie

and

(B P)

Judith Miller: Saudi Arabia’s release of activist Loujain al-Hathloul hails a rocky road ahead

The release of the prominent female activist this week is the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is pleased with the Biden administration. Does it work?

Under intense American and international pressure, Saudi Arabia has released Lujain al-Khatloul, who led a charge of driving a women’s vehicle in the kingdom. But much more at stake is the fate of the country’s most prominent feminist activist or other female and male activists who are not well-known in Saudi prisons and still do not live.

Al-Khatul’s parole and allegations of torture after serving 10,000 days in prison are the latest in a series of gestures by the king’s incumbent, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, to strengthen bad relations with Washington. . After the election of President Joe Biden.

Under President Trump, Riyadh could have done no harm. Since winning the election, President Biden has taken a tougher, more dubious stance against the kingdom.

Saudi women’s rights activists released after jailed investigators were forced to “kiss, perform sexual acts”

https://lovebylife.com/judith-miller-saudi-arabias-release-of-activist-loujain-al-hathloul-hails-a-rocky-road-ahead/

and

(A P)

Al-Hathloul family: We Will Sue Supervisors of Lujain's Torture

The family of the released Saudi activist, Loujain Al-Hathloul, said that their daughter will resort to the judiciary to hold accountable those who oversaw her torture during her nearly three-year detention period, especially during her forcibly hidden in a secret prison.

Lina and Alia Al-Hathloul (Loujain’s sisters) explained that Loujain was subjected to electric shocks, whipping, and sexual harassment.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17745/Al-Hathloul-family-We-Will-Sue-Supervisors-of-Lujain-s-Torture

and

(A P)

Exiled dissident & my friend Abdullah AlGhamdi notices ink on recently freed @LoujainHathloul left thump. The ink is from prison fingerprinting a long sheet of papers to pledge not to talk about what you saw inside. I know. I did it too when i was 14.

https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1360391622949806082

referring to https://twitter.com/Abdulmeden1/status/1360077047733903361

(* A P)

Saudi Arabia 'suspended ministry website following criticism of hateful speech'

Washington-based think tank says Riyadh has taken steps to remove anti-western and antisemitic content by its own officials and platforms in response to recent revelations

Saudi Arabia has shut down its defence ministry’s website and removed online hate content following reports by a Washington-based think tank citing xenophobic and antisemitic quotes by pro-government clerics and platforms.

In a February briefing seen by Middle East Eye, the Institute for Gulf Affairs (IGA) said its investigations into inciteful sermons and textbooks have prompted the Saudi government to take steps to delete the content from the internet.

The IGA think tank has argued in its previous reports that terror attacks committed by Saudi nationals are rooted in “institutionalised incitement and indoctrination” by the ministries of education, justice and defence, posing an extremist threat to Western and US interests.

The content, according to IGA, included anti-Western statements in Saudi military institutions, hateful radio sermons by senior Saudi officials, and education ministry-issued textbooks with lessons preaching discrimination against non-Muslims and Muslims who oppose the kingdom’s policies.

“While much more remains to be accomplished for Saudi leaders to lift the country out of ingrained hateful and backward attitudes toward non-Sunni Muslims, Jews, Christians and other minority groups, these latest positive steps reaffirm the effectiveness of shining light on specific problems and pushing for accountability and reform,” the IGA said in its latest impact report.

At the time of publication, the Saudi defence ministry's website was still down.

One of the platforms taken down by the Saudi government following the revelations was a magazine titled "The Muslim Soldier" - a publication of the defence ministry, which is led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

The IGA also revealed that the Saudi government has removed online sermons of its former minister of justice Mohammed al-Issa, who is now serving as the chairman of the Muslim World League - the kingdom’s international religious outreach organisation. In six of his online sermons, Al-Issa had expressed antisemitic sentiments, “accusing Jews of being eternally evil”, according to IGA.

Midad, a non-governmental website that previously broadcast the sermons, removed them within hours of the revelations, the think tank said.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-ministry-website-suspended-hateful-speech-criticism

My comment: This is a main part of Saudi DNA which could not be removed (and it’s a bad joke that now the Houthis more and more adopt it).

cp9 USA

Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1b, cp9a

(A P)

The White House: No Plans for Contact with Saudi Crown Prince

The White House said that there is a review of their Saudi policy and there are no plans for a contact with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

White House spokeswoman Jane Psaki reported that no call has been planned to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“It is clear that there is a review of our policy as it relates to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia … I do not know of plans for contact with the Kingdom,” she said at the daily press conference.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17761/The-White-House-No-Plans-for-Contact-with-Saudi-Crown-Prince

(B P)

Biden’s Tough Stance on Saudi Arabia Is Getting Results: The Washington Post

The American newspaper added that since the beginning of the year, Saudi Arabia has implemented two opposite steps in the policy that the United States has long sought, including ending its three-year conflict with neighboring Qatar, and the release of prominent political prisoners.

The newspaper covered what bin Salman provided last Wednesday, and the most prominent concession he had so far, and said it is the release of Loujain Al-Hathloul, a 31-year-old women's rights activist who became the most famous Saudi political prisoner, after being imprisoned for 3 years.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17762/Biden-s-Tough-Stance-on-Saudi-Arabia-Is-Getting-Results-The-Washington-Post

(* B P)

Biden Easing U.S. Role in Yemen War Raises Prospects of Iran Diplomacy

As Washington and Tehran navigate high-stakes nuclear diplomacy, their mutual involvement in Yemen raises the prospect of a separate path toward engagement. But experts are divided as to whether this presents a feasible solution as long as the U.S. continues a maximalist approach to the nuclear agreement first reached by the two countries and other major powers in 2015

"In my view, the Biden administration believes that a successful effort to end the fighting in Yemen and return to a political process there can contribute directly to overall reduction of tensions in the region," Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen who serves today as senior vice president of the Middle East Institute, told Newsweek.

Such a strategy means "opening the door to re-engaging with Iran on a full range of issues, including the nuclear file," he explained.

Iran has since retaliated by enriching uranium at higher levels, citing a clause in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 that accompanied the JCPOA and allows Tehran to suspend some of its obligations in the face of noncompliance by other parties.

Though Biden has quickly reversed the Obama-era policy of backing Saudi Arabia's attacks in Yemen, he's been less willing to significantly back away from Trump's policy of sanctions against Iran. Today, the new administration has said it will not reenter the agreement as promised until Iran first reinstates its commitments, something Tehran says it won't do until Washington rejoins the deal.

The impasse runs the risk of allowing the JCPOA to collapse altogether.

Rather than engage on the nuclear deal directly, however, the Biden administration appears to have taken an indirect route by addressing another high-profile issue in U.S.-Iran relations since 2015, the war in Yemen.

Feierstein argued it's "a reasonable point of view."

"By taking a major point of friction between Iran and Saudi Arabia off the table, our friends and partners in the region will view positive U.S. moves towards Iran as less threatening to their own security interests," he said. "Beyond the question of U.S.-Iranian negotiations, a successful Yemen initiative could also open opportunities for direct engagement among the regional states, especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran to address regional security issues in parallel with the U.S."

Both the war in Yemen and the JCPOA dispute have contributed to a worsening security situation across the Persian Gulf and in the broader Middle East.

A crucial Biden appointment may provide a glimpse into the direction he intends to take U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Robert Malley, head of the International Crisis Group, a former Obama adviser who has supported the nuclear deal and opposed the U.S. role in Yemen, has been named as a special envoy for Iran.

