Saudi mistakes in the war – War destroying our minds – Disabled victims of war – Kalashnikovs everywhere – Peace talks continued – US and Al Qaida – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp13a Mercenaries / Söldner
cp13b 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
27.5.2016 – Daily Times (** B K P)
Whither Yemen war
Houthis are not alone in keeping Saudis sleepless at night. Their economy is melting down. Iran has just been unshackled and KSA's eastern provinces are in sectarian ferment
Houthis posed a direct and immediate threat to Saudi Arabia’s stability, delicate ethno-tribal balance and her critical naval vulnerability at the Bab al Mandab Straits, therefore had to be dealt with resolutely and vigorously. Aden had to be the next whose fall could effectively jeopardise international shipping and intern good part of the Saudi navy in the Red Sea. Saudi Naval fleet is effectively split into two and is anchored in inland naval bases in Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Both these narrow bodies of water have their bottlenecks respectively at Bab al Mandab and Hormuz. It has no serious blue waters naval deployment capability even if her navy was able to break out into the open. Houthis had created a real crisis and it should have been anticipated by Saudi defence experts.
However, insufficient strategic calibre and absence of a proper sense of what-could-happen prevented them from a resolute scramble to make a short shift of the puny threat posed by the ragtag Houthi militia. It wasn’t difficult but they were short of the needful military and political acumen. In modern history Saudi wars have been fought by the US and Europeans while Saudis have proverbially sat back and drawn deep on their shisha and sipped long their bitter cups of coffee. To begin with, Houthis had overstretched themselves militarily by capturing Sanaa without the ability to sustain their victory or beat back a determined counter attack. The action was basically meant to intimidate sitting government into coming to terms with them. Had the Saudi forces moved with speed in time, in a double pincer manoeuvre from the sea and the direction of Najran-Sharoura , converged on Sanaa and blocked Houthi escape eastward before the pincers closed, they could have eventually boxed them into northwestern Yemen with nowhere to go except the negotiations table. They did not heed this friendly advice and are now paying the price. The ISIL and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have moved into the void left by disintegrating Yemeni state.
The fundamentally flawed Saudi military doctrine combined with inexperienced defence and foreign affairs leadership created an unfavourable decision-making environment at a moment of grave national crisis. As a result, despite overwhelming military superiority and availability of a strategic window of opportunity, Saudi and allied forces completely bungled their Yemeni campaign. They had the opportunity to cordon off and eventually surround the Houthis in under two weeks and then bring them to negotiating table for a political settlement from a position of strength. They also would have prevented spaces abandoned by the Yemeni state and left by the Houthis from being occupied by the ISIL and AQAP fighters, as also effectively prevent external intervention or reinforcements from reaching Houthis. They could do none of these nor make their national territory any safer from the mounting Houthi threat. Their spluttering air campaign and disjointed attempts at para-drops and limited offensives have not paid off. In fact their pussyfooted military reaction emboldened the Houthis so much that recently the latter shelled Najran and Jizan, two major Saudi border towns, setting up a panic displacement of Asir region population inwards.
There is an eager anticipation in the air that Sanaa might fall soon to the GCC coalition forces. Fall of the capital city will be like the fall of Grozny or Kabul. Like the Chechen and Taliban fighters it will free Houthi rebels to resort to bush warfare all over the countryside, and that is their strong point. The war in Yemen will invariably be prolonged and complicated.
Houthis are not alone in keeping Saudis sleepless at night. Their economy is melting down. Iran has just been unshackled and KSA’s eastern provinces are in sectarian ferment. The ISIL in the neighbouring Syria and Iraq are aggressively pursuing their murderous agenda, and are no friends of Saudis
This dragnet is about to shatter. It is evident that due to stuttering Saudi military strategy and inability to assess the real dimensions of dangers to the state security including an inexplicable precaution to appear politically correct in dealing with the Yemeni crisis they have lost the initiative to Houthis decisively. The Yemeni president had made a written request to Saudi Arabia to help repel the Houthi attack. Following Houthis is a much greater menace: the ISIL and the AQAP. Considering Iran’s newly gained liberty of action in the region, the overall scenario is becoming bleaker, and eventually will be beyond the compass of Saudis to handle. Yemen is to the KSA what Afghanistan is to Pakistan – by Mehboob Qadir, retired brigadier of the Pakistan army
http://dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/27-May-16/whither-yemen-war
Comment: Interesting ideas of a retired general.
26.5.2016 – Aljazeera (** B H K)
Why I think we failed Yemen
Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemeni academic, explains how the one-year war changed the lives of many Yemenis.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition bombed the city around my flat regularly. To avoid the shards of glass that blasted in from the windows, I took to sleeping in the small hallway between the bathroom and the kitchen.
Everyone was scared. I heard women asking their daughters to wear jeans to bed in case the building fell on them while they slept.
It was a war, and it brought out the ugliest in everything and everyone. When, after weeks of bombing, my boss called to ask me to evacuate, I didn't offer any heroic resistance.
I, too, by then, had my own reasons to leave. I actually just spent the last few days and nights negotiating the release of friends and relatives who were imprisoned randomly by the Houthis.
I remember my last night well.
A first, my mind was a fog in which time seemed to lose all meaning.
But as the fog lifted and some focus returned, I remembered that I had to pack.
The rule was simple: I could have just one bag and it had to be small and lift enough for me to walk and, if necessary, run with it.
I quickly selected the belongings I'd take with me: my old Yemeni necklace hand-made by Yemeni Jews, my notebook, my medicine, a change of clothes.
That was all.
It was among the most painful things I have ever done. I was being forced out, amputated from my home.
How long would it be before I could return - a week, a month, years?
I slept little in the breaks between air strikes. In the early morning I toured every room of my home, imprinting those last glimpses on to my memory and discovering previously unnoticed details.
But it was when a Houthi sniper killed Muhammed al-Yemeni, a journalist and colleague, in the city of Taiz earlier this year, that I felt something in Yahia break. His faith in what he was doing - in "The Media" - collapsed.
He could see no purpose in continuing to film. Several weeks ago, Yahia announced on Facebook that he was quitting and had formed a fighting unit to join the battle against the Houthis. Yahia soon began using his Facebook page, once a main source of news from Yemen, as a platform for recruiting frustrated young people who wanted to fight. He quickly enrolled the unit in the army and started recruiting young pharmacists, engineers, writers and so on.
This week, the first unit graduated and is getting ready to join the battlefield.
It tore me to pieces, turned my heart to ash, like the future had suddenly been robbed of its light. It was not just that Yahia, a promising and dedicated journalist, would lose hope for peace and instead join the violence, but it also brought home to me just how few options are left for Yemeni youth after one year of this war.
In 2011, tribesmen and fighters left their guns at home to join the peaceful protests against the then president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Today, Yemen's writers, poets and painters are putting down the tools of their creativity, and instead picking up steel with which to fight.
It is time to admit that we have failed. And we will have failed terribly unless we succeed in stopping this insane war – by Farea Al-Muslimi
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/failed-yemen-160511100609704.html
23.5.2016 – International Committee of the Red Cross (** B H)
The scars of war: Yemen's disabled
Thousands of people have lost limbs in Yemen since the conflict started in 2015. In fact, reports indicate that an estimated 6,000 people have been left disabled – most as the result of a blast, a mine or sustaining a gunshot.
Sadly, these injuries are becoming increasingly common in times of war.
Meet six Yemeni men, women and children injured in the conflict. In spite of their misfortune and pain, they are all determined to live a normal life and to hope for a brighter future – for themselves and their country.
Physical rehabilitation
The ICRC helps people with disabilities in Yemen through support to four Physical Rehabilitation Centres in Sana'a, Aden, Mukalla and Taiz.
In 2016, more than 25,400 people with disabilities have benefitted from our support to these centres – approximately 12,800 patients have received physiotherapy treatment, while more than 394 prostheses and nearly 5,977 orthoses have been produced (Photos)
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/scars-war-yemens-disabled
cp2 Allgemein / General
26.5.2016 – Al Araby (* A K P T)
Instability in Yemen threatens global security
Terrorism in Yemen should not be discussed without revisiting the roots of the problem: the factors behind Yemen's chronic destabilisation over the past years.
