UK complicity in Saudi state violence - Yemeni Children, victims of war - Ex-Pentagon security adviser on US imperialism - Saudi reform plans are public relations - Difficult peace talks
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensverhandlungen / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
cp13c Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
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
4.2016 – Campaign against Arms Trade (***B K P)
A shameful relationship: UK complicity in Saudi state violence
CONTENTS
Summary 5
1 Introduction 7
2 Saudi state violence at home and abroad 9: Yemen – complicity in indiscriminate killing / Bahrain – crushing the ‘Arab Spring’ / Domestic repression – the extremist state
3 The UK-Saudi relationship 14: Background / Al Yamamah / Al Salam / MODSAP & SANGCOM / UK government promotion of the arms trade / How the government handles questions of corruption
4 Major deals and overall trends 21: Major deals / Mapping Saudi’s suppliers
5 UK export controls 25: Unlawful exports / Facilitating internal repression
6 A poor deal all-round 28: Undermining democracy / Undermining security / Ignoring better economic alternatives
7 Conclusion 31
Abbreviations 33
Summary
One year into the intervention in the civil conflict in Yemen by a Saudiled military coalition, 6,400 people have been killed, half of them civilians, including 900 children, and more than 30,000 people have been injured. The large majority of these casualties have been caused by Coalition air strikes in a campaign where combat aircraft supplied by the United Kingdom have played a significant role. Leading human rights organisations have documented a pattern of violations against international law committed by the Coalition. The UK government has not only ignored or denied this evidence, but has continued unrelentingly to supply arms, including weaponry to be used in Yemen.
This is the most egregious, but only the latest, example of the damaging effects of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In 2011, UK-trained Saudi troops travelling in UK-supplied armoured vehicles moved into Bahrain to assist the violent crushing of pro-democracy protests. In Saudi Arabia itself, political parties are banned, the death penalty is used extensively, women and religious minorities suffer harsh discrimination and peaceful dissent is treated as ‘terrorism’. Despite this, and despite its own export controls, the UK sells arms to the regime which are capable of being used in internal repression. Arms sales are also a political expression of approval of the recipient regime and their value, together with the overall importance to the UK government of the alliance with Saudi Arabia, mutes any criticism of the regime’s behaviour.
Saudi Arabia is the UK’s leading strategic ally and arms customer in the Middle East, in an official relationship that goes back several decades. In the 1960s, the 1980s and the 2000s, the UK government signed enormous arms export deals with the Saudis for fleets of combat aircraft, together with supporting infrastructure, and for the ongoing provision of maintenance, components and ammunition. Some of these deals have been the subject of corruption investigations in the UK and US. In 2006, the UK government forced the Serious Fraud Office to abandon its investigation into bribery, helping to smooth the path to the latest of those major contracts. In contrast, the US Department of Justice continued its investigations and imposed a record criminal fine on BAE Systems.
UK arms sales and military cooperation with the Saudi regime is entrenched through personal networks, contacts and organisational structures. Saudi-funded units of UK military and civil personnel handle the ongoing management of the major aircraft deals. Those contracts are signed following multiple diplomatic visits to Riyadh up to secretary of state and prime ministerial level, even including the Prince of Wales. Government departments such as the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) and UK Export Finance work to promote and subsidise an arms export industry which is heavily reliant on government support.
Over the past ten years, the Saudi regime has been by far the leading customer of the UK arms industry, and the UK has been the regime’s number two supplier, not far behind the United States. BAE Systems has been the dominant supplier of arms from the UK, providing the combat aircraft, but a plethora of other companies regularly apply for, and are granted, arms export licences to Saudi Arabia.
UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are certainly immoral, and should be illegal. The government’s own export controls prohibit sales where the arms could be used in internal repression, would aggravate existing conflicts or could be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law. By any commonsense definition, UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia violate these criteria.
The UK alliance with Saudi Arabia in general, and arms sales to the regime in particular, are a bad deal for the people of Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, but also for those of the UK. They undermine democracy in the UK through the corrupt, secretive nature of the relationship. They constitute a threat to security, as Saudi Arabia’s aggressive and reckless behaviour in the region contributes to the dynamics that fuel extremist violence in the Middle East and worldwide. Arms sales are also a bad deal in economic terms. The people of the UK would benefit from the huge state support enjoyed by the arms industry, and the skills and expertise of the people who work there, being diverted to better and more productive alternatives. If those resources were committed instead to the development of renewable energy and low-carbon technologies, this would safeguard and create jobs and address the real security threat that climate change poses to the UK and internationally.
The Saudi regime’s serial violations of international law in Yemen are the latest example of the cost of arming Saudi Arabia. Calls on the UK to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been made by the UN Secretary-General, Save the Children, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the House of Commons’ International Development Committee, the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats,1 and MPs from the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, and the SDLP.2 While an arms embargo is needed now, it was clear long before the intervention in Yemen that arms sales to the Saudi regime were dangerous and immoral. There can be no justification for arming a regime as violent and oppressive as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The UK government must terminate its support for the Saudi military, and end the UK’s complicity in Saudi state violence against citizens in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Introduction
UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia play a key role in enabling the regime’s abuse of human rights and repression of dissidents at home, and its military aggression and commission of serious violations of international law abroad. It is becoming increasingly clear that the UK-Saudi alliance needs to be placed under much greater public scrutiny and fundamentally changed. The purpose of this briefing is to explain the background and nature of UK arms sales to, and military cooperation with, Saudi Arabia.
Section two sets out the way in which the Saudi state uses its military capability and means of internal repression. The most egregious example of this in recent years is Saudi conduct in the war in Yemen. The section will also look at the Saudi role in crushing a peaceful, pro-democracy movement in Bahrain in the spring of 2011, as well as the regime’s own domestic human rights abuses.
The third section examines the background to the UK-Saudi relationship, detailing the series of enormous arms deals that have been signed over the years, the corruption investigations surrounding these deals, and the active role of the British state at a number of levels in facilitating the trade.
The fourth section sets out UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia over the past decade, and provides details on the Saudi’s UK-based arms suppliers. The following section looks at the UK’s arms export control regime, routinely lauded by ministers as “the most rigorous” in the world, but effectively worthless in practice, as the arms exports to Saudi Arabia themselves demonstrate.
Finally, the costs to the UK of this shameful relationship will be laid out, as well as the better alternatives that exist in terms of jobs and the use of the UK’s capacity for high-technology manufacturing – by By David Wearing
https://www.caat.org.uk/campaigns/stop-arming-saudi/a-shameful-relationship.pdf
Comment: A very detailed and long report.
3.3.2016 – Alistair Reign (** A H)
Yemeni Children – Victimized By War, Exploitation And Disease
According to a recent report by the United Nations more than 700 children have been killed, with more than 1,000 injured since last March (2015). Additionally, about 700 had been forced to become child soldiers. Children, who make up about half of the 2.3 million people in Yemen displaced from their homes, are also struggling to get water on a daily basis, and facing the risk of acute malnutrition and respiratory tract infections. [01]
Even before the war, Yemen had one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world, according to the World Food Programme, with around half of all children under five stunted as a result of the existing food crisis. [02]
With the Saudi Arabian military enforcing an armed blockade preventing food and medicine from reaching the Yemeni people, children who were vulnerable to begin with are now denied medical treatment for their severe malnutrition and disease. Seven Taizz residents described to Human Rights Watch sixteen incidents between December 13, 2015 and January 9, 2016, in which Houthi guards at checkpoints prevented civilians from bringing items into the city, including fruit, vegetables, cooking gas, vaccination doses, dialysis treatment packets, and oxygen cylinders.
Food
In June of 2012, US Aid estimated that five million people in Yemen were in need of urgent aid, and five million more are facing food insecurity out of a population of 25 million people, Lindborg said, adding that the crisis had been “exacerbated” by conflict and a political transition. The depletion of water resources is a particularly acute problem. [03]
It is now March 2016 and conflict has worsened Yemen’s already poor food security situation, adding more than 3 million people to the ranks of the hungry in less than a year.
According to the United Nations ‘2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview’ there are 7.6 million people in the country severely food insecure – a level of need that urgently requires external food assistance.
A Life in The Balance: The mother of 21-month-old Majed Ayyash prepares him to be weighed in a malnutrition intensive care unit in Sanaa, Yemen July 30, 2015. Damaged by a lack of skilled medical care at a critical moment, many infants struggle for life in a hospital in the bomb-damaged capital Sana’a.
Water
The water fetching often falls to the young boys and girls made to carry heavy burdens of Jerry cans, buckets and plastic containers. The dependency upon tanker trucks for water is a heavy economic burden on low-income households.
The reliance on tankers that may not be delivering water safe for drinking, has been a concern for several years before the Saudi siege turned the water shortage into a life or death crisis.
There are multiple factors underlying Yemen’s deteriorating household water supply. Ground water levels have been lowering (for example, by 6-7 meters annually in Sa’ada basin).
Today the Saudi blockade on supplies has made water even more difficult to find, and children are often forced to walk several miles on an arduous journey to bring home water.
The search for water, or even food places children in a vulnerable position because they are alone and far from home, increasing the risk of violence or exploitation by adults.
Health
Medicine
Hospitals
Schools
Humanitarian Aid
Yemen’s Ability – by Alistair Reign
27.4.2016 – Propagandaschau (** B P)
Ehemaliger Stabschef des Pentagon: “Ein Imperium hat niemals genug”
Lawrence Wilkerson kämpfte für die US-Army in Vietnam, war nationaler Sicherheitsberater unter Reagan, Stabschef im US-Außenministerium unter Colin Powell und hat aufgrund dieser Vita beste Einblicke ins Zentrum des US-amerikanischen Imperiums.
Im Interview mit dem unabhängigen, transnationalen, südamerikanischen Sender TeleSur, zog Wilkerson im Dezember letzten Jahres eine vernichtende Bilanz und gab einen alarmierenden Ausblick für die von einem gigantischen militärisch-industriellen Komplex gesteuerte US-amerikanische Politik.
