Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
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 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp13c Blockade
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
8.3.2015 – Stop War (*** B K P)
From Afghanistan to Ukraine, a complicit media has blood on its hands
WITH Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine and now Ukraine, the Western mainstream media, through its one sided narrative, has failed the citizens of the West and in doing so is complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people affected by Western military actions.
It has acted as a mouthpiece for hawks and warmongers through its dissemination of lies, manipulations and deliberate distortions.
Why should this ‘profession’ of journalists be held in such high esteem, when most of us who obtained a reasonable capability in shorthand could transcribe, word for word what they are told by respective governments, with no recourse to the due diligence of investigation.
Too many times, erroneous and very damaging assertions by a complicit media are passed over as unfortunate mistakes. Mistakes which enable nations to be devastated by the warmongers to whom they offer dictation services.
Dissenting journalists in the style of John Pilger, Seymour Hersh, Robert Parry, Helen Thomas, Jonathan Cook, Finnian Cunningham, Felicity Arbuthnot, Pepe Escobar and many more, who offer real investigative journalism and insight into geo-political strategies which embroil us in successive conflicts, are given a platform only on media which has to be sought out, not offered on mainstream radio, television or print media.
This imprisons those who have a capacity for critical thinking into a mainstream narrative through a lack of accessible alternative information.
Respect must go to Matt Lee, who constantly probes successive White House spokespeople, unlike the standard tradition of White House Correspondents.
We should all be aware that the euphemistic use of language by these spokespeople, and similarly by our own government representatives, disguises an on-going strategy of advancing the Western model across the world by way of destabilisation under the guise of ‘democracy promotion’ or ‘Responsibility to Protect’, ‘No fly zones’, or ‘non-lethal military aid.
Journalists parrot these phrases which mask reality and cause us not to question their true nature.
Why are those ranging from academics and intellectuals to politicians and the judiciary, fooled by a profession whose standards have become a matter of choosing between personal morality and probably no job, or complicity in a morass of vested interests entailing geo-political manipulations, and a pay packet.
It shouldn’t be this way for them or for us, or for those who suffer under this system. War and intervention is a very serious business - foreign correspondents have a duty to get their facts right.
What trips off their tongues could cost lives. Take back your profession, make it a profession that people like me will look up to and respect.
We don’t want stenographers, we want trouble makers who ask the right questions – by Sheila Coombes
Kommentar: Fast ein Jahr alt und immer noch genauso aktuell. Geändert hat sich nichts, eher im Gegenteil. Unsere „Mainstream“-Medien sind um nichts besser geworden. Eher im Gegenteil. Der Konflikt in Syrien ist weiter eskaliert, der Jemenkrieg ist hinzugekommen, in Libyen forciert der Westen den nächsten Krieg. Wenn die Medien ihre Arbeit ordentlich erledigen würden, müsste ich diesen Job mit den Yemen Press Reader nicht machen. Der schmutzige Krieg im Jemen, er wird in unseren Medien fast ganz ins Nirwana des Vergessens verschoben, es wird kaum darüber berichtet. Der Krieg in Syrien, der Krieg in der Ukraine: In den Medien ein Feuerwerk an Propaganda und Kriegstreiberei. Die geostrategische Ausrichtung der US-amerikanischen Außen- und Militärpolitik: das ist unseren Medien die Richtschnur für das, was gut und richtig ist. Ja, da kann (noch) durchaus frei und kritisch berichtet werden über Landgrabbing in Brasilien, Glyphosat und Monsanto, die schlimmen Zustände in der deutschen Fleischindustrie – aber bei den großen Interessen der US-Elite ist dann Schluss. Vor allem gegen Russland muss geholzt werden in einem Sprachduktus, von dem sogar „Sudelede“ (Jüngere und eventuell Nicht-Ex-DDR-Bürger: bitte googeln) noch sehr viel hätte lernen können.
Wöchentlich kommt am Donnerstag noch die „Zeit“: „Unsere wöchentliche Propaganda gib uns heute“ – das gilt für einen Großteil der ersten acht Seiten, Themenbereich „Politik“, jede Woche. Bestimmte Autorennamen bürgen dafür. „Sudelede“ ist heute Normalfall, auch in der „Zeit“. Und viele merken es schon einmal nicht mehr. Die gut recherchierten, kritischen Artikel (Themen wie die Beispiele oben) kommen dann weiter hinten. Und auch die „Qualitätspresse“ wie die „Zeit“ beglückt uns heute mit Nichtigkeiten, wie einem „Zeitmagazin“ nach dem anderen, in dem klapprige Models mit einem wohl mühsam einstudierten blasierten und völlig leerem Blick (nicht ganz unähnlich dem Blick von jemenitischen Kindern, die die Saudis mit ihren Luftschlägen umgebracht haben, natürlich nicht diejenigen, denen sie dabei auch noch den Schädel zerstrümmert haben) mit teuren Modeteilen posieren, das nicht etwa als Annoncen, sondern als redaktioneller Teil, oder ständig 4000-Euro-Uhren in redaktionellen Beiträgen thematisiert werden. Dass im Jemen Kinder verhungern, weil unsere lieben Freunde in Riad und Washington eine Blockade über das Land verhängt haben (die sich die USA eben von der UNO noch einmal um ein Jahr verlängern ließen), das interessiert doch eine „Qualitäts“zeitung nicht, wenn man stattdessen das Publikum noch für verdeckte Rolex- bis Glashütte-Werbung zur Kasse bitten kann. Und der Jemen ist ja nicht das einzige Land, in dem unsere amerikanischen Freunde die Menschen in eine verzweifelte Lage bringen.
3.3.2016 – Qantara (** B K P)
Aufkeimender Extremismus
Die Strategie der Saudis, im Jemen die Anti-Huthi-Milizen zu unterstützen, stärkt bislang vor allem Al-Qaida und den "Islamischen Staat", meint der jemenitische Journalist Nasser Arrabyee.
Niemand profitiert mehr von der Intervention der Saudis im Jemen als extremistische Gruppen, wie Al-Qaida und der "Islamische Staat" (IS). Saudi-Arabien will keine eigenen Truppen an die Front entsenden. Stattdessen führt Riad einen Luftkrieg und unterstützt lokale Milizen mit Geld und Waffen im Kampf gegen die Huthis.
Diese Milizen setzen sich zusammen aus Stammeskämpfern, Angehörigen der Islah-Partei, Unterstützern des Präsidenten Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi und Separatisten aus dem Südjemen. Wie Zeugen aus Ta'iz, Abyan und Aden berichten, wirft Saudi-Arabien angeblich Waffen und Geld aus der Luft zur Unterstützung von Milizen ab, die teilweise an der Seite von Al-Qaida kämpfen.
Hierzu zählen auch Kämpfer aus dem südjemenitischen Gouvernement Abyan unter der Führung von Abdul Latif alSayed, einem ehemaligen Führungsmitglied von Al-Qaida, der gemeinsam mit den Volkswiderstandskomitees kämpft, die wiederum dem von Saudi-Arabien unterstützten Präsidenten Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi anhängen.
Diese Unterstützung kommt Al-Qaida zugute.
Seit Nasir alWuhayshi, der führende Kopf des Terrornetzwerks im Jemen, im Juni 2015 durch eine US-Drohne getötet wurde und ein Machtvakuum hinterließ, werden stärkere Risse in der Organisation deutlich.
Die Konflikte zwischen den beiden Gruppen werden noch verstärkt durch Differenzen zwischen offiziellen Vertretern aus den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Saudi-Arabien in der Frage, ob es richtig ist, die extremen Anti-Huthi-Milizen zu unterstützen. Die meisten Anti-Huthi-Milizen, -Politiker und -Aktivisten entstammen der Muslimbruderschaft und salafistischen Gruppierungen, die von dem neuen saudischen Führungskader bereitwillig unterstützt werden.
Die Konflikte zwischen den beiden Gruppen werden noch verstärkt durch Differenzen zwischen offiziellen Vertretern aus den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Saudi-Arabien in der Frage, ob es richtig ist, die extremen Anti-Huthi-Milizen zu unterstützen. Die meisten Anti-Huthi-Milizen, -Politiker und -Aktivisten entstammen der Muslimbruderschaft und salafistischen Gruppierungen, die von dem neuen saudischen Führungskader bereitwillig unterstützt werden.
Der IS wird durch die Al-Qaida-internen Konflikte (und denen zwischen Saudi-Arabien und den VAE) zunehmend gestärkt. Für extremistische Gruppen anfällige enttäuschte junge Männer dürften angesichts der internen Konflikte der Dschihadistenführer noch mehr Frust aufbauen. In den Augen dieser jungen Männer sind die Konfliktbeteiligten keine echten Dschihadisten.
Der Einfluss des IS beschränkt sich derzeit noch weitgehend auf Sanaa, al-Baida' und Aden. Die Terrormiliz gewinnt allerdings in anderen von Huthis kontrollierten Regionen im Nordwesten an Unterstützung. Und es wird schwer werden, diesen Vormarsch zurückzudrängen. Denn der IS und Al-Qaida erhalten stärkeren Zulauf aus salafistischen Gruppen, die gegen die Huthis Niederlagen erlitten haben. Auch das macht die Schachzüge der Saudis auf lange Sicht brandgefährlich – von Nasser Arrabyee
https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/saudische-militaerintervention-im-jemen-aufkeimender-extremismus
English version: http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/?fa=62832 =http://en.qantara.de/content/saudi-intervention-in-yemen-stoking-the-fires
1.3.2016 – Critical Threats (** A K P)
2016 Yemen Crisis Situation Report: March 1
Saudi Arabia is leveraging Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government to advance Saudi regional objectives to limit Iran’s influence. The issue of Hezbollah support for the al Houthis is now a talking point for Saudi and Yemeni officials, likely in reaction to events outside of Yemen. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is also pushing global messages on jihad in Syria and Somalia as it seeks to retain gains made in early February.
Recent Yemeni and Saudi allegations of Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement in Yemen probably are driven by Saudi Arabia’s interests with regard to Iran and the Syria peace talks. Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government’s messaging most likely reflects the Saudi position because the Hadi government relies on the Saudi-led coalition for support again the al Houthis. The Saudi-Iranian conflict has been escalating, and Saudi Arabia continues to take retributive actions for the January 2016 attack on its Tehran embassy and to contest Iran’s strength in Syria. Hadi government officials accused the Lebanese Hezbollah on February 24 of providing logistical and physical aid to al Houthi militants and noted Yemen would submit a formal complaint to the UN Security Council. […] Saudi Arabia also cut diplomatic ties with Lebanon after Lebanon sided with Iran in protest over the execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric and then announced a halt in its $4 billion aid shipments to Lebanon.
Anti-al Houthi armed groups that had allied with the coalition in 2015 may now be pursuing their own objectives in Aden. […] While it is possible that Salafi-jihadi groups conducted some of these attacks, it is more likely that other armed factions, such as southern secessionists, are seeking to oust the Hadi government in order to establish an independent South Yemen.
A suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack against Yemeni security forces in Aden may be the resumption of offensive AQAP attacks in Aden.
AQAP is projecting itself as a leader in the global jihad.
The coalition and Hadi government will face increasing challenges to their control of Aden as allied factions begin pursuing independent objectives. AQAP will probably adapt to localized resistance against it in order to preserve its expanded area of operations in Yemen.
http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/yemen-crisis-situation-reports-march-1-2016
Comment: The interpretation of the new allegations of Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement in Yemen is certainly right and it is important to stress that as it has been done here. The subject of a Hezbollah-Houthi connection is not new, for the reasons mentioned here it is turned up just now. But, nevertheless, this connection never has been of great importance, as is claimed now. And for it’s interests in Syria and it’s strife with Iran, Saudi Arabia by it’s pressing on Lebanon now will destroy this country’s fragile inner peace. That, if we think of the 15 years of Lebanese civil war, is a crime in itself. What is absolutely wrong: Lebanon never “sides with Iran” in the latest Saudi-Iranian strife, it just did not side with the Saudis. What today seems to be enough to enrage the Saudis – is taking a neutral position and not siding with them.
3.2016 – New Internationalist (** B K P)
What the Saudi leaks tell us
An interview with Julian Assange.
Since June 2015 WikiLeaks has been releasing details of leaked cables and other documents that come from within the Saudi Foreign Office. They provide an insight into the internal workings of the secretive regime, its fears, and its strategies for spreading its influence abroad. More than 230,000 leaked Saudi documents have been published by WikiLeaks; a batch of 60,000 more cables and 50,000 pager messages was released last November.
Here are some things the leaks show us, according to Assange:
1 A paranoid ruling elite
‘What comes across from the cables is a small cloistered, intellectually isolated ruling elite with a paranoid worldview.
‘The cables make it clear that this is a small ruling elite with weak institutions such that a power structure can be taken over by other elements in that elite very quickly and instruments of state can be subordinated according to the will of the leadership.
‘The Saudi cables are internal conversation of a Saudi ministry at very high levels and mid-levels from which you can distil observations of the internal culture. The observation that I distil is that to keep the coherence of the internal culture you need an external threat,
and the one that is most natural for Saudi Arabia to pick is Iran. Yes, there are genuine reasons for rivalry in the region, but they are inflated in the internal culture in order to keep it coherent and unified.
2 Moves to destabilize Syria prior to uprising*
‘There is one high-level Saudi cable offering Saudi strategy in relation to Syria. The concluding paragraph says that the Assad regime will never forgive Saudi Arabia for what it has done to Syria. Because the Assad regime is “brutal and belligerent” it will always be after revenge. As a result it is a threat to the national security of Saudi Arabia.
‘One cable from the Saudi foreign ministry speaks about a confidential agreement [in 2012] between Saudi, Qatar and Turkey in relation to intervention [to topple the Syrian government].
‘In a US cable we published from 10 years ago William Roebuck, the US ambassador to Syria, outlines a smörgåsbord of proposals for destroying the Assad government. It included trying to make it paranoid so that it overreacts and believes that its military forces are engaged in a coup against it; trying to make Sunni Syrians paranoid about Iran and Iranian-backed Shi’a wanting to convert Sunnis; and that it [the US] was going to try and work with Saudi and Egypt to increase these sectarian divisions. ’
3 Using religion
‘One cable talks about the necessity of having the Saudi supreme religious leader say something to back up the government position. It’s not written as “I wonder if he would do it” but rather: “Tell him to do it”. What comes through the cables is that religion is a tool of the state. It’s clear that Saudi Arabia sees Wahhabi Islam and Sunnis as fertile ground for state interest.
‘The Saudi cables show that Wahhabism is a tool of Saudi Arabia as a regional hegemon that it tries to deploy not only in its own region but worldwide. It sees Sunnis as a potential source of converts to Wahhabism, or something close to Wahhabism. It sees Shi’a communities as places where it has no traction, but Iran has. ’
4 Terrified of Iran and Shi’a influence
‘The Saudi regime is exquisitely paranoid in relation to Shi’a influence. There are indications that they are terrified of Iran but there’s no evidence of something they should be terrified of.