"In an ideal world, there would be complementarity to the new administration's different policy strands on Iran, Saudi and Yemen," Peter Salisbury, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Newsweek.

"They'd negotiate a return to the Iran deal using the prospect of sanctions relief to get Tehran back into compliance," he said. "And they'd use a peace process in Yemen, which they are now unambiguous in saying is the only way the war will end there, to prove that they are capable of finding common ground between the Saudis and Iranians to end regional conflict."

Salisbury, who has consulted for the U.K.'s former Department for International Development and international organizations such as the United Nations, cautioned, however, that "the devil is in the details," and that getting all actors on board would be no simple feat.

https://www.newsweek.com/biden-ease-role-yemen-prospects-iran-diplomacy-1569014?piano_t=1

(* B P)

GULF AMBASSADOR YELLED AT MEMBER OF CONGRESS PUSHING TO END YEMEN WAR

UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba’s posture toward Rep. Ro Khanna reflects the evolving nature of the world’s governing elite.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba was so angry about Rep. Ro Khanna’s push to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen that he shouted at him during a meeting, said Khanna.

Khanna, the lead sponsor of a war powers resolution aimed at ending U.S. involvement in the Yemen war, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, said that he was startled by the diplomat’s approach. “I’ve never had an ambassador of another country come to my office and literally yell at me, but that’s what I had with the ambassador to UAE,” Khanna said during an interview for The Intercept’s podcast Deconstructed, referring to Otaiba.

“I was just taken away,” Khanna said. “It led me to think that there’s a real arrogance, a real sense of entitlement, a sense that he thought himself so powerful that he could act that way. And I’ve never really seen that before.”

Khanna, a California Democrat who was sworn into office in January 2017, said he couldn’t remember exactly when the meeting occurred, but subsequent meetings with Otaiba have been more tranquil. “We met again once or twice and he toned it down in subsequent meetings, but I just thought this was an indication of how entrenched these interests were,” Khanna said.

The Democrats’ return to power, and with them foreign policy figures the UAE had antagonized with its opposition to the Iran deal at the end of the Obama administration, puts the ambassador in a delicate position

Otaiba is arguably the most high-profile foreign ambassador in Washington, despite his country’s small size. The ambassador is known for his charm, his lavish parties, his philanthropy, and his wide set of friends in the upper echelons of the Washington establishment.

Otaiba tested the limits of that influence in the waning years of the Obama administration and through the Trump administration.

Under the Trump administration, Otaiba quickly developed a tight relationship with Jared Kushner, using his direct channel to the president’s son-in-law to cut the State Department out of decision-making.

Otaiba, Khanna said, reacted angrily to the anti-war effort, while the Saudi ambassador was much more diplomatic. “I met the Saudi ambassador, in particular the new one,” he said, referring to Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan. “Of course, very much we disagree, and I have real moral concerns, but in conversation they’re diplomatic and polite, saying how much they respect the perspective.”

Otaiba’s posture toward Khanna reflects the evolving nature of the world’s governing elite. In years past, given the role of the U.S. as the undisputed global superpower, any member of Congress would be considered to outrank a foreign ambassador from a small nation and thus be off-limits from such a verbal offensive. But the UAE now considers itself to be part of the management team when it comes to overseeing the U.S.-led Western global project.

Ultimately, he [Khanna] said, the U.S. has to do more than just cease support; it has to insist that none of its allies are funding or engaging in the war. “What activists must now advocate for is for President Biden to say these words: ‘All bombing and war funding to Yemen must stop,’” Khanna said. “Biden also should commit to a reconstruction fund, make a U.S. pledge, and demand reparations from Saudi and UAE towards it. Finally, we need to apply pressure to lift the blockade. If we do all this, then we will still have to deal with a civil war in Yemen that predated the Saudi intervention. But that is more resolvable. We have a moral duty to act to end the war, not just wash our hands of it. We can always tell the Saudis we will stop providing tires for their airplanes if they continue to bomb.”

https://theintercept.com/2021/02/12/ro-khanna-yemen-uae-ambassador/

(* B P)

Why Biden should renounce the Carter Doctrine

President Biden has signaled a willingness to restrain U.S. involvement in Middle East conflicts in announcing an end to American support for Saudi military actions in Yemen. But the United States remains prone to entanglements even so, in Yemen and elsewhere, because fundamental U.S. strategy in the region remains unchanged. Biden, like presidents before him, remains locked in the Carter Doctrine — or, an overarching U.S. aim to prevent “any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region,” as President Carter put it in 1980 — which should be abandoned.

For decades the Carter Doctrine has served as the organizing principle for U.S. actions in the Middle East, standing as a strategic imperative for all presidents. Conceived immediately after the energy crisis of the 1970s, the doctrine declared Middle East oil a vital U.S. interest to be protected militarily if needed. U.S. dependence on Middle East oil has waned in the decades since. But the United States nonetheless still regards itself as the protector of Middle East oil, which is viewed by Washington as a kind of global commons to be overseen by the U.S. military for the sake of the world economy.

The underpinning logic of the doctrine was always unsound. The Carter administration in authoring the doctrine effectively mistook the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 as a lunge toward the Persian Gulf and overreacted. The Kremlin was not seeking to dominate the region and monopolize its oil.

Nevertheless, the United States persisted with the Carter Doctrine, which in practice amounted to a military buildup around oil reserves and a series of armed interventions aimed at shaping the political order of the region. Pursuit of the Carter Doctrine through successive administrations ultimately gave rise to what has become an elaborate, endless military campaign intended to free up Middle East oil supplies, even though those supplies were not in real danger. And all of this stemmed from a remarkable assertion at the core of the Carter Doctrine that went unquestioned in Washington, namely that Middle East oil could rightly be considered a vital public good for modernity under the protection of America for the sake of all nations.

People in the Middle East understandably have balked at the notion that foreign powers can claim their prime national resource in such a way. Outrage over perceived imperialism has been a driver of violent movements in the region for decades and remains so, forming a major source of instability. The people of the Middle East generally do not consider themselves obligated to produce oil for the sake of the world and resent armed threat for not doing so. As a national resource, the oil is theirs, to do with as they wish. The Carter Doctrine’s rejection of this basic tenet of national sovereignty represents its gravest sin and its irredeemable strategic flaw. The Biden administration should announce an end to this doctrine and embrace a new one that revolves around multinational cooperation rather than the seizure of resources.

The one real global commons in the Middle East is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the shipping lanes of world markets. The United States has a legitimate interest in ensuring that shipping through the strait is secure — as do many other nations. Iran may treat the strait as its own, but international law designating sea lanes as commons justify a multinational governance approach to this particular resource. That makes the United States just one of many stakeholders in managing the strait. Other nations relying on shipping through the strait, especially countries in the Middle East and East Asia, should all be involved in a multinational maritime mission aimed at ensuring trade flows smoothly in and out of the Persian Gulf – by Mark Kukis

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/02/12/why-biden-should-renounce-the-carter-doctrine/

(* B K P)

10 Key Points on Ending Wars

Victories that are only partial are not fictional.

When a ruler, like Biden, finally announces the end of a war, like the war on Yemen, it is as important to recognize what it does mean as what it doesn’t. It doesn’t mean the U.S. military and U.S.-made weapons will vanish from the region or be replaced by actual aid or reparations (as opposed to “lethal aid” — a product that’s usually high on people’s Christmas lists only for other people). It does not mean we’ll see U.S. support for the rule of law and the prosecution of the worst crimes on earth, or encouragement for nonviolent movements for democracy. It apparently does not mean an end to providing information to the Saudi military on whom to kill where. It apparently does not mean the immediate lifting of the blockade on Yemen.