The longstanding instability and destabilisation of my country - exacerbated by the ongoing Saudi-led coalition airstrike attacks and the civil war - converge to form a ripe environment in which terrorist groups continue thrive and pose a threat to the global security.
Yemen has been linked in some form or other to many of the terrorist attacks to have taken place on the global stage of late. This is not to say that Yemen itself should be associated with terrorism, rather it should throw the spotlight on the need to address the circumstances that have led the country to such a situation. The longer the necessity for stability in Yemen is ignored, the greater the threat to global security.
Yemen has long since been wrongly regarded as the land of terrorism, but this does not take into account the context of the country's serious economic, political and internal security problems. Yemen is more accurately a land of poverty, internal armed conflicts, corruption, a crumbling economy, divided governance and unprecedented devastation, in light of the ongoing conflict.
This mix presents the perfect conditions for terrorist groups to thrive and recruit the starving, jobless and desperate youth.
The US has failed to eradicate the problem, and to rethink its foreign policy towards Yemen. In fact, in light of the ongoing war, Yemenis are seeing US and UK-made weapons, including cluster bombs, being used by the coalition forces. This is undoubtedly serving to further anti-western sentiment among Yemenis.
Fighting terrorism in Yemen is in the interests of the international community, and the terrorist attacks in Europe which were plotted in Yemen confirm that.
However, addresing terrorism in Yemen must tackle the root of the problem with the aim of stabilising the country in the long-term. Ending the war, empowering locals who fight terrorism, strengthening local governance and strengthening political and economic institutions are just a few strategies that combat terrorism, leading the stabilisation of Yemen and as a result improved global security – by Afrah Nasser
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/5/26/instability-in-yemen-threatens-global-security
26.5.2016 – PRI (* B K P)
Where the US fell down in Yemen, as war clouds gathered
Yemen's warring sides agreed to try a ceasefire in April. It's holding. They're negotiating. And while no one describes Yemen today as peaceful, an influential American diplomat looks ahead to a postwar Yemen.
“We have many years, I think, of hard work and struggle in front of us, to try to get Yemen to a stronger and better position than it's been in,” says Gerald Feierstein, principal deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Feierstein was US ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013.
“I think that when the war is over,” he says, “when we are able to resume the political transition, I hope there will be in place a political dialogue and a basic understanding of how to move forward on the political track.”
Feierstein witnessed the 2011 Arab Spring explode in the streets of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. He worked through the negotiations that led the longtime Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down after 30 years in power.
Feierstein helped push through the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative. Backed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Nations, the GCC Initiative was credited with sparing Yemen the widespread civil upheaval.
But it did not live up to its promise.
“I think that where we fell short was not in pressing harder with the Yemenis to clean away some of the obstacles of the political opponents, and particularly Ali Abdullah Saleh and his efforts to obstruct the transition. We should have pressed harder on that,” says Ambassador Feierstein. “Elements within Yemen decided that they were going to try to accomplish through violence what they were not able to achieve through political negotiation.”
Yemeni scholar Nadwa Al-Dawsari goes Feierstein one further. “The fundamental problem here was not just … that some elements decided to use violence to achieve whatever,” she observes. “The problem is in the fact that the GCC initiative was by itself deeply flawed."
Sanaa-based journalist and human rights activist, Fatik Al-Rodaini, condemns the carnage from Saudi air strikes and holds the US partly responsible. “The former Ambassador says that democracy can be obtained through the war,” he observes. “[But] do you think that we need to kill 3,000 civilians and destroy the whole country in order to restore a legitimacy of Hadi?” he adds, referring to the internationally recognized Yemeni president who has spent most of the past year living in Riyadh.
“Without the support of the US, [the] Saudi war in Yemen [would not] happen,” Al-Rodaini believes.
You can hear bitterness in the comments from other Yemenis. “How can the Yemeni people trust in any future political transitional initiatives when the USA, and the international community, supported the Saudis to destroy it?” writes Hashim Almansoor, a senior IT consultant in the Yemeni capital – by Stephen Snyder
http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-26/american-diplomat-considers-postwar-yemen-and-yemenis-respond
Comment: Feierstein in general is whitewashing the Saudis, not taking into account at all that such an interference inrto another countries affairs can be justified by no means ever.
Comment by Nasser Arrabyee: This diplomat Was closer to Qaeda/ISIS sources of Yemen Still influenced by them when he answered these questions
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/735843679873695744
Comment by Judith Brown: My comment: this article does present a number of views but none challenge Hadi's legitimacy. This was the issue before the war - and those who thought Hadi had no legitimacy had a good case as Hadi's term as interim president had expired. Maybe the Houthis and Saleh might have tried to impose their rule on Yemeni people - or more likely they might have started fighting each other - if Hadi had agreed to step down. But this surmises so much - but the Saudi intervention certainly exacerbated the fighting and aggression and deepened the chasm between different interest groups and made peace so much more elusive.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154391894313641
Comment by Haykal Bafana: Attorney Haykal Bafana, in Sanaa, agrees that the diplomats not only bungled the terms of Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure, but also underestimated his popular appeal. "The [framers of] the GCC Initiative made a fatal error when they thought of Saleh as a traditional dictator – far from the truth," Bafana notes. "He has a lot of supporters. And it was a mistake to create a diplomatic framework without taking into account the interests of this large bloc." https://www.facebook.com/haykal.bafana/posts/1019189954827681
26.5.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (* B H K)
A kid from Saada told his story of how it feels to be under Saudi-led/US-baked bombs.
Even a young kid knows that, on the ground, the constant airstrikes have left thousands of dead, tens thousands of injured. It's in the news: he sees it around him.
But his story adds grief to what is already a hellish scenario.
He tells us that one day he was out, crying, as the war was too heavy to bear. ''I decided to go back home; on my way I heard the sound of war-planes. They were hovering in the sky. They dropped a missile. I heard the noise of an explosion. Then screaming, the smell of fear. I rushed to see where the missile hit. I discovered that they had targeted my home. My family was under the rubble.''
''I arrived there to see the blood mixed with wreckage, and their bodies scattered into pieces.''
He continues, with the same scene unfolding in front of his eyes: ''My eyes couldn't believe it. I though that I was just dreaming. Or maybe that was not my home. I wished I was wrong. I walked to the wreckage and tried gain consciousness, to wake up.. but my...my little sister's hand woke me up. That was the moment I realised I was not dreaming at all. Because what I had stepped on was my little sister' s hand. I picked it up. I was not dreaming.''
26.5.2016 – Middle East Eye (* B P)
Yemen’s unity: Does it still matter?
This 22 May marked the 26th anniversary of the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen. If there is anything that still unites the two parts today is that they both share the same experience of devastation and misery.
The anniversary represented another opportunity to mirror Yemen’s growing divisions. In Sanaa, despite several air strikes shaking the city, thousands demonstrated as the Saudi-led coalition jet fighters hovered over their heads. In Aden, where assassinations and suicide attacks are the new norm, not only there was no demonstration to mark the day - “since that would be an insult to all southerners," as one southerner put it - the city announced that the unity day is no longer a national holiday. To mark the day, both President Hadi and former president Saleh did not miss the chance to issue speeches, confusing us with who exactly rules the country.
In war-ravaged Yemen, questioning the country’s unity remains of significance. Yemen’s domestic realities have grown tense over recent years, exacerbated by a war that has intensified political, tribal, sectarian and ethnic divisions. The war, the lack of a united, powerful political legitimacy, the longstanding Southern Movement (Hirak) demand for independence, and the lack of a common national identity, are among some of the challenges that greatly undermine the country’s unity.
For many, federalism is the key to avoiding Yemen’s partition and the start of a new social contract. This has been one of the outcomes of Yemen’s National Dialogue (NDC).
In the ongoing conflict, Yemen’s Soutern Movement, or Hirak, in Aden is no longer under the control of old hands, such as Ali Salem al-Beidh or others. It’s a coalition of separatist militia, jihadis and Salafists, orchestrating their secession from Yemen’s north.
On the civil and political level, the longstanding Yemen’s secessionist movement (Hirak) continues to raise the demand for an independent south to achieve a just solution to its grievances. However, while the Hirak movement may have a just cause it offers the wrong political solution.