‘The battle with Iran they perceive to be a fight against Shi’a Islam. The Shi’a population is quite small globally. But Saudi Arabia is trying to check the growth of Shi’a Islam and reduce its influence.'
5 How to bribe foreign media
‘The cables show that Saudi embassies bribe Sunni or Arab media in foreign countries to take control of the discourse in relation to Saudi Arabia and its interests. They do this through direct investment: for example, by buying up a million dollar shares in a Lebanese TV station or establishing relations with journalists; buying up thousands of subscriptions to Arabic language magazines in order to tilt their coverage. It’s a clever trick because they don’t need any existing relationship or any intermediary. The Saudi foreign ministry just buys thousands of subscriptions, up to half the total in some cases. If they like what they write, they buy more; if not, they nose it down a bit to give the right signal.’
6 The Saudi-Israel nexus and the West
‘There has been a Saudi-Israeli nexus in the Middle East for at least 10 years. It comes through [in] the US cables we published and to a lesser extent in the Saudi cables. Saudi considers Syria a mechanism of Iranian influence; Israel is occupying the Golan Heights which is part of Syria.
‘But the US relationship to the Israeli-Saudi nexus is changing. The smart US strategists, including the head of the CIA, are of the view that Saudi and Israel are getting in the way of broader US strategic interests.
‘We published some of CIA director John Brennan’s emails from back in 2008-09, when he was security advisor for Obama. Brennan says that the US should engage with Iran. The US being so adversarial with Iran has reduced its influence in the region; the Israeli-Saudi nexus is cramping its operations.
‘The US has not been as mindful of Saudi wishes as before. That has increased Saudi paranoia; it does not feel it has the unqualified backing of the US in the way it had. Europe takes its cues from US policy.
‘I would not take [this shift away from Saudi] too far: the US and British arms industries are major recipients of Saudi money as are banks, and the British property market.’
7 Dodgy deals for UN votes
‘There is some interesting traffic in relation to deals done for UN votes that reveals that the UK did a vote-swap with Saudi to get Saudi onto the Human Rights Council.
The offer to the UK from Saudi included $100,000 to the section of the FCO [Foreign & Commonwealth Office] that deals with who should be elected to the human rights council. It’s there in the cables, for “the campaigning expense that the FCO will need” to make sure that Saudi is elected to the HR council. Saudi ended up with the support of over 100 countries, so between bribes and vote-swapping that’s what it gets. There are a number of cables on how Saudi manages the UN and payments going to officials, dressed up as “assistance to your programme”.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
1.3.2016 – Jordan Times (** B P)
Why the West is keen on dividing the Arabs
When Arab streets exploded with fury, from Tunis to Sanaa, pan-Arabism seemed like a nominal notion.
The so-called Jasmine Revolution did not use slogans that affirmed its Arab identity, nor did angry Egyptian youths raise the banner proclaiming Arab unity atop the high buildings adjacent to Tahrir Square.
Oddly, the Arabism of the “Arab Spring” was almost as if a result of convenience. It was politically convenient for Western governments to stereotype Arab nations as if they were exact duplicates of each other, and as if national sentiments, identities, expectations and popular revolts were all rooted in the same past and corresponded with a precise reality in the present.
Thus, many in the West expected that the fall of Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, especially since it was followed by the abdication of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, would lead to a domino effect.
“Who’s next” was a pretentious question that many asked, some with no understanding of the region and its complexity.
After initial hesitation, the US, along with its Western allies, moved quickly to influence the outcome in some Arab countries.
Their mission was to ensure a smooth transition in countries whose fate had been decided by the impulsive revolts, to speed up the toppling of their enemies and to prop up their allies so that they would not suffer a similar fate.
The outcome was real devastation.
Countries where the West and its allies — and, expectedly, enemies — were involved became infernos, not of revolutionary fervour, but of militant chaos, terrorism and unabated wars.
Libya, Syria and Yemen are the obvious examples.
In a way, the West, its media and allies assigned themselves responsible not only for determining the fate of the Arabs, but for moulding their identities as well.
Coupled with the collapse of the whole notion of nationhood in some Arab countries — Libya, for example — the US is now taking upon itself the responsibility of devising future scenarios for broken down Arab states.
[…]
To ensure that Arabs are never to unite, the West invested in their further disunity.
In 2006-2007, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice made clear that the US would cease its support of the Palestinian Authority if Fateh and Hamas unite.
Earlier, when resistance in Iraq reached a point that the American occupiers found unbearable, they invested in dividing the ranks of the Iraqis based on sectarian lines. Their intellectuals pondered the possibility of dividing Iraq into three autonomous states: Shiite, Sunnis and Kurds.
Libya was too broken up after NATO’s intervention turned a regional uprising into a bloody war. Since then, France, Britain, the US and others have backed some parties against others.
Whatever sense of nationhood existed after the end of the Italian colonisation of that country has been destroyed as Libyans reverted to their regions and tribes to survive the upheaval.
A rumoured “Plan B” to split Libya into three separate protectorates — Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan — was recently rejected by the Libyan ambassador to Rome. However, Libyans presently seem to be the least relevant party in determining the future of their own country.
The Arab world has always been seen by Western eyes as a place of conquest to be exploited, controlled and tamed. That mindset continues to define the relationship.
While Arab unity is to be dreaded, further divisions often appear as “Plan B” when the status quo, call it “Plan A”, seems impossible to sustain.
Truly interesting is that despite the lack of a pan-Arab vision in Arab countries that experienced popular revolts five years ago, few events in modern history brought the Arabs together like the chants of freedom in Tunisia, the cries of victories in Egypt and the screams of pain in Yemen and Syria.
It is that very collective identity, often unspoken but felt, that drives millions of Arabs to hold on to, however, faint hope that their nations will survive the ongoing onslaught and prospective Western division – by Ramzy Baroud
http://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/ramzy-baroud/why-west-keen-dividing-arabs
Comment by Haykal Bafana: Truly interesting is that despite the lack of a pan-Arab vision in Arab countries that experienced popular revolts five years ago, few events in modern history brought the Arabs together like the chants of freedom in Tunisia, the cries of victories in Egypt and the screams of pain in Yemen and Syria. Arabs, not Arab states.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=978793348840362&id=961126490607048
25.2.2016 – Lobelog (** B K P)
More Arms to Saudi Arabia: More Mideast Conflicts
There was a time when sales to the Saudis were more about money and politics than fighting actual conflicts. Multi-billion dollar sales from the Nixon administration onward were seen as a way to bolster U.S. weapons contractors and “recycle petrodollars”—earn back some of the funds that flowed out of the U.S. to purchase Saudi oil. It didn’t hurt that Saudi officials frequently skimmed off funds for their own use as part of these mega-deals.
Until recently, the military relevance of sending weapons to Saudi Arabia had less to do with the Saudis using U.S.-supplied arms than it did with cementing ties with Washington. The implicit understanding was that the purchase of large quantities of U.S. armaments was a form of payback for Washington’s commitment to come to the rescue of the Saudi regime in a crisis.
Ronald Reagan expressed this policy most openly in the wake of the Iranian revolution when he said, “Saudi Arabia . . . we will not allow to become another Iran.”
The idea that the Saudis were unlikely to use their U.S.-supplied arms went out the window with the 2015 intervention in Yemen.
The Saudis’ stated rationale for intervening in Yemen has been to block Iranian influence. This is a weak argument, however, given that the Houthi rebels that the Saudis are intervening against have longstanding grievances that have nothing to do with Iran. Moreover, Iranian involvement has been modest relative to the Saudi Arabia’s military overkill.
Last but not least, the Saudi-Houthi struggle has left al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State relatively unscathed, freeing these groups up to expand their presence in Yemen.
The Yemen case puts the lie to Washington’s claim that sales to Saudi Arabia help “promote stability” in the region. Although the Obama administration has called for diplomacy and restraint, these words ring hollow given the centrality of U.S. arms and logistical support to the Saudi military campaign.
If anything, U.S. policy has come down firmly on the side of a more militarized Saudi policy. As a fact sheet put together by the Security Assistance Monitor has documented, U.S. arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia have increased by 96% compared to the Bush years. The Monitor also notes that in 2014 alone more than 2,500 Saudi military personnel received training in the United States.
Given its behavior in Yemen, the last thing the region needs is a more active military role in the region on the part of the Saudis and their allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council. But that’s just what the Saudis have pledged to do. In December, the Saudis announced the formation of a 34-nation anti-terror coalition, and earlier this month there was a 20-nation military exercise in the kingdom that the official Saudi news agency dubbed “the largest in the region’s history.”
How much of this newfound assertiveness is bluff remains to be seen. A number of the partners in the 34-nation coalition said that they had never discussed the issue with the Saudis. And getting that many countries to operate in a coordinated fashion would be no small feat. But, when added to its recent dispatch of military aircraft to Turkey for possible use in air strikes in Syria, the Saudi leadership is clearly seeking to make its country a region-wide military power.
All of the above brings us back to the question of whether it makes sense to arm Saudi Arabia given its current behavior.
Common sense and simple justice demand that the United States and its European allies acknowledge the disastrous results of pumping up an increasingly aggressive Saudi regime. The next step is to stop arming it. The sooner this happens, the better it will be for the security of the region – by William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy and senior adviser to the Security Assistance Monitor
http://lobelog.com/more-arms-to-saudi-arabia-more-mideast-conflicts/
3.3.2016 – Safer World (** B K P)
How US counterterror strategy has crashed and burned in Yemen - and what to try instead
fter 15 years of US efforts to combat terror and achieve stability in Yemen, a new study by Saferworld concludes that these efforts—as in the cases of Afghanistan andSomalia—have badly backfired. Today, Yemen requires not more military intervention, but strategies to counter corrupt and abusive government and to show its people that their security and rights matter.
Feeding off deep public resentment of an abusive and corrupt state, Houthi rebels and other militants have taken charge of large swathes of Yemen. With the country locked in a brutal civil war that has drawn in regional powers, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula remains strong and the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) launched several bloody attacks in Yemen last year.
As they faced off with al-Qaeda in Yemen, US Presidents George W. Bush andBarack Obama publicly praised the commitment of their counterparts, Yemeni Presidents Ali Abdullah Saleh and Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, to combat terrorism. But in reality Yemen’s government appears to have privately colluded with Islamist militants, allowing major prison breaks of al-Qaeda operatives in both 2006 and 2014. In some cases public committees on the government payroll (for example in Abyan governorate) include individuals who have fought for al-Qaeda.
In 2006, al-Qaeda began regaining momentum in Yemen, a development that proved lucrative for the country’s government.
Yemen’s government, however, often used Western counterterrorism support to crush dissent and duck pressure to reform.
In 2011, when popular discontent exploded into mass civil unrest, the US helped broker deals to get rid of President Saleh. But these transition deals left Yemen’s key elites and main political parties in charge, and failed to satisfy the Houthis, Southern rebels, and other groups.
In fact, Yemen’s instability is driven more by abusive, corrupt governance than by terrorism. The Hadi administration is not only soft on terror groups, but also deeply corrupt. Thanks to foreign aid, the government’s 2014 budget of $14 billion was triple that of 2004. But this money apparently disappeared into a “black hole,” with practically nothing spent on investment and infrastructure.
In fact, Yemen’s instability is driven more by abusive, corrupt governance than by terrorism. The Hadi administration is not only soft on terror groups, but also deeply corrupt. Thanks to foreign aid, the government’s 2014 budget of $14 billion was triple that of 2004. But this money apparently disappeared into a “black hole,” with practically nothing spent on investment and infrastructure.
When counter-terror efforts in Yemen are compared to those in other contexts, it is both striking and depressing to note the parallels. Parallel studies in Afghanistanand Somalia document how counter-terror objectives and military approaches crowded out a focus on effective conflict management and peacebuilding. In both these contexts, violence, abuse, and corruption fed into grievances and militancy, while efforts to work with society to achieve reconciliation and shape better governing institutions have been neglected.
To move forward in Yemen—and in Afghanistan and Somalia—there needs to be a step-by-step process to achieve peace. This means finding alternatives to using force wherever possible, and showing Yemen’s people that their security and rights matter.
It also means rethinking security assistance to corrupt, abusive governments.
In Yemen and the wider region, short-term energy, security, and economic interests have locked the West into support for Saudi Arabia. However, backing the Kingdom to play out its rivalry with Iran in Yemen has been an unmitigated disaster.
What is needed in Yemen is not more military intervention, but rather a strategy to bring all parties back to the negotiating table – by Larry Attree, Farea al Muslimi
http://www.saferworld.org.uk/news-and-views/comment/201-how-us-counterterror-strategy-has-crashed-and-burned-in-yemen---and-what-to-try-instead and for the download of the full report go here:
01.2016 – Safer World (*** B K P)
Blown back: Lessons from counter-terror, stabilisation and statebuilding in Yemen
http://www.saferworld.org.uk/resources/view-resource/1033-blown-back
cp2 Allgemein / General
2.3.2016 – Noto Wahabism (A K P)
The Yemen War in a 58 seconds video clip
https://www.facebook.com/NotoWahabism/videos/846719308789986/
2.3.2016 – Before it’s News (A K P)
Yemen update 3/02/2016..Yemeni Forces Use New Tactics in Ta’iz, Ma’rib
New films; Houthi successes
2.3.2016 – Tendencias 21 (B K P)
(Audio, Spanish) Visión Geopolítica: Yemen, La guerra ignorada
En esta nueva edición de Visión Geopolítica nos encargamos de uno de los conflictos latentes dentro de la Península Arábiga.
http://www.tendencias21.net/Vision-Geopolitica-Yemen-La-guerra-ignorada_a42160.html
2.3.2016 – Katehon (** B P)
PROF. MATTHEW CROSSTON: YEMEN WAR IS LARGELY ABSENT FROM THE MAIN MEDIA SOURCES
A professor of political science tells Fars News Agency that the problem with the media coverage of the Yemeni war is not the level of bias in news stories, commentaries and video footage being released, but the overall absence of the conflict from the media reports.
“The problem is not how biased the media is here in the West, trying to portray it in a one-sided and unfair fashion and engendering a misinformed public perception. No. The problem is how absent the conflict largely is from the main media sources,” said Prof. Matthew Crosston.
“This of course means the population simply does not have an opinion one way or another, because it simply does not know. There is no real awareness of the Yemen conflict. I fear it is in the shadow of such ignorance and indifference that the worst of human nature comes out,” he added.
Prof. Matthew Crosston is the Miller Chair for Industrial and International Security and Director of the International Security and Intelligence Studies (ISIS) program at Bellevue University in Nebraska. He has authored two well-received books, several book chapters and nearly two dozen peer-reviewed articles in venues like the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Journal of Strategic Security, International Politics, Journal of Military and Strategic Affairs, and Journal of Global Analysis. Prof. Crosston has received his Ph.D. from the Brown University. He looks at the war on Yemen from a strategic perspective. In the following interview, he shared his viewpoints with FNA about the different dimensions of the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, which started in March 2015 and has claimed more than 6,000 lives so far.