But it does mean that, if we keep up and increase the pressure from the U.S. public, from activists around the globe, from people putting their bodies in front of weapons shipments, from labor unions and governments cutting off weapons shipments, from media outlets compelled to care, from the U.S. Congress forced to follow through, from cities passing resolutions, from cities and institutions divesting from weapons, from institutions shamed into dropping their funding by warmongering dictatorships (did you see Bernie Sanders yesterday denouncing Neera Tanden’s corporate funding, and Republicans defending it? what if he had mentioned UAE funding?) — if we increase that pressure then almost certainly some weapons deals will be delayed if not stopped forever (in fact, they already have been), some types of U.S. military participation in the war will cease, and potentially — by protesting all ongoing militarism as evidence of a broken promise — we’ll get more than Biden, Blinken, and the Blob intend.

Congress matters.

Biden did what he did on Yemen because if he hadn’t Congress would have. Congress would have because people who compelled Congress to do it two years ago would have compelled Congress again. This matters because it is relatively easier — though still outrageously difficult — to move Congress to answer majority demands.

Now that Congress does not have to end the war on Yemen again, at least not in the way that it did before, it should move onto the next war on the list, which should be Afghanistan.

Weapons sales matter.

It matters that ending the war on Yemen prominently includes ending weapons sales. This should be expanded and continued, possibly including through Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s bill to Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers – by David Swanson

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/12/10-key-points-on-ending-wars/

(A P)

USCIRF Calls for Magnitsky Sanctions on Saudi Officials Following Release of Loujain al-Hathloul

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today expressed relief over the release of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who had been in prison since May 2018. Al-Hathloul has called publicly for the abolition of Saudi Arabia’s guardianship system, which severely restricts women’s rights on a religious basis. Despite being released from prison, she remains subject to a five year travel ban, further restricting her expression of peaceful dissent. Several other Saudi women who have protested guardianship remain in prison.

In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department designate Saudi Arabia as a “Country of Particular Concern” for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-calls-magnitsky-sanctions-saudi-officials-following-release

(A P)

New U.S. Yemen envoy meets Yemen president amid fresh efforts to end war

The United States’ new special envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, met Yemen’s internationally-recognised president and his foreign minister in Riyadh on Thursday, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by the Biden administration aimed at ending the war.

“Our primary objective is to bring the parties together in coordination with U.N. Special Envoy [Martin] Griffiths for a negotiated settlement that will end the war and the suffering of the Yemeni people,” the U.S. embassy to Yemen reported of Lenderking’s comments to Yemen’s foreign minister.

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-saudi-envoy-int/new-u-s-yemen-envoy-meets-yemen-president-amid-fresh-efforts-to-end-war-idUSKBN2AB1RC

and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210212-new-us-envoy-meets-yemen-president-in-saudi/

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

Siehe / Look at cp1b, cp9

(A P)

Iran: US 'remains in exactly same position' held by Trump

Iran has once again stressed that it is the US that should take the first step in order to resolve the issues surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal, urging Washington to stop “spouting off” amid growing inconsistencies on the American side.

“It’s impossible [for Iran] to take the initiative to make concessions,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with China’s Phoenix Television broadcast on Wednesday.

Zarif was reaffirming Iran’s position on the nuclear deal

https://parstoday.com/en/news/iran-i134278-iran_us_'remains_in_exactly_same_position'_held_by_trump

(A K P)

Iran Judiciary chief: US relocating Daesh in region under guise of fighting terror

Iranian Judiciary Chief Seyyed Ebrahim Ra'eisi says the United States is relocating Daesh terrorists from their former bastions in Syria and Iraq under the guise of fighting terror, while Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus, along with other neighbors, are working to cleanse the region of the Takfiri outfit’s remnants.

https://parstoday.com/en/news/iran-i134216-iran_judiciary_chief_us_relocating_daesh_in_region_under_guise_of_fighting_terror

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

(* B K P)

Britain’s Deadly Role in the War on Yemen – Steve Bell, Stop the War Coalition

If there is one certainty in all this, it is that the Conservative government will be the last to recognise the collapse of a war it enthusiastically endorsed. Despite the steps taken by the Biden administration, the British government, for the moment, is determined to assist the war’s military prosecution to the bitterest of ends.

Despite the pleas of MPs from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National parties, the Minister insisted that it would be wrong to pause arms sales to the Coalition. Obviously, he disagreed with Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, as Lisa Nandy stated “We cannot be both peacemaker and arms dealer in this conflict”. He said that “…the government takes its own arms exports responsibilities very seriously”, which must offset their lethality.

Of course, the Minister made much of Iran’s support for AnsarAllah – and thus Iran’s breach of Resolution 2216, through arms exports. Iranian arms lack the peaceful character of British made munitions.

Equally predictable was the Minister’s lauding of the aid extended to Yemen by the British government, all of £1 billion since 2015. He did not offer any figure for the destruction created by £5.3 billion arms licences granted for arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Nor did explain that this “aid” does not represent development, merely addressing the immediate effects of the social catastrophe that his government has helped to create.

The Minister spoke very consistently about Saudi Arabia’s need to defend itself. He failed to mention how the siege, that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have enforced for six years upon the Yemeni people, defends Saudi Arabia. Nor did he suggest that the humanitarian effort would be aided once the Coalition lifted that siege.

So, no sign that the British government will use its influence to end the Coalition’s pursuit of a military solution. The responsibility then returns to the anti-war movement, inside and outside Parliament, to organise against a government in denial of an absolute failure. The Stop the War Coalition, CND, CAAT and others are pressing for MPs to hold this government to account. The Yemeni people need us all to be part of that pressure.

https://labouroutlook.org/2021/02/12/britains-deadly-role-in-the-war-on-yemen-steve-bell-stop-the-war-coalition/

(* A B P)

US lawmakers urge UK to help end complicity in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen

Question mark over far Biden administration will go to push allies to end arms sales

Senior US lawmakers have called on the UK to live up to its “moral responsibility” and help end both countries “complicity” in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, in a sign of the pressure the UK will face in Washington to join the Biden administration and end weapons sales to the kingdom.

Senator Ron Wyden, the Democratic chairman of the powerful finance committee and a leading critic of Saudi Arabia, said in a statement to the Guardian that he believed the US should not “be in the business of selling weapons to governments with a track record of using them to commit atrocities”.

“American allies like the UK and France should follow suit immediately and stop enabling the Saudi regime,” he said.

Senator Chris Murphy, another Democrat who has led the push to end offensive US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, told the Guardian he knew many in the UK “share our concerns about weapons sales fuelling the war in Yemen”.

“The respective economic benefits of these sales do not outweigh our national security and moral responsibility to end complicity in this ongoing nightmare. The United States and the United Kingdom acting in concert is more powerful than either of us acting alone, and I hope that our governments can work together to prioritise a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Yemen,” he said.

Policy and defence analysts said it was too soon to predict how much pressure Biden would seek to put on Johnson at a time when the US is seeking to strengthen its diplomatic relationships around the world. It was also unclear to some whether the US would seek to stop US defence manufacturers from selling parts to UK defence companies that sell arms to Saudi Arabia.

“I think any pressure on the UK will be done quietly and privately,” said Kirsten Fontenrose, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former senior director for Gulf affairs at the National Security Council under the Trump administration.

