Krieg im Jemen-Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 101

Yemen Press Reader 101: Avaaz-Petition - Warum kümmert sich niemand um Jemen - Die großen Mächte und ihre Kriege - Saudische Pipeline-Pläne im Jemen - Rotes Kreuz, UN gegen saudische Forderung

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Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Klassifizierung / Classification

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

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

cp7 UNO / UN

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp9 USA

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp13 Mercenaries / Söldner

cp15 Propaganda

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

Klassifizierung / Classification

***

**

*

(Kein Stern / No star)

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

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

10.2.2016 – Avaaz (*** A P)

Stop Saudi’s weapons

They bomb schools, hospitals, even wedding parties. What Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen is disgusting – and they’re doing it with weapons they buy from Europe, the US, and Canada. But in just a few days we can do the unthinkable – win a landmark decision that could stem the flow of weapons to the Saudis

The European Parliament is days away from voting on a proposed EU-wide arms embargo – but under heavy Saudi lobbying, some politicians are wavering.

Now more than ever, these leaders need to see that people from every corner of the Earth are looking to them to stand up and say “NO” to Saudi Arabia and their atrocities. Sign the urgent petition calling for an arms embargo – we need to show the EU champions overwhelming public support:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_saudi_arms_deal_i/?bnzJEeb&v=72720&cl=9482334531

This is how we can help end wars – by cutting off the supplies that fuel them. Calling for an embargo would have been unthinkable a few years ago because of Western governments’ tight relationship with the regime, but this total disregard for human rights has made it impossible for them to look the other way. Europe could vote for an embargo in days – they just need to feel the public is watching and cares.

Sign petition at:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_saudi_arms_deal_i/?bnzJEeb&v=72720&cl=9482334531

12.2.2016 – IRIN (** A K P)
Why does no one care about Yemen?

It’s not only in American sitcoms that Yemen is a byword for backwater. It’s a regional problem too – stereotyped as tribal and traditional, it somehow lacks the cultural standing of countries like Egypt, Syria, Iraq or Jordan. And in a region where oil is king, it has no great reserves. Even before the war, it was by far the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.

Apart from when the occasional “terror” plot is linked to a group operating in its mountainous hideouts and large wildernesses, Yemen is simply not a priority, regionally or internationally. The war was born of a failed political transition after Arab Spring-inspired protests, a movement dubbed the “forgotten revolution” long before the current fighting became Yemen’s “forgotten war.”

Those trying to get the word out aren’t helped by the fact that the conflict is incredibly complex. It lacks the clear good guy v bad guy narrative many in the West saw at the start of the Syrian war, for example

In Yemen, it never felt simple. This is a complicated civil conflict with local and international alliances that don’t appear to make much sense to the casual – sometimes even the studied – onlooker.

The trouble began long before the Saudi Arabia-led coalition began bombing in March 2015.

Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is still the internationally recognised president of Yemen, but he was effectively ousted when the Houthi rebels took the capital in January last year, later fleeing to Saudi Arabia. That he is the leader of a united Yemen is his main claim to legitimacy, but he also happens to be on the same, tenuously allied side of southern separatists, anti-Houthi tribal leaders and Sunni Islamists.

While the Houthis are often portrayed as proxies of regional Shiite superpower Iran, they have their own grievances, leaders, and decision-makers. Confusingly, they are now also backed by Saleh, their former enemy.

No one seems any closer to actually winning the war, so it is harder to become invested in its outcome, especially as neither side has made any real move to negotiate and UN-led peace talks have been postponed.

"The fact that it has long been enmeshed in one conflict or another makes it is easy for people to shrug it off,” says Baron. “They recognise that Yemen is at war, but see it as always at war.”

[Western countries giving intelligence support, selling weapons to Saudi Arabia]

The media, meanwhile, gravitates towards the bigger regional conflicts in Syria and Iraq, whose impact on the West is so much clearer to define in terms of refugees, extremist attacks, and geo-political dangers.

Percentage of online media coverage mentioning Yemen: Coverage peaks at 25.8% (Arabic) and 3.3% (all languages) when the Saudi-led coalition begins airstrikes on 26 March, 2015.

“Policy makers have limited bandwidth, think in relatively short term, and pay attention to things that generate headlines,” explains Peter Salisbury, an expert on Yemen from the influential Chatham House think tank.

There is also a sense of crisis fatigue, a feeling that the audience can’t find room to process Yemen when their minds are already saturated by so many other, more pressing emergencies.

“It is sadly a forgotten conflict in many ways,” says al-Muslimi. “Everyone is overwhelmed with Syria, the rise of ISIS in Libya, and the world is quite a messed up place to start with.”

Maybe, in today’s social media-dominated news environment, Yemen just needs its viral moment. It took a photo of Alan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian toddler lying facedown on a Turkish beach, to bring the world’s attention to the refugee crisis.

But those, like Salisbury, who realised the scale of the humanitarian disaster and the risks of the war in Yemen long ago, are fairly exasperated.

“With the people who know or who have worked on Yemen, there is fatigue from people jumping up and down and saying, ‘Yemen is important,’” he explains.

Ultimately, “people will be asking this question: Why didn't we pay more attention to Yemen? Why didn't we take it more seriously when we had a chance to do something?” – by Annie Slemrod

http://www.irinnews.org/report/102426/why-does-no-one-care-about-yemen

12.2.2016 – German Foreign Policy (*** A K P)

Die großen Mächte und ihre Kriege
Die Zahl der weltweiten Kriege und ihrer Opfer wird dieses Jahr weiter steigen. Dies sagt ein einflussreicher Diplomat in der führenden deutschen Außenpolitik-Zeitschrift voraus. Demnach nehme schon seit fünf Jahren „weltweit die Zahl der Konflikte und damit der Opfer und der Flüchtlinge“ zu; diese Entwicklung werde sich „wohl auch in diesem Jahr fortsetzen“. Die Zeitschrift „Internationale Politik“ untermauert diese Vermutung mit einem Überblick über die aktuellen Kriege. Tatsächlich sind die blutigsten Kriege der Gegenwart – im Irak, in Syrien, Libyen, Afghanistan oder im Südsudan – ein direktes oder indirektes Ergebnis westlicher Machtpolitik, die mit Militärinterventionen oder der subversiven Unterstützung für Aufständische darauf zielte, prowestliche Umstürze herbeizuführen oder nicht kooperationswillige Staaten zu schwächen. Für die Zukunft nimmt die „Internationale Politik“ mögliche Konflikte im Umfeld Chinas in den Blick. Ist es den westlichen Mächten in den Jahren des chinesischen Aufstiegs nicht gelungen, die rohstoffreiche arabische Welt für die Zeit des bevorstehenden Machtkampfs gegen die Volksrepublik fest an sich zu binden, so zeichnet sich dieser Machtkampf inzwischen deutlich ab.

Gehen die erwähnten Kriege entweder auf direkte militärische Überfälle (Irak, Libyen) oder auf subversive Unterstützung einer Kriegspartei (Syrien) durch die westlichen Mächte zurück, die mit ihren Operationen in den betroffenen Staaten jeweils kooperationswillige Kräfte an die Regierung bringen wollten, so wird auch ein weiterer Krieg, den Guéhenno in der "Internationalen Politik" aufführt, mit westlicher Rückendeckung geführt: der Krieg im Jemen. Ihn hat Saudi-Arabien im März 2015 gestartet, um seinen Rivalen Iran zu schwächen. Dabei wird Riad, wie Guéhenno festhält, von den USA und Großbritannien unterstützt; zudem kann es den Krieg mit deutschen Waffen führen (german-foreign-policy.com berichtete: In Flammen, In Flammen (II) und In Flammen (III)), mit denen Berlin seinen saudischen Verbündeten gegen Iran hochgerüstet hat.

http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59307

10.2.2016 – Middle East Eye (** B K P)

Saudi war for Yemen oil pipeline is empowering al-Qaeda, IS

Secret cable and Dutch government official confirm that Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen is partly motivated by an ambitious US-backed pipeline fantasy.

