Yemen: Spin versus truth - War on Terror - American exceptionalism - America's worst plans - Saudi fiasco in Yemen - Blackwater mercenaries in Yemen - and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
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
31.5.2016 – Alistair Reign (** B K)
Yemen: Words Versus Tweets – Spin Versus Truth
While reading The National’s article titled “After a year in Yemen, our resolve is firm”, I could not concentrate on the weak words, because the images of what the Yemen war and blockade looks like for the men, women, children and babies are far more powerful. The article expresses concern with a few feeble words of hope for peace soon. After I read the article, I said out loud, “what the fuck, why is this article even given web space?“
So I decided to give it worth – with a juxtaposition of words and tweets.
https://alistairreignblog.com/2016/05/31/yemen-words-versus-tweets-spin-versus-truth/
Comment: The article which is analysed here was published in The National UAE on March 26, 2016 (http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/editorial/after-a-year-in-yemen-our-resolve-is-firm). A great comparison of propaganda wording and reality – in images, often very graphic.
27.5.2016 – Der Freitag (** B T)
"Krieg gegen den Terror" - kein Ende in Sicht
Die USA auf Irrwegen Präsident Obama feiert den Tod des Taliban-Führers Mansour als „wichtigen Meilenstein“ zum Frieden. Der Mord an Terrorführern verschärft jedoch nachweislich die Gewalt.
Taliban-Führers Mansour wurde durch eine US-Drohne hingerichtet. Präsident Obama spricht von einem “wichtigen Meilenstein”.
Mansours Nachfolger Haibatullah Akhundzada gilt als extrem radikaler Geistlicher.
Ein Selbstmordanschlag in Kabul folgte auf seine Ernennung. Zehn Gerichtsangestellte und Zivilisten sterben.
Die wissenschaftliche Forschung belegt, dass die Exekution von Terrroristenführern entweder keine, meistens jedoch extrem nachteilige Konsequenzen mit sich zieht – von Jakob Reimann
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/jakob-reimann-justicenow/krieg-gegen-den-terror-kein-ende-in-sicht
26.5.2016 – 21. Century Wire (** B P)
Gaslighting: State Mind Control and Abusive Narcissism
Exceptionalism: the condition of being different from the norm; also: a theory expounding the exceptionalism especially of a nation or region.
There are many theories surrounding the origin of American exceptionalism. The most popular in US folklore, being that it describes America’s unique character as a “free” nation founded on democratic ideals and civil liberties. The Declaration of Independence from British colonial rule is the foundation of this theory and has persevered throughout the often violent history of the US since its birth as a free nation.
Over time, exceptionalism has come to represent superiority in the minds and hearts of Americans. Belief in their economic, military and ideological supremacy is what has motivated successive US governments to invest in shaping the world in their superior image with little or no regard for the destruction left in the wake of their exceptional hegemony.
In considering itself, exceptional, the US has extricated itself from any legal obligation to adhere to either International law or even the common moral laws that should govern Humanity. The US has become exceptionally lawless and authoritarian particularly in its intolerant neo-colonialist foreign policy. The colonized have become the colonialists, concealing their brutal savagery behind a veneer of missionary zeal that they are converting the world to their form of exceptionalist Utopia.
So why do the American people accept US criminal hegemony, domestic and foreign brutal tyranny & neo-colonialist blood-letting with scant protest? Why do the European vassal states not rise up against this authoritarian regime that flaunts international law and drags its NATO allies down the path to complete lawlessness and diplomatic ignominy?
The gargantuan apparatus of mind bending and controlling is being put into hyper drive by the ruling elite. We are inundated with propaganda that challenges our sense of reality but only after being “tenderized” by the fear factor. Fear of “terror”, fear of war, fear of financial insecurity, fear of gun violence, fear of our own shadow. Once we are suitably quaking in our boots, in comes the rendition of reality that relieves our anxiety. If we challenge this version of events we are labelled a conspiracy theorist, a threat to security. We are hounded, discredited, slandered and ridiculed. We are isolated and threatened.
Wars are started in the same way. Despite the hindsight that should enable us to see it coming, the process swings into motion with resounding success. The ubiquitous dictator, the oligarch who threatens to destroy all that the US and her allies represent which of course is, freedom, equality & civil liberty all wrapped up in the Democracy shiny paper and tied with the exceptionalist ribbon.
Next the false flag to engender fear, terror and to foment sectarian strife. The support of a “legitimate” organic, indigenous “revolution” conveniently emerging in tandem with US ambitions for imposing their model of governance upon a target nation. The arming of “freedom fighters”, the securing of mercenary additions to these manufactured proxy forces. All this is sold in the name of freedom and democracy to a public that is already in a state of anxiety and insecurity, lacking in judgement or insight into any other reality but that of their “abuser”.