“[Biden] can’t come in more overbearing than the previous president was, and that’s what it would look like if he tried to pressure the UK to cripple their economy further in a post-Covid attempt at economic recovery,” Fontenrose said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/us-lawmakers-urge-uk-to-help-end-complicity-in-saudi-arabias-war-in-yemen

(A K P)

Greens call on Scottish Government to stop support for companies profiting from war in Yemen

The Scottish Greens have called on the Scottish Government to end all cash grants and support for companies profiting from the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen. This follows the decision of the US Government to halt arms sales and support for the Saudi Arabian military in Yemen.

The UK government has refused to follow the US lead by curbing arms sales. This is despite sustained and credible evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Saudi forces, including the bombing of hospitals and funerals.

Unfortunately, many of Saudi Arabia’s arms suppliers have also benefited from support and funding from Scottish Enterprise, a Scottish Government agency.

https://greens.scot/news/greens-call-on-scottish-government-to-stop-support-for-companies-profiting-from-war-in-yemen

(A K P)

Britain condemns Houthi attack on Saudi airport -Raab

Britain condemned an attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport, in a Tweet posted by foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday.

“The UK is steadfast in its unwavering support for the security of Saudi territory.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-saudi-britain-int/britain-condemns-houthi-attack-on-saudi-airport-raab-idUSKBN2AB1OU

My comment: What a hypocrisy. They stay silent when Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen. – And, Saudi security really isn’t a british business – unless Britain still calims to be a (minature) colonial imperialist force.

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

(A P)

Film: 209. Sitzung vom 11.02.2021. TOP ZP 8: Friedensbemühungen im Jemen

https://www.podcast.de/episode/537360886/209.+Sitzung+vom+11.02.2021.+TOP+ZP+8%3A+Friedensbem%C3%BChungen+im+Jemen/

und einzelne Reden:

(A P)

Grüne: Friedensbemühungen im Jemen intensivieren

Mit dem Antrag „Die Friedensbemühungen im Jemen intensivieren – Humanitäre Lage verbessern“ forderten wir die Bundesregierung erneut auf, den Friedensprozess stärker voranzutreiben und deutsche Waffenlieferungen an die am Krieg beteiligte Regionalmächte zu stoppen. Der Antrag der grünen Bundestagsfraktion wurde am 11.02.2021 mit den Stimmen von CDU/CSU und SPD abgelehnt.

Bundestagsrede am 11.2.2021 von Omid Nouripour zum Jemen (film)

https://www.gruene-bundestag.de/themen/internationale-politik/friedensbemuehungen-im-jemen-intensivieren

Mein Kommentar: Die Vorwürfe an den Iran erscheinen doch sehr dubios.

(A P)

Alexander Radwan, MdB CDU/CSU: Rede zu den Friedensbemühungen im Jemen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fieyItQJj9M

(A P)

Heike Hänsel, DIE LINKE: Für eine Wende in der Jemen-Politik

Die Bilanz des Krieges der Koalition unter Führung der islamistischen Kopf-Ab-Diktatur Saudi-Arabien im Jemen ist verheerend. Nichts als Tod, Elend und Hunger hat die Jemen-Kriegsallianz über die Menschen dieses armen und geschundenen Landes gebracht. Die Bundesregierung muss die Mitverantwortung für den Terror im Jemen endlich anerkennen. Notwendig ist ein Waffenexportstopp für alle Länder der saudischen Kriegsallianz und Wiederaufbauhilfe für den Jemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCvPgD4zP08

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

(A P)

Bahrain Arrests Children in Run-up to Arab Spring Anniversary as Repression Intensifies

Two 13-year old children are facing up to 20 years in prison after being detained and interrogated over charges linked to protesting;

Family members informed BIRD that the children were subjected to hours of interrogation without their lawyers or parents present, raising concerns they may have been coerced into providing confessions;

Arrests appear to be aimed at deterring protests commemorating 10th anniversary of Bahrain’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, with local activists reporting a further 18 arrests over past week;

http://birdbh.org/2021/02/bahrain-arrests-children-in-run-up-to-arab-spring-anniversary-as-repression-intensifies/

(A P)

Houthi attacks pose 'serious threat' to region: Kuwait

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/houthi-attacks-pose-serious-threat-to-region-kuwait/2142931

(A P)

EU-Parlament: Sanktionen wegen Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Jemen

Das Europaparlament hat gezielte Sanktionen für Verantwortliche für schwere Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen gefordert. Diese sollten nicht nur Funktionsträger der Konfliktparteien im Land betreffen, sondern auch solche aus dem Iran, Saudi-Arabien und den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, hiess es in einer Entschliessung vom Donnerstag. Konkret brachten die Abgeordneten Einreiseverbote und das Einfrieren von Vermögenswerten ins Spiel.

http://www.eu-info.de/dpa-europaticker/309544.html = https://www.volksblatt.li/nachrichten/International/Politik/sda/6300623/eu-parlament-sanktionen-wegen-menschenrechtsverletzungen-im-jemen

und auch https://parstoday.com/de/news/world-i55938-eu_parlament_fordert_ein_verbot_von_waffenverk%C3%A4ufen_an_saudi_arabien_und_vae

(A P)

MEPs strongly condemn continuing violence in Yemen and military coup in Myanmar

Parliament condemned in the strongest terms the ongoing violence in Yemen that has, since 2015, “degenerated into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world”. There can be no military solution to the conflict and the crisis can only be resolved sustainably through an inclusive Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned negotiation process, stress MEPs in a resolution adopted on Thursday by 638 votes for, 12 against and 44 abstentions.

Calling on all parties to facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief and other necessary goods to the population, MEPs point out that nearly 80 per cent of Yemenites— more than 24 million people — need humanitarian support, while 50 000 people are living in famine-like conditions. This figure is expected to triple by mid-2021.

All parties must urgently refrain from starving civilians as a method of warfare, MEPs stress, whilst pushing for targeted measures to be imposed against those taking part in acts that violate international humanitarian law.

Welcoming the EU’s pledge to triple humanitarian help for Yemen in 2021, MEPs urge the European Commission and EU member states to lead international efforts to urgently scale up humanitarian aid.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210204IPR97119/meps-strongly-condemn-continuing-violence-in-yemen-and-military-coup-in-myanmar

and

(A P)

[Sanaa gov.] National Delegation Head : Yemen Welcomes European Calls to End Saudi-led Aggression

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17734/National-Delegation-Head-Yemen-Welcomes-European-Calls-to-End-Saudi-led-Aggression

and

(A P)

Yemen: European Parliament Adopts Resolution, Calls on EU and Member States to Address Accountability Gap

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and Mwatana for Human Rights call on the European Union (EU) and its Member States to immediately act on the explicit and direct calls made by the European Parliament in the 2021 and 2018 resolutions on Yemen to ensure accountability for perpetrators and to halt all arms exports to, and military cooperation with, all parties to the conflict, restating the calls made by the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE) in their September 2020 report to the Human Rights Council.

CIHRS and Mwatana reiterate their call to states to immediately pursue concrete steps to advance a holistic and credible accountability strategy for Yemen, including pursuing criminal justice for international crimes and reparations for victims.

https://cihrs.org/yemen-european-parliament-adopts-resolution-calls-on-eu-and-member-states-to-address-accountability-gap/?lang=en

French liberal MEPs silent on EU weapons in Yemen

French and Spanish liberal MEPs have refused to endorse calls to end the sale of European security equipment that fuel conflict in Yemen and demand accountablity for member states that violate EU arms export rules.

