Krieg im Jemen-Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 107

Yemen Press Reader 107: US-Tankflugzeuge – Bericht einer Ärztin - Jemen, das neue Syrien - Jemen in deutschen Nachrichten - Hisbollah-Connections - Zukunft Saudi-Arabiens - Erfolg von Al Qaida

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Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Klassifizierung / Classification

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

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

cp 7 UNO / UN

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp9 USA

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp 13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

cp 13b Economy / Wirtschaft

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

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

25.2.2016 – Airforce Times (** B K)

Remember the war in Yemen? The U.S. Air Force is there

Since beginning an air war against in Houthi rebels in Yemen last year, the Saudis and their allies have relied on U.S. tankers to refuel their aircraft in flight.

And these missions continue today, Air Forces Central Command officials recently told Air Force Times.

"We've flown 709 sorties involving 3,720 receivers," Air Force Maj. Timothy Smith, spokesman for the command, said on Feb. 17. "And we've offloaded 26,591,200 pounds of fuel" to foreign aircraft, he said.

AFCENT has been tracking the latest data as of April 3, 2015. On that date, just a few days into the Saudi-led bombing campaign, Houthi fighters — anti-government rebels who advanced on the port-city of Aden — faced a series of setbacks when Saudi and other regional warplanes dislodged them.

The first few weeks involved dozens of fighter jets from Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, among other Gulf nations – by Oriana Pawlyk

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/02/25/remember-war-yemen-us-air-force-still-there/80935524/

Comment: This is an interesting figure. Twice a day, US tankers flied and fly to refuel Saudi fighting jets. 10 times a day Saudi jets are refueled by US tanker planes.

24.2.2016 – BBC (*** B H)

Practising medicine under fire in Yemen

Mariela Carrara was just days into her posting as an emergency doctor at the Al-Jumhori hospital in Saada, northern Yemen last May when a husband and wife were rushed into her hospital.

They were young, no older than 35. Their family home had been hit by an air strike, they said, one of many launched by a Saudi-led coalition that was pounding the province every day that month.

The heartland of the rebel Houthi movement, Saada is among the most dangerous parts of Yemen, and the Al-Jumhori is the only emergency facility in the province — in reality, the only A&E department in most of northern Yemen.

Dr Carrara, an Argentine working for the international medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), triaged the married couple. The husband's injuries were minor and she turned her attention to the wife, who had severe injuries to both her arms. Nearly all the soft tissue had been stripped away by the blast.

As a surgical team prepared to amputate, Dr Carrara spoke to the woman's husband. He asked her to save his wife's arms. Their four children, all younger than 10, had been killed by the strike, he told her.

"We have lost our children," he said. "Please do everything you can."

With precious few A&E facilities left functioning, Al-Jumhori has expanded from a small facility into a 93-bed hospital treating 2,000 emergency cases a month and performing more than 100 surgeries a week.

"I'd never before seen the level of casualties I saw in Saada," Michael Seawright, an MSF project coordinator, wrote in January after a stint in the province.

"The scale of wounded was extreme in two respects - firstly there was a large number of wounded coming through the hospital, but second the severity of wounds was also often extreme."

And the bombs have other crippling effects, beyond their blast radius. They discourage many casualties from even attempting to reach a facility, says Teresa Sancristobal, MSF's emergency co-ordinator for Yemen.

"The perception is that the medical facilities are not safe. A lot of times when we ask patients why they didn't come sooner, they tell us they were afraid," she says.

For Yemen's civilians, getting to a medical facility equipped to cope with severe trauma can be hellishly difficult. It can involve an hours-long journey by car, fraught with danger from flying bullets and falling missiles.

On Thursday, a young pregnant woman arrived at Al-Jumhori with 60% of her body burned. Like so many who come through the hospital's doors, her home had been hit by an air strike, this one in heavily-targeted Razeh district of Saada province, close to the border with Saudi Arabia.

With travel too risky, the woman was forced to wait for a week before her family could take her to a nearby clinic. From there she was moved by ambulance to the city of Saada, a five-hour journey.

"I could not imagine how much pain she was in," Dr Carrara says. "By the time she reached us she was septic and had severe organ failure. We did what we could but there was no hope." The woman died 16 hours later. She was in her 20s.

If she had made it to the city of Saada within eight hours, she and her child almost certainly could have been saved.

Emergencies are not the difficult part of treating the war-wounded, Dr Carrara says. The difficulty comes later, as she follows them through their recovery — "sometimes 10 days, sometimes a month, sometimes more".

"That is when you hear their stories, what happened to them, who they lost. That's when I wonder how they can continue. And that's when it gets difficult."

An average day for an MSF doctor in Yemen would be too much for most. Last year, while Saada city was being bombed daily, the medical team at Al-Jumhori — a mix of MSF staff and Yemenis — were working 16-hour days and snatching naps on a handful of shared mattresses in the basement, the risk of leaving the hospital too great.

Dr Carrara's few hours downstairs were usually interrupted by emergency calls, up to four or five per night. The warning system for an emergency is often primitive: the hospital's doors and windows vibrate. A bomb has landed nearby.

"When you feel the ground shake, you know that patients are coming," she says – by Joel Gunter

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35608328

Comment by Hannah Porter: Heartbreaking accounts of young couples, pregnant women, and children being killed and disfigured in Sa’dah airstrikes. The widespread assaults also discourage the wounded from seeking medical attention, as a journey to the hospital means braving more missiles and gunfire.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/yemenpeaceproject/permalink/10153592245273020/

Comment by Judith Brown: I think Tobias Ellwood MP with responsibility for Yemen in the British government should make this his bedtime reading. He says that the stories of Saudi atrocities are because the Houthis manipulate the media. If he does not believe Yemenis, maybe he could interview this doctor before he sells more bombs to who are those attacking Yemen.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1103975259754964

Comment: A must read article. If you have the time, don’t be satisfied with the above excerpts, read in full at the original site.`

24.2.2015 – Telegraph (** B K P)

Yemen is becoming the new Syria – and Britain is directly to blame

Our support for the brutal Saudi Arabian intervention is creating a lawless wasteland where extremist groups like Isil can thrive

"Tell the world!” the old lady pleaded with me. “We are being slaughtered!”

A few feet away from us, in the heart of the Yemeni capital Sana’a, stood the remains of an apartment complex. It had been hit by two successive airstrikes only minutes earlier.

“They have destroyed our homes, killed our sons…what did we do to them?” the woman cried before collapsing into my arms, her embrace growing tighter as she wept.

Everywhere I went, from the Internally Displaced Persons camps to primary schools that had been turned into makeshift shelters, I was quickly surrounded as soon as people spotted my camera. Everyone offered the same plea: for someone to tell their story to the world.

This broke my heart, because I didn’t have the guts to tell them the simple, blunt truth: that beyond its borders, very few people care about Yemen. Despite horrific human rights abuses, including war crimes committed by all parties to the conflict, being documented for months, this war has not captured the attention of the Western public at anywhere near the levelSyria has.

This is hardly surprising. Unlike in Syria, the UK and US are two of the primary causes of the problem in Yemen. Put simply, a coalition of the wealthiest Arab states have joined forces to bomb and starve one of the poorest, with the assistance of two of the world’s richest and most powerful powers.

In my five years of covering Yemen, international headlines have morphed from optimism to despair.

I’m continuously asked: if the situation is so catastrophic, why haven't we seen Yemenis fleeing in their millions, like the Syrians? The short answer is that Yemenis are trapped. When the war began on March 26th, all of the country’s exit ports were instantly closed and a blockade imposed on the movement of people as well as goods, both in and out of the country.

The same short-sighted mistakes that have brought Syria to the brink of collapse are now being repeated in Yemen. For instance, since the start of the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition has been arming the Popular Resistance group in Aden and in Taiz. Although the media keeps calling them "Hadi loyalists" (in reference to the Yemeni president, currently in exile in Saudi Arabia), evidence suggests many of their members are actually from groups such as Isil and AQ.

Today, the country has become a lawless wasteland where militarised extremism is flourishing at an alarming rate, and it won’t be long before this turns into an international headache rather than a local one. After a decade during which Yemen was a main battleground of the US’s War on Terror, regularly held up as a success story in the media, the dark irony of the country’s descent into chaos, and out of the headlines, has not been lost on local observers.

Alas, this is not merely about Western indifference but about complicity and collusion. Last October, Britain and the US successfully blocked plans for a UN independent investigation into potential war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. This was a unique opportunity to hold all sides of the conflict accountable for their actions. Instead, Saudi Arabia has been allowed to investigate itself through its own internal commission.

So the next time you hear British and US diplomats express outrage at the heartless carnage in Syria – as they should – remember what they want you to ignore: that there is another nation, and another people, suffering just as much. Except that when it comes to Yemen’s tragedy, both Britain and the US are partly, but directly, to blame – by Nawal al-Maghafi

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/12171785/Yemen-is-becoming-the-new-Syria-and-Britain-is-directly-to-blame.html

23.2.2016 – Sebastian Christ – (** B P)

NACHRICHTENRELEVANZ FÜR "JEMEN" PRO MONAT SEIT 2015

Newsmeldungen (anteilig in %) mit "JEMEN" in der Überschrift

Dargestellt ist das Vorkommen (in %) von "JEMEN" in Überschriften der hier betrachteten Online-Medien pro Monat. Insgesamt wurde "JEMEN" 338 mal in News-Headlines in 13 Monaten erwähnt, es sind 268156 Meldungen verarbeitet worden.

Im Ranking der meist verwendeten Begriffe belegt "JEMEN" in den Monaten durchschnittlich Platz 879.

WORDTREE: KLICK DICH DURCH DIE NEWS-HEADLINES MIT "JEMEN" (ANZAHL: 338)

BEGRIFFE IM ZUSAMMENHANG MIT "JEMEN" ALS WORDCLOUD

Je größer die Begriffe in der Wordcloud, desto häufiger wurden sie gemeinsam mit “JEMEN” in Überschriften der News-Meldungen seit 2015 verwendet. Die zehn Begriffe, die am häufigsten mit “JEMEN” in Nachrichten-Headlines stehen:
1. TOTE – 2. WAFFENRUHE – 3. SAUDI-ARABIEN – 4. DUTZENDE – 5. GETÖTET – 6. KRIEG – 7. HUTHI-REBELLEN – 8. ANSCHLAG – 9. FEUERPAUSE – 10. LUFTANGRIFF

ANTEIL VON "JEMEN" AN MELDUNGEN DER NACHRICHTENPORTALE

http://www.sebastian-christ.net/data-projects/news-headline-analyse/words/de/jemen/

Kommentar: Es geht um deutsche Onlinemedien. Sehr interessant! Und, um es noch einmal hervorzuheben: Im Ranking der meist verwendeten Begriffe belegt "JEMEN" in den Monaten durchschnittlich Platz 879. da sieht man, welche Bedeutung das Thema in deutschen Medien hat.

24.2.2016 – Katholisches Info (** B P)

Zündet Saudi-Arabien die Lunte zu einem neuen Nahost-Krieg? Offener Brief eines libanesischen Christen an den saudischen König

Saudi-Arabien rüstet derzeit nicht nur zum Krieg, sondern scheint geradezu erpicht darauf, Feuer an die Lunte zu legen. In den vergangenen Tagen wurden saudische Kampfflugzeuge samt Besatzungen und Bodenpersonal auf den türkischen Luftwaffenstützpunkt Incirlik verlegt. Die Verlegung erfolgte im Rahmen der von den USA geführten Militärkoalition gegen den Islamischen Staat(IS), der neuerdings von westlichen Politikern und Medien lieber Daesh genannt wird. Die türkisch-saudische Allianz gegen Syrien und den Iran ist als anti-schiitische Allianz der Sunniten zu sehen. Der Libanon verweigert sich jedoch der saudischen Forderung, seiner Militärallianz beizutreten. Ein führender maronitischer Christ verfaßte heute einen offenen Brief an den saudischen König Salman. Ein Brief für den Frieden am Vorabend eines Krieges?

Im Jemen führt Saudi-Arabien bereits Krieg gegen die schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen. Die antischiitische Front weitet sich jedoch aus und droht einen Raum vom Mittelmeer bis zum Persischen Golf, von der türkischen Grenze bis zur pakistanischen und afghanischen Grenze zu erfassen. Durch die demonstrativ gezeigte Bereitschaft, militärisch im eigenen Sinn ordnend in den Nahost-Konflikt einzugreifen, verschleiert Riad, daß es selbst Teil dieses Konflikts ist. Saudi-Arabien fand mit den befreundeten USA zu einer Interessensallianz gegen die in Syrien regierenden Alawiten, aus deren Reihen die Präsidentenfamilie Assad stammt, und die den Schiiten zugerechnet werden. Die Gründe der Anti-Assad-Allianz sind nicht deckungsgleich, doch auf der Grundlage des Mottos „Der Feind meines Feindes ist mein Freund“, wurde man sich einig, einen Aufstand gegen die Regierung Assad vom Zaun zu brechen.

Dazu wurden sunnitische syrische Clans umworben und mit Geld und Waffen versorgt und logistisch unterstützt. Anfangs verlautete Washington, eine Freie Syrische Armee kämpfe gegen den Diktator Assad und für die Demokratie. Die Freie Syrische Armee entpuppte sich bald in einem wesentlichen Teil als islamistische Milizen wie die al-Nusra-Brigade und der Islamische Staat (IS). Das wollen weder Riad noch Washington zugeben. Von der Freien Syrischen Armee ist allerdings kaum mehr die Rede, dafür umso mehr vom Morden der Islamisten, deren Opfer bevorzugt Christen sind. Bis heute ist unklar, welche Regierungen und Institutionen unter der Decke dem Islamischen Staat und seinen Ablegern hilfreich zur Hand gehen.

Der Libanon ist der einzige stark christlich geprägte Staat des Nahen Ostens.

Die libanesischen Christen wissen genau, daß es ihren christlichen Glaubensbrüdern in Syrien, mit denen sie vielfach auch verwandtschaftlich verbunden sind, unter dem Alawiten Assad wesentlich besser ergeht als unter einer sunnitischen Herrschaft. Während die schiitische Hisbollah aktiv in Syrien an der Seite Assads kämpft, hegen die libanesischen Christen aus Solidarität mit den syrischen Christen zumindest Sympathien.

Das erklärt zum Teil, warum der Libanon sich nicht an der von Saudi-Arabien mit Zustimmung der USA geschmiedeten antischiitischen Allianz beteiligen will. Hauptgrund dafür ist Selbstschutz vor einem weiteren todbringenden und zerstörerischen Krieg, in den man nicht hineingezogen werden will. Eine Weigerung, die das kleine Land teuer zu stehen kommt. Riad gab in diesen Tagen einen ganzen Strafkatalog gegen den Libanon bekannt. König Salman fordert eine Ende 2013 von seinem Vorgänger König Abdallah gewährte Schenkung von drei Milliarden Dollar zur Aufrüstung der libanesische Armee zurück.

Direkte und massive Auswirkungen hat die dritte Drohung, die nicht offiziell ausgesprochen wurde, aber ausreichend lautstark informell in Umlauf gesetzt wurde: Saudi-Arabien und die anderen Golfemirate könnten die 400.000 in der Golfregion beschäftigten Libanesen ausweisen.

Die „Rache“ des saudischen Königs Salman erfolgt, nachdem der libanesische Außenminister, der maronitische Christ Jebran Bassil von der Freien Patriotischen Bewegung, sich zweimal bei den jüngsten Treffen der arabischen Außenminister weigerte, einer von Saudi-Arabien vorgelegten antiiranischen Resolution zuzustimmen und sich damit in die saudische Allianz einzureihen.

