Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 755, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 755, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-755-yemen-war-mosaic-755
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
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
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(* B H P)
Statement: On the Occasion of International Youth Day... Youth Civil Society Organizations in Yemen Make a Set of Demands for Peace, Development and Reconstruction
Yemen is suffering for the seventh year under war and conflict that has left behind the woes, tragedies and horrific violations of human rights , and despite the international movement to stop the war, the chances of peace are still slim, as negotiations are limited to the parties to war and the lack of opportunity for young and women to participate in peace-building processes, even though they represent the largest component of society and its most important groups.
That's why we are youth civil society organizations working with young people and interested in building their abilities and meeting their needs, and we have an active presence in the field on extension of the map of Yemen.
After a series of serious dialogues and discussions, we announce our demands for peace, development and reconstruction, which we submit to the United Nations, its office and its special envoy, international mediators and ambassadors of the countries sponsoring the negotiations and interested in Yemen, international organizations and funds working in the humanitarian and development fields, the Governments of Sana'a and Aden, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and the Private Sector, and all those interested in youth to work with them hand in hand to empower young people to develop their society and build peace that will only be achieved by their participation, raising their voice and ensuring their presence at decision-making tables and this is through the following:
https://tamdeen-ye.org/en/media/317
(* B P)
Peace Process for Yemen
Yemen’s conflict may be entering a critical phase. That’s not because the war has become easier to end; if anything, almost seven years of fighting and factionalization of -armed groups, many with the support of external actors- has only made the war more complex. But the Biden administration’s changed approach to the war, regional actors who appear more open to compromise (or at least to talking), and the appointment of a new UN Special Envoy have all created a window of opportunity for reaching a nation-wide ceasefire and beginning peace negotiations in earnest.
The UN and U.S. Special Envoys should take advantage of this reset and give negotiations a better chance for success by making them more inclusive, and bringing civil society actors, with an emphasis on including Yemeni women, into the main track of negotiations. So far, the Envoys’ efforts have largely focused on negotiating a ceasefire and agreement on the basis for a new political process between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government of Yemen (and its backers, including Saudi Arabia). Although a ceasefire between these two parties is badly needed. But this would only be the first step in a much longer process. A comprehensive peace process should not go forward without a more inclusive framework for negotiations.
https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/85147
(* A P)
Yemen: Ma’rib future scenarios after Ansarullah’s peace proposal
On Tuesday Ansarullah proposed to Aden and Riyadh a four-point plan to end fighting and teach a political settlement on Ma'rib control.
First point suggests forming a management mechanism comprised of Ma'rib residents to secure the city and expel Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists.
The second point proposes offering freedom of movement, releasing the abductees, compensating the damages, allowing return of the displaced, and avoiding attacks on civilians.
In the third point, Sana’a-based government asked for allocation of oil tanker revenues in Hudaydah for payments to employees.
In the fourth point Sana'a suggested that the gas supplying stations resume their work, other provinces be given their gas and oil shares, and a joint committee form to repair Safer-Rai Isa pipeline.
Why is Ma'rib control important?
Sana'a's extensive efforts to take control of Ma'rib and the Saudi coalition's strong pushback are indicative of the city's significance in determining the future of war. For Ansarullah, the ability to control Ma'rib more than anything else is a success in capturing the last stronghold of the opposition in the north. In addition to its location, which connects many of Yemen's trade lines, Ma'rib has the largest power station in Yemen and a wealth of natural resources, especially with 90 percent of its oil and gas resources.
In 2015, the local officials loyal to the resigned President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, under Saudi pressures, declared that they separated their financial system and operations from Sana'a and that the local branch of the central bank stopped delivering oil revenues to the central bank headquarters in Sana'a.
Now that Sana'a is facing economic problems and a lack of financial resources to run and manage the economy of the areas under its control, controlling oil and gas revenues of Ma'rib can solve some of these problems, especially it can help with paying the delayed state employees' salaries. But now and while Ansarullah has the upper hand and can completely control the city, for a set of reasons Sana'a chooses diplomatic procedures to settle the crisis.
First, Ansarullah after months-long clashes figured out that prolonged battle for Ma'rib can undermine the advances south and westward.
Second, in recent years Ma'rib had turned into a refuge for massive people fleeing the clash spots. This increases the warring sides' responsibility in the war. In just four years, its population has increased 50 percent, making Ma'rib a large and bustling city. According to local officials, the city's population has grown from about 40,000 to more than 1.5 million. Many refugees have been housed in dozens of large, temporary camps at the foot of the mountains, increasing the vulnerability of civilians to war.
Third, Ansarullah's missile and drone strikes have left destructive effects on the Saudi economy. This makes the Yemeni revolutionary movement optimistic that Riyadh rulers in the near future will accept their terms and deliver oil incomes to Sana'a. Also, Sana'a is aware of fissures between the Saudis and some Ma'rib tribes and these conflict points and governance challenges can easily turn the tide to Ansarullah favor. Some of tribal leaders in Ma'rib are dissatisfied with the local officials' performance and sometimes their discontentment results in clashes with security forces.
Tribes often accuse local officials of belonging to the Islah Party, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen. Officials deny the allegations, noting that most of their leaders, including the governor of Ma'rib, are members of the People's General Congress, the political party of the slain President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Fourth, there is also disagreement among the Ma'rib tribes.
Ma'rib future scenarios
When Ma'rib future scenarios are contemplated, two scenarios are highly likely: The city will fall to Ansarullah or the diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis will succeed
(* A P)
Houthi Conditions to End Marib Fighting Complicate Peace Efforts in Yemen
The Iran-backed Houthi militias have finally revealed their conditions to end their offensive on the Yemeni province of Marib that is home to over 2 million refugees.
The conditions will likely complicate peace efforts in the war-torn country, agreed officials and activists.
The Houthi initiative demands the formation of a joint command for Marib, joint security forces and joint technical committees. The militias have also demanded shares of oil and gas, as well as the reoperation of the export pipeline that extends from Marib to the Houthi-held Ras Issa port on the Red Sea. They demanded the release of their loyalists from detention centers controlled by the legitimate government and the freedom of movement of their members to and from Marib.
In sum, noted Yemeni observers, the Houthis are demanding that they be handed control of the oil-rich province that they have been seeking to occupy militarily for over a year.
Undersecretary at the Information Ministry Abdulbasit Al-Qaedi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “These conditions do not signify surrender or peace. Rather, the Houthis want to fulfill through peace demands they haven’t been able to achieve through war.”
“They want to impose conditions and this is in no way a reflection of their desire for peace,” he added.
My comment: By a Saudi news site which off course rejects this. But, to be honest, the so-called “Saudi initiative” wasn’t a real peace offer but little more than older ideas requiring submission.
(A P)
Getting The Yemenis Into The ‘Peace Door’ Will Not be Easy
This is the kind of devastating issues Grundberg would be dealing with as part of his mission to get the different sides together as appointed from the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council who are desperately seeking to establish a ceasefire. Yemen has become a source of financial drainage for the UN.
It is reported that the World Food Program needs $1.9 billion dollars to run its operations in the country in 2021 but it is short of that by $900 million, and it has to look for parched-ridden donors.
He, as a diplomat and conflict-resolution expert, must play it carefully, with diligence and an enormous amount of tact and diplomacy and of course, time, given the somewhat cool and uneventful track record of the UN peace-negotiating role in Yemen.
But with Yemen, the diktat is time, rugged geographical terrain, its people and divergent politics. While many has welcomed his appointment like US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Saudis and even the Houthis, who control part of the country, the latter group has given mixed signals and somewhat harsh at that.
Put blankly some of their leaders have said they will not talk to the new envoy unless the Saudi remove their air and naval blockade imposed against them since 2015.
So, it’s back to square one! Or is it? No doubt, and judging from the past 10 or 11 years, negotiations will continue but hopefully, Grundberg will build on the “partial successes” of Griffiths and achieve a partial breakthrough where all the parties agree to stop fighting.
What many believe is that Yemen continues to dwindle into a pit of chaos, hunger and war. The situation is disastrous.
(A K P)
Accepting UN-brokered peace initiative would be surrender, says Houthi leader
The leader of the Houthis has strongly rejected the current UN-brokered peace plan and ordered his supporters to keep fighting, striking a blow to efforts to end the war in Yemen.
In a televised speech on Monday, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi said that accepting the peace plan would mean surrendering to their opponents. He called for an end to the “blockade” and Arab coalition airstrikes on his forces as preconditions for agreeing to peace talks.
“The American perspective on peace means surrender, occupation and the continuation of aggression and siege,” he said, ordering his supporters to continue their recruiting and training and to send reinforcements to the battlefields.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1908921/middle-east
(A P)
Al-Ruwaishan: We don’t count on the new UN envoy
The deputy head of the [Sanaa gov.] National Delegation considered that the new UN envoy for Yemen will not change the scene and does not have any new agenda, stressing that the United Nations is bound by Washington’s agenda.
“The new UN envoy is like those who preceded him among the UN staff. He will not change anything in the scene,”
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/08/11/al-ruwaishan-we-dont-count-on-the-new-un-envoy/
(A P)
Sayyid Abdul-Malik al-Houthi reiterates offer to release Saudi prisoners in exchange for Palestinians held by Riyadh
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26462.html
(A P)
Jemens Regierungssprecher reagiert auf die Ernennung des neuen UN-Vermittlers
Der Sprecher der Regierung der nationalen Rettung im Jemen Mohammed Abdessalam hat bekräftigt, die Ernennung neuer UN-Gesandter für das Land sei sinnlos, solange nicht ausdrücklich der Stopp der Aggression gegen den Jemen verkündet werde.
Er fügte hinzu, dass die Mitgliedsstaaten der Kriegskoalition auf die von ihrer Aggression und Blockade verursachten Probleme und Zerstörungen aufmerksam werden müssen. "Sie müssen wissen, dass die Fortsetzung ihrer hartnäckigen Haltung ihnen noch höhere Kosten aufzwingen wird", so Abdessalam weiter.
(A P)
Abdul Salam reveals details of Revolution Leader's initiative presented to Oman
Head of the [Sanaa gov.] national delegation Mohammed Abdulsalam has revealed details of an initiative presented by leader of the revolution Abdulmalik al-Houthi to the Omani delegation regarding Marib province.
In his explanation of the initiative, the head of the national delegation said, "In accordance with the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Marib Initiative was presented on the first day when the Omani delegation's visited the Capital."