Q: The Saudi Arabian forces have been leading a military invasion of Yemen for the past ten months. They continue carrying out airstrikes on the different parts of Yemen on a daily basis. Legally speaking, the attacks have not been endorsed and authorized by the UN Security Council. Do you think Saudi Arabia is violating the international law by spearheading airstrikes on Yemeni cities, regardless of the political justification for their attacks?
A: This conflict provides a perfect case study for those of us in the school of skepticism when it comes to international law. We skeptics have raged for years that, perhaps unfortunately, international law acts more like ‘international guidelines’ rather than actual law. What this means in real terms is that power balances and dominant control over conflict narratives often determine just which conflicts will come up on the global stage for judgment by the international community.
What Assad does to his own people in Syria clearly passes the threshold and therefore becomes international news – in the West, at least – for months on end. But what Saudi Arabia may or may not be doing to the Houthi rebellion within Yemen with either the implicit or explicit support and backing of the United States, Great Britain, and Israel, remains relatively unfocused and ambiguous across global Western media. So, the real issue is not so much whether or not Saudi Arabia is violating international law, but rather why is international law being violated in this case with little fanfare or outrage while it can be violated in other instances to great attention? The second half of this question leads to the more poignant and perhaps sad fact of global affairs: political justification is more important than international law. I do not say this to say I support this fact, but rather admit that this fact must be acknowledged by all. Because if global affairs in the modern age has shown us anything, with increased and instantaneous media communication all over the world, it is that how a state is able to argue its behavior is actually more relevant and impactful than what the actual behavior is. And if this supposition is in fact true, then it consequently shows international law to be nothing more than window-dressing to make states feel better about themselves.
International law matters when we are following it. If we are not following it, then it does not matter and we can give other reasons as to why you should not care either. This flippant retort is an accurate paraphrase of just about every nation on earth when it comes to its individual contemporary global affairs.
Q: Is the US government interested in the continuation of Saudis’ airstrikes on Yemen, or does it want a lasting truce to take place? According to the Los Angeles Times, there are currently about 45 US military advisors working with the Saudis to give them guidelines on how to conduct the airstrikes. What would be the ultimate goal of this elongated military involvement in Yemen?
A: The US government will remain interested in the continuation of the conflict in Yemen as long as an outcome in line with its foreign policy remains undetermined. What I mean by that is that the clear foreign policy interest of the United States, rightly or wrongly depending on your own foreign policy perspectives and priorities, is to make sure Yemen does not end up under the control of a group that is sympathetic to or directly aligned with Iran. This is because at the moment the United States still sees Iran as an adversary with no track record of trust between them. This is why the new JCPOA accord could prove to be a watershed moment in history. There is at least an outside chance that the accord creates opportunities, if both Iran and the United States know what is good for them and do not wish to simply parrot-like mimic the status quo of the past 3-4 decades, where both sides learn to accept some begrudging trust of the other. There are opportunities to collaborate and build relationships where there have been none for so long. That would ultimately be a great thing not just for Yemen but for the whole of the Middle East. But that is how the wildly swinging pendulum of global affairs never allows us to stop to take a breath; if the Yemen conflict erupted, say, 10 years from now, after Iran had responsibly acted under the JCPOA and even undertook certain joint exercises of trust with the United States, then we all could have seen a decidedly different look and feel to the current problem. So, in all honesty, if Iran is interested in seeing a United States that does not just ‘knee-jerk’ react in opposition to everything Iran does or has an interest in, then it needs to begin strategic engagement that fosters not just its own national objectives but also cultivates international respect and trust, even if at first this is only in a begrudging form. Without that paradigm shift in reality, then any discord that is thinly veiled as a Saudi-Iranian tet-a-tet will see the United States staunchly support the Saudi side. I for one have always seen that as a tenuous position; everyone knows that Saudi society is not exactly a shining beacon of democratic openness and principle, while Iranian society, at the grassroots level at least, has long held a high level of democratic knowledge and embracing of democratic ideals. One of the problems with foreign affairs is that we never anticipate a real change of direction until after the change is already well underway. I see this potentiality – a US switch from Saudi interests to Iranian ones – as just one of those changes that only seem far-fetched right now. But with a few well-placed and strategic initiatives, it might not be so far-fetched at all.
Q: In a recent report, the Media Lens website has analyzed the US and British media coverage of the Yemen war, and cited a number of “shortcomings” in the way they’ve been reporting on the Saudi airstrikes and the subsequent human casualties. The report said the media in the UK and America have failed to keep track of the involvement of their respective governments in the war on Yemen and their role in the suffering of the people of the Arab country. Do you believe that the media reaction to the Yemen war has been biased, as the Media Lens notes?
A: This is always a problematic question, simply because war is a horrifically inexact science exemplified by chaos and distraction. Getting accurate numbers of casualties and the true impact and damage while a war is still ongoing has always been a vexing problem for media entities. Now that does not mean all media sources are created equal. Indeed, in America we have a vexing problem that I consider to be the ‘fusing of news with news commentary.’ The pundits who wax poetic on everything, often with little evidence but with great style and flair, often portray themselves as ‘experts’ in the given subjects they are discussing. More often than not, they are no such thing. But the portrayal sticks and since the news corporation that gave them their elevated position has a vested interest in keeping the ratings high and popularity soaring, it does what it can to lend even greater style gravitas to said pundits. On the flip side, ‘hard-core’ news dedicated to objective, substantive, and long-reach analysis is a dying art form in America. The reality is that the American people themselves seem to have little time or desire to delve deeply into the depressing reality of global affairs. Yes, it is indeed hard to blame anyone for not wanting to hear copious detail about the suffering of innocent children or the wanton destruction of civilian areas in a war that they’ve never heard of in a place they likely could never find on a map, even with 100 guesses. On the other hand, however, acquiescing to this reality means we raise a society of ill-informed and indifferent global citizens. The consequences of that, I’m afraid, are quite stark: wars last longer, catastrophes become more prolonged, and atrocities likely become more vicious, as no one cares to notice or, at best, feels that there is nothing they can do to change the situation.
Indeed, to me that has been the much more egregious situation regarding media coverage of the Yemen conflict: the problem is not how biased the media is here in the West, trying to portray it in a one-sided and unfair fashion and engendering a misinformed public perception. No. The problem is how absent the conflict largely is from the main media sources. This of course means the population simply does not have an opinion one way or another, because it simply does not know. There is no real awareness of the Yemen conflict. I fear it is in the shadow of such ignorance and indifference that the worst of human nature comes out.
http://katehon.com/news/prof-matthew-crosston-yemen-war-largely-absent-main-media-sources
Comment: Very long article, also the other questions not excerpted here and the answers are worth reading.
2.3.2016 – Shafaqna (** A K P)
The great Saudi Satire – Saudi Prince says Kingdom’s carpet-bombing of Yemen will bring peace and stability
Saudi Arabia, decided to teach democracy to a people fresh out of an autocracy.
Yes! Saudi Arabia, the world’s most violent theocracy ambitions to teach Yemen a lesson in democracy-building … no joke.
Let me tell you the story of this poorest nation of Southern Arabia, as its courage, and its resistance could save you the pain of losing your sons and daughters to the hegemonic ambitions of those powers your officials call “friends”.
In 2011, in the heat of the Arab Spring, Yemen rose to demand democratic reforms, and an end to three decades of nepotism. As voices joined together to clamour freedom, religious minorities stepped back into the Sun to demand that their rights too, be respected and honoured under a new constitution. Before the stealth of a people, President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime hit the dust … only to be reborn in his vice-president: Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Entrusted by Gulf monarchies and Western capitals to usher Yemen through its political transition, Hadi would soon betray Yemen in the cruellest way possible, as it is under his plight, and following his request that Yemen would come to be carpet-bombed in March 2015.
From his accession to the vice-presidency, to his induction to the presidency in 2012 following a one-man election – an event which is still remembered as a democratic parody, Hadi utterly failed to manifest popular will, to instead serve his personal financial interests.
A man of small stature, and little moral, Hadi quite simply sold his country, his flag and his people … to hell with the consequences. Needless to say that after three decades spent in the shadow of a corrupt elite, Yemenis did not take kindly to Hadi’s new political order … and so the revolutionaries returned to their squares, and market places …
And so once more Yemen’s revolutionary song rang loud over the highlands, a promise of change for the robbed and the oppressed. In drove they came … armed they marched towards the capital, Sana’a. The few became the many, the many became the multitude majority … together they stood before Yemen’s old political guard, defiant they rose, before an elite whose money and relations had allowed for new shackles to be built.
Yemen was not about to abandon its dream of freedom on account Gulf monarchies, Saudi Arabia in the lead, could not stomach democracy south of its borders.
In the face of Yemen’s rebellion, in the face of popular will, Riyadh then chose to smite the unruly vassal.
War chanted the kingdom … War repeated the world community … On fire Yemen came to be!
But war needed still a justification, and so the world was offered a lie … maybe then its conscience would be appeased, maybe then it would not see. It would not see the rivers of blood, and the senseless destruction.
Maybe then under a carefully engineered media blackout Yemen’s blood would not rise up to sicken even the most fervent neo-cons. Over 10,000 men, women and children, all civilians have died in Yemen … millions were driven out of their homes and 22 million stand to die of starvation.
“Saudi Arabia is bombing in Yemen to bring peace and stability,” wrote Saudi Ambassador to Britain Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz in an opinion piece for the Telegraph in late February.
He continued: “While the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deeply regrets any civilian deaths, it firmly denies allegations of deliberately targeting civilians. Further, it will not be hindered by such political posturing in its pursuit of vital national security objectives … it is important to understand the nature of the war that is now taking place in Yemen, the extensive efforts that have already been made by the Saudi military to avoid civilian casualties, and the ways in which misinformation about such conflicts often finds its way into the public eye. Once these elements are looked at, the picture put forth by the UN and various lobbying groups becomes radically different than what is being depicted in the press.”
The nature of this war indeed … The nature of this war is two-fold: colonial, and genocidal!
Saudi Arabia wants to return Yemen to its Wahhabist empire an obedient vassal, and a puppet bent to its religious radical will.
It is imperialism and Wahhabism Yemen is resisting with every fibre of its being. It is this enslavement of the mind, body and soul Yemenis are desperately trying to ward off so that their children could have the luxury of free will.
Look at the horrors committed by ISIL, this terror which has destroyed millions of life, this horror which one of Saudi Arabia’s most senior religious clerics admitted is in fact a follower of Wahhabism, and tell me you would not do the very same.
Tell me that you would not claw, and crawl over fire and ice to save your family!
As for Prince Abdulaziz’s claims there is no engineering behind the massacre of thousands of Yemenis, then why would the United Nations, an institution already forced into silence by al-Saud billions of dollars could no longer keep the lid on Yemen’s suffering? It is because it is too vast to hide anymore.
Hospitals, schools, food convoy, residential areas, UNESCO protected sites, water facilities and NGOs have been pounded to the ground. But the war crimes do not stop there … Al-Saud has organized a brutal, and criminal humanitarian blockade on Yemen to starve its people into religious compliance. There’s more … in the south where Riyadh has gained control of key geostrategic areas al-Qaida has been allowed to flourish and thrive.
Under Saudi occupation terror has gained a foothold in South Yemen … Can you now see the pattern?
But here is where the United States should care. How many of your sons and daughters will be called overseas to fight those wars, and those battles your allies: i.e.: Saudi Arabia have initiated? How many times will you look at your boys and girls and allow for their lives to be put on the line for a rich elite ambitioned to acquire more lands and more riches to their religious empire?
Yemen’s war can soon be your war, your pain and your blood spilled – by Catherine Shakdam
http://en.shafaqna.com/news/29577
2.3.2016 – Nena (B K P)
Yemen. Come l’Occidente infiamma il conflitto
Article in Italian on how the Western world is fueling the aggression against Yemen with arms sales. Arms which are used mainly against civilians and hospitals. With 8300 dead, Al Qaeda gaining control of large areas in the South of the country and 21 million people food-water-medicine insecure.
L’Arabia Saudita prosegue indisturbata nella campagna anti-Houthi perché gode del beneplacito di Stati Uniti e Europa. Che continuano a vendere armi sapendo come verranno usate. Dietro, la crescente autorità dell’Iran nella regione.
http://nena-news.it/yemen-come-loccidente-infiamma-il-conflitto/
1.3.2016 – World Policy (B K P)
Where now for Yemen?
After months of protests, the Yemeni Revolution of 2011 managed to remove President Saleh from power—in some shape or form. Saudi Arabia, with its mighty influence, negotiated Saleh a free pass: immunity from prosecution and continued residence in Yemen in exchange for his resignation.
Under the terms of this fatally-flawed Gulf Cooperation Council agreement, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Saleh’s vice president, would become the head of state for an interim period of one year until elections could be held. But the polls never took place and, with the chaos of a civil war, one year soon became five. Today, Hadi remains president, if only in title and not in form.
From the outset, commentators predicted that the GCC agreement would only serve the interests of Saudi Arabia, not Yemen. They were wrong. The GCC deal was disastrous, but in equal measure for the Saudis and Yemenis. By allowing Saleh to remain in the country, the Saudis afforded him an opportunity to develop a strategy to seize power by force—the first element of which was the establishment of a loyal force only answerable to him.
Using the millions of dollars looted from government funds over the years, Saleh bought the loyalty of soldiers from the most well-equipped and well-trained divisions of Yemen. Ironically, many of these now pro-Saleh soldiers were trained by British and American forces as part of the West’s counterterrorism program in the country before the revolution.
While the second part of Saleh’s strategy needed to be implemented with the upmost precision, he required a public face for his plan—preferably not his own. The Houthis, a Shia rebel group from northern Yemen, provided the perfect partnership for the former president to realize his ambition. Despite Saleh fighting the Houthis when he was in power, enemies became friends almost overnight.
Where now?
Five years on from the revolution of 2011, Yemenis look back with dismay. In particular, it is the youth, the key instigators of the protests, who carry the heaviest of hearts. After all, it is the youth who will bear the cost of this war.
The key to understanding the mind frame of today’s leaders in Yemen is Saleh. To him, Yemen was a birthright. Having unified the country, he was determined to treat it like the family Rolex and bequeath it to his eldest son. If this wasn’t possible, he was determined to destroy it so no one could have it.
But Yemen is much greater than Saleh or anyone else who seeks to ravage it. The saying goes that Yemen is so old that it has its own wisdom. Yemenis hope that those who will truly realize this wisdom are the youth. Perhaps then the democratic aspirations of the revolution will be accomplished. – by Omar Mashjari
http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2016/03/01/where-now-yemen
Comment: Saleh certainly is playing a crucial role – anyway, I think this article really overstresses it. And he still seems to have quite many followers – for what reason ever, but it seems to be a matter of fact. The author is right with his interpretation of the 2011 GCC agreement which brought Hadi into power – the more he should have stressed the role of the GCC in today’s catastrophy.
