Letter to Obama - Greenwald: Victims of terror in the west, victims of western aggression - CIG: War and humanitarian disaster - UNICEF: Chldren at the brink - Yemenis telling - and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO / UN
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
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
29.3.2016 – Amnesty International (** A K P)
Letter to Barack Obama: Block the Bombs: Stop the $1 Billion U.S. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s government has led a devastating campaign of unlawful air strikes and bombardment of civilian targets in the nearby country of Yemen. Thousands of civilians have died. Many more have been injured and displaced. Yemen is now in a humanitarian crisis.
Despite this, President Obama has authorized the sale of over 18,000 bombs and 1,500 warheads to Saudi Arabia. These bombs have not yet been delivered.
Amnesty International has found both unexploded U.S. bombs and fragments of exploded U.S. bombs in the ruins of Yemeni homes and other civilian objects.
Urge President Obama and Congress to cancel the arms sale and stop the delivery of these bombs to Saudi Arabia. Block the bombs now.
Read more
25.3.2016 – The Intercept (*** A B K P T)
Highlighting Western Victims While Ignoring Victims of Western Violence
For days now, American cable news has broadcast non-stop coverage of the horrific attack in Brussels. Viewers repeatedly heardfrom witnessesand from the wounded. Video was shown in a loop of the terror and panic when the bombs exploded. Networks dispatched their TV starsto Brussels, where they remain. NPRprofiledthe lives of several of the airport victims. CNNshowed a moving interview with a wounded, bandage-wrapped Mormon American teenager speaking from his Belgium hospital bed.
All of that is how it should be: That’s news. And it’s important to understand on a visceral level the human cost from this type of violence. But that’s also the same reason it’s so unjustifiable, and so propagandistic, that this type of coverage is accorded only to Western victims of violence, but almost never to the non-Western victims of the West’s own violence.
A little more than a week ago, as Mohammed Ali Kalfoodreportedin The Intercept, “Fighter jets from a Saudi-led [U.S.– andU.K.-supported] coalition bombed a market in Mastaba, in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah. The latest countindicates that about 120 people were killed, includingmore than 20 children, and 80 were wounded in the strikes.”
You’ll almost never hear any of those victims’ names on CNN, NPR, or most other large U.S. media outlets. No famous American TV correspondents will be sent to the places where those people have their lives ended by the bombs of the U.S. and its allies. At most, you’ll hear small, clinical news stories briefly and coldly describing what happened — usually accompanied by a justifying claim from U.S. officials, uncritically conveyed, about why the bombing was noble — but, even in those rare cases where such attacks are covered at all, everything will be avoided that would cause you to have any visceral or emotional connection to the victims. You’ll never know anything about them — not even their names, let alone hear about their extinguished life aspirations or hear from their grieving survivors — and will therefore have no ability to feel anything for them. As a result, their existence will barely register.
That’s by design. It’s because U.S. media outlets love to dramatize and endlessly highlight Western victims of violence, while rendering almost completely invisible the victims of their own side’s violence.
Perhaps you think there are good — or at least understandable — reasons to explain this discrepancy in coverage. Maybe you believe humans naturally pay more attention to, and empathize more with, the suffering of those they regard as more similar to them. Or you may want to argue that victims in cities commonly visited by American elites (Paris, Brussels, London, Madrid) are somehow more newsworthy than those in places rarely visited (Mastaba, in Yemen’s northern province of Hajjah). Or perhaps you’re sympathetic to the claim that it’s easier for CNN or NBC News to send on-air correspondents to glittery Western European capitals than to Waziristan or Kunduz. Undoubtedly, many believe that the West’s violence is morally superior because it only kills civilians by accident and not on purpose.
But regardless of the rationale for this media discrepancy, the distortive impact is the same: By endlessly focusing on and dramatizing Western victims of violence while ignoring the victims of the West’s own violence, the impression is continually bolstered that only They, but not We, engage in violence that kills innocent people. We are always the victims and never the perpetrators (and thus Good and Blameless); They are only the perpetrators and never the victims (and thus Villainous and Culpable). In April 2003, Ashleigh Banfield, then a rising war-correspondent star at MSNBC, returned from Iraq,gave a speechcritiquing the one-sided, embedded U.S. media coverage of the war, and was shortly thereafter demoted and then fired. This is part of what she said:
In other words, the death, carnage, and destruction the U.S. invasion was causing was generating huge amounts of anti-American hatred and a desire to bring violence to Americans, even if it meant sacrificing lives to accomplish that. But the U.S. media never showed any of that, so Americans had no idea it existed, and were thus incapable of understanding why people were eager to do violence to Americans. They therefore assumed that it must be because they are primitive or inherently hateful or driven by some inscrutable religious fervor.
That’s because the U.S. media, by showing only one side of the conflict, by presenting only the nationalistic viewpoint, propagandized — deceived — American viewers by making them more ignorant rather than more enlightened. As a result, when the trains of London and Madrid were attacked in 2004 and 2005 as retaliation for those countries’ participation in the invasion of Iraq, thatcausal connection(whicheven British intelligence acknowledged) was virtually never discussed because Western media outlets ensured it was unknown. The same was true of attempted attacks on the U.S.: in Times Square, the New York City subway system, an airliner over Detroit, allmotivated by rage over Western violence. In the absence of any media discussion of those victims and motives, these attacks were simply denounced as senseless, indiscriminate slaughter without any cause, and people were thus deprived of the ability to understand why they happened.
The point, as always, isn’t justification: It is always morally unjustified to deliberately target civilians with violence (seethe update hereon that point). Nor does it prove that the bombing of ISIS in Iraq and Syria is unjustified or should cease. The point, instead, is that thewar frameworkin which much of this violence takes place — one side that declares itself at war and uses violence as part of that war isinevitablyattacked by the other side that it targets — is completely suppressed by one-sided media coverage that prefers a self-flattering, tribalistic cartoon narrative.
The ultimate media taboo is self-examination: the question of whether there are actions we take that exacerbate the problem we say we are trying to resolve. Such a process would not dilute the evil of ISIS’s civilian-targeting violence, but it would enable a more honest and complete understanding of the role Western governments’ policies play and the inevitable costs they entail. Perhaps those costs are worth enduring, but that question can only be rationally answered if the costs are openly discussed.
But whatever else is true, if we are constantly bombarded with images and stories and dramatic narratives highlighting our own side’s victims, while the victims of our side’s violence are rendered invisible, it’s only natural that large numbers of us will conclude that only They, but not We, are committing civilian-killing violence. That’s a really pleasing thing to believe, no matter how false it is. Having media outlets perpetrate self-pleasing and tribal-affirming — but utterly false — narratives is the very definition of propaganda. And that’s what largely drives Western media coverage of these terrorist attacks every time they occur in the West – by Glen Greenwald
Comment: You can see this every day. Taken any notice of this here? Media Ignores Terrorist Bombing of Nigerian Mosque, Dozens Killed: http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/03/media-ignores-terrorist-bombing-nigerian-mosque-dozens-killed/
30.3.2016 – Centre for International Governance Innovation (*** B H K)
Spotlight on Yemen's Forgotten War and Humanitarian Disaster: Preventing the Next Syrian Refugee Crisis
CIGI Paper No. 97
Yemen’s humanitarian situation is arguably the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and the world is looking the other way. The United Nations reports that Yemen has more people — 21.2 million — in need of humanitarian aid than any other country including Syria. Yemen is in the midst of a civil war and reports of human rights violations are frequent. Millions are on the brink of famine, the country’s health system has collapsed and thousands of civilians have been killed or injured by fighting.
The number of refugees is steadily rising and Yemen is seriously in risk of becoming the next Syrian refugee crisis. Over 173,180 people have already left the country. Over 82,300 have fled the short distance to Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and other countries in the Horn of Africa. Ironically, these countries have been struggling with their own crises and have generated hundreds of thousands of refugees of their own. Those fleeing Yemen are interested in seeking asylum in Europe and the West. Yemeni refugees are in close proximity to established migration routes that travel through Africa, across the Mediterranean and into Europe. In Yemen, over 2.5 million civilians have been displaced after a year of civil war, suggesting a potential refugee pool of millions as the crisis carries on.
With Yemen, the past is poised to repeat itself unless the world takes notice. Serious worldwide discussions on how to mitigate the current refugee problem did not take place until refugees began pouring across Europe’s borders. If this occurs with Yemen, Europe — as has been the case with the current crisis — will undoubtedly look to the rest of the world, including the United States and Canada, to share in this new refugee burden. Surges in refugee numbers will compound domestic concerns about security, extremism, radicalization and humanitarian obligations, while also exacerbating bilateral and multilateral tensions.
International attention and aid funding is desperately needed and could be critical to helping forestall a Yemeni refugee crisis before it begins. However, the crisis in Yemen has been largely under-reported and overshadowed by other conflicts such as Syria. International donors in 2015 provided only half of the estimated US$1.6 billion dollars that the United Nations requested for Yemen (UN Office for the Coordination Humanitarian Affairs [UNOCHA] 2015f), and the window for preventative action is closing. The global community has spent billions reacting to the Syrian refugee crisis. Unless donors act now to address the severity of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, the cost — both human and financial — will soar much higher.
An independent, impartial inquiry into alleged human rights violations by all parties in the conflict provides another opportunity to address Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe. International support for UN-initiated peace talks — to include pressure on Saudi Arabia and Iran, who are both active players in the Yemen conflict — is equally essential to mitigating Yemen’s humanitarian disaster, ending the conflict, and ensuring that Yemen’s displaced citizens can ultimately return home – by Jacqeline Lopour
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/spotlight-yemens-forgotten-war-and-humanitarian-disaster-preventing-next-syrian-refugee and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/paper_no.97web.pdf
Comment: A detailed report dealing with the history of the conflict, the humanitarian crisis, the refugees, and what has to be done.
30.3.2016 – Katehon (** B K)
Yemen's War Part 1: Genesis
Saudi Arabia has been at war with Yemen long before its grand coalition of allies decided to unilaterally wage a vengeful military campaign against this poorest nation of Southern Arabia on March 25, 2015. Yemen’s misfortune began at the very moment its people rose a movement against institutionalized servitude, some decades ago in 1962.
Little could Yemenis have suspected then that their claim for self-governance against the Imamate would prompt the kingdom to actively seek their enslavement. As Pan-Arabism rose a giant against monarchies in the Greater Middle East - a new political dawn on the back of the broken bones of imperialism, Saudi Arabia recognized in Yemen both the key and the cornerstone to its ambitious hegemonic future. Symmetrically Yemen carried within the seeds of the kingdom’s destruction – a ticking geo-political bomb of sort.
Hussain Mousavi, a political analyst noted in an interview with the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies:“The institutional history of post-Imamate Yemen has been misconstrued. Although Yemen defines itself still as a republic, political power remains rooted in tribalism, and nepotism – both the attributes of Arab monarchies. To see Yemen through a “republican” lense, is missing Yemen’s realpolitik. I would argue that Yemen has very much functioned as tribal monarchy, where real power has been held by the tribes, and not the people – a set-up which is eerily reminiscent of that of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and even Jordan. Yemen always was a pretense republic, to prevent any REAL populist political ambitions.”
In this bitter battle for hegemonic control Yemen has been a lamb brought to the slaughter, a playground for a newly evolved form of asymmetrical imperialism – one which has relied on proxies to carry its will, while muddying thepolitical watersto hide its hand: control, through the establishment of an energy monopoly.
Saudi Arabia’s agenda in Yemen is simple in that it is absolutely egocentric! Saudi Arabia needs Yemen if it is to ever achieve control: socio-political control, control over natural resources, geo-military control, economic control, and of course religious superiority. Riyadh’ success remains dependent on its ability to bring Yemen to heel and kneel. Understand this and everything else will more or less fall into place. The only agenda the kingdom EVER had in Yemen was a colonial one, an imperial one. Yemen was never meant as a buoyant democracy … And while Yemen did in fact manage to reinvent itself a republic among a sea of absolutist monarchies, its institutions were so severely infiltrated, and set up for both political and economic feudality, that its republican claims were but an institutional mirage hiding behind the reality of tribalism.
Sheikh Abdel-Malek al-Houthi stands not a mere tribal leader over his tribesmen, he is northern Yemen’s religious leader, and he is together Yemen’s past and its future – a bridge in between traditions and a desire to rise state institutions rooted in popular legitimacy.
If there is a war being waged against Yemen and its people, there is another more insidious which has bene waged against its religious identity: Zaidism. Because Zaidism, like all other expressions of Shia Islam essentially, and absolutely stand in rejection of any, and all form of absolutism, Wahhabist Saudi Arabia has worked, ambitioned and plotted to lay it waste. Behind the glitz and political glam the kingdom has so diligently projected onto the world hides an agenda which should send shivers down your spine.
Should Yemen fall, Riyadh would rise a titan over the world oil route, wielding energy security in the face of the stealthiest of military power.
The revolutionary Government [of 1962] accused Saudi Arabia of harbouring and encouraging Yemeni royalists, and threatened to carry the war into Saudi Arabian territory. Riyadh’s meddling in Yemen’s affairs had begun.
Interesting how time can change alliances but never ambitions. It is the Houthis, the heirs many have argued of the Imamate, who today have been labelled the designated enemies, while President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and his loyalists have been portrayed as the carrier of institutional legitimacy.
While roles might appear reversed, a closer look actually reveal how very symmetrical today’s war is from 1962.
Yemen civil war officially ended with the Compromise of 1970, a political agreement between the republican and royalist factions. A republican government was formed in Yemen, incorporating members from the royalist faction but not the royal family.
Then began a covert colonial campaign against the budding Republic. Since Yemen was not broken through war, Saudi Arabia reverted to a more insidious form of control – utilizing engineered chaos to better rise a master over Arabia.