Finally, the Humanitarians are deployed. The forces for “good”, the vanguard of integrity and ethical intervention. The power that offers all lost souls a stake-holding in the salvation of sovereign nations that have lost their way and need rescuing. A balm for a damaged soul, to know they can leave their doubts and fears in such trustworthy hands as HRW, Amnesty International, they can assuage their deep sense of guilt at the suffering being endured by the people of far flung nations because they can depend upon the NGOs to provide absolution with minimal effort on their part. They don’t realise that NGOs are an integral part of their abuser’s apparatus, operating on the leash of neo-colonialist financing and influence. NGOs provide the optic through which the abuser will allow the victim to perceive their world and once absorbed into this flawed prism the victim’s own cognitive dissonance will ensure they do not attempt a jail break.
In this state of oppressed consciousness the victim accepts what they are told. They accept that the US can sell cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia that obliterate human beings and lay waste to essential civilian infrastructure in Yemen. They accept that the US financially, ideologically & militarily supports the illegal state of Israel and provides the arsenal of experimental weapons that maim and mutilate children and civilians on a scale that is unimaginable. They accept that a crippling blockade of the already impoverished and starving nation of Yemen is “necessary” to resolve the issues of sectarian divisions that only exist in the minds of their Congressional abusers.
The majority of Americans accept mass murder under the pretext of the right to protect, because their ability to form rational and reasoned opinions has been engineered out of them. This is now the definition of US exceptionalism. It is their ability to manipulate the world into accepting their lawlessness and global hegemony agenda. In seeking to impose its own image upon our world the US has drifted so far from its founding principles, one wonders how they will ever return to them – by Vanessa Beeley
http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/05/26/gaslighting-state-mind-control-and-abusive-narcissism/
27.5.2016 – Consortium News (*** B P)
America’s Worst Laid Plans
The U.S. government seeks to impose neo-liberal economics on the world even though those “free-market” policies funnel global wealth to a tiny fraction at the top, cause widespread despair and spark political turmoil, Michael Brenner explains.
The United States has been pursuing an audacious project to fashion a global system according to its specifications and under its tutelage since the Cold War’s end.
For a quarter of a century, the paramount goal of all its foreign relations has been the fostering of a system whose architectural design features the following:
–a neo-liberal economic order wherein markets dictate economic outcomes and the influence of public authorities to regulate them is weakened;
–this entails a progressive financializing of the world economy which concentrates the levers of greatest power in a few Western institutions – private, national and supranational;
–if inequality of wealth and power is the outcome, so be it;
–security provided by an American-led concert that will have predominant influence in every region;
–a readiness to use coercion to remove any regime that directly challenges this envisaged order;
–the maintenance of a large, multi-functional American military force to ensure that the means to deal with any contingency as could arise;
–all cemented by the unquestioned conviction that this enterprise conforms to a teleology whose truth and direction were confirmed by the West’s total victory in the Cold War.
Therefore, it is inherently a virtuous project whose realization will benefit all mankind. Virtue is understood in both tangible and ethical terms.
American ‘Destiny’
The project has registered some remarkable successes (at least by its own definitions). The Washington sponsored Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its counterpart`, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTPI), ensconce a privileged position for corporate interests that supersedes that of governments in binding international law.
The towering financial conglomerates have emerged from the great financial panic and Great Recession, which they caused, not only unscathed but bigger, stronger and with a stranglehold over macro-economic policy across most of the globe.
The United States, the progenitor of neo-liberalism and its operational guide, has seen its democracy converted into a plutocracy in all but name. The more things change, the more they must be made to seem the same.
Wealth Concentration
At home, the flaw (fatal or not) is the absence of all restraint in grabbing for riches and powers without leaving a reasonable portion, along with credible illusions of democratic control, for the mass of citizenry. Abroad, hubris fed by a combination of faith in American exceptionalism, the intoxication of power, and studied ignorance has generated fantasies of molding alien societies in our image – while ignoring the strength of countervailing forces as embodied by China, Russia and the multiple expressions of fundamentalist Islam.
It is in the political/security sphere that the historic American project faltered badly. Individual developments signal at once basic design flaws and obtuse implementation The upwelling of serious counter currents carries the message that setbacks are neither temporary nor readily containable.
The Middle East, of course, is where the pressure cooker of our own creation has exploded leaving a mess that covers the entire region, with the further risk of spreading beyond it.
Every major initiative has failed – and failed ignominiously. Iraq has fragmented into factions none of whom are reliable friends of Washington. Once a forbidden zone for Islamist jihadis, our intervention has spawned the most dangerous movement yet – ISIL, while inspiring Al Qaeda and its other spin-offs.