1.6.2011 – Reuters (C P)
Arcadia may have rigged Yemen exports: cable
Oil trading firm Arcadia Petroleum, sued by regulators last week for allegedly manipulating U.S. oil prices, used hardball tactics in Yemen to buy the country's oil exports at below market prices, until authorities revamped their sales process to break the trading house's "long-standing monopoly", according to a confidential State Department cable.
The September 2009 cable says that an internal government shift in control over the country's valuable oil exports, meant to open up oil bidding to more international buyers, threatened Arcadia's sway over Yemen's exports.
In a bid to increase transparency, the government of Yemen in March 2009 yanked control of oil export pricing away from officials in the country's Ministry of Oil, and handed it to an oil council controlled by the son of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, including officials from several government departments.
The shift was meant to end Arcadia's buying of a large portion of Yemen's government-priced export crude at "below-market value", according to the cable, which was obtained by Wikileaks.
Oil traders in Asia who have also been involved in Yemen exports confirmed to Reuters the change in policy. Before the change, many potential buyers would not bid for Yemeni crude because they saw the market as stacked in favor or Arcadia, even though it had a nominally competitive bidding process, the traders said.
"Arcadia almost always won oil export tenders because Arcadia had an "agent" in Yemen.
The increased competition challenged "the crude oil sale monopoly long held by London-based Arcadia Petroleum Limited and (Hamid al-Ahmar)," according to the cable. It was made available to Reuters by a third party.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-arcadia-wiki-idUSTRE7506TC20110601
Comment: There were many foreign interests playing a role when Saleh was replaced by his vice president Hadi in 2012…
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
3.3.2016 – Doctors Without Borders (* A H)
Yemen: Crisis update – 3 March 2016
At the end of January:
More than 31,000 war wounded have been treated by MSF teams since March 2015
Nearly 11,000 surgeries have been carried out
Nearly 38,000 displaced people have received free medical consultations from MSF staff
More than 8000 women have given birth in MSF facilities
More than 108,000 patients have been seen in the emergency room (ER)
More than 860 tonnes of medical supplies have been sent to Yemen
Project updates
MSF is carrying out activities in or supporting 11 hospitals and health centres, and is providing support to another 18 hospitals or health centres in eight governorates: Aden, Al-Dhale’, Taiz, Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Ibb and Sana’a governorates.
A total of 2,102 MSF staff are currently working in Yemen – 97 international staff and 2,005 Yemeni staff – making it among MSF´s largest missions in terms of personnel.
Aden
Aden is currently dominated by Southern Resistance Forces, backed by the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, but the situation is volatile.
MSF is running an Emergency Trauma Centre (74 beds) in Sheikh Othman district, in the north of the city. The hospital provides free medical care in an emergency room (ER), a hospitalisation ward and two operating theatres and an intensive care unit, and provides mental health and physiotherapy consultations.
MSF has been supporting Ibn Khaldoun Hospital in Lahj with regular donations of medical supplies since December 2015.
Amran
The situation North Amran governorate is relatively calm, despite regular attacks in the north; as a result people are fleeing the conflict to settle in this area. MSF has been providing general consultations to displaced people in mobile clinics.
MSF is supporting Al-Salam hospital (104 beds) and Huth health centre (15 beds) in healthcare provision, donations of medication, oxygen, logistical equipment, electricity, human resources and a referral system.
In the north of Amran governorate, MSF is supporting the emergency room, the maternity and the ambulance referral system to Al-Salam hospital in Khamir, as well as the sterilisation room and the rehabilitation of structures in the Harf Sufyan, Al-Ashah and Al-Qalfah health centres.
Assistance is being provided to Internally Displaced People (IDPs) through mobile clinic consultations, distributions of household kits and water and sanitation activities in Khamir and Huth districts.
Sa'ada
As intense fighting and bombing continues in Saada governorate, the MSF-supported Al Jumhori hospital, in Saada city, is receiving increasing numbers of war-affected patients. In response, the teams have increased the hospital´s bed capacity. The last week of January, they dealt with two separate mass casualty situations following a series of airstrikes. During two incidents, 17 and 40 wounded patients were brought in to hospital. An ambulance driver working with MSF was among the victims. The number of babies born in the hospital continues to increase, reaching more than 100 deliveries per week.
The MSF-supported Shiara Medical Centre, Razeh district, was hit with a projectile on 10 January 2016. Six people were killed and seven injured. The medical centre had been hit previously in September before MSF began working there in November 2015. The facility is open and operational at present. MSF is providing assistance in the emergency room and in the maternity department, as well as organising referrals to Al-Jumhori reference hospital in Saada city.
A distribution providing essential household items (soap, blankets, cooking utensils, for example) was carried out in early February to 340 families in need in the remote district of Kitaf, bordering Saudi Arabia. Medical kits have also been donated to two health centres. Generally speaking, displaced people in Kitaf have fled due to the intensity of the conflict and are living in very precarious conditions, with some families living in caves. The Haydan Health Centre, which was struck in an airstrike on 26 October 2015, has resumed some activities.
MSF repaired the staff accommodation room and re-opened an emergency room there in late December.
Hajjah
Though the security situation in Hajjah city has been relatively calm, war wounded people continue to arrive to at the MSF-supported Al-Jamoorhi hospital from the front line area.
In the IDP camps of Abs district MSF is supplying drinking water to 16,000 people, installing bladders and regularly supplying water to meet minimum humanitarian standards in the camps. Through a system of mobile clinics, MSF teams are also providing basic medical care to people as well as monitoring the nutritional situation.
In Abs Hospital MSF is supporting all services except the outpatient department (OPD). The teams have received many people wounded in intense shelling and fighting in parts of the governorate. The increasing number of deliveries has pushed MSF to extend the maternity services within the hospital. Paediatric care is also being provided to children under 15.
Sana’a
In view of the recent airstrikes in and around Sanaa, MSF recently donated 60 dressing kits to Al Jumhori and Al-Thawra hospitals, the main hospitals in Saana, which are receiving referrals from peripheral hospitals as well as direct victims of the airstrikes in the city. MSF is also supporting directly the ER of the University Hospital in Al Koweit, and will extend its support to the surgical wards. The proximity to the front line has brought on increasing numbers of war-wounded patients.
MSF´s support to the Ministry of Health´s HIV programme in Saana continues as normal, with 97% of the programme´s 1,300 patients receiving their life-saving anti-retroviral treatment despite the tensions and violence in the city.
[More places at the original site]
http://www.msf.org/article/yemen-crisis-update-%E2%80%93-3-march-2016 = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-crisis-update-3-march-2016
3.3.2016 – Ärzte ohne Grenzen (** A H)
Wir lebten im Keller des Krankenhauses“: Notärztin berichtet aus dem Jemen
Die argentinische Notärztin Mariela Carrara ist derzeit für Ärzte ohne Grenzenin Saada im Nordjemen im Einsatz. In ihrem Erfahrungsbericht beschreibt sie ihre Arbeit im Krankenhaus in einer Stadt, in der Luftangriffe alltäglich geworden sind.
„Als ich im vergangenen Mai erstmals in Saada ankam, gab es in der Stadt täglich Luftangriffe. Wir lebten im Keller des Krankenhauses, denn die Bomben schlugen ganz in der Nähe ein. Bei jedem Einschlag bebten die Fenster und Türen. Zwei Monate später war die Stadt fast vollständig zerstört und menschenleer.
Außerhalb der Stadt, in den Gegenden mit vielen Vertriebenen, ist die Situation sehr besorgniserregend. Die Menschen leben in kleinen Zelten und haben nur eingeschränkten Zugang zu Wasser und zur Gesundheitsversorgung. Vor zehn Tagen haben wir einigen der Vertriebenen grundlegende Hilfsgüter gebracht.
Das Krankenhaus hat sich seit meiner Ankunft stark verändert. Wegen der dringenden medizinischen Bedürfnisse der Menschen wurde die Anzahl der Spitalsbetten von 30 auf 94 erhöht, die Intensivstation wurde von sieben auf 16 Betten erweitert. Als Notärztin, die auf innere Medizin spezialisiert ist, verbringe ich die meiste Zeit auf der Intensivstation und der stationären Abteilung.
Mehr als 90 Prozent unserer Patienten sind Kriegsverletzte, die bei Luftangriffen verwundet wurden. Am 21. Jänner gab es nach einem Luftschlag in Dhayan – etwa 22 Kilometer nordwestlich von hier – viele Tote und Verletzte. Als die Rettungswagen am Ort des Geschehens eingetroffen waren, wurde dieselbe Stelle erneut bombardiert, wodurch viele weitere Menschen getötet wurden. Einer unserer Rettungsfahrer kam ums Leben, und auch die vier oder fünf Verwundeten, die er in seinem Fahrzeug transportierte, sind gestorben.
Die ersten Patienten erreichten uns um drei Uhr nachmittags, sie wurden von Personen in ihren Privatautos zu uns gebracht. Sie sagten, dass weitere Verletzte unterwegs zu uns seien. Die sieben oder acht Patienten waren alle in einem kritischen Zustand, und einige mussten sofort wiederbelebt werden. Wir aktivierten sofort unseren Notfallplan: Wir organisierten zusätzliches Personal und medizinisches Material, stellten vor dem Spital Zelte auf, in denen die Triage durchgeführt wurde(Bem.: Notfall-Prozedur für das Eintreffen vieler Verletzte zugleich, bei der zunächst die besonders schweren Fälle behandelt werden), verlegten stabile Patienten und nahmen unseren dritten Operationssaal in Betrieb.
Als ein paar Minuten später weitere Verletzte eintrafen, war alles vorbereitet. Es war sehr gutes Teamwork. Wir haben bereits so viele Situationen mit vielen Notfallpatienten gleichzeitig erlebt, dass unsere Mitarbeiter genau wissen, was zu tun ist. Viele Patienten mussten sofort nach ihrer Einlieferung in den Operationssaal gebracht werden. Wir haben vier Chirurgen – zwei allgemeine und zwei orthopädische – und sie leisten phantastische Arbeit. Aber es ist hart. Um sieben Uhr abends hatten wir bereits 41 Verwundete aufgenommen.
Nachdem im Oktober das Krankenhaus in Haydan und im Jänner das Shiara-Krankenhaus angegriffen worden waren, sanken die Patientenzahlen; die Menschen hatten Angst davor, dass weitere Krankenhäuser attackiert werden könnten. Doch nach einigen Wochen kamen die Menschen langsam zurück – von Mariela Carrara
Longer English version: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35608328
3.3.2016 – Albawaba (* A H K)
MSF closes its only hospital in Yemen following nearby airstrikes
The only medical facility run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the northern Yemeni city of Sa’ada has been closed following Saudi airstrikes that hit an area near it.
The international medical charity said in messages posted on Twitter that its facility in the Razeh district of Sa’ada was evacuated after two raids struck 20 meters from the hospital on Tuesday.
The MSF said its staffers are “scared” to resume work in the hospital, which was also attacked in January. Four people were killed and 10 injured in the strikes back then.
Missile strikes have reportedly hit at least three MSF clinics across Yemen.
Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March last year, a
http://www.albawaba.com/news/msf-closes-its-only-hospital-yemen-following-nearby-airstrikes-812682
Comment: That will cause the deaths which this airstrike was not able to achieve. Thus, for Saudis: Mission accomplished.
3.3.2016 – Oxfam (A P)
Oxfam Yemen Situation Report #15, 22 February 2016
The USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien made a statement to the UNSC on Yemen indicating that it is more urgent than ever to address the human catastrophe in Yemen. Of note was the increase in the number of IDPs to 2.7 million people. The statement noted that UN agencies and partners are delivering aid under “extraordinarily difficult and dangerous” circumstances, and was highly critical of all parties to the conflict who have contributed to reduced humanitarian space and access.
Despite limited supplies entering besieged areas, this does little to address overall needs. The ICRC and WHO have been able to deliver medical supplies into Taiz, including to four hospitals. Ongoing and comprehensive access remains an issue for Taiz City and a permanent mechanism to ensure sustained and consistent access has yet to be established.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/oxfam-yemen-situation-report-15-22-february-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Oxfam%20Yemen%20Sitrep%2015%20220216.pdf
2.3.2016 – National Yemen (A H)
Supporting Youth Initiatives in Yemen Through Small Grants
Saferworld has been working with youth activists and networks since 2010, and over the years we have worked with youth from every governorate in Yemen. Like all Yemeni citizens, youth activists have been hit hard by the increasing levels of violence in the country and difficulties in accessing resources. However, in many areas, youth groups and youth initiatives are helping to bring their communities together and help those who are most in need.
As part of our ongoing youth project, Saferworld is supporting a series of local level initiatives led by youth groups across Yemen, focusing on promoting social peace and coexistence through unique and creative ideas. Currently we are supporting five initiatives through micro-grants and a mentoring programme – by Fakhri Al-Arashi
http://nationalyemen.com/2016/03/02/supporting-youth-initiatives-in-yemen-through-small-grants/
2.3.2016 – Shafaqna (* A H)
#Rice4Yemen campaign – Yemen blockade runners appeal for help
With over 22 million people facing immediate starvation Yemen is facing the bottom of a barrel … Yemenis need help, and they need it fast.
While many have been tirelessly campaigning for peace, calling for all parties involved to return to the negotiating table, and strike a deal which would save millions of lives, such politicking has been painstakingly slow – offering little by way of immediate help for Yemen.
What Yemenis need is a right now – food right now! so that maybe they can weather tomorrow.
Yemen’s poverty is not of its making. Yemenis are not a lazy people, or an irresponsible people – what they are is poverty-stricken and war-stricken. What they suffer from, and under has been engineered starvation by the Saudi-led coalition.
Today, the Mona Relief Organization is asking you to donate a few pounds, dollars, Euros … whatever your currency maybe, so that hope can once more flourish, so that tomorrow can become a reality/
#Rice4Yemen will run throughout March. The Mona Relief needs to raise £20,000 to feed Yemen and beat the blockade. We need an estimated 10000 people to give £2. That’s less than a cup of coffee!
If you cannot give than forward this article to your contacts and become a blockade runner! Become the chain which stood against injustice and tyranny, become that voice which pushed the dark away!
Yemen needs you … please do not turn away!
http://en.shafaqna.com/news/29595
2.3.2016 – Reuters (A H)
U.N. says aid ship docks in Yemen after diversion to Saudi Arabia
A World Food Programme (WFP) ship carrying humanitarian aid offloaded its cargo in Yemen on Wednesday, the United Nations said, after it was diverted to Saudi Arabia earlier this month because it was carrying communications equipment.
The Mainport Cedar, which the United Nations said was carrying a cargo of humanitarian relief supplies bound for the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, was diverted by the coalition to the Saudi port of Jizan on Feb. 11.
"The World Food Programme confirms that the Mainport Cedar has offloaded its cargo at Yemen's Hodeida port today," said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq.
"The vessel was carrying interagency cargo that includes canned tuna and medical supplies. It had also been carrying information technology equipment that was left behind in Jizan to complete paperwork to allow it into Aden for the U.N. humanitarian hub," Haq said.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKCN0W42DB
Comment: Earlier reporting how Saudis blocked this vessel.