The Hirak’s main problem with unity has always been the increasing grievances they have endured, since the unification process ignored the regional disparity in population and resources. The call for independence has been an expression of protest, which is legitimate, but the answer is absolutely not secession.
The future for Yemen’s unity looks grim. Fragmentation and bitterness have increased epidemically over recent years, not only in the southern governorates, but throughout the country. Yemen’s politicians have failed to advance Yemen’s unity year after year. Mending rifts among the divided nation in Yemen can only be done by enhancing a sense of common national identity.
Otherwise, Yemen is certainly on the road to becoming two Yemens, if not more. Any political process (including the frequently interrupted Yemen peace talks) shaping Yemen’s political future must take Yemen’s unity very seriously; ensuring equal citizenship rights for all Yemenis. The current crucial priority, though, is to end the war – by Afrah Nasser
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/yemen-s-unity-does-it-still-matter-512834212
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
26.5.2016 – Doctors without Borders (* B H)
We are glad to share with you the 11th issue editorial of our newsletter in Yemen.
"Times goes on and the conflict still rages across many parts of the country. Its consequences continue to take its toll on the country and the population. Thousands have been killed and injured, many thousands more displaced and the vast majority of the country has been negatively affected, to some degree. Import restrictions, difficulties to earn a living, and general insecurity remains - airstrikes, shelling, blasts, gunshots, and landmines. All limit the opportunity for people to pull themselves out of difficult situations.
It is a frustrating situation for everyone. For the average Yemeni, the most affected in this conflict, to simply reach a functioning and even partially equipped health facility is a challenge. If they do find one, perhaps they have to pay when they simply can not afford it. For health facilities and those health workers who continue to work, suffering clear shortages of supplies, little pay, if any, and at times threats or even attacks, can be a difficult daily challenge. For Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), our hospitals and supported facilities are as busy as ever, the medical gaps across the Yemen continue to widen, and there is increasing pressure on us to do more, at a time when we are already running at full capacity. We see the needs, we share the pain, we see the failures of unhindered humanitarian access, and we call for more expansive and meaningful humanitarian assistance from international actors.
As a neutral, impartial, independent organisation, MSF strives to operate in areas of most medical and humanitarian need. Dynamics that contribute to this conflict: politics, religion, ideology or international influence, cannot and should not impact on where we chose to operate. Adhering to these principles has allowed us o intervene across diverse areas of the country from Saada, to Aden, to Mukalla, to Taiz, to Ad Dhale, to Sanaa, to name but a few. Our neutrality allows us to work across frontlines and we ask all actors to the conflict to respect this.
It is essential that all parties to the war take more steps to reduce the level of suffering of civilians, and ensure that health facilities and workers are protected and given the chance to function effectively and in safety. I recently spent some time in Taiz, where the situation is totally unacceptable. Hospitals and ambulances are still regularly caught in the crossfire and every day innocent civilians are being treated in high numbers in the emergency rooms. Two patients stick in my mind, two young children lying in beds next to each other. A young boy with a neck injury from a falling bullet, it is now stuck along his spine. He received this as he was leaving the mosque. Next to him a young girl who had her stomach ripped open by a stray bullet as she waited to collect water. For their sake and for the future generations of this country, we sincerely hope that the peace talks will lead to concrete positive outcomes that bring an end to this war now.
In the meantime, MSF will remain on the ground, committed to our patients, committed to trying to address the most urgent medical needs of Yemen, and continue to stand in solidarity with the victims. We thank our more than 2000 MSF colleagues and all active health workers for their dedication and courage throughout the last year. It will inevitably need to continue into the next.
Peace.
Will Turner-Head of Mission,
On behalf of MSF in Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=995371433904478&id=365494296892198&substory_index=0 = https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1032189193500777&id=961126490607048
25.5.2016 – The Hippocratic Post (** B H)
A Kalashnikov crisis in Yemen
I have just returned from my first mission with Medicins Sans Frontieres in the Yemen and I can definitely say it was a life-changing experience. I was working in the emergency department of a hospital in the north for three and a half months. The biggest difference between working in an A&E in a NHS hospital in Manchester and an A&E in Khamer in North Yemen was the number of gunshot wounds I had to deal with.
In Yemen, the culture has grown up that men carry Kalashnikovs, whatever they are doing and wherever they are. It is a sign of masculinity and power where these things are very important. Even at weddings, men discharge Kalashnikovs into the air as part of the celebration, but bullets richochet and hit wedding guests or other close by victims. Sometimes children find their fathers weapons at home and unwittingly fire them at siblings, parents or themselves.
The wounds are serious and often life threatening. Many of the victims bled to death before they even reached us.
Something else that was new to me and not something I have never had to do at home was to treat children for malnutrition and manage any acute complications they were suffering from malnutrition. In Yemen it was not uncommon to meet women with 8 children or more. Due to the war poverty was becoming more and more of an issue and families often struggled to provide enough food, particularly in the displaced population. In cases where women were not producing enough breast milk they would be unable to afford formula. I saw children up to 5 months old who weighed less than an average newborn baby – by Temilola Erinle
http://www.hippocraticpost.com/call-of-duty/kalashnikov-crisis-yemen/
8.4.2016 – Aljazeera (B H)
Film: War-torn Yemen faces water emergency
Even before the war, it was estimated about 40 percent of the population struggled to find water on a daily basis.
Today, the UN believes that figure has roughly doubled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktmzvDkc1SE
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
26.5.2016 – NZZ von AP (A P)
Friedensgespräche zwischen Regierung und Rebellen fortgesetzt
Die Friedensgespräche für den Jemen sind wieder aufgenommen worden. Die Regierung und die schiitischen Huthi-Rebellen hätten versichert, die Verhandlungen bis zu einer Lösung fortsetzen zu wollen, sagte der Uno-Gesandte Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed am Donnerstag. Er forderte, eine gemeinsame Kommission zu berufen, die helfen solle, die Wirtschaft des Landes wiederzubeleben. Die Gespräche in Kuwait waren vergangene Woche ausgesetzt worden.
26.5.2016 – UN News Centre (A K P)
Yemen: ‘hope’ emanating from UN-sponsored talks, as details of peace agreement discussed
The United Nations envoy for Yemen said today that hope is emanating from the ongoing peace talks for the country as the warring parties started discussing details of elements that would be included in a comprehensive agreement.
Speaking to reporters in Kuwait, where the UN-mediated Yemeni talks are taking place, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, stressed that Yemen is at a critical stage, with the economy in tatters, its infrastructure ruined, and the country’s social fabric disintegrating.
“The situation on the ground is dire but there is hope emanating from Kuwait,” he said, adding that only the participants in the talks can change the situation.
In brief, he said that the talks are ongoing, the international support is stronger than ever and the UN is determined to achieve a lasting peace and to solidify any agreement reached.
On Monday, a joint plenary session was held in which the leaders of both delegations renewed their commitment to dialogue to reach a political agreement, that is acceptable by all.
The Special Envoy convened a number of bilateral meetings with the delegations over the past few days, and discussed specifically the details and mechanisms of withdrawal, handover of weapons, resumption of political dialogue, restoration of state institutions and other matters that will be included in a comprehensive agreement.
The discussions also covered the importance of guarantees and reassurances to ensure the implementation of an agreement, he said. The parties have started to address specific and sensitive matters in detail based on the agreed reference points.
On the issue of prisoners, it was agreed that the relevant Committee will continue to work separately. Yesterday, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came to Kuwait to brief the delegations on the roles and guidelines for prisoners release and exchange processes in war zones as well as the mechanisms of ICRC’s work in this area.
Also yesterday, the Special Envoy briefed the Security Council in a closed-session through video conference, giving an overview of the talks, the preliminary understandings reached and explained the compromises and solutions that are currently being considered. He also gave a summary of the support needed by his Office in order to facilitate the implementation of a peace agreement, including support for interim security arrangements.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54059#.V0fCfpGLSUl
26.5.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Yemen's warring sides agree prisoner swap before Ramadan
Yemen's warring parties have agreed to a prisoner exchange before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early June, sources from both delegations told Reuters on Thursday.
The decision was a show of goodwill between the Iran-allied Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed exile government as peace talks in Kuwait aimed at ending a year-long war dragged into a second month. However, the two sides appeared to differ on the number of prisoners to be released.