RT-Deutsch hat gestern eine deutsche Übersetzung des höchst informativen Interviews veröffentlicht und weil Lawrence Wilkerson nebenbei ganz unverblümt mit vielerlei Lügen und Propaganda aufräumt, wie sie tagtäglich auch von transatlantisch gesteuerten deutschen Mainstreammedien verbreitet werden, sei das Interview an dieser Stelle jedem ans Herz gelegt, der sich nicht dauerhaft für dumm verkaufen lassen möchte.
Verbrechen in Vietnam, Vernetzung der Medien mit dem Militär, die Lügen vor dem Irakkrieg, Afghanistan, Anthrax bis zu aktuellen Propagandalügen vom Giftgaseinsatz durch die syrische Regierung, Wilkerson gibt einen tiefen Einblick in ein Imperium, das er am Abgrund sieht.
26.4.2016 – RT (** B P)
Empire Files: Abby Martin interviewt US-Regierungsberater Wilkerson - "Das Schiff ist am Sinken"
Für den RT Deutsch-Kooperationspartner Telesur interviewte Abby Martin den ehemaligen US Army Colonel und früheren Sicherheitsberater der Reagan-Regierung Lawrence Wilkerson. Darüber hinaus war Wilkerson viele Jahre als Berater des US-Außenministeriums unter Colin Powell aktiv. Heute spricht der ehemalige Regierungsbeamte offen über die Korruption innerhalb der politischen Elite und deckt auf, wie Wirtschaftsinteressen die US-Außenpolitik bestimmen. Wilkerson gewährt einen seltenen Insider-Blick auf die Hintergründe US-amerikanischer Kriege, die Manipulation durch Geheimdienste und die Verflechtung der Rüstungsindustrie mit politischen Interessen. Den US-Imperialismus sieht er zum Scheitern verurteilt. (auf Deutsch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LPCauj9LJw
29.4.2016 – Salon (** B P)
“We are the death merchant of the world”: Ex-Bush official Lawrence Wilkerson condemns military-industrial complex
The military-industrial complex "is much more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought," says the retired US colonel
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is tired of “the corporate interests that we go abroad to slay monsters for.”
As the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Wilkerson played an important role in the George W. Bush administration. In the years since, however, the former Bush official has established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy.
Today, the military-industrial complex “is much more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought it would be,” Wilkerson warned.
As a case study of how the contemporary military-industrial complex works, Wilkerson pointed to leading weapons corporations like Lockheed Martin, and their work with draconian, repressive Western-allied regimes in the Gulf, or in inflaming tensions in Korea.
“Was Bill Clinton’s expansion of NATO — after George H. W. Bush and [his Secretary of State] James Baker had assured Gorbachev and then Yeltsin that we wouldn’t go an inch further east — was this for Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, and Boeing, and others, to increase their network of potential weapon sales?” Wilkerson asked.
“You bet it was,” he answered.
“Is there a penchant on behalf of the Congress to bless the use of force more often than not because of the constituencies they have and the money they get from the defense contractors?” Wilkerson continued.
Again, he answered his own question: “You bet.”
“It’s not like Dick Cheney or someone like that went and said let’s have a war because we want to make money for Halliburton, but it is a pernicious on decision-making,” the former Bush official explained. “And the fact that they donate so much money to congressional elections and to PACs and so forth is another pernicious influence.”
“Those who deny this are just being utterly naive, or they are complicit too,” Wilkerson added – by Ben Norton
11.12.2015 – Telesur (** B P)
The Empire Files: 'This Ship is Sinking' Says Former Bush Official
Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security advisor to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations. Today, he is honest about the unfixable corruption inside the establishment and the corporate interests driving foreign policy.
Hear a rare insider's view of what interests are behind U.S. wars, the manipulation of intelligence, the intertwining of the military and corporate world, and why the U.S. Empire is doomed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgig1QVU2lY
28.4.2016 – The Independent (** B P)
Saudi efforts to 'modernise' its economy away from oil are just PR tactics - and the West is lapping them up
For years, oil analysts have suggested that Saudi reserves are nothing like the kingdom claims them to be
Just like his adventure in Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s young Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman got it all wrong this week. It’s not Saudi Arabia which suffers from “oil addiction”, it’s we who are addicted. The unique Saudi drug – a cocktail of wealth, arrogance and infantile Puritanism – is far more dangerous, since it depends on the arithmetic (or myth) of its 716 billion barrels of oil reserves.
If this statistic is as ill-conceived as the Sunni Saudi war on Yemen’s Shiite Houthis, along with its massive civilian casualties, then Prince Mohamed’s ‘reforms’ – oiled (if that’s the right word) by a $2 trillion public investment fund which would take over ownership of the state oil company Aramco – will have to kick in long before the deadline of his ‘Vision 2030’.
For years, oil analysts have suggested that Saudi reserves are nothing like the kingdom claims them to be – a suggestion which became far more disturbing when Wikileaks disclosed last year that the US embassy in Riyadh had warned Washington that Saudi reserves could be 40 per cent less than we were led to believe.
More than 30 years ago, the Sunday Times was taken in by Saudi claims of imminent reforms – inviting foreign journalists to the country to learn of striking changes has long been a Saudi routine – but even then reporters spotted the real problems of Riyadh and other Gulf capitals.
How can we believe in the massive planned changes in the social structures of Saudi Arabia, its emergence as a global investment power, when its monarchy is locked into eternal marriage with the same crude Wahabi faith practiced by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Isis?
How can we listen to the good Prince saying that “we will not allow our country ever to be at the mercy of commodity price volatility or external markets” when Saudi Arabia is, in truth, at the mercy of an army of head-chopping, anti-Shiite puritans who support the assault on Yemen (which, with eight other nations in tow but with futile inappropriateness, was code-named “Operation Decisive Storm”), and regularly express their loathing of Iran, Syria, and many of the Shia Muslims in Lebanon? – by Robert Fisk
Comment by Judith Brown: Robert Fisk at his cynical best writing about Saudi's proclamations of modernisation that he regularly been made over the last 3 or 4 decades without any change except exporting its Wahhabi creed to extremist groups such as Boko Haram, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Deash, Al Shabab and many others that are ow creating chaos around the world but especially in the Middle East.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154315590193641
cp2 Allgemein / General
28.4.2016 – US Agency for International Development
Yemen Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #9 Fiscal Year (FY) 2016
Yemen peace talks commence in Kuwait on April 21 following a threeday delay
Parties to the conflict largely maintain a cessation of hostilities, which began on April 10
Response agencies address humanitarian needs following midApril floods in seven governorates
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-complex-emergency-fact-sheet-9-fiscal-year-fy-2016 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/04.28.16%20-%20USG%20Yemen%20Complex%20Emergency%20Fact%20Sheet%20%239.pdf
Comment: Be aware that USAID is no independent humanitarian organisation but a means of US foreign policy.
28.4.2016 – Aljazeera (A K P)
Hakim Almasmari (Yemen Post) on Aden suicide attack and Kuwait peace talks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KS4lnzjZ4&feature=youtu.be
28.4.2016 – Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (B K)
Assessing Structural Damage in Yemen: Five Minutes with Andrea Zanon and Philip Petermann
March 31, the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sat down with Andrea Zanon and Philip Petermann from the World Bank Group to discuss the Bank’s recent involvement in Yemen.
GJIA: What is a DNA, and how does it relate to Yemen?
AZ: A DNA is a Damage Needs Assessment. We normally do them in the event of natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies, or circumstances that result in large damages or losses. Yemen is a conflict country in which there is an ongoing disaster. We are doing a live DNA for the World Bank both to stay engaged with the current situation in the country and to begin to prepare, at least at an early stage, for an intervention when pockets of stability form. These assessments help us stay engaged with main industries within the country and encourage the continuation of technical dialogue. This project also allows for a strong and continued presence of the World Bank in Yemen and ensures that the UN, the Islamic Bank, and EU are all working cooperatively toward recovery.
GJIA: What were the key components and findings of the Yemen DNA?
PP: The assessment analyzed four Yemeni cities: Sana’a, Aden, Zinjibar, and Ta’izz. Within these cities, we examined six infrastructure-related sectors: energy, health, education, water, transportation, and housing. We found that around 50 percent of analyzed assets in the energy and water and sanitation sectors, 25 percent in the education and health sectors, and 10 percent in the housing sector were damaged.
AZ: The Yemeni government officials that we are working with, our counterparts, are currently in exile. This obviously poses tremendous difficulties for coordination, data collection, and validation efforts.
Comment: ´´The Yemeni government officials that we are working with, our counterparts, are currently in exile´´: these are the same people who produced this!!
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1015665038486526&id=961126490607048
27.4.2016 – Fars News (A K P)
Saudi Arabia Seeking Al-Qaeda Cooperation to Win Control over Ansarullah in Ma'rib, Ta'iz
The Ansarullah popular movement disclosed that the Saudi officials have held secret talks with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group in Hadhramaut region in Southern Yemen to cooperate on control over Yemen's Western provinces.
"Al-Qaeda has proposed Saudi Arabia to allow the terrorist group to take charge of all military operations in Ma'rib and Ta'iz provinces in lieu of supplying the terrorist group with modern weapons to carry out terrorist operations against the Yemeni army and popular forces," Ansarullah intelligence official Abu Jahad al-Zeidi told FNA on Wednesday.
He reiterated that Al-Qaeda has also asked Saudi Arabia for the needed logistic and financial supports in a bid to enable the terrorist group to conduct terrorist attacks in Ma'rib and Ta'iz provinces.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, Spokesman of the Saudi Interior Ministry Mansour al-Turki admitted his government's huge financial assistance to the al-Qaeda terrorist group under the disguise of charity aid.
"This multi-billion-dollar aid has been collected using Saudi Arabia's monetary system," Turki told BBC in an interview.
He said that the money was gathered from the Saudi people by certain groups who claimed that they would use it for charity.
"They told people that their money will be used for the poor but unfortunately, the money was spent for supporting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan financially," Turki said.
The regional and international analysts agree on the Saudi origin of al-Qaeda.