Eine direkte Involvierung des Libanon in einen unkontrollierbaren Nahostkrieg wäre das Ende der letzten noch verbliebenen, nennenswerten und vor allem prägenden christlichen Präsenz im Nahen Osten.

Nicht nur in islamischen Kreisen, auch unter libanesischen Christen wird gerüchteweise die Mutmaßung herumgereicht, Israel käme ein zerstörtes Umland als einer Art gigantischer Glacis nicht ungelegen. Ebensowenig jenen westlichen Kräften, die ungeniert nach einem Krieg ihre Hand auf die Bodenschätze des Nahen Ostens legen könnten. Ein Einschätzung, die die Gesamtstimmung nicht zu heben vermag. Ein führender Christ des Libanon will nicht über solche Hintergründe hinter den Hintergründen spekulieren. Ihm genügen die Fakten, die auf dem Tisch liegen und die seien schwerwiegend genug und veranlaßten ihn zum Handeln.

Der maronitische Christ Fady Noun, stellvertretender Chefredakteur der angesehensten libanesischen Tageszeitung L‘Orient-Le Jour schrieb in dieser sich dramatisch zuspitzenden Situation, in der man die Lunte bis Beirut riechen kann, einen offenen Brief an König Salman von Saudi-Arabien. Darin fordert er gegenseitigen Respekt ein und zeigt auf, warum der Libanon nicht Teil einer Allianz werden kann, weil sonst das einzige Modell einer tragfähigen Lösung des Konflikts zerstört würde. Vielmehr hält Noun dem saudischen König den Libanon als Lösungsmodell hin mit der Aufforderung, den Frieden statt den Krieg zu wählen.

http://www.katholisches.info/2016/02/24/zuendet-saudi-arabien-die-lunte-zu-einem-neuen-nahost-krieg-offener-brief-eines-libanesischen-christen-an-den-saudischen-koenig/

And the Open letter in English in full:

24.2.2016 – Asia News (* A P)

Open letter to the Saudi King Salman about Lebanon’s fate

The decision not to pay US$ 4 billion to the Lebanese military, the travel warning for Saudis, Bahrainis and Emiratis, and the likely expulsion of 400,000 Lebanese nationals from the Gulf States are part of King Salman’s vendetta after Lebanon failed to stand with Riyadh against Tehran. Lebanon is a place of reconciliation between Sunnis and Shias and where modernity can exist without atheism. Fady Noun, deputy editor of L’Orient-Le Jour and our collaborator, offers an analysis and makes an appeal – by Fady Noun

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Open-letter-to-the-Saudi-King-Salman-about-Lebanon%E2%80%99s-fate-36775.html

cp2 Allgemein / General

25.2.2016 – European Council on Foreign Relations (* B K P)

(Film) Iona Craig, British-Irish freelance journalist, Nawal al-Maghafi, award-winning Yemeni-British journalist and filmmaker, and Adam Baron, Visiting Fellow at ECFR and a cofounder of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, discuss how Europe can help solve the crisis.

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/yemen_what_next

25.2.2016 – Judith Brown (B K P)

Film: Saudi kingdom of ISIS in its aggression against Yemen.

'The dictator that got away with the help of the Saudi bombing in Yemen' - This video sums up the Saudi bombing in Yemen and the West's reaction to it' . Funny video of just a minute

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154126356808641 = https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1104363486382808

24.2.2016 – American Herald Tribune (* A P)

International League for Yemen War Crimes to present before the UN

Alone, abandoned to the darkness of propaganda and political manipulation, 26 million people have lived under the fire of a war which has been more furious and bloody than any other in its history.

This great war of the Yemen has unravelled in the shadow of corporate media, blanketed by majority interests and corporate PR …. The holy grail of capitalism!

But while a grand coalition of powers has gathered around War’s table to craft and draft its legions of hell, forever unleashing the ignominious and the perfidious onto an already economically fatigued nation, Yemen has not yet sung its last song. This poorest and most unruly country of Southern Arabia, has Resistance in its lungs and Defiance in its DNA.

It is Kim Sharif, the head of the International League for Yemen War Crimes and director for Human Rights for Yemen who said, “Justice is truth in action.”

Yemen as it were, is desperately trying to get its truths out there - those ugly realities Riyadh still ambition to cover up for fear its regime would be publicly defamed.

Although still not in the limelight, rights defenders, independent individuals and groups have come together to form a potent network of resistance, intent on denouncing those crimes the world has worked to ignore.

Yemeni delegates, experts and supporters will present a report before the United Nations Human Rights Panel on March 10th, 2016 which denounces the illegal use of Cluster ammunitions against civilian populations and the deteriorating humanitarian situation - on behalf of Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture, and in cooperation with the International Council Supporting Fair Trial and Human Rights.

Parallel to such efforts, the International League for Yemen War Crimes announced on February 18, 2016 in London that it would be pursuing every legal avenue at its disposal to pursue and indict those individuals, groups, or powers which have committed, or allowed atrocities in Yemen in the name of political, ideological, or financial gain.

The International League for Yemen War Crimes which represents several rights groups and NGOs, hopes all their combined voices, and expertise will allow for actions to manifest on the ground, and for justice to be served.

In the face of a rising War Lobby against Yemen, this poorest nation of Southern Arabia has been allowed to waste away under a brutal, protracted and systematic military campaign against both its people and its state infrastructures.

The forgotten, siege, the forgotten genocide, Yemen has been the forgotten people … The League very much intends to change minds and win hearts by demanding that justice be served, that truths be heard, and that damages be assigned where due.

With the full complicity of the US and NATO, the Saudi-led coalition has bombarded a blockaded Yemen for well over 10 months, with no respite for civilian populations. Schools, hospitals, places of worship, historical landmarks, UNESCO heritage sites, civilian infrastructures, and residential areas have been reduced to rubbles under the fury of an air campaign which has sought only complete and utter annihilation.

Of Yemen 26 million people, 22 million are now facing famine … not hunger, but death by starvation.

Communities in the north have been cut off access to water and electricity – never mind food and medicine. Villages have been hit again and again by Saudi-operated drones for their faith displeased Riyadh’s Wahhabi clergy.

Being Zaidi in Yemen is a mortal sin (branch of Shia Islam), being anti-Saudi imperialism is a blasphemy against the kingdom passable of death … through the air raids and the engineered starvation, through the targeting of children in strawberry fields and the destruction of hospitals and aid convoys, the world has stood silent, blind and deaf.

Armed of its testimonies, footage, and pictures, the League intends to command attention, and turn promises into actions – by Catherine Shakdam

http://ahtribune.com/human-rights/563-yemen-war-crimes.html

24.2.2016 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (A K P)

10 things many throwing and dropping as solid facts in #Yemen when..well, let's just politely say jury still out on.

https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/638791603688222720

24.2.2016 – Università di Padova (* B K)

Yemen, una guerra dimenticata

In Italian, an article the current situation in Yemen, what the war has done to Yemen and voices of 2 Yemeni -Italians on the needs of their land in one of the worst humanitarian crises

Come si sa esistono le guerre di serie A, sotto l’occhio costante dei media e dell’opinione pubblica internazionale, poi quelle di serie B o di serie C, che importano meno o nulla. Come quella che da 11 mesi affligge una delle popolazioni più povere al mondo e sbriciola i meravigliosi grattacieli di argilla di Sana’a, immortalata da Pasolini e proclamata dall’UNESCO patrimonio dell’umanità – di Daniele Mont d’Arpizio

http://www.unipd.it/ilbo/yemen-guerra-dimenticata

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

25.2.2016 – Safer World (* B H)

Rising to immense challenges in Taiz, Yemen

In the midst of conflict in Yemen, members of a Saferworld-supported community action group in Muthafar, a neighbourhood located at the heart of the city of Taiz, have been coordinating and taking action to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis. The group has taken the initiative to address new safety concerns that have emerged in their communities as a result of prolonged conflict.

Today, Taiz governorate is experiencing some of the highest levels of violence in Yemen. The intense fighting between the Houthis and former President Saleh’s forces and local resistance groups, which are supported by the Saudi-led coalition, as well as coalition’s air strikes have resulted in hundreds of casualties in Taiz city. Additionally, the restrictions on resources entering Yemen are affecting every aspect of people’s lives. According to OCHA in Yemen, as of November 2015, nearly 79% of the population of Taiz is in need of basic humanitarian assistance including water, food and medical supplies.

Moreover, the closure of the majority of public hospitals in Taiz governorate – a direct consequence of the ground fighting, air strikes and the lack of basic commodities like fuel and medical supplies – means an estimated 3.2 million people in the governorate have either no or very limited access to health care. This is amid a growing dengue fever epidemic with nearly 1,700 reported cases in the governorate so far, a figure that is expected to rise given the dire situation. On top of this, the lack of fuel in the governorate is affecting the supply of clean water as most water pumps are no longer running.

Community action group members of Muthafar and Taizziyah are caught up in the middle of the conflict, and the ground fighting. Their lives and those of their families and communities have been adversely affected by the siege enforced on Taiz, which is hindering access of food and medical supplies. And like all the people of Taiz, group members are struggling to meet their basic needs, as they are not receiving any of the services provided by the different authorities. The rural area of Taizziyah has seen an influx of internally displaced people and continues to be impacted by heavy ground fighting.

Responding to the dire situation, the group in Muthafar is coordinating initiatives to improve living conditions for their community. In spite of the conditions in Taiz, they have come together and mobilised their networks to address some of the urgent practical issues that have arisen as a result of the conflict. Building on the relationships, experience and standing they had developed within the community before the outbreak of the conflict, they have come together to take action – by Hassan Al-Yabari , Saferworld's Yemen Project Coordinator, Ariana Martini, Grant Manager, and Saba Albess, Yemen Project Officer.

http://www.saferworld.org.uk/news-and-views/case-study/67-rising-to-immense-challenges-in-taiz-yemen

25.2.2016 – The Ferret (* B H K P)

An eye witness to Yemen’s forgotten war

An eye witness to Yemen’s forgotten war has revealed the trauma faced by children on a daily basis in a crisis described by the UN as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Fatima Al Ajal is a Yemeni who works with Save the Children in war-torn Sana’a, the nation’s capital city.

The 32 year old spoke to The Ferret amid urgent calls for the UK to stop arming a Saudi-led coalition accused of war crimes.

Airstrikes by coalition warplanes – some of which were built in the UK and drop Paveway IV missiles made in Scotland – are constant and Al Ajal said the noise of jets terrifies youngsters.

She added: “They suffer psychological problems from hearing the warplanes. When children hear the noise of a plane they think it is coming to kill them.”

“These children need urgent treatment. Children are the most vulnerable in this war. They are traumatised.”

“More than three million children do not go to school. They don’t go because schools are damaged or because they had to leave their homes and are internally displaced persons.”

“Many schools cannot function and children are afraid to go to school because they are targeted by bombs. Health facilities are also bombed.”

Al Ajal works with Save the Children to provide food and emergency medical help through mobile health clinics.

However, she and her family must move around Sana’a regularly for security reasons.

She said: “We have nine children in our wider family and we move around all the time. I am in one of the hotspot areas just now where bombing is happening everywhere and I expect to lose my life any moment. It’s a nightmare.”

“The last two weeks have been crazy with airstrikes. The bombing even continues at night and many homes have been targeted with people killed.”

“There has been no electricity at times for months and there are no basic services. There are just bombings all the time. We are trying to help children and their families through different projects. We are trying to cover their basic needs.” – by Billy Briggs

[Also treated here: British arms sales to Saudi Arabia]

https://theferret.scot/yemen-war-eyewitness/

24.2.2016 – Handicap International (* A H)

Since March 2015, the conflict in Yemen has left more than 6,000 people dead and 28,500 people injured. Handicap International provides the injured with physical therapy, mobility devices, and psychological support at three health facilities in the capital city of Sana’a. Bushra, 24, is one of them.

Bushra sits on her bed at Al Thawra hospital in Sana’a with her fists clenched. The last few months have been very hard. Originally from Dhamar, some 75 miles from Sana’a, Bushra was injured in an air strike that destroyed her neighbor’s house.

“After the bomb exploded, I felt a sharp pain in my leg and I couldn’t walk,” says Bushra. “They took me to the medical center in Dhamar, but my injuries were too serious. My father immediately decided to rent a car and take me to Sana’a.”

In Sana’a, Bushra was referred to Al Thawra hospital where Handicap International works. She learned her thighbone was broken and she would need multiple surgeries to repair it. After her first operation, Handicap International staff gave Bushra a walking frame.

“They taught me how to use it and I now can move around again,” she explains.

To help people like Bushra become more self-reliant, the organization has donated more than 1,300 mobility aids—crutches, walking frames, and wheelchairs—to the health facilities it supports. A total of 713 people have benefited to date.

Traumatized by the air strike and feeling very lonely, Bushra finds life in hospital very hard. “I’ve been in hospital for three weeks and I really miss my family,” she says. “My father has been great, but he can’t really afford to stay here.”

To help Bushra and her father cope, Handicap International’s teams give them regular psychological support. These counseling sessions are important because, like most casualties of the conflict in Yemen, Bushra’s injuries aren’t just physical.

“Victims of war often feel they’re worth less because of their injuries, but when someone listens to their problems, it helps them feel better,” says Malikah, a member of the Handicap International psychological support team. “They deserve our undivided attention.”

Bushra needs all the support she can get to help her stay strong while awaits further operations. Her next surgery is tomorrow.

“I can’t think about anything else at the moment. All I want is to walk again and get my life back to normal.”

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-helping-war-survivors-recover-physically-and-mentally

24.2.2016 – Anadolu (A H)

Turkish aid vessel arrives in Yemen’s Aden

A Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid arrived in the Yemeni port of Aden on Wednesday, an official said.

Mahmoud Awad Ahmed, a provincial official, told Anadolu Agency the ship was loaded with 5,300 tons of food and medical supplies.

According to a Feb. 14 announcement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the ship left Mersin in southern Turkey.

http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkish-aid-vessel-arrives-in-yemen-s-aden/526805

Comment: And again: Into the north nothing of these 5.300 tons will come.

23.2.2016 – Al Monitor (* B H)

Death, starvation haunt southern Yemen

The stories and scenes of civilian deaths and starvation in the Yemeni city of Taiz are nightmarish, coming on the heels of the siege imposed since April 2015 by Houthi rebels and forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Anywhere one looks, only pain, sorrow and sadness stare back, in a scene reminiscent of the catastrophic situation that prevailed in Syria’s Madaya.

The siege in Taiz, in southern Yemen, is catastrophic, prompting the United Nations’ World Food Program to announce Feb. 15 that the city faces imminent famine.

Some people needing special treatment have died while being treated in Taiz, while others have passed away in Aden, which is about 100 miles away. Shujah said Taiz is having great difficulties treating patients with renal failure, diabetes and hypertension. More than 25 patients died due to the lack of supplemental oxygen. Hospitals are turning people away.

He added that 37 hospitals and medical centers had been closed down in Taiz due to the siege and ongoing clashes that have exacerbated the shortage of fuel required to run generators.

An aid official in Taiz, Ayman al-Mikhlafi, said 70% of the city's 600,000 people fled to areas far away from the conflict zones. “The humanitarian situation is tragic, verging on — if not already — catastrophic, due to the fact that basic food and medical necessities are not being permitted entry into the city,” he told Al-Monitor.

He also indicated that people face a daily struggle just to stay alive and secure their food, water, medical and housing requirements in the midst of the continued bombardments by the Houthis and the ground battles with popular resistance forces.

What little aid has reached the city from international organizations barely covered 5% of the actual needs of its besieged inhabitants, Mikhlafi said. The Houthis also are restricting the entry of petroleum products and other basic materials, exacerbating the horror of the crisis.