Wahhabism in this equation would come to claim its pound of flesh.
Now that I have offered some historical context to Yemen’s war, let me introduce you to Yemen’s who’s who – a lay of the land if you will – by Catherine Shakdam
http://katehon.com/article/yemens-war-genesis = http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/03/yemens-war-part-1-genesis.html
Comment: A very detailed report of the development of the Yemen republic and the Yemeni-Saudi relations up to 1970.
29.3.2016 – UN Children's Fund (*** B H)
Children on the Brink: The Impact of Violence and Conflict on Yemen and its Children
A brutal conflict and a fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation are devastating the lives of millions of children in Yemen and have brought the country to the point of collapse. A UNICEF report “Children on the Brink” highlights the heavy toll that the violence in Yemen is having on children and the deterioration in an already precarious humanitarian situation.
UNICEF verified more than 1,560 incidents of grave violations again children in Yemen. As a result, over 900 children were killed and more than 1,300 were injured in the past year alone. On average, at least six children have been killed or injured every day. These numbers are almost seven times higher than the whole of 2014. With more than 50 verified attacks on schools, children were also killed while at school or on their way to or from school. These numbers represent the tip of the iceberg as they only indicate the cases that UNICEF was able to verify.
“Children are paying the highest price for a conflict not of their making. They have been killed or maimed across the country and are no longer safe anywhere in Yemen. Even playing or sleeping has become dangerous,” said Julien Harneis, UNICEF’s Representative in Yemen.
As the war escalates, the recruitment and use of children in the fighting continues to increase. Children are taking up much more active roles in the fighting, such as manning checkpoints and carrying weapons. In the past year, UNICEF verified 848 cases of child recruitment; parties to the conflict have recruited children as young as ten years old into the fighting.
The latest data shows that 63 health facilities have been attacked or damaged and most health facilities have reported severe shortages in medical equipment, supplies and personnel, along with sporadic electricity.
The disruption of the inflow of food and fuel as a result of the violence and restrictions on imports have paralysed the delivery of basic services across Yemen.
Beyond the direct impact of the war, UNICEF estimates that nearly 10,000 additional deaths may have occurred among children under five years old in the past year due to preventable diseases as a result of the decline in critical health services including immunization and the treatment of diarrhoea and pneumonia. This figure is in addition to the nearly 40,000 children who die every year in Yemen before their fifth birthday.
Already the poorest country in the region and one of the poorest in the world, Yemen has been pushed to the brink by this devastating conflict. Nearly 10 million children or 80 per cent of the country’s total population of children are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. More than 2 million children face the threat of diarrhoeal diseases and 320,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
Despite violence, access restrictions and severe funding shortages, UNICEF and partners were able to provide nutrition programmes, access to safe water, and vaccinations for millions of children and women impacted by the violence.
“We need to speed up the delivery of humanitarian assistance and continue to save lives as well as children’s dreams of growing up and acquiring an education,” Harneis said. “It’s a race against time”.
UNICEF reiterates its call on all parties to the conflict to put an end to the fighting in Yemen and reach a political settlement. While the search for peace continues, urgent measures are needed:
UNICEF and its partners urgently need to secure funding. To date, UNICEF has received only 18 per cent of its $180 million funding requirements for 2016.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/children-brink-impact-violence-and-conflict-yemen-and-its-children and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_FINAL.PDF.pdf and further articles based at this report https://www.morningstar.com/news/canada-news-wire/CNW_20160329C2871/unicef-report-yemens-children-on-the-brink-as-country-risks-becoming-a-failed-state.html and http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-crisis-children-idUKKCN0WV0UV
29.3.2016 – Daily Mail (** A H)
The child born in to war… then starved to death: Five-month-old baby who only ever knew suffering becomes the latest to die from hunger in war-torn Yemen
Pictures show five-month-old baby Udai Faisal just two days before he died
Born during bombing campaign on his village on the edge of Sanaa, Yemen
Family faced increasing battle against starvation as war gripped the region
Born in to war and starving to death, these pictures show the shocking condition of a tiny baby two days before he died of malnutrition in Yemen.
Udai Faisal was born five months ago, as warplanes were launching airstrikes on his village, Hazyaz, a shantytown on the southern edge of Sanaa.
But as war devastated the impoverished region, his family were faced with an ever increasing battle against starvation, eating once a day amid soaring food prices and limited supplies.
Udai's skeletal body finally broke down under the ravages of hunger leaving his limbs looking like twigs, his cheeks sunken and his eyes dry.
The day Udai was born, warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition were striking an army base used by Houthi rebels in their district. Shrapnel hit their one-floor, one-bedroom house where Udai's mother was in labor.
'She was screaming and delivering the baby while the bombardment was rocking the place,' the father said.
Hezzam was able to breastfeed her newborn son for about 20 days, but then her milk stopped, likely from her own malnutrition.
Even after childbirth, she had to collect firewood for the mud brick stove at the doorstep of her house.
Like much of the country, electricity has long been knocked out in their neighborhood, either because of airstrikes or lack of fuel, and there's rarely cooking gas.
'I go every day to faraway places to search for the wood then carry it home on my head,' she said.
The family turned to formula to feed Udai, but it wasn't always available and they couldn't always afford it.
So every few days, Udai would get formula and the other days he would get sugar and water. Water trucks occasionally reach the area, but often they had to use unclean water.
Within three months, Udai was suffering from diarrhea. His father took him to local clinics but was told they couldn't treat him because they didn't have supplies or he couldn't afford what they did have. Finally, on March 20, he made it to the emergency section at Al-Sabeen Hospital.
The tiny infant was suffering from severe malnutrition, diarrhea and a chest infection, said Saddam al-Azizi, head of the emergency unit. He was put on antibiotics and a feeding solution through the nose.
It was at hospital that Associated Press saw Udai on March 22. His arms were constantly convulsing, his emaciated legs motionless, his face gaunt and pale. When he cried, he was too dehydrated to produce tears. At around five months old, he weighed 5.3 pounds.
'Unstable,' his chart read for every day he'd been there.
Two days later, his parents took him home from the hospital. His father told the AP it was because the doctors told them it was hopeless, and he complained the staff was not giving him enough treatment.
Al-Azizi said he suspected it was because the family couldn't afford to pay for the medicines. The stay at the hospital is free, but because medicines are in such short supply, families must pay for them, he said.
'It was a mistake to take him out,' he said.
The treatment needed time to work. Still, al-Azizi had given Udai only a 30 percent chance of survival.
Al-Sabeen was already dealing with dozens of other malnourished children. In the first three months of the year, around 150 children have come to the hospital suffering from malnutrition, double the number in the same period last year, al-Azizi said. Around 15 died, not counting Udai.
Udai hardly lasted three hours after being brought back home, his parents said. Ahmed, his father, said he blames Saudi Arabia's air campaign for his son's death.
'This is before the war,' he said, holding up his 2-year-old son Shehab to show the difference between a child born before the war and after.
Exact numbers for those who died from malnutrition and its complications are unknown, since the majority were likely unable to reach proper care – by Associated Press and Julian Robinson, with many images
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3513429/An-infants-5-month-life-points-hungers-spread-Yemen.html (as from AP: http://bismarcktribune.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/an-infant-s--month-life-points-to-hunger-s/article_72e0deff-ce13-5ee5-8a5c-8d010d55383f.html = http://www.todayonline.com/mideast/infants-5-month-life-points-hungers-spread-yemen?singlepage=true ) and photos also at http://newsok.com/yemen-hunger-war/article/feed/989900?articleBar=1
Comment: The article also contents an overview onto the humanitarian situation in Yemen. Consequences of Western policy.
Comment:Horrific story in the Daily Mail, that usually supports the government line and often carries articles that are critical of Muslims - so this article about the suffering in Yemen is very welcome. Well done Daily Mail.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1119004531585370
Comment: To those who do not understand what we are talking about. To those who still think that a war and a siege (land, air, sea) are the solution, we advise you to read this article.Do not close your eyes on the picture. Never we will forget you Udai Faisal. And all the Udai Faisals of#Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=997597816959915&id=961126490607048
Jamila Hanan: I estimate: #Saudi "intervention" in #Yemen = 1,000 children killed by airstrikes 100,000 children starved to death.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/714971490555400192
... And then there's children who died from untreated illness and disease as the hospitals shut down and medicines ran out in #Yemen
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/714972210579054594
29.3.2016 – ITV (** B K)
'They blow us up out of nowhere': ITV News speaks to the forgotten people of Yemen's war
In the mangled metal that used to be the market stalls in Mastaba in northern Yemen they're still finding human remains.
A Saudi-led coalition airstrike here two weeks ago killed 119 people, 24 of them children.
Martania Basha's anger overwhelms her as she tells me she lost her husband Zagir and her two sons Khalid and Ali in the bombing.
"We don't have weapons but they kill our men and our children. They destroyed everything and now we have nothing. Why did they target us we are poor people," she cries out.
The Saudi-led coalition says it was targeting Houthi fighters they've been at war with now for more than a year. They say they've launched an investigation into what happened.
On the other side of the road from the deadliest attack of this war so far there's a sign warning of the dangers of unexploded bombs. It stands almost unscathed by the blast.
Abdullah Mohammed was buying vegetables with his friends in the market when the missiles struck.
Lying in a hospital bed, the 15-year-old winces as he shows me his injuries.
"My back is in pain, my chest and my arms as well. Most of my face was burned. I still have shrapnel in my back," he says.
In the room next to him in Hajjah hospital lies Hassan Mahbesh. Much of his face and neck are badly burned away. His five-year-old son Yahir was killed in the airstrike.
"We are civilians not soldiers. We are not armed. They blow us up out of nowhere. What's the reason?" He asks.
Not far from the bombed marketplace we're shown a US cluster bomb with markings on its side. Locals say they found it nearby three months ago. Human Rights Watch identify the weapon as as CBU-58 cluster bomb. 650 bomblets are normally carried inside the main bomb casing.
As we travel away from Mustaba, the aftermath of other airstrikes can be seen. As we film less than 20 miles from the Saudi border, jets from the coalition roar past us in the skies high above.
Those forced to flee the border area now face a new fight - survival.
Mousa, who's 13, cradles his baby brother Mojahed who is also battling against severe acute malnutrition.
"We are scared of airstrikes but we are also scared of hunger. Life here is so difficult," he tells me – by Neil Connery
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-03-29/itv-news-exclusive-report-yemen-conflict-kills-thousands-civilians-leaves-population-hungry/ and more photos: http://www.itv.com/news/2016-03-30/pictures-reveal-the-extensive-damage-caused-by-saudi-airstrikes-in-yemen/
Comment: Read in full, see photos and films at the original site.
cp2 Allgemein / General
30.3.2016 – Press TV Iran (B K P)
Saudi Arabia has lost lots of money in Yemen war: Analyst
Press TV has conducted an interview with Edward Corrigan, a human rights attorney, to discuss a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the humanitarian impacts of Saudi Arabia’s deadly war on Yemen.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
This is not just a Shia or Houthi conflict with Saudi Arabia. There was a previous regime of Saleh, who just had massive demonstrations of support in the capital city of Sana’a. He was the previous regime that was pushed out by Hadi, and now you have this ongoing conflict with the Houthis from northern Yemen that is the fourth major conflict they have had with the government over the last number of years.
So, it is more complicated. Saudi Arabia tries to portray this as a Shia-Sunni conflict but that is not accurate.
It is also a question of Yemen trying to be an independent country, not being under direct control of Saudi Arabia; that is why the Saudis are attacking the infrastructure.
I think the people have to realize that the provinces in southern Yemen where the Houthis and other allies were pushed out of there… but that is a different area; They want independence. There is different factors in Aden that saw the expulsion of the forces from the north; but I don’t think that is a clear allegiance to Hadi’s regime or of course support for the Saudis, the people of southern Yemen have been very very independent.
But the degree and the tenacity of the people defending Yemen and the failure of the Saudis to be successful in their attack, I think, is now driving the point home at least for the Saudis that this is not working.
Blackwater has withdrawn its troops. There have been significant casualties on the part of Saudi forces and their allies. They’ve hired a bunch of mercenary and stuff. And Saudi Arabia, even though they have a total dominance of the sky, have failed to defeat the Houthis. And if anything, this is a stalemate that is costing Saudi Arabia a great deal in terms of manpower and billions of dollars and money and they are losing and they are spending money like it is going out of style. I think they just don’t have the resources that they had before with the price of oil… So, this is putting pressure on Saudi Arabia.
I really don’t see the Americans or the British or the UN putting significant pressure on Saudi Arabia to stop its war of aggression.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/03/30/458236/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-war-Edward-Corrigan
29.3.2016 – Middle East Institute (** B K P)
Yemen’s Conflict Changes Course
Just days before the first anniversary of the Saudi air campaign in Yemen on March 26, the U.N. special rapporteur to Yemen, Ould Cheikh, announced a cease-fire to begin April 10 followed by a third round of talks between the warring Yemeni factions on April 18. These talks have a better chance of success than previous attempts. The Houthi-Saleh alliance has long insisted that a complete and final cease-fire proceed any talks, and in previous attempts at negotiation, announced cease-fires never took hold and talks went nowhere. This time, direct talks between the Houthi and the Saudis over the last three weeks have led not only to an informal cease-fire along the Yemeni-Saudi border that is holding, but also to a normalization of sorts: joint military teams are removing mines, the border has opened to limited crossing of people and goods, and remarkably, the Saudis earlier this month sent a large shipment of relief supplies to Saada, the home of the Houthis.[i]In what may be part of the deal, a Houthi leader made a statement a week later asking the Iranians to stay out of Yemeni affairs.[ii]While this abrupt turn of events in Saada is certainly welcome, it raises more questions than it answers about Yemen’s future.
The end of the Houthi-Saleh alliance?