Last year, an Al-Qaeda terrorist, sentenced to life imprisonment in the US, said that members of the Saudi royal family sponsored the terrorist network in the 1990s.
Prominent members of the Saudi royal family supported the terrorist network Al-Qaeda in the 1990's, said Zacarias Moussaoui, an Al-Qaeda terrorist convicted to life imprisonment in the US, according to the New York Times.
In his letter to a judge of the US federal court in New York last year, Moussaoui wrote that members of the Saudi royal family, such as former Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and the ambassador of the country in the United States, Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal, were major donors to the terrorist organization in the late 1990s.
Moussaoui said he was responsible for creating a digital database of donors, so that Osama Bin Laden could have an overview of those who had contributed to militancy. He also claimed that he negotiated a plan with a member of the Saudi embassy in the US to shoot down the US president’s plane ‘Air Force One’ with a Stinger missile.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950208001377
Comment: Sounds doubtful, the help in the past does not make it more probable. Needas better sources.
4.2016 – El Arte Coqueto (not rated A K)
E-book Yemen; the unknown war download pdf id:qcmehgz g7kd
E-book Yemen; the unknown war download pdf
File Name: Yemen; the unknown war
Total Downloads: 242
Formats: djvu | pdf | epub | kindle
Rated: 8.2/10 (44 votes)
http://elartecoqueto.com/?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=1595.html
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
29.4.2016 – Doctors without Borders (A H)
Yemen: Crisis update - April 2016
The situation in Taiz remains critical, with some of the heaviest and most sustained fighting in the country. An increase in fighting in March resulted in the treatment of over 1,000 war wounded alone. Access in and out of the city remains restricted and dangerous for civilians and humanitarian actors.
The last devastating Saudi-led coalition airstrikes MSF witnessed were in Hajja on 16 March, when a local market was hit by two airstrikes killing at least 107, and injuring at least 44 people, according to local sources. MSF received the injured in its Abs hospital.
The number of injured due of airstrikes has decreased significantly since mid-March. However, MSF is receiving an increasing number of victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance.
MSF is witnessing another emergency related to chronic disease patients. As the embargo still hinders importation of medications, these patients are struggling to find their treatments in the market, and many are dying.
On 9th January 2016, the MSF-supported Shiara hospital in Razeh, Saada Province, near the border with Saudi Arabia, was hit by a projectile, killing six and injuring seven. This follows two other such incidents affecting MSF health facilities in Yemen: one in Haydan, Saada province on 26 October 2015, and another on a MSF tented clinic in Houban, Taiz governorate, on 2 December 2015. MSF has called for an independent investigation into the Razeh incident by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission.
Recent figures
Main figures for MSF (Between March 2015 & March 2016)
We received more than 37,000 war wounded since March 2015
More than 15,000 surgeries were performed in MSF facilities.
More than 49,000 medical consultations were provided for displaced people in MSF mobile clinics.
More than 10,000 women have given birth in MSF facilities.
More than 144,000 patients have been seen in the emergency room.
More than 1,100 tonnes of medical supplies have been sent to Yemen
Operational information
MSF is carrying out activities in 11 hospitals and health centres, and is providing support to another 18 hospitals or health centres in eight governorates: Aden, Al-Dhale’, Taiz, Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Ibb and Sana’a governorates.
A total of 2,102 MSF staff are currently working in Yemen – 97 international staff and 2,005 Yemeni staff – making it among MSF´s largest missions in the world in terms of personnel.
[following the 11 places]
http://www.msf.org/en/article/yemen-crisis-update-april-2016
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
29.4.2016 – AP (A P)
Thousands march in Yemen to call for cease-fire
Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets on Friday to call for an end to the fighting in the country's conflict.
In the city of Taiz, thousands marched after prayers, residents said. The city has been besieged for months by rebels, known as Houthis, who residents and aid groups say have been indiscriminately shelling Taiz and blocking humanitarian aid deliveries.
"We seek to draw the attention of the international community," said demonstrator Mahyoob al-Khalidi, urging the rebels to adopt a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire. "The resolution is as obvious as the sun: stop the war and have the usurpers withdraw from the cities and hand over their weapons," he added.
In the city of Zinjibar, residents say hundreds marched to demand the withdrawal of al-Qaida forces – by Ahmed Al-Haj
https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-march-yemen-call-cease-fire-143936590.html
29.4.2016 – Yemen Post News (A K P)
STOP WAR: Millions protest weekly in #Yemen begging for peace & end 1 year war that killed 9,000 civilians
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/726038676908691456
28.4.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A K P)
Yemeni popular court Starting1st session NSanaa 2day4trying US-backed Saudi war criminals. Victims' families attend
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/725759617431642112
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
29.4.2016 – AFP (A T)
Gunmen kill senior Yemen police officer in Aden
Gunmen killed a colonel in Yemen's second city Aden on Friday (April 29), a day after the temporary capital's police chief escaped a suicide bombing.
The unidentified gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at the traffic police chief, Colonel Marwan Abdulalim, as he was in his car going to the weekly Friday prayers in central Aden, a security official said.
The attack is the latest targeting senior officials in Aden, the base of the Saudi-backed government. Many of the attacks have been claimed by Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
http://www.straitstimes.com/world/gunmen-kill-senior-yemen-police-officer-in-aden
29.4.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A T)
Yemen Qaeda/ISIS Killed now colonel Marwan Abu Shawki, director of traffic police of Aden south where groups rule
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/726032347330699265
28.4.2016 – Aljazeera (A T)
Suicide bomber targets police chief of Yemen's Aden
General Shallal Shayae escapes unharmed from the latest in series of attempts to kill him.
A suicide car bomb has exploded outside the home of the police chief of Aden, Yemen, the latest in a series of attacks against government officials in the city, reports said.
General Shallal Shayae escaped unharmed but at least two people were wounded when the bomber detonated a car packed with explosives, an official told the AFP news agency.
The attack ended a period of relative calm in Yemen’s second city, the temporary base of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government.
A witness said the bomber was stopped at a checkpoint on the perimeter of a compound around the general's house when he blew himself up.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Shayae has survived several similar attacks in the past.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/suicide-bomber-targets-police-chief-yemen-aden-160428072201332.html and similar www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-suicide-bomber-targets-aden-police-chief-2091771706
Comment: From the Saudi-UAE liberated South.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1015671181819245&id=961126490607048
cp7 UNO / UN
29.4.2016 – Al Araby (A K P)
Yemen peace talks risk collapse as government threatens withdrawal
Yemen’s government delegation has threatened to suspend their participation in the peace talks due to continuous violations by Houthi rebels in Taiz, a senior official said.
Head of the government delegation and Foreign Minister, Adulmalik al-Mikhlafi suggested the rebel’s violations of a nationwide truce could seriously detriment the peace negotiations.
Government officials who gathered in the Kuwaiti capital on Friday to discuss the alleged violations warned the UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh of their plans to suspend negotiations after breaches were reported in the country’s third largest Taiz city this week.
The threats follow accusations suggesting 950 violations were recorded by resistance groups in Taiz where thousands of residents had been deprived of humanitarian aid in a Houthi-siege that lasted several months.
At least 49 people were killed and 227 wounded in Taiz since the truce began on April 10.
28.4.2016 – Menas (A P)
The impact of Hadi’s new appointments on Yemen peace talks [subscription only]
On 3 April President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi appointed General Ali Mohsen as vice president and the General People’s Congress politician Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher as prime minister, replacing Khaled al-Bahah who had previously held both posts.
The move took many by surprise including the US Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke of it complicating the peace process.
Hadi claimed that Bahah had ‘failed to ease the suffering of our people realtions had been bad between the two for a while and recently Hadi’s advisers have been struck by his increasingly erratic behaviour, caused by the tensions and rivalries of the political and military stalemate.
The appointment of Mohsen caused some dismay: he is an important political figure but also a controversial one.
Hadi said that the new appointments were intended to present a united front at the Kuwait talks – there should be ‘no fractured legitimacy’ either at the negotiating table or in the battlefield – but the move signals that his negotiators will take a hard line.
Little is expected from the peace talks in Kuwait: it remains difficult to see the shape of any political deal unless the many different interest groups on both ‘sides’ are prepared to make major compromises.
https://www.menas.co.uk/impact-hadis-new-appointments-yemen-peace-talks/
28.4.2016 – JosephJo (A P)
Comments on the Kuwait negotiations from a Yemeni
The war on #Yemen will continue for many years, Kuwait talks will not end the war on Yemen that because Saudi Arabia not involved in talks.
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/725744210524147716
Humanitarian situation will be worst & worst, no hope for peace soon, the war will continue! All doors closed.
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/725747463982821377
Kuwait talks will continue for several months and expected results need more months to be implemented on the ground!
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/725748184455254017
What happen on ground is different than what we hear about Kuwait talks! Strong preparations 4 coming battles! So humanitarian crisis is...
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/725749378762326016
28.4.2016 – Yemen Post News (A K P)
#Breaking Talks RESUME: #UN led peace talks on #Yemen underway between all political factions after 4 days of delay.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/725738563304824832
28.4.2016 – AFP (* A P)
UN envoy 'positive' as Yemen peace talks enter second week
The U.N.'s Yemen envoy Thursday hailed the "positive atmosphere" at crucial peace talks between the country's warring sides, as negotiations in Kuwait entered their second week without a major breakthrough.
U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has held several rounds of talks with Shiite Huthi rebels and a government delegation over the past two days focusing on key issues.
Besides discussing ways to firm up an ongoing cease-fire, delegates also tackled "the issues related to the withdrawal of armed groups, handover of heavy weapons, resumption of the political transition and the release of prisoners and detainees," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
He said a "positive atmosphere" prevailed during talks but warned that differences remained.
"The divergence of views is to be expected in a country witnessing war. It is crucial that all parties make concessions ... in order to reach a comprehensive political agreement," he said.
After the start of the latest round of negotiations was delayed as the rebel delegation sought guarantees, Ould Cheikh Ahmed has managed to get the two sides to approve the agenda and has begun debating key issues.
Sources close to the negotiations however said the two delegations have not yet met face-to-face.