The vote on Thursday (11 February) was part of a European Parliament resolution on Yemen, considered to be the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

Within that call was an appeal for an EU-wide ban on security equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Although it passed, the entire delegation of 23 French MEPs from Renew Europe, save one, abstained from the appeal itself.

Many of them are from president Emmanuel Macron's En Marche party.

And seven out of the nine Spanish liberals also abstained.

https://euobserver.com/foreign/150908

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

Siehe / Look at cp1b, cp9, cp10, cp12

(A K)

Photo: Small arms and accessories fill a local arms market in Dhamar governorate. Yemen has long ranked among the top countries with the highest rate of gun ownership. The proliferation of small arms continues as Yemen nears six years of civil war.

https://twitter.com/NavantiGroup/status/1359935219067998212

(A K P)

Air NZ “Bought Share Of The Blame” For Yemen Humanitarian Catastrophe With Saudi Contract – Oxfam

Air New Zealand’s contract with the Saudi military is an unacceptable breach of international obligations and New Zealanders’ trust, said Oxfam today, as the aid agency called for the government’s investigation into the deal to be made public.

The $3m contract, signed by Air New Zealand in 2019 to repair critical engine components for Saudi naval vessels, is more than twice the value of New Zealand’s humanitarian assistance last year to the conflict in Yemen – the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“With one hand, New Zealanders are donating critical funds through government and humanitarian agencies to save lives in Yemen, while with another, a New Zealand company, of which the New Zealand government is a majority stakeholder, is supporting the military accused by the UN of war crimes during this crisis,” said Oxfam New Zealand’s executive director, Rachael Le Mesurier. “The New Zealand public deserves an investigation that answers the question of whether or not this country has failed to live up to its legal and ethical obligations to the international community.”

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2102/S00103/air-nz-bought-share-of-the-blame-for-yemen-humanitarian-catastrophe-with-saudi-contract-oxfam.htm

cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

(* B P)

Al Nahreen Mosque in Old Sana'a is one of the oldest mosques in the area and classed as a world Heritage Site. It was destructed by #Houthis authorities. No one seems to care because it wasn't destroyed by Coalition airstrike (photos)

https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1360567217839104000

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

(A T)

[Sanaa gov.] Security, intelligence services arrest criminal cell of Al-Qaeda in Bayda

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128368.htm

(A T)

This week's ISIS bulletin carries a 2-page eulogy of Abu al-Hasan al-Adeni, who was military commander of ISIS in al-Bayda', Yemen. It contains some juicy details (image)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1360327158737076224

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/13/al-qaeda-cell-taken-down-in-yemen/

(A T)

In order of appearance, #AQAP's latest video shows the following militants at an outdoor meeting in #Yemen: Khalid al-Batarfi, Khubayb al-Sudani, Abu Ahmed Muhannad Al-Qasimi, and Abu Saif Al-Ghunaimi. (photos)

https://twitter.com/JoshuaKoontz__/status/1359917466198114305

cp15 Propaganda

(A P)

Biden's Yemen policy risks backfiring

And in one theatre of conflict – Yemen – the Biden team’s departure from Washington’s policy over the past four years has proved puzzling and perhaps even risky.

That President Joe Biden has not secured a notable foreign policy win may be a sign of the times we live in. It could also be a testament to Donald Trump’s largely positive foreign policy legacy, particularly in the Middle East.

On Iran, the administration has backed itself into a corner. It initially created an expectation around the proposed return to the 2015 nuclear deal, which Mr Trump had withdrawn the US from in 2018, before being struck by harsh realities involving Tehran’s mostly destabilising foreign policy. Mr Biden has not blinked yet, but in its bid to make Washington cave, the Iranian regime continues to threaten the world that it is even closer to acquiring a nuclear weapon.

It is Mr Biden’s policy vis-a-vis Yemen that is a mystery.

He withdrew support for the Saudi Arabia-led effort to halt the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels’ illegal takeover of the country. He then decided to delist the Houthis as a terror organisation, just weeks after they had been put on the list by the outgoing Trump administration.

However, questions remain unanswered.

Does Washington have any leverage to push the Houthis towards the negotiating table with the other Yemeni parties, including the legitimate government in Aden, and Saudi Arabia in order to reach a political solution?

Time will tell if the Biden administration’s Yemen policy, made in its early days, proves fruitful – or whether it ends up becoming the costly product of its determination to carve a niche for itself. https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/biden-s-yemen-policy-risks-backfiring-1.1165305

(A P)

#Cartoon: The Int'l Community and the United Nations try to depict #Houthis as peace seekers

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1360643156530892802

(A P)

Saudi Press: Saudi Arabia to Take All Necessary Measures to Maintain its Territories and Safety of Citizens and Residents

Al-Bilad and Al-Yaum newspapers reported in their editorials that after the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militia targeted Abha International Airport, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has affirmed in a new message to the Security Council that it will take all necessary measures to maintain its territories and the safety of its citizens and residents, in accordance with the international laws.
Now, the entire world has witnessed the outrageous Houthi attacks with using ballistic missiles and booby-trapped drones against civilian objects and civilians in Saudi Arabia, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, the papers added.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2190078

My comment: LOL. As if there would not have been any Saudi air raid against Yemen (with many single ones being much more horrible than all Houthi raids against Saudi Arabia together). And the “West” joins this odd narrative.

(A P)

#Yemen is a very active topic on Twitter these days, with a number of online campaigns underway, some of which are trending globally. What’s new and interesting is the massive participation by Yemenis using these hashtags #HouthiTerrorismInYemen & #StopHouthiTerrorismInYemen

These hashtags were started by a group called “Aqyal,” an emerging social movement that fights Hashemite supremacy and calls for equal opportunities for all Yemenis. It’s widely supported by Yemeni youth, including those affiliated with the existing political parties.

Aqyal was able to rally people across the political spectrum against Houthis for the first time, and this success was due to 1) their independence, 2) all of them are volunteers, 3) transparency in organizing, and 4) the fact that it’s a just cause.

https://twitter.com/alkhatabyemen/status/1360184349774209025

(A P)

Mouallimi Urges UNSC to Shoulder Responsibility on Houthi Threats

Saudi Arabia told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that an attack by Yemen's Houthi militias on Abha International Airport caused a fire on a civilian plane, describing it as a "heinous war crime."
"Such acts of terrorism by the Houthis continue to jeopardize the efforts of United Nations to reach a comprehensive political solution in Yemen," Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi wrote in a letter.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32217

My comment: Saudi Arabia had started its war against Yemen by an air raid against Sanaa airport (which hit a dwelling quarter), just trying (and succeeding) again a few days later, and again and again and again.

(A P)

Kurds are more deserving of terror delisting than Houthis

It is also crucial that the United States not fall into a dynamic by which terrorist groups can blackmail outside powers by figuratively holding a gun to the heads of their population while declaring, pay us or we will shoot. Make no mistake, Hamas and Hezbollah are looking at Blinken’s explanation and concluding they too can victimize their populations for monetary gain.

Simply put, terror designations should be objective based on the ideology and actions of the group in question. The Houthi motto remains “Allah is Greater, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.” When a think tank delegation asked a Houthi spokesman about this in an Oman-brokered meeting a couple years ago, the Houthis explained they meant every word. Furthermore, as Blinken signaled the policy change, Ansarallah responded by striking at a civilian airport in Saudi Arabia, setting aflame a plane on the tarmac.