The most immediate question the cease-fire raised is that of the role of former President Ali Abdallah Saleh and his alliance with the Houthi. The informal cease-fire is between the Houthi and the Saudis, but only along the border. Fierce fighting is still raging across much of the rest of Yemen.
Who is winning the war?
Also unknown is the real balance of military forces in Yemen. Hadi supporters and the Saudi coalition argue that Houthi and Saleh forces are close to defeat. Yemeni forces in the eastern desert are slowly approaching Sanaa, and Houthi and Saleh forces have not seen significant advances, only slow retreat, since the Saudi campaign began. But many others, among them Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi, argue that Saleh and the Houthi forces are well prepared for a long war in their mountainous home turf against an ill-prepared and fractious coalition of Yemeni forces cobbled together under Hadi’s inept leadership, and that the Saudis have taken serious losses along the border.[iv]
Infighting in Hadi’s coalition
The inability of the forces loyal to Hadi to secure Taiz since taking Aden almost eight months ago may also be a result of feuds in Hadi’s faction.
The fractious politics of Hadi’s coalition also emerged in a video statement from former southern president, Ali Salem al-Beidh, on the anniversary of the Saudi campaign. If negotiations for a political settlement are to succeed and if Gulf security concerns are to be allayed, southern aspirations for independence from the north must be recognized, he argued.[vi]
A new focus on al-Qaeda and ISIS?
The United States had previously targeted only leaders, but the attack on Mukulla indicated a new offensive against al-Qaeda’s infrastructure and foot soldiers.
During the Saudi air campaign, al-Qaeda was not attacked, and Saudi leaders claimed that al-Qaeda would be dealt with later when there was a legitimate government in Sanaa. But al-Qaeda’s expansion and the inability of the Hadi government to consolidate control or even political coherence anywhere in the south seems to have led the Saudis to reconsider.
If Beidh’s arguments strain credibility, President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi managed to outdo him by making by far the least credible claim of all: after one year of the coalition operation, Yemen is now more secure.[vii] Out of security concerns, Hadi is a refugee in Riyadh, and on the rare occasions he visits Yemen, he is a prisoner in his heavily guarded palace in Mashaiq, Aden. And, out of security concerns, it appears that the Saudi and Emiratis have concluded that the focus needs to switch from the war against the Houthi and Saleh to the war against ISIS and al-Qaeda. Hadi may be the biggest loser in the talks. The Saudis hold onto him because he represents a thin thread of political legitimacy, but if talks between the Saudis and the other parties in Yemen are the basis of the cease-fire, that thin thread will no longer be needed. At the very least, Hadi will become a short-lived symbolic head of state while people outside of his government determine Yemen’s future – by Charles Schmitz
[i] “Saudi Press Agency: Arrival of Saudi Aid to Saada,” Aden al-Ghad, March 14, 2016, accessed March 29, 2016, http://adenalgd.net/news/196767.
[ii] “Houthi leader tells Iran to 'stop exploiting' Yemen war,” The New Arab, March 11, 2016, accessed March 29, 2016, https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/3/11/houthi-leader-tells-iran-to-stop-exploiting-yemen-war.
[iv] Alexandre Mello and Michael Knights, “Gulf Cooperation Operations in Yemen (Part 1): the Ground War,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy PolicyWatch 2594 (2016), accessed March 29, 2016, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/gulf-coalition-operations-in-yemen-part-1-the-ground-war
[vi] “President Ali Salem al-Beidh Speaks on the Occasion of the Anniversary of Resolute Storm,” Aden al-Ghad, March 25 2016, accessed March 29, 2009, http://adenalgd.net/printpost/198293/.
[vii] “President Hadi: The Nation is More Secure a Year after Resolute Storm,” Aden al-Ghad, March 26, 2016, accessed March 29, 2016, http://adenalgd.net/printpost/198402/.
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/yemen%E2%80%99s-conflict-changes-course
Comment: A thoughtful article on the progress of war in Yemen so far - and maybe future alliances and peace opportunities.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154235867658641
29.3.2016 – The Guardian (* B K P)
The Guardian view on Yemen’s war: a year of living shamefully. Editorial
A year after the start of a war that has devastated Yemen, the role of the western powers that are arming Saudi Arabia must be urgently challenged
For a year now, the US, Britain and France have continued to permit arms exports to the Saudis despite their numerous violations of the laws of war in Yemen. This policy makesthese western countries complicit in some of the crimes being perpetrated, not least because they have done almost nothing to try to put an end to them. Nor have they put their support behind an independent international commission of inquiry that might be able to shed light on events and responsibilities. Calls from human rights organisations for an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia have been ignored. Since the UN is paralysed on the issue, surely this is somewhere where the EU should act, as theEuropean parliament has already proposed.
Yemen may seem remote and its war difficult to understand. But such an attitude does absolutely nothing to help its beleaguered inhabitants. The war in Yemen has attracted less global attention than other Middle Eastern conflicts, many of which have had a more direct impact on Europe. Yet turning a blind eye to what is happening in Yemen is neither possible nor sustainable, and not just because jihadi terrorist groups are increasingly getting a foothold there, benefiting from regional chaos in order to form a base for operations further afield, perhaps even extending into Europe.
In the end, the fact that several western governments are so deeply enmeshed in the war means the legacy will have to be shared too. The actions of western governments in propping up one side in the conflict with arms may not be the sole cause of a war that is essentially local and regional. But the impact of these western weapons and other forms of support cannot be ignored. Here is one western policy that can and should be swiftly changed before things get even worse.
29.3.2016 – Al Araby (* B K P)
The problem of Yemen experts
Local voices are under-represented in favour of a new market of Western experts
Tainted by evident under-representation of local Yemen experts, media outlets in all forms and directions, as well esteemed international panels and research centres, cover and analyse Yemen through the lens of predominantly non-Yemeni experts on Yemen. This undermines the importance of local Yemeni’s agency in shaping the narrative related to their country in international media.
It is crucial to differentiate between two types of foreign Yemen experts: those who have never been to Yemen and yet like to study and analyse Yemen as a mere subject-matter, and those who have been to Yemen for months or years and decide to make Yemen their speciality. Certainly, the former is more problematic than the latter. But they both contribute to the under-representation of the local Yemeni experts.
As an expert, he or she is expected to deliver the truth about this ‘mysterious’ country. Nevertheless, many Yemeni local journalists and writers who are unable to reach international audiences due to the language barrier or other economic reasons have often been recognised by the world only when they became attacked or killed in tragic circumstances. The agency that materialises in their work is denied when they are only represented in the event of tragedy.
The fame that non-Yemeni experts gain feeds on the devaluation of Yemeni experts’ work and their exclusively tragic framing and representation. In fact, with every Yemeni journalist unnoticed or killed, a local perspective that could have tremendously challenged simplistic foreign perspectives is lost.
Some critics would denounce that and say instead that objectivity would be undermined if local Yemenis speak on the developments in Yemen, as the never-ending conflict in the country has created an extremely polarised environment. This overlooks the fact that, like any other expert or journalist, local Yemeni experts have publications and records that can stand as proof of their objectivity or lack thereof.
It is important that Yemenis claim how Yemen stories are ought to be told and framed because that won’t only enhance their representation in the media, but it might also transform all misinformation and confusion related to Yemen. The topics they focus on, the language they use, and the analysis they provide would be unique, organic, and original. Needless to say, the benefits of encouraging more female Yemeni local experts could provide better inclusive reporting on Yemen’s diverse issues – by Afrah Nasser
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/3/29/the-problem-of-yemen-experts
30.3.2016 – RT (`A P)
Internationale Bewegung fordert Waffenembargo gegen Saudi-Arabien wegen Kriegsverbrechen im Jemen
In Kanada wurde in der vergangenen Woche eine Klage eingereicht, um den Verkauf von leichten gepanzerten Fahrzeugen an Saudi-Arabien zu stoppen. Der Wert der Lieferung soll 15 Milliarden US-Dollar betragen. Die Initiative ist Teil einer wachsenden internationalen Bewegung, die sich zum Ziel gesetzt hat, Waffenlieferungen an die saudische Regierung wegen ihrer Kriegsverbrechen im Jemen zu stoppen.
Für das Portal The Intercepthat Murtaza Hussain eine Übersicht über aktuelle Initiativen gegen den Waffenhandel mit Saudi-Arabien erstellt. Anlass ist eine Klage, die der kanadische Verfassungsrechtler Professor Daniel Turp von der Universität Montreal einreichte. Er argumentiert, dass die Lieferung von Fahrzeugen nach Saudi-Arabien gegen eine Reihe von kanadischen Gesetze verstößt.
Nach kanadischem Recht dürfen Rüstungsgüter und Waffen nicht an Länder geliefert werden, in denen die Menschenrechte „schwer und wiederholt verletzt werden“. Zudem müsse das Risiko ausgeschlossen sein, dass die exportierte Ausrüstung gegen die Zivilbevölkerung eingesetzt wird.
Dabei würde auch in den USA die rechtliche Grundlage bestehen, Waffenexporte an Saudi-Arabien zu stoppen, argumentiert Raed Jarrar. Er verweist auf den Arms Export Control Act, die Richtlinien des Präsidenten und auf internationale Verträge, die eine Einhaltung von Menschenrechten zur Bedingung für alle Waffenverkäufe machen.
Am kanadischen Fall beteiligte Rechtsanwälte gehen davon aus, dass der Prozess dazu führt, einen internationalen Präzedenzfall gegen den Verkauf von Waffen an Saudi-Arabien und andere Staaten zu schaffen, die die Rechte der Bevölkerung verletzten.
https://deutsch.rt.com/wirtschaft/37536-internationale-bewegung-fordert-waffenembargo-gegen/
29.3.2016 – The Intercept (* A P)
GROWING INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT SEEKS TO PLACE ARMS EMBARGO ON SAUDI ARABIA
A LAWSUIT FILEDlast week in Canada is seeking to halt a major $15 billion sale of light-armored vehicles to the government of Saudi Arabia, part of a growing international movement to stop arms sales to the Saudi government over its alleged war crimes in Yemen.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of growing evidence of war crimes by Saudi-led forces, including the use of cluster munitions in civilian areas and the designation of entire cities as military targets.
Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest arms purchasers in the world, spending billions of dollars annually in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere to outfit its military. But the spectacle of democratic countries selling deadly military equipment to one of the most oppressive governments in the world has triggered outrage from human rights groups. That outrage is now beginning to coalesce into legal and political action to stop these sales.
But despite growing pressure, major arms-producing countries generally appear unfazed. In the past several months, U.S. weapons manufacturers have inked weapons deals with Saudi Arabia for billions of dollars, ensuring a steady stream of munitions for the war in Yemen. “Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a war inside Yemen for over a year, and we’re selling them weapons with knowledge they will be used in Yemen, where ample evidence has shown they are using them to commit war crimes,” said Raed Jarrar, government relations manager with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker political advocacy group with a mandate to promote peace.
Jarrar said the U.S. has legal grounds to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia under the Arms Export Control Act, presidential policy directives, andinternational treaties, all of which circumscribe arms sales based on human rights violations.
“We’re only asking for implementation of existing laws and we’re not picking on Saudi Arabia or anyone else because of a partisan agenda,” he adds, “but the U.S. should stop facilitating death and destruction in the Middle East through arms sales to regimes it knows are committing war crimes.”
For now, Canada offers a hopeful test case for using legal means to stop arms supplies to Saudi Arabia. Lawyers involved in the Canadian case say they hope it will help create an international precedent against the sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia and other rights-abusing states – by Murtaza Hussain
29.3.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (B K)
A message received from Linda Brockett said that :
"The suffering to me is truly unimaginable but, many of us are campaigning to our politicians I have written many letters to them and still do so, I've written many letters to my newspapers and radio shows so many of us do care and continue to care and fight for what is right and unjust."
" The silence on Yemen is unforgiveable they don't want the horrors of what's happening there to be exposed for they don't want to be known for their participation in the war crimes against Yemen and her people. Those that supply the arms to the Saudis are just as guilty as if they fired the trigger themselves. But you know the worm is turning slowly but surely the world will know the world will see and I hope each of them burn in hell. United we stand.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=997738936945803&id=961126490607048
26.3.2016 – Womens’ Commission (* B K)
Film: Yemen | 365 - DAYS ARE NO LONGER JUST A YEAR.
A short movie, describing how numbers in Yemen are no longer jet numbers, especially after the barbaric Saudi-American aggression .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm6EiYpjRro
25.3.2016 – BBC (* B K P)
No End In Sight To War In Yemen
[Overview article]
It is often said that wars end when both sides are exhausted and can no longer see an advantage to be gained by fighting on. (This is how the eight-year Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988).
Sadly, Yemen's combatants do not appear to have reached that stage yet.
The Saudis have the money and the firepower to continue the air war, but they are sensitive to mounting international disapproval.
The Houthi rebels know any ground offensive to evict them from the capital, Sanaa, would result in a street-to-street bloodbath that would inflict intolerable casualties on any Saudi-led force. So, for now, Yemen is in a state of semi-stalemate with neither side a clear victor.
Yemeni researcher Nawal Al-Maghafy, who has spent time on the ground witnessing the destruction of her country, believes the war has damaged Yemen beyond repair.
"Put simply," she says, the war is tearing Yemen's social fabric apart.
Today, children are putting down their school bags and picking up guns and rifles instead, in alarming numbers.
Faced with a future without prospects, many are opting to join extremist organisations such as Al Qaeda or even so-called Islamic State. Yemen, she adds, is likely to remain highly unstable for years, if not for decades – by Frank Gardner
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35889636
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
UNICEF report: cp 1, Am wichtigsten / Most important
30.3.2016 – World Food Programme (A H)
Yemen - Taizz Governorate; Access Constraints as of 29 March 2016 (Map)
29.3.2016 – The American Conservative (* B H K)
Yemen’s Humanitarian Catastrophe
The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen has created one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world. The crisis has been described as “catastrophic,” and that is not an exaggeration.