The government delegation proposed a mechanism on how to implement the withdrawal of the rebels and handover of heavy arms, a Yemeni official said.
The main sticking point remains that the rebels want to discuss a political settlement before surrendering arms while the government delegation insists on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 2216.
The resolution states that the rebels must withdraw from seized territories and disarm before talks can progress.
The government delegation also submitted a letter of "strong protest" to the U.N. envoy over alleged rebel cease-fire violations, especially in third city Taez, Matari said.
Comment: Positive atmosphere he claims. The war on Yemen is not a yoga session.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1015837531802610&id=961126490607048
28.4.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (* A P)
Houthis Turn against Kuwaiti Mediation and Knock Over Peace Talks Agenda
The Insurgency delegation attending the Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait, yesterday, turned against the mediation led by the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and all peace-making efforts of 18 international ambassadors, who were sent by countries sponsoring the political settlement in Yemen.
The insurgency representation reneged their previous consent, which they had given two days ago, concerning the work agenda laid out for the deliberations and demanded a direct jump into the part negotiating political arguments.
The Insurgency backpedaling on the negotiations led to the evening session’s cancellation. The session was expected to bring together the U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed with four members of each negotiating delegation.
Insurgent’s breaking prior agreements was made evident at solo meetings convened between the U.N. envoy and each of the delegations alone.
Sources attending the peace talks told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the U.N. special envoy, at each of the one-on-one sessions, addressed the general structure of how the negotiating process would be employed, the agenda and other required preparations.
However, all those side talks were rendered fruitless after the insurgents proving once again strictly opinionated and inept for making compensations, sources added.
Other Yemeni sources confirmed Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the “ stances adopted by the insurgents have directly frustrated any optimism which surrounded the negotiations during the hours following the announcement made by Emir of Kuwait on the negotiations being restored to their previously determined timeline.”
“The Houthi-Saleh delegation (the insurgency delegation comprising Houthi insurgents and supporters pro-ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh) has turned against the Kuwait-held peace talks and skipped into negotiating previously declared U.N. Security Council resolutions,” sources added.
The insurgency insisted when meeting with U.N. special envoy Ahmed that they were seeking a guaranteed political settlement before turning in weaponry they possess or withdrawing from cities they occupy, sources said.
Sources close to the governmental delegation at the talks told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that optimism took over the atmosphere after the insurgency had first agreed to return to the negotiations addressing important topics including the U.N. Security Council resolution 2216, withdrawal from cities, turning in high-caliber weaponry and relieving the current humanitarian crisis before addressing political arguments.
However, the source compares the insurgents diving into political issues before taking the agenda step by step to the Yemeni government agreeing to the U.N. listed conditions; which does not necessarily translate into the Yemeni government conceding to all conditions. Yet the government still showed up at the U.N. sponsored talks took in the conditions to guarantee the negotiations’ success – by Arafat Madabish
Comment: This is a Saudi viewpoint, see the wording of “insurgency representation”. This stalemate of negotiations evidently was to come. The Hadi government is using the UN resolution 2216 to demand the Houthis to lay down weapons and to retreat BEFORE a political settlement can be negotiated, that means to capitulate or to commit suicide. Resolution 2216 gives them the hold to do so. It is evident that the Houthis never would engage with that. Thus, leading the negotiations, with both sides not negotiating on an equal level compulsory must lead to a failure of the negotiations. Off course, that now is the opportunity to blame the Houthis for that. Well, to be honest, the only way to reach any peace treaty would be negotiating on equal terms, with the same possibilities, rights and obligations for both sides. Resolution 2216 is preventing exactly that. And this resolution has been enforced by the West (US; UK and France) in Security Council, being absolutely compliant to Saudi interests and Saudi urgency. Thus, above all, the West is to blame for the stalemate of these negotiations.
Comment by Judith Brown: If anyone has been intransigent it is Hadi. As for the Saudi way of negotiating, it seems their tactic is to say what they want and expect the other side to meekly comply. So I read this KSA article with a bit of scepticism. I haven't read this in any other news sources.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154315595463641
27.4.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K P)
#Sanaa #Yemen delegates cancelled evening meeting due 2 constant ceasefire violation & #UN #Saudi delgs insistence to hand over weapons 1st
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/725390094308376576
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
28.4.2016 – RT (A P)
Saudi Arabia 'not ready' to let women drive because of culture, not religion - prince
Saudi Arabia isn't ready to allow women to drive cars, a powerful prince has announced, dismissing suggestions that the ban would soon be lifted.
“So far the society is not persuaded [by women driving] – and it has negative influence – but we stress that it is up to the Saudi society,” said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been granted unprecedented powers under the rule of his father.
The prince added that it is not “a religious issue as much as it is an issue that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it,” Gulf News reported.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. Although there are no formal written laws barring women from operating vehicles, they are not issued licenses, making it illegal for them to drive.
Other restrictions faced by women in the ultra-conservative country include being forced to wear loose-fitting gowns and being barred from going anywhere without a chaperone. They cannot open bank accounts, work certain jobs, attend university, undergo medical procedures, or travel outside the country without permission of a male guardian – usually their husband or a relative.
Some of the country's most prominent clerics have cautioned against females driving, issuing religious decrees against it. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh recently said that allowing women to drive was a “dangerous matter that should not be permitted.” In 2013, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan said that females risked damaging their ovaries and producing children with clinical problems if they drove.
Campaigns lashing out at the ban were launched following the 2011 Arab Spring, which included women filming themselves driving. However, authorities quickly squashed the movement. The protest was reignited in 2013, only to be quelled by the government once again.
Despite his unwillingness to lift the ban on driving, the deputy crown prince said earlier this month that “we believe women have rights in Islam that they've yet to obtain." He also stated that more women in the workforce could help boost the country's productivity.
https://www.rt.com/news/341260-saudi-arabia-women-drivers/
Comment: This ban is just the most striking sign of women’s position in Saudi Arabia. These words by the prince who claims to be the great reformer of the country bursting with a Saudi Arabia 2030 plan and things like that is rather funny. Claiming that the reason of this ban would be culture, not religion, is rather funny as well. That are Wahabi clerics who claim that this ban must be hold up, with claiming reasons which sound whether they directly come from cabaret. The reason of this ban is neither “culture” nor religion, if you take Islam. It’s Wahabism, whether you call it “culture” or “religion”. Saudi Arabia lives like pressed in a Wahabi corset – either once it will put this corset aside or it will choke in it.
27.4.2016 – The Independent (* B E)
Saudi Arabia wants you to go on holiday there. Here's why
The conservative Middle Eastern state is looking into ways of diversifying its revenue
Saudi royals are increasingly pinning their economic hopes on a tourist-friendly future. Last year one Saudi official described tourism as the country's "second most important economic sector." And now with the country's new Vision 2030 plan – a remarkably ambitious economic blueprint for shaking the country's "addiction" to the oil industry – Saudi Arabia is putting its money where its mouth is, with plans to increase investment in the tourism sector from $8 billion to almost $46 billion in 2020.
This investment will see large coastal areas to be given over to tourism projects and new investment in museums and historical sites to create attractions of the "highest international standards," the Vision 2030 plan says.
According to figures from the World Bank, the total number of tourists arrivals to Saudi Arabia reached over 18 million in 2014, though the large majority of those visitors are said to be religious visitors or pilgrims.
Attempts to attract a wider variety of tourists have met with limited success and outside of Mecca and Medina the country's tourism infrastructure remains weak.
Saudi Arabia's attempts to increase tourism revenue are not new.
However, as with many parts of Saudi Arabia's plan to wean its economy off the ever-diminishing financial rush of oil, experts have doubts that the ambitious plans for a Saudi tourism sector can really work. The problem, of course, may well be the country's conservative religious establishment. "To attract Western or Russian tourists you need to provide alcohol and bikinis," says Bruce Riedel, a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The Saudi clerics will never accept that so the largest markets with the most money won't come." – by Adam Taylor
Comment by Judith Brown: Well well. They want us to go to spend riyals so that they can buy more weapons I guess..
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154315582338641
18.4.2016 – AWD News (D)
The Romanian foreign minister accuses the Saudi ambassador of sexual molestation and murder of a local female secretary, giving the Saudi mission 48 hours to leave Lazăr Comănescu, the Romanian minister of foreign affairs has summoned the Saudi ambassador to Bucharest following accusation that Abdulrahman I. Al Rassi has sexually abused and later murdered Ioana Veliscu, a 25-year-old Romanian medical student who worked in the Saudi embassy as a secretary.
"According to preliminary forensic reports, the victim had been sexually abused and later strangled with a belt. Ioana's body was found floating in a pond in the vicinity of Grozăvești Power Station, 24 miles south of Bucharest," Mr. Comănescu told AFP.
"Both president and prime minister sent letters of condolence to Ioana's family. Due to diplomatic immunity we couldn't arrest the ambassador. Today we gave all members of Saudi legation in Bucharest, namely the culprit, a 48 houres ultimatum to leave the country. We are waiting for the police investigation to end before officially launching a diplomatic complaint, though we expect Interpol to help us extradite the murderer to Romania to face trial as soon as possible," Romanian National News Agency quoted the minister as saying on Monday. "The Romanian government requested that the Saudis revoke the accused's immunity but they chose not to, so we decided formally expel all Saudi diplomats as we deem the case sufficiently serious," said Mr. Comănescu.
Earlier this year, a Romanian maid working in the Saudi ambassador's residence in Bucharest was allegedly beaten up, raped and threatened by the Saudi diplomat not to divulge the crime.
http://awdnews.com/top-news/the-romanian-foreign-minister-accuses-the-saudi-ambassador-of-sexual-molestation-and-murder-of-a-local-female-secretary,-giving-the-saudi-mission-48-hours-to-leave and here an interview with this ambassador: http://geo.finand.ro/6584/ever-since-the-saudi-embassy-opened-in-bucharest-the-diplomatic-relations-have-evolved-significantly/
Comment: Saudis, brutal force and women… Criminals are everywhere. The question is: What will happen to him now in Saudi Arabia? How large the carpet must be under which they might sweep this case?