Sources from the Houthi militia's delegation said 1,000 prisoners would be swapped, while a government source said the agreement entailed the release of "all detainees," who number more than 4,000.
The sides will submit a list of prisoner requests to U.N. mediators within two days, after which "local committees" would be created to facilitate the exchanges, the Houthi sources said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0YH2CD
and by Houthi affiliated Saba Net:
26.5.2016 – Saba Net (A P)
One thousand Yemeni prisoners to be released before Ramadan
An agreement was reached to release one thousand prisoners from both of the parties to the conflict in Yemen before the holy month of Ramadan, sources in the national delegation in Kuwait said on Thursday.
The sources explained to Saba that each party will submit a list of 500 prisoners to the United Nations next Saturday, which in turn will hand over the list of each party to the other party.
It was agreed on a mechanism for the formation and work of the field committees that will implement the exchange of prisoners and detainees before Ramadan, the sources added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428977.htm?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
26.5.2016 – Saba Net (A P)
National delegation, UN envoy discuss proposals for transition roadmap
The national delegation continued on Thursday, during a session with the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to discuss ideas and proposals relating to the transition roadmap.
In the session, the national delegation insisted on the need to form a consensus executive authority and determine the time-bound tasks and powers of the transitional phase leading to presidential and parliamentary elections.
The delegation underlined the importance of finding adequate guarantees for a political solution leads to stopping the Saudi aggression, lifting the siege, achieving peace and ending the suffering of the Yemeni people.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428976.htm
Comment: “National delegation”: Houthi / Saleh delegation.
26.5.2016 – Pars Today (A P)
Jemen-Friedensgespräche: Vertreter der Ansarollah und des Nationalkongresses kehren an den Verhandlungstisch zurück
Einen Tag nach der Ankündigung der Vertreter der Ansarollah und des Nationalkongesses,, sich aus den Jemen-Friedensgesprächen in Kuwait zurückzuziehen, hat der UNo-Gesandte für Jemen die Fortsetzung der Gepräche in Kuwait bekanntgegeben.
"Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed" legte vorgestern einen Bericht über den Stand der Jemen-Jemen-Gespräche vor und erklärte, Delegationen der Ansarollah und des Nationalkongresses werden doch nicht aus dem
Komitee zur Überwachung des Waffenstillstandes ausgetreten.
Ahmed bewertete den neuen Schritt der Ansarollah und des Nationalkongresses als ein Indiz dafür, dass sie ernsthaft an einem Erfolg der Verhandlungen interessiert seien.
Zuvor schrieb die jemenitische Delegation in einem Brief an den UN-Sonderbeauftragten für den Jemen, dass man wegen der Verstärkung der saudi-arabischen Angriffe und seiner Verbündeten auf den Jemen, die Teilnahme an den Sitzungen dieses Komitees aussetzen werde.
Kommentar: Iranische Quelle. „jemenitische Delegation“ hier: Houthis und Saleh-Anhänger des nationalkongresses.
26.5.2016 – AFP (A E P)
UN envoy calls for economic rescue plan for Yemen
The U.N. special envoy to Yemen Thursday called for an economic rescue plan for the war-battered and impoverished Arab nation.
"I propose the establishment of an economic rescue authority as soon as possible to save the Yemeni economy from further deterioration," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a press conference.
He said the body would comprise experts proposed by Yemen's warring parties which are locked in 5-week-old peace talks in Kuwait.
It would be consultative in nature and have the full backing of the United Nations and its agencies as well as the World Bank among others, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.
"The Yemeni economy requires an urgent intervention ... Economic deterioration is expected to boost inflation and price rises," he said.
https://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2016/May-26/353915-un-envoy-calls-for-economic-rescue-plan-for-yemen.ashx and by Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-talks-idUSKCN0YH2D7
26.5.2016 – Albawaba (A P)
Yemen peace talks: Government demands Saleh, Houthi leader be excluded from political settlement
Yemeni government delegates to peace talks in Kuwait have demanded that deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh be excluded from any political settlement, and that militias be disbanded before any agreement is reached.
The UN-backed unity government delegates said Saleh and Houthi Leader Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi need to be excluded prior to any political agreements.
Comment: Just ask: What should be the reason for this? What about Hadi?
26.5.2016 – Asharq Al-awsat (A P)
U.N. Envoy Speaks of Nearing Solution in Yemen
Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the Yemeni peace talks are anticipating a solution just right around the corner. Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper was able to procure information from political sources informed with the matter that international parties, along with some warring parties participating, are working on concluding an agreement which will put an end to the ongoing war in Yemen.
The work plan will be provided along with a timeline, including the implementation of U.N. resolution 2216, the return of the government to effective authority and the turn in of all armaments.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that discussions on Tuesday centered on “various military and security issues including withdrawals and troop movements”.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed had resorted to the help of a prominent Yemeni political figure in order to downsize and limit the difficult challenges facing unresolved arguments at the negotiations, sources added.
Not to mention that Houthi insurgents had repeatedly threatened to form a self-imposed government in Sanaa’.
“We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties,” Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement late Tuesday.
“We are now working on abolishing the current obstacles and are discussing practical details to an executive mechanism that makes sessions more sensitive and brings us closer to reaching an agreement,” he added.
On the other hand, a Western diplomat familiar with the talks said they had achieved considerable progress.
“We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises,” the diplomat told AFP, adding that he was “very optimistic” that a deal could be reached.
Moreover, and according to the U.N. envoy, two sessions were held with the government’s delegation on Tuesday. The meetings focused on withdrawal mechanisms, connecting the political aspect with the security framework and setting an action plan for the next stage – by Arafat Madabish
http://english.aawsat.com/2016/05/article55351445/u-n-envoy-speaks-nearing-solution-yemen
Comment: Wait and see. Of course, anti-Houthi propaganda cannot be omissed in this article.
26.5.2016 – Gulf News (A P)
Yemen negotiator switches talks’ tactics
Rival sides will meet separately with experts and UN peace mission staff will move from New York to Amman to speed up mediation
The UN Special envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, who is mediating between Yemen’s warring factions in Kuwait, has stopped direct talks, a tactic meant to end weeks of impasse.
“The UN envoy has suspended direct talks between our delegation and Al Houthis to save time and find common ground,” a Yemeni government official familiar with talks told Gulf News on Thursday.
The UN envoy has found out in the face-to-face meetings we spend hours arguing and hurling accusations at each other. So, he decided not to bring us together in one room and alternatively discuss each delegation’s views separately,” the official said.
“During our boycott of talks, the UN envoy extensively met with Al Houthis. Now, it is our turn. Our military experts briefed Ould Shaikh Ahmad about our plan for Al Houthis’ withdrawal from cities,” the official said.
The military experts proposed to divide Al Houthi-controlled territory into areas A (Sana’a, Taiz, Hodeida), B (Dhaleh, Bayhan, Baydha) and C (Ibb, Mahweet, remaining provinces).
They suggest the militants pull out of area A first and hand over their arms to a security committee formed by President Hadi.
Analysts remain pessimistic about the outcome of talks, despite words of optimism issued by the UN envoy.
“Al Houthis are dragging their feet over releasing prisoners and they are not taking steps to hand over the prisoners which they promised to happen in 20-days time. Ten days have passed already,” Mukhtar Al Rahabi, a former media aide to Hadi told Gulf News on Thursday.
“Al Houthis are using the peace talks to get a breather from Arab coalition air strikes,” he added.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-negotiator-switches-talks-tactics-1.1835592
Comment: The Hadi government wants the Houthis to capitulate, now by precise steps. This is the way to bring peace talks to a failure -by saeed Al-Batati
25.5.2016 – Press TV Iran (* A K P)
US, Saudi Arabia misusing Kuwait peace talks on Yemen: Activist
Press TV has conducted an interview with Hussain al-Bukhaiti, activist and political commentator from Sana’a, about the resumption of Saudi airstrikes against the Yemeni people as warring parties are holding peace talks in Kuwait.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: You heard our news and what the news indicates as to the reasons why the talks have broken off. What do you think are the reasons behind the break-off of these talks?