Comment by Judith Brown: At long last this aid is being delivered after communication equipment has been removed - as if aid agencies coping in the midst of a complex war don't need computers and phones. Initially KSA maintained it was equipment for military purposes - implying it was weapons. And this much needed aid has taken a month to get to a desperate population.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154141804773641
1.3.2016 – OCHA (B H)
Overview of Yemen Crisis – Infographs
Überblick über die Krise im Jemen – Infographiken
http://ochayemen.org/hrp2016/infographic.html
23.2.2016 – Doctors Without Borders (A H)
Film: YEMEN | People in desperate need in Yemen
To escape the bombing, he fled to Khamer in the south of Yemen with his three children, one of whom has a rare blood disorder. Unable to access the healthcare they needs, Abdulla is forced to pay people for their blood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ4XdbWosuw
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
3.3.2016 - Gulf News (AP)
Bahah orders authorities to deal “firmly” with militants in Aden
Prime Minister discusses plans with Aden security chief to restore stability to Aden
Yemen vice president Khalid Bahah ordered on Wednesday local authorities in the southern city of Aden, the country’s temporary capital, to clamp down on armed groups and Daesh-linked militants responsible for deadly attacks in the strategic city.
Bahah who arrived in Aden on Tuesday held a meeting with the governor of Aden, chief security of the city and the commander of 4th Military Region that focused on discussing security plans to restore stability and security to the city. The official news agency quoted Bahah as ordering senior officials in the city to deal “firmly” with local militias that thrived in the city during Al Houthis’ occupation of the city.
2.3.2016 – Yemen News Today (A P)
Yemen media frantic with claims Riyadh-exiled president Hadi is about to issue a decree appointing billionaire Sheikh Hamid Al Ahmar as the new Prime Minister of Yemen.
This comes less than a week after Hadi appointed Gen Ali Muhsin Al Ahmar (also Riyadh-based) as deputy chief of the Yemen armed forces.
Since Hamid Al Ahmar has been in Istanbul since the war in Yemen started, I guess this would make Yemen's Hadi regime a multi-national government based in Riyadh and Istanbul (but not Yemen).
Maliiiiih. You cannot make up this sort of idiocy. If I don't die by Saudi missile, I'll be dying laughing.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1106542322831591
cp7 UNO / UN
3.3.2016 - Stuttgarter Zeitung (A H)
Humanitäre Hilfe für den Jemen
Angesichts des Bürgerkriegs im Jemen erwägt der UN-Sicherheitsrat, den Zugang zu humanitärer Hilfe und ein Ende willkürlicher Attacken per Resolution durchzusetzen. Die Lage in dem Land auf der arabischen Halbinsel verschlimmere sich zunehmend, sagte Angolas UN-Botschafter Ismael Gaspar Martins am Donnerstag. Angola hat derzeit die rotierende Präsidentschaft im höchsten UN-Gremium inne. Möglicherweise sei gar eine schnelle oder „sehr drastische“ Resolution nötig, um humanitäres Recht durchzusetzen, sagte Martins.
3.3.2016 – Reuters (A H)
U.N. warns against slowing recent increase in aid flow to Yemen
The United Nations’ aid chief Stephen O'Brien on Thursday warned countries not to take any steps that would reverse the recent increase in emergency aid for Yemen moving through ports in the conflict-torn country.
“In recent months, there has been a significant increase of fuel and other life-saving imports through Yemeni ports, and it is critical that every effort be made by all member states concerned to encourage, and not hinder, that trend,” O’Brien told the 15-nation U.N. Security Council.
“It is imperative that imports to Yemen and trading within Yemen be allowed to continue,” he said. “I call on all parties to ensure protection of civilian infrastructure, including shipping ports and associated equipment."
O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council earlier this month that a U.N. verification and inspection mechanism for shipments had been launched in a bid to boost commercial imports.
However, in his address the council on Thursday, O’Brien suggested it was not up and running yet. He said plans to get the inspection mechanism, known as UNVIM, “will be finalized this week, allowing the full commencement of UNVIM operations.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-war-un-idUSKCN0W529K and by AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_UNITED_NATIONS_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE
Comment: This is ridiculous. Aid is not allowed in, no DEC appeal for humanitarian aid in Yemen despite the need, farms are destroyed, food factories are destroyed - why is the media silent on this genocidal action?
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1106817096137447
Comment by Judith Brown: Why did they not take action till now? It is quite shameful, O'Brien told the UNSC 6 months ago that conditions in Yemen were intolerable and Yemen looked as bad in 5 months as Syria after 5 years. But nothing has been done except selling more and more weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154142991378641
3.3.2016 – AFP (A P)
Russia warns of 'very long' war in Yemen
Russia warned Thursday the war in Yemen could grind on for a "very long time" because of the government's insistence on conditions for a ceasefire.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, speaking to reporters after a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Yemen crisis, told reporters he was concerned that prospects for peace talks were dim.
"We hear that the government does not want to have a ceasefire until there is a comprehensive settlement," Churkin said.
"This is a recipe for a very long conflict which will have even more dramatic results," he said.
Russia abstained, but did not veto, a Saudi-backed resolution adopted last year that demands that the Huthi rebels withdraw from all territory seized in their campaign.
That resolution, Churkin said, "is being used essentially to continue the military campaign" by the Saudi-led coalition.
Comment: Just true.
3.3.2016 – AFP (A K P)
Beratungen über UN-Resolution zu Angriffen auf Krankenhäuser
Nach mehreren Angriffen auf Kliniken in Kriegsgebieten streben mehrere Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats eine Resolution gegen solche Attacken an. Ägypten, Japan, Spanien, Neuseeland und Uruguay arbeiten derzeit an einem Resolutionsentwurf.
Nach zahlreichen Angriffen auf Krankenhäuser in Kriegsgebieten streben mehrere Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats eine Resolution gegen solche Attacken an. Ägypten, Japan, Spanien, Neuseeland und Uruguay arbeiten derzeit an einem gemeinsamen Entwurf, wie die Sprecherin der neuseeländischen UN-Mission Nicola Garvey am Mittwoch mitteilte. Es sei an der Zeit, dass die internationale Gemeinschaft ein Zeichen setze für den Schutz von Ärzten und medizinischen Einrichtungen in Ländern wie Syrien, dem Jemen oder Afghanistan.
https://de.nachrichten.yahoo.com/beratungen-%C3%BCber-un-resolution-angriffen-krankenh%C3%A4user-092715462.html = http://www.donaukurier.de/nachrichten/topnews/UNO-Syrien-Jemen-Afghanistan-Konflikte-Hilfsorganisationen-Beratungen-ueber-UN-Resolution-zu-Angriffen-auf-Krankenhaeuser;art154776,3188974
3.3.2016 – Middle East Eye (A P)
Syria, Yemen hospital attacks spark new UN resolution
UN Security Council countries are working on a new resolution to demand a halt to attacks on hospitals and medical facilities in war zones
Five non-permanent members in the UN Security Council are working on a new draft resolution to demand a halt to attacks on hospitals and medical facilities in Syria, Yemen and other war zones, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Egypt, Japan, Spain, New Zealand and Uruguay have coalesced on the measure that would reaffirm that such attacks violate international law and would call for perpetrators to be held accountable.
"Given the increase of attacks, it would be timely to have a text that holds up international law, re-states respect for medical workers and sends a message about health care in armed conflict," said New Zealand's UN mission spokeswoman Nicola Garvey.
The United Nations has raised alarm over the targeting of medical workers and hospitals in conflict zones, in particular in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
The draft resolution is being negotiated at a time when four of the five permanent council members - Britain, France, Russia and the United States - are backing parties in the Syria conflict. The draft resolution could be presented to the 15-member council as early as next week, diplomats said.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/multiple-hospital-attacks-pave-way-new-security-council-resolution-93640240 and by TASS: http://tass.ru/en/world/860333
Comment: What will be written in this draft resolution? In which form it will be accepted, as the veto western countries and their allies like Saudi Arabia are the most eager hospital bombers? And Russia, bombing in Syria now? And will there be formulated any consequences to meet the offenders? If any resolution will be passed, how much it will have watered before?
2.3.2016 – Inner City Press (** A P)
On Yemen, Inner City Press Asks UN's John Ging of Saudi Bombs & Funds, Threats to Aid Workers
The UN Secretariat's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press, see below.
In the UN Security Council on the Yemen sanctions resolution adopted on February 24, language was added to try to discourage the Panel of Experts from looking into the act of the Saudi-led Coalition. Concessions were made, of a kind not made for or about other countries under sanctions.
(Inner City Press had to follow the process from outside the UN, literally, the park on 43rd Street across First Avenue, because only days after Inner City Press asked why the UN was so quiet about false claims of Iranian military equipment in a UN WFP aid ship, Inner City Press was summarily thrown out of the UN, and Banned, without due process.Petition here.)
On March 1, back in on a reduced access pass, Inner City Press asked UN OCHA official John Ging about taking "aid" money from Saudi Arabia while it blasts away at Yemen. Video here.
Ging said these two are "ring fenced," and that the UN doesn't allow Saudi Arabia to put conditions on aid or where it is delivered. Inner City Press asked, what about the Saudi threat that aid workers should leave Houthi-controlled areas? Ging said the UN had pushed back.
But quietly, as was the case with the Saudi diversion of the WFP ship. Does money talk?
On February 28, Ban Ki-moon but not his invisible envoy issued a canned statement about the previous day's airstrike
[The story of the UN and Yemen, interviews and research by Inner City Press] – by Matthew Russell Lee
http://innercitypress.blogspot.de/2016/03/on-yemen-inner-city-press-asks-uns-john.html
29.2.2016 – Xinhua (A P)
UN chief calls for 'prompt, impartial' probe into airstrike on Yemeni market
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for "a prompt and impartial investigation" into the Saturday airstrike on a market in Yemen that killed at least 32 civilians.
In a statement issued here by his spokesman, Ban "strongly condemns the apparent airstrike" on Khaleq market in Nehm district in northeastern Sanaa, whose death toll was among the highest from a single bombing since September 2015.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2016-02/29/content_23683775.htm
Comment: How stupid this UN really is? That was exactly this same UN who blocked any "prompt and impartial investigation" of war crimes in Yemen. The UN Human Rights Council blocked a resolution asking exactly for that and instead accepted a resolution giving the Hadi government the order to investigate in Yemen – what in reality means that the Saudis should investigate their own war crimes. So, what will Ban do now to get the investigation he wanted, or did he just show his hypocrisy?
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
3.3.2016 – Frankfurter Allgemeine (* B K P)
Stabiler Wandel, aber schnell
Noch ist Saudi-Arabien ein Hort der Ruhe in einer Region, die im Chaos versinkt. Doch die Stabilität ist bedroht. Denn die Herausforderungen, denen sich das Königreich ausgesetzt sieht, sind so groß wie zu keinem anderen Zeitpunkt seit seiner Gründung.
Von den einst führenden arabischen Mächten ist als einziger Akteur Saudi-Arabien übrig geblieben: Syrien versinkt im Bürgerkrieg, der Irak zerlegt sich selbst, und Ägypten ist damit beschäftigt, die innere Balance zu halten, so gut das geht. Aber auch Saudi-Arabien sieht sich inneren und äußeren Herausforderungen ausgesetzt wie zu keinem anderen Zeitpunkt seit der Gründung des Königreichs 1932.
So stellt der steile Fall des Ölpreises den Gesellschaftsvertrag des Königreichs in Frage.
Instabilität strahlt vom Zerfall Syriens, des Jemens und Libyens aus; nichtstaatliche Akteure wie die libanesische Hizbullah und die jemenitischen Houthi-Rebellen bedrohen zudem saudische Interessen. Zu diesen Gefahren kommt der Aufstieg Irans hinzu.
Im Kampf gegen diese Destabilisierung fühlt sich Saudi-Arabien von Amerika alleingelassen.
Das militärische Eingreifen im Jemen ist eine Folge der neuen saudischen Ordnungspolitik. Riad gibt als Motiv an, verhindern zu wollen, dass sich im Jemen ein Zerfall und eine Spaltung wie im Irak wiederholten.
Einen Preis dafür zahlt Saudi-Arabien bereits. So ist seit dem Beginn des Kriegs im Jemen vor einem Jahr die Zahl der Jemeniten im Königreich auf vier Millionen gestiegen.
Parallel zu den Bemühungen, die äußere Stabilität zu erhalten, hat im Inneren ein Transformationsprozess eingesetzt, der zu einem neuen Gesellschaftsvertrag führen soll – von Rainer Hermann
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/saudi-arabien-stabiler-wandel-aber-schnell-14097951.html
2.3.2016 – Israel National News (A P)
Top-level Israeli delegation 'visited Riyadh secretly'
Visit including senior Israeli figure took place several weeks ago, says TV report. Fear of Iran creating Sunni-Jewish bond.
A top-level Israeli delegation that included a senior political figure visited Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago, according to Channel 10.
The channel's Arab affairs expert, Tzvi Yehezkeli, said that he cannot reveal everything that he knows about the visit due to military censorship, and that there have been additional visits, which he cannot report about for similar reasons.
The matter is sensitive, he explained, but under their new king, Salman, the Saudis are more open about the contacts with Israel. The Gulf states, he added, need Israel because both are facing a common problem as Iran grows stronger following the nuclear deal it signed – and because the US is no longer a meaningful presence in the region.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) said in mid-February at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that Israel was carrying out secret contacts with Arab countries in the Persian Gulf.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208806#.Vtgl8jvSmUk
1.3.2016 – Inspire to Change World (A P)
Saudi FM Secretly Visits Israel after Israeli Officials Visit Riyadh to Counter Iran
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir accompanied by the Saudi intelligence chief Khaled al-Hamidan made a secret visit to Israel during the past few days.
Elsewhere other reports indicate that the visit was meant to discuss joint Israeli-Saudi military operations against Syria and Lebanon. During the clandestine visit, Adel al-Jubeir met with officials of the Israeli regime’s spy agency Mossad.
Mid-February Netanyahu said it was time for Tel Aviv make public its close ties with some Arab countries.
Speaking during the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said that the so-called moderate Arab countries see Israel as their ally, not their enemy, as they share a common struggle against Iran among others.
According to a Bloomberg report early June last year, five bilateral meetings were held over the a 17 month period in India, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
1.3.2016 – Traveller (B E)
Saudi Arabia tourism: Plan for beach resorts along Red Sea
It's certainly not the first destination to spring to mind when planning a beach holiday, but Saudi Arabia is preparing to develop its unspoiled islands into resorts in an attempt to boost visitor numbers.
Tourism authorities in the country have announced that 66 islands along the country's Red Sea coast are "ready for investment".
The Farasan Islands – between the port city of Jazan, Eritrea and Yemen – have been earmarked thanks to their clear blue seas, white sandy beaches and coral reefs.