The real question Blinken should now answer is why he will revoke the Houthi designation despite the sponsorship they receive from a country that the State Department labels “the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism” while maintain a terror designation of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its affiliates with which the United States partners.

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/kurds-are-more-deserving-of-terror-delisting-than-houthis/

(A P)

How Houthi war tactics impede vital aid flow to Yemen’s needy

Trouble is, for long the Iran-backed Shiite militia has prevented UN assistance from reaching the needy, regardless of how the US administration chose to label it.

Many see the pleas by the US now to the Houthis to stop behaving like a terrorist organization as too little too late. Backed by a regime (Iran) eager to be wooed by the Biden administration, the Houthis likely think they are on a winning streak and therefore should be dialing up the action, not down.

For evidence of this mentality, one need look no further than the near daily drone and missile attacks on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia, although thanks to the Kingdom’s robust air defenses, the casualties have been minimal.

Since they launched an offensive against the UN-recognized government and took control of the capital, Sana’a, and other parts of northern Yemen in 2014 and early 2015, the Houthis have used banned antipersonnel landmines, fired artillery into Yemeni cities, and indiscriminately launched ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1807841/middle-east

(A P)

If you think the signs of anti-Yemen conspiracy are few, you are dead wrong

President Abd-Rabbu M. Hadi is not able to say a word on the ongoing defining battle in his home country.

- The army is the only force that is banned from acquiring weapons. All rebel militias can. Houthis for example can import, modify and manufacture.

- All rebel militias in the country have their salaries paid regularly. From the state-budget! The army is the only force that no longer receive salaries !!

- All militias have seaports under their control. The government was not allowed to control any of the country’s seaports.

- Instead of helping end the Houthi coup, the UAE created and another rebel militia and masterminded another coup.

- The international community met the UAE’s malign role in Yemen with silence.

- The international community did not hold Houthis responsible for the coup and ensuing devastating war and did not even blame the failure of peace on the militia.

- The UN and western media outlets never talk of Houthi abuses in the militia’s areas of control including in Sana’a.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45059

(A P)

About 65971 violations committed against children in Yemen, says YNRF

Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms (YNRF) said on Sunday it had documented 65971 violations against children in Yemen in the past four years.

The non-governmental organization asserted that 321 cases of disabilities among children were recorded, 164 of which resulted from indiscriminate shelling on residential areas, and 157 due to landmines.

“The Houthi coup caused as many as 43608 children to be displaced from 2015 to 2019, while over two million children joined child labor as a result of the worsening economic situation in the country,” YNRF said in a statement.

The YNRF added that about 4,5 million children were deprived of education as a result of turning education institutions into military barracks and camps for military training and recruitment.

The Yemeni network noted that its teams had met with the families of under-aged teens who were recruited by Houthis.

“The families told us our teams that their children were brainwashed and lured into joining frontlines,” the YNRF said.

https://republicanyemen.net/archives/27155

My remark: As if there would be no violations by the Saudi/UAE/hadi gov./STC side. The Houthi “coup” hardly caused the greater part of displacements. Air raids, bombs, missiles, shelling will do more.

(A P)

BIDEN’S APPEASEMENT OF IRAN BEGINS

Joe Biden is determined to appease Iran, and the appeasement has already commenced. Its public manifestation centers now on Yemen, and the Houthi rebels there.

Team Biden may wish Trump had done more. That way, the new administration could more dramatically signal its willingness to back Iranian interests and sell out Saudi Arabia.

As it is, Biden must settle for small gestures. Thus, he announced last week, in his first presidential foreign-policy address, that “we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.” (Emphasis added)

But, as noted above, there is no direct American support for offensive operations in that war. We do sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE but for general use, as I understand it, not for use in Yemen.

By paying that fee so eagerly, Biden invites Iran to raise the table stakes and to insist that the U.S. pay a very high price once the real game begins.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/02/bidens-appeasement-of-iran-begins.php

(A P)

Iran must not be allowed to win the nasty war in Yemen

Allowing legitimate moral qualms regarding the war's conduct to translate into Iranian victory would have dangerous and far-reaching strategic consequences.

The new administration’s announcement that it will suspend and reassess major arms sales, concluded in the very last days of the Trump administration, has been officially explained as a normal review procedure.

Objections to the war in Yemen did not necessarily play a role in Biden’s decision to review these arms deals, but the war may indeed have an impact on results of the review process.

It is in Israel’s interest (and that of the region as a whole) and the interest of the United States to ensure that whatever legitimate moral concerns pertain to the war in Yemen do not result in a victory for Iran and its proxies, leading to consolidation of their control over all or most of Yemen. An Iranian victory would have dangerous strategic implications:

  1. Yemen’s position on the vital waterway of Bab al-Mandab would give Iran an additional choke point (alongside Iran’s own position on the Straits of Hormuz) on international shipping routes.
  2. There also will be symbolic political reverberations throughout the region. If the Houthi rebels win, having launched repeated missile attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, the lessons would be learned by foe and friend alike (in terms of tactics, norms, grand strategy and ideology).

The Biden administration may reasonably expect the Saudis and the UAE to engage in a discussion on the way the war is conducted. (In such a discussion, Israel could bring to bear some of its own experience in navigating the conjunction of real-time intelligence, precision-guided munitions and international humanitarian law.) Such a discussion, however, needs to be framed in the context of a common determination to win the war; or at least, if it is ever brought to a diplomatic conclusion, to assure that the outcome cannot be interpreted as an Iranian triumph.

Given the salience of Iran’s nuclear challenge, it is important to signal at an early stage (as France has apparently already realized) that U.S. support for traditional allies, and a determination to contain Iranian aggression, will be part of the regional equation. The Biden administration needs to avoid (or at least, mitigate and compensate for) decisions that undermine the efforts of its regional allies to contain Iranian hegemonic aspirations; that pose a risk to the entire Red Sea basin; and that play into the hands of a movement (the Houthis) which does not even bother to hide its crude anti-Semitism.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/iran-must-not-be-allowed-to-win-the-nasty-war-in-yemen/

(from 2018). Fighting on Both Fronts- The Arab Coalition War on Al-Qaeda and Houthi Rebels in Yemen

The Arab coalition in Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular have played a vital role in supporting the Yemeni government in its war against both al-Qaeda and Houthi rebels. These campaigns curtailed the influence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and reduced the Houthi threats to maritime security in the Bab-al-Mandeb strait, making a positive contribution to regional and international security. This paper reviews the Emirati fight against AQAP as well as the Emirati – Saudi efforts to undermine the Houthis, thus preventing Iran from establishing a foothold in the southern backyard of Saudi Arabia.

https://www.academia.edu/38307609/Fighting_on_Both_Fronts_The_Arab_Coalition_War_on_Al_Qaeda_and_Houthi_Rebels_in_Yemen_docx

(A P)

More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2190006

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189963

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189959

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189952

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

(* A K pH)

Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day

Feb. 11: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1936447569838932/

Feb. 10: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1936447036505652/

Feb. 9: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1936446463172376/

Feb. 8: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1936446063172416/

(* B K)

YEMEN DATA PROJECT AIR RAIDS SUMMARY FEBRUARY 2021

In January, over 10% of bombings hit civilian targets** and 13% hit military targets. In more than 77% of air raids in January the target could not be identified. Of the 28 air raids where the target could be identified, 43% of bombings hit civilian sites. 57% of identifiable targets were military.

Of the 28 air raids where the target was identified in January 2021

4 hit residential areas.

4 hit farms.