5.4.2016 – Washington Post (A K P)
Saudi Arabia passes Russia as world’s third biggest military spender
Global military spending reached almost $1.7 trillion in 2015, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time since 2011, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks arms expenditure around the world.
The United States remained far and away the top spender, which despite a dip from 2014, accounted for more than a third of total global spending. It was followed by China and then, perhaps surprisingly, Saudi Arabia, which supplanted Russia in third place.
USA: 596 billion $; China: 215; Saudi Arabia: 87,2; Russia: 66,4; Britain: 55,5; India: 51,3; France: 50,9 – by Ishaan Tharoor
? – Ali AlAhmed
Saudi forces destroying a mosque at Mekka (images)
cp9 USA
29.4.2016 – Kev371 (A P)
I award John Kerry the medal of world class hypocrite.
https://twitter.com/Kev371A/status/726030183795462144
28.4.2016 – Huffington Post (* A P)
This Congressman Doesn’t Buy Obama’s Excuses For Supporting Saudi Arabia In Yemen
The kingdom, and by extension the U.S., may have committed war crimes.
One of the architects of unprecedented new legislation that would restrict U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia believes the Obama administration has repeatedly deflected questions about its ongoing support for Saudi actions in Yemen.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said his frustration with the U.S. policy is one reason why he joined three other lawmakers to propose barring the sale of more American bombs and missiles to Saudi Arabia until the administration provides new guarantees on Saudi behavior.
That precondition means that the measure, introduced earlier this month, is an indictment of President Barack Obama’s approach to the kingdom as much as it is one of Saudi wrongdoing.
Lieu began to read the news of what the U.S. military was helping the Saudis and their allies do in Yemen — dropping bombs that killed hundreds of civilians, including children, and bringing widespread destruction to one of the poorest countries in the Muslim world. The congressman said he contacted Obama administration officials, including Gen. Joseph Dunford, the newly appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for answers to three broad questions:
What is the U.S. national security interest in supporting the Saudi-led air coalition in Yemen?
Why is this coalition dropping bombs on civilians nowhere near military targets?
How is the U.S. going to stop that from happening?
To Lieu, it looked like things had actually gotten worse since his initial complaints. The congressman is still waiting to hear back from the administration in response to his latest message.
The White House has offered a limited public defense for its role in the bloody Yemen conflict. It speaks mainly of supporting a friend against instability in its neighborhood, with an official telling Al-Hayat newspaper that the U.S. was nervous that the Yemeni rebels were preparing to attack Saudi Arabia. The administration also says it regrets the civilian deaths.
But officials do say that U.S. support, particularly intelligence sharing, is intended to reduce the chance that the relatively inexperienced Saudi military will miss targets and kill civilians.
Lieu slammed that reasoning in his HuffPost interview.
“Under the law of war, if an individual or entity aids and abets someone who is committing war crimes, then that person can also be liable for war crimes, so that is something that the administration needs to take into account,” Lieu said – by Akbar Shahid Ahmed and Amber Ferguson
28.4.2016 – RT (* B K P)
15 Jahre Krieg gegen den Terror: Mehr Zivilisten sterben durch Drohnen als durch Kampfflugzeuge
Die US-Regierung behauptet immer wieder, der Krieg mit Drohnen sei "sauberer" als konventionelle Bombenangriffe. Zuletzt erklärte Barack Obama Anfang April an der Universität von Chicago, er wisse, dass durch Drohnen auch Zivilisten sterben, aber diese neue Waffe sei viel präziser. Diese Behauptung ist jedoch nicht einmal durch die offziellen Daten der Air-Force gedeckt.
Das Problem: Diese Behauptung ist einfach eine Lüge.
Nach allen öffentlich verfügbaren Beweisen, etwa beim Bureau of Investigative Journalism oder bei Drones Watch, verursachen die Bombenangriffe von Drohnen in Pakistan, Jemen und Somalia 35-mal mehr zivile Opfer als Luftangriffe durch bemannte Waffensysteme auf einem konventionellen Schlachtfeld wie im Irak, in Syrien und in Afghanistan.
Nach einer Berechnung des eher konservativen Magazins Foreign Policy liegt die Zahl der Drohnentoten sogar ein Vielfaches über den Opfern normaler Luftangriffe. Seit die Luftangriffe in Syrien begannen, mit denen die US-Koalition angeblich den Islamischen Staat bekämpfen wollte, kamen bei 41.697 konventionellen Luftangriffen nach offiziellen Angaben etwa 577 Zivilisten ums Leben, anders gesagt: Für einen toten syrischen Zivilisten warf die US-Airforce 72 Bomben ab. Im Irak und in Syrien wurden seit August 2014 gut 93 Prozent aller US-Bomben von bemannten Flugzeugen abgeworfen.
Seit dem Amtsantritt von Barack Obama im Januar 2009 und bis Dezember 2015 warfen die US-Streitkräfte in Afghanistan 24.848 Bomben ab, die 1.214 Zivilisten töten. Oder anders: Für einen toten afghanischen Zivilisten wurden 21 Bomben abgeworfen. Wie auch im Irak und in Syrien machten die Drohnenangriffe im Jahr 2013 nur einen kleinen Prozentsatz aller Luftangriffe in Afghanistan aus, nämlich sieben Prozent.
Allerdings ist - laut Daten der Air Force - der Einsatz von Drohnen in den letzten Jahren dramatisch angestiegen: Am 20. April von Reuters veröffentlichte Daten zeigen, dass Drohnen inzwischen 56 Prozent der Bomben in Afghanistan abwerfen. Im Jahr 2015 waren das insgesamt 947 Bomben, die nach offiziellen Angaben 103 Zivilisten töteten.
Abseits der offiziellen Kriegsschauplätze ist die Bilanz noch verheerender. Seit Barack Obama sein Amt antrat haben in Pakistan, Jemen und Somalia etwa 462 Drohnenangriffe stattgefunden, bei denen schätzungsweise 289 Zivilisten getötet wurden, das heißt: Auf einen toten Zivilisten kommen 1,6 Drohnenabwürfe. Kurz gesagt, sind Drohnen also weit weniger präzise als Luftangriffe von konventionellen Flugzeugen. Sie führen zu weit mehr zivilen Opfern pro abgeworfener Bombe.
https://deutsch.rt.com/international/38047-15-jahre-krieg-gegen-terror/
27.4.2016 – Sputnik News (*B P)
Love-Hate Relationship: Why US and Saudi Arabia Remain in Unhappy Marriage
Washington's relations with Riyadh have long been troubled by a range of issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, the Syrian war, the Saudi campaign in Yemen and the oil kingdom's human rights record, but the two allies seem to be stuck with each other even if their once blooming love affair has turned into an unhappy marriage.
At least for the time being.
"The US-Saudi relations are going through hard times: on the one hand, national interests of both countries differ to an extent that they sometimes directly contradict each other. On the other, decades-long cooperation prevents both countries from severing ties," Lenta.ru observed.
The US-Saudi friendship can be traced to the 1940s. The ties took their first hit in the 1990s
Riyadh's assertive foreign policy under King Salman, sometimes referred to as the Salman doctrine, has become another thorny issue. Washington has been unhappy with the oil kingdom's military campaign in Yemen and its meddling in the Syrian conflict. In both cases, al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the 9/11 attacks, has benefited from Saudi efforts.
"The reality is the US foreign policy establishment, including the State Department and Pentagon, are happy with the Saudi relationship," Stephen McInerney, executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, told the Intercept recently.
While both countries are irritated with each other, Washington and Riyadh are more intent on keeping bilateral ties afloat, fueled by billion dollar arms sales among other things, than cutting them. For instance, earlier in April, Obama pledged to veto any legislation that would provide 9/11 families the right to sue Saudi Arabia after Riyadh threatened to sell US assets.
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160427/1038724455/us-saudi-arabia-relations.html
Comment: Look at the cartoon as well!
26.4.2016 – Lobelog (* B P)
Washington-Riyadh Chill: The Sequel
There is no doubt that the relationship is at one of its lowest points in terms of what the leaders think of each other. But there have been many profound disputes and disagreements between the United States and Saudi Arabia over the past 70 years. In the end the two sides soldiered on together despite their disagreements because neither side would have benefited from a permanent breach.
And yet after every point of stress, the business of mutual interest has gone on, mostly in the form of deep and irreplaceable U.S. involvement in the Saudi security apparatus. That is likely to continue, no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election in November. Even at the time of Obama’s apparently frosty visit to Riyadh, the defense trade press was reporting an impending new Saudi order for U.S. Littoral Combat Ships and submarine-hunting helicopters to protect their Gulf waters against maritime attack.
This is not to say that the bilateral relationship will continue as in the past. Circumstances have changed for both countries. The U.S. dependence on Gulf oil has ended, and mutual antipathy to communism is no longer a unifying factor. Saudi Arabia, recognizing that the United States is unlikely to involve itself in any future large-scale military interventions in the region, is building new alliances and adopting a more muscular security policy.
But as Philip Gordon, a former Middle East adviser to Obama, said in an interview with The Atlantic.
Whatever the president might think of Saudi Arabia, it turns out that it’s important for the U.S. to have strong relations there, and in the broader Gulf. Whatever he thinks personally, he is following a decades-old policy of pursuing strong relations in the Gulf region. And if you think about it, what would challenging the playbook on Saudi Arabia consist of? Promoting regime change? Refusing to sell them weapons or defend them? Would that lead to a better outcome for us? Whatever our differences, it’s not as if there are good alternatives to our partnership.
That realistic view is the same on the Saudi side – by Thomas W. Lippman
http://lobelog.com/washington-riyadh-chill-the-sequel/
24.4.2016 – The Independent (** A P)
Saudi Arabia, 9/11, and what we know about the secret papers that could ignite a diplomatic war
There is growing clamour for declassification of the pages along with allegations about attempts by the Saudis to keep their alleged role in the attacks hidden.