Although basic facilities such as piers, toilets and umbrellas exist on the main three islands – Farasan, Sajid and Muharraq – authorities hope to see more development, including high-end accommodation.
Rustom Al-Kubaisi of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage told London's Telegraph the country was hoping to attract luxury hotel developers to build "scuba diving, spa and resort facilities" on the three main islands.
"For the time being it is aimed at Saudis and expats," Mr Kubaisi said, but Western tourists might become a target "in the future" – by Lizzie Porter
http://www.traveller.com.au/saudi-arabia-tourism-plan-for-beach-resorts-along-red-sea-gn765o
Comment: So, we learn that (war costs and that) tourism is the new income.
We learn that Saudi Arabia has a tourism promotion commission.
We learn that these islands of Farasan are home to fabulous coral reefs, majestic flora and fauna.
That Saudis are planning big with huge investments, hyperbolic luxurious resorts and all the bad-taste the enriched of the Gulf can be capable of.
This article is clearly the result of a media invitation from the Saudis.
We, in the meantime, in Yemen, wished the international media paid any attention to what Saudis are doing to innocent civilians.
We wished our colleagues at the Yemeni Tourism Promotion Board were busy promoting our own unparalleled beauty and heritage instead of being out of work and compiling lists of heritage sites destroyed by bombardments.
We wished our people in Socotra (match that eco-diversity beauty, if you can, Saudi Arabia!) did not have to starve and could protect their island.
We wished the same sea where the islands arise, the Red Sea off Yemen coast, were not, to us, just a memory of bombardments on simple fishermen like it happened in September and October last year.
We wished many things. Mainly, that the world listened to us.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=978456458874051&id=961126490607048
Remember: How the Saudis treated the bodies of those killed at the Mecca catastrophy last year, graphic images:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=978821938837503&id=961126490607048
cp9 USA
1.3.2016 – The Hoya (A P)
GREGORY: Twofold Reasoning for American Foreign Policy To Prioritize Yemen
While Yemen may not captivate the casual observer, the significance of recent developments in the war-torn state necessitates an American commitment to mitigating the multitude of threats stemming from its seemingly interminable conflict.
[…]
If the Saudis refuse this logic, however, the Obama administration must be wary not to expend too much political capital attempting to persuade Salman to shift course in Yemen. The Syrian strife has objectively farther-reaching implications, and Saudi cooperation is paramount in ensuring that already-delayed talks are not predestined for failure. Thus, the U.S. cannot present any ultimatums regarding the kingdom’s conduct in Yemen, because if Saudi compliance is to come in one theater or the other, Syria must take precedence. While this position may appear unsympathetic to the plight of the Yemeni people, such is the nature of interrelated conflicts waged by sovereign actors.
Reasons for optimism do exist, however, albeit in the unlikeliest of places. Indeed, the presence of IS and AQAP ensures that Yemen remains an international priority and the focus of future efforts for pacification and stabilization.
http://www.thehoya.com/gregory-twofold-reasoning-for-american-foreign-policy-to-prioritize-yemen/
Comment: This is really a rather strange article. The world is seen just from the point of US interests. If it fits better to them, let’s broker for peace. If not – if other interest prevail – let’s just happen the war to go on.
15.7.2015 – Near Eastern Outlook (** A P)
NED Ignores Saudi Barbarism
The Arabian Peninsula has been trapped in a time warp for nearly a century, thanks to the House of Saud and indomitable Western support.Some may find it curious, browsing the US State Department’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED) website, reviewing the unending lists of faux-NGOs special interests in the West have propped up across the planet to project influence and political meddling into every corner of the planet under the pretense of supporting “freedom and democracy,” to discover this meddling extends to nearly all nations except a select few.
One of these blind spots includes Saudi Arabia. In fact, under the category “Middle East and North Africa” (MENA), Saudi Arabia isn’t even listed. NED-funded NGOs attempt to leverage every noble cause conceived by human empathy, from representative governance, to the rights of women and children, from behind which to hide their true agenda of political meddling, undermining local institutions, and the overwriting of a nation’s sociocultural landscape. Yet, it would seem, even this farce has its limits, which begin at the borders of favored client-states including Saudi Arabia.
It would seem, were NED a genuine sponsor of such causes, Saudi Arabia would have attracted special attention. It is literally a nation where women do not exist as human beings legally or socially, unable to even drive, and were Saudi Arabia to have anything resembling actual elections, unable to vote as well. The lack of any semblance of representative governance is another aspect one might expect the National Endowment for Democracy to find issue with. Yet it doesn’t.
This transparent, obvious hypocrisy exposes the entirety of NED’s work for what it is – meddling behind an elaborate facade of defending freedom, democracy, and human rights.
But beyond this intentional blind spot the self-proclaimed arbiters of global freedom and democracy have created for the autocratic, brutal regime of Saudi Arabia to hide within, we find more than just silent approval, we find also active, even eager complicity.
The entirety of Saudi Arabia’s security apparatus, both internal and military, has been created and propped up by the West through billions upon billions of dollars in aid, weapon sales, and direct military cooperation and support. This includes the immense 60 billion USD arms deal signed between Riyadh and Washington, the largest arms deal in US history.
This says nothing of covert operations the West, including the United States and United Kingdom, have been carrying out throughout the MENA region with Saudi Arabia as the chief proxy and local facilitator.
A barbaric autocracy lopping the heads off its own citizens while creating colonies of terrorism across the globe through direct support of marching terrorist armies and a global network of madrases promoting the state-cult of Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, under the guise of Sunni Islam would seem like one of the West’s greatest threats.
Yet in most cases, particularly when these Saudi-sponsored madrases are established in Europe or North America, national intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the CIA, MI5, and MI6 actively participate in the cultivating, exploitation, and entrapment of radicals created within. Never is it attempted to expose and dismantle these networks, and instead, an intentional strategy of tension is created around these rat nests of extremism to promote hysteria, division, and further fan the flames of fear at home, while justifying perpetual war abroad.
Considering this, it is clear why Saudi Arabia is not only pardoned for its inhumanity and criminality, but encouraged and enabled by special interests in the West. These interests are able to manipulate and terrorize their population at home, justify the creation and enlargement of domestic surveillance networks, and justify the use of military force abroad in campaigns of hegemonic conquest predicated on “national defense” against “terrorism” they and their allies have themselves created to begin with.
When Saudi Arabia began airstrikes on neighboring Yemen, we saw once again not only the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union fail to protest the extraterritorial aggression, but the United Nations itself also failed to condemn or act in response. Furthermore, Western support for Saudi military aggression has continued unabated regardless of the atrocities and deaths unfolding in Yemen.
And while it can safely be said that Al Qaeda is a reflection of Saudi Arabia, it can also be safely stated that Saudi Arabia, its barbarism and regional crimes against humanity, its state-sponsorship of global terrorism, and even the ideology it actively promotes worldwide that serves as the foundation global terrorism is inspired from, is a reflection in turn of the depravity of the special interests ruling Wall Street, Washington and their Transatlantic counterparts in London and Brussels.
Understanding the special accommodations made by the West for perhaps the most barbaric nation on Earth, amid disingenuous bleating about “Iran,” “North Korea,” “Russia,” “China,” and other enemies of Western hegemony, exposes the emptiness of Western principles – or more accurately – the emptiness of those hiding behind them – by Tony Cartalucci
http://journal-neo.org/2015/07/15/ned-ignores-the-existence-of-saudi-barbaria/
23.10.2015 – The Intercept (* *B K P)
Lockheed Martin, Boeing Rally Around Saudi Arabia, Wave Off Humanitarian Concerns
Representatives from two major defense contractors whose advanced weaponry is being used in the Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign that has killed scores of civilians in Yemen were quick to defend the human rights record of the Persian Gulf kingdom in a panel discussion held last week in Washington, D.C.
Ronald L. Perrilloux Jr., an executive with Lockheed Martin, complained of an atmosphere of “hostile media reports” shaping the views of Congress, most of which, he said, are “patently false.”
“Another significant irritant,” Perrilloux said, “is the application of human rights laws” toward U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Perrilloux argued that these countries, despite being “better partners to us than some of our NATO allies,” were being unfairly judged compared to Chinese human rights abuses.
Democrats on Capitol Hill recently blocked arms transfers to Saudi Arabia over concerns regarding the rising civilian death toll caused by the campaign.
Jeffrey Kohler, a retired Air Force lieutenant general who left the military and now work as a vice president at Boeing, declared, “We ought be encouraging that type of cooperation and facilitating and helping them with the gaps instead of just throwing stones.”
Perrilloux added that “the biggest thing we can do to help them finish the job is to provide them with the benefit of our experiences, with training of their forces, and probably replenishment of their forces.”
Boeing and Lockheed Martin play a pivotal role in the war in Yemen and the Saudi-led air campaign.
For both defense contracting giants, the Middle East is still a growing market. The Congressional Research Service notes that between October 2010 and October 2014, the U.S. signed off on more than $90 billion in weapons deals to the Saudi government.
Weapons transfers are actually a foundation for stability, the executives argued. “More often than not, it is the military relationship that will keep the relations and the bonds between countries very strong,” Kohler said. “When you sell somebody a big platform like an F-15, you build a 30-plus year relationship with that air force.”
The conference, organized by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, was designed to promote the strength of the alliance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
The list of sponsors was dominated by powerful oil, gas, and defense contracting companies, including Aramco, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips, Raytheon, United Technologies, SAIC, Leidos, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, GE, and Northrop Grumman – by Lee Fang
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/23/saudi-arabia-boeing-lockheed-martin/
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
1.3.2016 – Green Party (A P)
Greens pass motion calling for action to end the bloodshed in Yemen
AN emergency motion brought to the floor at the Green Party’s Spring Conference in Harrogate (26-28 February) which calls on the Party to do all it can to end the bloodshed in Yemen was carried.
The motion, tabled by Haringey Green Party, calls on the Party to campaign to:
+ halt Britain’s current supply of UN-banned cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia
+ end Britain’s military assistance to the Saudi Arabia bombing campaign against civilians in Yemen and
+ stop all Royal Naval support for the Saudi water, food and medicines blockade of Yemen.
The tabled motion signaled that, “in recent months the Saudi bombing campaign, and the food, water and medicines blockade against Yemen has intensified catastrophically. The Green Party is very concerned about the effects of the war conducted by one of the world’s richest countries, Saudi Arabia, on one of the poorest, Yemen."
26.2.2016 – International Business Times (** A K P)
Our arms exports business to Saudi Arabia is thriving at the expense of humanity
Arms dealers would have you believe that selling military equipment and expertise is good for the economy. Military companies are some of our biggest stocks worldwide. But I would suggest that this is a pretty narrow measurement on the whole. In the same way as crashing your car or getting divorced are good for GDP because they spur economic activity, they are rather less productive for society as a whole.
Similarly, when the weapons sloshing around the global market are actually used, all that precious GDP built up over the years is destroyed by men with the weapons we sold them. I do not think we should view arms exports as an economic asset. We should view them, entirely, within the preserve of foreign policy and morality. This may result in tightly limiting their circulation and so be it.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Middle East. Over the years the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium and plenty more have made valuable profits out of selling warplanes, bombs and missiles to Saudi Arabia. Celebrated in government press releases, a gruesome competition has been under way between European capitals over who can flog the most.
There is no question that EU arms sales to Saudi Arabia – by far the world's largest arms importer and the UK's top arms client – have aided and abetted gross breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen. The sheer destruction of civilian infrastructure, including roads, schools, hospitals, water reservoirs and world heritage sites is almost incalculable.
Even more difficult to gauge still, what are the long term economic impacts of having 3.4 million children out of school in Yemen? Or destroying or closing 600 health facilities? Or, according to the latest UN figures, the deaths of 3,000 civilians including 700 children?
Aside from our contribution towards creating considerable suffering for our fellow people, there will be a financial cost to us also. Given the international community will, eventually, have to contribute to rebuilding Yemen, I would be curious to see a comparison of this cost to the public purse versus the private profits of the arms companies, even after factoring in the tax they pay.
So long as we prioritise selling military equipment above wider economic and humanitarian considerations we will not see a full picture. We cannot be surprised that the Middle East is becoming more and more of a dangerous, unstable and costly place to do business in. I hope this week the European Parliament took a step towards making the world safer, for people and business alike – by Alyn Smith, Scottish National Party Member of the European Parliament for Scotland
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/our-arms-exports-business-saudi-arabia-thriving-expense-humanity-1546306
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
29.2.2016 – Mil21 (A P)
El Parlamento Europeo denuncia a España por incrementar la venta de armas a Arabia Saudí
La resolución, aprobada el 26 de febrero por 449 votos a favor, 36 contra y 78 abstenciones, estuvo precedida de un debate en el que se denunció que España, Reino Unido, Francia y Alemania son los principales vendedores de armamento a Arabia Saudí, y puso el foco en Madrid y Londres por haber “aumentado significativamente” el suministro de armas al régimen saudí.
En efecto, las ventas de armamento español a Arabia Saudí han batido un récord histórico al sumar 447,6 millones de euros en el primer semestre de 2015. Esta cifra supone el 26% de todo el material militar exportado por España en dicho periodo, que asciende a 1.727,2 millones de euros, un 25,3% más que en los seis primeros meses de 2014, según el informe anual sobre las exportaciones de material de defensa elaborado por la Secretaría de Estado de Comercio.
España exportó al régimen wahabita de Riad dos aviones de reabastecimiento en vuelo MRTT, fabricados por Airbus en su factoría de Getafe (Madrid) a partir del avión civil A330-200, así como repuestos para aviones de transporte, piezas de motores para cazas de combate, munición ligera y una estación de control remoto para armas. Se estima que parte del armamento vendido por España estaría siendo empleado en el “esfuerzo logístico” de Arabia Saudí en la guerra de Yemen.
26.2.2016 – The Guardian (* B K P)
UAE beat foreign prisoners and gave them electric shocks, evidence shows
Evidence shows authorities used brutal techniques on Americans, Canadian and two Libyans, following previous claims of torture by family members
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have subjected foreign nationals in secret detention to electric shocks, beatings and other abuses, according to evidence shared with the Guardian by multiple sources within the country.
The evidence depicts a variety of brutal techniques employed by UAE interrogators on several foreign nationals, including two Americans, a Canadian and two Libyans, detained since August 2014, most of the time without charge. According to sources in the UAE, each of the prisoners suffered severe beatings, sometimes with rods, sometimes in what was called a “boxing ring”, and sometimes while suspended from a chain.
Other techniques described include electric shocks, prying off fingernails, pouring insects on to the inmates, dousing prisoners with cold water in front of a fan, sleep deprivation for up to 20 days, threats of rape and sexual harassment, and, in two cases, sexual abuse.
The evidence from several sources, shared on condition of anonymity, follows previous claims of torture by family members of the prisoners – by Alan Yuhas
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/26/uae-torture-prisoners-beatings-electrocution
Comment: That are exactly those people who claim to bring democracy and peace to Yemen (by bombing the country).