The Saudi Arabia-UAE dispute revolves around the resistance's leadership in Taiz, which is made up mainly of members of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah Party), affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. While Saudi Arabia has expressed considerable openness toward the Islah-led resistance, Abu Dhabi has taken an opposing stance.

The humanitarian situation in Taiz threatens to deteriorate into famine, particularly considering that aid only provides relief for a short period of time. The city’s inhabitants continue to suffer and live on the verge of death — a situation that can only be remedied if the siege is lifted and a semblance of normalcy is restored to life in Taiz
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/yemen-taiz-siege-famine-war-houthis-saudi-emirates.html

Comment: Again the situation in Taiz. In other parts of the country, especially in the north, the situation is not better.

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

25.2.2016 – Libanons Schiiten-Miliz Hisbollah kämpft im Jemen gegen sunnitische Regierung (A K)

Die jemenitische Regierung hat am Mittwoch die libanesische Schiiten-Miliz Hisbollah beschuldigt, Huthi-Rebellen zu trainieren und sich an ihrer Seite an Angriffen gegen Saudi Arabien zu beteiligen.

Die jemenitische Regierung und ihre Golf-Alliierten beschuldigen bereits lange den Hisbollah-Verbündeten Iran, dass es die zaiditischen Huthis im Land gegen die Sunniten aufwiegle. Nun geht es auch um die Hisbollah selbst. Teherans Ziel sei es dabei, die schiitische Minderheit Jemens zu einem Hisbollah-Ableger im Vorhof Saudi Arabiens auszubauen.
Die jüngsten Anschuldigungen basieren „auf viele Dokumente und physische Beweise“, die selbst die Hisbollah nicht fähig sei, zu bestreiten, teilten offizielle jemenitische Medien mit. Jene sogenannten Beweise konnten bislang nicht eingesehen werden, noch wurden sie öffentlich zugänglich gemacht.

http://de.azvision.az/news.php?id=8373

24.2.2016 – Reuters (A K)

Jemen - Libanesische Hisbollah-Miliz unterstützt Huthi-Rebellen

Jemens Regierung hat der libanesischen Hisbollah vorgeworfen, an der Seite der schiitischen Huthi-Milizen zu kämpfen.

Dies könne man mit vielen Dokumenten und Sachbeweisen belegen, erklärte die Regierung am Mittwoch. Die vom Iran unterstützte Gruppe bilde die Rebellen aus und kämpfe mit ihnen an der Grenze zu Saudi-Arabien. Beweise legte die Regierung zunächst nicht vor.

Der schiitisch geprägte Iran und die Hisbollah haben die von den Golfstaaten unterstützte Regierung des Jemens zwar kritisiert. Vorwürfe, wonach sie den Huthis militärische Hilfe leisten, haben sie aber zurückgewiesen.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0VX21N

Kommentar: Es wäre ja ganz interessant, wie die Hisbollah-Kämpfer in den Jemen gekommen sein sollen. Das ist derzeit etwas schwierig. Eine große Rolle werden sie kaum spielen, wie in diesem Zusammenhang selbst in Medien aus den Golfemiraten zu lesen ist. Der Vorwurf der Hisbollah-Connection stand immer mal im Raum. Warum wird gerade jetzt dieses Thema aufgekocht? Der Grund liegt nicht im Jemen, sondern bei der saudischen Einmischung in Syrien. Da stört die Hisbollah, die dort auf Seiten Assads kämpft. So üben die Saudis jetzt Druck auf den Libanon aus, um so die Hisbollah in Schwierigkeiten zu bringen. Und da kommt der Vorwurf der Hisbollah im Jemen jetzt gerade recht. Er ist Teil eines Propagandakrieges, der auf den Libanon und die internationale Gemeinschaft im Hinblick auf ihre Beziehungen zum Libanon abzielt. Deshalb hier unter cp1 „Am wichtigsten“ auch ein Artikel über den Libanon. Man hätte deshalb im Übrigen auch alle diese Artikel zur Hisbollah-Connection unter cp 15 Propaganda einordnen können.

25.2.2016 – The National UAE (* A K P)

Yemen demands action over Hizbollah aid to rebels

Yemen’s government has called for international action against Hizbollah and for Lebanon to prevent the militant movement from sending its fighters into the country, after a video was made public that allegedly shows a member of the Iran-backed group training Houthi rebels.

The Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which is backing Yemeni ground forces including southern Yemeni fighters and troops loyal to the internationally recognised government, has maintained since the conflict began last year that Iran and Hizbollah are providing military support to the Zaydi Shiite Houthi rebels.

Tehran has said it provides the Houthis with only political support, while Riyadh accuses it of trying to turn the movement into a Hizbollah-style proxy force on its border.

The video was first broadcast on Saudi news outlets, and purports to show a Hizbollah operative, identified in the reports as Abu Saleh Al Libnani, speaking with a Lebanese accent and giving tactical military training to a group of Yemeni fighters alleged to be Houthis in a tent at an undisclosed location in Yemen last summer.

The video is largely without audio, but at one point, Abu Saleh says, “I have an operation in Riyadh.” One of the Yemenis asks, “Is it a suicide attack?”, to which Abu Saleh replies, “we call it a martyrdom operation”.

“I call for the Security Council to impose punishments on Hizbollah and all sides that support the Houthi rebels with weapons, according to the resolution of the Security Council that prevents providing the Houthis and Saleh with weapons,” Yemen’s minister of information Abulmageed Qubati told The National.

Hizbollah officials have not confirmed any role for the group in Yemen, although the group has admitted sending thousands of fighters into the Syrian conflict in support of president Bashar Al Assad.

For their part, the Houthis have not yet denied the veracity of the video.

While the video points to an advisory role for Hizbollah in Yemen, it is unlikely that the group is able to provide much more assistance, given the strain on its resources and the coalition blockade of Yemen’s borders.

“I do not think that the Houthis need more fighters, only trainers, and I do not think that they are so many” because more evidence would have come to light by now, said Ahmed Obaid, an analyst and retired Yemeni military officer in Aden.

Mr Qubati said Hizbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards began supporting the Houthis over the past decade, and ramped up their support since 2011, adding that the trainer in the video probably arrived in Yemen before the current conflict.

“After the coalition forces saved the ports in Yemen, the smugglers of the weapons to the Houthis mostly stopped and the military experts cannot enter the country easily,” he said. Some of them may have entered through the deserted islands off the western coast, “but all of these weapons and experts came to the Houthis during the reign of Ali Saleh”.

He also claimed that Hizbollah played a key role in allying the Houthis with Mr Saleh, their former enemy who had led six wars to crush the group during his 33-year presidency. “Hizbollah is the main engineer of rebuilding relations between the Houthi rebels and Saleh.”

Mr Qubati served as Yemen’s ambassador to Lebanon from 2003-2007, and he said that during his time there Yemeni officials had seen evidence of Houthi fighters training in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

The video’s release comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is leading an aggressive push against Hizbollah and demanding that the weak and divided Lebanese government distance itself from the group.

On Wednesday, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Brig Gen Ahmed Al Asiri, said there had been mounting evidence that members of the Revolutionary Guard and Hizbollah were providing training to the rebels inside Yemen.

“We are sure of their presence and the evidence gathered today comes to support the file the Yemeni government shall present to the United Nations to put an end to such practices and face the Lebanese government with its responsibilities,” Gen Al Asiri told the Saudi Al Ikhbariya TV station. “Because those individuals carry Lebanese passports and use them to travel and circulate, and at the same time they bring harm to Arab countries and such practices have to be stopped.”

Riyadh continued building its case against Hizbollah on Thursday, accusing the group of working with Houthi rebels to smuggle drugs into the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has tried to apply more pressure on Hizbollah and Iran following the recent setbacks suffered by Riyadh-backed Syrian rebels at the hands of Iranian and Hizbollah forces supported by Russian air strikes.

Saudi Arabia is leading a charge of Gulf states against Hizbollah’s influence in Lebanon, putting pressure on the Lebanese government to move away from the group – by Mohammed Al Qalisi

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/yemen-demands-action-over-hizbollah-aid-to-rebels

Comment: In many parts, a sound and even realistic article, even though by a Gulf state newspapers website.

The film mentioned in this article is here:

25.2.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)

Film: Fears of sanctions on Lebanon after new video ‘shows Hezbollah in Yemen’

The recordings, which were broadcast yesterday and constituted conclusive evidence on the involvement of Hezbollah in Yemen, raised a wave of widespread controversy and opened the door to questions and concerns that this issue may lead to imposing international sanctions on Lebanon on the basis of its violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2216, on the grounds that Hezbollah is part of the government.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/webtv/reports/2016/02/25/Fears-of-sanctions-on-Lebanon-after-new-video-shows-Hezbollah-in-Yemen-.html

Comment: Where actually this film has been made? In Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Venezuela?

24.2.2016 – Reuters (A K)

Yemen government says Hezbollah fighting alongside Houthis

Yemen's Gulf-backed government on Wednesday accused the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militia Hezbollah of training the Houthi rebels and fighting alongside them in attacks on Saudi Arabia's border, it said in a statement carried by official media.

Yemen's government and its Gulf partners have long accused Hezbollah's ally Iran of backing the Houthis and seeking to transform the group into a replica of the Lebanese militia to use as a proxy against its main regional rival, Saudi Arabia.

Its latest assertion is based on "many documents and physical evidence" which Hezbollah would not be able to deny, it said, but that it did not immediately produce.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0VX21N

24.2.2016 – AFP (B K P)

Yemen government says Hezbollah backing Huthi rebels

Yemen's embattled government accused Lebanon's Hezbollah Shiite militia on Wednesday of sending fighters to support Iran-backed Huthi rebels controlling parts of the war-ravaged country including the capital.

The government has evidence of "Hezbollah's involvement in the Huthi war against the Yemeni people," its spokesman Rajih Badi said in a statement published by the official sabanew.net website.

Hezbollah militants are present in "the battlefields along the border with Saudi Arabia," where attacks from Yemen have killed about 90 civilians and soldiers in the kingdom since March last year, said Badi.

Hezbollah is taking part in the Yemeni war on the ground by training the Shiite Huthis and orchestrating attacks against Saudi Arabia, said Badi, urging "international legal measures" against the movement.

"This evidence is documented and Hezbollah cannot deny its role in the destruction it is contributing to through the clear moral and logistic support" for the rebels, said Badi.

http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-government-says-hezbollah-backing-huthi-rebels-185557409.html = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3462570/Yemen-government-says-Hezbollah-backing-Huthi-rebels.html and see also from Bloomberg http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-saudi-border-yemen-4d9cd0d2-db1e-11e5-8210-f0bd8de915f6-20160224-story.html

Comment: It will be interesting how the Hezbollah fighters should have arrived in Yemen. That is a little bit difficult in the moment. They hardly will play a great role, as even the Emirati “The National” admits. The objection of a Hezbollah connection is not a new one. Why it is repeated just now? The reason is not Yemen, but Syria. The Hezbollah fighting aside with Assad is disturbing the Saudis – so they started to press on Lebanon for that Hezbollah will be forced to retreat from Syria or at least to less engage there. Mentioning Hezbollah in Yemen just now is part of a propaganda war targeting Lebanon and the international community in it’ relationship to Lebanon. For that reason, at cp 1 “Most important” there are articles on Lebanon. Thus, it also what have been possible to place all these articles on the Hezbollah Connection at cp 15 Propaganda.

24.2.2016 – Y News (A K P)

Dead Hezbollah soldiers found in Yemen

The Yemeni government has captured documents and bodies of Hezbollah militants, demonstrating the extent of the Hezbollah's involvement in the war betwee the Houthis and the Hadi regime supported by Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

The Hadi regime spokesman Rajeh Badi said, "this is a blatant interference in the affairs of an independent state, and performing thesehostilities against the legitimate Yemeni government and the Arab coalition forces would exacerbate the crisis."

Badi then announced the intention of the Yemeni government to file an official complaint to the UN Security Council and the Arab League, regarding the intervention and practices of terrorism of Hezbollah in Yemen, and demanding to take international legal action against the Shiite terrorist group.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4770577,00.html

24.2.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)

Lebanon must act on Hezbollah in Yemen, says Saudi

A Saudi military spokesman urged Lebanon on Wednesday to stop the Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah from exporting its “mercenaries” to Yemen and Syria, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri said participation of some Iranian and Hezbollah “mercenaries,” who were killed in Yemen, violated the U.N. resolution 2216, which demanded an end to violence in the southern Arabian Peninsula country.

Asiri made his statements after the internationally recognized Yemeni government on Wednesday said it has evidence that the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah is backing the Houthi militia group.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/02/24/Yemeni-govt-says-have-evidence-Hezbollah-is-involved-in-backing-the-Houthis.html

Comment: Is there any truth in this? The Houthis are battle hardened themselves - they have years of fighting experience from Yemen and from fighting in Afghanistan with the Mujahideen - and in any case Hezbollah is tied up in Lebanon and Syria. I personally think that any Hezbollah presence is unlikely or minimal. There is far more evidence that ISIS operatives have been moved from Syria to Yemen.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1104256729726817

26.2.2016 – dpa (A P)

Official says Yemen won't issue visas to Lebanese citizens

The Yemeni ambassador to Lebanon said his country will not issue visas to Lebanese citizens in protest at the alleged involvement of the Hezbollah movement in his country‘s crisis, London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Friday.
"There are strict instructions by the Yemeni Foreign Ministry not to issue visas for any Lebanese wishing to travel to Yemen," ambassador Ali Doulaimi told the Saudi paper.

http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/official-says-yemen-wont-issue-visas-to-lebanese-citizens_440939.html

Comment: A new grotesque little piece in this propaganda war on Lebanon. Hisbollah fighters hardly will ask for visa at a Hadi government’s embassy when they want to come to Yemen.

24.2.2016 – Washington Post (* A K)

Yemeni rebels pose a rising threat in southern Saudi Arabia

Thousands of Saudi troops have been deployed along these desiccated hills, struggling to halt cross-border attacks by Yemeni rebels who fire rockets and carry out lethal ground incursions.

The Yemeni fighters have killed and captured hundreds of Saudi soldiers in a conflict that presents Saudi Arabia with the biggest challenge to its territory in years. Thousands of mortars and crude rockets have slammed into schools, mosques and homes in Najran, a city of several hundred thousand people only a few miles from the mountains of northern Yemen.

The border assaults have come in response to a devastating air and ground war that a Saudi-led military coalition launched in Yemen last year. That conflict has in turn spilled across the border with devastating consequences, said Maj. Gen. Saad Olyan, who commands more than 20,000 Saudi forces along the 1,100-mile southern border.

Najran residents try to go about life normally, but the scars left by the Yemeni attacks reflect how brutal the fighting has become.

“The attacks come suddenly, and you can’t do anything about them,” said Abdullah al-Nasser, 41, an administrator at a nursery school in Najran that was hit by a rocket several months ago.

In turn, the rebels and allied military units loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh have sought to inflict pain on Saudi Arabia by launching intense cross-border attacks. Houthi-affiliated media outlets regularly report that the rebels have stormed deep inside southern parts of the kingdom, including near Najran.

“The Houthi-Saleh threat to southern Saudi is off the charts,” said Theodore Karasik, a Dubai-based analyst who specializes in Persian Gulf security issues.

Although part of Saudi territory, areas in the south historically have been claimed by Yemen. Residents of Najran and surrounding territory have strong family and cultural connections to communities in Yemen.