The U.N. categorized the situation in Yemen as a Level 3 humanitarian crisis last year, which is the most severe and puts it on the same level as the humanitarian disasters in Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan. All of these crises are the consequences of war. In Yemen’s case, most of the worst damage over the last year has been caused by the entirely unnecessary military intervention by the Saudis and their allies.
The lack of food and lack of access to clean water combined with the country’s collapsing health services are having their grim, predictable effects:
Almost 19 million people currently lack access to clean water and sanitation, increasing the risk of epidemics such as dengue fever, malaria and cholera.
More than 14 million Yemenis also require urgent health services, including over 2 million acutely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women. WHO found that 16 percent of children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, with the rate in some areas reaching more than 30 percent.
This is what the Saudis and their allies are doing to Yemen, and this is what the U.S. has been supporting for the last year. The usual “humanitarian” interventionists remain completely quiet about all of this as they have been for 12 months. The administration that abused the concept of the “responsibility to protect” to intervene in Libya is still fully behind the Saudi-led campaign. The people of Yemen are being slowly starved to death with the support of our government, and here in the U.S. this story is either still unknown or greeted with a shrug – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/yemens-humanitarian-catastrophe/
29.3.2016 – UNICEF (* B H)
EIN JAHR BÜRGERKRIEG IN JEMEN
Seit Beginn des Bürgerkrieges in Jemen vor einem Jahr hat UNICEF 1.560 schwere Menschenrechtsverletzungen an Kindern dokumentiert. Über 900 Kinder wurden getötet und 1.300 verletzt – dies sind etwa sechs getötete Kinder jeden Tag. Über 50 Angriffe auf Schulen wurden verifiziert. Diese Zahlen repräsentieren nur die Spitze eines Eisbergs, da sie nur die von UNICEF überprüften Vorfälle wiedergeben.
Die Ausweitung des Konflikts führt auch dazu, dass immer mehr Kinder und Jugendliche rekrutiert werden und eine aktive Rolle einnehmen – zum Beispiel als Wärter an Checkpoints. Im vergangenen Jahr hat UNICEF 884 Fälle der Rekrutierung von Kindern als Soldaten und Kämpfer verifiziert, darunter auch Kinder unter zehn Jahren. Dies sind die Ergebnisse des heute veröffentlichten Reports „Fragile to Failed“ über die Folgen des Konflikts in Jemen auf Kinder.
„Durch Unterentwicklung und Konflikte war Jemen seit Jahrzehnten ein fragiler Staat. Ohne ein Ende des Krieges droht das Land zu einem gescheiterten Staat zu werden, mit weit reichenden, langfristigen Konsequenzen für Kinder und ihre Familien“, sagt Peter Salama, UNICEF-Regionaldirektor für den Nahen Osten und Nordafrika.
Der Konflikt im ärmsten Land der arabischen Welt hat schwere Folgen für die zivile Infrastruktur und die Versorgung mit lebensnotwendigen Gütern wie Öl, Wasser und Nahrung. UNICEF schätzt, dass allein im vergangenen Jahr rund 10.000 Kinder in Jemen an vermeidbaren Krankheiten starben, da die Gesundheitsversorgung nicht mehr funktioniert, Impfungen nicht durchgeführt werden und lebensgefährlicher Durchfall nicht behandelt werden konnten. Im ärmsten Land der Region sind heute schätzungsweise zehn Millionen Kinder auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen – darunter rund 320.000 Kinder, die von schwerer akuter Mangelernährung bedroht sind.
UNICEF unterstreicht seine Forderung, an alle Konfliktparteien, die Kämpfe zu stoppen und eine politische Lösung zu suchen.
UNICEF und seine Partner rufen dazu auf, Hilfe für die Kinder im Jemen ausreichend zu finanzieren. Bislang stehen lediglich 18 Prozent der für 2016 benötigten Mittel bereit.
https://www.unicef.de/presse/2016/jemen-jeden-tag-sechs-kinder-getoetet/108836 siehe auch http://www.unicef.at/nachrichten/unicef/nothilfe/kinder-aus-dem-jemen-am-rande-des-abgrunds/
29.3.2016 – APA (B H)
"Sogar schlafen und spielen für Kinder im Jemen gefährlich"
Durch den Konflikt im Jemen verlieren jeden Tag sechs Kinder ihr Leben, werden verletzt oder als Soldaten eingezogen. Davor hat am Dienstag UNO-Kinderhilfswerk UNICEF aufmerksam gemacht. Die ohnehin schon prekäre humanitäre Situation hat sich demnach vergangenes Jahr massiv verschlechtert. Fast 10.000 Kinder unter fünf Jahren könnten laut Schätzungen durch vermeidbare Krankheiten gestorben sein.
Dies sei bedingt durch den Rückgang allgemeiner Gesundheitsleistungen wie Impfungen oder Behandlung von Durchfall und Lungenentzündung, teilte UNICEF am Dienstag mit. Zusätzlich sterben im Jemen jährlich weitere 40.000 Kinder unter fünf Jahren. "Es gibt keinen sicheren Ort für Kinder im Jemen. Sogar spielen oder schlafen ist für sie gefährlich geworden", so UNICEF-Experte Julien Harneis.
"Beinahe zehn Millionen Kinder bzw. 80 Prozent aller Kinder im Land sind momentan dringend auf humanitäre Unterstützung angewiesen. Mehr als zwei Millionen Kinder sind der Gefahr von Durchfallerkrankungen ausgesetzt, und weitere 320.000 könnten bald unter akuter Mangelernährung leiden", so das Kinderhilfswerk.
Weiters hat UNICEF voriges Jahr 1.500 Fälle von schweren Verstößen gegen die Rechte von Kindern festgestellt. Mehr als 900 jemenitische Kinder wurden der UNO-Organisation zufolge getötet und 1.300 verletzt - fast siebenmal so viele wie im Jahr 2014. Die meisten Kinder wurden in der Schule auf dem Schulweg Opfer von Gewalt. Darüber hinaus gab es 51 bestätigte Anschläge auf Schulen.
Immer mehr jemenitische Kinder werden auch im Krieg eingesetzt, sie bewachen Kontrollstellen oder transportieren Waffen. 848 Fälle rekrutierter Kinder wies UNICEF im Jahr 2015 nach.
29.3.2016 – UN News Center (* B H)
Yemen's children 'locked in a vicious cycle of violence, loss and uncertainty,' UN warns
Six children are killed or injured every day and children as young as 10 years old are recruited to fight in conflict-torn Yemen, according to a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, which also underscored that child recruitment has risen exponentially during the fighting and that the country is at risk of becoming a failed State.
The report, Children on the Brink, highlights the heavy toll that the violence in Yemen is having on children and the deterioration in an already precarious humanitarian situation.
UNICEF verified more than 1,560 incidents of grave violations again children in Yemen. As a result, more than 900 children were killed and more than 1,300 were injured in the past year alone. On average, at least six children have been killed or injured every day.
These numbers are almost seven times higher than the whole of 2014, the report notes. With more than 50 verified attacks on schools, children were also killed while attending school or on their way to or from school. These numbers represent the tip of the iceberg as they only indicate the cases that UNICEF was able to verify.
“Children are paying the highest price for a conflict not of their making,” UNICEF Country Representative Julien Harneis said in a press release. “They have been killed or maimed across the country and are no longer safe anywhere in Yemen. Even playing or sleeping has become dangerous.”
As the war escalates, the recruitment and use of children in the fighting continues to increase, the report warns. Children are taking up much more active roles in the fighting, such as manning checkpoints and carrying weapons. In the past year, UNICEF verified 848 cases of child recruitment; parties to the conflict have recruited children as young as 10 years old into the fighting.
The latest data shows that 63 health facilities have been attacked or damaged and most have reported severe shortages in medical equipment, supplies and personnel, along with sporadic electricity.
UNICEF also estimates that nearly 10,000 additional deaths from preventable diseases may have occurred among children under five years old in the past year as a result of the decline in critical health services including immunization and the treatment of diarrhoea and pneumonia. This figure is in addition to the nearly 40,000 children who die every year in Yemen before their fifth birthday.
Nearly 10 million children or 80 per cent of the country's total population of children are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. More than two million children face the threat of diarrhoeal diseases and 320,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
“We need to speed up the delivery of humanitarian assistance and continue to save lives as well as children's dreams of growing up and acquiring an education,” Harneis said. “It's a race against time.”
To date, UNICEF has received only 18 per cent of its $180 million funding requirements for 2016.
UNICEF reiterates its call on all parties to the conflict to put an end to the fighting in Yemen and reach a political settlement.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsId=53560#.VvtIAOKLSUm
Referring to UNICEF, Stephen Lendman writes:
30.3.2016 – Stephen Lendman (* B H K)
Obama’s War on Yemen Harms Children Most
Obama’s war on Yemen began long before partnering with Riyadh, orchestrating its terror-bombing, choosing targets to strike, supporting its ground forces and terrorist fighters.
US planned and implemented genocide affects millions of Yemenis, Obama’s latest atrocity, another country being raped and destroyed. War in its second year harms civilians most, young children most vulnerable.
Humanitarian needs in Yemen are overwhelming, imports severely restricted, delivering aid where most needed greatly impeded by Saudi terror-bombing, roadblocks and checkpoints.
The fate of an entire nation and its children hang in the balance. Yemen is another horrendous war crime on Obama’s rap sheet - complicit with Riyadh doing his dirty work – by Stephen Lendman
http://sjlendman.blogspot.de/2016/03/obamas-war-on-yemen-harms-children-most.html
29.3.2016 – The American Conservative (B H)
The Ongoing Starvation of Yemen
Aid groups have been warning about the Saudi-led coalition blockade’s destructiveeffects on the civilian population for months, but the near-famine conditions that have been created by the intervention have otherwise received very little attention in international coverage of the war. The blockade is doing the most severe damage to the civilian population, but it is the least-noticed and least-criticized part of the Saudi-led campaign. It is also by far the most indefensible thing that the Saudis and their allies have done since they began their war a year ago. The blockade is not only depriving the civilian population of the food and medicine they need to survive now, but its effects are also wrecking the well-being of Yemenis for years to come. UNICEF estimates that thousands of young children have already died from preventable diseases on account of the shortages of food and medicine:
Nearly 10 million children require humanitarian aid to prevent a further deterioration. Chronic malnutrition can stunt growth and development.
“UNICEF estimates that nearly 10,000 children under 5 years may have died in the past year from preventable diseases,” it said, citing lower vaccination rates and declines in treatment.
Nothing that the Saudis and their allies are trying to accomplish in Yemen can possibly justify what they are doing to the civilian population of Yemen, and U.S. support for their campaign–including the blockade–gets more outrageous by the day – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-ongoing-starvation-of-yemen-2/
29.3.2016 – UNICEF (* B H)
The midwife of Mukalla, Yemen
From home to work to rounds to midnight births, Midwife Bamoumen is bringing life-saving care to the children and women of a small district of Mukalla, Yemen. Follow her to find out why she has become a household name.
For 25 years, Midwife Bamoumen has offered services ranging from vaccination to post-natal care, to teaching women about child healthcare and disease prevention.
Back at home, you’ll find this mother of three caring for her children, plus six children her husband’s late wife bore. During the day, she’ll be at the Roukeb medical centre – from 8 a.m. till 1 p.m. When it’s busy, such as during vaccination campaigns or a reported spike in diseases like dengue fever, she’ll be working until 6 p.m. The centre was built in the 1960s, but she’s been there for nine years. It offers such services as family planning, pre- and post-natal care, laboratory testing, vaccination and X-rays.
In addition to her regular hours at the clinic, she is making rounds with that bag, dropping in to check up on pregnant women, rushing off to attend to women who go into labour in the middle of the night and cannot reach a doctor. “I respond to call for help from anyone at any time,” she says, with a smile.
During and outside vaccination campaigns, Midwife Bamoumen is a vaccine champion. For example, she is participating in the ongoing immunization campaign against polio, measles and rubella, which is co-funded by UNICEF. “During these campaigns, I vaccinate as many as 375 children every day,” she says. How does that compare to the average? “During regular days, I vaccinate roughly 40 children who come to the centre on Monday and Wednesday,” she says.
To make sure children are vaccinated, she talks about the importance of immunization to the local women. She’s been known to spread awareness in a roomful of them – even during a delivery. “Shortly after a new baby is born,” she explains, “I visit its mother to check her health and the baby’s. I usually find many women gathering in the same room. I promote their awareness about vaccination, prenatal healthcare, and symptoms of some disease like dengue fever.”
She thinks that such campaigns along with workshops and posters have yielded great results, as women and men are now turning up in large numbers at the centre seeking vaccination and information to prevent disease. “In the first days of [this current] campaign, we vaccinated almost 70 per cent of targeted children,” she reports.
In April 2015, conflict escalated in Mukalla, and all roads to the city’s main maternity hospital were closed. Pregnant women from Roukeb and neighbouring areas turned to the midwife for help.
She did what she does best. “I sometimes received some cases in my house and followed up on them in their houses,” she says.
The odds can be stacked against people like Midwife Bamoumen, but she does her best to deliver. Over the past few months, a wave of dengue fever has hit Mukalla and its environs, following a cyclone that ravaged the city in November. “Charities and the local authority provided us with some drugs for dengue fever,” she says, “but they finished quickly, because of growing cases.” The shortage is making it difficult to support the growing number of patients who need these drugs immediately.