Comment: When we refer to 'Saudi led coalition' we know that 2 countries are 100% committed to destroying and conquering Yemen, namely: Saudi Arabia itself and the United Arab Emirates.
Whilst Saudi Arabia's reputation is universally known, UAE can still count on its polished image. A glossy one built through years of good PR and marketing exercises.
It is about time we start reading, learning and spreading information on what is behind the façade.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=978863848833312&id=961126490607048
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
29.2.2016 – Middle east Monitor (* A P)
Arab union calls on EU to withdraw ban on weapons sales to Saudi
Arab Inter-parliamentary Union (AIPU) has called on the European Parliamentary Union (EPU) to withdraw a motion banning its members from selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, theAnadolu Agency reported yesterday.
The EPU voted in favour of a weapons sales ban on Saudi Arabia on Thursday. According to the motion, which is not binding, member states must stop selling weapons to Saudi, which is taking part in a war against rebel groups in Yemen.
In a statement the AIPU said it is “illogical for the EPU to vote for this strange and illogical motion,” calling for the EPU to withdraw it based on the relationship which connects the Arab nations with Europe, as well as on the facts on the ground in Yemen.
The EPU should have hailed the Saudi role in Yemen instead of calling to embargo weapons sales, the statement continued, noting that this “strange” move did not depend on “precise” information especially with regards accusations that Saudi kills civilians in Yemen.
“Everyone knows that the Arabic-Islamic intervention in Yemen was requested by the legitimate President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to fight the Houthis, who carried out a coup.
“Such calls strengthen the illegal groups and encourage them to carry out coups against legal governments in their countries,” AIPU said. “Such decisions should be taken against certain countries whose military interface causes the death of hundreds of civilians every day.”
Comment: Really stupid propaganda.
20.8.2013 – Reuters (B K)
Textron wins $641 million deal to build Saudi cluster bombs
Textron Defense Systems, a unit of Textron Inc (TXT.N), has won a U.S. Air Force contract valued at $641 million to build 1,300 cluster bombs for Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Defense Department and Textron said on Tuesday.
The contract, which runs through the end of 2015, formalizes the sale of Textron's CBU-105 cluster bombers to Saudi Arabia, a deal that was first notified to Congress in December 2010.
The Pentagon's daily digest of major arms sales said $410 million in foreign military sales funds were being obligated for the Saudi work at this time.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE97J0ZF20130820
Comment, march 1, 2016: Don't you find this completely morally reprehensible? Why oh why is the world standing silently by when these bombs whose victims are 98% civilians are being made for a country that is using them in residential areas? What sort of world do we live in?
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1106156719536818
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
2.3.2016 – Newsweek (* B H)
Yemen: Sweet Spot
Syrian refugees left for Yemen, and then war broke out. Some have turned their new home into a success story
Living in one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, many Syrian refugees were reduced to begging on the streets for survival. A privileged few, with access to capital, were able to open small businesses. To make matters worse, many refugees fled to Saudi Arabia after the breakout of the Yemeni conflict. Some stayed on. “I know many Syrian refugees [who] left Yemen towards Saudi Arabia, regretted that they left and are thinking to return to Yemen. They cannot move freely in Saudi Arabia, and they have to stay in the camp of the refugees, while they can live as Yemenis here,” Marei says.
Many small businesses closed at the beginning of the war, but some Syrian eateries and stores bucked the trend, flourishing in the capital.
More than 10 Syrian restaurants have mushroomed in Sanaa, selling Syrian street food such as kebabs and shawarma sandwiches (sliced chicken or lamb wrapped in pita bread). The eateries attract mostly Yemenis. Samar Al Shawafi, one of Marei’s customers, says that there are many restaurants that sell similar foods, but she prefers the Syrian way of cooking. “The prices of the Syrian restaurants are the same as the others, but the food of the Syrians is better. So always I buy my favorite shawarma and kebab from the Syrian restaurants.”
Many of the Syrian restaurants opened at the start of Yemen’s war, so they could compete with others offering lower price-points. A shawarma sandwich costs a mere YR150 ($.70).
But it’s not just Syrian staple foods that have become popular in Sanaa. Dozens of Syrians have opened shops that make Syrian sweets and nuts.
Despite the ongoing war in Yemen, Syrian refugees continue to arrive in the country. Some of them register their names at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) while others prefer to steer clear, fearing the Syrian authorities might know their identities.
Jamal Al Jabi, the legal protection officer in UNHCR’s Yemen office, tells Newsweek Middle East that until December 2015, Syrian refugees in Yemen officially numbered 3,011, while Syrian asylum seekers numbered 615. “Even if the war is going fiercely in Yemen, the refugees still arrive in Yemeni ports and most of them leave to Saudi Arabia, while others remain inside Yemen,” Jabi adds, stating that 11 Syrian refugees arrived in the country in January 2016.
Most of the Syrian refugees live in Sanaa and Aden, and some of them have stopped begging. Others are trying to find alternative forms of income, according to Jabi.
“Most of the refugees who have arrived in Yemen amid the war have incorrect information about the war, and they think that they can pass into Saudi Arabia easily, while most of them remain in Yemen,” Jabi says.
The UNHCR does not have exact figures for Syrian refugees who left for Saudi Arabia, but Jabi says that most of them have already crossed to the neighboring country. The future uncertain, the refugees home is where their kitchen is – by Nasser Al Sakkaf
http://newsweekme.com/yemen-sweet-spot/
2.3.2016 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (B H)
Yemen: Mixed Migration Update, January 2016
Yemen is a historic transit hub for mixed migratory movements of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Although Yemen is the poorest of the Gulf countries, it stands out in the region for its generosity towards refugees. It is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. UNHCR Yemen works with local and international partners, UN agencies and other organizations to monitor the movement and provide protection and assistance – particularly to those who need additional support such as women and unaccompanied and separated children.
SCALE OF MIXED MIGRATION IN YEMEN
Over the last decade the number of new arrivals at the coast of Yemen from the Horn of Africa, primarily Ethiopians and Somalis, has steadily grown. Yemen has been according prima facie status to Somali refugees fleeing conflict and violence in their homeland for over 20 years. Many of the Ethiopians are fleeing poverty and drought, and have travelled in pursuit of economic or education opportunities. The vast majority of Ethiopian new arrivals use Yemen as a country of transit and continue onward to other Gulf States, although many become stranded in Yemen. Those seeking asylum approach the Government of Yemen and UNHCR.
2015 had the third highest number of arrivals (92,446) since UNHCR started the systematic recording of arrivals on Yemen’s Arabian and Red Sea coasts in 2006. Only 2011 (103,154) and 2012 (107,532) showed higher arrival figures. The number of Ethiopians that made the crossing (82,268) is the second highest on record after 2012 (84,376). UNHCR and partners in Somalia have been working with the international community and Somali authorities to improve political, security and socio-economic conditions as well as actively pursue durable solutions for returnees and IDPs in Somalia. Consequently, the number of Somalis making the risky journey is at its lowest for a decade at a little over 10,000 from a high of just over 33,000 in 2008.
Over two thirds of the new arrivals in 2015 came after the conflict in the country escalated in March. New arrivals continue to be misinformed about the severity of the conflict in Yemen and believe that the situation has become relatively calm in some of the southern governorates, or follow rumours of improved access into neighbouring Gulf countries. Due to the ongoing conflict, new arrivals face movement restrictions in Yemen, and risk being injured or killed in the conflict. There are now fewer income opportunities and available services, and organized gangs and smugglers continue to operate along the Red Sea coast.
Alongside the continuing inflow, due to the conflict and ever-deepening humanitarian crisis in Yemen there has also been an outflow of 169,863 Yemenis, refugees and third country nationals who have fled to countries in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf in 2015.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-mixed-migration-update-january-2016-enar and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20MM%20thematic%20update%20Jan%202016-Eng.pdf
cp13c Wirtschaft, Blockade / Economy, Blockade
3.3.2016 – Federation of Arabian News Agencies (A E P)
Coalition Command in Yemen Demands Ships Anchored in Hodeida Seaport to Leave Immediately for Entry of Waiting Ships
The Command of Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced in a statement today that it has demanded that ships and tankers anchored in Hodeida sea port, west of the country, to leave the port of Hodeida immediately to open the way for many ships waiting for entering the port.
The Command stressed that all ships, especially United Nations relief and humanitarian organizations ships, which carry licenses and permits to cross, will be allowed to cross and their missions will be facilitated, Saudi News Agency (SPA) reported.
The statement pointed out that this comes after the command of the coalition received a complaint from Yemeni Ministry of Transport against ships anchored in the port after landing its cargo and remained in the port which caused congestion and disruption of entry of ships waiting in Yemeni territorial waters.
http://www.fananews.com/en/qater/301322/ = http://www.gulfmagazine.com/english/7928/
Comment: Will there be a better supply to Houthi held Yemen now? We will see. – There is no “legitimacy” with any government in Yemen. This wording is propaganda.
2.3.2016 - Petroleum Economist (B E)
Yemen’s collapse as an energy producer
Conflict and unrest has hit the country’s oil output by more than 90% in just six years
Yemen is close to falling off the bottom of the list of global oil producers, with output declining from 424,000 barrels a day in 2004 to something close to 20,000 b/d today – the war and the collapse of state institutions mean that detailed figures are unavailable. A day when the country climbs back up that list seems distant, with no prospect of an early end to the conflict. The war has also halted Yemen’s liquefied natural gas-export industry, but the processing and export facilities at Balhaf on the Gulf of Aden coast are undamaged.
A barrage of damaging blows has struck Yemen’s energy sector over recent years: a breakdown of law and order when the Arab. ... - by Gerald Butt
http://www.petroleum-economist.com/Article/3534218/Yemens-collapse-as-an-energy-producer.html
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
2.3.2016 – The Long War Journal (** C T)
Osama bin Laden Documents: AQAP emir foreshadowed 2011 takeover of southern Yemen
Nasir al Wuhayshi, the emir of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who later became al Qaeda’s general manager, detailed the group’s strengths in Yemen’s provinces prior its spring 2011 offensive that saw much of the south fall under its control.
Wuhayshi, who was killed by the US in a drone strike in June 2015, outlined AQAP’s position in an undated letter that was addressed to an unnamed “brother.” The letter, which was seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was one of more than 100 released on March 1 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The letter appears to have been written sometime in early or mid-2010, while Yemen was experiencing political upheaval and President Abdullah Salih was under pressure to step down. In the letter, Wuhayshi responded to questions from “Abu ‘Uthman,” and notes that “The political conflict is deteriorating and the situation of the country is about to fall apart.” He advocated that AQAP take action lest it fail to capitalize on the political chaos.
“Our fear is that, if it falls apart without us having a presence on all levels, we will face competition” from the various factions in Yemen, including “the Muslim Brotherhood and Communists, especially in the South” the Iran-backed Houthis in the north, The Southern Movement (Hirak), and the Revolution Council led by Tariq al Fadhli, Wuhayshi noted.
“Our situation, thanks to Allah, is improving for the mujahidin, and as I have mentioned in my previous letters, if you ever wanted Sanaa [the capital of Yemen], today is the day!” Wuhayshi wrote.
Wuhayshi then went on to outline the “regions” in Yemen where AQAP is “centralized.” First on his list was Abyan, “which is considered one of the largest area in which we have supporters, presence, and many members, and we have more influence than the Hirak southern secessionist forces.”
The next two most important provinces for AQAP are Shabwa and Marib, “which is the largest area and has tribal influence; we are taking advantage of the ruggedness of its land and the influence of its members.”
“Then it’s Al Jawf, and Sa’dah in Wadi Abu Jbarah, and Arhab [in] Sanaa, which is considered the largest area in which we hold power,” he continued. “We have supporters and sympathizers in Lahij, Ad Dali’, Aden, Hadramawt, Sanaa, and Al Hudaydah and others.”
Wuhayshi then noted the importance of the tribes and their leaders, and said “they have pledged allegiance and they are with us even if they are only a few.” However, “some of them are afraid and prefer to be neutral.”
Other documents released from bin Laden’s cache from Abbottabad show there was an ongoing discussion between Wuhayshi and al Qaeda’s central leadership over the merits and pitfalls of taking control of territory in Yemen.
Bin Laden responded to Wuhayshi’s letter where he said “if you ever wanted Sanaa [the capital of Yemen], today is the day,” and said it was too soon for AQAP to attempt to overthrow the government. The lengthy letter is undated, but was likely written in the spring of 2010 – by Bill Roggio
Comment: Very interesting if you imagine what the West and the Saudis do or leave in Yemen. Please read in full at the original site, more details given.
1.3.2016 – Sputnik News (C T)
US Releases Bin Laden Letter Favoring Coup in Yemen to Remove Ex-President
The Yemeni people should carry out a revolution to remove country’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, terrorist network al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden stated in a letter declassified and released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday.
Bin Laden explained that the former Yemeni president had undertaken actions for several decades that are contrary to Islam, including "appeasing the infidels," and providing the grounds for the United States to kill "our people" in Iraq and Palestine.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160301/1035616240/bin-laden-yemen-coup.html
cp15 Propaganda
3.3.2016 - Vanessa Beeley (A P)
Quote of the year? Saudi Arabia at UNHRC
"We have made huge efforts to care for Syrian and Yemeni people. We take care of all human beings in this universe. We are world leaders in humanitarian assistance and relief"
https://www.facebook.com/vanessa.beeley/posts/10154893808133868?fref=nf
3.3.2016 – WAM (A P)
Al Houthi militia, Saleh group practise systematic killings, says Yemen's Permanent Representative to UN in Geneva
Permanent Representative of Yemen to European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Dr. Ali Mohammed Majawar, has stressed that the current systematic acts committed by al-Houthi militia and Ali Abdullah Saleh group are unprecedented and blatantly violate the human rights in Yemen.
He added that these crimes are characterised with barbarism, racism and disregard of all laws, customs and rights.
In his statement before the 31st session of Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, the Yemeni representative confirmed that "the coup militias committed one of the greatest crimes regarding continuous recruitment of the children in addition to daily crimes against humanity in the Yemeni cities."
According to the Yemen's official news agency, Majawar said that "The magnitude of the tragedy unfolding in Yemen was triggered by the military coup carried out by the Houthi and Saleh group, with intention to destroy Yemen's infrastructure, institutions and take over banks and public money as well as violate all human values and tearing the social fabric, promote the hate speech and racism, encourage terrorism and support the forces of extremism."
http://www.wam.ae/en/news/international/1395292372317.html
Comment: Still much longer, listing up Houthi and Saleh group crimes, off course with a propaganda intention and omitting all the crimes of the own side and the Saudi overlord. For instance, both sides recruit children fighters. Even mentioning that the so-called “Houthi and Saleh group “ has the “intention to destroy Yemen's infrastructure” is rather funny thinking of the Saudi coalition airstrikes.
3.3.2016 – Saudi Gazette (A P)
Over 85% of Yemen liberated — Hadi
The national army and the popular resistance have liberated more than 85 percent of the Yemeni territories from the grip of the Houthis and the forces of the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi said in an exclusive interview.