Bukhaiti: First of all is what happened in the morning that the Riyadh delegate refused to come to the morning meeting. In that meeting, they were supposed, both sides, to hand a list of all prisoners in Taiz Province. So, they can study those names and check those names and then for a future release. So, the Riyadh delegate has not come to this meeting. They have even switched off their mobile phones and they have refused to answer the calls from Sana’a delegate and as well from the UN envoy to Yemen Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh [Ahmed].
And as well in the last 24 to 28 hours the Saudi-backed forces have conducted massive attacks and the largest was in al-Jawf Province in an area called al-Matun … , central al-Jawf, [during which] 35 soldiers of the Saudi-backed forces were killed and injured. This high number showed amount of the attack that was conducted on that area. Ansarullah, the Houthi, the Popular Committee and the Yemeni Army have destroyed several of the Saudi armored vehicles and tanks in that area. And as well, the head of al-Qaeda in al-Jawf which his name is … Hamad Mana Gharza was killed as well in this attack and they show you that they are fighting side-by-side as they did in Aden as they did in Taiz and they are doing now the same thing exactly in Ma’rib and in al-Jawf.
And I think … that’s why the truce committee has suspended its talk with Riyad delegate because they want to make a point that those delegates are the one that … are not keeping the truce, because from the beginning of this so-called truce, there was over 158 Saudi airstrikes on several different areas in Yemen, including massive attacks in many areas in Yemen. And as well there are hundreds of new armored vehicles coming from Saudi [Arabia] and they have reached Ma’rib and al-Jawf in the last 72 hours.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/05/25/467404/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US-Peace-Talks-Bukhaiti
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
26.5.2016 – Almasdar (A P)
Saudi says Hajj talks with Iran ‘positive’
Saudi Arabia said talks on Wednesday with visiting Iranian delegates on arrangements for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic have been “positive”. Earlier this month, Tehran said “arrangements have not been put together” for Iranians to make this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of the summer, accusing Riyadh of “sabotage”.
On Wednesday, Saudi hajj ministry undersecretary Hussein Sharif said the kingdom and its leadership “welcome pilgrims from all around the world”. The two sides discussed “arrangements, as well as organization and services” for pilgrims, he told reporters after a session of talks with the delegation from Tehran. He said an agreement had been reached following the arrival of the delegation Tuesday to “use electronic visas which could be printed out” by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran.
A final agreement would be signed at the end of the ongoing talks, he said. Tehran had said that Riyadh insists that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and does not allow pilgrims to be flown in aboard Iranian aircraft, which Iran has rejected. Sharif did not give a clear answer on the airlines that would be allowed to carry passengers from Iran to Saudi Arabia as air links remain severed. “Directives concerning the air carrier will come from the Saudi civil aviation authority,” said Sharif.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-says-hajj-talks-iran-positive/
Comment: Business is business.
cp9 USA
25.5.2016 – The Intercept (A P)
Former 9/11 Commissioner Won’t Rule Out Saudi Royal Family Foreknowledge of 9/11 Plot
A FORMER MEMBER of the 9/11 Commission on Tuesday left open the possibility that the Saudi royal family knew about the 9/11 terror plot before it happened.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., asked members of the panel at a House Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing to raise their hands in response to this question:
“How many of you there believe that the royal family of Saudi Arabia did notknow and was unaware that there was a terrorist plot being implemented that would result in a historic terrorist attack in the United States, in the lead-up to 9/11?”
Two of the four panelists raised their hands.
Rohrabacher left no doubt about his views, saying, “The Saudi royal family [has] been right up to their eyeballs in supporting radical Islamic terror in the Middle East.”
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
26.5.2016 – Janes ( K P)
UK rejects claim BL 755 cluster munition used in Yemen
British ministers have dismissed a claim that the Saudi-led coalition has used a UK-made cluster munition during its military operation in Yemen.
"There is no evidence yet that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament on 24 May.
Saudi Arabia's military spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, told CNN on 11 January that the coalition had used a CBU-105 submunitions weapon against a military target.
Hammond's statement was a response to an Amnesty International report documenting a malfunctioned BL 755 cluster bomb found in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah.
http://www.janes.com/article/60748/uk-rejects-claim-bl-755-cluster-munition-used-in-yemen
Comment: Hammond is rather funny. What does he think how BL 755 got there? Forgotten be archeologists digging for a Sabaean city in the 1970? Supplied to gold diggers to achieve any holes in the ground?
24.5.2016 – Parliament (A K P)
Film: Debat on Yemen in the House of Commons. Watch @TasminaSheikh's urgent question on cluster munitions in #Yemen + supply of UK weapons to #Saudi coalition
http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/bf38b277-7e14-4717-bbe3-138ca2657954?in=12:35:49
and read on it:
25.5.2016 – The National Scot (* A K P)
MoD review launched after NGO alleges UK-made cluster bomb was used by Saudis in Yemen
THE UK is “urgently investigating” claims that a British-made cluster bomb was used in Saudi strikes on Yemen, it has emerged.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday announced the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched an inquiry after Amnesty International discovered evidence of the munition during a recent operation in the crisis-hit country.
Hammond’s comments came after the SNP’s Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh lodged an urgent question in the House of Commons, calling on Hammond to acknowledge that “the continued use of British bombs has resulted in the deaths of Yemeni men, women and children” and apologise for the Government’s “inaction” on the issue.
However, Hammond said the weapon, made by Hunting Engineering in the 1970s, may date from earlier fighting and cautioned: “We need to be careful. There is no evidence yet that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions.”
He told the Commons: “The UK has long since given up the use of cluster munitions. They are, their use or their supply, illegal under British law and the weapons that are being described here are decades old. But the MoD is urgently investigating the allegations that have been made.”
Hospitals, schools, factories and food warehouses are among the sites destroyed since Saudi-led forces entered Yemen’s internal conflict last year.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has more than 100 signatories, became international law in 2010 and bans the use, holding, production and transfer of the explosives, which release small bomblets over a large area. Amnesty International said it found the partially-exploded BL-755 cluster bomb in a village in the north of the country.
Defence Minister Philip Dunne said the UK last provided such weapons to Saudi Arabia in 1989, adding: “Based on all of the information available to us, including sensitive coalition operational reporting, we assess that no UK-supplied cluster weapons have been used or UK-supplied aircraft have been involved in the use of UK cluster weapons in the current conflict in Yemen.
“We are aware of reports of the alleged use of cluster munitions by the coalition in Yemen.
“We have raised the issue of their use during the current conflict in Yemen several times with the Saudi Arabian authorities and in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions continue to encourage Saudi Arabia as a non-party to the convention to accede to it.
“The Saudis have previously denied using UK cluster munitions during the conflict in Yemen but we are seeking fresh assurances in light of this new, serious allegation.”
Yesterday, the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald said: “This government have truly got their head stuck in the sand. Yemen faces one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, yet through their continuing sale of arms to Saudi Arabia the UK Government are exacerbating the plight of the Yemeni people. Is our arms trade with Saudi Arabia worth so much more than the thousands of men, women and children involved in and dying in this terrible conflict?”
Dunne said the exports had “been about providing capability to cope with incursion by foreign powers” to a country fighting Daesh and playing a key role in regional security – by Kirsteen Paterson
Comment by Jamila Hanan: Let's be clear: ONLY thing UK is 'urgently investigating' is how to cover up it's involvement in war crimes
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/735800683388149761
and read the whole debate, all questions and answers by the government here:
24.5.2016 – They work for you (* A K P)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24b.390.5
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24b.394.2&s=Yemen+section%3Adebate#g394.7
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-05-24b.400.2#g410.4
cp13a Mercenaries / Söldner
26.5.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K)
UAE to dispatch more mercenaries to Yemen: Report
The United Arab Emirates has signed a $529-million contract with a security firm to send more mercenaries to Yemen to fight alongside Saudi forces in the impoverished war-torn country.
The accord was inked between Major General Eisa Saif Mohammad al-Mazroui, representing the Emirati forces, and a person identified as Michael Romy, representing the security services company Reflex Responses Management Consultancy LLC, Yemen’s al-Masirah TV reported.
Under the deal, the Abu Dhabi-based firm has agreed to provide the units of Emirati mercenaries with security services.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/05/26/467545/UAE-Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Taizz
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
26.5.2016 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees
UNHCR Regional Update - Yemen Situation #38 (April 2016)
KEY FIGURES
3,201,633 People affected by the conflict (in Yemen and adjacent countries), including refugees and internally displaced persons prior to and as a result of the current conflict.