Embracing the Saudis
Washington’s deference to the Saudi royals has reached the extremity of its participating in the Saudi organized and led destruction of Yemen despite the cardinal truths that the Houthis, their enemy, is not a foe of the United States, and that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has made extensive gains as a result of the war (and ISIL has succeeded in implanted itself there as well).
For these contributions to the War on Terror, Secretary of State John Kerry effusively thanks Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman – the author of these reckless Saudi policies – for the fulsome contribution the Kingdom is making to suppress Islamic extremism. Why? American diplomacy is locked into the idea that it must reassure Saudi Arabia of our loyalty in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal.
Hence, we embrace an obscurantist autocratic regime whose self-defined interests are antithetical to our stated objectives, and whose behavior highlights the hypocrisy of America’s trumpeted crusade to promote democracy and to protect human rights. It has the added effect of vitiating any chances to engage Iran pragmatically to deal with the civil wars in Iraq and Syria.
Fifteen years ago, the United States launched its Middle East wars to make us secure from terrorism and to politically transform the region. Instead, we face a greater menace, we have destroyed governments capable of maintaining a modicum of order, we have registered no success in nation-building or democracy building, and we have undercut our moral authority worldwide.
Our leaders talk of “pivots” away from the turbulent Middle East, President Barack Obama voices an ambition to demilitarize foreign policy, yet the reality is that today there are American troops fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and now Libya with no prospect of those conflicts concluding.
The most stunning, and noteworthy, reaction at home to this unprecedented record of unrelieved failure is the lack of reaction. All the elements in America’s fantastic views of another, post-Cold War American Century not only survive, they exercise near total influence over our foreign policy elite – in government and outside it. The learning curve is flat.
The number of places where the U.S. is militarily engaged grows rather than diminishes. The definition of “terrorism,” of security, of American national interest broadens rather than narrows. The defense budget points upwards rather than downwards. The contradictions multiply. How to explain this perverse pattern?
Ignoring Consequences
Avoidance behavior is a natural if not universal response to stress and cognitive dissonance. It passes into the range of the pathological when it becomes persistent and diverges more and more from experienced reality. At that point, it enters the realm of fantasy – often, with fantasies succeeding each other in serial fashion.
To adapt what Clarence Ayres has written: “In important ways, (American foreign policy) is being run by a web of Belief that has been separated from Reason and Evidence. Its ways resemble … the network of mythological convictions” that characterize some primitive tribes. “The contradiction between experience and one mystical notion is explained by reference to other mystical notions.”
Black Hats/White Hats
Reiteration also takes the form of populating the strategic map with good guys and bad guys whose identification never changes whatever the evidence says. Hence, the white hats include the Saudi royals along with their school of Gulf Cooperation Council minnows, Erdogan’s Turkey, and of course Israel.
The black hats include: Iran, the Baathist regime in Syria, Hezbullah, Hamas, some Shi’ite factions in Iraq (Moqtada al-Sadr), and whoever opposes our sponsored, obedient would-be leaders in Libya, Yemen, Somalia, or wherever (think Latin America). Washington’s costume department does not stock gray hats.
The Global War on Terror notwithstanding, this casting makes us friends of ISIL’s and Al Qaeda’s friends and enemies of their enemies. No intellectual effort is evident to make the reconciliation.
Fighting the Big Boys
The ultimate expression of this psycho-mentality is to pick a fight with the really big guys: Russia and China. We know them from the last movie – and everybody remembers how we whipped the Russians’ ass – to use the hard-nosed parlance favored around Washington.
The extreme hostility toward a more assertive Russia and Vladimir Putin personally goes well beyond any realpolitik calculus. It has an emotional side clearly evident in the cartoonish exaggeration that marks almost all coverage of the country and the man.
Making Narratives Fit
A complementary device for perpetuating a crucial national myth of exceptionalism and superiority is to stress systematically those features of other nations, or situations, that conform to the requirements of the American national narrative while neglecting or downplaying opposite features.
Currently, we are witnessing the unfolding of an almost clinical example in the treatment of China – by Michael Brenner
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/05/27/americas-worst-laid-plans/
Comment: Very long article, here just some excerpts, please read in full at the original site.
26.5.2016 – Orient XXI (** B K)
Les contre-performances des armées du Golfe au Yémen
ANALYSE MILITAIRE D’UN FIASCO
Le 26 mars 2015, l’armée saoudienne formait une coalition avec la majorité des membres du Conseil de coopération du Golfe et d’autres pays arabes pour une offensive au Yémen dans le but de rétablir au pouvoir Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, chassé par les rebelles houthistes alliés à l’ex-président Ali Abdallah Saleh. Quatorze mois plus tard, les objectifs de Riyad ne sont pas atteints et les pertes sont sensibles. Des revers qui mettent en lumière les faiblesses structurelles de ces armées, pourtant richement dotées.