The goals of the Saudi-led coalition are obscure.It’s widely recognised that the war has broad geopolitical, sectarian dynamics. The Saudis fear that the rise of the Houthis signals the growing influence of Iran in Yemen.

But this narrative is not the whole story. While Iran’s contacts with the Houthis are beyond question, before Saudi’s air campaign, the Houthis had acquired most of their weapons from two sources: the black market and ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

According to former UN special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, the Saudi airstrikes scuppered an imminent peace deal that would have led to a power-sharing arrangement between 12 rival political and tribal groups.“

This was not, then, about Iran. The Saudis, and apparently the US and UK, did not want to see a genuine transition to the semblance of a democratic Yemen.

In fact, the US is explicitly opposed to the democratisation of the entire Gulf region, hell-bent on ‘stabilising’ the flow of Gulf oil to global markets. In March 2015, US military and NATO consultant Anthony Cordesman of the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies explained that: “Yemen is of major strategic importance to the United States, as is the broader stability of Saudi Arabia all of the Arab Gulf states.

Yemen does not match the strategic importance of the Gulf, but it is still of great strategic importance to the stability of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula.”In other words, the war on Yemen is about protecting the West’s principal Gulf rogue state, to keep the oil flowing. Cordesman goes on to note: “Yemen’s territory and islands play a critical role in the security of another global chokepoint at the southeastern end of the Red Sea called the Bab el-Mandab or ‘gate of tears’.

But there’s a parallel sub-goal here, acknowledged in private by Western officials, but not discussed in public: Yemen has as yet untapped potential to provide an alternative set of oil and gas trans-shipment routes for the export of Saudi oil, bypassing Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

The reality of the kingdom’s ambitions in this regard are laid bare in a secret 2008 State Department cable obtained by Wikileaks, from the US embassy in Yemen to the Secretary of State:

“A British diplomat based in Yemen told PolOff [US embassy political officer] that Saudi Arabia had an interest to build a pipeline, wholly owned, operated and protected by Saudi Arabia, through Hadramawt to a port on the Gulf of Aden, thereby bypassing the Arabian Gulf/Persian Gulf and the straits of Hormuz.

"Saleh has always opposed this. The diplomat contended that Saudi Arabia, through supporting Yemeni military leadership, paying for the loyalty of sheikhs and other means, was positioning itself to ensure it would, for the right price, obtain the rights for this pipeline from Saleh’s successor.”

Indeed, Yemen’s eastern governorate of Hadramaut has remained curiously free from Saudi bombardment. The province, Yemen’s largest, contains the bulk of Yemen’s remaining oil and gas resources.

“The kingdom’s primary interest in the governorate is the possible construction of an oil pipeline. Such a pipeline has long been a dream of the government of Saudi Arabia,” observes Michael Horton, a senior analyst on Yemen at the Jamestown Foundation.

Western officials are keen to avoid public consciousness of the energy geopolitics behind the escalating conflict.

Last year, a cutting analysis of these issues was posted on a personal blog on 2 June 2015 by Joke Buringa, a senior advisor on security and rule of law in Yemen at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Fear of an Iranian blockade of the Hormuz Strait, and the possibly disastrous results for the global economy, has existed for years,” she wrote in the article, titled "Divide and Rule: Saudi Arabia, Oil and Yemen." “The US therefore pressured the Gulf States to develop alternatives. In 2007 Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Oman and Yemen jointly launched the Trans-Arabia Oil Pipeline project. New pipelines were to be constructed from the Saudi Ras Tannurah on the Persian Gulf and the UAE to the Gulf of Oman (one to the Emirate of Fujairah and two lines to Oman) and the Gulf of Aden (two lines to Yemen).”

President Saleh, however, was a major obstacle to Saudi ambitions. According to Buringa, he “opposed the construction of a pipeline under Saudi control over Yemeni territory. For many years the Saudis invested in tribal leaders in the hope to execute this project under Saleh’s successor. The 2011 popular uprisings by demonstrators calling for democracy upset these plans.”

Buringa is the only senior Western government official to have acknowledged this matter publicly. But when I contacted her to request an interview on 1 February, four days later I received a response from Roel van der Meij, a spokesperson for corporate affairs at the Dutch government’s foreign ministry: “Mrs. Joke Buringa asked me to inform you that she is not available for the interview.”

Buringa’s entire blog – previously available at www.jokeburinga.com – had in the meantime been completely removed.

An archived version of her article on the energy geopolitics of the Saudi war in Yemen is available at the Wayback Machine.

Among the prime beneficiaries of the Saudi strategy in Yemen is al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the same group that took responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo slaughter in Paris.

“The governorate of Hadramawt is one of the few areas where the Saudi-led coalition did not conduct any air strikes,” noted Buringa. “The port and the international airport of al-Mukalla are in optimal shape and under the control of al-Qaeda. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has been delivering arms to al-Qaeda, (which) is expanding its sphere of influence.”

While trumpeting the war on IS in Iraq and Syria, the West is paving the way for the resurgence of both al-Qaeda and IS in Yemen.“Saudi Arabia does not want a strong, democratic country on the other side of the more than 1,500 kilometre-long border that separates both countries [Saudi Arabia and Yemen],” Dutch foreign ministry official Joke Buringa had remarked in her now-censored article. Neither, it seems, do the US and UK. She added: “Those pipelines to Mukalla will probably get there eventually.”They probably won’t – but there’ll still be blowback. – by Nafeez Ahmed

http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/saudi-war-yemen-oil-pipeline-empowering-al-qaeda-1386143996 = http://www.mintpressnews.com/214396-2/214396/

Comment: A must read. This article reveals a memo that reveals that the attacks on Yemen are motivated by KSA's desire to build an oil pipeline through Yemen so that oil can bypass both the Straights of Hormuz (and Bab Al Mandab if needs be). This was a Saudi grievance with Yemen for a long time, so it makes sense. But the main result is weakening of KSA and strengthening of AQAP and ISIS - made possible by the KSA's open support of AQ in Yemen (reported on Al Jazeera a few months ago and repeated here) and incidentally the Yemen army - most of which is fighting with the Houthis in Yemen - no longer has the ability to cope with AQAP advances in Yemen. What a disaster. For Yemen and the world.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1099065183579305

Just to remember:

27.4.2015 – Common Dreams (** A P)

Saudi-Led Airstrikes Destroyed Diplomacy in Yemen, Former UN Envoy Claims

Wall Street Journal reports that before bombing campaign began, progress had been made during the latest round of UN-brokered talks

Before the Saudi-led coalition began its deadly bombing campaign last month, Yemen's factions were close to reaching a power-sharing deal, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

But the commencement of airstrikes—which have killed scores of civilians and deepened the country's existing humanitarian crisis—threw off those negotiations, the WSJ reported Sunday, citing Jamal Benomar, the United Nations special envoy to Yemen who spearheaded the talks until his resignation last week.

"When this campaign started, one thing that was significant but went unnoticed is that the Yemenis were close to a deal that would institute power-sharing with all sides, including the Houthis," Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat, told the WSJ.

According to the newspaper, progress had been made during the latest round of UN-brokered talks, which began in January and included 12 political and tribal factions:

The Houthi rebels, who have overrun significant parts of the country in the past eight months, had agreed to remove their militias from the cities they were occupying under the deal that had been taking shape. The U.N. had worked out details of a new government force to replace them, Mr. Benomar said.

In exchange, Western-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who has since fled the country, would have been part of an executive body that would run the country temporarily, Mr. Benomar said.

The Houthis had agreed to that reduced role for Mr. Hadi until the Saudi military intervention began on March 26. At that point, the Houthis hardened their position on this key point and opposed any role for Mr. Hadi in government, Mr. Benomar said.

Saudi-backed factions have also hardened their positions, saying the Houthis shouldn’t be granted political power – by Deirdre Fulton

[The full article is This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/27/saudi-led-airstrikes-destroyed-diplomacy-yemen-former-un-envoy-claims

cp2 Allgemein / General

11.2.2016 – Al Araby (** A K P)

[see also at Yemen Press Reader 100, cp 1]

Saudi warns UN to leave rebel areas in Yemen

Saudi Arabia has warned the United Nations and other aid agencies to move aid workers away from rebel-held areas in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition is carrying out intense airstrikes, according to a letter revealed on Thursday.