The current round of exporting hardline, obscurantist Sunni doctrine from Saudi Arabia is traced back to 1992 when the country’s senior Wahaabi clerics issued a Memorandum of Advice to the royal family effectively threatening a putsch unless they were allowed to play a central role of the policies of the Kingdom both home and abroad.
The royal family felt unable to resist the demands and a key move in facilitating this was the creation of the Wahaabi dominated Ministry of Islamic Affairs, with representatives in Saudi embassies and consulates. The alleged links of the Ministry’s officials to the September 11 plotters is a key claim in the projected lawsuit.
Mr Giuliani’s charge of attempted bribery against the Saudi prince came a day after it was revealed that the flight certificate of an al-Qaeda bombmaker named Ghassan Al-Sharbi, who had taken flying lessons for the September 11 mission, was found in an envelope stashed away at the Saudi embassy in Washington.
The certificate, along with other documents was found at the embassy during investigations after he was captured in 2002 in Pakistan, which has become a conduit for Wahaabi-funded terrorism.
There was also a connection, it has emerged, between the Kingdom’s legations in America to two Saudis, Nawaf al-Hamzi and Khalid al-Mindhar, who had arrived in the US in 2000 as the part of the first wave of September 11 hijackers.
The two men were set up in an apartment in San Diego by Omar al-Bayoumi, a fellow Saudi, who also helped them with social security paperwork and information about flying courses. There were reports that he also introduced them to an imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, who later became known as the “Bin Laden of the internet” and was killed in an American drone strike in Yemen – by Kim Sengupta
21.4.2016 – Lobelog (* A P)
Saudi Arabia and Obama: Time to Reset Relations
The United States should reset its relations with Saudi Arabia on the basis of mutual interests, openness, and candor. If the Saudis are interested in maintaining a close relationship with the United States, Washington should be able to convey its concerns about radicalism, militarism, sectarianism, and human rights abuses to the Saudis without fear of threats of economic retaliation. Although American foreign policy is going through a period of retrenchment and constraints, the Saudis should know, as the president has stated, that American leadership in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf in particular is indispensable – by Emile Nakhleh
http://lobelog.com/saudi-arabia-and-obama-time-to-reset-relations/
21.4.2016 – Lobelog (* A P)
What Have the Saudis Done For Us Lately?
It is in the interests of both the United States and Saudi Arabia to have a businesslike relationship in which leaders and diplomats of the two countries regularly engage on the full range of issues that concern them. If the Saudis are unhappy that the relationship isn’t any warmer, fuzzier, or more alliance-like than businesslike engagement, that is a reflection of the divisions of interests between the two countries, and of the fact that the Saudis need the United States more than the United States needs them. It also is a reflection of U.S. policy-makers having their priorities straight and not being confused by habitual labeling of “allies.” If there doesn’t seem to be a lot of harmony in U.S.-Saudi relations these days, there is nothing particularly wrong with that – by Paul R. Pillar
http://lobelog.com/what-have-the-saudis-done-for-us-lately/
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
28.4.2016 – The Guardian (A P)
Tony Blair courted Chinese leaders for Saudi prince's oil firm
Former PM helped PetroSaudi break into Chinese market
His firm was paid £41,000 a month plus 2% commission
Blair held role as Middle East peace envoy at the time
Tony Blair obtained a “blessing” from Chinese leaders for a company owned by a Saudi prince to do business in China as part of an arrangement that paid the former UK prime minister’s firm £41,000 a month and a 2% commission on any multimillion-pound contracts he helped to secure.
A series of documents, seen by the Guardian, show how Blair courted some of the most influential Chinese political leaders in 2010 and then introduced them to the Saudi-owned company he worked with, PetroSaudi. The company was not allowed to divulge his role without permission, according to the contract.
Comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX_qAtwMDFk
Comment by Nasser Arrabyee: This is HOW Uk leaders destroy British values For Saudi dirty money. Blair is small staffer in small Saudi co.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/725956372903268352
Comment: He was Peace Envoy to the Middle East and doing business for the Saudis. Imperialism.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1016237548429275&id=961126490607048
28.4.2016 – They work for you (A P)
MPs asking the government
Diana R. Johnson, Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has investigated the airstrikes of 3 June 2015 in al-'Eram and Sa'da, Yemen.
Tobias Ellwood, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate incidents of concern at a press conference on 31 January. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that civilians have been targeted.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2016-04-25.35268.h
Comment: The statement of the government seem to become more and more ridiculous when time goes by. The question was about BRITISH investigations. Saudi investigations = said to exist just for lulling the public, just propaganda, useful for those in the west who do not want real investigations. Who thinks it would be normal that a criminal (or let’s say: a suspect) should investigate his own case? I would prefer prosecutor and police, Mr. Ellwood seems not.
27.4.2016 – The Independent (* A K P)
Ministers unsure if Saudi Arabia is using UK-made weapons on Yemeni civilians
The Government has faced calls to suspend arms sales to the Riyadh regime while investigations take place
The Government does not have all the information or analysis it needs to be sure Saudi Arabia is not using British-made weapons for attacks on civilians that could be breach international law, ministers have admitted.
Britain is one the main arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia.
Appearing before the committee, Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood said that Saudi Arabia itself had “an obligation to come forward and make sure all the information is provided”.
“I share the frustration of this committee that that information has been slow in coming forward,” he said. “This is a nation that is not used to sharing information in this manner. It is not used to having to internationally expose the details of what it does. This is the first time it has had to do sustained warfare. It must look up and answer to the international standards that we expect and we will make it very clear if we feel it does not meet those standards.
“But we do require time and Saudi Arabia will require time to provide the analysis that is needed to be done in all these cases,” he said.
Responding to the committee hearing, Amnesty International UK’s arms control director, Oliver Sprague, said: “Saudi-led attacks on the Yemeni population have been widely-documented, with thousands of civilians killed or injured, and rather than just sitting back and letting Saudi Arabia conduct its own investigation the UK should immediately suspend arms sales before even more civilians are killed.” – by Charlie Cooper
Comment by Judith Brown: It would seem a bit strange if one country was bombing its neighbour and not using the munitions that it is purchasing from UK. And fragments of UK weapons have been found in sites that have been bombed. And in any case, if they are unsure - why? When they sell weapons surely they can ask for some feedback on their use as a condition of their sale???
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154315576858641
27.4.2016 – The Guardian (* A K P)
Britain urges Saudi Arabia to speed up inquiry into Yemen intervention
Foreign minister tells committee he has complained to ambassador over ‘frustratingly slow’ inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s miltary campaign in Yemen
Britain has urged Saudi Arabia to complete an inquiry into its military intervention in Yemen quickly and to admit if it has made mistakes.
Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood said he had phoned the Saudi ambassador in London on Wednesday to complain that Riyadh was taking too long to complete an inquiry into the conduct of its controversial bombing campaign inYemen. He said he told the Saudis that the inquiry had been “frustratingly slow”, and the Saudi government “needed to put its hands up” about any mistakes made.
It is very rare for the UK government to voice any criticism of the Saudis in public.
Ministers also said that they would not revoke any of the UK’s multi-billion arms exports licences to Saudi Arabia until until the Saudi government has completed the report into repeated specific allegations that it has been bombing civilians indiscriminately.
The refusal of the UK government to reach a judgment on this comes even though British liaison officers in Saudi Arabia are given access to all individual Saudi bombing runs.
The Saudis have been involved in a year-long drive supported by the UK to defeat Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. The Saudi investigation into the allegations was announced at the end of January, largely in the light of a damning report by a UN independent panel of experts.
Speaking along with three other ministers to the select committee on armed exports, Ellwood denied claims that ministers were turning a blind eye to Saudi behaviour in order to protect a diplomatic and arms sales relationship.
He said the Saudi ambassador had been firmly encouraged to speed up the inquiry. He told the MPs the Saudi inquiry was “slow, far too slow and they must improve on this. They have not had the experience of this”.
Faced by allegations from the MPs on the committee that the Saudi were obstructing the process, Ellwood said: “I share your frustrations and the process has in some ways been left wanting.” He added the Saudis have limited experience in sustained warfare and were not used to international scrutiny.
Ministers also disclosed the extent to which British officials are involved in the Saudi air campaign. The defence procurement minister Philip Dunne revealed for the first time UK officers in Saudi Arabia are given access to all post-bombing reports by Saudis. But he added it was not for the UK government to reach a conclusion on whether the Saudi bombing campaign breached humanitarian law.
Some of the incidents the Saudis are supposed to be investigating occurred more than a year ago, and have been documented by a variety of NGOs and independent bodies.
Ellwood denied the Saudis were only conducting a generic investigation into its bombing, but was looking at 36 specific violations cited by Human Rights Watch, 30 by Amnesty International and 119 cited by UN panel of experts.
He was unable to say how many reports on these incidents had been completed but he also defended the Saudi intervention in Yemen.
Dunne denied the UK was involved in the Saudi targeting process, saying instead it had liaison officers in the Saudi air operations centre headquarters and Ministry of Defence. He said they were present “for advice on the targeting process”.
“We are helping them in deciding how to deploy the right weapon for the right target. We have no involvement in determining what those targets should be,” he said.
He added: “The liaison officers also have access to the post activity operational reports, so as to provide post incident analysis where there is a suggestion there has been an incident.
“When an incident is brought to our attention, whether by Saudi or NGOs, we seek access to the operational reports, and we look at our own sources of information and we then analyse that to see whether or not the incident appears to have involved a strike from the air and whether that strike might have caused by a weapon we might have supplied.”
He added that the Ministry of Defence did not provide a conclusion on its inquiries, before adding the government were awaiting the outcome from the Saudis.
Stephen Doughty, a Labour MP on the arms exports committee said: “It is simply not credible for ministers to be relying on tardy and incomplete Saudi investigations into these allegations. They admit the inquiry has been extraordinarily slow. Some of the allegations are months or year old yet we are continuing to export arms on the basis of these paltry assurances.” – by Patrick Wintour
Comment by Jamila Hanan: I saw who was speaking at UK's joke of an inquiry today and decided it's not worth tweeting about clowns.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/725464851095638017
Comment: it is obviously right speaking of clowns. They have supported this war – and still do – and now think they can gain any relief from being accused of complicity in war crimes when performing such a play of ham actors.