Quatorze mois plus tard, alors que se poursuivent de laborieuxpourparlers de paix au Koweït, les buts de guerre de Riyad : reprendre Sanaa et y rétablir le président Hadi, ne sont pas atteints2, tandis que les pertes des deux principaux acteurs de l’intervention, l’Arabie saoudite et les Émirats arabes unis sont sensibles. Par ailleurs, les dégâts collatéraux provoqués par les avions de la coalition affectent durement les populations civiles. À ce stade, le crédit des armées du Golfe en est affecté.
Compte tenu du secret des opérations et du travail assidu de propagande des deux camps, il n’est pas forcément aisé — et sûrement prématuré — d’en tirer déjà un bilan détaillé et précis, d’autant que des doutes subsistent sur le nombre de militaires engagés et de mercenaires étrangers sous le drapeau de tel ou tel État du Golfe. Néanmoins, ces revers mettent en lumière les faiblesses structurelles de ces armées, pourtant parmi les plus richement dotées du monde. Volume des forces, qualités militaires et capacités du commandement de la coalition sont principalement en cause –de Piree-Jacques Teisseire
http://orientxxi.info/magazine/les-contre-performances-des-armees-du-golfe-au-yemen,1341,1341
1.6.2016 – Mintpress News (** A K)
Blackwater/Academi Mercenaries Procured By United Arab Emirates Are Now Fighting In Yemen
The Saudis and the Emirates are grasping at any straws within their reach in order to shore up their faltering military campaign in Yemen.
Receiving scant attention from Western mainstream media outlets except for a few notable exceptions, Americans and many alternative media outlets have remained ignorant to the fact that private mercenaries from Blackwater (aka Academi) appear to have been contracted by the GCC Gulf state feudal monarchies to assist in the military war of terror in Yemen against the Houthi rebels and the embattled Yemeni people.
Still, on December 9, a flurry of reports from media outlets such as Press TV, TeleSur TV, Al-Manar, Al –Bawaba, and Colombia Reports have revealed that around 15 Blackwater mercenaries have been killed in a fierce battles with the Houthi forces.
Al-Masirah, Yemen’s Arabic language website reported that the Commander-In-Chief of the firm’s operation in Yemen, a Mexican national, was killed in the al-Omari district of Ta’izz Province.
Press TV reports that a number of British, French, and Australian advisers and commanders as well as six Colombian soldiers were killed.
In late November of 2015, it was reported that around 1,800 former Latin American soldiers who had been recruited by a program once managed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince were being trained in the desert of the United Arab Emirates to be used against the Houthis at some point.
It was estimated that about 450 of the soldiers were from Colombia.
The New York Times wrote that “The United Arab Emirates has secretly dispatched hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to Yemen to fight in that country’s raging conflict, adding a volatile new element in a complex proxy war that has drawn in the United States and Iran.”
El Tiempo placed the mercenary presence much earlier, however, suggesting that 100 Colombian soldiers had entered Yemen in October, a claim corroborated by The New York Times.
Colombia Reports stated that the mercenaries were being paid around $1,000 more per week than what they would have been paid as part of the Emirati deployment, and over triple the amount they would have made as members of the Colombian military. The contracts are allegedly for three-month-front-line service.
The New York Times reported on November 25,
The Colombian troops now in Yemen, handpicked from a brigade of some 1,800 Latin American soldiers training at an Emirati military base, were woken up in the middle of the night for their deployment to Yemen last month. They were ushered out of their barracks as their bunkmates continued sleeping, and were later issued dog tags and ranks in the Emirati military. Those left behind are now being trained to use grenade launchers and armored vehicles that Emirati troops are currently using in Yemen.
Emirati officials have made a point of recruiting Colombian troops over other Latin American soldiers because they consider the Colombians more battle tested in guerrilla warfare, having spent decades battling gunmen of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in the jungles of Colombia.
The exact mission of the Colombians in Yemen is unclear, and one person involved in the project said it could be weeks before they saw regular combat. They join hundreds of Sudanese soldiers whom Saudi Arabia has recruited to fight there as part of the coalition.
In addition, a recent United Nations report cited claims that some 400 Eritrean troops might be embedded with the Emirati soldiers in Yemen — something that, if true, could violate a United Nations resolution restricting Eritrean military activities.
The United States has also been participating in the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, providing logistical support, including airborne refueling, to the nations conducting the airstrikes. The Pentagon has sent a team to Saudi Arabia to provide targeting intelligence to the coalition militaries regularly used for the airstrikes.