Abdulsalam stressed that the Leader of the Revolution presented a fair initiative through the Omani delegation to be implemented in conjunction with the humanitarian file, which takes into account the interests of the people of Marib first.
He noted that the Leader of the Revolution stressed that the humanitarian file is a high priority.
Abdulsalam pointed out that the initiative included nine points, that fulfill the conditions for peace and none of them is arbitrary.
The head of the national delegation also stressed that linking the humanitarian file with the military one is a risk, saying that "We agreed on inspecting ships and determining destinations of our flights, including Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia and India."
Commenting on the appointment of a new UN envoy, Mohammad Abdulsalam stressed that the United Nations works only in the interest of countries of aggression.
He pointed out that the problem is not changing an envoy, it is that stopping the aggression and establishing peace is not decision of the countries of aggression.
Abdulsalam said, "We will not start from scratch with any UN envoy," adding the humanitarian file is a top priority.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3150978.htm
and
(A P)
Top Houthi negotiator says no point in meeting new UN envoy
The chief negotiator for Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Sunday it would be futile to hold talks with the United Nations new special envoy for Yemen without movement on the group's key conditions under stalled peace efforts.
"There is no use in having any dialogue before airports and ports are opened as a humanitarian necessity and priority," Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is based in Oman, tweeted in response to Grundberg's appointment.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/top-houthi-negotiator-says-no-point-meeting-new-un-envoy
https://en.irna.ir/news/84431340/Ties-with-Iran-highly-important-Yemeni-official
and
(A P)
Saudi Arabia no longer able to end war on Yemen: Abdul Salam
The head of Sana'a negotiating team Muhammad Abdul Salam has said as the US wants the war on Yemen to continue, Saudi Arabia can’t end It.
The head of the Sana’a negotiating delegation Muhammad Abdul Salam made the remarks in a recent interview with Iranian Arabic-language TV al-Alam.
"Saudi Arabia is no longer able to stop the war, adding that the United States placed a great deal of weight on Saudi Arabia to continue its aggression and blockade on Yemen for strategic reasons, whether through escalation, arms sales, blackmail, and many, many other aspects,” the Yemeni top negotiator said, according to a translated edition of his words by al-Mayadeen.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/177123/Saudi-Arabia-no-longer-able-to-end-war-on-Yemen-Abdul-Salam
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni FM: Saudi Arabia 'Cannot Play Hegemonic Role Anymore'
Foreign Minister of Yemen's National Salvation Government Hisham Sharaf Abdullah said it is time for Saudi Arabia to put an end to intervention in its Southern neighbor’s internal affairs, and stop attempts to undermine the Arab nation’s independence.
“The peace that the Sana’a government is trying to achieve is real, just and sustainable, and serves the entire Yemeni nation. It falls within the framework of Yemen’s national sovereignty, and secures withdrawal of foreign forces from Yemeni soil. It also preserves Yemen's independence and territorial integrity,” Sharaf Abdullah told Saba news agency in an exclusive interview on Saturday.
He added Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud should not try to suggest as if Riyadh had the upper hand following the appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as the United Nations' new special envoy for Yemen
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000517000620/Yemeni-FM-Sadi-Arabia-
(A P)
Can The New UN Hans Grundberg Bring Peace to Yemen?
Many are positive about the appointment of Grundberg which has been approved by the 15-member UN Security Council and is being praised by the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. The Swedish diplomat has a great deal of experience in conflict-resolution in the Middle East and in Yemen itself.
https://www.albawaba.com/news/can-new-un-hans-grundberg-bring-peace-yemen-1441627
and
(* B P)
What to Expect from the UN’s New Special Envoy for Yemen
When asked about what to anticipate from the newly appointed UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, former Yemeni diplomat Mustapha Noman told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new representative needs to “convince Yemenis of how imperative it is to end the war.”
Putting the same question to other Yemeni politicians and analysts, they listed several recommendations that included not repeating the same mistakes made by former UN special envoys for Yemen and protecting UN Security Council resolution 2216.
Al-Baraa Shaiban, a political analyst and member of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference, explained that the envoy’s role, in general, remains limited and largely depends on whether Yemeni forces are ready to head towards peace.
“The envoy should focus on restoring state institutions, such as supporting the role of the central bank inside Aden,” said Shaiban, adding that Grundberg must also pay attention to advancing opportunities in Yemen, even if they were a part of a long-term plan.
Yemeni political analyst Riyad Al-Dabai recommended the envoy gets out of the mistakes made by his predecessors, especially Martin Griffiths.
According to Al-Dabai, Griffiths’ blunders fostered a grudge among Yemenis and cost them their confidence in the UN.
For her part, Rasha Jarhum, director of the Peace Track Initiative, voiced disappointment over the UN opting for a male foreign diplomat to fill in the post.
While Jarhum expressed utmost respect to Grundberg as a career diplomat, she said that selecting a representative with an Arab background could have been better in terms of the envoy having an in-depth understanding of the situation in Yemen.
“With all due respect to the person of the new envoy, but I really hoped the UN would appoint an Arab figure because they would be closer to understanding the Yemeni situation,” Jarhum told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Nevertheless, Jarhum said that when it comes to Yemen, she “believes that Sweden is seriously backing the peace process, evident by its hosting of the Stockholm negotiations.”
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3121211/what-expect-un%E2%80%99s-new-special-envoy-yemen
and
(A P)
Yemeni Gov’t Vows to Support Grundberg, Houthis Recant Initial Welcoming of the New Envoy
(A P)
Saudi, Gulf Anticipation for Finding Comprehensive Solution to Yemeni Crisis
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have expressed their anticipation of working with the newly appointed UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg to find a comprehensive solution for the Yemeni crisis.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the Kingdom would stand by the new UN envoy and backed all peace efforts to end the war.
“The Kingdom will continue to support all efforts to reach a political solution that helps bring peace and prosperity to Yemen,” Prince Faisal said on Twitter.
GCC Secretary-General Nayef Al-Hajraf reaffirmed that the bloc is ready to work with the UN’s new envoy to Yemen in finding a political solution to end the conflict in the country.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
The Arab Parliament has demanded the international community to prevent the terrorist Houthi militia from possessing more sophisticated weapons./Alharf 28 website
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48346
My comment: This is a bad joke by a Saudi-led puppet theatre “parliament” representing countries armed to the teeth fighting against the Houthis.
(* B P)
Audio: From BS to MBS w/ Annelle Sheline
In the episode's second half, the boys talk with the Quincy Institute's Annelle Sheline about the United States' best friend Saudi Arabia and its role in broader Middle Eastern politics. Become a patron today!
https://soundcloud.com/americanprestige/e6-from-bs-to-mbs-w-annelle
Specifically the Saudi-Emirati rivalry & why does the US continue to support Saudi Arabia unconditionally?
I come in around minute 28 First we talk about how states in the Middle East established the role that Islam would play in their legitimating narrative decades ago, and how that suddenly became way more important after 9/11
Then we get into current events, including the rivalry between Saudi Arabia & the UAE As I wrote for @RStatecraft: MBS sees Saudi Arabia as the region’s rightful dominant power & is moving to seize the position of economic hub hitherto held by the UAE.
Correcting my error: Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai during the financial crisis But Dubai had to rename the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai, to Burj Khalifa, in honor of Khalifa bin Zayed, leader of Abu Dhabi
There's a lot of fear mongering about Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz We discussed how it would be much easier to close the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the bottom of the Red Sea, which would block the Suez Canal The UAE seems to be building a base there
Me "Saudi-Emirati rivalry could help incentivize greater stability in order to encourage investment" @dbessner "Great, so it's either US military presence or rapacious capitalism?" Me "Well it's worse, because with climate change the whole region will soon be uninhabitable"
Discussing MBS, @dwdavison laughs at MBS trying to disassociate Wahhabism from the Saudi state I explain that MBS benefits from the misperception that he is "reining in" clerics for the sake of the planet, the Biden admin should help support MBS on implementing Vision 2030
https://twitter.com/AnnelleSheline/status/1426254940981370881
(* A B P)
Sucht Saudi-Arabien eine Strategie der „Isolierung des Jemen“?
Der Leiter einer Denkfabrik gab bekannt, dass Saudi-Arabien eine neue Strategie vorbereitet, die den Jemen vom Königreich isolieren soll.
Der Leiter des Abaad Center for Studies, Abdul Salam Muhammad, sagte, das Königreich bereite sich darauf vor, einen eisernen Zaun mit dem Jemen zu bauen und auf außergewöhnlich qualifizierte jemenitische und jemenitische Akademiker zu verzichten.
Dies widerspreche sogar der saudischen Vision 2030, die ein klarer Hinweis darauf sei, dass es eine außergewöhnliche Strategie gibt, die mit der Beendigung des Krieges im Jemen zusammenfällt, und dies könnte eine Anforderung des Sicherheitsabkommens mit den Huthis sein.
Er sagte: Jedes Land hat seine strategischen Interessen, und niemand behauptet, an den Interessen eines anderen Landes interessiert zu sein, aber alle reichen Länder haben Verantwortung und Pflichten gegenüber armen Nachbarländern, ganz zu schweigen von den Folgen einer strategischen Partnerschaft im Krieg.
Er fügte hinzu: „Saudische Entscheidungsträger mögen glauben, dass Maßnahmen zur Diskriminierung von qualifizierten und unqualifizierten jemenitischen Arbeitern ein Schritt auf dem Weg sind, sich aus einem zersplitterten, vom Krieg zerrissenen Land zu lösen und aus dem Sumpf des Jemen herauszukommen, aber solche Maßnahmen erhöhen die Belastung für Jemeniten in Kriegszeiten und werden keine demografische Realität schaffen oder ein neues Nachbarland an den Grenzen des Königreichs schaffen, das dem Jemen nicht ähnelt.
Und er fügte hinzu: “Solche saudischen Maßnahmen hätten nach dem Ende des Krieges im Rahmen eines Wirtschaftspartnerschaftsplans mit einem Nachbarland stattgefunden, das eine wichtige Dimension der nationalen Sicherheit des Golfs im Allgemeinen darstellt, nicht nur Saudi-Arabiens.“
https://akalazia.com/sucht-saudi-arabien-eine-strategie-der-isolierung-des-jemen/
(A P)
Today contracts of #Yemeni academics were terminated by Saudi gov giving them only 1 month notice to leave #Saudi Arabia. 106 in Najran 50 in Jizan 41 in Bisha university 80 in King Khalid University No logic in the world explains this treatment after long years of service!
https://twitter.com/HanaShowafi/status/1425775618923319304
(A P)
During the past week only, > 200 Professors and academics were suddenly fired by four universities in Saudi Arabia and given 3 months to leave the country simply because of their nationality (Yemeni). Many have worked & lived in KSA for years (text in image)
https://twitter.com/Hlashuel/status/1425690305379061762
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia to expel all medical personnel of Yemeni origin from the kingdom
Saudi authorities have on Thursday issued a new circular regarding Yemeni doctors working in Saudi hospitals, as part of a plan to expel Yemeni workers.