2 hit telecommunication networks in Saada.

1 hit a civilian vehicle, killing one man.

1 hit Al-Hudaydah port (transport infrastructure)

MOST HEAVILY BOMBED GOVERNORATES JANUARY 2021

Marib continues to be the most heavily bombed governorate. Almost half (46%) of all Saudi-led coalition air raids in January targeted Marib. In November, 43% of air raids hit Marib. Sirwah was the most heavily bombed district in the country with 15 of the 58 air raids in the month in Marib hitting the district.

https://mailchi.mp/e326bb82220f/february2021-yemen-data-project-update-6483076

(A K pH)

More Saudi coalition air raids

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17764/US-Saudi-Aggression-Launches-Series-of-Raids-on-Marib%2C-Al-Jawf%2C-Sa-adah Marib p., Jawf p., Saada p.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128271.htm Marib p.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17732/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Thursday%2C-Feb.-11%2C-2021 Marib p.

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

Siehe / Look at cp18

Im Jemen herrscht ein militärisches Patt. Eine größere offensive mit größeren Erfolgen und Geländegewinnen für eine Seite bleiben seit der Offensive der saudischen Koalition gegen Hodeidah im Jahr 2018 aus. Kleinere Offensiven, ständige gegenseitige Angriffe und Gefechte mit Toten auf beiden Seiten und Opfern unter der Zivilbevölkerung gibt es aber ständig. Besonders betroffen sind die Provinzen Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, der Bezirk Nehm in der Provinz Sanaa, die Provinzen Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah und Saada.

There is a military stalemate in Yemen. A larger offensive with greater successes and territorial gains for one side has been absent since the Saudi coalition's offensive against Hodeidah in 2018. Smaller offensives, constant mutual attacks and skirmishes killing fighters of both sides and causing victims among the civilian population are constant. The provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al Bayda, Al Dhalea, the district of Nehm in the province of Sanaa, the provinces of Al Jawf, Marib, Hajjah and Saada are particularly affected.

(A K pH)

Army drones attack Saudi Abha airport

Army's drones conducted on Saturday afternoon an attack on Saudi Abha International Airport, spokesman of the armed forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sarei, told Saba.

Sarei said that the army air force hit an important target at Abha Airport accurately with a Samad-3 aircraft.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128339.htm

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/17766/Yemeni-Air-Force-Targets-Abha-Int-l-Airport-with-Sammad-3-Drones

and

(A K pS)

The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception, Destruction of Bomb-Laden UAV Launched Toward the Kingdom.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2190091

(A K pH)

[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces raid Saudi base in Najran

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/13/yemeni-forces-raid-saudi-base-in-najran/

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhg_U7wJIc

(A K pH)

Saudi border guards fire kills 2, injures 2 in Sa'ada

Two citizens were killed on Friday by Saudi border guards in Munabeh border district in Sa'ada province, a security official told Saba.

The Saudi border guards opened fire at the populated area of AL Sheikh, killing the two citizens and wounding two others, said the official.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128266.htm

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/17743/Four-Citizens-Killed%2C-Injured-by-Saudi-Border-Guards-Fire-in-Sa-adah-Governorate

(A K pH)

[Sanaa gov.] Air Force strikes Abha Airport, King Khalid Air Base again

The Army Drone Air Force targeted on Friday some military sites in Khamis Mushait region, army's spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sarei said.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128257.htm

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/17742/Yemeni-Air-Forces-Target-Abha-Intl.-Airport%2C-King-Khalid-Base-in-Khamis-Mushait%C2%A0

(A K pS)

Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception, Destruction of Bomb-Laden UAV Launched Toward the Kingdom

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189893

(A K pS)

Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception, Destruction of Bomb-Laden UAV Launched Toward the Kingdom

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189869

(A K pS)

Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen: Interception, Destruction of A Ballistic Missile Launched by the Terrorist, Iran-Backed Houthi Militia Toward the Kingdom

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2189852

(A K pH)

[Sanaa gov.] Air force hits King Khalid Air Base in Asir

The Army Missile Force launched on Thursday evening a missile attack on the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait city in Asir region.

The missile forces targeted King Khalid Air Base with a yet-undisclosed ballistic missile, army's spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sarei said.

The hit was accurate, he said, adding that the attack came in retaliation for the continuous military escalation of the aggression forces and the continued siege on the country.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128191.htm

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/11/yemeni-ballistic-missile-strikes-king-khalid-air-base-in-saudi-arabia/

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17731/Yemeni-Rocketry-Force-Targets-King-Khalid-Military-Base

(A K)

Over 80 killed in Yemen's Marib fighting within 24 hours: local sources

More than 80 people were killed due to intense armed confrontations between pro-government Yemeni forces and the Houthi rebels over the past 24 hours in the country's northeastern province of Marib, according to local sources.

An official of Marib's local authority told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "scores of the Houthi rebels continued in launching a series of armed attacks on the government-controlled sites in Marib's northwestern parts."

Units of the pro-government armed forces were engaged in intense armed confrontations with the Houthi attackers and attempted to repulse their offensive against the oil-rich province of Marib, the source said.

http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2021-02/14/content_77214770.htm

(A K pS)

Yemen's Houthi rebels suffer heavy casualties in attack on Marib province

Dozens of Houthis were killed in fighting with Yemeni government forces and allied tribes in Marib on Friday as the rebels pressed an offensive to capture the northern province.

Fierce battles between the Houthi rebels and pro-government troops backed by local tribes have been raging in southern and western Marib for more than a week.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/yemen-s-houthi-rebels-suffer-heavy-casualties-in-attack-on-marib-province-1.1165303

and

(A K)

Dozens dead as Houthi offensive in Yemen’s northern Marib escalates

Fighting in Yemen’s north has left dozens dead and wounded, a government source said Friday, as the Houthis battle to seize a strategic oil-rich region of Marib.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/02/12/Dozens-dead-as-houthi-offensive-in-Yemen-s-northern-Marib-escalates = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-9254623/Yemen-rocked-heavy-clashes-amid-stark-UN-starvation-warning.html

and

(A K pS)

Map of Tadawain camp, the source of Ma'rib Airport, next to it

https://twitter.com/Naseh_Shaker/status/1360686424819916802

and

(A K pH)

Yemen air defenses shoot down CH-4 drone in Ma’rib

The [Sanaa gov.] Yemeni army’s air defences have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle “CH-4 ” belonging to Saudi-led aggression coalition forces over Ma’rib province , Yemen’s military spokesman said on Friday.

According to the Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, the coalition drone was downed by a surface-to-air missile, while it was carrying out hostilities over the airspace of Medghal district

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/11/yemen-air-defenses-shoot-down-ch-4-drone-in-marib/

and also https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128225.htm and https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128285.htm

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpIDqoq3qsQ

(A K pH)

Saudi border guards kill boy in Sa'ada

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3128192.htm

(A K)

So around 100 elements -over 75 Houthis & 20 from govt forces- were killed in just a 12-hours battle northwest #Marib. According to a mil. source, #Houthis use "human wave attacks" again to achieve any breakthrough,partclrly in the western & northwest front, but has failed yet.