According to media reports, the Saudi mission in Geneva sent an initial letter to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 5 February.

The letter asked the UN agency to "notify all the international organisations working in Yemen" to relocate their staff away from Houthi-held areas "in order for the Coalition forces to guarantee the safety and security of the international organisations."

A similar letter marked urgent was sent out by the Saudi embassy in London.

The United Nations flatly rejected the request and reminded Saudi Arabia of its obligations to allow humanitarian access in Yemen, where coalition warplanes have been pounding Houthi rebels for nearly a year.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a letter to Saudi Ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi that relief organisations were "delivering life-saving assistance as per internationally recognised principles and will continue to do so."

Responding to O'Brien, the Saudi ambassador renewed the coalition's request for relief organisations to leave areas under rebel control.

"The coalition's request is consistent with its obligations under international humanitarian law, and, in no way, can be misinterpreted to indicate any hindrance to humanitarian access and the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Yemen," wrote Mouallimi on Monday.

The United Nations has had several disputes with Saudi Arabia over aid access in Yemen, where 80 percent of the population is facing dire food shortages.

O'Brien told Saudi Arabia that aid workers would continue to inform coalition authorities of their movements.

UN and international aid workers have passed on their coordinates to coalition military authorities to ensure they are not inadvertently targeted.

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/2/12/saudi-warns-un-to-leave-rebel-areas-in-yemen

Comment: This shows that Saudi Arabia is intent on killing anyone - they are not prepared to 'target' but drop their bombs indiscriminately - and if it is dangerous for foreigners, then it is dangerous for Yemeni civilians. And obviously they don't want foreign witnesses - it is too embarrassing to hear what they have to say

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154096065973641

And see how extremely soft the Associated Press is reporting. Well, they are aware how unmasking these Saudi letters are, thus AP just omits the main points. And US mainstream media off course prefer this report

12.2.2016 – Washington Post / US News (A K P)

Saudi envoy: Aid groups in Yemen urged to ‘be careful’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/saudi-envoy-aid-groups-in-yemen-urged-to-be-careful/2016/02/12/f5133c42-d1c9-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html and http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-02-12/saudi-envoy-aid-groups-in-yemen-urged-to-be-careful

Comment: A way propaganda also can look like.

13.2.2016 – Iran German Radio (A K P)

Internationales Rotes Kreuz weist Forderung Saudi-Arabiens zurück, humanitäre Hilfe für Jemen zu stoppen

Das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz IKRK hat die Forderung der saudischen Regierung zurückgewiesen, dergemäß die Helfer von IKRK in Jemen sich von Gebieten entfernen sollten, wo den Luftangriffen der saudischen Armee ausgesetzt seien.

IKRK-Sprecherin, Rima Kamal sagte am Freitag, dass dieses Komitee nicht beabsichtige, seine Aktivitäten in Jemen zu ändern und sei verpflichtet, in allen Gebieten dieses Landes den Zivilisten zu helfen. Sie hob hervor, dass IKRK von allen Konfliktseiten Sicherheitsgarantien für die Helfer erwarte, so dass sie Zugang zu allen Menschen haben könnten, die Hilfe brauchen würden. Auch der Nothilfekoordinator der Vereinten Nationen Stephen O'Brien hat in einem Breif an den saudischen UN-Botschafter Abdullah Al-Muallimi betont, dass die Hilfsorganisationen im Jemen im Rahmen der international anerkannten Prinzipien ihre Tätigkeiten weiterführen würden.

http://german.irib.ir/nachrichten/nahost/item/296934-internationales-rotes-kreuz-weist-forderung-saudi-arabiens-zur%C3%BCck,-humanit%C3%A4re-hilfe-f%C3%BCr-jemen-zu-stoppen

12.2.2016 – Telesur (* A K P)

The U.N. and the Red Cross flatly rejected a call by the kingdom to move aid workers in Yemen out of rebel-held areas the Saudi coalition is bombing.

The Red Cross as well as the United Nations rejected Friday a call from Saudi Arabia for aid workers to stay out of rebel-held zones of Yemen that are being targeted by the Saudi-led airstrikes in the country.

The mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross "often necessitates crossing frontlines" and securing access to combat zones, the ICRC's Sanaa spokeswoman Rima Kamal told AFP Friday.

"To reach all those in need in Yemen ... we will continue to seek security guarantees from all parties and in all regions," she said. "We have no plans to change that for the time being, and we remain committed to operate in all regions and to do everything possible to reach the civilians affected."

Meanwhile, the U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien also rejected the call by Saudi Arabia and reminded the kingdom of its responsibility to allow humanitarian aid into those areas.

He said in a letter to Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, that relief organisations were "delivering life-saving assistance as per internationally recognised principles and will continue to do so."

The reactions from the aid organization comes a day after Saudi Arabia asked the U.N. and other groups in Yemen to move aid workers out of rebel-held areas in order to allow the Saudi coalition to carry out attacks against Ansarullah rebels in those areas.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UN-Red-Cross-Reject-Saudi-Call-to-Move-out-of-Rebel-Held-Areas-20160212-0037.html and by AFP: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/479788/Red-Cross-turns-down-call-to-leave-Yemen-conflict-

Comment by Judith Brown: Thank goodness for that. Maybe having some overseas organisations there to keep record of what is happening will make them respect Yemeni life a bit more than they would otherwise.

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154097999858641

13.2.2016 – Press TV Iran (* A K P)

S Arabia after concealing war crimes in Yemen

Press TV has conducted an interview with William Beeman, a professor at the University of Minnesota from Minneapolis, on Saudi Arabia’s call on aid workers in Yemen to leave the areas that are under Riyadh’s constant air raids.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How do you see Saudi Arabia’s warning to the aid workers who are currently doing their job to help those under constant airstrikes by Saudi Arabia?

Beeman: It’s very clear that Saudi Arabia does not want the aid workers in Yemen for two reasons.

First of all, they don’t want the aid workers to witness the atrocities that are taking place against the Yemeni citizens, because the aid workers on the ground they can see for themselves and report on the terrible conditions that the Saudi bombings have inflicted on Yemeni people.

And second of all, they don’t want the situation for the Yemini people to improve. They believe that if they make life miserable enough for the Houthis that they will surrender.

And so, when the Red Cross is aiding people and providing humanitarian aid yet alleviate some of the terrible pain that has been inflicted by these raids.

So, you can understand why Saudi Arabia would not want the Red Cross to be working in Yemen.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/13/450077/Saudi-Arabia-Yemen-ICRC-US-Beeman

11.2.2016 – The National Interest (* B P)

A Change of Strategy Is Needed in Yemen

To argue that Yemen is in the midst of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises would be a colossal underestimate. Syria is receiving the bulk of the international community’s attention, while the civil war in Yemen barely registers in Western newspapers.

Just as disturbing as the casualty figures, however, is the way that the combatants on the ground and in the air have chosen to prosecute the war.

Those states that possess leverage over the combatants must act. Rather than holding periodic meetings on Yemen’s dire humanitarian catastrophe, the Security Council should make far better use of its power under Resolution 2140. Individuals who are hampering the Yemeni peace process and engaging in human rights abuses, regardless of which side they happen to fight on, must have their assets frozen and their travel banned.

More importantly, the United States and the United Kingdom must begin to seriously review their respective policies on Yemen and ask themselves a fundamental question: is the continued selling of arms, ammunition, weapons platforms and smart bombs consistent with their goal of stopping the killing and getting all sides to the negotiating table for a fair and sustainable peace? Using private channels, Washington and London must provide the Saudis with an ultimatum: either cease the indiscriminate and wholesale targeting of civilian infrastructure, or jeopardize a decades-long defense relationship that has allowed Riyadh to acquire the most sophisticated armed forces in the region.