The New York Times also reports that, interestingly enough, the training program and the use of Colombian and other third world mercenaries by Gulf State countries has been taking place since as far back as 2010. The article states,
Hundreds of Colombian troops have been trained in the Emirates since the project began in 2010 — so many that the Colombian government once tried to broker an agreement with Emirati officials to stanch the flow headed to the Persian Gulf. Representatives from the two governments met, but an agreement was never signed.
Most of the recruiting of former troops in Colombia is done by Global Enterprises, a Colombian company run by a former special operations commander named Oscar Garcia Batte. Mr. Batte is also co-commander of the brigade of Colombian troops in the Emirates, and is part of the force now deployed in Yemen.
It should also be noted that Blackwater, or at least Erik Prince, was involved in setting up the program early on, although the firm currently denies ties to the program in 2015. Foreign media outlets obviously disagree on the level to which Blackwater and/or Prince’s firm are involved in the program. That the foreign fighters are mercenaries, however, is beyond doubt.
According to Al-Masdar’s Yemen correspondent, Tony Toh, another piece of the puzzle has now been provided in regards to the mission and methodology of the Saudi-Blackwater cooperation. Toh states that Al-Masirah News, a Yemeni news organization, has revealed that Reflex Responses Management Consultancy LLC is the company doing the actual hiring of mercenaries from Blackwater to fight in Yemen.
RRMC LLC is an Emirati-owned company that specializes in hiring foreign mercenaries and fighters for the UAE’s military.
According to the Yemeni news source, Major General ‘Issa Seif Mohammad Al-Mazrawi, an Emirati officer, is the individual most heavily involved in the deployment of these mercenaries. Al-Masirah also reports that a contract worth $529 million was signed between RRMC and the UAE government in March, 2015, around the beginning of the Yemeni crisis.
It is clear that the Saudis and the Emirates are grasping at any straws within their reach in order to shore up their faltering military campaign in Yemen and make up for the weakness of their own military forces that have repeatedly demonstrated that the GCC countries are nothing but paper tigers – by Brandon Turbeville
cp2 Allgemein / General
1.6.2016 – Fars News (A K P)
Opposition Leader: UAE Implementing US, Israeli Plots in Yemen
The UAE has deployed its forces in Yemen's strategic regions under the US and Israel's pressures and their promises for economic flourishing, an Emirati opposition leader said on Wednesday.
"By renting Socotra Island in Yemen and deploying troops in the port city of Mukalla in Hadhramout province (Southern Yemen), the UAE is implementing the US and Israel's order to gain control over the strategic regions in Bab al-Mandab to render them to the Zionist regime," Abdullah Abdullah al-Majed, an Emirati opposition leader, told FNA.
Noting that the UAE is also concerned about turning the port of Aden into a powerful rival for the Dubai port, he revealed that Washington has promised help Abu Dhabi's economic growth for occupation of strategic regions in Yemen.
"The UAE is shedding the blood of Arab nations to the benefit of the US and Israel," al-Majed said.
In relevant remarks on Tuesday, a prominent political analyst revealed UAE's attempts to gain control over the Southern parts of Yemen in cooperation with the US and in rivalry with Saudi Arabia.
"The UAE is after more cooperation with the US to fully control and occupy the Southern parts of Yemen," Sadeq Ishaq told FNA.
He also disclosed that the UAE has paid 1.9 billion dirhams to the US security companies for collaboration in occupying Southern Yemen.
Ishaq said that the UAE is also in rivalry with Saudi Arabia in Southern Yemen over crude reserves and some political issues, adding that Riyadh is also assisting the terrorist groups to push them into confrontation with the UAE forces.
He said that the UAE officials have made agreement with the US to attain full control over Southern Yemen and support the US special forces in that region.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950312000995
31.5.2016 – Fars News (* A K P)
Political Analyst: UAE Collaborating with US to Gain Control over Southern Yemen
A prominent political analyst revealed UAE's attempts to gain control over the Southern parts of Yemen in cooperation with the US and in rivalry with Saudi Arabia.
"The UAE is after more cooperation with the US to fully control and occupy the Southern parts of Yemen," Sadeq Ishaq told FNA on Tuesday.
He also disclosed that the UAE has paid 1.9 billion dirhams to the US security companies for collaboration in occupying Southern Yemen.
Ishaq said that the UAE is also in rivalry with Saudi Arabia in Southern Yemen over crude reserves and some political issues, adding that Riyadh is also assisting the terrorist groups to push them into confrontation with the UAE forces.
He said that the UAE officials have made agreement with the US to attain full control over Southern Yemen and support the US special forces in that region.
The differences between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in Yemen have increased in recent months to such levels of graveness that Emirati fighter jets targeted the positions of pro-Saudi camp in al-Hawtah city in Lahij province.