2,755,916 Persons internally displaced prior to and as a result of the current conflict.
177,620 Arrivals to Djibouti, Ethiopia Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Sudan mainly by sea or overland since late March 2015.
268,097 Refugees in Yemen assisted with protection assistance and life sustaining interventions and items.
457,224 Internally displaced Yemenis reached in Yemen with emergency relief items since the onset of the crisis by UNHCR and partners.
FUNDING
USD 172.2 Million Requested by UNHCR for the situation
HIGHLIGHTS
Yemen:
From 10 to 13 April 2016, UNDSS and UNHCR conducted a security assessment in Aden. In mid-April 2016, floods and landslides affected over 49,000 individuals across Yemen, damaging houses, crops and vital infrastructure. UNHCR coordinated the shelter and relief items response for nearly 15,000 persons.
Djibouti:
Almost 830 Yemeni refugees, originating mainly from Bab Al Mandab, spontaneously returned from Obock (Djibouti) to Yemen as of the end of April 2016.
According to immigration police in Obock, Djibouti, over 500 Yemeni nationals originating from Aden arrived in Djibouti from 11 to 24 April 2016. Rather than seeking asylum, they transited through Djibouti before travelling onwards to other countries. Moreover, some spontaneous returns of Yemeni refugees to Yemen continue to be observed. Almost 830 Yemeni refugees originating mainly from Bab Al Mandab spontaneously returned from Obock as of late April 2016. The conditions of return continue to be assessed as unsafe, both at the departure point because of rough seas and upon arrival in Yemen because of insecurity. In early April 2016, a few vessels were not allowed to leave Obock port by the Djiboutian coast guard. Refugees waited for two days before making the trip to Bab Al Mandab and Al Mokha in Yemen.
Somalia:
UNHCR monitors spontaneous returns of Yemenis from the port of Berbera and learned of 40 individuals who returned to Yemen on 23 March, despite unsafe conditions.
New Arrivals to Yemen
In April 2016, 11,245 people arrived in Yemen, representing an eight per cent increase compared to March 2016. Most of the new arrivals, about 9,300 individuals, occurred along the Arabian Sea coast. Ethiopians continue to represent the majority of new arrivals, 10,227 individuals, followed by 1,016 Somalis and two Djiboutian nationals. The 2016 yearly total of new arrivals so far is 39,962 persons, compared to 44,098 over the last four months of 2015.
Despite the high arrival figures, the sea journey remains dangerous. Five individuals drowned in deep water off the Yemeni coast in April (three in the Arabian Sea and two in the Red Sea). So far in 2016, 32 individuals went missing or have died at sea in Yemeni waters.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-regional-update-yemen-situation-38-april-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNHCR%20Yemen%20Situation%20Update%20%2338%20-%20April%202016.pdf
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
26.5.2016 – Reuters (B T)
Al Qaeda still reaping oil profits in Yemen despite battlefield reverses
Al Qaeda may have been pushed out of the enclave it carved out in Yemen as the country descended into civil war, but the militants are still entrenched in other parts of the country's south, reaping profits from smuggled fuel.
A month later, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is thriving by joining diverse armed groups in taxing fuel delivered illicitly to remote beaches along the Arabian Sea coast, security, tribal and shipping sources say.
Home to Yemen's largest industrial project, a now-shut liquefied natural gas export facility at Belhaf, Shabwa is divided among al Qaeda, government troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Houthi forces and armed tribes.
Tribal sources say all sides are benefiting at a time of extreme fuel shortages around the country.
"There are five checkpoints in Shabwa between Bir Ali and Ataq leading to the (Houthi-controlled) interior ... one by the army, one by a tribal militia and one by the acting governor. Al Qaeda maintains two at Azzan," a local tribal leader said.
General Faraj al-Buhsani, commander of the Yemeni forces which routed AQAP in Mukalla, concurred.
"In Azzan (al Qaeda) has a hub for the trade in oil products coming from Belhaf and that area in the direction of Shabwa which is ongoing. We are hearing about this continuously."
Director of the Shabwa governor's office, Muhsin al-Haj, defended the province's role in the illegal trade when it is struggling to maintain security with limited outside help.
"Shabwa is running on the most basic resources," he told Reuters. "In a province of 42,000 sq km, we have just two security cars, and they're not even armed."
25.5.2016 – Press TV Iran (* A K P)
US, Saudi Arabia misusing Kuwait peace talks on Yemen: Activist
Press TV has conducted an interview with Hussain al-Bukhaiti, activist and political commentator from Sana’a, about the resumption of Saudi airstrikes against the Yemeni people as warring parties are holding peace talks in Kuwait.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Well, let’s take a look at the military aspects of this Saudi war on Yemen. The most recent development that I think is of significance is the fact that the US has dispatched what it has called special forces, a couple of hundred of them, to, I believe, Mukalla or for them to operate in Mukalla. It was supposed to be a short-term stay, at this point it’s going on for weeks. Don’t you think that the US, if it wanted to, could contribute more to the political side but it’s playing a key role in maintaining a military, what they think, solution to this war and that’s providing military support to the Saudis not to mention the UK also?
Bukhaiti: No, I mean the US, they are doing exactly what the Saudis are doing during this truce, they are using the Kuwait talk for a cover to move forces across Yemen. And we know that American forces have landed in Yemen in the first week of this truce and they show you they don’t really want any peace in Yemen. And we have heard in the last three days that the American Treasury has declared two Yemenis as terrorists. And their name is Ghalib Abdullah al-Zaidi and this guy is the head of the Saudi-backed forces … in Ma’rib and as well the Aden governor who was appointed by Hadi in December 2015, his name is Nayef al-Qaisi. They are declared as al-Qaeda supporter and al-Qaeda leader and al-Qaeda commander and they are financing al-Qaeda in Yemen. And they are as well using and fighting in al-Qaeda fighting side by side with al-Qaeda to fight Ansarullah, the Houthi.
This is the exact word the US Treasury has said about these people and those people are in the Saudi-backed forces, are in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. And one of the suspects of the al-Qaeda member that was declared months ago is Abdul Wahhab al-Homayqani, who is a member of the Riyadh delegates … [and] he is in Kuwait at this moment. And they show you the bias of the United States, while they are declaring people as al-Qaeda member and as terrorist, they are supporting these people on the ground, they are supporting Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-led coalition, which they are fighting the Yemeni Army and Ansarullah, the Houthi.
They are moving al-Qaeda, they have moved al-Qaeda from al-Mukalla and from Shabwah to Abyan and to Dhubab near Bab-el-Mandeb, south of Taiz. And they are making a training camp for those al-Qaeda members, because they’re going to transport them from the south to the north. And we’ve seen the latest attack as well in Aden. This shows you that the insecurity that the Saudi-backed forces have in those areas and they want the exact thing to happen in Sana’a and in any other area that’s under control of Ansarullah, the Houthi. They want us to be always under al-Qaeda attack. They don’t us to defend ourselves and that’s why they always insist for the Ansarullah, the Houthi and the Yemeni Army to hand their weapons. This is the exact thing that the Zionists are asking from Hezbollah, because they know that our weapons are the only means that we have to defend ourselves against this aggression.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/05/25/467404/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-US-Peace-Talks-Bukhaiti
24.1.2016 – RT (** B T)
‘US cooperating with Al-Qaeda again even after 9/11’
After the Al-Qaeda 9/11 attack on America the US is cooperating with the terrorist group as it did in Libya, Bosnia, and Kosovo, says former US diplomat Jim Jatras.
A senior figure from a Syrian rebel group Ahrar Al-Sham with links to Al-Qaeda reportedly visited the United States at the end of last year, according to an American news website.
Syrian militant group leader Labib al Nahhas, who calls himself “chief of Foreign Political Relations at Ahrar al-Sham,” allegedly arrived in the US capital for a short visit in December.
RT: What’s your take on the visit to the US by a key Ahrar Al-Sham figure? What do you think about the State department response when they were asked about this? They seemed to be quite evasive, didn’t they?