Furthermore, the majority of residents in Najran are Ismailis, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. They have long complained of discrimination by Saudi authorities, who officially practice a particularly conservative form of Sunni Islam whose followers regularly condemn Shiites as apostates – by Hugh Naylor

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/yemeni-rebels-pose-a-rising-threat-in-southern-saudi-arabia/2016/02/23/ab8f0eaa-d1e4-11e5-90d3-34c2c42653ac_story.html

Comment: All this is a response at the Saudi aerial war on Yemen, as the article states more or less by the way.

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

24.2.2016 – Middle East Eye (A K P)

UAE pulls out ground troops from Yemen: Reports

The UAE has pulled its troops out of Yemen, Yemeni sources said on Wednesday.

According to the reports in AP, the Emirates has withdrawn its soldiers out of the airport in Yemen's second city Aden and pulled out all of its fighters in one day. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The UAE is a key partner in the Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing Houthi positions in Yemen since March last year. It has been one of the largest and most active coalition partners on the ground and has also reportedly brought in some 450 Columbian mercenaries to help in the war against the Houthis and their supporters.

Since the ground operation began, dozens of Emirati soldiers have been killed.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-pulls-out-ground-troops-yemen-reports-98821815

Comment: Does this German expression fit here: The rats are leaving the sinking ship?

24.2.2016 – Fox News (A K P)

Yemen officials: UAE troops pull out, Aden airport is shut

Yemeni officials say troops from the United Arab Emirates pulled out of the airport in the southern city of Aden, a day after it was stormed by disgruntled pro-government fighters from the country's south.

The officials say the Emiratis pulled out on Wednesday.

The authorities then shut the airport, the country's main air hub for the internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition, which is helping the government forces fight Shiite rebels in the north. The UAE forces are part of the anti-rebel coalition.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/02/24/yemen-officials-uae-troops-pull-out-aden-airport-is-shut.html

25.2.2016 – Yemen News Today (A T)

Photos: And when UAE leaves Aden Al Qaeda steps in...

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1104263706392786

cp7 UNO / UN

24.2.2016 – UNO (* A P)

Security Council Extends Sanctions against Destabilizing Actors in Yemen, Mandate of Expert Panel Assisting Oversight Committee

The Security Council today extended for one year its sanctions on those threatening stability in Yemen, as well as the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the committee charged with overseeing those measures.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2266 (2016) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council extended until 26 February 2017 the asset freeze and travel ban imposed by resolution 2140 (2015) to help stem the crisis in Yemen, which threatened the country’s ongoing political transition. It extended the expert panel’s mandate until 27 March 2017.

By the text, the Council urged all parties and all Member States, as well as international, regional and subregional organizations to ensure cooperation with the Panel of Experts so that it could execute its mandate. It also called upon Member States to provide a midterm update to the 2140 Sanctions Committee on Yemen by 27 July, and a final report to the Security Council no later than 27 January 2017.

Speaking after the vote, Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta (Egypt) said it was imperative that the Panel of Experts operate within the mandate specified by the Council resolutions that established it so as to preserve their credibility and that of the Council itself. It was vital that the Panel’s reports maintain objectivity and impartiality, relying exclusively on credible sources, he emphasized, adding that only a political settlement to the Yemen crisis would restore stability there while complementing efforts to combat terrorism in that country and the Middle East region as a whole.

The full text of resolution 2266 (2016) reads as follows:

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 2014 (2011), 2051 (2012), 2140 (2014), 2201 (2015), 2204 (2015), 2216 (2015) and the statements of its President dated 15 February 2013 (S/PRST/2013/3), 29 August 2014 (S/PRST/2014/18) and 22 March 2015 (S/PRST/2015/8) concerning Yemen,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen,

Expressing concern at the ongoing political, security, economic and humanitarian challenges in Yemen, including the ongoing violence, and threats arising from the illicit transfer, destabilizing accumulation and misuse of weapons,

Reiterating its call for all parties in Yemen to adhere to resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, reject acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refrain from provocation,

Reaffirming the need for all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law as applicable,

Expressing its support for and commitment to the work of the Special Envoy for Yemen to the Secretary-General, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in support of the Yemeni transition process,

Expressing its grave concern that areas of Yemen are under the control of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and about the negative impact of their presence, violent extremist ideology and actions on stability in Yemen and the region, including the devastating humanitarian impact on the civilian populations, expressingconcern at the increasing presence and future potential growth of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) affiliates in Yemen and reaffirming its resolve to address all aspects of the threat posed by AQAP, ISIL (Da’esh), and all other associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities,

Recalling the listing of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and associated individuals on the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List and stressing in this regard the need for robust implementation of the measures in paragraph 2 of resolution 2253 (2015) as a significant tool in combating terrorist activity in Yemen,

Noting the critical importance of effective implementation of the sanctions regime imposed pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) and resolution 2216 (2015), including the key role that Member States from the region can play in this regard, and encouraging efforts to further enhance cooperation,

Recalling the provisions of paragraph 14 of resolution 2216 (2015) imposing a targeted arms embargo,

Gravely distressed by the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Yemen, expressing serious concern at all instances of hindrances to the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance, including limitations on the delivery of vital goods to the civilian population of Yemen,

Emphasising the necessity of discussion by the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 19 of resolution 2140 (2014) (‘the Committee’), of the recommendations contained in the Panel of Experts reports,

Determining that the situation in Yemen continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

“1. Reaffirms the need for the full and timely implementation of the political transition following the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, in line with the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and Implementation Mechanism, and in accordance with resolutions 2014 (2011), 2051 (2012), 2140 (2014), 2201 (2015), 2204 (2015) and 2216 (2015), and with regard to the expectations of the Yemeni people;

“2. Decides to renew until 26 February 2017 the measures imposed by paragraphs 11 and 15 of resolution 2140 (2014), reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 12, 13, 14 and 16 of resolution 2140 (2015), and further reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 14 to 17 of resolution 2216 (2015);

Designation Criteria

“3. Reaffirms that the provisions of paragraphs 11 and 15 of resolution 2140 (2014) and paragraph 14 of 2216 (2015) shall apply to individuals or entities designated by the Committee, or listed in the annex to resolution 2216 (2015) as engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Yemen;

“4. Reaffirms the designation criteria set out in paragraph 17 of resolution 2140 (2014) and paragraph 19 of resolution 2216 (2015);

Reporting

“5. Decides to extend until 27 March 2017 the mandate of the Panel of Experts as set out in paragraph 21 of resolution 2140 (2014), and paragraph 21 of resolution 2216 (2015), expresses its intention to review the mandate and take appropriate action regarding the further extension no later than 27 February 2017, andrequests the Secretary-General to take the necessary administrative measures as expeditiously as possible to re-establish the Panel of Experts, in consultation with the Committee until 27 March 2017 drawing, as appropriate, on the expertise of the members of the Panel established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014);

“6. Requests the Panel of Experts to provide a midterm update to the Committee no later than 27 July 2016, and a final report no later than 27 January 2017 to the Security Council, after discussion with the Committee;

“7. Directs the Panel to cooperate with other relevant expert groups established by the Security Council to support the work of its Sanctions Committees, in particular the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team established by resolution 1526 (2004) and extended by resolution 2253 (2015);

“8. Urges all parties and all Member States, as well as international, regional and subregional organizations to ensure cooperation with the Panel of Experts and further urges all Member States involved to ensure the safety of the members of the Panel of Experts and unhindered access, in particular to persons, documents and sites, in order for the Panel of Experts to execute its mandate;

“9. Emphasizes the importance of holding consultations with concerned Member States, as may be necessary, in order to ensure full implementation of the measures set forth in this resolution;

“10. Calls upon all Member States which have not already done so to report to the Committee as soon as possible on the steps they have taken with a view to implementing effectively the measures imposed by paragraphs 11 and 15 of resolution 2140 (2014) and paragraph 14 of resolution 2216 (2015) and recalls in this regard that Member States undertaking cargo inspections pursuant to paragraph 15 of resolution 2216 (2015) are required to submit written reports to the Committee as set out in paragraph 17 of resolution 2216 (2015);

“11. Recalls the Informal Working Group on General issues of Sanctions report (S/2006/997) on best practices and methods, including paragraphs 21, 22 and 23 that discuss possible steps for clarifying methodological standards for monitoring mechanisms;

“12. Reaffirms its intention to keep the situation in Yemen under continuous review and its readiness to review the appropriateness of the measures contained in this resolution, including the strengthening, modification, suspension or lifting of the measures, as may be needed at any time in light of developments;

“13. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.”

http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12257.doc.htm and a short report by Xinhua: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-02/25/c_135128191.htm

Comment: This is not just crazy, it is almost insane. Look: “extended for one year its sanctions on those threatening stability in Yemen”: Who is “threatening stability in Yemen”? The Saudi coalition air raids are mentioned by no word, that means in the eyes of the Security Council they are nothing which is “threatening stability in Yemen”. And, the catastrophic resolution 2216 is reconfirmed; still no mention at all of the Saudi / GCC / Hadi etc. party. Thus, the Security Council still takes a clear partisanship in this conflict, at the side of the party which is committing the most war crimes, destructions and killings. A chance for a more impartial position, giving a better possibility to press all sides on stopping the war, has been lost.

But what is even worse. Be aware of the phrase of the new resolution "and further reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 14 to 17 of resolution 2216 (2015)". These paragraphs legitimate and install the blockade of the Houthi held part of Yemen, motivated by a ban of any arms etc. supply to Houthi and Saleh forces. This is the blockade which the Saudis have used in the past 10 month to cut off half of Yemen from sufficient supply of food, medicine, fuel, and all other civilian goods. Thus, this blockade causes starvation, death and misery. Remember that the US-pushed blockade of Iraq between 1990 and 2003 had cost the lifes of about 500.000 Iraqi children alone - labeled by Madelaine Albright as "worth it" later. That now is repeated here, the Saudis using this blockade just to starve out Houthi Yemen. Thus, the claim in this new resolution, the Security Council would be"“Gravely distressed by the continued deterioration of the devastating humanitarian situation in Yemen, expressing serious concern at all instances of hindrances to the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance, including limitations on the delivery of vital goods to the civilian population of Yemen", definitely is a hypocritical lie. They don't care absolutely nothing about that.

The British have formulated this new resolution. Well, the Western countries in the Security Council are just guided by their own geopolitical and economic interest (in the case of Britain, it is selling arms to the Saudis). For Russia, Yemen still is of no interest, so that they did not intervene and lets happen this new resolution. Might be just because of Syria now taking the first place in the agenda, and dealing with the US and Saudi Arabia in Syria is much more important for the Russians than Yemen, so they consent in this case, to have any benefit in another. All together, disgusting.

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

26.2.2016 – The Daily Times (* B K P)

Implications of the Saudi-Yemen war

The blowback from Yemen is threatening the Saudi status quo. The overthrow of the status quo in the Middle East replaces unpopular order with violent chaos due to the international strategic environment

The Houthi rebels want an end to the Saudi monarchy and death to its western ‘patron’, the US. They seem to miss the fact that the Saudi-US relationship has ceased to be that of a patron-client since 2014. Riyadh and Washington are engaged in an adversarial relationship in the energy sector. Washington’s efforts at making itself energy independent through the shale gas revolution are frustrated by Riyadh’s decision to glut the market with cheap conventional oil. The Saudi move has ended what used to be frenzied investment in shale gas in the US, with a negative multiplier effect on the US economy.

Saudi Arabia felt more threatened by shale then it did by the 1979 revolution in Iran, Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 2012 Arab uprising combined. The spread of shale will radically alter the international market for Arab energy-producing giants. Shale is easier to extract and shale LNG is cheaper to transport than conventional fuel. Shale’s environmental blow back is far greater than that of conventional fuel though and herein lies the success of Gulf producers’ efforts at driving shale out.

Hitherto, Saudi overproduction helped the US to hurt Iraq during sanctions against Saddam and, subsequently, Iran and Russia. During the aforesaid sanctions, an increase in Saudi production made up for the loss of oil from the sanctioned suppliers, keeping the energy markets stable and making sanctions succeed. The last two years are the only time in history when Saudi swing production has harmed the US. Saudi refusal to lower supply to raise the price is harming the US economy across the board where sudden withdrawal of shale investment has had a multiplier effect.

The Houthi rebels gained significantly more power than ever before and drove a Saudi allied ruler out of Yemen with hostile posturing towards Riyadh itself. The Saudis had to do something about the situation. Unfortunately, they chose what their detractors wanted: declaration of war against Yemen. The Saudis have lost the war on the moral front, where a rich country fighting a poor one always loses. Militarily, victory seems elusive. Instead of uniting the Arabian Peninsula, the house of Saud is now grappling with severe disagreements within itself and a tarnished image internationally.

Saudi Arabia’s best bet at surviving war on terror-produced instability around itself was to function as the Islamic equivalent of the Vatican and promote a policy dedicated to peace and unity among Muslims, denouncing strife as contrary to the message of Islam. Such a position, coupled with custodianship of the holiest sites in the Muslim world, would have equipped the Saudi monarchy with endless soft power against any regime change attempt.

The Saudi-Yemen war is creating the narrative of sectarian divide at a time when the Islamic civilisation is reaching unprecedented consensus on several issues. An acceptance of the Islamic banking system, establishment of a Middle Eastern version of Interpol to combat the common scourge of terrorism, collaboration in medicine to produce halal vaccines, enhancement in trade ties and increased cooperation in disaster management are all evolving future systems in the Islamic world.

The war in Yemen has given the western corporate press an opportunity to create the divide hype while dumping the blame on Saudi Arabia for starting it. Polemics on either side notwithstanding, Iran is not at war with Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is at war in Yemen with an incredibly young, rebellious force and numerous independent committees ruling over neighbourhoods in a fragmenting country. The war does not carry the support of the public in Yemen and Saudi Arabia – by Zeenia Satti

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/26-Feb-2016/implications-of-the-saudi-yemen-war

Comment: The author overstresses the goal of the Houthis to overthrow the Saudi monarchy. That certainly is not a real option for the Houthis, who are a Yemeni movement. The wish to end Saudi rule over Mekka and Medina is maily rhetoric. The great hatred of the Houthis against the Saudi monarchy goes back several decades, as the Saudis always had pressed on the Zaidits in northern Yemen. – The author’s idea that the Saudis would have done better in getting a sort of Islamic Vatican striving for peace in the Islamic world is certainly true but totally contradicts the Saudi obsession of their special idea of Islam, which is Wahabism – and pressing the whole Islamic world to Wahabism, as the Saudis do with force and money alike, must lead to sectarian strife, as it happens now everywhere.

25.2.2016 – The Telegraph (* B P)

Qatar and Saudi Arabia 'have ignited time bomb by funding global spread of radical Islam'

General Jonathan Shaw, Britain's former Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff, says Qatar and Saudi Arabia responsible for spread of radical Islam

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have ignited a "time bomb" by funding the global spread of radical Islam, according to a former commander of British forces in Iraq.

General Jonathan Shaw, who retired as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff in 2012, told The Telegraph that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were primarily responsible for the rise of the extremist Islam that inspires Isil terrorists.

The two Gulf states have spent billions of dollars on promoting a militant and proselytising interpretation of their faith derived from Abdul Wahhab, an eighteenth century scholar, and based on the Salaf, or the original followers of the Prophet.

But the rulers of both countries are now more threatened by their creation than Britain or America, argued Gen Shaw. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has vowed to topple the Qatari and Saudi regimes, viewing both as corrupt outposts of decadence and sin.

So Qatar and Saudi Arabia have every reason to lead an ideological struggle against Isil, said Gen Shaw. On its own, he added, the West's military offensive against the terrorist movement was likely to prove "futile".