According to diplomatic sources at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh, the circular was addressed to all hospitals operating in Saudi Arabia, demanding that they end the contracts of all doctors, specialists and consultants of Yemeni origin.
It also gave three months for Yemeni health workers to leave Saudi Arabia.
The circular is part of a frenzied campaign launched by the Saudi regime against Yemeni expatriates and workers in all sectors of the economy, including higher education.
The mass expulsion is also expected to affect other sectors, and is aimed at further the economic collapse of Yemeni families and the destruction of the Yemeni riyal currency, which had for decades relied heavily on remittances from expatriates
(* A P)
Petition: On the Mass Job Termination of Yemeni Academics and Professionals in South Saudi Arabia
Universities, hospitals, and health institutions in the southern part of Saudi Arabia have recently terminated, or are in the process of terminating, contracts of hundreds of Yemeni academics, doctors, and other professionals without prior notice and for reasons that remain unknown. In Najran and Jazan Universities alone, about 150 and 50 faculty, respectively, are affected by the directive.
This mass job termination has not been linked to job performance and targets exclusively Yemeni academics and professionals that have been legally vetted and hired by their host institution with approval of Saudi Authorities. Most of them have been working and living with their families there for years. The timing and conditions of these terminations, which require that people leave within 3 months, and less than that in many cases, come at a time when Yemen is still in a state of war and facing many existential challenges
(A P)
Human rights org @sanadUK highlights the case of academic Dr. Sultan AlJumairi who the #Saudi Clan lured from #Canada & has disappeared since 1064 days.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1425532557559488521
(* A P)
More than 200 arrested in latest Saudi anti-corruption purge
Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 207 employees across about a dozen government ministries in the latest sweep by an anti-corruption body empowered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Those detained were not named and it was unclear when the arrests were made. The kingdom’s National Anti-Corruption Commission, known as “Nazaha”, announced the arrests late on Monday.
The crown prince’s anti-corruption purge began in late 2017. It has helped him consolidate power and netted the kingdom $106 billion in assets. Saudi nationals have long complained of rampant corruption in government and of public funds being squandered or misused by those in power.
The commission said more than 460 people were investigated in this latest round, and that as a result, 207 Saudi citizens and residents were detained on allegations of corruption, abuse of authority and fraud.
Those accused will be referred to prosecution, the commission said. They hail from the national guard and a range of ministries, including defense, interior, health and justice, among others.
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-business-arrests-ebec7975212a40dc4eba0a523414aa32
(A P)
Why have @AJEnglish taken down this article criticle of human rights abuses in Saudi by @joshcooperate? This seem to have occurred after it sparked criticism online by mostly UAE and Saudi accounts because it was criticising MBS.
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1424345248923275264
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1424347313569509380
(A E P)
Saudi Aramco Q2 profit soars on higher prices, demand recovery
Saudi Arabian state oil producer Aramco reported a near four-fold rise in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, beating expectations and boosted by higher oil prices and a recovery in oil demand.
(B P)
Book: Arhive Wars. The Politics of History in Saudi Arabia
The production of history is premised on the selective erasure of certain pasts and the artifacts that stand witness to them. From the elision of archival documents to the demolition of sacred and secular spaces, each act of destruction is also an act of state building. Following the 1991 Gulf War, political elites in Saudi Arabia pursued these dual projects of historical commemoration and state formation with greater fervor to enforce their postwar vision for state, nation, and economy. Seeing Islamist movements as the leading threat to state power, they sought to de-center religion from educational, cultural, and spatial policies.
With this book, Rosie Bsheer explores the increasing secularization of the postwar Saudi state and how it manifested in assembling a national archive and reordering urban space in Riyadh and Mecca. The elites' project was rife with ironies: in Riyadh, they employed world-renowned experts to fashion an imagined history, while at the same time in Mecca they were overseeing the obliteration of a thousand-year-old topography and its replacement with commercial megaprojects. Archive Wars shows how the Saudi state's response to the challenges of the Gulf War served to historicize a national space, territorialize a national history, and ultimately refract both through new modes of capital accumulation.
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26520
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp9a
(A P)
Briefing on Yemen with Timothy Lenderking, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen; and Sarah Charles, USAID Assistant Administrator for Humanitarian Assistance
You will recall that when President Biden appointed me, he charged me with a dual mandate; that is to say that he asked that I work on advancing a durable solution to the Yemen conflict, sometimes what we refer to as a political track, and then also take immediate action to mitigate the dire humanitarian and economic crisis facing the country.
The dual mandate, I think, reflects the U.S. commitment to addressing the terrible humanitarian crisis facing Yemenis as well as our understanding of the interconnected nature between the humanitarian crisis and the war. It’s my view that as long as the war continues, we know the humanitarian crisis will continue to get worse. On the other hand, the humanitarian and economic crisis is also fueling further conflict.
I’ve heard some people suggest that it does not make sense to continue to provide humanitarian assistance absent progress on the peace process. We reject this. The United States rejects this notion. Yemen continues to face the threat of mass famine, and humanitarian assistance is critical to preventing this.
My comment: A lot of bla bla.
(* B K P)
THE COMPLICATED CASE OF US MEDDLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST
When it comes to Middle Eastern geopolitics, it’s better to hate the game than the players.
Malign influence. Destabilizing activities. Proxy warfare. State sponsorship of terrorism. Rogue state.
Americans are used to hearing these terms thrown at US rivals in the Middle East, whether Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Muammar Ghaddafi’s Libya in decades past or the Islamic Republic of Iran today. The American public is less used to hearing those descriptions for countries like Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which receive generous US political and military support. But what else can we call it when the UAE hires Russian mercenaries to fight in Libya? Or when Turkey recruits Syrian rebels to fight in post-Soviet border conflicts hundreds of miles away from Syria?
In fact, a new report called “No Clean Hands: The Interventions of Middle Eastern Powers, 2010–2020” by Trita Parsi and myself shows that Washington’s Middle Eastern partners are responsible for the lion’s share of military interventions in the region. Although Iran was highly aggressive in the first few years after the Arab Spring, the UAE and Turkey have surpassed it in recent years. Other US-backed powers in the region — namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel — are catching up. Yet, neither the Iran nuclear deal nor US withdrawal from the region can explain this growing military interventionism. So what can?
EXPLAINING THE INTERVENTIONS
Regional instability seems to be the biggest cause of interventions. When a civil war starts in a place as well-armed as the Middle East, it drags in neighboring states. Each state believes — and is often correct in its belief — that it has to get involved to protect its own interests. But other states (reasonably) see their rivals’ moves as threatening, the opening move in an expansionist game. The result is the same kind of “security dilemma” that drives arms races, a self-sustaining escalation spiral.
https://inkstickmedia.com/the-complicated-case-of-us-meddling-in-the-middle-east/
My comment: Be serious: The most “malign” actor in the Middle East, being responsible for the greatest part of “regional instability” is the US.
(A P)
Film: SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
U.S. Security Assistance in the Middle East
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/us-security-assistance-in-the-middle-east-081021
and
(A P)
@ChrisMurphyCT lays out 3 assumptions he hopes to address about security assistance to the region: 1) Does it actually help protect US interests? 2) Will partners actually turn to China & Russia if we don't provide aid 3) Does it actually help professionalize security partners?
@SenToddYoung, in his opening remarks, expresses concern that US security assistance is becoming "too restrictive," particularly in light of the US now engaging in great power competition with Russia and China. US must rely on partners "we have, not the ones we wished we had."
Deputy Assistance Secretary of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department confirms in her opening remarks that Biden administration intends to move forward with F-35 and other advanced equipment to UAE.
https://twitter.com/seth_binder/status/1425098446042804226
(* B P)
Is the UAE buying silence at US think tanks?
Major Emirati-funded DC policy organizations have said remarkably little about the country’s illicit influence.
Perhaps the most critical sector for evaluating U.S. foreign policy scandals of this sort has been eerily silent on the matter: think tanks.
As some of the biggest players in research and advocacy that inform decision making to key members of the U.S. government, think tanks are uniquely positioned to drive foreign policy discussions. Think tanks have also focused extraordinary attention on the illicit influence of other countries. Search for “Russian interference” on the websites of prominent think tanks like the Atlantic Council and you’ll discover dozens of articles, reports, and other excellent commentary by scholars about Russian meddling in American democracy. And, Chinese influence operations have been written about extensively across the ideological spectrum of think tanks.
Yet, despite the Barrack indictment asserting that a foreign dictatorship orchestrated a campaign that successfully influenced the president of the United States on major foreign policy issues, the most prominent foreign policy think tanks have been mum about the UAE’s role in this illicit influence operation. This follows the deafening silence from think tanks when the UAE was caught conspiring to make more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions from 2016 to 2018 and when the UAE spent $2.5 million on a covert campaign to turn Congress against their Qatari rivals in 2017.
Why is meddling in U.S. politics by one authoritarian regime, the UAE, treated differently from meddling by authoritarian regimes like Russia and China? One possibility: money.
No other dictatorship in the world gives more money to U.S. think tanks than the UAE. While there might be myriad reasons for think tanks’ silence surrounding the UAE’s repeated campaigns to illegally influence U.S. politics and elections, many of the think tanks staying mum are also the same think tanks that have received considerable financial support directly from the UAE.
For example, according to the Atlantic Council’s latest financial report, the UAE Embassy in Washington donated at least $1,000,000 to the organization between 2019 and 2020.
Staying silent on national security issues where the UAE is the culprit is a pattern across think tanks that pontificate foreign policy expertise and receive UAE funding. For example, the UAE paid the Center for a New American Security $250,000 in 2016 to produce a report encouraging the United States to allow the sale of military drones to the UAE. And between 2016 and 2017 the UAE contributed $20 million to the Middle East Institute in a “secret contribution” uncovered through leaked emails, directing the funding to be used to change conceptions about the UAE in the United States. Another big recipient of UAE money, the Aspen Institute has received over $5 million from the UAE since 2014 and organized multiple events in partnership with the Emiratis.