Indeed, in times of conflict and peace, battling disease requires an armoury of drugs and a steady flow of funds and transportation, which social actors like Midwife Bamoumen find hard to come by. But, for the people of Mukalla, this midwife has been the answer to many a prayer, reaching the community in her unique way, dashing off each morning with her medical bag of miracles – by Saeed Alk-Batati
http://www.unicef.org/health/yemen_90727.html
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
30.3.2016 - NZZ (A K T)
Regierungsfreundliche Truppen haben in der südjemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden bei Razzien Kämpfer der Terrorgruppe Al-Kaida vertrieben. Dutzende von Extremisten seien zudem festgenommen worden, sagte ein hoher jemenitischer Sicherheitsbeamter am Mittwoch. Mit den Razzien solle die Kontrolle der international anerkannten Regierung von Präsident Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi über Aden gefestigt werden, erklärte der Sicherheitschef der Hafenstadt, Generalmajor Shalal Shajaa.
30.3.2016 – AP (A K T)
Yemen Says Dozens of Al-Qaida Fighters Detained in Aden
A top Yemeni security official says pro-government forces have carried out a series of raids against al-Qaida in the southern port city of Aden, arresting dozens of suspects and causing the militants to flee from key areas.
Maj. Gen. Shalal Shayaa, Aden's security chief, said Wednesday that southern fighters backing the government have set up checkpoints across the al-Mansoura neighborhood, a former militant stronghold.
He says the raids are part of a security campaign aimed at consolidating the internationally-recognized government's control over Aden – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemen-dozens-al-qaida-fighters-detained-aden-38033884
30.3.2016 – AFP (A K T)
Yemen govt forces push Qaeda back in Aden
Loyalist forces pushed Al-Qaeda out of parts of Aden on Wednesday in a new drive against the jihadists in Yemen's second city where the internationally recognised government is based, military sources said.
Troops and militia retook the central prison and deployed on main roads across the Mansura residential district after a three-hour gunbattle with the jihadists, the sources said.
But in recent days, the coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against Al-Qaeda in cities it has seized including Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla and Abyan provincial capital Zinjibar.
Five militants were killed and three wounded in Monday strikes on Mukalla, a major port city that the jihadists seized last April, provincial officials told AFP.
Zinjibar residents told AFP that Al-Qaeda fighters were evacuating public buildings in the city on Tuesday in apparent fear of new strikes.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people took part in an Al-Qaeda-organised protest in Mukalla against the US raid, witnesses said.
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-govt-forces-push-qaeda-back-aden-105227957.html
27.2.2016 – The National UAE (A P)
UAE reopens embassy in Yemen
The UAE has reopened an embassy in Yemen, only in Aden instead of the capital, Sanaa.
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said that the UAE has decided its embassy would resume work in safer coastal city instead of the dangerous capital, which has been at the heart of exchanges between the Houthi rebels and the government of president Abdrabu Mansour Hadi.
Dr Gargash said in a statement released on state news agency WAM that the decision has been made to consolidate the constitutional legitimacy of the president’s government and is in accordance with recent discussions among GCC foreign ministers and the United Nations Security Council resolution 2201.
The decision was also made in consensus with the Yemeni government and Dr Gargash reiterated the UAE’s absolute rejection of the Houthi coup, saying that Yemen will become stable and secure “through restoration of legitimacy and political process that resulted from the GCC Initiative to preserve national unity and stability of Yemen”.
The UAE embassy in Sanaa closed on February 14 following similar moves from other countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UK and the United States.
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/uae-reopens-embassy-in-yemen
Comment: Aden a “safer coastal city”, that is a good joke. There hardly will be any citiy in the world which is less safe. “the decision has been made to consolidate the constitutional legitimacy of the president’s government”: Hadis legitimacy ended on Feb. 25, 2015. – The Yemeni constitution tells that Sanaa is the capital of the country. That’s it, finish, exception: nothing told.
cp7 UNO / UN
30.3.2016 – Middle East Eye (* A P)
Yemen war one year on: Are peace talks doomed to fail?
During the covert and overt peace negotiations to end the conflict, both sides have shown interest in reaching a political solution while accompanying attempts for a ceasefire have been infringed on the ground with increasing brutality.
Significant problems in the talks lay in the structure of the talk process and in the warring sides' attitudes.
Rather than having a negotiation table that includes all parties to the conflict, previous talks focused exclusively on two parties - Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi's government and the Houthi-Ali Abdullah Saleh alliance - and failed by excluding a major party in the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Hadi.
The exclusion of the coalition camp ultimately represented an ineffective communication and contributed to the renewal of the fighting more aggressively. Over the past year, more than 6,400 people have been killed and more than 30,000 injured, and 7.6 million people are in a position of severe food insecurity, according to the UN.
It is difficult to see the possibility of productive negotiations if the Saudis don't sit around the table as well and became involved in direct communication with all the warring sides.
A previous exchange of prisoners swap and the latest one between the Houthis and the Saudis, conducted by intervening tribal men, exemplify how talks might be more productive if the two sides started talking to each other.
An important missing component in previous talks was the participation of women.
Additionally, the role of bystanders in this conflict contributes towards slowing any peace process. Western countries such as the United States and Britain are known to be significant suppliers of arms to Saudi Arabia, and they both have kept silent over widely publicised reports about the unlawful use of weapons in Yemen (PDF).
T he longer the war drags on, the more do different political and military factions appear in the country. If these factions are not taken into consideration in any negotiation table, achieving a lasting peace will be an impossible mission – by Afrah Nasser
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/yemen-war-one-year-are-peace-talks-doomed-fail-1795437047
Comment: I cannot take serious the Saudi claim that the Saudis really want a political solution. I think they just would accept any which brings to them nearly all the goals they otherwise just could have achieved by a full military aggression – i. e. more or less the capitulation of the Houthis and their own undangerered supremacy over Yemen.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
29.3.2016 – Front Line (* B K P)
How James Jones Uncovered a Rarely Seen Side of Saudi Arabia
The documentary — Saudi Arabia Uncovered — is a rare window into the Saudi kingdom, with stunning undercover footage as its backbone.
How did you find people inside Saudi Arabia who were willing to secretly film?
There is a network of young activists inside Saudi Arabia who are quite engaged online and with the outside world, who question their rulers and are frustrated they can’t fully express themselves. They want to show the world what’s going on, but they’re very aware of the risks of criticizing the regime or doing anything to embarrass the regime — you know, people in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to years in prison for a tweet. Through Saudi dissidents in London, we tapped into this network, and found a young man, Yasser, who was willing to film for us. We met him outside Saudi Arabia, showed him the camera, taught him how to use it, and set up safety protocols before he went back inside the country.
Is the documentary primarily rooted in Yasser’s footage?
It’s a combination of footage filmed by Yasser, and clips from other activists who are filming and posting things on their own, like public executions and women being harassed. It’s clear that the information barrier with the outside world is breaking down.
There’s this strange irony — in the past, the government has held punishments in public because they want the people to know what the potential consequences of crime are. Yet they don’t want the outside world to see it — they care about how they’re perceived. So it seems like they’re increasingly carrying out these punishments behind closed doors — like this past January, when they executed 47 terror suspects in one day – by Patrice Tadonio
29.3.2016 – Brookings (* A P)
Saudi Arabia turns up the heat on Hezbollah
The Saudis have initiated a major campaign to undermine Iran's ally Hezbollah, which they believe is vulnerable today. Riyadh is likely to have considerable but not complete success. It's a characteristically risky strategy.
The Saudis branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization earlier this year and then persuaded their Gulf Cooperation Council allies to do the same on March 2. Then Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef pressed a summit of Arab interior ministers to join in lambasting Hezbollah in Tunis in early March. The Arab League formally agreed to label Hezbollah a terrorist group at a Foreign Ministerial in Cairo later in the month. Only Iraq and Lebanon abstained.
The current Saudi campaign dates to last summer when the Crown Prince's spies captured the mastermind of the Khobar Tower attack. Ahmed Ibrahim al-Mughassil is a Saudi Shiite.
Hezbollah's strong support for President Bashar Assad's regime also added impetus to Riyadh's determination to go after the group.
The Saudi war in Yemen is another factor.
Since the Arab League statement listing Hezbollah as terrorists, the Saudis have encouraged their Gulf allies to expel Lebanese emigres accused of having connections to the group. This promises to further polarize the Lebanese community in the Gulf between Shiites and other sects, Sunni and Christian.
Riyadh is likely to start pressing the Europeans to brand Hezbollah as a terror group. The Europeans have long argued that only the military wing of Hezbollah is terrorist and exempted the political party from sanctions. Israel has argued this is a dubious splitting of hairs since the party controls the fighters.
Riyadh has much more clout in Europe than Jerusalem. London and Paris are desperate to keep their lucrative arms sales relationships with Riyadh. They also need Saudi help to fight jihadist terrorism. If Riyadh presses hard, the Europeans will find it difficult to resist.
It's still unclear how far the Kingdom will push its case against Hezbollah. The risk is too much pressure will destabilize Lebanon. The current Saudi leadership is much more risk prone and unpredictable than its predecessors. King Salman and his top aides want to deliver hard blows to Tehran—and for them, striking Hezbollah is a good way to do it – by Bruce Riedel
29.3.2016 – Gizmodo (* B E)
Saudi Arabia Is Outsourcing Its Drought to California
Due to climate change, Saudi Arabia can no longer support the growing of alfalfa, so it’s paying to exacerbate the drought in another part of the world. The Associated Press reports that the Saudi-owned Almarai dairy company has purchased about 14,000 acres of farmland in the Western US, enough to feed its 170,000 cows back at home.
This is a particularly big land-grab, but the worst part is that this isn’t a new concept. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and China all grow tremendous amounts of alfalfa in the US. (Japan and Taiwan do as well, but it’s less about water scarcity and more because these countries don’t have as much arable land.) It’s been estimated that about 100 billion gallons of water per year is used to grow foreign cow-food. Yes, the US gets paid for these exports. But in doing so, this shifts the environmental burden to the US, where we don’t have enough groundwater in some parts of the country to provide basic needs for some of our most vulnerable residents – by Alissa Walker
http://gizmodo.com/saudi-arabia-is-outsourcing-its-drought-to-california-1767615634
29.3.2016 – RT (* A E)
Saudi Arabia loses oil market share in key countries
The world’s largest crude exporter, Saudi Arabia has lost its leading position in nine of the 15 top markets in the past three years reports the Financial Times citing data from energy consultancy group FGE.
According to the analysis, the kingdom lost ground in China, South Africa and the US between 2013 and 2015, despite the goal of maintaining its crude market share amid the oil glut.
“Saudi Arabia has had very difficult time selling oil in this environment,” Citigroup analyst Ed Morse told the FT. “Its rivals are going into a very crowded market in a very aggressive way.”
The country has also lost its market share in South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and several western European countries, the FGE data showed.
Saudi Arabia’s share of Chinese oil imports fell from more than 19 percent in 2013 to almost 15 percent in 2015, because of increased supplies from Russia.
Over the past five years, Russian exports to China have more than doubled, increasing by 550,000 barrels a day. Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the biggest crude exporter to China in four months during 2015.
Data also showed that Saudi Arabia’s share of South African imports fell sharply during the three-year period, from almost 53 percent to 22 percent as Nigeria and Angola increased their shipments.
Saudi’s share of US imports also dropped from 17 percent to almost 14 percent between 2013 and 2015 due to the US shale oil boom.
https://www.rt.com/business/337565-saudi-oil-market-loss/
28.3.2016 – Frontline (** B P)
5 Ways Ordinary People Are Challenging the Saudi Government
When Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became Saudi Arabia’s king in January 2015, there were calls for him to implement economic and social reforms in the kingdom — long considered a key ally of the United States in the Middle East — and improve its human rights record.
More than one year later, those calls continue.
Faced with a resurgent Iran, economic distress from falling oil prices, pressure from religious conservatives, and wars in Yemen and Syria, King Salman’s government has made some reforms — but it also ordered Saudi Arabia’s largest mass execution in nearly three decades.
Now, some ordinary people inside the country are fighting back.
As FRONTLINE’s March 29 documentary, Saudi Arabia Uncovered, reveals firsthand, a new generation of men and women inside the country are risking everything to challenge the status quo and try to bring about change. Here’s how
They’re secretly filming parts of Saudi Arabia the government doesn’t want you to see.
Members of the Saudi royal family are among the wealthiest people in the world, and the Saudi Arabia the world often sees is a country of wealth and luxury shopping malls. The government has spent billions on social welfare, yet it’s estimated that up to a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s population still lives in poverty. Even though filming in the slums could land them in prison, a network of activists is documenting what life is like there. This undercover footage obtained by FRONTLINE was taken in a slum on the outskirts of Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
Women are driving.
They’re fighting back against public violence.
They’re blogging.
They’re protesting.
It was a bloody way to ring in the new year: In January of 2016, the Saudi government oversaw the mass execution of 47 people on terror charges. It was the nation’s largest mass execution in nearly 30 years. Many of those executed were convicted Al Qaeda terrorists, but one of them was the controversial Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr — widely seen as the spiritual leader of Saudi Arabia’s 2011 Shia uprising. Footage from Saudi Arabia Uncovered shows how the Sheikh’s execution sparked the first major protests in the East of Saudi Arabia since the Arab Spring.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/5-ways-ordinary-people-are-challenging-the-saudi-government/ and the film Saudi Arabia Uncovered: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/saudi-arabia-uncovered/
24.12.2015 – Strategic Culture (* / ** B P)
The Origin of Jihadism (I)
The origin of jihadism is prohibited from being reported truthfully – this truth is prohibited by all of the Establishment ‘press,’ including almost all ‘alternative news’ sites – in the West, because it challenges all of the «sensitive» buttons (all of the bigotries, to put the matter in plain terms); and, though this fact (the Establishment’s bigotries, and its hypocrisy to preserve and protect the bigotries even while condemning them) will prevent almost all of the news-media that I send this to from publishing it, nothing prevents me from writing it; so, here that is (in whatever media turn out to be gutsy enough to publish this Western cultural and political samizdat):
First, here’s what the origin of jihadism isn’t: It’s not the «Arab-Israeli conflict», nor is jihadism a response to the West’s support of the barbarous way that Israel’s apartheid government (and the vast majority of Israel’s Jews) treat, and historically have treated, Palestinians. Even without that Israeli-Jewish barbarism and its support by Western countries, jihadism would exist, not much different than it today is.