"This is a time bomb that, under the guise of education, Wahhabi Salafism is igniting under the world really. And it is funded by Saudi and Qatari money and that must stop," said Gen Shaw. "And the question then is 'does bombing people over there really tackle that?' I don't think so. I'd far rather see a much stronger handle on the ideological battle rather than the physical battle."

When it comes to waging that ideological struggle, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are pivotal. "The root problem is that those two countries are the only two countries in the world where Wahhabi Salafism is the state religion – and Isil is a violent expression of Wahabist Salafism," said Gen Shaw.

"The primary threat of Isil is not to us in the West: it's to Saudi Arabia and also to the other Gulf states." – by David Blair

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11140860/Qatar-and-Saudi-Arabia-have-ignited-time-bomb-by-funding-global-spread-of-radical-Islam.html

Comment: A thoughtful general, worth to be read in full!

25.2.2016 – Levant Report (** B K P)

Newly Translated WikiLeaks Saudi Cable: Overthrow the Syrian Regime, but Play Nice with Russia

IT IS NO SECRET that Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf and Western allies, has played a direct role in fueling the fires of grinding sectarian conflict that has kept Syria burning for the past five years. It is also no secret that Russian intervention has radically altered the kingdom’s “regime change” calculus in effect since at least 2011. But an internal Saudi government cable sheds new light on the kingdom’s current threats of military escalation in Syria.

Overthrow the Regime “by all means available”

A WikiLeaks cable released as part of “The Saudi Cables” in the summer of 2015, now fully translated here for the first time, reveals what the Saudis feared most in the early years of the war: Russian military intervention and Syrian retaliation. These fears were such that the kingdom directed its media “not to oppose Russian figures and to avoid insulting them” at the time.

Saudi Arabia had further miscalculated that the “Russian position” of preserving the Assad government “will not persist in force.” In Saudi thinking, reflected in the leaked memo, Assad’s violent ouster (“by all means available”) could be pursued so long as Russia stayed on the sidelines. The following section is categorical in its emphasis on regime change at all costs, even should the U.S. vacillate for “lack of desire”:

Amman-based Albawaba News—one of the largest online news providers in the Middle East—was the first to call attention to the WikiLeaks memo, which “reveals Saudi officials saying President Bashar al-Assad must be taken down before he exacts revenge on Saudi Arabia.”

Over the past weeks Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up its rhetoric on Syria, threatening direct military escalation and the insertion of special forces on the ground, ostensibly for humanitarian and stabilizing purposes as a willing partner in the “war on terror.” As many pundits are now observing, in reality the kingdom’s saber rattling stems not from confidence, but utter desperation as its proxy anti-Assad fighters face defeat by overwhelming Russian air power and Syrian ground forces, and as the Saudi military itself is increasingly bogged down in Yemen.

Even as the Saudi regime dresses its bellicose rhetoric in humanitarian terms, it ultimately desires to protect the flow of foreign fighters into Northern Syria, which is its still hoped-for “available means” of toppling the Syrian government (or at least, at this point, permanent sectarian partition of Syria) – by Brad Hoff

From the document (more at the original site)

[…] It is also advantageous to increase pressure on the Russians by encouraging the Organization of Islamic States to exert some form of pressure by strongly brandishing Islamic public opinion, since Russia fears the Islamic dimension more than the Arab dimension.
In what pertains to the Syrian crisis, the Kingdom is resolute in its position and there is no longer any room to back down. The fact must be stressed that in the case where the Syrian regime is able to pass through its current crisis in any shape or form, the primary goal that it will pursue is taking revenge on the countries that stood against it, with the Kingdom and some of the countries of the Gulf coming at the top of the list. If we take into account the extent of this regime’s brutality and viciousness and its lack of hesitancy to resort to any means to realize its aims, then the situation will reach a high degree of danger for the Kingdom, which must seek by all means available and all possible ways to overthrow the current regime in Syria.
As regards the international position, it is clear that there is a lack of “desire” and not a lack of “capability” on the part of Western countries, chief among them the United States, to take firm steps […]

http://levantreport.com/2016/02/25/newly-translated-wikileaks-saudi-cable-overthrow-the-syrian-regime-but-play-nice-with-russia/

Comment by P.C. below of the article: Hard to understand how we could still be the “good guys” when we have this sick alliance with the theocratic intolerant Saudi regime, with whom we plot to overthrow a secular pluralistic Syrian state. U.S. foreign policy under Obama stands for the proposition that Saudi gets to pick the leader of Syria, backed up by the U.S. military and CIA. And these regime-change fanatics have created an Islamic army to accomplish this perverse goal. To these neocon regime change fanatics like Rubio, Hillary, W., Cheney, Obama, etc., I ask: How many Christians has Assad beheaded? Ghadaffi? Saddam?

24.2.2016 – Near Eastern Outlook (** B K P)

Saudi Arabia: On the Brink of Disintegration
But it seems that Europe is too far from Saudi Arabia as the present Saudi leaders do not know the rudiments of history. Not surprisingly, due to this very fact they have got involved simultaneously in three complicated and cruel wars. The first war is, of course, the Syrian conflict, which has occurred and is being continuously fomented by the Saudis, who have spent hundreds millions of dollars on the creation and generous financing of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, etc. At first glance, it may seem strange that these terrorist organisations just occasionally subject the Saudi regime to mild criticism for derogation from the norms of “real Islam”, but they do not go any far than that. For some reason, the terrorists do not take any military actions against the Saudis, though the terrorists, tempered in battle, need no more than three days to quickly cross the desert regions near the Saudi-Iraqi border in their Toyota trucks and occupy the main oil-bearing region of Al Hasa on the Persian Gulf shore. However that does not happen and the terrorists, for no reason whatsoever, do not leave the Syrian and Iraqi territory and prefer to die as a result of effective bombing by the Russian Military and Space Forces. Evidently, the Saudi leaders have generously sponsored not only the terrorists’ military activities but their death as well. But, given the low oil prices, the Saudi treasury will run empty earlier or later, and what will the enraged terrorists do then?

The second Saudi Arabia front comprises the unsuccessful military actions in Yemen where barefoot Houthis rebels are not only putting up adequate resistance to the Saudis and their satellites but also inflicting significant damage on them. This being the case, when the rebels are armed with rifles alone. Since March 26, Saudi Arabia, supported by military air forces of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, has been carrying out a military air operation against the rebels using the most advanced arms supplied from the United States. The coalition was also joined by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. According to UN data, 2,795 civilians died and 5,324 were wounded during escalation of the conflict. At that, Riyadh is widely using the USA banned weapons – cluster bombs. This was reported by the American organisation, Human Rights Watch, which insists on conducting a most thorough international investigation of the fact.

Experts are asking quite a reasonable question: what will happen when Iran supplies modern weapons to the rebels (as all the Saudi media are loudly sounding the alarm of these prospects). It will happen, sooner or later. In these circumstances, Yemen will easily regain the disputed territories that now form part of the Saudi provinces Najran, Jizan and Ha’il. Therefore, all the southern part of the modern Saudi Arabia will become the territory of Yemen, as was in the old times, and that might serve as the catalyst for disintegration of the whole kingdom.

The third front, on which the Saudis are fighting without any success, is the ill-thought-of tactics of decreasing oil prices.

It would seem that in these conditions, cutting external and non-core expenses (military operations expenses, financing terrorist organisations) and focusing on the economy would be a solution. However, the Saudi leaders, taking the bit between their teeth, are seeking a solution in yet new adventures. Some media reported that Saudi Arabia has taken the decision to start a land operation in Syria in the nearest future without waiting for the support from the other allies, as brigade General Akhmed al Asiri informed. This would be the case while the Saudis haven’t even succeeded in Yemen.

It is possible that Washington is deliberately drawing the Saudis into all kinds of adventures in order that changes in the state structure in the Arab Peninsula will occur sooner. There are up to $ 1 trillion worth of Saudi Arabia state funds stored in American banks, plus about half trillion dollars of private deposits. If Saudi Arabia falls apart it is almost impossible that any Saudi nationals will dare to make financial claims against Washington. The people who will be heads of the new states will be undoubtedly grateful to the United States and will need their assistance and supervision. For example, if the representative of the Hashemite delegation, the now ruling King of Jordan Abdallah II heads Hejaz, as his ancestors did for many centuries, and becomes the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, he will evidently retain good feeling towards Washington and its rulers.

Beyond any doubt, the new adventures and ill-conceived external and domestic initiatives, where the authorities resort to repressions and numerous executions in order to calm down the people, only serve to draw the historical outcome and the “Arab Spring” in the Arab Peninsula closer. It is possible that we will be witnesses to the situation where the last son of the great ibn Saud, who in olden days created Saudi Arabia, will become the last king of the desert monarchy in the Arab Peninsula – by Viktor Mihkin

http://journal-neo.org/2016/02/24/saudi-arabia-on-the-brink-of-disintegration/

24.2.2016 – Der Freitag (* B P)

Kronprinz Gnadenlos

Saudi-Arabien: Trotz aller ideologischen Nähe stehen sich das Regime und der IS in erbitterter Feindschaft gegenüber

Der IS hat es auf Saudi-Arabien mittlerweile besonders abgesehen. Mit Vorliebe verunglimpft der selbsternannte Kalif Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi das Herrscherhaus der Saud als Al Salul, in Anspielung auf einen Zeitgenossen Mohammeds, der nach außen hin den Islam pries, aber hinterrücks gegen den Propheten intrigierte. Im Vorjahr verübten IS-Kader im Königreich 15 Anschläge und töteten dabei 65 Menschen.

Im Frühjahr 2014 ächtete das Saud-Regime sowohl den IS als auch die Al-Nusra-Front, den syrischen Al-Qaida-Ableger, und verbot es seinen Bürgern grundsätzlich, im Ausland zu kämpfen. Finanzhilfen für den islamistischen Widerstand in Syrien brauchen nun den klandestinen Weg, Spendenaufrufe sind obsolet. Weniger gut gelang es, aufwieglerische Prediger zur Räson zu bringen. Heute betonen westliche Diplomaten, die angebliche Terror-Toleranz der Saudis sei ein „veraltetes Stereotyp“.

Etwa fünf Prozent der saudischen Bevölkerung – also gut 500.000 Menschen – gelten als IS-Anhänger. Was sie motiviert, ist nicht zuletzt die Bewunderung dafür, dass sich eine sunnitische Gruppierung kompromisslos gegen den Iran und die Schiiten stellt. Jenseits der Regierungskreise werden diese Zahlen durchaus als Problem wahrgenommen. Viele sehen die Schuld bei extremistischen Geistlichen, die ihre Lehren in den Moscheen verbreiten.

„Saudi-Arabien bietet nach wie vor den Nährboden für Radikalisierungen, deshalb hat der IS hier weiter viele Sympathisanten“, glaubt ein in Riad ansässiger Diplomat. „Nur eine Minderheit davon mag kampfbereit sein – und doch ist die Zahl der Terroranschläge im Inneren inzwischen wieder fast so hoch wie in den Al-Qaida-Jahren. Sie richten sich gegen Sicherheitskräfte und gegen Schiiten, genau wie im Irak – von Ian Black, The Guardian

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/the-guardian/kronprinz-gnadenlos

17.2.2016 – Chatham House (* B P)

Saudi Foreign Policy Is in a State of Flux

The accession of King Salman a year ago and the decision to lead a military intervention in Yemen mark a new phase for Saudi foreign policy.

With the outcome of the Yemen war still far from clear, the direction and the tools of Saudi foreign policy under King Salman are still being tested.

For their part, the Saudis, rather than giving blanket support for counter-revolution, have responded to the uprisings according to personalities and opportunities: supporting regime change directly in Syria and rhetorically in Libya, as both rulers were seen as enemies; sending tanks into Bahrain when a monarchy was threatened; engaging reluctantly with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and then supporting the military coup against it, to return to a version of the ancien regime. Saudi policy towards Yemen is almost the exact opposite of its policy towards Egypt: first, Saudi Arabia supported what they hoped would be a controlled transition away from the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Then, when a combination of ancien regime and revisionist forces carried out a coup, Saudi Arabia led an international military intervention to try to reverse it. The difference in policy largely reflects the Saudi fear of an Iranian role in Yemen.

Internationally, Saudi policymakers are keen to emphasize that their aim in Yemen is to reinstate the internationally recognized president, thereby upholding international norms; domestically and regionally, their narrative focuses on pushing Iranian influence out of the Arabian Peninsula, thereby maintaining a traditionally Arab sphere. Yet the war in Yemen is unable to restore the status quo ante. Instead it is exacerbating the country’s existing centrifugal tendencies by introducing a dangerous new element of sectarian politics that may lead to the breakup of the state. Meanwhile, criticism is quietly growing inside Saudi Arabia as well. What is clear overall is that the traditional assumptions about Saudi Arabia’s behaviour – for instance, that it would rely on arms only for deterrence, while basing its foreign policy on diplomacy and financial influence – can no longer be relied upon.

So far it is mainly the tools, and the ambition, that have changed, rather than the overall direction of foreign policy. As Saudi diplomats and academics articulate it, the Saudi authorities essentially want to protect their own internal stability; to be surrounded by friendly regimes that will do business with them and accept a Western role in the region; and to prevent the empowerment of groups with a transnational agenda that would destabilize Al Saud rule from bases in other countries. Thus, the rivalry with Iran has less to do with ethnic and sectarian issues than with opposition to Iranian power and influence in the region, just as the country saw Nasser’s pan-Arabism as an enemy. Tensions with Iran are at a particularly high pitch today because of Saudi objections to Iran’s role in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, as well as Saudi concerns that the US is failing to contain or deter Iran’s expansion of influence.

The suggestion that the Saudi state wants to 'Wahhabize' the region is a vast oversimplification: their closest friends in the Gulf are the relatively secular UAE and Bahraini ruling families, not the Qataris, though the latter are closer in terms of religious orientation by Jane Kinninmont

http://www.hoover.org/research/saudi-foreign-policy-state-flux = https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/saudi-foreign-policy-state-flux

Comment: “The suggestion that the Saudi state wants to 'Wahhabize' the region is a vast oversimplification”: Look everywhere from Yemen to Bahrain, Libya, Syria, having financed 22.000 madrasas in Pakistan, up to the Salafists distributing Qurans in German streets walking the streets of German Wuppertal with dresses stating them as “Sharia police” (this is all Saudi payed) and you know that it is obviously true “that the Saudi state wants to 'Wahhabize' the region” and no oversimplification at all.

23.2.2016 – Council on Foreign Relations (*B P)

[Discussion of about 1 hour, Audio and transcript]

Assessing Saudi Arabia's Future

Saudi Arabia Update: Rising Tensions, Strained Relations

Princeton University's Bernard Haykel and Karen Elliott House, author of On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - And Future, join Douglas Jehl, foreign editor of the Washington Post, to discuss Saudi Arabia's escalating tensions with Iran, as well as its relations with its regional neighbors and the United States. The conversation assesses the kingdom's economic challenges and its approach to managing global oil prices. Haykel and House consider King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud's leadership style and the role of the deputy crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, in the country's politics. Over the course of the discussion, the panelists discuss Saudi Arabia's approach to regional crises in the Middle East and its increasing geopolitical rivalry with Iran.

http://www.cfr.org/saudi-arabia/assessing-saudi-arabias-future/p37560

cp9 USA

23.2.2016 – Saudi Embassy on Twitter (A P)

Sec Kerry: #SaudiArabia “had to defend themselves” #Yemen

https://twitter.com/SaudiEmbassyUSA/status/702635264229953537

Comment: This is crazy far away from reality, is an Orwellian newspeak. Kerry: One of the worst foreign ministers the US ever had? If he would change the job with the charwoman cleaning his office every day, she definitely would do better.