The Security Council should also redouble its attention to interdicting supplies, weapons and ammunition destined for the Houthi rebel movement. Any Iranian entity and individual caught sending weapons supplies to the Houthis must be sanctioned and cut off from the international financial system, in line with Security Council resolutions that are already in effect – by Daniel R. DePetris

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/change-strategy-needed-yemen-15192

Comment: I would fully agree if the author really would equally look at all parties. Does he? The last sentence cited here above lets me doubt. If he would have added: “Any American, British, French, Italian, German or other international entity and individual caught sending weapons supplies to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates must be sanctioned and cut off from the international financial system, in line with Security Council resolutions that still have to be enacted.”

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

13.2.2016 – Qz (A H)

Against all odds, Yemen is fighting water shortage by harvesting its fog

Yemen is a poor country, but it has plenty of fog. Now some villages are experimenting with ways to “harvest” that moisture from the air – by Annalisa Merelli

http://qz.com/585619/yemenis-fought-droughts-by-turning-fog-back-into-water/

13.2.2016 – Red Cross (A H)

Yemen: Desperately needed medical supplies reach Taiz

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has managed to enter the city of Taiz, one of the worst-affected places in Yemen's fighting, and deliver life-saving medical supplies. Although the organisation has been assisting people in the governorate of Taiz for the last 10 month, its teams had been unable to enter the city itself since August last year.

"This is a breakthrough and we hope that today's operation will be followed by many more to come," said head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen Antoine Grand.

Around 200,000 people live in the city of Taiz, which has been the scene of heavy fighting ever since the ongoing conflict started. Living conditions for civilians in the city have continued to worsen, with residents facing daily insecurity and a constant struggle for medical care, food and water.

"We have provided three tonnes of medical supplies including surgical items, intravenous fluids and anesthetic supplies that will help treat hundreds of wounded. Essential medicines and supplies for pregnant women were also provided. All of these items are in high demand by the hospitals in Taiz that continue to receive a daily influx of wounded people", added Mr. Grand.

The medical supplies were delivered by the ICRC teams to four hospitals in the city.

https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-desperately-needed-medical-supplies-reach-taiz

Comment: See also Yemen Press reader 100.

12.2.2016 – Daily Sabah (A H)

Turkey delivers large amount of humanitarian aid to war-torn Yemen

Turkey sent 5,400 tons of aid to war-torn Yemen on Friday in a major donation to humanitarian aid efforts for the country. A ship set sail from Turkey's southern Mersin port on Friday, carrying the aid, probably the largest amount of aid given by Turkey to Yemen.

The ship carrying food packs containing flour, sugar, cooking oil, tomato paste, rice and pasta and medical packs containing medicine and serums is expected to arrive at Yemen's Aden port in the following weeks. The aid was collected in Turkey by six Turkish charities and the Turkish Red Crescent.

http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2016/02/13/turkey-delivers-large-amount-of-humanitarian-aid-to-war-torn-yemen

Comment: Again there will be nothing for Houthi held north suffering under the Saudi blockade and certainly in most severe need.

12.2.2016 – World Food Programme (A H)

Availability of essential commodities continued to be sporadic in several governorates including Taiz, Sa'ada, Marib, Al Jawf and Al Bayda where conflicts and airstrikes persistently ongoing. However, supply of food commodities has slightly improved in some areas as a result of additional imports and local crop harvest in December 2015.

During the reported period, the national average price of wheat flour was only 2% higher than the pre-crisis period, resulted from relatively better supply of food commodities in local markets in recent months. Taiz governorate continued to suffer from the highest food prices. Prices of other food items were still more than the pre-crisis levels even though dropped from last month following better availability.

Scarcity of fuel persisted across all governorates due to very low level of imports (fuel imported in December only covered 15% of the monthly needs). The national average price of fuel remained to be over 80% higher than pre-crisis period although prices have declined by about 50% in January 2016 compared to December 2015. The prices of fuel in Taiz continued to be the highest due to the ongoing active conflict.

Despite some positive changes on the market situation, as the conflict persisted, millions of severely food insecure Yemenis continued to suffer from lack of access to food and other basic necessities due to their diminished income sources and seriously eroded coping strategies.

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-market-situation-update-janury-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/wfp281614.pdf

12.2.2016 – Neues Deutschland (* A H)

Bürgerkrieg läßt Jemeniten leiden

Dringend benötigte Nahrungsmittelhilfe erreicht nicht die Adressaten / Medizinische Infrastruktur weitgehend zerstört

http://www.pressreader.com/germany/neues-deutschland/20160212/281715498665631/TextView

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

12.2.2016 – AFP (A T)

Suspected Qaeda attackers kill five police in Yemen’s Aden

Suspected al-Qaeda members killed five police officers on Friday in an attack in Yemen’s second city of Aden, a security source said.

The masked assailants attacked a police outpost in the Basateen area of northern Aden before fleeing, the source said.

The incident came a day after three pro-government soldiers were killed by suspected extremists in the southern port city.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/02/12/-Qaeda-attack-kills-5-police-in-Yemen-s-Aden-.html

cp7 UNO / UN

13.2.2016 – Iran German Radio (A P)

Bemühungen um die zweite Runde der Jemen-Gespräche

Der Jemen-Beauftragte der UNO die Fortsetzung der Konsultationen mit den jemenitischen Konfliktparteien über eine zweite Runde der Jemen-Gespräche angekündigt.

Dazu teilte Ismail Uld Scheich Ahmed mit, er werde versuchen, bei diesen Gesprächen mit jemenitischen Gruppen Tagesordnungspunkte sowie den Termin für die nächste Gesprächsrunde festzulegen.

Diese Woche noch wird Scheich Ahmed Riad in Richtung New York verlassen, um dem UN-Sicherheitsrat über die Ergebnisse seiner Gespräche mit den jemenitischen Konfliktparteien zu berichten.

http://german.irib.ir/nachrichten/nahost/item/296931-bem%C3%BChungen-um-die-zweite-runde-der-jemen-gespr%C3%A4che

12.2.2016 – Almanar News (A P)

UN Rejects Saudi Request to Move Aid Workers in Yemen

The United Nations flatly rejected the request by the Saudi Arabia on Thursday to move aid workers away from areas in Yemen, as the Riyadh-led coalition presses on with air strikes against the Yemeni vital civic infrastructure.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a letter to Saudi Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi that relief organizations were "delivering life-saving assistance as per internationally recognized principles and will continue to do so," reminding him of the Saudi obligations to allow humanitarian access in Yemen, where coalition warplanes have been pounding people and infrastructure for nearly a year.

Responding to O'Brien, the ambassador renewed the coalition's request that "humanitarian and relief organizations relocate from areas close to bases for military operations by supporters" of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=254780&cid=56&fromval=1

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

11.2.2016 – Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung (** B K P)

Waffen für die Terroristen

Saudi-Arabien gehört zu den größten Rüstungsimporteuren der Welt. Mit Maßnahmen zur Landesverteidigung hat dieser unverhältnismäßig hohe Rüstungsaufwand allerdings nichts zu tun.

Dabei wirft ein Blick auf den Aufwand, den das wahabitische Königreich für sein Militär treibt, einige Fragen auf. Saudi-Arabien hat 230000 Mann unter Waffen. Das entspricht ziemlich genau der Truppenstärke, über die auch Frankreich verfügt. Doch die Saudis geben dafür, wie die „Statista“, eine der erfolgreichsten Statistik-Datenbanken weltweit, für das Jahr 2014 ausweist, 80 Milliarden Dollar aus. Frankreich hingegen begnügt sich bei derselben Kopfzahl an Soldaten und dabei sehr viel kostspieligeren Waffensystemen mit der Hälfte, nämlich 40 Milliarden Dollar.

All diese Zahlenvergleiche lassen eines erkennen: Mit Landesverteidigung hat der saudische Aufwand für das Militär nichts zu tun.

Auch der Krieg im Jemen erklärt nicht das strukturelle Missverhältnis zwischen einer Armee, die sich nach Kopfzahl weltweit in der Mittellage zwischen Groß und Klein befindet, nach den Rüstungsausgaben aber den Platz fünf einnimmt.
Und trotz der aktuellen Schwierigkeiten, welche die Saudis in Hinblick auf ihre Finanzen bewältigen müssen, greift in Sachen Rüstung keineswegs eine neue Bescheidenheit um sich, im Gegenteil.