The differences between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in Yemen have heightened after the UAE replaced its soldiers with Blackwater mercenaries which faced the stern oppositions of the Riyadh government.
As a result, fugitive President Mansour Hadi and his Prime Minister Khaled Bahah have been running a feud for the past several months, and their differences grew noisy when a number of Saudi officials worked out a plan to replace the former president with his premier - who had both fled to Saudi Arabia then - in order to encourage the revolutionary forces back in Yemen to work with him and allow him to start a new government.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950311001005
30.5.2016 – IC Red Cross / De Redactie (B K)
Film (Flemish): Web of violence drags Yemen closer to edge
There have always been wars. But the conflict is Yemen is receiving precious little attention right now. 6,000 people have died in the last 14 months, half of them civilians.
Belgian Antoine Grand was in charge of ICRC operations in Yemen for a year. He recently spoke to Belgian TV station VRT about the situation.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-violence-antoine-grand-vrt = http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/programmas/journaal/2.44423?video=1.2668888
29.5.2016 – France Inter (not examined B K)
Audio: Yémen, la guerre oubliée
C’est un conflit dont on parle moins que celui de Syrie ou de Libye. La guerre au Yémen ne fait pas souvent la une des journaux en France. Pourtant, en quelques mois, cette guerre a fait plus de 6.500 morts et forcé plus de 2 millions de personnes à quitter leur maison, dans le pays le plus pauvre de la péninsule arabique.
Depuis mars 2015, l’Arabie Saoudite mène une coalition armée contre les rebelles chiites houthistes et les partisans de l’ex-président Ali Abdallah Saleh, avec le soutien des puissances occidentales, notamment de la France. Pour la communauté internationale, il s’agit de rétablir le gouvernement Yéménite légitime. Pour l’Arabie Saoudite, il s’agit aussi d’empêcher le Yémen de passer sous l’influence d’un mouvement chiite soutenu par son grand rival régional, l’Iran. Mais les frappes de cette coalition n’ont pas épargné les civils. Des ONG ont dénoncé des frappes indiscriminées et illégales dans des zones densément peuplées. Après plusieurs mois, le conflit s’est enlisé, un fragile cessez-le-feu a été décrété. La population est exténuée et espère que les négociations de paix entamées au Koweït sous l’égide de l’Onu aboutiront. Vanessa Descouraux a pu se rendre au Yémen avec les équipes de MSF.
Reportage de Vanessa Descouraux présenté par Lionel Thompson.
http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-interception-yemen-la-guerre-oubliee
27.5.2016 – Scott Horton (not examined, B K P)
Podcast: Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist and film-maker, discusses why the UN-mediated peace talks aren’t stopping Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on Yemeni civilians; and how Saudi cash and US weapons are helping Al Qaeda carve out a mini-state in Yemen.
http://scotthorton.org/interviews/2016/05/27/52716-nasser-arrabyee/
27.5.2016 – Jadaliyya (not examined, B K P)
Audio: Yemen's Political Economy: An Anthropologist's Perspective - A STATUS Conversation with Martha Mundy
In this interview for STATUS, host Moe Ali Nael interviews anthropologist Martha Mundy, who weighs in on the political, economic, and social challenges in Yemen.
Status - Part 1, Introducing Martha Mundy - Martha Mundy [English]
Status - Part 2, About the Political Economy of Food in Yemen - Martha Mundy [English]
Status - Part 3, Yemen as a Laboratory - Martha Mundy [English]
This is the end... my only friend, the end.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/24546/yemens-political-economy_an-anthropologists-perspe
16.5.2016 – Noch Info (A P)
Dalai Lama: Ich glaube, dass die Obama-Regierung und Saudi-Arabien für das Blutvergießen im Nahen Osten verantwortlich sind
Dalai Lama beschuldigte die US-Regierung der katastrophalen Außenpolitik gegenüber Syrien.
Er äußerte seine Meinung im Moskauer Bolschoi-Theater, wo er das zweite Dalai Lama internationale Festival „Tibet- Traditionen, Kunst, Philosophie und Frieden“ eröffnete.
„Ich glaube, dass der Kern des heutigen Problems im Nahen Osten die Politik der Obama-Regierung und die Saudi Einmischung in der syrischen Krise sind. Sie haben den radikalen Gruppen eine plausible Entschuldigung für ihre abscheuliche Verbrechen gegen unschuldige Zivilisten gegeben“, zitierte AFP den tibetischen geistigen Führer.
„… Ich habe mehrere Male den Präsidenten Obama aufgerufen, seine katastrophale Unterstützung für die Saudis und ihre terroristische Proxies im Nahen Osten zu beenden, aber meine Appelle stießen auf taube Ohren…“ – fügte Dalai Lama hinzu.