Jim Jatras: It is clearly tap dancing. And frankly it begs credibility that a fellow like this could come to the US. What – we don’t have visa controls? We don’t pay attention to who is coming into this country from a war zone? And they expect us to believe that officials of the US government were not aware of the visit? Mark Toner said that he [the Ahrar Al-Sham figure] didn’t have any meetings here, meaning the US State Department. I would infer that maybe he had meetings elsewhere with some other agencies.
RT: Do you have any idea what was behind the visit to the US?
JJ: My sense is that that they were operational meetings. We are hearing more and more noise about this so-called Plan B if the Russian and the Syrian governments do not knuckle under and agree that at the end of the transition Assad will go. We are getting these threats from the Saudis and the Turks, and frankly they are being backed by the Obama administration, that some kind of forceful action will be taken to secure a victory for these terrorist forces if we don’t get our way on what we demand from a supposed transition. And this worries me very much... They will step up their support for these terrorist groups. And I think Ahrar Al-Sham is one of the key components here despite their very close connection with Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra Front and their participation in this massacre at Zarah.
RT: Why do US officials keep working with this group which has been linked to Al-Qaeda and claim that they are not terrorists? Do you think that the US would be forced to sort of backtrack on their position or will they dig their heels in?
JJ: I think they will dig their heels in. This is not a mystery to anybody in Washington. They know very well that Ahrar Al-Sham and other so-called moderate groups are closely connected to Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda. And they don’t back away from them because they know without cooperation with Al-Qaeda, which is what it boils down to, they have no policy options in Syria; that they have to accept the fact that Assad is going to stay in power and the terrorists must be defeated. And they cannot accept that.
RT: With more evidence showing there is a link between Ahrar Al-Sham and Al-Qaeda – doesn’t it become more difficult for the US to deny that there is a link? Wouldn’t they have to reevaluate at some point?
JJ: No, I don’t think so at all. They know very well there is a link. And they also know most Americans simply are not paying attention. And here we are – how many years after the 9/11 attack on the US by Al-Qaeda and we are cooperating with Al-Qaeda as we did in Libya, as we did in Bosnia, as we did in Kosovo. They simply do not care because most Americans don’t seem to care.
RT: So, where does this lead the peace talks? Because obviously Russia does care, Assad does care.
JJ: I am not optimistic. I really am not. If the US and the Obama administration had a rational policy, we would be backing up, we would be rethinking our policy and the evidence is all to the contrary. Every once and a while you hear somebody say: “Looks like there is a deal between Washington and Moscow.”But all the evidence to me seems to suggest that they are still taking their marching orders from Riyadh, from Ankara and the Gulf States. And they are still bent on by hook or by crook securing a victory for the terrorists.
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/344224-us-syria-ahrar-al-sham-qaeda/
cp15 Propaganda
26.5.2016 – Saudi Press Agency (A K P)
The military coalition of Arab countries undertaking operation in Yemen has issued the following statement on its operations.
The countries in the Arab Coalition share responsibility for the defence of the Yemeni people and their legitimate government.
The Houthi militia and the former president of Yemen launched aggressive military operations against Yemen and its people. They have attacked the safety and security of the country and its population, threatened the security of neighbouring countries, and endangered regional and international peace and security.
Coalition forces intervened in Yemen in response to a direct request from the legitimate president of Yemen and with the full support of the United Nations Security Council. They did so to ensure peace and security in Yemen and in their own self-defence.
Coalition forces in Yemen have fully complied with international humanitarian law and international human rights law in their military operations. They are committed to their duty to protect civilians from the impact of the conflict.
Coalition forces operate according to strict rules of engagement and according to the following key principles:
Mechanisms and procedures of targeting
1. Coalition forces have a robust process to ensure all targets are genuinely military. All targeting relies on multiple sources. All sites are assumed to be civilian until they are proven to be military.
2. Coalition forces continually develop and update a list of sites that may not be targeted. These include sites with a civilian presence, places of worship, diplomatic sites, international governmental premises, non-governmental organization premises, and cultural sites. Updated lists of prohibited sites are circulated to all coalition forces.
3. Legal advisers are embedded in planning and targeting teams. They will not approve targets unless they are sure that they are legitimate under international law.
4. Coalition forces use precise, guided weapons.
5. Wherever possible, coalition forces issue advance warnings before attacking military targets to ensure civilians are not in their vicinity.
6. Coalition forces constantly develop their targeting processes, in particular through:
Constant development of the capabilities of targeting specialists, for example through specialised courses at international centers including the San Remo Institute for International Humanitarian Law, and through collaboration with friendly countries with targeting expertise.
·Applying additional review procedures when selecting targets to assure they are legitimate.
·Deploying front line observers to ensure there are no civilians in the vicinity of targets.
Assessment and investigation
The coalition implements the following assessment and investigation procedures after air strikes:
1. After each air strike a review and analysis is carried out based on operation records and reports from army units at the site to assess the success of the targeting operation and whether collateral damage has occurred
2. An initial rapid assessment is undertaken to inform immediate upcoming operations to avoid the repeat of any errors
3. Any air strike that has resulted in avoidable collateral damage is referred to the internal accident investigation team
4. Where claims about targeting of civilians, civilian facilities or NGO operations are made, investigations are conducted by a separate and distinct investigation team established at Coalition Air Force HQ. It has the following procedures:
·It collates target lists from the areas where claims are made.
·It compiles mission reports from the planes involved in the air strikes and the forward air controller.
·It accesses recordings from sorties over the claim area.
Once the investigations are complete, the following procedures are taken:
·Results of the investigations are declared.
·Compensation for the victims of collateral damage is pledged
·Recommendations are made to avoid the repeat of such incidents, including improvements in targeting procedures.
·Action is taken against any Coalition operative who has deliberately disobeyed the rules of engagement.
Since the Coalition started its operations in Yemen, it has sought to limit the humanitarian cost. It has established evacuation and humanitarian teams which co-ordinate with international relief organisations to limit the suffering of civilians and help ensure the supply of food and medical materials.
On over 3,000 occasions since the start of the military operation up until March 2016, the Coalition has co-ordinated the evacuation of civilians or taken actions to protect international relief organisations’ operations from military strikes.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1504715
and summing up by WAM
26.5.2016 – WAM (A K P)
Coalition Command in Yemen issues statement on protection of civilians and respecting international law
The Arab Coalition Command in Yemen said in a statement today that the coalition forces abide by international law in all their military operations across Yemen to protect civilians and their properties.
The statement referred to the aggressive acts and military hostilities committed by the Houthi militia and the former president’s forces in Yemen, as well as their seizure of weapons depots that included projectile systems from the military and security institutions in Yemen.
"In light of the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the Yemen crisis, the hostile acts and military escalation by the Houthi militias and the former president’s forces, their takeover of power which threatened the stability and security of Yemen and neighbouring countries, the Arab coalition forces intervened in Yemen on the basis of the self- defence principle, and upon a request from the legitimate President of Yemen to restore the security and stability to Yemen and its people," it added.
The statement underlined that the coalition command set rules of engagement in line with the international humanitarian law. These rules include the following: identification of the military targets that passes through several stages. It starts from selecting a target, analysing it and confirming it is a military target through several sources to avoid mistakes. There is a list of sites prohibited from being targeted, notably those with civilian presence, places of worship, diplomatic quarters, international governmental and non-governmental organisations and cultural sites. The list is updated constantly and sent on a periodic basis to all coalition forces units to ensure that they are aware of those restrictions.
Legal advisers shall be deployed to work with planning cells to study proposed targets and approve them so that no location is targeted unless its legitimacy and compatibility with the international humanitarian law is verified.
The coalition forces use precise and guided weapons, in spite of their high cost, in order to avoid any mistakes, collateral damage and casualties. They drop warning leaflets in the areas where military targets exist as a protective measure before any operation to ensure that civilians are not in the vicinity.
The coalition forces in Yemen constantly seek to develop capabilities of the coalition forces in the field of targeting mechanisms through specialised training courses in this field with some international centres such as (San Remo) institute for international humanitarian law, specialised in armed conflicts, and with collaboration of some friendly countries in the field of training specialists in these matters.