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1360353748887945219

and

(A K)

Maps of Marib

Not able to confirm the validity of these maps

https://twitter.com/BashaReport/status/1359958573116239872

and

(A K pH)

[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces seize large Saudi military base in Marib

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/169814/Yemeni-forces-seize-large-Saudi-military-base-in-Marib

and also https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/11/yemeni-forces-take-major-saudi-military-base-in-marib/

and

(A K pH)

Nearly 100 Saudi and mercenary casualties in latest Ma’rib clashes

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/02/11/nearly-100-saudi-and-mercenary-casualties-in-latest-marib-clashes/

and

(A K pS)

37 Houthi fighters killed in Marib, says [Hadi] government army

https://debriefer.net/en/news-23109.html

(A K pH)

Jemen: Ansarullah warnt Fluggesellschaften davor, saudische Flughäfen zu nutzen

Laut einem Mitglied der jemenitischen Ansaruallh-Bewegung nutze Saudi-Arabien seine Flughäfen, um tödliche Luftangriffe auf den Jemen zu starten, was diese zu "legitimen Zielen" der Vergeltungsschläge des vom Krieg heimgesuchten Landes mache.

"Wir raten Fluggesellschaften davon ab, saudische Flughäfen zu nutzen, da sie für militärische Zwecke bei der Aggression und Blockade gegen den Jemen eingesetzt werden", schrieb das Mitglied des Obersten Politischen Rates Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, am Mittwoch auf Twitter.

https://parstoday.com/de/news/middle_east-i55920-jemen_ansarullah_warnt_fluggesellschaften_davor_saudische_flugh%C3%A4fen_zu_nutzen

(A K P)

Britain, France, Germany condemn Houthi attack on Saudi's Abha airport

Britain, France and Germany on Thursday condemned a spate of attacks on Saudi Arabia claimed by Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying the proliferation of drones posed a serious threat to regional stability.

https://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-yemen-e3-int/britain-france-germany-condemn-houthi-attack-on-saudis-abha-airport-idUSKBN2AB2IQ

and original statement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e3-statement-on-attack-on-abha-international-airport-saudi-arabia .

My comment: As supporters of Saudi Arabia by arms exports and logistic and political support, these European countries have proofed that they are warring parties in Yemen and their statements lack credibility.

(A K pH P)

[Sanaa gov.] Minister of Transport: US-Saudi Aggression Ignores International Treaties, Destroyed Yemen's Civil Aircraft, Airports

US-Saudi aggression deliberately destroyed Yemeni civil aircraft and airports, ignoring international laws, regulations, agreements and conventions, said Minister of Transport Zakaria Al-Shami.

“The coalition of aggression ignored international humanitarian law, destroyed civilian aircraft and airports in Yemen and are still targeting them in full view of the world that has not yet moved a finger, while considering Yemen’s retaliatory attacks on warplanes, which bombs Yemenis, at Abha airport a crime,” Al-Shami told Saba News Agency.

https://english.almasirah.net/post/17719/Minister-of-Transport-US-Saudi-Aggression-Ignores-International-Treaties%2C-Destroyed-Yemen-s-Civil-Aircraft%2C-Airports

cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle

Seit dem Abkommen von Stockholm vom 13. Dezember 2018 gibt es einen Waffenstillstand für Hodeidah. Zwar bleiben größere Offensiven aus, kleinere Gefechte gibt es aber laufend, und beide Seiten werfen sich ständig Verstöße gegen den Waffenstillstand vor.

Since the Stockholm Agreement of December 13, 2018, a ceasefire has been in place for Hodeidah. There are no major offensives, but smaller battles are going on and both sides constantly are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.

(A K pS)

Houthis target al-Mandhar's mosques in Hodeidah (Video)

In violation of the sanctity of mosques and places of worship, the Houthi artillery destroyed on Saturday, a mosque in al-Mandhar neighborhood of al-Houk district in the southern part of al-Hodeidah governorate.
The pro-Iran Houthi rebels targeted the residential area of al-Mandhar with Katyusha rockets, local sources said, adding that the brutal shelling caused a total destruction of al-Mandhar's mosque, in addition to causing considerable damage to al-Qadisiya mosque in the same neighborhood.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/32224

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Mds_-TobE
(A K pH)

Daily violations (as claimed by the Houthi side)

Feb. 13: https://english.almasirah.net/post/17765/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-%C2%A0Saturday%2C-Feb.-13%2C-2021

Feb. 12: https://english.almasirah.net/post/17752/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-%C2%A0Friday%2C-Feb.-12%2C-2021

Feb. 11: https://english.almasirah.net/post/17732/US-Saudi-Aggression-s-Daily-Update-for-Thursday%2C-Feb.-11%2C-2021

cp19 Sonstiges / Other

(B P)

Film: What if the Yemeni peace talks were a marital counseling session?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nePA4mYAp5k

(A P)

Photos: Young Yemeni artist Khawla Almekhlafi starts a new street art campaign in Taiz called #Just_numbers, to shed light on war's civilian casualties and victims

https://twitter.com/Hodey_m/status/1355945170148069377

(* -)

Uzlah Al-Arqub in Al-Mahwit Governorate: A Photo Essay by Nezar Moqbel

Al-Arqub is the name of a region that lies north-west of Sana’a, in al-Mahwit governorate. The area is known for being covered in greenery all year round. It is also characterized by its geographical position as it is located between four major governorates: Sana’a, Hajjah, Amran and al-Hodeidah. Uzlah al-Arqub is an archaeological tourist destination which has characteristics which distinguish it from other areas in Yemen.

In al-Arqub there is an archaeological site considered to be one of the major landmarks in al-Mahwit, known as Hosn Shautar: a soaring fort, breathtaking especially in its architecture and construction. This fort is more than 500 years old. The structure, simple in its appearance yet stern and robust in its design, has endured nature in all its tumultuousness and alterations throughout the centuries. The fort, located at 1,800 feet above sea level, consists of five buildings ranging from 2 to 5 storeys tall. In it, all the necessary supplies were available for use as a garrison: it has two ponds, one serves as a source of drinking water for the inhabitants and the other used for cattle and cleaning purposes. There is also, as an essential feature in the planning and construction of the fort, and in accordance with the architectural objectives during its era, a mosque accommodating around 100 worshippers. The fort is protected from all sides by a wall, and it possesses a single gate.

Not only is the castle magnificent in its beauty thanks to its location at such a high altitude, where the clouds infiltrate through the stones and penetrate the wooden windows, but also one finds at the bottom of the structure a captivating waterfall, creating a marvelous scene as it interacts with the other elements of nature. A forest surrounds the waterfall, hosting rare species of birds and containing natural pastures and fresh water ponds and wellsprings. One major source is the Gail al-Siba’a, whose water flows all year long.

In this photo essay we present to the readers of Al-Madaniya magnificent images from al-Arqub taken by the artist Nezar Moqbel

https://almadaniyamag.com/2021/02/07/photo-essay-nezar-mokbel/

and more beautiful Yemen photos:

https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1357032165582786563

https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1356238226013433856

https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1355198403848888322

https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1354685267207139330

(-)

Another day in Sanaa

“I don’t want to go to school tomorrow!” The sentence every mother dreads. Its Saturday, the last day of the weekend before my nine-year old daughter Lamma returns to school and I to work. I call Sunday the “hard day”—getting back to business after the weekend is never easy, and today has been equal parts exhausting and exciting. But this time, it’s something else. Lamma’s voice—normally so assured— is hesitant, faltering even. I wonder what’s going on with her.

https://www.yemenpolicy.org/another-day-in-sanaa/

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-716-yemen-war-mosaic-716

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-716 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-716:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:

(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)

http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

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

https://yemen.bellingcat.com/

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

https://yemeniarchive.org/en

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

Dietrich Klose

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

Dietrich Klose

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