Entgegen dem Augenschein erklärt Riad, man sei wegen der Bedrohung durch den Iran zu so viel Rüstung gezwungen. Im Laufe der vergangenen 15 Jahre aber lagen die iranischen Rüstungsausgaben durchwegs unter 20 Milliarden Dollar pro Jahr. Von einem Gleichgewicht der Kräfte um den Persischen Golf kann also keine Rede sein. Etwas Klarheit ist zu gewinnen, wenn man die Frage, was mit der saudischen Überbewaffnung geschieht, der Frage gegenüberstellt, woher denn verschiedene Terrormilizen in Syrien wie Al-Nusra oder der „Islamische Staat“ ihrerseits ihre Waffen beziehen.

Denn diese beiden Fragen scheinen einander zu beantworten. Aus der irakischen Generalität ist wiederholt der Vorwurf laut geworden, dass speziell die Saudis den IS laufend mit Waffen unterstützen. Bereits im Jahr 2012, nach der Eroberung von Mossul durch den IS, empörte sich der dortige syrisch-katholische Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III. Younan: „Es ist eine Schande! Woher beziehen diese Terroristen ihre Waffen? Von den fundamentalistischen Staaten am Golf, stillschweigend gebilligt von den westlichen Staatslenkern, weil sie deren Öl brauchen.“ Man kann also die Faustregel aufstellen: Was dem IS die Türken nicht liefern, das liefern die Golf-Araber – von Florian Stumfall

http://www.preussische-allgemeine.de/nachrichten/artikel/waffen-fuer-die-terroristen.html

Kommentar: Man muss hier allerdings fragen, ob man das so pauschal stehen lassen kann. Für was für Waffen haben die Saudis ihr Geld im Einzelnen ausgegeben? Kampfflugzeuge, Bomben, High-Tech, das sind nicht die Dinge, die die Saudis an Rebellen in Syrien und im Jemen liefern. Die für die Rebellen bestimmten Waffen stellen die Huthis immer wieder zur Schau, wenn ihnen mal wieder eine Lieferung in die Hände gefallen ist. Solche im Vergleich zu den modernen High-Tech-Waffen eher primitiven Geräte haben Saudis und Amerikaner etwa in Bulgarien gekauft – und das in der Tat nicht für die eigenen Streitkräfte, sondern offensichtlich für syrische Rebellen und jemenitische Kämpfer. Ich bin auf diese sehr interessante Webseite gestoßen, auf der man die militärische Stärke aller Staaten vergleichen kann: http://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-comparison.asp . Inwieweit die zahlen immer aktuell sind, ist eine andere Frage. Frankreich hat demnach wesentlich mehr Kampfflugzeuge (1282 zu 722). Nähere Details wären auf jeden Fall interessant.

cp9 USA

12.2.2016 – Republica (A P)

[Article in Spanish: United States sell 150 millions of dollars worth of arms to the Saudis]

EEUU vende armas a Arabia Saudí por valor de más de 150 millones de dólares

El Departamento de Estado estadounidense ha informado de la aprobación de una nueva venta de diferentes tipos de armas a Arabia Saudí por un valor de 154,9 millones de dólares.

Como continuación de la ayuda militar del Occidente a varios países del Golfo Pérsico, esta vez el país norteamericano ha decidido equipar al reino árabe, socio estratégico de Washington actualmente inmerso en una agresión aérea a Yemen, su vecino sureño.

“El Departamento de Estado ha tomado la decisión de aprobar una eventual venta militar extranjera a Arabia Saudí”, señala un comunicado emitido este jueves por la Agencia de Cooperación de Seguridad de Defensa del Pentágono (ACSP). El costo estimado es 154,9 millones de dólares, agrega.

http://larepublica.es/2016/02/12/eeuu-vende-armas-a-arabia-saudi-por-valor-de-mas-de-150-millones-de-dolares/

10.2.2016 – Human Rights Watch (A P)

Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the use of cluster bombs in the Syrian-Russian joint military operation in Syria. But what about the use of US-made cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition in airstrikes in Yemen?

https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2016/02/10-0

17.2.2015 – Army.mil (* B K)

Ammo plant's public-private partnership revenue continues to increase

A large contract recently signed with a defense contractor for the production of general purpose bombs may push McAlester Army Ammunition Plant's annual public-private partnership (P3) revenue higher for the third consecutive year.

The newly-signed $12.5 million contract modification with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) will likely help the plant exceed its public-private partnership revenue goal of $14 million for fiscal year 2015.
The modification calls for MCAAP to load, assemble and pack (LAP) 4,327 MK84 2,000-pound general purpose bombs and produce 1,500 MK79 pallets to transport them, said Brian Foris, chief of MCAAP's Business Development and Community Outreach Office.
"The outlook for FY15 is good because we've secured contracts late in the last fiscal year and early this fiscal year with General Dynamics, Textron and Raytheon," Foris said.
Last year P3 revenue increased $6.3 million from FY13, making FY14 MCAAP's best in the past six years, Foris said.
Contract modifications with GD-OTS for the LAP of various general purpose bombs in support of foreign military sales yielded $9.5 million, nearly half of the revenue for FY14.
MCAAP has been loading, assembling and packing MK80 general purpose bombs and BLU-109 penetrator bombs for GD-OTS' U.S. government and international sales under the current contract since 2005. Each new order entails modifying the existing contract for a specific type and quantity of bombs. GD-OTS provides the components and MCAAP completes the work.
MCAAP produces the CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon for Textron Defense Systems. It has contracts with Raytheon Company for the AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon, Excalibur, AGM-65 Maverick and Precision Extended Range Munition.
Even with the tightening of the Department of Defense budget, Foris is optimistic about MCAAP's revenue outlook.
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant is the Department of Defense's premier bomb- and warhead-loading facility. It is one of 14 installations under the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial bases under the U.S. Army Materiel Command, which include arsenals, depots, activities and ammunition plants. MCAAP is vital to ammunition stockpile management and delivery to the Joint Warfighter for training and combat operations.

http://www.army.mil/article/142985/Ammo_plant_s_public_private_partnership_revenue_continues_to_increase/

Comment: CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons are produced there and later dropped on Yemen. And it’s a public-private partnership company, the US government getting profit from it. And the managers speak of what they are doing, of contracts and revenues as if they would produce tractors, paper tissues or corned beef.

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

12.2.2016 – We Work For You (A P)

Mps asking members of the government

Brendan O'Hara, Shadow SNP Westminster Group Leader (Defence)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether there have been any unintentional violations of international humanitarian law carried out by Saudi coalition forces in Yemen.

Tobias Ellwood, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by actors to the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. As the Saudis themselves announced on Sunday, they have mechanisms in place to investigate alleged incidents and to learn lessons if things go wrong. TheMinistry of Defence also monitors incidents of alleged IHL violations using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. At this stage, looking at all the information available to us, we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate.

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2016-02-02.25397.h&s=speaker%3A25370#g25397.q0

Comment: He always is telling the same. It is ridiculous throughout. Especially: “At this stage, looking at all the information available to us, we have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate”. Well, there is more than enough of such evidence. He just mocks whether there would not be any – just to continue the policy his government has made up to now and wants to continue: Selling weapons to the Saudis.

Comment: .@Tobias_Ellwood Would you please indicate which reports you've used to reach the assessment shown below? Thank you.

https://twitter.com/shireen818/status/698204586285395968

12.2.2016 – Diane Abbott MP (* A P)

Diane Abbott MP: UK aid efforts in Yemen crippled by arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Diane Abbott MP, accuses the Government of ignoring "the bloody truth" that British arms sales to Saudi are undermining UK development efforts in Yemen.

In Yemen, we are seeing the limits of David Cameron's humanitarianism.

It would appear that he is all in favour of a humanitarian approach. But only when it does not clash with the interests of a significant ally, like Saudi Arabia, and the profits of our arms industry.

And as with one hand our Government funds vital development projects in the country – with the other, it’s selling Saudi the weapons to destroy them.

Britain gives Yemen £106m a year in aid. But in the first three months of this conflict, we sold Saudi £1.7billion worth of arms licenses – £400million more than the total global aid given to Yemen over the same period.