The coalition forces apply additional reviews on selected targets to increase the level of accuracy regarding the targeted sites.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/international/1395295985467.html and by Alekhbariya: http://www.alekhbariya.net/en/node/14603
and in a nutshell by AFP:
26.5.2016 – AFP (A K P)
The Saudi-led Arab military coalition fighting Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen said Thursday it respects international humanitarian law, denying accusations by rights groups.
The coalition command, in a statement, gave assurances that it “respects the rules of international humanitarian law and human rights in all its military operations” in Yemen.
“To defend civilians and shelter them from the impact of the conflict,” the coalition had imposed “strict... rules of engagement in accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law.”
As well as identifying targets, these rules also focused on the use of precision weapons and dropping leaflets warning people in areas with military targets, it added.
The coalition was also evaluating its air strikes in Yemen and investigates allegations about some incidents, the command said.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/930091/middle-east = http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/arab-coalition-denies-human-rights-violations-yemen/
Comment: This really must be labeled as propaganda. The coalition not targeting civilians… The coalition not violating human rights… The coalition investigating all of it’s air strikes… The coalition just having followed the call of the legitimate president… The Houthis as the bad guys in the story… did we all hear again and again, the scores of civilians stay dead and wounded, the country stays in rubble, and just YOU did it.
26.5.2016 – Qantara (A P)
Im Fadenkreuz der jemenitischen Putschisten
Eine ehemalige Ministerin aus dem Jemen wird in ihrer Heimat bedroht und zur Asylbewerberin in Deutschland, wo sie sich für die Integration von Flüchtlingen einsetzt. Mit ihr sprach Ali Almakhlafi.
Nach den dramatischen Ereignissen, derer die jemenitische Hauptstadt Zeuge wurde und im Zuge derer die Minister und der Staatspräsident (dessen Leibgarde dabei umgebracht wurde) in einen Belagerungszustand gerieten, sah ich mich gezwungen, den Jemen zu verlassen. Einige Minister befinden sich bis heute noch in Haft. Es gibt im Jemen Zehntausende inhaftierte Journalisten, Politiker und Menschenrechtsaktivisten.
Niemand, nicht einmal die UNO mit ihrem politischen Gewicht, hat es vermocht, auf die Putschisten Druck auszuüben, damit diese Personen frei kommen können. Es handelt sich um Vertreter der Zivilgesellschaft, nicht um Militärs. Sie haben sich keines Verbrechens schuldig gemacht, das ihre Inhaftierung rechtfertigen würde. Einige von ihnen wurden an unbekannte Orte verschleppt, ohne dass deren Angehörige irgendetwas von ihrem Schicksal wissen. So stellte sich die damalige Situation dar. Ich hatte also keine andere Wahl, als nach einem sicheren Ort für mich zu suchen.
Die aus der Salih-treuen jemenitischen Armee hervorgegangenen Milizen bombardierten mit Kampfflugzeugen den Amtssitz des zu jenem Zeitpunkt in Aden residierenden Übergangspräsidenten Hadi, wodurch sich dieser zur Flucht nach Saudi-Arabien gezwungen sah. Letzteres schmiedete eine Koalition zum Schutz der rechtmäßigen Regierung, dabei auch an seine eigene nationale Sicherheit denkend, denn die Zusammenarbeit der Huthi-Rebellen mit dem Iran wie auch deren Provokationen in Form von militärischen Manövern entlang der südlichen Grenze des Königreichs machten Saudi-Arabien Sorgen.
Kommentar: An den von den Houthis begangenen Verbrechen gibt es nichts zu beschönigen. Bei ihnen die Schuld für das Scheitern des politischen Prozesses von 2012-2014 zu suchen, ist jedoch viel zu einfach. Hadi wollte sie politisch ausmanövrieren, das ließen sie sich nicht bieten. Mit ihrer abenteuerlichen Bewertung der saudischen Intervention, wie sie hier wiedergegeben ist – der Luftkrieg und die Zerstörung des halben Landes sind kein Wort der Erwähnung wert, für die todbringende Intervention werden alle möglichen Rechtfertigungen bemüht, und (hier nicht zitiert), die Verleumdung von jemenitischen Menschenrechtsorganisationen, die den Luftkrieg zum Thema machen – machen die Suada von Frau Mansoor leider zu einer (nicht einmal guten) Propagandaveranstaltung.
26.5.2016 – Alyaman Al Araby (A P)
Hadi talking about federal Yemen
http://www.alyamanalaraby.com/54813
Comment: Still clinging to the political ideas of the day before yesterday; but Yemen needs new ones.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
26.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi airstrikes kill 11 in Dhalea
At least 11 people were killed in Dhalea province when the Saudi warplanes targeted al-Mahla area with several raids, a military official said Thursday.
The Saudi warplanes also hit Harib-al-Qaramish area and Serwah district of Mareb province with several air raids, the official said, adding the raids caused many casualties.
Moreover, a woman was wounded when the aggression targeted Hareb-Nehm in Sana'a province with two air raids to back an attempt of the hirelings to make progress on the ground.
The aggression dropped sound bombs on the sky of Harf Sufyan district of Amran province, he noted.
Meanwhile, the Saudi aggression intensified flying on the skies of the capital and its suburbs, Taiz and its coastline, Sa'ada, Hajjah, Mareb and Mahweet, Jawf provinces.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428942.htm
26.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplane wages raid on Mareb
The Saudi war jets waged on Thursday an air raid on Harib-Nehm area in the western part of Mareb province, a local official said.
The official did not mention any details on casualties caused by the raid, condemning strongly the continuation of the Saudi aggression and its hirelings to breach ceasefire in the country.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428920.htm
25.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Aggression wages 4 raids on Mareb
The Saudi fighter jets waged on Wednesday four air raids on Serwah district of Mareb province, a local official said.
The warplanes launched three raids on some bulldozers belong to citizens who work in quarries in Hailan Mount and a raid on Sanomah intersection between Serwah and Harib al-Qaramesh districts, he explained.
No casualties were reported in the raids.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428847.htm
25.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi airstrike kills six, injures eight in Mareb
At least six citizens were killed and eight others were wounded in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in Mareb province, a local official said Wednesday.
The official told Saba that the hostile war jets targeted Sanoma area in Harib al-Qaramish district in the province, which led the killing of six citizens and injuring eight others.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428809.htm
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
26.5.2016 – Khabar Agency (A K PH)
#Yemen: At least 20 #Saudi military vehicles arrive al-Matoon east of #Jawf coming from #Marib
http://khabaragency.net/lasten61584.html
26.5.2016 – Khabar Agency (A K PH)
#Yemen-i forces killed 20 of pro #Saudi fighters in Nehim east of #Sanaa
http://khabaragency.net/lasten61561.html
26.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
In Sana'a province, the Riyadh's hirelings targeted the army and popular committees' sites in Nehm district and fired tens of rockets on Mabda'a, Bani Bareq and Malh areas in the district, according to the official.
A number of the hirelings were killed or injured in Jawf province, when the army and popular committees repelled an attempt to advance towards al-Masloub district. They army and popular committees also repulsed an attempt of the hirelings to advance towards on al-Ghail district in Jawf province, while the hirelings pounded al-Ghail and al-Moton districts with missiles.
The hirelings in Taiz province hit al-Qashuba area in al-Waze'yah district, al-Amri and Dhubab city with artillery shells.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news428942.htm
26.5.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Taiz BLEEDING: 8 civilians killed & 78 injured by Houthi snipers & rockets over 1 week in war torn #Yemen city Taiz.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/735854377190207489
26.5.2016 – Ahmad Alghobary (A K PH)
Breaking: Heavy clashes in Aljawf between Ansar Allah (Houthis ) and #Saudi backed forces #Yemen https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/735868277910605827
26.5.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K PH)
9 #houthi & #Yemen army kild by #Saudi #UAE strikes&failed mass attack attempt on Nehim E #Sanaa #Yemen 27 #KSA backd forces kild
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/735866395762790402
26.5.2016 – Khabar News Agency (A K PH)
Pro #saudi plans to advance in Nehim east of #Sanaa were failed by #Yemen-i forces
http://khabaragency.net/lasten61559.html
26.5.2016 – Khabar News Agency (A K PH)
Yemen-i forces repel an attack launched by pro #Saudi in Shamayteen of #Taiz
http://www.khabaragency.net/lasten61537.html
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
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