In order to understand where jihadism really comes from, what’s necessary first is to understand the relationship that the Sauds, who are the royal family of Saudi Arabia, have with their clergy, who are the Wahhabist Islamic preachers, a relationship between the aristocracy and clergy in that area, which began in 1744, and which was subsequently combined with the oil-for-weapons trade and an alliance with the United States, that began in 1945, and that then was ignited by the petrodollar after Richard Nixon’s de-dollarization of gold in 1973. That’s what laid the ground for it.
And then, US President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, a born Polish nobleman whose family hailed from the most anti-Russian part of Poland, and who was also a protégée of the oil-and-banking baron David Rockefeller, advised Carter in 1978 to import pro-Saudi fighters or «mujahedeen» (later called «Taliban») into the then-Soviet-allied Afghanistan, in order to create there a wave of terrorism that would drain Soviet resources necessary to preserve the Soviets’ Afghan ally, and thus help to bring down the Soviet Union.
It is, in short, an anti-Soviet operation that the West subsequently continued as an anti-Russian operation (especially in Chechnya but also in other predominantly Muslim parts of Russia), but that got out of control, and now bites the hands that fed and that continue to feed it.
Here is a video of Brzezinski, in 1979, in Pakistan, telling the Wahhabist Taliban encamped there, who had recently been driven out from Afghanistan by the new secular and Soviet-allied government there, to go back into Afghanistan, this time with US weapons and support, to fight again as mujahedeen there, because «God is on your side».
Here is Brzezinski, in 1998, bragging that he had done that, and saying: «Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border [into Afghanistan, to defend the new secular government in that land], I wrote to President Carter: We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war.» The interview continued:
Q: And neither do you regret having supported the Islamic fundamentalism, having given arms and advice to future terrorists?
B: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?
Q: Some stirred-up Moslems? But it has been said and repeated Islamic fundamentalism represents a world menace today.
B: Nonsense!»
It wouldn’t exist without the ideology, which is distinctly Wahhabist, known as «Salafist» outside of Saudi Arabia. But whatever it’s called, this Sunni branch of Islam is the religion that is held by all jihadists. The US built upon that Saudi base (and the very term «Al-Qaeda» means «the base»). And so, this ideology must be understood, because it is significant not only within Saudi Arabia, but wherever jihadists carry out their war against «the infidels» – against anyone who fails to adhere to all of the rituals and commands of this very severe faith.
Here is from the US Library of Congress’s 1992 book Saudi Arabia: A Country Study, by Helen Chapin Metz: The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam
[long citation from this book] – by Eric Zuesse
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/12/24/the-origin-of-jihadism-i.html
10.12.2015 – The Independent (B P)
Saudi Arabia more of a threat to UK than Russia, says Ken Livingstone
'We now face a threat from Muslim fundamentalism – most of which has been funded by Saudi Arabia, our principal ally'
Russia is not as much a threat to Britain and the West as Saudi Arabia, Ken Livingstone has claimed at a conference in Moscow hosted by the pro-Kremlin television station Russia Today.
“The simple fact is, the West doesn’t face a threat from Russia,” the former Mayor of London said. “We now face a threat from Muslim fundamentalism. Most of which has been funded by Saudi Arabia, our principal ally, which has funded the most intolerant strand of Islam which bears no relation to the teaching of the Prophet Mohammed.”
“The right thing isn’t being done, almost all Muslim fundamentalism has been funded by the Saudis and the Qataris, going back 70 years, spreading a particularly hate-filled Wahabi strand of Islam and Britain and America should be saying to them ‘You’ve got to stop funding this or you cannot be our ally’.”
Mr Livingstone warned the world was at a turning point. “I think if we don’t recognise the threat and if we don’t recognise our real allies then this could on for decades.”
cp9 USA
30.3.2016 – Los Angeles Times (* B K)
The U.S. is quietly helping Saudi Arabia wage a devastating aerial campaign in Yemen
One week before the Brussels terrorist attacks, a Saudi-led coalition bombed a market in Mastaba, Yemen. Although more people died in Mastaba than in Brussels — 106 versus 34 — the media and the international community in general ignored that earlier atrocity, as they've ignored most of the 150 indiscriminate aerial attacks reported by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in the last year.
The problem, however, is worse than inattention; the West is actually supporting — by way of arms and military assistance — this all-but-invisible war.
It's relatively well known that the U.S. and Britain are contributing to the war effort as the lead providers of the Saudi coalition's arsenal. Saudi Arabia has been on a global arms shopping spree and is now the world's largest purchaser of weapons. It contracted for at least $20 billion in weapons from the U.S. and almost $4.3 billion in weapons from Britain in 2015. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia's main partner in the Yemen war, is not far behind, as the world's fourth-largest purchaser of weapons, acquiring $1.07 billion from the US and $65.5 million from Britain last year.
What remains unknown is the exact nature of the U.S. and British military role in the Saudi campaign. The U.S. Defense Department has vaguely stated that it is providing “targeting assistance,” which as a matter of law means it is liable for unlawful strikes in which it takes part. So what, exactly, does this targeting assistance looks like? Did it assist with the strike on the market? Did it help target the Doctors Without Borders medical clinic that the coalition struck repeatedly last October? What about the cluster bomb attack on Sana University in January?
Britain, for its part, has said it is providing “military training on compliance with the laws of war” — operating out of the Riyadh Command Center — with estimates ranging widely from six to 150 trainers. But what exactly are these people doing? If they are assisting with the targeting, this could make them a party to the conflict. If they are merely offering advice, it is patently clear that the Saudis are disregarding it.
One appropriate way for the Saudis — and the U.S. and Britain — to address the streams of evidence about unlawful airstrikes in Yemen would be to support an independent, international investigation into the conduct of both the coalition and the Houthi armed group, Ansar Allah, which is currently in power in much of the country.
Member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council attempted to pursue just such an investigation, but the Saudi-U.S.-Britain trifecta effectively quashed it – by Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0330-whitson-yemen-strikes-20160330-story.html
29.3.2016 – Telepolis (* B K P)
USA: Waffenverkäufe an Golfstaaten für 33 Milliarden Dollar
In den vergangenen 11 Monaten haben die USA ihre Waffenkammer für den Nahen Osten großzügig geöffnet
Die USA haben im vergangenen Jahr für kräftigen Waffennachschub im Krisenherd Naher Osten gesorgt. Seit Mai 2015 hat das US-Außenministerium Waffenverkäufe an Länder des Golf-Kooperationsrates (GCC) in Höhe von 33 Milliarden Dollar genehmigt. Dies gehe aus Unterlagen des State Departments hervor, berichtet die Publikation Defense News.
33 Milliarden Dollar bedeuten eine große Menge Waffen, die an Länder gehen, die in Kriege verstrickt sind wie allen voran Saudi-Arabien, das im Jemen militärisch interveniert, in Syrien die Salafisten-Dschihadisten von Ahrar-al-Sham unterstützt, die militärisch eng mit der al-Qaida-Gruppe al-Nusra-Front zusammenarbeitet. Auch Katar, das ebenfalls als Hauptabnehmer geschildert wird, hat eine illustre Geschichte von Interventionen in Länder des Nahen Ostens und Nordafrika in jüngster Zeit.
Nach Aussagen eines Sprechers des Außenministeriums, David McKeeby, beinhalten die Lieferungen, die auch die Zustimmung des Pentagon erhielten, Raketenabwehrsysteme, Kampfhubschrauber, Fregatten und Panzerabwehrlenkwaffen. Man habe Versprechungen eingelöst, die im Mai vergangenen Jahres bei einem Treffen in Camp David gemacht wurden.
Das Treffen war geprägt von Forderungen nach einer "Sicherheits-Kompensationen" für das Abkommen zur zivilen Nutzung der Atomenergie mit Iran.
Als Beigabe zu den genannten schweren Waffen an das Bündnis, dem Saudi-Arabien, Katar, Kuwait, Bahrain, die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate und Oman angehören, erwähnt McKeeby auch die Lieferung von 4.500 Waffen, die als "präzisionsgelenkte Munition" bezeichnet werden. Unter diesen Begriff werden unterschiedlichste Explosivwaffen wie selbststeuernde Raketen, Granaten oder auch Flugkörper und Bomben gezählt – von Thomas Pany
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/47/47809/1.html
29.3.2016 – Long War Journal (* B T)
US intensifies air campaign against al Qaeda in Yemen
The US military revved up aerial assaults against al Qaeda’s official branch in Yemen during the month of March. The US launched at least six airstrikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in areas in southern Yemen this month, equalling the total from the five preceding months, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal.
The six strikes in March equals the six strikes by the US in Yemen between October 2015 and February 2015. The US launched zero strikes in October and November 2015, one in December 2015, two in January of this year, and three in February.
The uptick in strikes coincided with AQAP’s rapid expansion of control in areas in southern Yemen since the spring of 2015.
The US has actively targeted AQAP leaders, operatives, and fighters in multiple airstrikes since 2009, but it has failed to halt AQAP’s advance in the south.
The US airstrikes have also not stymied AQAP’s focus on the West; AQAP masterminded multiple attacks against both the US and the West. – by Bill Roggio
Comment: There seems to be a more coordinated effort to rid Yemen of these militias. UAE has been very active in the south. But I guess it is going to be a very hard battle as more and more reports in Yemen seem to indicate a proliferation of Al Qaeda fighters.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1119273011558522
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
29.3.2016 – The Independent (A P)
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon pays low-key visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss military cooperation
Michael Fallon met with the country's interior ministry, who is responsible for internal repression
The Defence Secretary has paid a low-key visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss how Britain can cooperate more closely with the oil-rich autocracy on defence issues.
“During the meeting, they discussed areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of defence,” Emirates News Agency, another Gulf news organisation said.
“The meeting also touched on the latest regional and international developments in the region, including the fight against terrorism and extremism.”
As interior minister Prince Mohammed is directly responsible for security in the kingdom, including the internal repression of protest and dissent.
Mr Fallon made the flying visit on his way to the DMIDEX arms fair in Qatar. Here he announced that the UK lead a new naval taskforced in the Gulf to tackle smuggling, terrorism, and piracy.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson confirmed Mr Fallon had visited the country. The spokesperson said: “During these talks he reiterated the importance of working together to deal with global threats, including countering the poisonous ideology of Daesh, and regional instability.” – by Jon Stone
29.3.2016 – Amnesty International (* B K P)
Yemen conflict: The UK must stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia
The UK government has been providing weapons to those committing these horrific war crimes.
The UK has fuelled this appalling conflict through reckless arms sales which break its own laws and the global Arms Trade Treaty it once championed.
We have evidence of a British-made bomb which was used to destroy a Yemeni ceramics factory – a civilian building.
The attack on the factory in the Sana’a governorate killed one person and violates international humanitarian law.
The UK is a major supplier of arms and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia.
Last year, the UK issued arms exports worth £2.94 billion to Saudi Arabia in a period of just nine months. They recently diverted a batch of 500-pound ‘Paveway IV’ bombs to Saudi Arabia. These bombs are used by Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets, both of which are manufactured and supplied to Saudi Arabia by the UK arms company BAE Systems.
Since the conflict began, the UK government has issued a further 37 arms export licenses. The UK has also refused to condemn the use of internationally banned cluster bombs as it has done in other global conflicts.
The UK must end its transfers of arms to the Saudi Arabi-led Coalition carrying out illegal and indiscriminate airstrikes in Yemen.
We must not supply weapons that could be used to commit human rights violations or war crimes. There must also be an independent enquiry into the supply of arms to Saudi Arabia and all parties currently involved into Yemen conflict.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/yemen-conflict-uk-must-stop-selling-arms-saudi-arabia
14.9.2015 – The Guardian (* A E K P)
DSEI weapons fair: authoritarian regimes descend on London
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Bahrain are among 61 countries the UK government has invited to biennial event
Authoritarian regimes including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Azerbaijan are among the official guests invited by the UK government to one of the world’s largest arms bazaars, opening in London’s Docklands this week.
This year’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibitioncoincides with a government drive to increase arms sales to countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, by far its most lucrative single market for weapons.
Britain demonstrated its support for Saudi Arabia this summer by delivering a consignment of 500lb Paveway IV bombs originally earmarked for the RAF. Saudi Arabia’s fleet of strike aircraft includes British Tornados, Eurofighter Typhoons and US F-15s.
“The UK is digging into its own weapons supplies to replenish Saudi stocks,” Michael Stephens, of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), told the BBC.
There has also been a range of illegal cluster-munition weaponry advertised, Amnesty said. It said it had identified nine companies that had violated UK law at DSEI events between 2005 and 2013 – by Richard Norton –Taylor
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
28.3.2016 – Rationalgalerie (* A P)
Ziemlich verschwenderisch geht die TAGESSCHAU mit Begriffen wie „Regime“ oder „Diktatur“ um. Geht es um Saudi Arabien - fraglos eine Diktatur - kommen der TAGESSCHAU allerdings meist solche Begriffe wie „Monarchie“ oder „Königreich“ in den Sinn. So bewegt sich die Gniffke-Redaktion schön längs der Terminologie des Auswärtigen Amtes, das auf seiner Site von einer „Absoluten Monarchie auf religiöser Grundlage“ redet. Versteht sich. Denn „scharia-gesteuertes Mörder-Regime“ würde sich nicht so gut machen wenn man Waffen verkaufen will. Warum aber der vorgeblich staatsferne Rundfunk die Terminologie des AA übernimmt, wird uns sicher der Rundfunkrat in der Antwort auf die nächste Programmbeschwerde erklären.