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

25.2.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)

David Cameron boasts of 'brilliant' UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia

PM talks of government role in selling BAE defence equipment as EU parliament votes for arms embargo on country

David Cameron has boasted of his efforts to help sell “brilliant things” such as Eurofighter Typhoons to Saudi Arabia on the day the European parliament voted for an arms embargo on the country over its bombardment of Yemen.

The prime minister talked of the UK government’s role in selling equipment made by defence company BAE Systems to Saudi Arabia, Oman and other countries as he visited the firm’s factory in Preston.

The UK government has been providing training to Saudi forces on how to comply with international law as they identify targets for bombing. It has also been participating in efforts to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon military planes to Saudi Arabia, which has spent £3bn on UK aircraft, arms and other military kit in the last year alone.

Asked by an employee how he was helping boost exports of the Eurofighter, Cameron said: “With the Typhoon there is an alliance of countries: the Italians, Germans and ourselves. We spend a lot of time trying to work out who is best placed to win these export orders. We’ve got hopefully good news coming from Kuwait. The Italians have been doing a lot of work there. The British have been working very hard in Oman.

“I can see the planes being built right behind me here. We’ve got more work to do in Saudi Arabia. The Germans have done a lot of work as well. It is a collaborative project. We use the collective skills but also the collaborative muscles of all the governments to try and help make sure we can sell them around the world.”

He then gave a further reassurance to BAE that he would not let the EU referendum distract him from helping sell its products across the world. “I’m going to be spending a lot of the next four months talking about this issue but I promise I will not be taking my eye off the ball, making sure the brilliant things you make here at BAE Systems are available and sold all over the world. We have some of the toughest rules on defence exports – and rightly so – but I think it is absolutely right to get behind companies like this … to safeguard jobs and skills and investment by making sure we can sell these things around the world.” – by Rowena Mason

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/25/david-cameron-brilliant-uk-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-bae see also http://www.thenational.scot/politics/tories-are-happy-to-fuel-the-bombings-in-yemen-by-approving-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia.14254

Comment: Just a horrible fellow. What I wish him to get: a two weeks compulsory stay at Sanaa. And read more of what he said:

25.2.2016 - Express (* A P)

Saudi Arabia arms embargo backed by MEPs hours after Cameron makes sales pledge

[The resolution of the EU parliament] came soon after the Prime Minister said there was "more work to do in Saudi Arabia" to sell them "brilliant things" like the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Speaking at the BAE Systems factory in Warton, Lancashire where the jet is made, Mr Cameron added: "Here obviously we are at a great British company which is at the heart of our defence and manufacturing industry.

"But I could be standing in a company owned by a foreign business who obviously come and invest here in Britain because we have a great workforce, because we have got great skills.

"But they also come and invest because we are in the European Union, we are the launchpad for many businesses from Britain into Europe.

"Why put that at risk? Why have the uncertainty? In a dangerous and uncertain world, why take the leap in the dark? That is at the heart of the case I am making."

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/647615/Saudi-Arabia-arms-embargo-MEPs-hours-Cameron-sales-pledge

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

25.2.2016 – Der Standard (A P)

Europaparlament für Waffen-Embargo gegen Saudi-Arabien

Vor dem Hintergrund des blutigen Konflikts im Jemen hat sich das Europaparlament für ein Waffen-Embargo gegen Saudi-Arabien ausgesprochen. Mit großer Mehrheit stimmten die Abgeordneten am Donnerstag dafür, wegen seines destabilisierenden Einflusses im Jemen keine Waffen aus der EU mehr nach Saudi-Arabien zu liefern. Die EU-Staaten sind allerdings nicht verpflichtet, die Forderung des Parlaments umzusetzen

http://derstandard.at/2000031807587/EU-Parlament-fuer-Waffen-Embargo-gegen-Saudi-Arabien Siehe auch http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/krieg-in-nahost-eu-parlament-fordert-waffenembargo-gegen-saudi-arabien/13017828.html und mehr meldungen https://news.google.de/news/story?ncl=dZa7iN3cELlzeQMjCNRZ_gJfjNb_M&ned=de

25.2.2016 – Reuters (* A P)

European Parliament calls for Saudi arms embargo

The European Parliament called on the European Union to impose an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, saying Britain, France and other EU governments should no longer sell weapons to a country accused of targeting civilians in Yemen.

EU lawmakers, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of an embargo, said Britain had licensed more than $3 billion of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since Saudi-led forces began military operations in Yemen in March last year.

The parliament's vote is not legally binding but lawmakers hope it will pressure EU governments to agree to an embargo, following a petition of 750,000 European citizens calling for the suspension of weapon sales.

However, any EU embargo would go against U.S. President Barack Obama's policy of bolstering U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia after Washington brokered a deal with regional rival Iran last year to curtail Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

EU lawmakers warned the vote may prompt retaliation from Saudi Arabia, whose envoy to the European Union held several meetings with EU lawmakers and tried to dissuade the parliament.

"The Saudis said to me they may cut off relations. I hope those are just words," Howitt said, adding that the quickest way to avoid an arms embargo was to end the conflict in Yemen – by Robin Emmott

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VY1K1 = http://news.yahoo.com/european-parliament-calls-saudi-arms-embargo-122108339.html

25.2.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)

EU parliament votes for embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The European parliament voted by a large majority for an EU-wide ban on arms sales to the kingdom, citing the “disastrous humanitarian situation” as a result of “Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen”.

The vote does not compel EU member states to act but it does increase pressure on Riyadh, in the wake of criticism from the UN and growing international alarm over civilian casualties in Yemen.

Richard Howitt, the Labour MEP who drafted the key amendment, said: “This is a clear humanitarian appeal to end the bloodshed in Yemen, and call on Saudi Arabia to pursue a political rather than a military solution to the conflict.”

An earlier draft of the resolution that named and criticised the UK and other EU member states, including France, Spain and Germany, was dropped. The final version said “some EU member states” had continued to authorise transfers of weapons to Saudi Arabia since the violence started, in violation of EU rules on arms control.

The motion was passed by 359 votes to 212, as a diverse coalition of Socialists, Liberals, Greens, Leftists and Eurosceptics overcame opposition from the leadership of the two main centre-right groups, including Britain’s Conservatives. A separate resolution calling for a ceasefire in Yemen was supported by a larger number of MEPs.

The final resolution on arms control criticised the “intensification of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition”, despite a heavy lobbying campaign from the Gulf state in Brussels.

Howitt, who has had two meetings with Saudi government officials in recent weeks, said this campaign against the resolution showed its significance. “[The Saudis] don’t like it, they are calling it sanctions,” he said. “It is not sanctions, it is an obligation not to sell arms.” – by Jennifer Rankin

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/25/eu-parliament-votes-for-embargo-on-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia?CMP=twt_gu and from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/02/25/world/europe/ap-eu-europe-saudi-arms-embargo.html?_r=0 and from The National Scot http://www.thenational.scot/politics/tories-are-happy-to-fuel-the-bombings-in-yemen-by-approving-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia.14254

Comment: The actual figures of the vote?

25.2.2016 – Europäisches Parlament (A P)

P8_TA-PROV(2016)0066 Humanitäre Lage in Jemen Entschließung des Europäischen Parlaments vom 25. Februar 2016 zur humanitären Lage im Jemen (2016/2515(RSP))

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+TA+P8-TA-2016-0066+0+DOC+PDF+V0//DE

Kommentar: Das ist der vollständige (noch vorläufige) Wortlaut der zweiten Entschließung zur humanitären Lage im Jemen, nicht zum Waffenembargo. Der hier wiedergegebene Entschluss bekam noch eine größere Mehrheit.

25.2.2016 – European Parliament (A P)

Stop shelling civilians in Yemen, urge MEPs

A ceasefire that halts attacks against civilians, medical and aid workers, ground fighting and shelling in Yemen is urgently needed to allow life-saving aid to reach the Yemeni people, said MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. They also called on all parties in Yemen’s civil war and their foreign backers to engage in a new round of peace negotiations and seek a political settlement.

The European Parliament is gravely concerned at the deterioration of humanitarian situation in Yemen. The failure of successive governments there to meet the Yemeni people’s aspirations for democracy, stability and security led to the current crisis, which has left 21 million Yemeni people (82% of the total population) needing humanitarian assistance and prevented two million children from attending school, the resolution says.

MEPs urge Yemen’s warring parties to abide by a ceasefire deal, to allow life-saving aid, such as food or medicine, to reach the Yemeni people. They also call on all sides to refrain from directly targeting civilian infrastructure, medical facilities and water systems.

The resolution acknowledges that Saudi Arabia and Iran are instrumental in resolving the crisis in Yemen, but it also expresses grave concern "at the airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition and the naval blockade it has imposed on Yemen, which have led to thousands of deaths, [and] have further destabilised Yemen". MEPs call on EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini "to launch an initiative aimed at imposing an EU arms embargo against Saudi Arabia".

MEPs stress that only a political, inclusive and negotiated solution to the conflict can restore peace and preserve unity in Yemen. They urge all parties to engage in a new round of UN-led peace negotiations as soon as possible.

The resolution was passed by 449 votes to 36, with 78 abstentions.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/de/news-room/20160223IPR15513/Stop-shelling-civilians-in-Yemen-urge-MEPs

Comment: This is a second resolution, getting more consent.

25.2.2016 – The Independent (* A P)

European Parliament votes for EU-wide arms export embargo against Saudi Arabia

Recent opinion polling by Opinium found that 62 per cent of UK adults oppose arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with only 16 per cent supporting them.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said the sale of European weapons to the region was fuelling the war in the region and that EU member states should listen to the European Parliament.

“The European Parliament has sent a clear, strong and much needed message to governments like the UK, that have been complicit in the destruction of Yemen,” he said.

“The toxic combination of arms sales and political support has helped to fuel, facilitate and legitimise the humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place.” – by JonStone

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-arms-export-embargo-european-parliament-eu-wide-arms-export-embargo-uk-a6895226.html

25.2.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)

Saudis lobby MEPs before arms embargo vote over Yemen

Riyadh engaged in concerted effort to persuade European parliament not to pass amendment calling for EU sanctions because of bombing campaign

Saudi Arabia has mounted an intense lobbying campaign to try to prevent members of the European parliament voting for an arms embargo because of the Saudi military action in Yemen that has resulted in heavy civilian casualties.

As part of a concerted campaign, Saudi representatives have been meeting MEPs to try to persuade them not to back an amendment on Thursday that calls for a EU-wide embargo following “the serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia in Yemen”.

The Saudi ambassador to Brussels, Abdulrahman al-Ahmed, sent a letter to parliamentarians on Sunday in which in he pleaded with them not to vote for the amendment and defended his country’s military intervention.

In the four-page letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, he blamed the intervention mainly on Iran and insisted much of Saudi’s action had involved humanitarian aid.

He added that the Saudi intervention was partly in response to concern in the west about Yemen-based terrorists, including al-Qaida and Islamic State.

“Saudi Arabia has also answered the call from the west to take a greater role in combating terrorist instability throughout the Middle east and the consequences of our not intervening in Yemen’s conflict would have been far worse than the west could as yet imagine,” the ambassador wrote.

Ahmed, in his letter, countered the criticism of the Saudi military action, saying Riyadh had set up a “a high-level independent committee, in the field of weapons and international humanitarian law, to assess the incidents, authentication of procedures and the used targeting mechanism to develop it”.

He said in spite of Saudi Arabia’s own involvement in exporting extremist Wahhabism, one of its aims in Yemen was “the erosion of religious extremism”, adding that the kingdom has had to contend with “the threat of an Iranian destablisation campaign in eastern Arabia … Left unchecked by Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s political power shift and resulting civil war would have left that country deeply vulnerable to the violent influence of terror groups already inflaming the region.”

The ambassador said that the Houthi rebels being bombed by the Saudi-led coalition had bombed civilians, deployed child soldiers and used starvation as a weapon. The Saudis, by contrast, had dropped food and medicine in order to relieve the siege of Taiz.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/25/saudis-lobby-meps-before-arms-embargo-vote-over-yemen

Comment: As far as the letter of the ambassador is concerned, this article would fit very well to cp 15 Propaganda. The Saudis dropping food and medicine, by contrast to the Houthis, this is the most crazy piece of propaganda in this letter.

24.2.2016 – Molly Scott (A P)

Greens call for arms embargo against Saudi Arabia

Greens in the European Parliament are calling for an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia in the wake of serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by the country in Yemen.

Ahead of a vote in the Parliament tomorrow, Greens have put forward a motion condemning the Saudi Arabian-led coalition airstrikes against Yemen; calling for a halt to military confrontation and expressing deep concern that some Member States are still supplying arms to Saudi Arabia in breach of EU arms exports rules. Greens also say that ongoing licensing and direct military training by EU Member States should be considered complicity in war crimes.

“It is barbaric and totally immoral that we supply military equipment to a regime engaged in war crimes. Clearly Cameron sees the vested interests of the UK arms industry as more important than the lives of innocent children in Yemen. As for Saudi Arabia chairing the UN human rights council, this is an outrage that insults the many thousands of women, minorities and dissidents who have had their rights abused at the hands of this oppressive regime”.

http://mollymep.org.uk/2016/02/24/greens-call-for-arms-embargo-against-saudi-arabia/

24.2.2016 – Citta Nuova (B K P)

Silenzio sulle bombe vendute all’Arabia Saudita

«Inizia il carico. Ecco le prime bombe sulla pista. Gli operatori stanno cercando di coprire la visuale. Il carico inizierà non appena l'aeroporto sarà chiuso». È stato Mauro Pili , deputato del gruppo misto della Camera e già presidente della Regione, a documentare a fine 2015 sul web, in tempo reale e con tanto di foto, il transito di armamenti pesanti da porti e aeroporti della Sardegna verso l’ Arabia Saudita.

Immagini, documenti e testimonianze sono state raccolte e diffuse dal sito di giornalismo internazionale Reported.ly fin dal 2 maggio dello scorso anno

Come denunciano Amnesty International, Rete disarmo e Opal, anche l’Italia contribuisce, così, ad alimentare il fuoco che divora il Medio Oriente. Sembra del tutto vanificato il divieto stabilito, dopo una grande mobilitazione civile, dalla legge 185 del 1990 di commerciare e comunque far transitare armi verso Paesi in guerra come l’Arabia Saudita al centro di diversi conflitti. Uno dei fronti incandescenti è quello aperto, dal marzo 2015, in Yemen dove i vertici di Riyad guidano una coalizione che ha operato numerosi bombardamenti aerei anche su strutture sanitarie.

Come riportato sulla rivistaCittà Nuova, il governo italiano ha salutato come un successo straordinario la vendita di 28 caccia Eurofighter al Kuwait da parte di un consorzio capeggiato dall’italiana Finmeccanica – di Carlo Cefaloni

http://www.cittanuova.it/c/452619/Silenzio_sulle_bombe_vendute_allArabia_Saudita.html

22.2.2016 – Rabble.ca (* B P)

Saudi Arabia isn't the only despotic Gulf state Canada is helping oppress human rights

Across party lines, Canada's position on arms dealing with governments like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain has been crystal-clear: Where business interests and human rights may conflict, business prevails.

Earlier this month, Canadian officials visited Kuwait to talk up business. Montreal-based civil and military flight simulator company CAE recently built a flight simulator for the Kuwait Air Force, one of several Arab states currently flying fighter jets in Yemen that according to the United Nations, have killed or injured more than 8,000 civilians over the last eight months in a Saudi-led coalition.

"Great visit to @CAE_Defence's impressive new KC-130J flight sim[ulator] & facility with @CanadaKuwait CDN Ambassador Moreau," Cameron McKenzie, a vice president at the Canadian Commercial Corporation, recently tweeted.