Parliament’s International Development Committee (IDC) has said the evidence it has heard that the Saudi-led coalition has committed violations of humanitarian law, using equipment supplied by the UK, is ‘overwhelming’.

The Government’s response has been to turn deaf, blind and mute to the bloody truth – actually rejecting calls for an international fact-finding mission to Yemen to investigate reports of abuses (suggesting instead an optional Saudi self-assessment of alleged atrocities).

DfID doesn’t seem to get what the fuss is about. In testimony teetering on the absurd, Minister Desmond Swayne flatly rejected the position of Save the Children, UNICEF, Oxfam and Saferworld: that British arms sales to Saudi were undermining UK

Fueling Saudi’s war is crippling DfID’s own aid efforts in Yemen. Justine Greening seems to have maintained a determined indifference to the matter. Or perhaps it’s simply a strangled silence. Either way, it’s time she spoke up. And it’s time the Government remembered the cardinal rule of development: do no harm.

https://www.politicshome.com/foreign-and-defence/articles/opinion/house-commons/diane-abbott-mp-uk-aid-efforts-yemen-crippled

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

12.2.2016 – Jung und Naiv (A P)

Wichtig & sehenswert:
Wenn es um die Luftangriffe in Syrien geht, ist die Lage für die Bundesregierungeindeutig. Russische Bomben sind schlecht! Westliche Bomben sind gut! Man tut sogar so, als ob die Russen an einem ganz anderen Krieg teilnehmen als der Westen. Heute ist es dazu in der BPK eskaliert: Das Auswärtiges Amt geht uns an & will wissen, warum wir das nicht verstehen! Als es schließlich um zivile Tote westlicher Angriffe geht, wird man ganz kleinlaut...

Ausschnitt aus der BPK vom 12. Februar 2016 https://youtu.be/dYThqZ4YBW0, komplett im Wortprotokoll http://www.jungundnaiv.de/2016/02/12/bundesregierung-fuer-desinteressierte-bpk-vom-12-februar-2016/
https://www.facebook.com/jungundnaiv/videos/vb.573823342629618/1190627904282489/?type=2&theater

Kommentar: Auch für den Jemenkrieg von Interesse.

10.2.2016 – Süddeutsche Zeitung (* A P)

Steinmeier: Viele legen die Axt an unsere Weltordnung
Der deutsche Außenminister kritisiert das Verhalten autokratischer Regime und warnt vor der Überheblichkeit zu glauben, man könne mit ein paar scharfen Worten die Lage ändern. Unmittelbar vor Beginn der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz hat Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier den Zustand in weiten Teilen der Welt beklagt. „Ich bin oft fassungslos, in welchem Maße die ohnehin knappe Ressource Vernunft aus der Welt verschwunden ist“, sagte Steinmeier der Süddeutschen Zeitung (Mittwochausgabe). Von vielen Seiten werde die Axt an eine Weltordnung gelegt, die sich die Staatengemeinschaft aus der Erfahrung zweier Weltkriege gegeben habe. „In vielen Regionen scheint es Autokraten kein Problem zu sein, die UN-Charta unterschrieben zu haben und gleichzeitig eine Politik zu verfolgen, die mit den Regeln der Völkergemeinschaft bricht“, kritisierte der deutsche Außenminister.
Steinmeier warnte zugleich vor der Erwartung, man könne Frieden, Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit mal eben so über die Welt bringen. Es gebe viele Staaten, denen Ruhe, Stabilität und die Verhinderung von Streit wichtiger seien. „Das ist weit entfernt von unserer Vorstellung einer guten Gesellschaft“, so Steinmeier. „Aber es ist eine Realität, mit der wir uns auseinandersetzen müssen.“ Eine gute Außenpolitik sei ohne Moral nicht denkbar, so Steinmeier

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/deutscher-aussenminister-steinmeier-viele-legen-die-axt-an-unsere-weltordnung-1.2857059

Kommentar von M. G.: Steinmeier heuchelt, dass sich die Balken biegen. Er tut so, als ob der Westen die internationale Rechtsordnung respektiere und verteidige. Angesichts so vieler Kriege, militärischer Interventionen, zerschlagener Staaten, verarmter Bevölkerungen, über 1,3 Mio vom Westen zu verantwortenden Kriegstoten der letzten 20 Jahre etc. zeugen seine Aussagen entweder von dem Versuch, uns zu verdummen oder aber sie beweisen sein geistiges Abdrehen. Ich tippe auf verdummen.

http://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=31174#h01

Kommentar: Nennen wir einmal ein paar Beispiele für die von Steinmeier beklagte Politik, „die mit den Regeln der Völkergemeinschaft bricht“. USA, EU, NATO in Jugoslawien 1999. USA in Afghanistan seit 2001, Verbündete inklusive. Oberst Klein grüßt besonders nach Deutschland. USA und Verbündete im Irak 2003. Drohnenkrieg der USA in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jemen. EU, USA, NATO in Libyen 2011. USA, NATO in Syrien seit 2011. Saudi-Arabien und Verbündete mit USA und Großbritannien im Jemen. Saudi-Arabien in Bahrain 2011. Israel in den besetzten Gebieten seit 1967. Saudi-Arabien mit der Unterstützung des Salafismus weltweit. Wenn man zeitlich noch weiter zurückgeht, wird es noch mehr. Die Politik der USA in Lateinamerika war jahrzehntelang fast nichts anderes als eine Politik, „die mit den Regeln der Völkergemeinschaft bricht“, ob es nun um Guatemala, Kuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, die Dominikanische Republik, Brasilien, Bolivien, Chile, Grenada geht. Wer hat also schon seit Jahrzehnten andauernd „die Axt an unsere Weltordnung“ gelegt? Dass es andere auch tun, sei unbestritten. Wenn Steinmeier sich mit seiner Kritik auf diese anderen beschränkt, treibt er mit seiner Aussage interessengesteuerte Machtpolitik, nichts weiter.

Wessen Interessen? Von Deutschland (immerhin ist Steinmeier deutscher Außenminister), d. h. der Deutschen? Welcher Normalbürger aus den 99 % hat irgendwelche Interessen im Ausland, die er mit den von USA und Europa zwischen Guatemala und dem Jemen erprobten Methoden durchgesetzt haben wollte? Es geht wie so oft nur um die Interessen einer kleinen Elite, und nicht mehr. Einer deutschen Elite? Auch, vor allem aber um die Interessen – nein, nicht der „Amerikaner“, der Taxifahrer in New York und die Biologieprofessorin in Yale haben hier gar keine Interessen – sondern einzig und allein um die Interessen der amerikanischen „Elite“. Die nun einmal auch das A und O für unsere deutsche Politik sind. Erhellend hierzu ein Interview mit Alexander Neu auf den Nachdenkseiten zu der anstehenden Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz: http://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=31182. Das ist das Umfeld, in dem sich Steinmeier mit einer solchen Äußerung positioniert. Alexander Neu:Die Eliten teilen ohnehin den transatlantischen Grundkonsens mit geringen Abweichungen. Und der Veranstalter Ischinger ist niemand, der den Grundkonsens infrage stellen würde – im Gegenteil. Seine Aufgabe bzw. die Funktion der Konferenz ist auch, diese kleinen Abweichungen zu debattieren und möglichst den Konsens zu fundieren. Wohin der Zug fährt, entscheiden letztlich ohnehin die US-Amerikaner. Die Unterordnung der europäischen Staaten unter die US-Dominanz wird bislang von keinem Elitenvertreter ernsthaft in Zweifel gezogen.“

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

12.2.2016 – Human Rights Watch (A P)

UAE: Jordanian Journalist Held Incommunicado

A Jordanian journalist working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been held incommunicado since the UAE Criminal Investigations Department in Abu Dhabi summoned him on December 13, 2015. UAE authorities should immediately disclose where they are holding the journalist, Tayseer al-Najjar, 42, and immediately allow him to contact a lawyer and his family.

“Al-Najjar’s case bears all the marks of the UAE’s shameful practice of forced disappearances and incommunicado detentions,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. “We don’t know why Al-Najjar is missing but we know that he was last seen in police headquarters of a country with zero tolerance for free speech.”