Programmbeschwerde: Hier: Saudisches Bombardement im Jemen mit 106 Toten am 15.3 2016
Der Filz von Wirtschaft, Politik und Mainstreammedien erklärt zwar, aber entschuldigt selbstverständlich nicht, dass es auch aus ARD-aktuell höchstens unauffällig tröpfelt, wenn über Kriegsverbrechen der saudischen Blutsäufer im Jemen eigentlich umfangreich zu informieren wäre.
Obwohl der Redaktion bereits am 15. März bekannt war, dass „mehr als 40 Menschen“auf dem Marktplatz (!) in Al Khamees ums Leben gekommen waren, gewiss keinem militärischen Ziel, erschienen über das Bombardement lediglich ein paar dürre Zeilen im einer Internet-Ausgabe der Tagesschau.
Die Seite ist bekanntlich für ARD-aktuell lediglich eine Nischen- und oft eine Alibiveranstaltung. Nur 4% der Zuschauer sehen hier die Nachrichten. Nur 400 Tausend statt der sonstigen durchschnittlich 9 Millionen. Wenn eine Information von hier gegebenem Gewicht diesen 96% vorenthalten wird, dann muss von Absicht, von Nachrichtenunterdrückung gesprochen werden.
Das machen wir hiermit auch. Wir verweisen darauf, dass über das Verbrechen spätestens dann hätte berichtet werden müssen, als die Vereinten Nationen drei Tage danach bekannt gaben, es seien 106 Tote zu beklagen, es werde nun formell untersucht, ob ein Kriegsverbrechen vorliege. Das hätte berichtet werden müssen, und zwar in sämtlichen Ausgabeformaten, in denen die NDR-Hauptabteilung ARD-aktuell ihre Nachrichten anbietet – zumindest, wenn man professionelle journalistische Maßstäbe anlegt und den Programmauftrag sowie die Programmrichtlinien des NDR-Staatsvertrags höher gewichtet als das politische Interesse Berlins oder das ökonomische Interesse der deutschen Rüstungswirtschaft.
Höflich grüßen Volker Bräutigam und Friedhelm Klinkhammer
http://www.rationalgalerie.de/schmock/saudi-arabien-ein-koenigreich-fuer-eine-nachricht.html
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
29.3.2016 – KUNA (A P)
EU calls on all Yemeni parties to fully engage in UN talks in Kuwait
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2495185&Language=en
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
30.3.2016 – CNN (A K)
French seize weapons cache in Indian Ocean that may have come from Iran
The French seized a large weapons cache on a ship headed for Somalia on March 20, authorities said.
It's the second large weapons seizure in the region this month, and both may have been headed to Yemen from Iran.
According to a U.S. assessment, the arms recently seized originated in Iran, and their likely destination was Yemen, Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, told CNN.
French authorities released the crew of 10 after questioning them, according to the French Defense Ministry – by Joshua Berlinger
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/30/middleeast/weapons-seizure-indian-ocean/
Comment: Latest news. Let us wait what will come else. Might-be the destiny of this shipment stays as unclear as in other cases. Also in Somalia, arms are urgently wanted.
27.3.2016 – KUNA (A K)
S. Africa Pres., Saudi deputy Crown Prince open projectiles complex
President of South Africa Jacob Zuma and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz opened a joint projectiles complex at the Military Industries Corporation (MIC) in Al-Kharj
https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2494822&Language=en
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
29.3.2016 – Die Welt (* B H)
Warum kaum jemenitische Flüchtlinge nach Europa kommen
Die Lage im Jemen ist nach einem Jahr Krieg ähnlich verzweifelt wie in Syrien, zwei Millionen Menschen sind auf der Flucht. Doch die Jemeniten sitzen in der Falle, der Weg nach Europa ist versperrt.
80 Prozent der rund 24 Millionen Einwohner in dem Kriegsland sind von humanitärer Hilfe abhängig, mehr als zwei Millionen Menschen sind auf der Flucht. Doch die Zahl der Jemeniten unter den Flüchtlingen, die nach Europa kommen, ist verschwindend gering. Der Grund: Auch wenn sie wollten, die Menschen kommen nicht aus ihrem Land raus. Im Norden ist die Grenze zu Saudi-Arabien abgeriegelt, im Süden liegt der Golf von Aden. Nach einer Überfahrt landet man in Somalia oder Dschibuti – Staaten, die keine bessere Alternative zur Heimat darstellen.
Eine Weiterreise von Ostafrika nach Europa ist schlichtweg zu teuer für die meisten Jemeniten. Das Land galt schon vor dem Krieg als das ärmste im Nahen Osten. Botschaften, die Visa ausstellen, gibt es im Jemen nicht mehr. Eine offizielle Ausreise – praktisch unmöglich.
"Der Krieg im Jemen geht im Gegensatz zu dem in Syrien fast unter, da die Flüchtlinge bei uns nicht ankommen", sagt Michael Winter, der gerade für die Organisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen in dem arabischen Land war – von Mareike Kürschner
29.3.2016 – International Organization for Migration (A H)
Yemen Crisis: IOM Regional Response - Situation Report, 10 - 23 March 2016
Following a six-month suspension, IOM resumed sea evacuations of migrants stranded in Al Hudaydah, evacuating 494 Ethiopians on 15 and 23 March.
As of 23 March, almost 200,000 IDPs and conflict-affected populations in nine governorates in Yemen have been provided with emergency and primary health care assistance.
Since the beginning of the crisis, over 34,400 people have arrived in Djibouti fleeing the conflict in Yemen. To date, over 5,000 migrants have been provided with emergency shelter, food, NFIs, medical care and onward transportation assistance through IOM.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-crisis-iom-regional-response-situation-report-10-23-march-2016 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/IOM%20Yemen%20Crisis%20Sitrep%2024%20March%202016%2042.pdf
29.3.2016 –UN High Commissioner for Refugees (B H)
Yemen: Factsheet, February 2016
Nearly one in every ten persons in Yemen is internally displaced. Faced with the consequences of conflict, Yemenis continue to flee from their homes, often without many possessions in desperate search of safety and means of survival. The Task Force on Population Movement (TFPM), under the Protection Cluster and led by UNHCR and IOM in collaboration with several operational partners has determined in its 7th report released on 17 February that there are 2,430,178 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yemen as of 31 January 2016.
The UNHCR Representative led a mission to Taizz on 14 February, during which he oversaw the delivery of blankets, mattresses, and other emergency relief aid to 1,000 conflict-affected families largely isolated by months of intense fighting in three locations in the embattled centre of Taizz city: Al Qahirah, Salh and Al Mudhaffar districts. This is the first time UNHCR has been able to access the city after months of trying to bring in much needed humanitarian assistance.
UNHCR wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) expressing concern about recent arrests and detention of foreign nationals including refugees and asylum seekers. UNHCR also expressed concern about reports of forced recruitment of foreign nationals including refugees and asylum seekers by the various armed groups involved in the conflict. MoFA confirmed that persons holding a refugee or an asylum seeker document should not be arrested nor detained. MoFA denied any involvement of the authorities in forced recruitment of foreigners. UNHCR committed to reaching out to local authorities and law enforcement officials about the value of UNHCR refugee and asylum seeker documents, including temporary protection documents (Syrians).
Smugglers transporting 54 Ethiopians and one Somali on a small boat from Obock, Djibouti on 6 February began to forcibly throw off the passengers as the ship came in sight of the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Only 34 persons made it safely to shore, while 20 were left unaccounted for and presumably drowned. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) patrol along the Red Sea coast to assist new arrivals, found 23 of the survivors a few kilometres east of Bab-al-Mandab, and contacted the Yemen Red Crescent (YRC) to come, collect and transport them to Kharaz refugee camp.
As a boat carrying 100 passengers that had disembarked from Obock, Djibouti, was beginning to make land near Bab-al-Mandab on the Red Sea coast of Yemen on 28 February, local armed groups opened fire in the air to chase away the boat. The crew immediately returned to sea and then sailed to another point near the coast and forced the passengers out about 100 meters from the shore, where one reportedly drowned. Armed traffickers were waiting at the coast and took 36 of the Ethiopians. The DRC patrol found those who had gotten away and provided them with assistance.
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 and partners address critical needs including shelter, non-food items, protection services, cash assistance, livelihood opportunities, food, health care and education support.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-factsheet-february-2016-enar and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNHCR%20Yemen%20factsheet%20Feb%202016%20.pdf
29.3.2016 – International Organisation for Migration (* A H)
IOM Evacuates Ethiopian Migrants from War-Torn Yemen
OM has evacuated 485 vulnerable Ethiopian migrants - 122 women, 261 men, 101 unaccompanied minors and one child- from war-torn Yemen since 19th March 2016.
The voluntary repatriations, in close cooperation with the governments of Yemen, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, as well as IOM missions in the region, followed IOM’s earlier repatriation of 4,222 Ethiopians from Yemen in an operation that was suspended in September 2015 due to lack of funding. The same operation provided post-arrival assistance to another 3,319 Ethiopians fleeing Yemen.
The new repatriation operation from Yemen’s Hodeidah seaport to Djibouti and on to Ethiopia by bus aims to evacuate a total of 1,212 stranded migrants using IOM emergency funding. IOM’s migrant assistance and protection operations in Yemen are also supported by DFID, ECHO, the US State Department, Sida, UN CERF and USAIM.
The stories told by the migrants testify to the urgency of the evacuation and the desperate situation of many migrants in Yemen. Ahmed* (name changed*), a 22-year old barber, explained that he left Ethiopia in search of a better standard of living in Saudi Arabia.
“After paying smugglers to take us to Yemen, and we were promised that we would be on our way to Saudi Arabia to make a lot of money. But we were intercepted by kidnappers as soon as we got off the boat in Yemen,” he said. “We saw two individuals beaten to death. They were hung upside down and beaten to death; we watched them die.”
Ali* (*name changed), a 25-year-old khat shop owner, told IOM how he was also kidnapped and held to ransom. Family members in Saudi Arabia had to pay the kidnappers a total of 10,000 Saudi Riyals (USD 2,700) for his release. He considers himself fortunate, given the cruelty he witnessed.
“We saw the kidnappers carving out the eyes of men with a knife. They melted plastic on the backs of some of them. We saw one young man who was beaten so badly his arm and chest bones were broken. He was thrown out into the street to be eaten by dogs. If you don’t have the money to pay the ransom demanded you die. We also saw many women who were raped,” he said.
The migrants who either managed to escape or were released by kidnappers following ransom payments were given refuge in IOM Yemen shelters. But they represent a very small percentage of the migrants in need of repatriation, according to Fumiko Nagano, IOM’s Migration Management Programme Coordinator in Ethiopia.
“According to UNHCR and the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, over 92,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2015. Some 89% of those are believed to be Ethiopian nationals,” she says.
http://www.iom.int/news/iom-evacuates-ethiopian-migrants-war-torn-yemen
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
30.3.2016 – Vocativ (A T)
Al-Qaeda In Yemen Sends Children To Protest U.S. Drone Strikes
Hundreds of men, women and children participated in a march organized by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen
Photos from the massive gathering were published on social accounts run by Ansar al-Sharia, another name for the affiliate, determined to demonstrate the group’s strength and considerable following in the region.
http://www.vocativ.com/news/303320/al-qaeda-in-yemen-sends-children-to-protest-u-s-drone-strikes/
30.3.2016 – Armament Research (A T)
Ansar al-Sharia with RPG-32 rocket launcher in Yemen
On 27 March 2016, a video released by Ansar al-Shari’a (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) shows their fighters clashing with Houthi forces in Taiz, Yemen. The fighting shown is believed to have taken place on 21 March 2016. The video begins with unmanned aerial vehicle footage of Sabir Mountain and part of Cairo Castle, south of Taiz, where Houthis & Saleh loyalists had fortified positions used to target the city with artillery fire. The fighting shown appears to take place north of Taiz, just south of the Sofitel Hotel and the Yemen International Hospital. Ansar al-Shari’a fighters make extensive use of shoulder-fired rocket launchers, including the Yugoslavian M 79 Osa and the Jordanian RPG-32.
The modern RPG-32 lightweight, multi-purpose rocket launcher was designed sometime around 2005 by the Russian state-owned NPO Bazalt (Joint Stock Company Scientific Production Association “Bazalt”) and is described as a joint Russian-Jordanian development.
It is unclear how such a modern and comparatively advanced weapon found its way into the hands of a terrorist group. There are only two known users of the RPG-32 in the region; Jordan, where the weapon is produced, and the United Arab Emirates, who recently purchased some 400 units.
http://armamentresearch.com/ansar-al-sharia-with-rpg-32-rocket-launcher-in-yemen/
29.3.2016 – Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hamdani (A K T)
Film: IS in Taiz, shelling with modern weapons
https://www.facebook.com/sinbad.yemen/videos/vb.100001030042464/1136372253073765/?type=2&theater
Comment by Judith Brown: a report from Taiz, I haven't been able to verify it so I am not sure if it is true.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154235779363641
28.3.2016 – The Wallstreet Journal (*B T)
ISIS Fails to Gain Much Traction in Yemen
Al Qaeda’s local branch thrives in war’s chaos while Islamic State loses ground
Islamic State is also struggling to gain traction in Yemen, despite a security vacuum ripe for exploitation, even as the country’s potent al Qaeda branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, thrives.
Unlike in Libya, Islamic State hasn’t forged alliances with local jihadists such as al Qaeda. Islamic State fighters in Yemen are estimated to number in the hundreds, compared with several thousand for AQAP.