With their track record of UAE funding, it is perhaps unsurprising then that neither CNAS, MEI, nor the Aspen Institute have published analyses or social media content publicly chastising the UAE for its role in orchestrating the illicit influence operation laid out in the Tom Barrack indictment.
Ultimately, the Barrack story is just the latest in a string of events that shed light on why think tanks should unabashedly use their skills and expertise to call out the UAE’s malfeasance just as much as they jump on stories tied to Russia, China, and other countries. This is a dangerous double standard that is being set by the country’s leading knowledge producing bodies – by Adita Bawa and Ben Freeman
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/08/10/is-the-uae-buying-silence-at-us-think-tanks/
and also
(* B P)
‘Who Are They Paying Secretly Now?’: Signs Of UAE Meddling In U.S. Politics Go Ignored
Prosecutors say the United Arab Emirates, a top U.S. partner in the Middle East, illegally interfered in the 2016 election. Do U.S. officials care?
But despite growing suggestions of UAE election interference and cases targeting American citizens like Barrack and Nader, the Emiratis appear to have avoided any consequences or any pressure that would deter similar schemes in the future.
If anything, the UAE has fared better under President Joe Biden than might have been expected, given the president’s criticism of human rights abusers and governments that meddle in U.S. politics.
White House and State Department officials wouldn’t say if the U.S. has ever raised the Justice Department’s claims with UAE officials. The Nader indictment has been public for years ― though there’s nothing to indicate it spurred any action by the Trump administration ― and Biden’s national security staffers may have received advance word of the Barrack indictment before the Gargash visit.
Lawmakers deflected HuffPost’s queries about possible congressional investigations or censure. The three senators who met with Gargash during his trip ― Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) ― did not respond to requests for comment.
Without further action, experts on global affairs and campaign law say it will be impossible to know the full extent of the UAE’s alleged political meddling. And the lack of consequences will be clear to other foreign states with similar resources and motivation to warp the democratic process.
“The big question I have is, who are they paying secretly now?” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Middle East panel, told HuffPost. “We should be talking more about whether this is the end of the story or the tip of the iceberg.”
Ann Ravel, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, told HuffPost she’s never heard of a foreign campaign finance scandal as large as the apparent Nader plot.
“What Congress should do is ask the national security agencies to come forward and do an investigation and provide the information to see whether it’s more extensive than just what they were doing ― not that what they were doing was not inappropriate,” said Ravel, who is now a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/uae-election-biden_n_6111678ee4b0710ba2df0478
(A P T)
US to review 9/11 records with eye toward making more public
The Justice Department said Monday that it would work toward providing families of 9/11 victims with more information about the run-up to the attacks as part of a federal lawsuit that aims to hold the Saudi government accountable.
The disclosure in a two-page letter filed in federal court in Manhattan follows longstanding criticism from relatives of those killed that the U.S. government was withholding crucial details from them in the name of national security.
Nearly 1,800 families, victims and first responders objected in a letter last week to President Joe Biden’s attendance at Sept. 11 memorial events as long as key documents remained classified. Monday’s move failed to placate at least some victims’ relatives, who said the FBI and Justice Department have already had years to review the documents.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-72cd0fce43fb43c3e96ce9bdada4ce24
and also by NYT: https://t.co/lqYvJnCYw4?amp=1
and more links in this thread: https://twitter.com/AnnelleSheline/status/1425147810815565828
and
(A P T)
9/11 family member says Biden's 'silence is deafening' as docs purport to show Saudi tie to attacks
Brett Eagleson said his comments are not political, as neither Trump nor Obama acted on their requests
A man whose father was murdered by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001 told Fox News on Monday that in nearly a year since now-President Joe Biden made a pledge to release privileged documents that pertain to purported Saudi Arabian links to the terror attacks, not much has moved on that front.
"We are calling for the president to, once and for all, have the courage, have the guts, to do what three previous administrations failed to do: That is stand with the 9/11 families. Stand with your own citizens," Eagleson said.
He confirmed to Roberts that Biden, and any other future president, is not invited to 9/11 remembrance ceremonies until their actions match their words.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/9-11-family-biden-silence-saudi
(A P)
Protest rally in New York to commemorate 2018 Dahyan schoolbus massacre
(A P)
USA lauds Oman's efforts towards Yemen crisis resolution
https://timesofoman.com/article/105222-usa-lauds-omans-efforts-towards-yemen-crisis-resolution
(* A K P)
US forces illegally deployed to Yemeni province of Lahj
The United States of America has unofficially deployed a number of its soldiers in the Yafea district of Lahj province, southern Yemen.
This step may indicate plans to protect remaining Al-Qaeda elements that fled from Bayda province towards Yafea area, as well as to Abyan and Ma’rib provinces.
Activists circulated pictures of recruits from Yafea area who have American citizenship and previously worked in the US army during their arrival to the border area with Bayda, affirming that they returned during the past few days under the name of “defending Yafea.”
The American recruits are currently participating in the occupation of the Al-Arr mountain in Yefea.
https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/08/08/us-forces-illegally-deployed-to-yemeni-province-of-lahj/
(B K P)
Biden should address, not further normalize, recent airstrikes abroad
Unfortunately it’s no surprise the White House hasn’t even remarked, much less justified recent actions in Afghanistan and Somalia.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/08/04/biden-should-draw-more-attention-to-us-airstrikes/
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
Siehe / Look at cp9
(B K P)
Iran has ‘army of exploding drones’ in deadly warfare programme, analyst warns
Iran’s drone warfare programme poses a growing threat in the wake of a fatal attack on a ship off the coast of Oman, analysts have warned.
The ‘kamikaze’ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are designed to explode upon impact, are a ‘core element’ of Tehran’s attempts to exert its presence in the region, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) said.
CEP analyst Daniel Roth said: ‘The Iranian threat to shipping in the Gulf is substantial and borne out by numerous examples of Iranian attacks, hijackings, detentions and increasingly, drone strikes.
‘Iran considers the Gulf its private lake, which it deigns to share with its littoral Arab neighbours but volubly resents foreign powers exercising their right to freedom of navigation in international waters.’
Mr Roth referenced a string of flashpoints as part of a shadow war in the Gulf, with proxies and innocent vessels being drawn into the conflict.
He said: ‘With its ancient Persian history and self-perception as a “Great Power,” the fact that its American enemy has a naval base in Bahrain and regularly deploys the Fifth Fleet around the Gulf is a slap in the face to Tehran. Since Iran lacks global deployment capabilities, it does what it can to project and assert its power in its own backyard.
‘This frequently entails the snaring of commercial vessels. Generally the target vessel corresponds with some particular foreign policy provocation or score-settling.
‘Thus ships with even tangential connections to Israel are always vulnerable.
https://twnews.co.uk/gb-news/iran-has-army-of-exploding-drones-in-deadly-warfare-programme-analyst-warns = http://en.adenpress.news/news/33527
(A P)
Iranian Parliament: Saudi-led war on Yemen started with Emirati instigation
The head of the Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Abbas Kilro, said on Friday that “Saudi Arabia entered the Yemeni quagmire on Emirati recommendations.”
According to RT Arabic, Abbas Kilro said, “We did not expect a Saudi delegation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, but we have exchanged positive signals with the Saudi side.”
“Saudi Arabia has been stuck in Yemen for 6 years, and their situation is bad there. We look forward to a better future for relations between Tehran and Riyadh.”
He continued: “We must transcend the differences and challenges in the region, because it can not absorb more tensions.”
(* A P)
Ein Mann der Kuds-Brigaden wird Iran künftig im Ausland vertreten
Mit Amir-Abdollahian übernimmt ein Diplomat das Aussenministerium in Teheran, der beste Beziehungen zu den Revolutionswächtern unterhält. Eine Abkehr von der konfrontativen Aussenpolitik in Syrien, im Irak und in Jemen ist mit ihm nicht zu erwarten.
(* A K P)
U.S. Official Says Oman Ship Attack Originated in Yemen, Warns of Further Attacks by Houthis
Pentagon later said remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul 'did not confirm Mercer Street UAV attack emanated from Yemen'
A senior U.S. official on Tuesday confirmed that the Iranian-orchestrated deadly attack on an Israeli-linked ship off the coast of Oman originated in Yemen.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul told a hearing organized by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism that "this was an Iran-backed one-way drone attack on the Mercer Street."
Sen. Todd Young asked Stroul: "It's been reported that the recent attack on the Mercer Street tanker in the Gulf of Oman originated from Yemen with Iranian-produced drones. Can you confirm those public reports?" Stroul replied: "Yes, I can confirm the reports," detailing U.S. Central Command's previously disclosed findings into the attack, as well as the subsequent G7 foreign ministers' joint statement.
After the testimony, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby tweeted that Stroul "did not confirm Mercer Street UAV attack emanated from Yemen. She referred to Friday’s G7 statement & CENTCOM investigation which clearly attributed the attack to Iran but made no mention of a direct tie to Yemen."
Stroul told the hearing that "Iran is increasing the lethality and complexity of both the equipment and the knowledge it transfers to the Houthis so that they can attack Saudis and civilians,” noting that Houthis have launched more attacks at Saudi Arabia this year than in the past several prior years.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/pentagon-contradicts-itself-on-origins-of-iranian-drone/
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOOi8b9zX6A
and
(A P)
Source reveals the truth about a Pentagon official's comment about the launch of the "Mercer Street" attack from Yemen
The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) on Tuesday retracted the comments of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul in Congress about the source of the attack on the oil tanker "Mercer Street" owned by an Israeli businessman in the Gulf of Oman, and said, The ministry has not confirmed that the attack was launched from Yemen.
"During today's briefing, Dana Stroul did not confirm that the Mercer Street attack originated in Yemen, and referred to the G7 statement and US Central Command investigations that clearly attributed the attack to Iran but did not mention any direct connection to Yemen," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
A Defense Department official told CNN that Stroll privately claimed it was a mistake and that she did not hear the word "Yemen" in Senator Todd Young's question. The official added that Stroll did not intend to imply a link to Yemen.
The Pentagon did not specifically say whether Stroll's comments were inaccurate or simply did not have the authority to confirm that the attack originated in Yemen.
https://yemenonline.info/politics/5723
(A P)
New Iran president calls Macron about stalled nuclear talks
https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-iran-c587aa2b7a6178bea45d9b3aa9eb1202
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(* A K P)
Britische Spezialeinheit soll im Jemen Verantwortliche für Angriff auf Tanker aufspüren
Ein Team des britischen Special Air Service ist Medienberichten zufolge im Jemen eingetroffen. Demnach soll es nach denjenigen fahnden, die für den jüngsten Drohnenangriff auf den von Israel betriebenen Tanker Mercer Street vor der Küste des Oman verantwortlich sein sollen.