And this is Oxfam’s statement:
27.4.2016 – Oxfam (A P)
'Immoral, illegal and incoherent' - UK manufactured arms in Yemen
Government ministers from the Foreign Office, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and the Department for International Development will give evidence to the Arms Export Controls Committee today in Parliament. The hearing begins at 3.00pm in the Boothroyd room.
Speaking ahead of the hearing, Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, said:
"For a year the UK Government has been quietly fuelling a vicious war in Yemen which has created a major humanitarian crisis where every day six children are killed or injured.
"The Government's material support to this war is immoral, illegal and incoherent. It is immoral in terms of humanity, illegal in terms of national, European and international law and incoherent as one arm of government fuels a war and another arm sends aid to pick up the pieces."
April 2016 – Parliament (A P)
Crisis in Yemen inquiry publications
Written evidence
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annex B - written evidence | PDF version YEM0020 19 April 2016
Department for International Development Annex A - written evidence | PDF version YEM0019 14 March 2016
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annex A - written evidence | PDF version YEM0018 14 March 2016
Comment: The British government as always.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
27.4.2016 – The Globe and the Mail (A P)
Human rights groups ask Trudeau to end ‘immoral’ arms deal with Saudi Arabia
A huge coalition of human-rights, development and arms-control groups are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to rescind the “immoral and unethical” decision to approve export permits for the bulk of a $15-billion sale of combat vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
The coalition wrote an open letter to Mr. Trudeau on Wednesday, saying there is a reasonable risk that the ruling House of Saud will use the vehicles against its own citizens and in the Saudi military mission in neighbouring Yemen.
Existing export controls policy calls for Ottawa to restrict arms sales to governments that have a “persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens,” and that are “involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities.”
“By any measure there is a very strong risk that these light armoured vehicles in the hands of Saudi security services would be used to violate international human rights,” Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, told a news conference. “It is civilians in Yemen or protesters and dissidents in Saudi Arabia who would pay that $15-billion price tag.”
Mr. Neve said the Saudis have used an array of weapons in Yemen, including light armoured vehicles, that have resulted in the death of 3,000 civilians, 20,000 civilian injuries and the displacement of 2.5 million people.
“We are saying to the Prime Minister we need to honour our human-rights obligations. That is what the world will notice and that requires rescinding this deal,” Mr. Neve said.
The groups said Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion’s decision to greenlight the controversial shipments, despite Saudi Arabia’s abysmal human-rights situation, makes a mockery of Canada’s arms export control system – by Steven Chase and Robert Fife
cp13 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
27.4.2016 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees (A H)
Somalia Task Force on Yemen Situation: Inter-Agency Update #8
32,063 Arrivals fromYemen since 27 March at the early onset of the crisis
5,785 Yemenis registered in Somalia since 27 March (including Somalis with dual Yemeni-Somali citizenship)
20,062 Arrivals registered at Reception Centers in Berbera, Bossaso and Mogadishu since 27 March
52% Registered arrivals expressing intention to return to Mogadishu 9,975 Somali returnees provided with onward transportation assistance since27March
During the reporting period, a total of 126 individuals arrived in Somalia from Yemen through the ports of Berbera, in Somaliland (20 persons), and Bossaso, Puntland (106 persons). Out of this total, 105 individuals were registered by UNHCR in collaboration with local authorities and partners in the Berbera and Bossaso Reception Centers.
http://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-task-force-yemen-situation-inter-agency-update-8-11-april-24-april and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/%238Somaliainter-agencyupdate11-24Apr2016.pdf
27.4.2016 – SHZ (A)
Zwei Männer aus Jemen ausweislos mit Fahrrad über die Grenze
Gestern Abend gegen 21.30 Uhr stellte die Bundespolizei in Rodenäs/Norddeich (Kreis Nordfriesland) zwei Männer auf Fahrrädern fest.
Es stellte sich heraus, dass die beiden jungen Männer die Grenze mit Fahrrädern überqueren wollten jedoch ohne im Besitz von gültigen
Dokumenten zu sein. Aus diesem Grund hatte die dänische Polizei die beiden Radfahrer zurückgewiesen.
Die Bundespolizisten konnten jedoch ermitteln, dass es sich um zwei Männer aus Jemen handelte, die in der Aufnahmeeinrichtung in Aventoft untergebracht waren. Sie wurden zur Unterkunft gebracht und entsprechend belehrt, dass sie das Bundesgebiet nicht verlassen dürfen.
Kommentar: Wenige aus dem Jemen schaffen es bis Deutschland. Dieser auch: http://www.focus.de/regional/schleswig-holstein/prozesse-mann-muss-wegen-toedlicher-messerattacke-in-psychiatrie_id_5479723.html
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
28.4.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge / Faisal Saaed Al Muhtar (A T)
Islamists in Yemen are asking for names and addresses ON SOCIAL MEDIA about the Secularists so they will go and kill them and they are getting likes and retweets.
They are crowdsourcing the killing of Yemeni Secular Bloggers.
Islamists in Yemen are asking for names and addresses ON SOCIAL MEDIA about the Secularists so they will go and kill them and they are getting likes and retweets.
What kind of a world we live in?
This comes from half of the liberated Yemen. Liberated by Saudi Arabia +UAE+US, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/faisalsalmutar/posts/1002170093208388 and https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1015986428454387&id=961126490607048
cp14a Offensive gegen / against Al Qaida
29.4.2016 – Muhit El-Yemen (A K T)
Airstrikes hit Al-Qaeda sites in Lahj
Air strikes early Friday targeted a number of Al-Qaeda sites in the city of al-Houta, capital of Lahi governorate to the south of Yemen, local sources said.
The sources said that Saudi-led Apache planes launched a number of air raids, hitting sites believed to be under the control of Al-Qaeda militants.
Al-Qaeda has lost ground in Yemen's south after the government forces backed by airstrikes have launched an offensive to clear Yemen's south of the terror operatives.
http://muhitelyemen.net/en/local/news/2768.html
29.4.2016 – Gulf News (A K T)
Coalition vows to hunt down Al Qaida in Yemen
UAE commander says with Mukalla, Al Qaida has lost one of its important financial sources
The commander of the UAE forces in Yemen said on Thursday that the government forces backed by the Arab coalition would pursue Al Qaida militants who went into hiding after losing control of the city of Al Mukalla early last week.
Brigadier Musallam Al Rashidi said that some Al Qaida militants are stilling hiding in the city and the surrounding areas, urging locals to “quickly” tip off security forces about their locations. “This enemy is sly and clever and waiting,” he said in a press conference in the city of Al Mukalla. Government forces supported by Saudi-led coalition air strikes recaptured the city of Al Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout province and the fifth largest city in Yemen, from Al Qaida. “We would not spare any effort in pursuing those elements wherever they are,”
Commenting on the successful military plan that led to the liberation of Mukalla, Al Rashidi said there had been long intelligence gathering of information about Al Qaida military sites, arms depots, anti-aircraft guns. “We were so determined to avoid targeting the city’s infrastructure.”
The UAE official said Al Qaida militants have racked up millions of dollars from looting local banks, smuggling oil and taxes of ships.
In the wake of the assault, the coalition’s navy imposed a blockade on the city to prevent the militants from fleeing or getting military support from the sea. According to Al Rashidi, the coalition’s navy destroyed nine boats carrying fleeing militants sailing to Somalia – by Saeed Al-Batati
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/coalition-vows-to-hunt-down-al-qaida-in-yemen-1.1814944
28.4.2016 – AFP (A K T)
Pro-government Yemen forces pressing on after Mukalla capture
Yemeni pro-government forces on Thursday pressed an offensive against Al-Qaeda in the country's south after capturing the port city of Mukalla and pushing out the jihadists, a commander said.
"Operations are continuing to clear Mukalla of Al-Qaeda members who have stayed behind," said Mussalam al-Rashidi, an Emirati general serving with a Saudi-led coalition that backed the offensive.
He told reporters in the city that pro-government forces were pursuing jihadists, many of whom have fled towards Shabwa province near Hadramawt province where Mukalla is located.
A local official said Thursday that four presumed Al-Qaeda members were killed in a drone strike in the Shabwa region of Markha.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pro-government-yemen-forces-pressing-mukalla-capture-191133027.html
28.4.2016 – Gulf News (A K T)
Yemen forces retake Lahj province from Al Qaida
Al Qaida terrorists ‘fled the scene without engaging with the troops’
Yemeni government troops on Thursday declared the recapturing the southern province of Lahj from Al Qaida militants after gaining control of all districts, two government officials told Gulf News.
The fresh territorial gains come almost two weeks after the army troops backed by the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes launched offensive against Al Qaida strongholds in the province.
Munir Mahmoud Al Yafae, the commander of government troops, said his forces booted the militants out of the main regions, including the capital Huta, Tuban, Wahat and Al Husaini and they are combing farms for fleeing Al Qaida.
“We have secured Aden-Lahj-Taiz road. Frankly Al Qaida militants did not engage in clashes with us. They just fled when we arrived,”
Al Yafae said that dozens of Al Qaida operatives were arrested; many surrendered while other preferred to take shelter in their remaining strongholds in Abyan. By Thursday, Al Qaida were driven out of Aden, Lahj and Hadramout, but still control the capital of Abyan and a city in Shabwa.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-forces-retake-lahj-province-from-al-qaida-1.1814380
Comment: Aden liberated from Al Qaida? They bomb almost daily there.
28.4.2016 – Britannia (A E)
Yemen : Mukalla port update 28/04/2016
Local correspondents, GAC, in Yemen have advised that the security forces recaptured the port of Mukalla from Al Qaeda forces on 25 April. GAC report that a skeleton staff were at the port on 26 April and that it was expected that the port would reopen for normal port operations this week.
http://www.britanniapandi.com/news/show/yemen-mukalla-port-update/
28.4.2016 – Middle East Eye (* A P T)
Celebrations and unease in Yemeni city liberated from al-Qaeda
Relief in Mukalla as militants flee from government forces without a fight, but some residents say they will miss the security of al-Qaeda's 'iron fist'
It took just a few days this week for thousands of pro-government forces - heavily armed with modern weapons provided by the UAE and supported by heavy Saudi-led coalition bombing - to move in and recapture the city.