Meanwhile, dozens of Islamic State members in Yemen have publicly complained about the leadership, viewing it as foreign and disconnected, and accusing it of extreme brutality, disregard for its own fighters and poor battlefield decision making.
In the absence of a strong central government, Yemenis at times have tolerated even terrorist groups that provided health, judicial and security services. Unlike al Qaeda, Islamic State hasn’t done so in areas where it operates and so is less enmeshed in local tribal networks.
Elisabeth Kendall, an Oxford University expert on Yemeni extremism who has traveled recently to tribal areas, said Islamic State's model, which hinges on central command and tolerates little autonomy, doesn’t fit well in Yemen.
Katherine Zimmerman, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, noted that many Islamic State leaders in Yemen are reportedly Saudi, “and that does not sit well with Yemenis.”
About 70 Islamic State members, including 15 senior leaders, publicly aired their quarrels with the leadership in December –by Asa Fitch and Saleh Al-Batati
http://www.wsj.com/articles/isis-fails-to-gain-much-traction-in-yemen-1459203675
28.3.2016 – Vocativ (A T)
Al-Qaeda Is Disrupting Long-Sought Peace Plans In Yemen
The Yemen affiliate releases footage of its fighters taking over more territory in Yemen
al-Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate says it is continuing to push for more control of more areas in the war-ravaged nation.
A year after taking over critical sections of the southern Hadhramout region and announcing an Islamic emirate in the province, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video purportedly showing its fighters gaining ground in Taiz, in Yemen’s southwest.
http://www.vocativ.com/news/302253/al-qaeda-is-disrupting-long-sought-peace-plans-in-yemen
Comment: The video already has been removed from youtube.
28.3.2016 – CNA (A T)
UPDATE: Warnung vor Spekulationen über das Schicksal von Pater Tom
Bischof Paul Hinder hat gegenüber CNA bestätigt, dass Pater Tom offenbar am Leben ist.
Gleichzeitig hat der Apostolische Vikar für Südarabien vor Spekulationen um das Schicksal des im Jemen entführten Salesianers gewarnt. Diese gefährdeten möglicherweise dessen Leben.
"Es gibt keine Bestätigung, dass die Gerüchte um eine Kreuzigung von Pater Tom der Wirklichkeit entsprechen", so der aus der Schweiz stammende Apostolische Vikar mit Sitz in Abu Dhabi. Im Gegenteil, betonte er gegenüber CNA: "Ich habe starke Indizien dafür, dass Pater Tom noch lebt", so der Bischof. Mehr könne er nicht sagen, um das Leben von Pater Tom zu schützen.
Mehrere Medien hatten in den vergangenen Tagen berichtet, dass der Salesianer am Karfreitag von Islamisten gekreuzigt worden sei. In der Osternacht hatte auch Kardinal Christoph Schönborn von Wien dessen Schicksal angesprochen. Er bezog sich dabei auf Informationen aus dem Umfeld der Missionarinnen der Nächstenliebe, teilte die Erzdiözese mit.
Außerdem habe die Website der Gebetsgemeinschaft "Corpus Christi Dubai" die Kreuzigung Pater Toms auf ihrer arabischen Website gemeldet, berichtet die österreichische Nachrichtenagentur Kathpress. Unterdessen hatten mehrere westliche Zeitungen und Nachrichtendienste über eine Kreuzigung berichtet.
Tatsächlich ist das Schicksal des entführten Priesters zur Stunde weiter ungewiß.
http://de.catholicnewsagency.com/story/warnung-vor-spekulationen-uber-das-schicksal-von-pater-tom-0634 siehe auch http://www.salzburg.com/nachrichten/welt/politik/sn/artikel/unklarheit-um-das-schicksal-von-pater-thomas-im-jemen-189366/
Kommentar: Das Verhalten der Medien in dieser Sache ist in der Tat widerlich. Man konnte verfolgen, wie in immer weiter schwappenden Wellen sich diese Meldung verbreitet hat. Der Wiener Bischof hat in seiner Osterpredigt darüber spekuliert, Pater Tom könnte gekreuzigt worden sein. Darüber berichteten ein paar österreichische Medien (der Kurier mit ganz vorne dabei). Dann ganz viele österreichische Medien. Dann die deutschsprachigen. Und dann weltweit die englischsprachigen. Und manche natürlich wurden reißerisch, mit Schlagzeilen wie besonders grausam etc. Gesehen hat es niemand. Artikel, die mit „Requiescat in Pace“ anfingen. Als es Meldungen gab, diese Geschichte wäre falsch, kamen Alternativmedien, die der „Lügenpresse“ vorwarfen, die „Kreuzigung“ vertuschen zu wollen. Alles in allem: Ein voneinander Abschreiben, eine unerträgliche Geilheit auf reißerische Meldungen. Und die gefährdet tatsächlich Leben, wie hier.
28.3.2016 – Catholic World Press (A T)
Kidnapped priest reported still alive in Yemen, despite reports of crucifixion by Islamic State
Despite reports that an Indian priest was crucified by the Islamic State in Yemen on Good Friday, both a local bishop and the priest's Salesian religious superiors say that they believe he is still alive.
Father Tom Uzhunnalil was seized by the terrorists who gunned down four members of the Missionaries of Charity in a March 4 attack on a nursing home in Aden, Yemen. Since that time there has been no clear news about his fate.
Last week the priest's Salesian order dismissed as "baseless" the rumors that he had been tortured by his captors and would be crucified on Good Friday. But those rumors intensified when Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schönborn repeated them-- apparently on the basis of an inaccurate report-- during an Easter Vigil ceremony. Cardinal Schönborn has subsequently issued a correction, saying that he has no knowledge of Father Uzhunnalil's fate.
Bishop Paul Hinder, the apostolic vicar for Yemen, has said that there are "strong indications that Father Tom is still alive and in the hands of the kidnappers." He declined to provide further details.
https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=27920
cp15 Propaganda
29.3.2016 – New York Times (A P)
Yemen’s President: A Path to Peace
One year into the intervention here by the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and backed by the Yemeni National Army, I can tell my people with confidence that we are working hard to restore peace.
With our country in chaos, we were left with no choice but to call for the assistance of our brothers in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Without intervention, Yemen’s future might have been that of a largely lawless and feudal country.
Now my government and the coalition have shifted the balance of power on the ground. Nearly 75 percent of the land previously occupied by the Houthi-Saleh forces has been liberated, which is why they decided to participate in serious peace negotiations for the first time.
Some progress has begun. With the help of our Arab and Islamic partners, most of the ministers of the government are back in the temporary capital.
However, for there to be an agreement in the April talks, the Houthi-Saleh forces must accept United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls for all parties to abide by the peaceful political process and agree to a durable and lasting agreement that allows the government to begin the work of returning displaced people to their homes and repairing damage.
We will shut down, once and for all, the terrorist safe havens and again work with the West and Arab partners to rid our territory of the extremists who plot attacks on targets in the United States, Europe, Arab states and elsewhere.
In addition, it must be made clear to Iran, which seeks to expand its sphere of control through its Houthi proxies, that Yemen will not yield a single inch of territory to outside forces.
In the years before the Houthi-Saleh violence escalated into a civil war, Yemen was making significant progress.
Our government extends its hand in a peace that is sustainable – by Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, president of Yemen
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/opinion/yemens-president-a-path-to-peace.html
and by Al Arabiya http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2016/03/30/Yemen-s-Hadi-Houthis-must-respect-ceasefire-to-rebuild-country.html
Comment: We had read (and commented) Hadis propaganda for many times. Now even the NYT gives him a stage. Will there be an article by the Houthi leader next week too?? As always: No word on the destruction of the country by the Saudi air raids and the effects of the Saudi blockade. Might be the best: “It must be made clear to Iran […] that Yemen will not yield a single inch of territory to outside forces.” What about Saudi Arabia, and their allies, the only “outside forces” standing in Yemeni territory in the moment?? The NYT even adapted the description of the photo they selected for this article to Hadis propaganda. They selected a scene of destruction at Saada, a city among those most destructed by the Saudi air raids. The description reads: “he Yemeni city of Saada, a rebel stronghold, has come under intense bombardment by the military.” Which military??
Comment: Delusional. Whatever happened before March 2015, the moment you ask foreign powers to come and bomb your own country to restore legitimacy, you are not entitled to talk about peace, presidency, of having a vision. For once, let Yemenis choose their own future. With no interference.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=998495856870111&id=961126490607048
29.3.2016 – The National UAE (B P)
Yemen operation will keep the region secure
The first anniversary of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen took place this week.
The columnist Abdelwahab Badrakhan wrote in Abu Dhabi’s daily Al Ittihad: “The campaign was launched as a last resort. It was step that the decision makers would have preferred to avoid, knowing that it would ultimately bring suffering to Arab people and an Arab country."
[…] A malicious alliance was forged between Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s toppled president, and his former nemesis Abdul Malek Al Houthi, with a view to serve an Iranian scheme to take over Yemen and use it as a platform to target Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
“From a historic point of view, Yemen was on the brink of falling out of its Arab identity to be forced into a new era of its existence under Persian colours," the writer said.
For a moment, at the height of the coup against legitimacy in Yemen, the Iran-Saleh-Houthi troika believed that it had fooled Yemenis and Arabs.
In fact, even the US and other international powers monitoring the situation in Yemen didn’t see cause for alarm in the troika’s movements. Some might even claim that the world powers used the situation in Yemen as a negotiating card in the nuclear talks with Iran, giving Tehran free rein in Yemen in exchange for its acquiescence to the terms of the deal.
“This is what Operation Decisive Storm was able to change on the ground. It compelled the US to revisit its position and forced Iran to curb its expansionist plans," Badrakhan added.
This was the second such setback for Iran after the defeat of its project to take power in Bahrain in 2011, the writer said. This time, the GCC states’ response was as explicit as could be expected: any attempt against Saudi Arabia shall be deemed an attempt on all of them.
Time will show that Iran’s scheme was harmed beyond recovery, not only because this past year’s operation has uncovered it, but also because it was the first time Iran was forced into a real confrontation. In the past, Tehran’s tactics relied mainly on stealth and infiltration. Such were the cases in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
“On this first anniversary of the beginning of Operation Decisive Storm, no news could be better than the Houthis’ decision to stop operations and adhere to international resolution 2216," the writer said. “They have finally conceded that the Arab alliance’s military advances on the ground were too great for them to deny. The war may trudge along for longer, but the defeat of Houthi-Saleh militias was only a matter of time."
Some may fear that the Houthi leader is looking to end the war now in order for him to retain military power to use later. This is a matter for Yemenis to resolve among themselves as they negotiate the next phase.
In any case, the Saudi-led operation was by no means a plot to take over Yemen, but rather a stratagem to reclaim state institutions and empower them to rise again to administer the affairs of the people of Yemen and to play their role in preserving the security and stability of the Arabian Gulf region.
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/yemen-operation-will-keep-the-region-secure
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
30.3.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi aggression bombes Bani Matar
The Saudi aggression launched on Wednesday two air raids on Bani Matar district of Sana'a governorate. The aggression warplanes targeted al-Subaha area causing damage to the citizens' houses and properties.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news423662.htm
30.3.2016 – saba Net (A K PH)
Five people injured by Saudi airstrikes in Taiz
At least five people were injured in a series of air raids launched on Wednesday by the Saudi aggression on Taiz province.
The Saudi war jets targeted residential neighborhoods in the al-Seteen Street (Sixtieth St.) north of Taiz city, a local official said, adding besides the five wounded people, many houses, shops, public facilities and roads were damaged.
The official said the Saudi warplanes targeted again areas of al-Thabab and al-Rabi'ai in the western suburbs of Taiz city, resulting in serious damage to the people's houses, farms and cars.
The Saudi aggression also struck the intersection in area al-Thakera in alkaeda area, he added.
The official explained that the Saudi airstrikes were intended to back up the mercenaries of the Saudi aggression who have suffered heavy losses in human and ordnance since the today's dawn, when the army and popular committees forced them out of many areas in the north and west of Taiz city.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news423674.htm
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
30.3.2016 – Almanar Newes (A K PH)
More Than 300 Saudi-led Mercenaries Killed in Yemen’s Mede
Yemeni army and popular committees heroically confronted attempts by Saudi-led forces to advance towards Mede desert in the western province of Hijja.
Field sources confirmed that fierce clashes in Mede killed more than 300 Saudi-led mercenaries were killed as Yemeni army and popular committees, including a prominent Saudi commander, Yemeni news agency Sabaa reported.
Meanwhile, at least 15 vehicles for the Saudi-led coalition were destroyed, Sabaa said, noting that dozens of mercenaries were also injured in the clashes.
The agency reported that the attempt to advance towards Mede is the third of its kind in three days, noting that the Saudi-led forces were backed by warplanes.
http://english.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=263206&cid=23&fromval=1 and film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utYPr6BMD-Q
29.3.2016 – Almanar News (A K PH)
ISIL Emir Killed in Major Army Operation in Yemen’s Taiz
Emir of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group in Yemeni, Abu Ayyoub Al Ansari, as well as the ISIL Religious Jurist, aka Abu Hemma, were killed on Tuesday during a major army operation south of Yemen.
The Yemeni army and Popular Committees managed to carry out a succeeding military operation in the province of Taiz, south of capital Sanaa, during which Ansari and Abu Hemma were killed, a military source in Yemen said.
"The missile and artillery units in the army and Popular Committees fired missiles at assembly points of the aggression mercenaries and invaders in the southern village of Thobab city, killing and wounding a large number of them, including elements of the most ISIL wanted commanders," he said.
The source pointed out that "a US helicopter tried to rescue Ansari, but to no avail," pointing out that "Abu Hemma has issued execution sentences against prisoners who were executed by ISIL in the southern provinces. "
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