London soll ein Special Air Service-Team (SAS) aus 40 Soldaten in den Ostjemen entsandt haben. Das berichtete die Zeitung Daily Express am Sonntag. Der Gruppe gehört auch eine Einheit für elektronische Kriegsführung an, die in der Lage sein soll, Nachrichten abzufangen. Die Spezialeinheit habe den Auftrag, die Gruppe aufzuspüren, die angeblich hinter dem Angriff auf den Tanker MV Mercer Street Ende Juli stecke.
Die Soldaten sollen sich unter anderem auf lokale Betreuer stützen, die vom Außenministerium bezahlt würden, so die Zeitung weiter. London glaube offenbar, dass die von Iran unterstützten Huthi-Rebellen den Anschlag mit Unterstützung aus Teheran verübt hätten. Eine britische Militärquelle sagte dem Daily Express:
"Alles deutet darauf hin, dass die Drohne vom Jemen aus gestartet wurde. Die Sorge ist nun, dass eine Drohne mit erweiterter Reichweite ihnen neue Möglichkeiten bieten wird."
Das Blatt berichtet unter Berufung auf angebliche US-amerikanische und israelische Geheimdienstinformationen, dass die Selbstmorddrohne, die zwei Menschen an Bord des Tankers tötete, vom Ostjemen aus gestartet und per GPS auf das Schiff gelenkt wurde, während ein menschlicher Operator sie auf den letzten Metern steuerte.
Das britische SAS-Team arbeite mit einer US-amerikanischen Spezialeinheit zusammen, die sich bereits im Jemen befinde und dort eine saudische Eliteeinheit ausgebildet hätte.
Daily Express nannte seine Quellen nicht, und die britischen Behörden bestätigten die Operation, die angeblich noch nicht abgeschlossen ist, nicht. London, Washington und Tel Aviv beschuldigten Teheran, hinter dem Angriff auf den von Israel betriebenen Tanker MV Mercer Street zu stecken, bei dem ein britischer Wachmann und ein rumänischer Kapitän ums Leben kamen.
Iran wies die Anschuldigungen wiederholt zurück
und auch https://snanews.de/20210809/tanker-mercer-street-spezialeinheit-untersuchung-jemen-3146952.html
(* A K P)
UK Special Forces team allegedly deployed to Yemen to hunt for suspects in Mercer Street tanker attack
British special forces on hunt for drone killers
BRITISH special forces were in Yemen last night to hunt down terrorists behind the drone attack which killed a British security guard on a tanker in the Gulf.
It is believed that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels carried out the atrocity at the behest of Tehran. General Sir Nick Carter, head of Britain’s Armed Forces, has called for Western retaliation for the attack which killed Adrian Underwood, a former British soldier working for UK firm Ambrey to provide security for the vessel, and its Romanian captain. He said: “What we need to be doing is calling out Iran for its very reckless behaviour.”
A 40-strong team of SAS soldiers arrived in eastern Yemen yesterday.
Landing at Al Ghaydah airport in Mahra, they are said to be using local handlers, subsidised by the Foreign Office, who have knowledge of the region to help hunt the Houthi mercenaries responsible. The team also includes a specialist electronic warfare unit which can deploy resources to hoover up communications chatter.
It is feared Tehran supplied the militants with the long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), to threaten international merchant vessels in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
US-Israeli intelligence believe the drone was launched from eastern Yemen and directed by GPS towards the tanker before an operator took control for the final mile, directing the rocket via camera into the ship’s bridge.
The SAS team is operating with a US special operations force which was already in the region and helping to train an elite Saudi commando unit.
The UK mission will send a clear message to Iran that the UK will not tolerate such attacks in international waters.
And Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who said he was in constant contact with British counterpart Dominic Raab, said he “noted to him the need to respond severely”.
A senior UK military source said last night: “Everything points to the drone being launched from Yemen. The concern now is that an extended range drone will give them a new capability.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1473978/british-special-forces-yemen-drone-attack
and also https://www.rt.com/news/531481-uk-special-forces-yemen-tanker/
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/177147/UK-deploys-British-special-forces-in-E-Yemen-source
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/british-forces-yemen-hunt-tanker-drone-attackers
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(A)
JEMEN – AUSSTELLUNG
Die Ausstellung findet statt in der Norishalle Nürnberg (Marientorgraben 8).
Das Land im Süden der Arabischen Halbinsel ist mit dem seit 2015 andauernden Krieg und „der größten humanitären Katastrophe der Welt“ zeitweise wieder in den Schlagzeilen. Bruchstückhaft tauchen dann auch andere Attribute des Landes auf. Die Ausstellung möchte vor allem die faszinierende Natur und Kultur Jemens zeigen, begegnet uns dort doch ein völlig „anderes Arabien“: Die mit dem Weihrauchhandel verbundene Hochkultur der Antike, das Bauernland mit erstaunlichen Leistungen einer nachhaltigen Nutzung, die Besonderheiten des Stammeslebens und die großartigen Bauten. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Skizzierung der jüngeren wirtschaftlichen und politischen Entwicklung, die letztlich zur gegenwärtigen Tragödie geführt hat und die weit mehr als nur ein „Stellvertreterkrieg“ ist.
https://arabischeshaus.de/jemen-ausstellung/
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(B P)
Secretive Israel-UAE oil deal endangers prized Eilat corals
A clandestine oil deal struck last year as part of the historic agreement establishing formal diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is turning Eilat into a waypoint for Emirati oil headed for Western markets.
Initially hailed as a move that could cement fledgling diplomatic ties and further Israel’s energy ambitions, the deal is now in question after Israel’s new government opened a review. The decision has upset investors and risks a diplomatic spat with Israel’s Gulf allies.
(A P)
Iran says Saudi Arabia still seeking military solution to Yemen crisis
Iran on Monday expressed regret that Saudi Arabia still pursues a military solution to the Yemen crisis, saying that this approach will result in nothing other than death and destruction.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh urged Riyadh to abandon the military solution and instead seek political ways to put an end to the devastating war in Yemen.
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
(B P)
Investigation: The clandestine operation to manipulate Qatar’s public opinion
More than 80% of tweets used under a teachers rights hashtag sourced from fake accounts
Hashtags were able to trend despite only being used in one tweet
Mysterious account with less than 5,000 followers was able to push multiple hashtags to top of Qatar’s trending list
https://www.dohanews.co/investigation-the-clandestine-operation-to-manipulate-qatars-public-opinion/
cp12b Sudan
(A P)
Sudan signs deal with ICC to get justice for Darfur victims
Sudan signed an agreement with the International Criminal Court on Thursday to move forward in the cases against those accused of atrocities in the Darfur region, including the country’s former President Omar al-Bashir, a top ICC prosecutor said.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said at a press conference that he would also be deploying a full-time team from his office to Sudan. The developments come as Sudan’s government continues to hold al-Bashir in prison. The ICC issued a warrant for al-Bashir on war crimes charges more than a decade ago, while he was in office.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-africa-sudan-9d62f5427f9d2b8a0ef675bf3971012d
(A P)
Sudan urged to take steps to get justice for Darfur victims
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Tuesday urged Sudanese authorities to take “practical steps” to get justice for victims of the Darfur conflict and hold those responsible for atrocities in the region accountable.
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-africa-sudan-9ce431f4c8d78e07b2bdbb228a4dab50
(A P)
UN chief proposes benchmarks for Sudan to end sanctions
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed a series of benchmarks for Sudan’s transitional government to meet that could lead the U.N. Security Council to lift the arms embargo and other sanctions it imposed after the conflict in Darfur began in 2003.
(A P)
Sudan orders envoy to Ethiopia home amid frayed ties
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-africa-sudan-ethiopia-f6bbadc542b375bccfd544d82b4e4d31
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
(A K P)
How Good Is France’s Leclerc Tank? The UAE’s War in Yemen Offers Clues
(* A K P)
Illegale Waffenexporte nach Saudi-Arabien? Amnesty wirft Kanada Vertragsbruch vor
Kanada soll mit Waffenexporten nach Saudi-Arabien gegen den internationalen Vertrag über den Waffenhandel verstoßen haben.
Das wirft die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International dem Land vor.
Kanadas Einschätzung über das Risiko von Menschenrechtsverletzungen mithilfe der exportierten Waffen sei mangelhaft gewesen.
In einem Bericht, der am Mittwoch veröffentlicht wurde, bezichtigt die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International den Staat Kanada, gegen den Vertrag über den Waffenhandel (Arms Trade Treaty, ATT) verstoßen zu haben.
Laut dem Bericht habe Kanada mit Waffenexporten nach Saudi-Arabien Vertragsbruch begangen, da die Einschätzung der kanadischen Regierung über mögliche Menschenrechtsverletzungen mit kanadischen Waffen mangelhaft gewesen sei. Die Regierung hatte das Risiko als „nicht substantiell” bewertet.
Der arabische Nachrichtensender „Al Jazeera” berichtet, dass Menschenrechtsorganisationen besonders ein Waffengeschäft über zwölf Milliarden US-Dollar kritisierten, dass Saudi-Arabien mit leicht bewaffneten Militärfahrzeugen aus Kanada versorgen soll. Das Geschäft sei unter dem früheren Premierminister Stephen Harper eingefädelt worden – abgeschlossen habe es aber die Regierung Justin Trudeaus.
Nach der Ermordung des saudischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi im Jahr 2018 habe Kanada versucht, den Deal platzen zu lassen und fror Waffengeschäfte mit Saudi-Arabien ein. Schon im April 2020 wurde der Exportbann aber aufgehoben und die Einschätzung getätigt, dass das Risiko von Menschenrechtsverletzungen mithilfe der gelieferten Waffeln „nicht substantiell” sei.
und auch https://de.rt.com/international/122320-verkauf-von-waffen-an-saudi/
(* A K P)
Canada flouting international law by continuing Saudi arms sales, report says
The Canadian government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s watch is flouting international law by refusing to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, a new report by two watchdog groups says.
Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares, a Waterloo, Ont.-based disarmament group, say in a study, “No Credible Evidence”: Canada’s Flawed Analysis of Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia, the federal government’s 2020 review of Canada’s military-goods exports to the desert kingdom is “fundamentally flawed” as it misinterprets, or ignores, key pillars of the Arms Trade Treaty.