But General Dynamics and CAE aren't the only Canadian companies happily supplying Gulf regimes with defence and arms outfits. According to Bahrain's Tender Board website, Guelph-based internet filtering company Netsweeper has offered the government a "national website filtering solution" for $1.17 million.

In other words, they're happy to stifle legitimate political dissent and actively contribute to human rights abuses in Bahrain -- which, like Saudi Arabia, sentences bloggers, poets and activists to life sentences and is widely known to torture detainees.

Why are Canadian companies helping to quell legitimate dissent and promoting human rights abuses in Gulf countries? And can Ottawa set up new ethical standards of acceptable behaviour for companies that export censorship and surveillance technologies?

In other areas of diplomacy, the Trudeau government has demonstrated boldness and courage in reclaiming Canada's reputation on the world stage: Ending air strikes against Islamic State, and throwing open its doors to thousands of Syrian refugees.

How does it make sense to take those steps while simultaneously selling arms and censorship technologies to some of the worst human rights abusers on earth? – by Shenaz Kermalli

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/shenaz-kermalli/2016/02/saudi-arabia-isnt-only-despotic-gulf-state-canada-helping-opp

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

Siehe auch cp 10, 12 (Großbritannien; Andere Länder) / See also cp 10, 12 (Great Britain, Other countries)

26.2.2016 – Amnesty International (** B K P)

£18bn in arms sold to Saudi Arabia last year - new report

Arms control campaigners say countries selling weapons despite clear risk of misuse in Yemen

‘It’s truly sickening … Monday’s meeting in Geneva must not fiddle while Yemen burns’ - Anna Macdonald

Campaigners are today calling on governments due to attend the latest round of discussions on the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in Geneva on Monday to stop selling billions of pounds’ worth of deadly weapons to Saudi Arabia being used to attack Yemeni civilians.

In a new report released today (26 February), the Control Arms Coalition names the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the US as having issued licences for arms to Saudi Arabia worth more than £18bn in 2015 - including drones, bombs, torpedoes, rockets and missiles. These are the types of arms currently being used by Saudi Arabia and its allies for gross violations of human rights and possible war crimes during aerial and ground attacks in Yemen.

Based on the limited public domain information available, the report estimates the total reported value of arms export licences and announced sales to Saudi Arabia was more than £18bn during 2015. Of this, ATT states parties accounted for over £3.5bn, though the exact amount is likely to be much higher. Many states have still not yet fully reported on licences approved or transfers made over the period 2014-15, but they include the following:

+Between 1 January and 30 September 2015 - the UK issued a total of 152 licences for exports of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, totalling £2.94bn - seven of these licences were worth a total of more than £1bn for bombs, torpedoes, rockets and missiles

+From January to June 2015 - Spain authorised eight licences for export of aircraft, fire control systems, bombs, torpedoes, rockets and missiles to Saudi Arabia worth £20m

+From January to November 2015 - Italy exported arms, ammunition and spare parts to Saudi Arabia worth £28.5m

Under the ATT, all arms deals must be assessed against strict criteria, including the risk of the arms being used for serious human rights violations or war crimes, or of being diverted for terrorist and other criminal acts. The treaty requires that if the transferring state has reasonable knowledge to anticipate that the arms would be used in war crimes, or there is a substantial risk the export will breach any of those criteria, the arms transfer cannot be authorised. All the arms-exporting countries identified in the report have signed up to the ATT, which has the aim of “reducing human suffering” through new global rules for the arms trade, which forbid arms transfers that would be used for war crimes or risk being used for serious violations of international law.

Violations are also being committed by Houthi forces, who according to UN experts have captured and acquired arms via diversion, though today’s report does not address this issue due to a lack of reliable data.

Governments are attending the Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of States Parties to the ATT in Geneva on Monday to discuss how implementation of the ATT will be funded and other logistical details regarding the treaty’s official secretariat.

Yemeni researcher Nawal al-Maghafi, who has witnessed the aftermath of recent airstrikes in Yemen and will be attending Monday’s meeting, said:

“These countries are arming and aiding a campaign that’s bombing, killing and starving civilians.

“I have witnessed the reality Yemenis are having to endure - watching bodies pulled from underneath the rubble in Sana'a or seeing body parts strewn across the site of a water-plant hit by an airstrike in Hajjah or attending a wedding party only to see it turn into a funeral.

“Yemen needs a peaceful, negotiated settlement. Its people need humanitarian assistance, not more bombs. But instead these countries are helping to escalate this war, aiding a cruel regime that knows it is bombing civilians. This is criminal - literally. And these governments must be held responsible for it.”

Control Arms has called on States Parties to include a discussion of the grave situation in Yemen as part of Monday’s meeting, and to commit immediately to halting the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia and to its allies where these are at serious risk of being used in Yemen.

Anna Macdonald, Director of Control Arms, said:

“Governments such as the UK and France were leaders in seeking to secure an ATT - and now they are undermining the commitments they made to reduce human suffering by supplying Saudi Arabia with some of the deadliest weapons in the world. It’s truly sickening.

“There is irrefutable evidence showing that these weapons are being used to target residential areas and civilian objects. Around 35,000 people have been killed or injured in less than a year already in this conflict and more than 2.5m people have lost their homes. Enough is enough.

“Monday’s meeting in Geneva must not fiddle while Yemen burns - governments must address this major breach of the ATT. States supplying weapons to Saudi must stop making huge profits from the suffering of Yemeni families and start applying the strict criteria set down in the ATT to all future arms transfers.”

Amnesty International’s Head of Arms Control and Human Rights Brian Wood said:

“Given the obvious high risks, we appeal to all states to immediately halt arms transfers and military support to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that are capable of being used to commit or facilitate further serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Yemen.”

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/%C2%A318bn-arms-sold-saudi-arabia-last-year-new-report

25.2.2016 – Heute.at (* B K P)

Österreichischen Rüstungsfirmen ist es nicht erlaubt, Waffen in Krisengebiete zu exportieren. Trotzdem ist der Schwarzmarkt in Jemen mittlerweile mit österreichischen Sturmgewehren vom Typ Steyr AUG derart überflutet, dass die Waffen mittlerweile zu Spottpreisen verschleudert werden. Schuld daran ist Saudi-Arabien. Das EU-Parlament fordert nun ein Waffenembargo.

Das Steyr AUG, das österreichischen Bundesheer-Soldaten unter der Bezeichnung "StG 77" bekannt ist, ist weltweit begehrt. Da das Sturmgewehr strengen Exportauflagen unterliegt, sind die Schwarzmarktpreise dafür üblicherweise relativ hoch. Im Kriegsland Jemen ist das Gewehr jedoch inzwischen so einfach zu haben, dass sie inzwischen zu Schleuderpreisen zu haben sind.
Die Sturmgewehre tauchten zum ersten Mal vor rund sechs Monaten im Jemen auf, wie ein jemenitischer Waffenexperte im Telefoninterview im "Ö1-Mittagsjournal" schilderte. "Anfangs, als sie noch selten waren, musste man für eines der Gewehre rund 10.000 US-Dollar bezahlen. Inzwischen sind sie schon für 2.500 Dollar zu haben", so der Experte. Das entspricht der Preisklasse einer Kalaschnikow AK-47.

Die Flut an Steyr-Sturmgewehren kommt aus Saudi-Arabien. Seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre ist das Gewehr bei den dortigen Streitkräften in Verwendung. Seit die Saudis vergangenes Jahr in den jemenitischen Bürgerkrieg eingegriffen haben, rüsten sie nicht nur die Truppen des jemenitischen Präsidenten Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi gratis mit den österreichischen Waffen aus, sondern werfen diese sogar per Fallschirm in Jemen ab.

Die regierungstreuen Stämme, für die sie bestimmt sind, verkaufen die Waffen aber einfach weiter - an die schiitischen Houthi-Rebellen ebenso wie an die Extremisten von Al-Kaida und dem jemenitischen Ableger der Terrormiliz "Islamischer Staat" (IS). Zahlreiche Twitterer aus dem Jemen dokumentieren die Verbreitung des Sturmgewehrs in sozialen Netzwerken.

Das ist ein klarer Verstoß gegen den Importvertrag mit Österreich, der eine Weitergabe - besonders in Krisengebiete - verbietet.

http://www.heute.at/news/politik/Saudis-ueberfluten-Jemen-mit-Austro-Sturmgewehren;art23660,1261849

25.2.2016 – Die Presse (* A K P)

Waffenexport: Steyr-Sturmgewehre für Kämpfer im Jemen

In den 1980er-Jahren hat Österreich Sturmgewehre nach Saudiarabien verkauft, die nun plötzlich an allen Fronten im jemenitischen Bürgerkrieg Verwendung finden.

Wie viele der österreichischen Gewehre im Jemen kursieren, weiß niemand. Aber der Preis sei aussagekräftig, meint Al-Radhi. „Wenn der Preis eines seltenen westlichen Gewehrs wie des AUGs derart nach unten schießt, dass es sogar mit der Kalaschnikow konkurriert, dann bedeutet dies, dass es auf dem Markt sehr viele davon gibt“, erklärt er. Das Prinzip von Angebot und Nachfrage trifft auch auf dem Waffenmarkt zu.

Bei den Steyr-Gewehren handelt es sich anscheinend um solche aus einer Lieferung, die in den 1980er-Jahren völlig rechtskonform an Saudiarabien gegangen ist.

„Die erste Welle wurde an Fallschirmen abgeworfen, an die Verbündeten der Saudis. Einige sind dann bei radikaleren Gruppen gelandet, die gegen die Houthis kämpfen, auch bei Jihadisten der al-Qaida und des Islamischen Staats. Andere haben sogar den Weg zu den Houthis, den Gegnern der Saudis, gefunden.“ Nun seien sie überall privat zu erstehen. „Diese Waffen sind jetzt im ganzen Land zu finden. Die Saudis haben die Waffen auch an die Stämme verteilt, die gegen die Houthis kämpfen. Und diese haben sie einfach weiterverkauft“, sagt er.

Die Ironie dabei: 2008 hatte die jemenitische Regierung, noch lang vor dem Sturz des Präsidenten Saleh und dem Bürgerkrieg, versucht, Gewehre aus Österreich einzukaufen. Damals wurde der Export verweigert, erinnert sich Al-Radhi. Heute würden die Gewehre halt über dem Jemen abgeworfen.

Bei der Firma Steyr heißt es, man äußere sich nicht zu Gerüchten von aufgetauchten Waffen. „Der diesbezügliche Rechtsrahmen in Österreich zählt zu den strengsten Waffenausfuhrnormen weltweit“.

Das sei sicherlich richtig, antwortet der jemenitische Waffenexperte Al-Radhi. Österreich habe sich offenbar an die Regeln gehalten. „Aber Saudiarabien hat die Regeln gebrochen, als es jetzt diese Waffen an eine dritte Partei im Jemen weitergeliefert hat“, betont er. Er erhebt nun die Forderung, dass Österreich keine weiteren Waffen an Saudiarabien liefern dürfe. Denn eines sei klar: „Mit diesen österreichischen Waffen werden im Jemen heute Menschen getötet – von Karim Al-Gawhary

http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/4933618/Waffenexport_SteyrSturmgewehre-fur-Kaempfer-im-Jemen?_vl_backlink=/home/index.do

Kommentar: Not kennt kein Gebot. Egal, an wen, man macht eben die von den Saudis gelieferten Waffen zu Geld. Auch wenn sie also zunächst in den (im Sinn der Saudis) richtigen Händen gelandet sind, sind dann sehr schnell alle kämpfenden Gruppen damit versorgt, und der Kampf gewinnt allgemein an Brutalität. Und was hier für den Jemen gesagt wird, gilt natürlich ebenso für Syrien, wo die von den Saudis und dem Westen gelieferten Waffen auf diese Weise sehr schnell in die Hände aller kämpfenden Parteien gelangt sind, IS eingeschlossen. Und jetzt wollen die Saudis auch noch Boden-Luft-Raketen an syrische Rebellen liefern – auf dass der IS dann westliche und russische Flugzeuge abschießen kann.

cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy

26.2.2016 – The Arab Weekly (* B E)

Yemen war undermines economy

War has taken severe toll on Yemen’s economy, with its gross domestic product shrinking 28.1% in 2015.

The war, raging in several Yemeni governorates, worsened living con­ditions in one of the poorest Arab countries. Butane and oil products are increasingly hard to find and expensive. Prices of food and other consumer goods have skyrocketed.

Before the war, more than half of Yemen’s population lived in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day) and more than half of the youth were unemployed, the World Bank says. These numbers have increased and more than 20 million Yemenis — 82% of the population — are considered poor.

International aid organisations have lambasted the blockade, ostensibly imposed to stop weapons shipments from Iran to the Houthis. The World Food Programme has accused the coalition of stop­ping a relief ship from reaching the port city of Hodeida.

Oil products are hard to find in stations authorised by the government-owned Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation. Instead, importers sell their shipments to intermediaries for resell to consumers.

This created a black market in which petrol sells for $26 per 20 litres; triple the official price. Tank­ers parked along roadsides sell most of the imported oil products directly to Yemenis.

Jamil el-Hashedi, a taxi driver, relies on these supplies. “I fill my car from these tankers in order to avoid stopping work for days while waiting for my turn at petrol stations,” he said.

If black market supplies were unavailable, he would be obliged to queue for petrol at a station, sometimes for several days. “In this event, I would take turns with another person in return for 2,000 riyals per day,” Hashedi said.

The war has taken a severe toll on Yemen’s economy, with its gross domestic product shrinking 28.1% in 2015, the International Monetary Fund said. The country’s oil production was 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, down from 111,000 bpd in 2014 and 190,000 bpd in 2011, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. As a result, oil revenues dropped to $70 million in 2015 from $4.5 billion in 2014 and $7.7 billion in 2011.

“It is possible that soon there will be no oil revenues in Yemen because there are no investments in the oil sector, not to mention the damage inflicted on it by armed competing tribes and factions,” economist Rashid Haddad said.

He said inflation — 30% in 2015 — will increase with declining riyal exchange rates and shrinking for­eign reserves at the central bank.

“Who still lives in Yemen?” he asks. “Those who cannot afford to flee or those who are profiteering from the war. The overwhelming majority is paying heavily for hav­ing to live in very bad economic conditions.” – by Mohammad Abou Kassem

http://www.thearabweekly.com/?id=4027

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

25.2.2016– Consortium News (**B P T)

How US Helps Al Qaeda in Yemen

he Obama administration, eager to assuage Saudi Arabia’s anger over the Iran nuclear deal and the failure to achieve “regime change” in Syria, has turned a blind eye to Riyadh’s savaging of Yemen, even though that is helping Al Qaeda militants expand their territory.

In the midst of this Hobbesian nightmare, militant followers of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants are making a rapid comeback after being crippled in 2012.

Recently seizing numerous towns, including two provincial capitals, AQAP now dominates much of three provinces. And a new report suggests that AQAP insurgents are fighting alongside pro-Saudi forces in a savage battle for control of the large city of Taiz, northwest of the port of Aden.

As Jane’s Intelligence Weekly reported to its clients recently, “Exploiting a persistent security vacuum and the absence of effective state institutions, AQAP is in the process of asserting itself as the dominant actor across much of southern Yemen. The territory currently controlled by AQAP is larger than the area it held in 2011, when the group’s area of control reached its peak” during a popular rising against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Like followers of Islamic State, AQAP jihadists are now pressing their attacks against government forces in Aden, where they recently killed a general who commanded regional operations.