In a desperate attempt to avoid being spotted by warplanes, al-Qaeda shunned armed vehicles and instead deployed its fighters on motorbikes. Clashes raged for hours on the outskirts of Mukalla as the militants were slowly pushed out from one neighbouring village to another.
As the forces drew near, snipers could be seen stationed atop the city’s hotels while other masked men hid in buildings, but ultimately few chose to stay and fight to the death.
In the centre of the city, people waited breathlessly for the fighting to start. Then, out of the blue, long convoys of pickups carrying al-Qaeda militants were spotted heading quickly westward towards remote villages in Hadramout and neighbouring Shabwa province, via the one corridor that had been left open by the coalition.
Large numbers of civilian residents, fearing a deadly showdown in the city, also used the same route to flee, although others chose to stay put.
By Monday morning, hundreds of people were out on the streets celebrating.
“This is a historic day. For the first time we had a pure Hadrami army,” a middle-aged man told Middle East Eye as he stood waving at the arriving forces, referring to the people of Hadramout province.
Bohsini and his forces tried to enforce a night-time curfew and a ban on motorbikes for security reasons, but the local population largely ignored them, choosing to celebrate the sudden demise of al-Qaeda late into the night.
Southern separatists, who have a strong presence in the city, could be seen out in force, shouting for joy that their cause would no longer be violently suppressed.
Shop owners also overwhelmingly defied fears of reprisal attacks, opening their shops late into the night and keeping them open to feed the flurry of new interest that has seen queues build up outside petrol stations. Even on Wednesday night, the city streets were full of people.
But while spirits have generally been high since al-Qaeda was ousted, an air of apprehension is apparent and many residents can’t help but wonder if the militants will be back.
Many also fear they will launch a campaign of suicide bombings and ambushes as they have done in the southern capital of Aden, 500 kilometres west of Mukalla.
But some residents said that safety remained their overwhelming concern, and that the city needed security more than Gulf money, if life was to return to normal.
“If you asked people in this street what they want from the government, they would all say security,” said Munir, a salesperson at a shop in central Mukalla.
Munir told MEE he had grown accustomed to the public order strictly enforced by al-Qaeda and expected the government to continue to do the same.
But a local journalist with contacts to al-Qaeda operatives in the city told MEE that the militants had pulled out to spare their relatives.
“Most of al-Qaeda’s leaders are originally from Hadramout [province]. So they opted not to destroy their hometown,” he said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
As long as the fighters remain in Yemen and continue to have links to the city, many residents fear they will never feel totally safe, citing al-Qaeda’s track record of guerilla attacks.
“We live in perpetual anxiety about bombings,” the barber said – by Saeed Al Batati
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-mukalla-al-qaeda-783428001
Comment: Security, security, security. This is what people ask for.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1015925971793766&id=961126490607048
cp15 Propaganda
29.4.2016 – PR Newswire (A P)
Saudi General: Coalition Successfully Fighting Al-Qaeda in Yemen
Adviser to the Saudi Defense Minister and Spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen Brigadier General Ahmed Hassan Asseri said that the Saudi-led operation is stabilizing the country and defeating Al-Qaeda.
"Today, I report 85 to 90 percent of the country [is] under control of the government," said General Asseri during a conference call yesterday with international reporters.
"Now we are in the stabilization phase. We help the Yemeni government through their security services, through their army to be able to engage and extend their control in this region," said General Asseri. "We will continue to help them until we bring back the stability in the different cities in Yemen and in general."
General Asseri discussed the success of a recent offensive organized by Yemeni security forces, in collaboration with Saudi and Emirati special forces, to retake the city of Al-Mukalla, which was serving as the base of Al-Qaeda operations in Yemen. He said the campaign succeeded in liberating Al-Mukalla and was a tremendous victory against terrorism.
"We continue to follow those terrorists and we continue to find out where they are and we continue to defeat them, so we are committed to clear[ing] Hadramout from Al-Qaeda," he stated. Al-Mukalla is the capital of Hadramout province.
General Asseri reiterated that Saudi Arabia and its allies are committed to finding a peaceful, political solution in Yemen. He was encouraged by the recent accomplishments of the peace talks in Kuwait.
"We continue to work for peace and stability in Yemen, peace and stability in cooperation with the international community and with our friends, allied on top of them the United States of America," General Asseri said.
28.4.2016 – WAM (A P)
'Mukalla liberation stern message to terror sponsors in Yemen'
Commander of UAE Force in Hadhramout says Arab Coalition support instrumental in driving Al Qaeda out. The terrorist group looted Dh367 million daily.
The liberation of the strategic city of Mukalla is a stern warning to all those who support terrorism in Yemen, the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen affirmed today.
Staff Brigadier Musallam Al Rashidi, Commander of UAE Force in Hadhramout, who is commanding the liberation battle in Mukalla, said the support provided by the Arab Coalition had been very instrumental in driving Al Qaeda militants out of the city, affirming the coalition's determination to pursue them wherever they were.
''Stability of Yemen means stability for the whole region,'' the UAE commander joint told a press conference held by the coalition and the Yemeni national army, adding that Al Qaeda looted $100 million (Dh367 million) daily during its rule of Mukalla and after the liberation it lost its key funding sources.
''The liberation of Mukalla has proved how Al Qaeda was fragile,'' he said, noting that air strikes carried out by the coalition had facilitated the mission of the Yemeni army.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/mena/mukalla-liberation-stern-message-to-terror-sponsors-in-yemen and also http://gulftoday.ae/portal/322e9c33-e9e4-42a3-a779-a7c1979b3c6a.aspx
Comment: Who had been the greatest “terror sponsor” in Yemen?
28.4.2016 – Gulf News (A K T)
Yemen forces retake Lahj province from Al Qaida
Local officials in Lahj say all government facilities were reduced to ruins during Al Houthi occupation of the province last year and the government should focus to reviving vital services like electricity and drinking water.
Adeb Al Sayed, a media aide to the governor of Lahj, told Gulf News on Thursday that the province is in desperate need of help to rebuild security and civilian bodies. “Four districts in the province were declared last year as disaster areas due to fierce fighting with Al Houthis. The districts basic infrastructure was destroyed. We urge the government and the coalition to help us restoring services to the residents.”
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-forces-retake-lahj-province-from-al-qaida-1.1814380
Comment: This sounds like heavy propaganda. Lahj was the target of many Saudi air raids, which caused the most part of all the destructions. Here it’s just called “fighting with the Houthis”, just blaming them for the destructions caused by Saudi air raids.
PR News Wire
NEWS FROM ROYAL EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA, INFORMATION OFFICE
http://www.prnewswire.com/news/royal+embassy+of+saudi+arabia%2C+information+office
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
27.4.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Film: Saudi Arabia warplanes bomb Yemen despite truce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7tZcnSpYY4
27.4.2016 – Aggression Y (A K PH)
KSA-US aggression's warplanes continue its fire cease breaking by hovering over #Taiz ,#Al-Hodeida, #Mareb ,...
https://twitter.com/AggressionY/status/725401058692861952
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
29.4.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Ceasefire VIOLATIONS: Saudi warplanes patrol #Yemen skies & Houthis clash in Hajjah on 10th day of #UN peace talks.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/726078707480297472
27.4.2016 – Aljazeera (A K PPS)
Film: Yemen war: Residents say Houthis shell residential areas in Taiz
Houthi fighters and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have shelled residential areas in Yemen’s third largest city Taiz. The fighting continues despite a ceasefire between Houthi fighters and the Saudi-backed government.
27.4.2016 – News Yemen TV (A K PH)
Film: Yemen Aggression Warplanes and mercenaries new violations of the ceasefire 27 4 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uo0G2zFNDU
27.4.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K PH)
#Saudi #UAE backed forces mass attack on Hailaan hill #Marib Esaylan Shabwa Esaiferah&strikes on Mowzaa #Taiz Grad rockets on Nehim #Sanaa
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/725394995759448064
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
4.2016 – Andrea Glez
Photos from Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glez.336/media_set?set=a.1113118692088429.1073741891.100001709264348&type=3 = https://www.facebook.com/Classy.Yemeni/posts/820352874761562
4.2016 – Quabook
Download: Jemen: Weihrauchstrasse Und Wuestenstadte
28.4.2016 – Red Cross (A)
Yemen: Floods and landslides compound suffering of communities
Heavy rainfall has caused flash floods and landslides in several parts of Yemen, displacing people and destroying homes and livelihood. Yemen Red Crescent Society assessments indicate that close to 30,000 people are affected and more than 1,000 homes are destroyed.
"Communities are suffering from the armed conflict, two consecutive cyclones and now heavy rainfall and flooding, all in just one year. Coping mechanisms have been exhausted and the response capacities of our branches and volunteers have been stretched to their limits," said Mr Fuad Al-Makhedhi, Secretary General of Yemen Red Crescent Society.
Entire communities have been cut off as a result of inaccessible roads and landslides. Even as floods have receded, stagnant waters have been left behind, raising concerns of the spread of malaria and dengue fever.
"The governorates most affected are Abyan, Amran, Hajjah and Hodeidah, where urgent needs include safe drinking water, food, shelter, health assistance and hygiene items. Together with our Movement partners, we are doing the best we can to reach out to those in need as quickly as possible," added Mr Al-Makhedhi.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are supporting Yemen Red Crescent Society, whose teams on the ground are at the forefront of emergency response to the humanitarian challenges caused by this most recent crisis.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-floods-and-landslides-compound-suffering-communities
27.4.2016 – Yemen Today (A H K)
Film: Denguefieber tötet die Kinder der Provinz Hodeida / Dengue fever kills the children of the province of Hodeidah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-1mbPC0f0
Comment: also a consequence of the war and Saudi blockade.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-135
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-135: / Yemen Press Reader 1-135:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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