Saudi Arabia remains the largest customer of Canadian military goods aside from the United States in large part because of a massive deal worth nearly $15-billion brokered by the Canadian government to sell armoured vehicles equipped with weapons to Riyadh.
Last year, then-foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne lifted a moratorium on reviewing new applications for arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the department of Global Affairs issued a report saying there was “no substantial risk” that these transfer of military goods were “used to commit or facilitate violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, or gender-based violence.”
And so Canada exported more than $1.3-billion in military goods to Saudi Arabia in 2020
Canadian-made light armoured vehicles operated by Saudi soldiers have been filmed in skirmishes across the Saudi Arabian-Yemeni border. And Canadian-made sniper rifles have been photographed in possession of Yemeni government soldiers or their proxy forces – weapons that arms-trade monitors believe were supplied by Saudi Arabia.
“Contrary to what the federal government has said, Canada continues to ignore its international obligations to the Arms Trade Treaty,” said Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares. He said Global Affairs’ 2020 review of Saudi arms sales “cherry-picks through evidence to paint a picture of a weapons deal that is fully compliant with international law.”
and
(* A K P)
New report details how Canadian made weapons are allegedly fuelling Yemen war
The Trudeau government is facing renewed calls to end arms exports to Saudi Arabia following a new report that alleges there is “persuasive evidence” that Canadian-made weapons are being used in the war in Yemen, which has killed at least 233,000 people.
The report from the disarmament group Project Ploughshares and Amnesty International offers a scathing rebuttal to a review from Global Affairs Canada last year that found there was “no credible evidence” that Canadian weapons and military equipment were contributing to Saudi Arabian human-rights violations.
Canada’s $15-billion agreement to export light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to the Kingdom – produced by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada in London, Ont. – has been a political controversy for the Liberal government as Saudi Arabia ranks among the world’s worst on human rights.
The report released Wednesday titled, ““No Credible Evidence”: Canada’s Flawed Analysis of Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia,” details the ongoing saga since the deal was first approved by the former Conservative government in 2014 and given the final, crucial green light by Trudeau’s Liberals in 2015.
Using government records, media reports and summaries of investigations by human rights monitors around the world, it purports to show that “there is persuasive evidence that weapons exported from Canada to (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), including (light armored vehicles) and sniper rifles, have been diverted for use in the war in Yemen.”
“Given the overriding risk posed by Canadian weapons exports to (Saudi Arabia), Canada must immediately revoke existing arms export permits to KSA and suspend the issuance of new ones,” the report said.
It also details photographic evidence from the last few years that appears to show Canadian-made LAVs, fitted with machine guns and cannons, and PGW Defence Technologies sniper rifles in Yemen amid clashes between coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels backed by Iran.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8101089/canada-weapons-lav-saudi-arabia-yemen-war/
and also https://www.rt.com/news/531837-canada-arms-treaty-saudi-weapons-yemen/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/11/canada-violating-intl-law-by-selling-arms-to-saudis-report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeAjlPr54Yg
(A K P)
Activists Paint Tank Tracks To Doors Of Weapons Dealers
Activists across Canada marked the third anniversary of the Yemen school bus massacre on Monday with protests at weapons manufacturers and government offices, calling on Canada to stop all weapons exports to Saudi Arabia.
https://worldbeyondwar.org/activists-paint-tank-tracks-to-doors-of-weapons-dealers/ = https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2108/S00025/activists-paint-tank-tracks-to-doors-of-weapons-dealers.htm
(A K P)
Iran sending more weapons to Yemen's Houthis amid cease-fire effort: Pentagon
Pentagon allegation comes as Iranian and Saudi officials are reportedly preparing to meet in Baghdad later this month
Tehran has been sending increasingly complex weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels even as Iranian officials have engaged in separate talks with the United States and Saudi Arabia about reducing tensions in the region, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.
“In the Yemen context, we have seen more attacks from the Houthis launched at Saudi Arabia in the first half of this year than we have for several prior years,” Dana Stroul, the Pentagon’s top official for policy in the Middle East, told lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
“Iran is increasing the lethality and complexity of both the equipment and the knowledge it transfers to the Houthis so that they can attack Saudi territory [and] Saudi civilians,” Stroul told lawmakers.
My comment: And what? The US sends 100,000 times more weapons to it’s Yemen War theatre allies – so what??
and
(A K P)
Houthi admission of receiving Iranian military support no surprise, minister says
The Houthi group's admission that it is receiving military support from Iran was no surprise, the Yemeni information minister Muammar Al-Eryani said on Wednesday.
The government has for long been aware of the Iranian military support to the militia, including weapons, technology and experts in military industrialization, he said in a statement carried by the state Saba news agency.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26482.html
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
(B H)
Film: Over 221 Yemeni #youth artists worked to revive Yemen's Cultural Heritage in our Cash for Work project with @UNESCO_GCCYemen funded by @EUinYemen Check out the video to know more about the outcomes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba20CEPRhPI&t=1s
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A E P)
Yemeni gov't: Customs tariff increase to boost public revenues
The decision taken by the Yemeni official government to increase the customs dollar would boost the State's revenues and would not affect the people's living, the supreme economic council said Wednesday after a meeting chaired by PM Maeen Abdulmalek.
"The decision bears positives," the council added in a statement, "since basic commodities – i.e. wheat, rice, baby milk, medicines, flour and cooking oil – are exempted from customs fees" and will never be affected by this decision.
Application of this decision will not cause any burdens to consumers, as it is only applied to luxuries, it argued.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26498.html
(* B E)
Devastated by war, Yemen's still surviving oil and gas sector needs peace to recover
Oil output has plummeted to below 100,000 b/d
TotalEnergies, OMV players in Yemen
Petsec Energy could restart soon
Yemen's oil and gas industry could be at a crossroads after six years of brutal civil war, with the US attempting to broker a peace deal that will be critical to reviving the decimated sector.
Yemen has never been a major oil producer, particularly relative to its Arab and Persian neighbors, but it pumped more than 400,000 b/d in the early 2000s, bringing much needed revenue to the region's poorest economy. Since 2015, however, output has plummeted to below 100,000 b/d and will average about 57,000 b/d this year, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.
Yemen, at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, sits on proved hydrocarbon reserves of some 3 billion barrels of crude and 17 Tcf of gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Its main crude export grade is light sweet Masila, with a sulfur content of 0.51% and API gravity of 34.10, and it also exports smaller volumes of extra light sweet Marib Light.
Recent exports have been very lumpy, as high as 88,000 b/d in February 2021, while other months average 15,000 b/d or less, according to data analytics firm Kpler.
China is the biggest buyer of Yemeni crude, with Australia, Thailand, Italy, and the UAE occasionally buying some cargoes, the Kpler data showed.
Without a significant refinery presence, the country is reliant on refined product imports from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq for its gasoline and diesel needs.
Barring an escalation of violence, Platts Analytics forecasts that Yemeni crude production can grow slightly, up to 65,000 b/d in 2022.
"However, if notable growth fails to materialize and the conflict persists, a challenging investment environment could cause foreign operators to consider alternatives," said Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser at Platts Analytics.
Vienna-based OMV, the only sizeable international oil company still operating in Yemen, said its oil and NGL production there plunged 28% in 2020, as COVID-19 added to war-related disruptions. It declined to comment further, citing the delicate political situation in the country.
The Yemen LNG project, in which TotalEnergies holds a stake of 39.62%, stopped commercial production and exports in 2015. The 6.7 million mt/year of LNG production capacity plant has been put in "preservation mode," the company has said, also declining to comment on its Yemen plans.
In 2019, Canada's Calvalley, operator of Block 9 in the Masila Basin, was the second foreign firm to restart operations in Yemen after shutdown in 2015. Indonesia's Medco Energi is a 25% JV partner in Block 9.
(* B E P)
The Other Yemen War: Houthi, Government Central Bank Rivalry Threatens Currency’s Collapse
On Tuesday, the Houthi-controlled Central Bank of Yemen in Sana’a condemned the latest move by its rival central bank in Aden, controlled by the Yemeni government, to delegitimize it abroad. The banks’ ongoing duel has helped drive inflation of the Riyal and amplify the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
In civil war-wracked Yemen, there are competing versions of several state institutions, including Yemen’s central bank and state news agency, Saba.
Rival Banks
According to a statement by the Sana’a central bank carried by the Houthi version of Saba News Agency on Tuesday, the Aden bank is pressuring foreign institutions to transfer their operations from Sana’a to Aden by creating a list of “non-compliant banks” - essentially, a blacklist.
arlier this year, a panel of United Nations experts accused the Aden central bank of a scheme to illegally divert $423 million in Saudi money meant to buy food and other goods into the pockets of well-connected corporate investors. However, the same report also accused the Houthis of using $1.8 billion in aid money to support its war effort.
In 2019, the Houthi government, which calls itself the National Salvation Government, banned use of newer Aden-issued bank notes in Sana’a and other areas under its control, requiring exchange of one currency for the other at entry points and creating a severe cash crunch that helped set the present crisis in motion.
Inflation Pushes Prices Up
Arab News noted on August 4 that the Riyal was trading at 1,020 to the US dollar in the southern parts of Yemen controlled by Hadi’s government, while in early July it had been 980 riyals to the dollar; before the war broke out in 2014, it was 215 riyals to the dollar.
According to Reuters, the inflation is particularly strong in the south. Last month, the news agency reported the price in Aden for the same amount of bread had doubled in a month, helping to amplify the humanitarian crisis in the country.
The decreasing value has also driven up the prices of other commodities, including fuel
"Aden's central bank has signed contracts with private companies to print 5.32 trillion Ryals over the last six years," Hashim Ismail, governor of the Sana’a central bank, told Reuters. "We can fairly say that it is three times what Sana’a central bank printed in 60 years."
Rafat Al-Akhali, a fellow of practice at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, told Reuters the Aden government "continues to use questionable processes in payment of public salaries with no clear payroll for military and security forces."
Hadi’s government, by contrast, alleges the Houthis squandered $4 billion bank reserves on the war, while Sana’a says the money was used to import food and medicine, which have been in disastrously short supply.
(A E P)
Sana'a Central Bank rejects banks relocation to Aden
The Sana'a-based Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) on Monday objected a plan adopted its government-run counterpart to force commercial banks into relocating their headquarters to Aden.
This step comes as part of the Yemeni government's persistent efforts to harm the national banking sector, whose protection is the responsibility of any central bank around the world, the Houthi-run CBY said in a statement carried by the Sana'a-based Saba.