On December 3, UAE authorities blocked al-Najjar at Abu Dhabi International Airport, where he intended to board a flight to Jordan to visit his wife and children, al-Najjar’s wife told Human Rights Watch. She said al-Najjar, a journalist for more than 15 years, had been working in the UAE since April 2015, when he became a culture reporter for the UAE-based newspaper Dar.

Al-Najjar’s wife said she has not received any information from Jordanian or UAE authorities on al-Najjar’s whereabouts or well-being and does not know why UAE authorities blocked him from traveling or summoned him to the Criminal Investigations Department.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/02/12/uae-jordanian-journalist-held-incommunicado

Comment: I post this here because those who side against the Houthis object them to arrest critical journalists. Well, everybody in this part of the world seems to do this – this is no Houthi special.

cp13 Mercenaries / Söldner

12.2.2016 – RT (* A K)

US-Militärunternehmen Blackwater zieht Söldner nach hohen Verlusten und Niederlagen aus Jemen ab

Eine große Zahl an Söldnern des privaten US-Militärunternehmens Blackwater ist bei Operationen für die von Saudi-Arabien angeführte Militärintervention im Jemen ums Leben gekommen. Das Ausmaß der Verluste hat dazu geführt, dass das Militärunternehmen plant, seine gesamte Söldnerarmee mit Charterflugzeugen aus dem Jemen abzuziehen. Blackwater hatte traurige Berühmtheit erlangt, als 2009 bekannt wurde, dass Söldner des US-Unternehmens zahlreiche Zivilisten im Irak ermordet hatten.

Dem US-amerikanischen Söldnerunternehmen Blackwater ergeht es im Jemen nicht besonders gut. Die Firma, die die saudi-arabische Aggression unterstützt, bereitet sich auf einen Rückzug aus dem Land vor, nachdem das jemenitische Militär den Söldnern schwere Verluste und Niederlagen bereitet hat.

Dies berichtet der interamerikanische Fernsehsender TeleSUR unter Berufung auf arabische Quellen. Demnach hat Blackwater die Entscheidung, das Personal von der Al-Amri-Front abzuziehen, bereits am vergangenen Dienstag getroffen. Die Söldner hätten den Befehl erhalten, das Land in fünf extra gecharterten Maschinen Richtung Aden zu verlassen.

Der Rückzug vollzieht sich, nachdem das private US-Sicherheitsunternehmen in den letzten Tagen starke Verluste an der Al-Amri-Front hatte einstecken müssen. Demnach sollen in Blackwater-Einsätzen allein in den letzten Tagen sieben Söldner gefallen und weitere 39 verletzt worden sein.

https://deutsch.rt.com/der-nahe-osten/36772-us-militarunternehmen-blackwater-zieht-seine/

cp15 Propaganda

13.2.2016 – Gulf News (A P)

Yemen mission a long-term duty

For the past 10 months, an international coalition of Arab nations — and the UAE is proud to be a part of that group — is working to restore the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi from illegal and rebellious factions that have seized control of Yemen.

The chaos brought by a combination of rebel forces under the control of Al Houthi factions and a well-armed militia loyal to former disgraced president Ali Abdullah Saleh, has brought nothing but despair, desolation and desperation to the people of Yemen.

The international coalition, backed by a mandate and resolutions from the United Nations Security Council, is striving to oust the rebels from territory under their control, end the threat of violence, disarm factions and bring about a lasting inclusive political settlement that lay the conditions for an enduring peace.

This mission is fraught with danger and the ultimate sacrifices paid by some 70 members of the UAE’s Armed Forces will not go in vain. It will succeed and justice will prevail.

While Al Houthis and the rebel factions have failed to take advantage of offers for negotiations to end this strife, the coalition has set about taking control of key strategic areas, ensuring that the greater region as a whole will be secure and free from the threat of those who seek to influence affairs from Tehran.

But this mission is just the first phase in restoring freedom and hope to the people of Yemen. Because of the chaos wrought by rebel factions, Yemen will face many challenges. Let’s be clear: The mission in Yemen is a long-term duty. Once anti-government forces are eradicated and demilitarised, the true hard work of rebuilding and transforming Yemen begins.

The nations behind the coalition have pledged billions of dollars in humanitarian relief, promising to stabilise the condition there, rebuilding infrastructure, ensuring that an environment for growth and prosperity is truly established. This is a duty to the Yemeni people — allies for long and brothers in our Arab family.

The scale of the long-term mission is huge: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that there is a potential for famine should conditions there not stabilise soon. Rest assure, the Arab coalition will be there to help in every way. Any chaos that has taken root has done so under Al Houthi and Ali Abdullah Saleh’s bidding.

Because of the insurrection and anarchy brought by the rebels’ utter disregard for the rule of law, some 2.4 million people have been displaced. That’s why our mission in Yemen must succeed. It’s not about power, it’s about people.

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/editorials/yemen-mission-a-long-term-duty-1.1671019

Comment: A combination of many elements of “coalition” propaganda: You even can vote whether you agree with this article or not. Well, 14 % of readers agree and 86 % disagree. It would be worth to go through this article sentence by sentence. Something for a time to come!

Comment: UAE commentator making a long term prediction - but there are many hurdles before the 'anti-government forces' are eradicated or defeated - the Hadi government still controls very little - in fact none - of Yemen - as the Saudi led coalition drives one Yemeni militia out, another Yemeni militia moves in - often more brutal and repressive than the last one. And who in Yemen is going to tolerate being ruled by the Saudi led coalition - or Hadi?

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1099145050237985

12.2.2016 – Süddeutsche Zeitung (A P)

Saudischer Außenminister warnt: Russlands Eingreifen in Syrien sehr, sehr gefährlich. Interview von Paul-Anton Krüger

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/interview-mit-saudi-arabiens-aussenminister-saudischer-aussenminister-warnt-russlands-eingreifen-in-syrien-sehr-sehr-gefaehrlich-1.2862209

Kommentar: der den Jemen betreffende Teil hier leider nicht verfügbar. Auch in dem teil über Syrien werden wir mit Propaganda zugeschüttet. Nur eine Frage: Wie kommt er darauf, Saudi-Arabien dürfte sich in Syrien ganz selbstverständlich mehr herausnehmen als Russland? Die Saudis wollen ja jetzt sogar mit Bodentruppen in Syrien einmarschieren. Und wie kommt Jubeir zu der Aussage, Assad habe in Syrien keine Zukunft mehr. Wer bestimmt das? Die Saudis oder die Syrer?

12.6.2016 – AP at Times of Israel, Washington Post (A P)

Saudi FM: Yemen action aimed at thwarting Iran, Hezbollah

Adel al-Jubeir tells Munich meet that Riyadh has ‘no ambitions beyond its borders,’ is guided by pragmatism

S audi Arabia’s foreign minister on Friday defended his country’s foreign policy and its stance in Yemen and Syria, insisting that the kingdom has no ambitions beyond its borders. Its actions in Yemen, Adel al-Jubeir said, were aimed at preventing a “radical militia allied with Iran and Hezbollah” from seizing power.

Al-Jubeir said at a security conference in Munich on Friday that Saudi Arabia is “a country that has no ambitions beyond its borders” and is guided by pragmatism. He spoke after joining foreign ministers from global and regional powers — including Iran — in agreeing to seek a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in Syria.

“We have dealt with the challenges in the region this year in ways that the world maybe is not used to, but that’s because frankly there is a vacuum, and if nobody’s willing to do something then the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its allies had to step in and do something,” al-Jubeir said.