15.5.2016 – AWD News (* A K P)
Dalai Lama: President Putin must continue his relentless crusade against Saudi state terrorism; I believe Obama administration and Saudi Arabia are responsible for Middle-East’s bloodshed
As the 14th Dalai Lama bids farewell to Moscow, he urged U.S. administration to alter its disastrous foreign policies vis-à-vis Syrian 5-year rebellion which reached a deadly impasse.
His remarks came at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, where he inaugurated the 2nd Dalai Lama international festival dubbed "Tibet: Traditions, Art, Philosophy and Peace”.
"I believe the crux of today’s Middle-East problem is laid in Obama administration policies and the Saudi interference in Syrian crisis. When Saudi clerics fallaciously claim they represent Islam and they side with cutthroats in Syria; thus they give the radical groups a plausible excuse for their heinous crimes against innocent civilians,” AFP quoted the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as saying.
It is for the first time that the octogenarian spiritual leader and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, took the unprecedented step by explicitly criticizing United States and her oil-rich Saudi allies for fomenting sectarian bloodshed in Middle-East by invariably supporting hard-line militants, e.g. ISIS and al-Nusra Front.
Dalai Lama added by saying that it would be totally inane and hypocritical of Saudis to condemn recent terrorist attacks in European capitals while funneling weapons and billions of dollars to the very terrorists who perpetrated Charlie Hebdo carnage.
"…for several times I importuned President Obmam to end his catastrophic support for Saudis and their terrorist proxies in the Middle-East but my appeals fell on deaf ears,” said world’s most famous exile.
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
31.5.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A H)
Pix taken today in the lonely hospital in Saada,children there are'nt in a good condition.
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/738061778098225153
31.5.2016 – UNICEF (B H)
At least 192 nutrition centres in #Yemen are closed due to insecurity, lack of supplies or fuel.
https://twitter.com/UNICEF/status/737670608213938177
Comment: “lack of supplies or fuel” thanks to the UN-Saudi blockade.
31.5.2016 – Telepolis (A H)
Infektionserkrankungen wie die entstellende Hautleishmaniose breiten sich in Syrien aus
Ein Bericht warnt vor einem katastrophalem Ausbruch in Syrien, aber auch in den Nachbarländern, im Jemen oder in Libyen
In Syrien ist durch den Konflikt das Gesundheitssystem weitgehend zusammengebrochen, für die Flüchtlinge in Syrien und den Nachbarländern herrschen Armut und Mangelernährung, sie leben oft in überfüllten und nicht hygienischen Unterkünften. Die Gewalt in Syrien habe nicht nur zur größten Flüchtlingskrise seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg geführt, so die Autoren, sondern auch durch die "chaotische Migration und innerstrukturelle Instabilität" eine Lage geschaffen, in der Krankheiten wie Masern und Polio wieder gekommen sind, aber auch Tuberkulose, Hepatitis A und andere Infektionskrankheiten. Die Leishmaniose sei aufgrund der auffälligen körperlichen Folgen nur das sichtbarste Zeichen der gesundheitlichen Situation unter den Flüchtlingen – von Florian Rötzer
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/48/48398/1.html
31.5.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A H K)
80% of Kidney Dialysis Centers in #Yemen closed due to no electricity caused by Saudi war. Pic from Hodeida
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/737633664557813760 see also https://twitter.com/Arabellastory/status/737684464915058688
31.5.2016 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Yemen: Humanitarian Dashboard (January - April 2016)
Continued conflict and import restrictions have all but destroyed the economy and social fabric in Yemen. As of the end of April 2016, over 6,400 people have been killed and 30,000 injured since the escalation of violence in March 2015. Almost 2.8 million people have moved from their homes in search of safety and security. Social services are waning as a result of violence, lack of personnel, lack of fuel, supplies, and equipment. The economy is collapsing due to a lack of exports and currency devaluation.
Despite the deepening needs, particularly in sectors of health and food security, and the many access challenges faced by the humanitarian community, over 3.6 million people were reached with some form of direct humanitarian assistance by close to 100 humanitarian organizations across Yemen by the end of April 2016.
The US$ 1.8 billion appeal has received a little over 16 per cent of funding
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-dashboard-january-april-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA%20Yemen%20Humanitarian%20Dashboard_%20Jan-April.pdf
31.5.2016 – ITV (** B H K)
In the aftermath of airstrikes, the humanitarian crisis facing Yemen is becoming clear
[Already published earlier, see YPR 122, cp1]
Comment: Slow in comprehension we would say. Picture was clear after Day 1 of war waged on Yemen, namely the poorest country in the Middle East.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1034968526556177&id=961126490607048
30.5.2016 – World Food Programme (A H)
Map: Yemen Access Constraints as of 30 May 2016
http://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-access-constraints-30-may-2016
30.5.2016 – I love Qatar (B H)
what is it that Qatar is doing, in times of conflict when intervention primarily results in more destruction?