“The group may well be reconstructing the quasi-state it ruled at the height of its power in 2011 and 2012,” commented Katherine Zimmerman of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. “AQAP is becoming an ever-more serious threat to American national security, and no one is doing much about it.”

Even allowing for the usual threat inflation from this prominent neoconservative sanctuary, the fact remains that AQAP is successfully exploiting the turmoil of civil war to make significant territorial gains. It has proven adept at governing and is often welcomed by a population that deeply resents the violence brought to Yemen by Houthi insurgents and their Saudi-backed enemies.

Meanwhile, U.S. air strikes against AQAP have accomplished little or nothing. As The Long War Journal observed recently, “Although AQAP has lost several key leaders in American drone strikes since early 2015, this has not slowed al Qaeda’s guerrilla war. . . . Not only has AQAP continued to gain ground, it also quickly introduced new leaders to serve as public faces for the organization.”

Events in Yemen are reaffirming a lesson that should have been learned in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria: Civil wars breed vicious killers who thrive on conflict and jump from battlefield to battlefield with the help of modern technology and zealous supporters. American intervention in those civil wars invariably blows back against us.

By contributing to Yemen’s failure as a state, Washington is creating fertile ground for the renewed growth of anti-American terrorism there. The White House may not care much about the overall havoc wreaked by the Yemen war — as evidenced by its extensive support for Saudi Arabia’s war crimes — but it should be under no illusion that Fox News and Republican members of Congress will go easy when the next terrorist attack by AQAP kills Americans at home or abroad – by Jonatahn Marshall

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/25/how-us-helps-al-qaeda-in-yemen/

Comment: A good overview of the rise of Al Qaida in Yemen.

24.2.2016 – The Financial Times (**B T)

Al-Qaeda Is Taking Control of a Pivotal Middle-East Country

The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen has resulted in a slippery slope that is now threatening the entire world.

Yet, the most alarming consequence of the Yemeni war is the rise of al-Qaeda in the country and the emergence of ISIS, the splinter group responsible for directing the Paris attacks last November and inspiring the San Bernardino shooting the following month. Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, which is called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is the most dangerous part of the global terror organization. Its record in attacking the West includes the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris in January 2015, the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, and the killing of the American photojournalist Luke Somers in December 2014.

During the last few weeks, al-Qaeda in Yemen consolidated its grip in southern Yemen, capturing at least six towns on the Arabian Sea, securing about half of the Yemen coast and a quarter of the country’s land. Taking advantage of the turmoil, the terror group holds more lands than the Houthi rebels.

The rise of al-Qaeda in Yemen is a direct result of the civil war. The terror group has used the preoccupation of the U.S, the West and the region’s government with ISIS to resurge in Yemen. The U.S. has been involved in a war of drones against al-Qaeda for 15 years, killing many senior leaders of the group. However, this approach has no affect on the ground, as al-Qaeda continues to expand and replace its fallen commanders.

Another factor contributing to the growth of al-Qaeda’s operations in Yemen is the blind-eye policy that the Saudi led coalition is taking toward the group. While the Saudis target al-Qaeda occasionally, the group’s reign hasn’t really been challenged by any reliable force on the ground. On the contrary, the Saudi-supported Yemeni government forces fought sometimes alongside al-Qaeda against the Houthi rebels as it was revealed in the case of the battle to control the southern city of Taiz.

Al-Qaeda will use its expanded base to further destabilize the region of the Horn of Africa, where its ally, the Somali terror group al-Shabab, is operating. That could lead to the resumption of piracy in the Arabian Sea. More broadly, plots to attack the U.S. and the West will multiply – by Riyadh Mohammed

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/02/24/Al-Qaeda-Taking-Control-Pivotal-Middle-East-Country = http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-is-taking-control-of-a-pivotal-middle-east-country-2016-2?IR=T

23.2.2016 – Center for Security Policy (B T)

AQAP Continues Their Push Through Weak Opposition in Yemen

By taking Ahwar, AQAP is creating a region of influence along the coast line. The government forces and Gulf Coalition are primarily focused on the Northwest portion of the country, and this leaves the rest of Yemen virtually ungoverned. AQAP, and to some degree the Islamic State (IS), has taken full advantage of this situation, and has quickly seized important cities in Yemen.

AQAP’s push through the Southern coast of Yemen is drawing the group closer to the current capital, Aden. After the government forces were expelled from Sanaa, they soon moved to Aden where they are still in control. While the government has control over the majority of the city, AQAP has been able to seize several neighborhoods on the outskirts. By controlling the entire Southern coast, AQAP may be attempting to cut the government off from its allies in the South, primarily the PRF.

If AQAP successfully establishes control over the Southern coast of Yemen it gives the group the ability to threaten a sizeable shipping lane, along with access to support their fellow Al Qaeda ally in Somalia, Al Shabaab.

The situation in Yemen is unlikely to change and AQAP will continue to poses a threat to Aden as long as the Saudi-led coalition remains focused exclusively on the Iranian-backed Houthis and the PRF militias remain a relatively weak force – by Kevin Samolsky

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2016/02/23/aqap-continues-their-push-through-weak-opposition-in-yemen/

22.2.2016 – Memri (* B T)

Former ISIS Fighter In Yemen Reveals How ISIS Fakes Videos And Uses Fighters As Actors

On February 19, 2016, the Al-Hidaya media group, which is associated with Al-Qaeda, published a 12-minute video titled "The Hollywood Reality Of Al-Baghdadi Group." The video, which was posted on the group's official Twitter account (@Hedayh_701), features the testimony of Abu 'Ataa' Al-Sanaa'ni, a former member of ISIS in Yemen who recently defected from its ranks and wished to expose the truth behind the organization's conduct. He discusses ISIS's policy of indiscriminately targeting mosques and spilling the blood of innocent Sunnis, as well as the "forgeries" published by its media department.

Abu 'Atta' first says that he had first decided to join Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) some 18 months ago, but that one of his ISIS commanders convinced him to join their ranks instead. However, he eventually decided to abandon ISIS and to expose the two main factors that led him to make this decision:

The first factor was ISIS's indiscriminate bombing of mosques in Yemen with no regard to the Sunni worshippers present at the time. Abu 'Ataa' states that he was a member of ISIS's suicide bomber cadre, but decided to avoid carrying out a suicide mission after being instructed to blow himself up in a mosque that was mostly frequented by Sunni worshippers.

The second issue addressed by Abu 'Ataa' is the "information lies" by ISIS in Yemen. Abu 'Ataa' is seen in the video standing in front of a projector playing the video "Those Refuting Injustice", published by ISIS Yemen in late September 2015.[1] Abu 'Ataa' says that he was staying in a safe house in Hadhramaut with other fighters, when an ISIS Yemen information activist came by and asked them to participate in the filming of a video. They were taken to a location and served as actors, playing both ISIS fighters and their Houthi captives. Abu 'Ataa' points to a scene in the video showing him supposedly shooting Houthis with his comrade Frauq Al-Dahrami. He says that he and his friends were also supposed to play Houthis fleeing for their lives in another scene, but that it was not filmed due to curious onlookers gathering on the set. Another scene in the video, which shows ISIS fighters storming a house where Houthi soldiers were staying actually features the ISIS safe house where Abu 'Ataa' was staying. He is seen in the actual house explaining how the scenes were originally shot and says that the ISIS information activist, Abu 'Othman Al-Hijazi, actually plays a dead Houthi soldier inside the house. Abu 'Ataa' says that the blood on Al-Hijazi's face was simply red paint. The video later shows scenes from the original ISIS Yemen video with the red caption "Lies."

At the end of the video, Abu 'Ataa' addresses all those who remained in the ranks of ISIS and says: "Listen to the advice of a brother who desires the best for you. Leave this group, which has ruined more than it has built, and has divided more than it has united."

[1] See MEMRI JTTM Report, ISIS Yemen Video Shows Executions Of Houthi Captives, Destruction Of Security Prison, September 30, 2015.

http://www.memrijttm.org/former-isis-fighter-in-yemen-reveals-how-information-activists-fake-videos-and-use-fighters-as-actors.html

cp15 Propaganda

25.2.2016 – Ahram Online (A P)

Keeping Syria, losing Yemen?

Editor-in-chief of the Yemeni Al-Shahed newspaper, Abdel Aziz Al-Majidi, told the Weekly that Tehran, via threats issued by Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, is trying to bolster the Houthi militias with illusory morale.

The objective is to drive them to suicidal courage in the face of the national army and popular resistance on the basis of the belief that “intervention” is on its way and will reverse the equations and change the game. “Intervention”, here, is a reference to talk of an Iranian ground offensive in Yemen, following the Saudi proposal of a ground offensive in Syria.

“But the situation is not so simple,” Al-Majidi continues. “Tehran knows very well that freeing Sanaa from the grip of its terrorist militias is only a matter of time. Therefore, it tossed out a bubble to drive its sectarian ally to greater suicidal fervour in the field and to gain more time to arrange the situation in Syria before losing Sanaa. But they are hollow messages and the coalition is aware of their significance.”

He added: “Yemen was no more than a lucky card that Tehran played. It invested a lot in it, truly, but its calculations stemmed from the attitude that if Yemen yielded to it, that would great, but if it met too strong of an obstacle, Yemen would be no more than a good hotbed of anarchy and a bargaining card for Damascus.”

Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, in a moment of frankness, predicted this around two years ago when he said that under the best of circumstances, Tehran will barter way Sanaa in exchange for an Alawi sectarian state in Syria subordinate to the supreme leader and connected in a single coastal line to the southern suburbs (meaning Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold) – by Ahmed Aleiba

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/188474/World/Region/Keeping-Syria,-losing-Yemen.aspx

Comment: Now even the political and psychological support of Iran for the Houthis (“Cheerleading”) is worth a great objection to Iran. This is rather stupid: The Houthis would be totally outgunned, but thanks to Iranian cheerleading they do not realize that and continue fighting with “greater suicidal fervor”. Blindness combined with a propaganda spin generates such follies.

25.2.2016 – Arab News (A P)

Ill-informed analyses of KSA

The prevailing theory, however, among Saudi Arabia’s critics is that the country can’t sustain itself by waging wars on two fronts i.e. against the Houthis in Yemen and Daesh in Syria while at the same time deal with its “political struggles.” Critics allege the Saudi government is faced with the threat of Iran’s meddling inside its borders and fending off dissenters. These issues, combined with low oil prices, are a recipe for Saudi Arabia’s own Arab Spring, according to critics, which is totally wrong and not consistent with reality.

If there is any danger of dissatisfied Saudis it lies not in political upheaval, but in leaving the country. A recent survey suggested that five percent of the Saudi population have emigrated to other countries, which is a significant brain drain of vital talent. Most Saudis want to return to their country after receiving a western education, but it’s not unreasonable that a portion of those students, as well as experienced professionals, see greener pastures elsewhere.
Overlooked and profoundly underestimated by institutions hoping for Saudi Arabia’s fall is Saudi society’s commitment to Islam and what it means to be a Muslim. No Saudi or Muslim expatriate worker, no matter what his attitude toward the government, would consider endangering the stability of the land of the Two Holy Mosques and would fight to his last dying breath to preserve the Kingdom’s two holy cities.
Remarkably, nearly 15 years after the fall of the Twin Towers on 9/11, western analysts, with their secular biases, fail to understand how Islam is woven into Saudi culture. Upheaval in Saudi Arabia is an assault on Islam. Most Saudis born before 1970 remember the 1979 siege by militants of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the collective chill we felt that our most sacred place of worship was violated. That crime against Islam was crushed and we became stronger because of it.
There is a new Saudi Arabia — a country that has taken all steps to protect itself and the region by developing a bolder strategy to ensure the region doesn’t fall into further chaos. That means ending Iranian aggression in Yemen. And it means snuffing out Daesh in Syria and Iraq because western nations are unwilling or incapable of ending the existence of Daesh, which they helped create.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/885866

Comment: There have been many critical analyses of Saudi Arabia in western media. That is not astonishing that there is a replica from a Saudi point of view now. Convinced? No.

24.2.2016 – The Peninsula Qatar (A H P)

Qatari donors offer $117m for Yemen

A three-day conference on Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen that ended here yesterday announced to raise $223m from donors over the next three years for humanitarian and relief work in the country.

Of the targeted $223m which would help meet the humanitarian needs of the Yemeni people, $117m will come from Qatari donors.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/371912/qatari-donors-offer-117m-for-yemen and see also http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/188449/World/Region/Yemen-gets-aid-pledges-of-more-than--million.aspx

Comment: Bomb them, then feed them. What is the cost of 1 day aerial war against Yemen? I remember a figure of $ 200m.

24.2.2016 – Qatar News Agency (A H P)

Yemen Hails Qatar's Supportive Stances

The Yemeni government praised Qatar's stances in support of Yemen on the political and relief fronts as well as its efforts to enhance Yemen's unity, security and stability.
Speaking to QNA on the sidelines of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen conference, Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi said his governments appreciates the honorable stances of Qatar on the political, development, relief and humanitarian fronts. "Qatar, in all the ordeals that Yemen has been through, has always stood beside the human being and beside Yemen, all of Yemen." He added that hosting the conference stresses the keenness on Qatar and all GCC states on supporting Yemen's stability and considering its security part and parcel of the region's security and stability.

http://www.qna.org.qa/en-us/News/16022418250081/Yemen-Hails-Qatars-Supportive-Stances

Comment: I did not expect anything else. Hailing the Saudis and Gulf states is one of the main tasks of the Hadi government.

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

2.2016 – Legal Center for Right and Development (A K PH)

Saudische Luftangriffe Tag für Tag / Saudi air raids day by day

24. Feb.:

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/594688847348151/?type=3&theater

23. Feb.:

https://www.facebook.com/551288185021551/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/594483417368694/?type=3&theater

24.2.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)

13 killed in Saudi airstrikes in northern Yemen

At least 13 people have been killed in airstrikes carried out by Saudi jets in Yemen’s northern Jawf Province.

The Yemeni al-Masirah television said on Wednesday that the airstrikes, which targeted trucks carrying foodstuff eight times, took place in Jawf’s town of al-Matammah.

Different areas in Jawf were also attacked by Saudi airstrikes.

The news source also reported an airstrike against the town of Sirwah in the eastern Ma’rib Province. Two residential areas and a medical center also came under attack in Sirwah.

http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/24/452155/Yemen-Hudaydah-Marib

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

25.2.2016 – Nachrichtensignal 301 (A K)

Film: Islam-Rebellen greifen Ölpipeline in Saudi Arabien an | Khadra Landhafen, Najran #Yemen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yc2loeCDII

25.2.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)

Yemeni forces kill 50 Saudi troops in missile attack

Yemeni forces have managed to kill at least 50 Saudi troops, including commanders, in a ballistic missile attack in the country’s northern Jawf province.

The Yemeni army, backed by Popular Committees loyal to the Houthi Ansarullah movement, targeted a Saudi military installation in Beir al-Maraziq region with a Qaher 1 ballistic missile in the early hours of Wednesday, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website added that a large number of Saudi troopers have also sustained injuries in the attack.

The Yemeni surface-to-surface missile also destroyed a number of military equipment of the installation and inflicted heavy damage to its infrastructure.

Separately, Yemeni forces targeted a gathering of the Saudi military and armored vehicles with artillery shelling in the al-Waze'yah district of the southwestern Ta'izz province and caused damage to the vehicles.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/24/452171/Yemen-Saudi-Hadi-Houthi-Qaher-1-Jawf = http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/02/25/737019/story.html and by Fars News: http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941206000542 and see also: http://beforeitsnews.com/politics/2016/02/yemen-update-2242016-yemeni-forces-destroy-10th-saudi-warship-2781584.html (films)

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-106

Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-106: / Yemen Press Reader 1-106:

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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