He admitted that Yemen would have fallen in four days and would have been an Iranian state had it not been for the Operation Decisive Storm launched by the Arab military coalition under the leadership of Saudi Arabia.
The president expressed confidence that Sanaa, which was taken by the Houthis, would be freed after the liberation of Taiz and Hudaidah.
Hadi described his relationship with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as sublime, close and strong and said Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, minister of defense, is gallantly providing them with all facilities and support.
He said there are a number of Iranians and elements of Hezbollah in Yemen providing military training to the Houthis.
He said the Iranians came to Yemen to build a factory for the manufacture of Grad missiles for the rebels.
“The factory’s components were shipped in a container among children’s toys. We discovered from the documents that it was on its way to Saadah, the stronghold of the Houthis,” he aid.
Hadi said the Houthis have set free all the Iranians who were under the captivity of the legitimate government after they took over Sanaa. “Two of the Iranians were recently killed,” he added.
Hadi accused his predecessor of amassing billions of dollars through money-laundering. “Saleh is also collecting money from businessmen,” he added.
The president also accused Saleh of harboring Al-Qaeda in Yemen and said he handed over the city of Abyan to the terrorist organization.
He also said that Daesh has made a foothold in Yemen through the help of the ousted president.
Asked about his first decision when he returns to Sanaa after liberation, Hadi said he would call of the National Committee of 85 members to discuss the Constitution and put it for plebiscite.
He said he would also organize general elections but would not run for the presidential elections.
Hadi denied any serious rifts with his deputy and prime minister Khaled Bahah and said there might be some differences in viewpoints. “The circumstances require that we remain together,” he said.
He also said he would build an army of about 3.7 million people and said there are now about six million Yemenis who are between 15-28 years of age and who can be the basis of this army.
Hadi said the UN envoy Ismael Ould Al-Shaikah has not done much yet and accused his predecessor Jamal Benomar of siding with the Houthis.
He revealed that he survived five attempts against his life and said he is not afraid for his life.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/over-85-of-yemen-liberated-hadi/
Comment: Propaganda at its best. It was hard to imagine that Hadi still would be able to run up any more. He is. Now already 85 % of the country is “liberated”. That is nice if he is not even able to keep Al Qaida and IS out of his own capital. A great part of these 85 % directly is in the hands of Al Qaida – thank to Saudi intervention.
Comment: Is this man demented, having a joke, or just trying to fool people? Or merely saying what his master's in Riyadh tell him to say? None of Yemen is liberated. It is all enmeshed in a disgusting immoral war with militias ruling most of it. It is too unsafe for him to stay there - he was holed up in a stronghold guarded for foreign security because he couldn't trust any Yemenis not to assassinate him, and after two close suicide attacks near his stronghold (from which he could not venture outside) he has fled back to Riyadh. And who exactly is this Yemen army, and popular resistance? It seems to me these terms are used by opposing groups in Yemen to describe armies and militias with opposing military objectives.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1106596856159471
2.3.2016 – Gulf News / Khaleej Times (A P)
Yemen leader Hadi paints Saleh as a paranoid murderer
President denies presence of Daesh in Yemen, saying those who carry out attacks in their name were actually stooges of Saleh
Yemen president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Wednesday accused ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh of plotting to assassinate him four times, facilitating Al Houthis’ rapid expansion, handing over cities to Al Qaida and being behind the Daesh attacks in the country.
In an exclusive interview with the Saudi Okaz daily on Wendesday, Hadi said Saleh used his influence on 27 army brigades throughout Yemen to set the stage for the Al Houthi take over.
He said he had long warned Gulf leaders that Iran had plans to expand its influence into Yemen. In the interview, he said Iran continued to arm Al Houthi militants in the country.
Touching on his past dealings with Saleh, Hadi said the former Yemeni leader masterminded four plots to kill him over the years.
“In 1999, I was planning to attend a ceremony in Shabwa. Saleh called me and asked me to take with me some soldiers whom he named. As we arrived the airport an hour later, the explosion occurred,” he said.
It was then that Hadi realised Saleh had plans to get rid of him.
Later, Saleh handed over Hadi’s hometown of Abyan to Al Qaida, apparently a revenge move for Hadi’s dissonance.
“Two days later he came up to me laughing. He said: Do you know Abyan fell to Al Qaida?” Hadi told the paper.
Hadi denied the presence of Daesh in Yemen, saying those who carry out attacks in their name were actually stooges of Saleh.
“He ordered eight of his brigades in Saada (an Al Houthi stronghold) to receive commands from (Al Houthi leader) Abdul Malek Al Houthi,” Hadi said.
Saleh, now allied with the Iran-backed Al Houthis, fought six wars against the rebel group in the past.
However, Hadi said, Saleh was not serious in his war on Al Houthis.
“He used to send ten trucks of ammunition to Ali Mohsen [Al Ahmar] and 12 others to the Al Houthis. He calls for ending fighting when he sees either side would be defeated,” he said.
The Yemeni president, who recently appointed former army general Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar, as deputy chief commander of the armed forces said that Al Ahmar “understands his people”.
Hadi also said that Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz intends to back Yemen’s proposal to join the Gulf Cooperation Council, but after purging Saleh and Al Houthis from the country.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-leader-hadi-paints-saleh-as-a-paranoid-murderer-1.1683192 = http://khaleejpost.com/yemen-leader-hadi-paints-saleh-as-a-paranoid-murderer/
Comment: Hadi was Salehs vice president for 17 years. These anecdotes hardly sound credible. He intends to move away from his predecessor painting him in the worst colours – they both are from the same political origin anyway.
Comment by Ben Norton: Gulf propaganda claims there's no ISIS in Yemen & it's a Saleh conspiracy. I can feel my brain corroding reading it.
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/705136798205399040
Comment: Pot calling the kettle black I reckon - all accusations could equally and with as much - if not more - evidence be levelled at Hadi himself. And he is not actually leading very much of Yemen either.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1106588739493616
2.3.2016 – Telepolis (* A P)
Strategischer Schritt: Golfrat setzt Hisbollah auf die Terrorliste
In dem Kontext [Ereignisse in Syrien, saudische Interessen in Syrien] ist der Entschluss des Golf-Kooperationsrats (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Katar, Saudi-Arabia und Vereinigte Arabische Emirate) zu verstehen, die Hisbollah als Terrororganisation einzustufen. Die Vereinten Nationen listen die Hisbollah nicht als Terrororganisation, die EU hat den militärischen Arm auf die Terrorliste gesetzt, da man sie für den Anschlag auf Israelis in Bulgarien verantwortlich machte. In den USA wurde die Hisbollah 1997 auf die Terrorliste gesetzt, allerdings ist sie zusammen mit dem Iran im Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Communitiesaus dem jahr 2015 erstmals nicht mehr aufgeführt.
Der GCC begründet die Entscheidung mit "feindlichen Akten, die von Elementen dieser Milizen begangen wurden, um junge Menschen aus den GCC-Mitgliedsstaaten anzuwerben, um Terrorakte zu begehen, Waffen und Sprengstoff zu schmuggeln und zu Aufruhr, Unordnung und Gewalt aufzurufen". Daneben werden aber auch die "terroristischen und subversiven Taten" benannt, die in Syrien, im Jemen und im Irak begangen werden. Diese würden "den moralischen und humanitären Werten und Prinzipien und dem internationalen Recht widersprechen und für die arabische nationale Sicherheit eine Bedrohung darstellen". Wie sehr das Rechtsystem der Golfstaaten moralischen und humanitären Prinzipien und den Menschenrechten gehorcht, sei dahingestellt. Dass die Hisbollah im Jemen tätig sein soll, ist erst einmal eine Behauptung – von Florian Rötzer
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/47/47577/1.html
2.3.2016 – National News Agency of Lebanon (A P)
Hariri: Hezbollah's practices in Yemen led to GCC decision
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that what drove the Gulf Cooperation Council to consider "Hezbollah" a terrorist organization are its practices in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the world. He said: "Rather than being with the Arab consensus, the party is seeking to breach this consensus against the interest of Lebanon, and then we hear the high pitched speeches that justify these practices".
Hariri asked why do some young Lebanese interfere in these countries? We are against the interventions of Hezbollah in any state, because it is not greater than its country. These questions require a clear answer from "Hezbollah".
Premier Hariri was speaking during a meeting this evening at the "Center House" with a delegation from the Beirut coordinators of the "Future Movement", in the presence of Beirut MPs.
http://nna-leb.gov.lb/en/show-news/57832/Hariri-Hezbollah-39-practices-in-Yemen-led-to-GCC-decision
Comment: This is in Lebanon. Lebanon’s former prime minister Hariri, member of the "Future Movement", a pro-Saudi party. By stressing on the Hisbollah subject, the Saudis have brought dissension to the fragile political balance of Lebanon, pulling the country into the Syrian war and towards a new civil war. This article here: The internal strife in Lebanon begins. On this subject, see cp 1 from Critical Threats.
2.3.2016 – Peninsula Qatar (A P)
Saudi asks: Is war worth the risk?
A few days ago, The Washington Post published a negative story underlining what it described “menace of Saudi military intervention in Syrian conflict”. This is not new- many similar opinions have appeared in the Western Media blaming Saudi Arabia for threatening global peace, as if Iran and Russia are distributing roses in Syria and Yemen! The most interesting part of the report was where it said the issue has reached the concern of Saudi citizens who have begun to worry about involvement of the country in battles on two fronts – by Jamal Khashoggi
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/political-views/372632/saudi-asks-is-war-worth-the-risk
Comment by Judith Brown: A rather one sided view from Qatar. Firstly the writer assumes that Iran was a big player in Yemen before the conflict - whereas its role was marginal. Yemen has for half a century and longer been in the grip of Saudi Arabia and they are aware of Iran's limited role - which ironically has possibly been increasing because of the Saudi attack, though Iran's interest in Yemen is largely as a bargaining chip to get what it wants from the wider international community. Secondly it does not take into account the financial crisis that is looming as millions of dollars are spent daily in order to kill and destroy Yemen. The cost to GCC economies cannot be inconsequential to the wealth and power of the region.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154139264228641
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
2.2016 – Legal Center for Rights and Development (A K PH)
Die Luftschläge der saudischen Koalition Tag für Tag / Saudi coalition air raids day by day
29. Feb.:
März/March:
2.3.2016 – NZZ (A K)
Bomben neben MSF-Spital eingeschlagen
Zwei Luftangriffe nahe einem Spital im Nordjemen haben die Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen (Médecins sans frontières, MSF) alarmiert. Bomben seien in der Stadt Saada nur 20 Meter neben einem Spital eingeschlagen, das die Organisation unterstützt, teilte Ärzte ohne Grenzen über Twitter mit. Mitarbeiter hätten nun Angst, in dem Spital weiter zu arbeiten. Die Luftangriffe vom Dienstag hatte die von Saudiarabien geführte Koalition geflogen, die in Jemen gegen die schiitschen Huthi-Rebellen vorgeht.
Das Spital in dem Rase-Distrikt von Saada habe evakuiert werden müssen, hiess es weiter.
http://www.nzz.ch/international/bomben-neben-msf-spital-in-jemen-eingeschlagen-1.18704896
Kommentar: In der Stadt Razeh in der Provinz Saada, nicht in der Stadt Saada. Dasselbe Krankenhaus war bereits im Januar getroffen worden, dabei starben fünf Menschen.
2.3.2016 – AP (A K)
Group says Saudi-led airstrike near its Yemen facility
octors Without Borders says its staffers are "scared" to resume their work in a facility it supports in the northern Yemeni city of Saada after two nearby airstrikes by the Saudi-led military coalition.
The aid group says in Twitter postings that the airstrikes hit 20 meters from the hospital on Tuesday and bombings have forced evacuation of their facility in the Razeh district in Saada.
http://mynorthwest.com/17/2924457/Group-says-Saudiled-airstrike-near-its-Yemen-facility
1.3.2016 – MSF (A K)
.@MSF: Today 2 airstrikes took place 20m from Shiara MSF supported facility in Razih
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
2.3.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)
Yemeni Forces Use New Tactics in Ta'iz, Ma'rib, Make More Military Gains
The Yemeni army and popular forces have changed their military tactics in their offensives against the Saudi forces in Ta'iz, Ma'rib and al-Jawf provinces which resulted in more military gains for them and inflicted heavy losses on them, FNA dispatches said.
The Yemeni forces pounded Saudi Arabia's Sahn al-Jen military base in Ma'rib province, killing and injuring scores of Saudi forces.
In Ta'iz province, the Yemeni army's artillery units hit the Saudi forces' positions to the West of sports stadium in al-Wazeqiya region, killing tens of Saudi troops and injuring dozens more.
Also, the Yemeni security forces arrested over 70 Saudi forces who intended to enter Ma'rib to take part in the war against the Yemeni forces.
In al-Jawf province, the Yemeni forces managed to seize back four important regions in Wadi Harab region to the East of al-Hazm city as well as Division 115 military base.
In a relevant development on Sunday, the Yemeni army and popular forces made remarkable advances in in Ta'iz and Ma'rib provinces, inflicting heavy casualties and losses on the Saudi forces.
Tens of Saudi forces were killed and dozens more were wounded in the Yemeni forces' offensives in Ta'iz and Ma'rib provinces.
Meantime, the Yemeni army and popular forces inflicted heavy damage on the Saudi military grid in Azan region of the city of Zobab near Bab al-Mandeb in Southwestern Yemen.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941212000522
Comment: New tactics? The article mentions none.
2.3.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Yemen army missile hits Saudi military camp in Ma’rib
Yemen’s army has carried out a ballistic missile attack against a Saudi military camp in the Yemeni province of Ma’rib, local media say.
The missile hit a target in al-Tadaween camp, where Saudi forces had gathered, killing a number of Saudi forces and injuring several others on Wednesday, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/03/02/453304/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia--Marib-Taizz-Hadi-Riyadh see also http://www.sabanews.net/en/news421066.htm
2.3.2016 – Alahed News (A K PH)
Yemen: Ballistic Missile Targets Saudi Camp in Marib
Yemen's local media reported that the army launched a ballistic missile against a Saudi military camp in the Yemeni province of Marib.
The missile hit a target in al-Tadaween camp, where Saudi forces gathered, killing a number of Saudi forces and injuring several others on Wednesday, according to Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website.
http://www.english.alahednews.com.lb/essaydetails.php?eid=32377&cid=524#.Vtc51PnhCUk
2.3.2016 – Khabar Agency (A KL PH)
Yemen army missile hit al-Tadaween Marib, killing 60 Saudi-backed soldiers, injuring 59 others, including UAE, Saudi and Moroccan officers
http://www.khabaragency.net/lasten53179.html?page=3
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-109
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-109: / Yemen Press Reader 1-109:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
The U.N. humanitarian chief accused all parties in Yemen's escalating conflict on Thursday of attacking civilian facilities including hospitals and schools and demanded an immediate halt and access to the entire country to deliver desperately needed aid.
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