Aden government tries to destabilize exchange rates in Houthi-held areas by "counterfeiting and smuggling the national banknotes" to Sana'a and other provinces under Houthi control, it added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26475.html
(A E P)
CBY shuts down exchange firms as rial falls to record low
The Central Bank of Yemen [Aden branch] has shut down nine more exchange firms within a campaign against firms and exchange stores involved in currency manipulation and speculation.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26503.html
(* A E P)
Yemeni currency recovers 10 percent of value as central bank shuts down rogue exchanges
The Yemeni riyal on Wednesday surged against the US dollar for the first time in months. It recovered by nearly 10 percent a day after the central bank in Aden shut down several currency-exchange firms for violating monetary rules.
Money dealers reported that the riyal was trading at 950 to the dollar in government-controlled areas, compared with 1,050 earlier in the week.
The currency dropped through a historic low of 1,000 to the dollar on the black market a month ago, and continued to tumble in the weeks that followed amid a deadlock in peace efforts to end the war in the country.
To tighten its grip on the chaotic currency-exchange market, the Central Bank of Yemen on Tuesday closed five currency-exchange businesses that had violated its regulations. It has now shut down a total of 13 firms in the past week.
The bank threatened to close other local exchanges and private banks that deal with the banned companies, and vowed to take the same punitive measures against any monetary body that violates its rules. It warned local businesses against becoming involved in speculative exchange-rate activities, which have been largely blamed for the fall of the riyal.
To address a chronic shortage of cash caused by a Houthi ban on banknotes printed by the Yemeni government, the central bank this month injected billions of riyals into the market in the form of older, larger-sized 1,000-riyal banknotes, and began withdrawing the newer, smaller bills.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1909576/business-economy
(B E P)
The Central Bank of Yemen in #Aden continues to print new bills, driving down the value of the Yemeni rial #YER and pushing prices up. The YER’s decline has also dried up liquid capital and forced some banks to restrict services.
https://twitter.com/NavantiGroup/status/1425118821401219077
(A E P)
World Bank’s IFC gives $75 mln debt financing to Yemeni food group
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide up to $75 million in debt financing to a Yemeni food company as the war-torn country struggles with a growing hunger crisis and aid funding shortage, it said on Tuesday.
The IFC, the investment arm of the World Bank, is giving the assistance to multinational Yemeni family conglomerate the Hayel Saeed Anam Group (HAS), which includes six food companies operating in the dairy, flour, and sugar sectors in Yemen.
IFC said it is its first investment in Yemen’s agribusiness sector in more than 10 years.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33509
(A E P)
Central Bank issues statement on escalation steps pursued by mercenary government in Aden
The Central Bank of Yemen - the headquarters in Sana'a - said on Tuesday that it is following the continuous and increasing steps of escalation pursued by the mercenary government in Aden at the behest of the aggression countries.
In a statement issued today, the Central Bank of Yemen referred to the latest escalation steps of the mercenary government reported by the media on the issuance of a statement by the so-called "Central Bank of Aden" declaring its intention to pressure the banks to transfer their business centers to the city of Aden, threatening with creating a list of what it called "non-compliant banks."
According to the Central Bank's statement, Aden's bank aims at forcing "all importing companies and commercial establishments" not to carry out any financial or banking operations, (including opening credits and transfers for goods) with banks that it will classify them according to its desire as non-compliant banks, with the aim of harming those banks' relationship with "local authorities, banks, external financial and banking institutions and other international organizations."
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151027.htm
and
(A E P)
[Sanaa] Chamber of Commerce in Capital warns of consequences of Central Bank’s decision in Aden
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151166.htm
(* A E)
Yemeni riyal in free fall in in non-Houthi areas
The Yemeni riyal is continuing to lose value in what looks like a free fall in the areas outside the control of the terrorist Houthi militia, mainly the STC-militia controlled south Yemen and the government-controlled towns, financially affiliate to the central bank in the southern Aden.
The riyal stood today 1055 to the US dollar compared to 940 at the beginning of last month, 1005 two weeks ago and 1025 a week ago.
The Yemeni currency split and exchange rate diverged when ,in January 2020, the Houthis banned the smaller-size 1000 riyal banknotes printed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government. The government did not reciprocate the move as, where it controls, both the big-size and small-size bills remained legal.
The exchange rate divergence widened so much with the riyal in Aden is now coming close to less than 50% of its worth in Sana'a and Houthis made so much money as fees of money transfers to their controlled areas soared to more than 50% of the transferred amount itself.
To bridge the exchange rate gap, the government printed last month big-size bills hoping they will be circulated throughout the country's economy.
The Houthis central bank banned them again and issued an order to the population under the militia's control to tell apart the "legal" and what they called the "fake" 1000 notes by the serial number.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48261
(* B E P)
Audio: How a Rivalry Over Yemen’s Currency is Fueling the Civil War
The crisis in Yemen is compounded by the odd circumstances of Yemen’s currency, the Rial. Yemen has two rival central banks. In the north of the country, where Houthi Rebels ousted the internationally recognized government, there is the central bank in the Capital Sana’a. In the south of the country, the internationally recognized government set up a new central bank in the city of Aden.
These banks have their own priorities and fiscal policies — and were set up, in part, to help defeat the other and control the Yemeni Rial.
The result has been runaway inflation, particularly in the South.
The constant devaluing of the Rial is having a major impact in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen — which is already the worst in the world. The cost of food is increasingly out of reach for ordinary Yemenis where millions are on the brink of famine.
On the line with me to explain how Yemen came to have two rival central banks, and the impact this rivalry is having on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is Annelle Sheline, a Research Fellow Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. We discuss how the central bank rivalry fits into larger conflict dynamics in Yemen and what the international community can do to revive diplomacy to help end this crisis.
https://www.undispatch.com/how-a-rivalry-over-yemens-currency-is-fueling-the-civil-war/
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A K T)
Saudi-Led Forces Play Al-Qaeda Card Again to Preempt Fiasco in Ma’rib
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition invading Yemen resorts again to the mass recruiting of Al-Qaeda terrorists in order to prevent its easily predictable defeat in the strategic Yemeni province of Ma’rib.
Speaking to Yemen Press Agency (YPA) on Tuesday, informed sources in the West-Central province said the coalition’s forces had brought over “tens of members of the Al-Qaeda [terrorist group] from Saudi Arabia to Ma’rib’s capital city”. The provincial capital bears the same name as the province itself.
The Al-Qaeda mercenaries, they said, “included foreigners wearing Afghan outfits”.
The terrorists were transferred to the city on board three buses through the Al-Wadia border crossing between the kingdom and its Southern neighbor.
They were welcomed during a reception ceremony held at the house of the ringleader of the so-called Al-Islah Party, a Salafist group, the sources noted.
The news agency said the development was “nothing new” since the coalition had been enlisting elements belonging to Qaeda and its fellow Takfiri terrorist outfit of Daesh (also known as ISIL or ISIS) repeatedly since 2015.
cp15 Propaganda
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A P)
By leaving half a billion dollar worth of weapons for Houthis [in 2014], Washington was indirectly assigning Houthis and Iran to play a pre-designed role, says the chairman of Dimensions Center for Researches and Studies Abdusalam Mohammed./Almashehad Alyemeni
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48346
(A P)
Humanitarian organizations in Yemen: Alignment with sectarian Houthi militants
While Yemen is all tragedies bred by the terrorist Houthi militia’s seven year war, the international humanitarian organizations continue to turn their back completely to the Houthi guilt and responsibility and seek to achieve more of the Shiit terrorist militia’s goals in Yemen.
Without any sense of shame, these so-called humanitarian organizations keep nagging the world only about the military demands of the terrorist militia, like the opening of the Sana’a Airport.
The Shiit terror militia want the blockade on the airport removed to use it for military purposes and access sources of weapon completely freely as they used to do before the war began.
To cite just the latest example, nine such aid agencies (Handicap International, International Medical Corps, INTERSOS, Islamic Relief, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Save the Children, Search for Common Grounds and ZOA) have issued a joint statement in this respect.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48333
(A P)
Yemen: Another War the US Needs to Find a Way to End
In this Q&A interview, Hollie McKay asks Minister Wael Al Hamdani, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Yemen to the United States about government corruption and what Biden needs to do to end the war.
Many American people don’t know Yemen and yet have been sending millions of dollars every year to Yemen, and we don’t want this to fall into the wrong hands. So there are a lot of good NGOs that are American and Yemeni Americans that are helping. But if you don’t fix the political problem and the political structure of the government, it is not going to help.
As a Yemeni, we want to be part of the New World – the free world that the US leads.
I think that the UN can bring the solution. But this only can happen through (the help) of major powers. The new Biden administration has expressed interest and expressed concern and appointed a great person. Mr. Tim Lenderking. He understands the Arabian Peninsula very well. He understands the Yemeni situation very well. So I think the administration has done enough so far to bring the best people with the best caliber to solve the situation, but there has to be cooperation from the Yemeni government; there has to be cooperation from the regional powers to make the US involvement succeed.
A ceasefire in Yemen is only possible when the warlords are stopped. They’ve made billions through their networks and (exploiting) locals. People with good intentions in Yemen cannot stop them. The only way is the major powers in the world, the US, the UK, the P-5 (the five permanent members of the UN security council). They need to come together and force (all sides) that enough is enough. But this has to come with a package that there’s a reconstruction for Yemen.
(A P)
Former US envoy Gerald Feierstein says original Saudi strategy in Yemen was right to end Houthi assaults
Houthi violence and backing from Iran has shown US President Joe Biden that the original Saudi strategy to force the Houthis to end their military assaults is the only way to end the crisis in Yemen, the former ambassador to the Gulf country said on Wednesday.
Biden had called for the Saudis to restrain their military response to Houthi violence, during his 2020 election campaign and after taking office in January 2021, believing it would open the door to the Houthis entering negotiations.
However, during an appearance on the Ray Hanania Radio Show, former US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein said that subduing Saudi efforts to confront the Houthis allowed the Iran-backed militia movement to expand their military campaign and target Marib and the important port at Al-Hudaydah.
Feierstein said that ending the conflict required the US-Saudi coalition to block the Houthi advance on Marib and Al-Hudaydah and show them that the Houthis had “no military option.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1909991/middle-east
(A P)
Cartoon: Peace in the eyes of #Houthis!
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1425272964514205701
(A P)
International arrangements for Yemen power transfer draw objections and intense warnings
Yemen is seeing intense reactions to news covert arrangements by some international actors said to aim at transferring power from Abd-Rabbu M. Hadi to a presidential council to fulfill the Houthi militia's desires.