“We acted in Yemen to prevent a legitimate government from collapsing and the country being taken over by a radical militia allied with Iran and Hezbollah,” he added. “We did so in response to the request of the legitimate government. We have no intention of seizing one inch of Yemeni territory; we have no intention of trying to dominate Yemen.” – by Geir Moulson

http://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-fm-yemen-action-aimed-at-thwarting-iran-hezbollah-ally/ = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jordan-king-iraqi-saudi-officials-expected-at-munich-meet/2016/02/12/c65ad594-d16b-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html

Comment: There is more on Syria. This statement fits very well with the propaganda spread by Gulf News in the article before. Again we can find the “legitimate government”, which is needed for all argumentation. It’s only bad that this government does not have any legitimacy since February 25, when president Hadi’s prolonged term finally ended. And it is absolutely ridiculous to proclaim that Saudi Arabia would have “no ambitions beyond its borders”. That a great lie for Yemen – Saudi Arabia has severely interfered there since 1934, seeing Yemen as its backyard and having a lot of interests there. And what about Syria, where they have fueled the rebels by supplying them with weapons? What about Bahrain in 2011? What about spreading their Wahabi Islam worldwide, having fueled this campaign with ca. 100 billions of Dollars?

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

9.-12.2.2016 - Legal Center for Rights and Development

Liste der saudischen Luftangriffe 12., 11., 10., 9. Februar / List of Saudi air raids February 12, 11, 10 , 9

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/590383374445365/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/589615114522191/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/589531097863926/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/589055141244855/?type=3

11.2.2016 – Rachy Colly (A K)

Saudi aggression warplanes carried out 3 raids of bombardment on Taiz city, while enemy fighter-jets are still roaming and roaring in the sky.

https://www.facebook.com/rachy.colly/posts/1039597389411929

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

13.2.2016 – Gulf News (A K PS)

Yemen army chief tours liberated areas of Sana’a

The Chief of Staff of Yemen’s army on Friday paid a visit to the newly-liberated Fardhat Nehim military camp, a signal that the government forces are taking the offensive in the current military operations in Sana’a province.

Even as his forces were trading mortar shells with Al Houthi militants not far from the area, Major General Mohammad Al Magadeshi, toured the ravaged camp and urged the fighters to keep their morale high as they advance toward Al Houthi-controlled Sana’a local media reports said.

Army officials say that pro-government forces, which include army troops and tribal fighters, are now battling Al Houthis in Nagel Bin Gaylan and Beran regions in Nehim district.

Backed by intensive air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition warplanes, anti-Al Houthis forces on Thursday make a major breakthrough in the battles by pushing the rebels out of the strategic camp that overlooks the main road that connects Sana’a with Marib.

Similarly, Mohsen Ali Khasrouf, the chief of Yemen’s Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, said on Saturday that the national army and resistance fighters have liberated the eastern gate of the capital as powerful tribes from Bani Hareth, Arhab and Bani Housheh regions threw their weight behind the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Khasrouf, also a prominent military analyst, said on his Facebook page on Saturday that setbacks for Al Houthis in Hajja’s Medi and Hodeida along with the support of some republican guard officers to the government forces suggest that defeat of “the coup forces” is imminent.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-army-chief-tours-liberated-areas-of-sana-a-1.1671603

Comment: Yemen army is here the pro-government part of the army.

13.2.2016 – AFP at Al Arabiya, Albawabaeg (A K PS)

Yemen loyalists advance towards rebel-held capital

Yemeni pro-government forces have advanced to within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Sanaa in a push towards the rebel-held capital from the northeast, loyalist military sources said on Friday.

Loyalist forces took the town of Nihm after overrunning the headquarters of the renegade pro-rebel 312th Brigade of the army earlier this week, the sources said.

The advance puts them within striking distance of the heights overlooking Sanaa international airport, where residents said the rebels were digging trenches and laying minefields.

Both sides suffered losses in the battle for the camp.

“We are now on the road to Sanaa,” said a jubilant loyalist fighter who gave his name only as Mohammed.

“We ask our brothers, the fighters of the national army, to be patient. Victory will be at hand very soon.”

The push towards Sanaa from the east comes with loyalist forces making little headway in their efforts to advance into central Yemen from their stronghold in the south.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2016/02/12/Yemen-loyalists-advance-towards-rebel-held-capital.html = http://www.albawabaeg.com/79135

13.2.2016 – Almasdar News (A K PH)

Houthi fighters derail the Saudi progress in northwestern Yemen

The Saudi Army – alongside the Arab Coalition and Hadi loyalists – have repeatedly attempted to seize the imperative town of Midi in the Hajjah Governorate; however, they have been unable to make any significant advances, thanks in large part to the fierce resistance from the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard and the Houthi forces. On Friday, the Saudi Army and their allies were delivered another embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Houthi forces and the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard after they attempted to enter this town once again. According to local sources in the Hajjah Governorate, the Saudi Army and their allies suffered two dozen casualties on Friday during their failed bid to take the town of Midi in northwestern Yemen; this failure was not reported by any pro-Saudi news outlets – by Leith Fadel
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-army-suffers-heavy-casualties-in-failed-bid-to-capture-hajja/

12.2.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)

Another Saudi Spy Drone Downed by Yemen

The Yemeni forces targeted a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it was flying over a strategic district in Midi region in Hajjah province, which lies about 130 kilometers Northwest of the capital, Sana'a on Friday.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941123000731

12.2.2016 – Stratfor (A K)

In Yemen, forces loyal to President Abd Rabboh Mansour Hadi backed by a Saudi-led coalition have advanced to within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the capital of Sanaa, according to pro-government military sources, AFP reported Feb. 12. Pro-government forces took the district of Nihm, putting them within striking distance of high ground surrounding Sanaa's international airport. Controlling the mountainous terrain overlooking their approach will aid coalition troops in their push to retake the capital from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

https://www.stratfor.com/situation-report/yemen-pro-government-forces-advance-toward-sanaa

12.2.2016 – Almasdar News (A K PH)

Yemeni Army, Houthis make huge gains against the Saudi forces

The Yemeni army and the Popular Committees captured the strategic hilltop of Talat Al-Hamra inside the Sarawah Directorate on Thursday, killing several enemy combatants that were loyal to the exiled Yemeni president ‘Abd Rubbah Mansour Hadi. According to local sources, Talat Al-Hamra overlooks the provincial capital of the Mareb Governorate, as its located just 6 km west of the city. In addition to their advance in the Mareb Governorate, the Houthis and Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard forces imposed full control over Fadhat Nihm Camp near the Yemeni capital of Sanaa after losing it 24 hours prior.

Meanwhile, at the Saudi city of Rabu’ah, the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard forces captured 2 more Saudi military installations, leaving only a small parcel of territory left under the control of the coalition forces. The Yemeni Army did not stop there, they also stormed the strategic Shurfa Camp in the Najran Province of Saudi Arabia; this battle is still ongoing.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/28333/

Comment: Propaganda on both sides. The reports contradict each other.

12.2.2016 – Fars News / Alalam (A K PH)

Yemen's Ballistic Missile Hits Jizan Airport Again, Inflicts Heavy Losses on Saudi Forces

The Yemeni army and popular forces hit Jizan airport in Southern Arabia on Friday morning inflicting heavy losses and casualties on the Saudi forces.

Yemen's Qaher-I missile hit Jizan airport, killing and wounding a large number of soldiers earlier today.

This was the third time in the past two days that Jizan airport came under the Yemeni forces' ballistic missile attack and the sixth time that Saudi military positions are targeted in Southern Saudi Arabia.

The ballistic missile attack came 48 hours after Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman attempted to boost the morale of his soldiers by paying a visit to Jizan's field hospital.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941123000249 = http://en.alalam.ir/news/1788892

12.2.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)

Yemeni forces kill 20 Saudi soldiers in Jizan

At least 20 Saudi soldiers have been killed in clashes in the kingdom's southwestern region of Jizan, Yemen's Defense Ministry says.

They were killed after their attempt to take back the control of the strategic Jabal al-Doud district of Jizan from Yemeni forces was thwarted, the ministry said on Friday.

Yemen's al-Masirah television also said the army and its allied forces fired a missile into an airport in Jizan, with no immediate word on possible damage or casualties.

Elsewhere in Ma’rib Province, Yemeni ground forces advanced against Saudi-led forces in the Sarvah district, while Saudi warplanes bombed two areas to the west.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/12/449898/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Jizan-Hadi-Marib-Sanaa

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-100

Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-100: / Yemen Press Reader 1-100:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or

http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

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

Dietrich Klose

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

Dietrich Klose

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