The said arrangements have already drawn reactions: cautious objections, warnings of and shock over how international actors are absorbed in finding ways to unseat the legitimate, weak Hadi, while not doing any thing to end the Houthi six year old coup and nightmarish war that's brought Yemen to its knees and turned it to the world's worst case of humanitarian crisis.
Here are some of the reactions as gathered from media platforms.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48258
(A P)
'Should Yemenis fail to unite, point all guns at Houthis, the Houthis will rule Yemen for 1000 years'
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48240
(A P)
It is not the legitimate government who is hindering peace: Shura chairman says
In response to an idea promoted by supporters of the terrorist Houthi militia on power transfer plans in Yemen, the chairman of the Shura Council, the upper house of the Yemeni parliament, has said, "It is not the legitimate government [of President Abd-Rabbu Ma. Hadi] who is obstructing peace in the country."
News websites circulated on Friday the news of alleged regional and international talks being led by three countries to transfer the power of president Hadi to a presidential council in what many websites described as "the last step in uprooting the legitimate government."
In response, the Shura chairman Ahmed bin Daghr, posted on facebook: "The ideas being thrown here and there are not new. They are originally the ideas of Houthis."
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48236
(A P)
Iran’s new president hosts terror leaders as he comes into office
Reports on Saturday evening indicated that IRGC head Hossein Salami had also met the Hezbollah deputy and said that they should prepare for the “collapse” of Israel.
(A P)
Iran just got trickier
The election of conservative Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran has driven home a harsh fact for the international community: the Islamic Republic will not be undergoing its long hoped for transformational reform in the near future.
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2021-08/iran-just-got-trickier
(A P)
Iran's Raisi sets sight on Palestinians, Yemen and Iraq - analysis
Iran has a tendency to use proxies, pushing others to defend and die for it in its regional wars. That is why Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Yemenites all are pushed by Iran to fight.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have suffered some setbacks in the battle for Marib in Yemen recently, and there has been increased attention on their drone attacks, as well as on the Iranian attack on a ship off Oman.
For the new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, these will be part of his first moves in the region.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/irans-raisi-sets-sight-on-palestinians-yemen-and-iraq-676201
(A P)
Yemeni Govt Accuses Insurgency of Leaning on Iran
They also slammed the head of Houthi foreign affairs for sporting a luxurious watch to the event when millions of Yemenis are suffering back home.
Moammar Al-Eryani, Yemen’s minister for information, culture, and tourism, said that Iran hosting delegations from regional proxies and affiliated terrorist militias is an indicator that the cleric-led country will maintain hardline policies, especially at a time when it has stepped up its terror targeting of international navigation in Arab Gulf waters.
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2274009
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2274004
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2274002
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2273827
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2273824
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2273817
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2271431
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2271304
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2270975
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2270974
https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/609600
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2270403
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
Aug. 9: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/2094612034022484/
Aug. 8: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/2094611184022569/
Aug. 7: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/2094609490689405/
(A K)
13 Houthis killed in Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's Marib: source
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-08/10/c_1310119277.htm
(A K)
Coalition airstrike kills Houthi leaders at meeting south Marib
Houthi senior officers have been killed in Marib, the Yemeni government army-run media center tweeted on Tuesday, after an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeted a meeting in the northeastern governorate.
Late on Monday, Arab coalition warplanes bombed a meeting for Houthi leaders in Rahaba front, southwest Marib, the center added in a brief statement.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26461.html
(A K)
Saudi-led airstrikes hit Houthi reinforcements in Yemen's Marib: sources
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-08/09/c_1310117585.htm
(A K pH)
More Saudi coalition air raids
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151594.htm Marib p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151445.htm Marib, Jawf, Saada p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151443.htm Al Bayda p.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151152.htm 3 prov.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151118.htm Bayda p.
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
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.
Siehe / Look at cp18
(A K pS)
Saudi air defenses intercept Houthi missile launched at Najran: SPA
Saudi Arabia’s air defenses have intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen aimed towards the southern city of Najran, according to SPA.
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Air defenses shoot down spy aircraft in Marib
The army's air defenses shot down on Saturday a US-made combat-spy aircraft of the Saudi-led aggression coalition while carrying out hostile acts in Marib province.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151479.htm
(A K pS)
Second murder in two days: Houthi sniper kills elderly man in Taiz on Thursday
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48332
(A K)
Saudi Arabia thwarts new Houthi drone attack
The Saudi-led coalition on Friday said it destroyed an explosives-laden drone fired by the Houthi group from Yemen towards the province of Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
It was the second attack by the Iran-allied group against Saudi territories this week
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26504.html
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/33523
(A K pH)
Saudi army kills man in Sa'ada
The Saudi enemy army targeted the border district of Shada with various weapons, that led also to the injuries of 5 people, said the official.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3151442.htm
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Official: Yemeni Army Forces, Allies Will Seize Control over Ma’rib If Pro-Hadi Militants Dismiss Truce
A senior Yemeni official said the country’s army troops and fighters from allied Popular Committees will establish full control over the entire districts of the central province of Ma’rib in case Saudi-led militants refuse calls for a ceasefire in the strategic area.
Ma’rib provincial governor in Yemen's National Salvation Government, Major General Ali Muhammad Taiman, told Lebanon’s Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television news network that the Yemeni army troops and allies are now in control of 85% of the province, and are only about 6 to 7 kilometers away from the provincial capital of the same name.
He added that the Yemeni armed forces are currently positioned on the outskirts of Ma'rib city
(A K)
Yemeni gov't troops claim new progress west Marib
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26490.html
(A K pS)
House hit by Houthi tank, family miraculously survived in al-Dhale
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33521
(A K pH)
Civilian killed by Saudi artillery shelling in Sa'ada
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3150979.htm
(A K P)
Highlights from #Marib Governor Maj. General Sultan Al-Arada Interview for Al-Sharq News Channel. -Position of the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia and Arab Coalition.
https://twitter.com/MaribGov_En/status/1424911449613340676
(A K pH)
Yemen launches drone attack to S Arabia’s Khamis Mushait
Media outlets in Saudi Arabia on Monday confirmed the Yemeni army's drone strike in Khamis Mushait, southwestern Saudi Arabia, claiming that Yemeni drone was intercepted and destroyed.
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/177149/Yemen-launches-drone-attack-to-S-Arabia-s-Khamis-Mushait
and
(A K pS)
Saudi Arabia intercepts two explosive Houthi drones
Saudi Arabia’s air defenses have intercepted and destroyed two explosive drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushait, the Arab Coalition said early on Monday.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33498
(A K pS)
KSrelief Masam Project Dismantles more than 1,415 Mines in Yemen During One Week
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center's (KSrelief) project for clearing mines in Yemen (Masam) demined 1,415 mines during the first week of August 2021, including 13 antipersonnel mines, 672 anti-tank mines and 730 unexploded ordnance.
Since the beginning of the project, as many as 266,452 mines, planted by the Houthi militias, have been dismantled.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2270700
(* B K)
Landmines kill 44 Yemenis in 2021
A total of 44 Yemeni people were killed by explosions caused by landmines and explosive devices in the first half of 2021, a government official told Xinhua on Sunday.
During the January to June period this year, 44 people were killed, including 11 children, and 57 others were injured, the local government source said on condition of anonymity.
He indicated that the majority of casualties and losses were recorded in the coastal areas located in the southern parts of the country's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2021-08/08/content_77681037.htm = https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/08/10/news/world/landmines-kill-44-yemenis-in-2021/1810313
and
(* B K)
44 civilians, including 11 children, 7 women and one demining expert, were killed, and 57, including 17 children, 4 women and one demining expert, injured by Houthi-laid mines and unexploded ordnance in a number of provinces in the first half of the year.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1424502894452166656
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 P)
Houthi leader attacked a UN clinic in Hodeidah ، Yemen official says
Today, Wednesday, an official in the internationally recognized Yemeni government accused a leader of the Houthi rebles of attacking a United Nations clinic in Hodeidah Governorate
The first deputy of the Hodeidah governorate, Walid Al-Qadimi, said, via Twitter, that "the transfer of the United Nations mission to a neutral area has become a fait accompli, as Abu Ali Al-Kahlani, the so-called director of Hodeidah security, attacked the World Food Program clinic and looted the Corona (Covid-19) vaccine." designated for United Nations personnel and prevents any vaccine.
He added, "No action has been taken by the United Nations mission or the office of the UN envoy."
https://yemenonline.info/politics/5722
https://debriefer.net/en/news-26488.html
(A K pS)
Shiit terrorists blow up new school in west of Yemen
Yemen's Shiit Houthi terrorists have blown a new school in the country's western province of Hodeidah as part of their years long sectarian war on the government and largely Sunni Yemeni nation.
Militants from the terrorist organization planted dynamite explosives in Khadijah, a mixed school, in al-Ribat village, in Hays, an outskirt of the Red Sea port of Heideidah before remotely detonating it.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-48238
and
(A K)
Houthi militants on Wednesday blew up with dynamite Al-Wai Primary School in Al-Rubat area in Hays District of Yemen's western province of Hudaydah, local education office told news websites, adding that militants have booby-trapped all schools at contact lines in the area.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1424297299526758405
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
(B P)
Jedes Jahr kommen mindestens 160 Menschen zum Glauben
Nur wenige Tausend Christen leben im muslimischen Jemen. Sie halten ihren Glauben geheim – und trotzdem kommen immer mehr Menschen zu Jesus, vor allem durch Soziale Medien und das Radio.
(B H)
Film: Yemen – Old woman cures eye diseases by licking with her tongue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKwUt7FDbGw
(B)
Bilqis..a Socotra girl documents the customs and traditions of women in the archipelago
the young Socotri woman "Bilqis Rashid" seeks to shed light on the customs and traditions of the Socotri woman, by writing a book that highlights the Socotri woman and presents her to the world. Balqis, 22, is a member of the Ministry of Culture, a writer and poet in both classical and Socotra Arabic, and a student of business administration at the United Arab Emirates University. The Socotri young woman launched her book “The Socotra Lady,” in which she talked about the Socotri woman in her past and present, and the different customs, traditions and skills of Socotri women. Belqis told Qashan Press: I wanted to highlight the Socotra woman and her culture and customs. Although there are books that talk about Socotra, no one has mentioned that Socotra woman to talk about her and her achievements in the past and present, nor about her culture; So I wrote the book.
https://qishnpress.com/localities/4404/
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-754-yemen-war-mosaic-754
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-754 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-754:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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