On the 23rd March Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mikhlafi highlighted the important role Qatar played in supporting Yemen and its people in this crisis. With a bid of more than $ 220 million and an increase in international and Arab awareness and relief through many conferences, Qatar makes strong efforts to aid Yemen.
In 2015 Qatar Charity had reached over 52,000 with vital emergency aid. Qatar Charity Yemen supported regions of Abyan, Aden, Lahj, Shabwa and Hodeidah with urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Yemen that rely on such aid in this crisis. Approximately 36 million QR were provided with this assistance.
With Qatar Charity Yemen’s base in Djibouti, the charity faced many struggles and challenges that however did not prevent it from food distributions, such as one in August 2015 reaching 6000 families with 50 kg flour, 10 kg sugar, 10 kg rice, 5 liters cooking oil, powder milk, macaroni and other items. Furthermore, it distributed first aid bags, medication and supplies to hospitals in Aden, Ma’rib, and Taiz. Finally Qatar Charity under project leadership of Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Jassim al-Thani launched an orphanage already three years ago.
Qatar’s plentiful efforts and relief projects are appreciated and of utmost significance to Yemen’s stability, peace and help to the civilians suffering under the setting of war.
http://www.iloveqatar.net/news/content/qatar%E2%80%99s-significant-role-supporting-people-yemen
Comment: off course, this is somewhat of propaganda; but Qatar is not in the first line of those who are destructing Yemen.
30.5.2016 – Logistics Cluster (B H)
Yemen: Snapshot on Shipping, Food and Fuel Imports, April 2016
Monthly food imports and price fluctuation
In the last months of 2015, import supplies of food increased. However, from February 2016 a decrease in the importation of food supplies was reported.
General food imports in April decreased by 21% compared to March 2016, and by 47% compared to February 2016. On average, wheat flour prices in April were 154 YER/KG, which is 12% higher than pre-crisis level (137 YER/KG).
Monthly fuel imports
The need to import fuel increased in 2015 due to the temporary suspension of operations in the refinery ports of Aden and Al Hudaydah for several months due to the conflict. While fuel needs increased, fuel imports declined compared to previous years (April 2015, 4,983 mt of fuel imported), mainly as a result of import restrictions and limited foreign exchange necessary to import fuel.
Consequently, local markets witnessed fuel shortage.* April 2016 saw fuel importations reaching 67,217 mt. Despite the increase, fuel imports in April 2016 represent only 12% of the monthly fuel needs which are estimated at 544,000 mt.
Status of the vessels at ports per month
In April 2016, 57 vessels berthed at the Yemeni ports of Al Hudaydah, Saleef and Aden, resulting in a 16% increase from the 49 berths in March 2016. Additionally, 54 new vessels were granted access to Yemeni Port-anchorage areas, a significant increase on the 22 vessels of the preivious month.
Humanitarian berths accounted for 12% of all berths in the Yemeni ports, with 7 dhows and vessels carrying food and non food items.
Average delays in entering ports (March – April 2016)
Significant delays are still experienced in all major ports in Yemen. The main reasons for the delays are the reduced operational capacities of the seaports and the rapidly changing security situation.
The longest delay at anchorage in April was recorded for Al Hudaydah port with a vessels waiting for berth for 24 days. Delays at the port can be attributed to the lack of infrastructure caused by damaged cranes to discharge containers vessels.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-snapshot-shipping-food-and-fuel-imports-april-2016 and infographs: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/yemensnapshotmay_0.pdf
30.5.2016 – Dr. Karim (A H)
#Yemen: Pain of burn patients doubles in absence of electricity& increasing temp in #Hodaidah
https://twitter.com/StopDestroyYem/status/737221210711425024
30.5.2016 – Infosperber (** B H)
Ein Kriegsverbrechen, das niemand verfolgt
Noch nie gab es so viele kriegerische Angriffe auf Spitäler. Dennoch wird kaum jemand dafür zur Verantwortung gezogen.
Im Oktober 2015 bombardierten die USA ein Spital in Kunduz, Nordafghanistan. Der Angriff kam am frühen Morgen und dauerte etwa eine halbe Stunde. Während des Angriffs, bei dem 42 Personen starben, 27 Angestellte und viele Patienten verwundet wurden, versuchten Ärzte und Angestellte verzweifelt den Angriff durch Telefonate und Textnachrichten zu stoppen.
Patienten verbrannten in ihren Betten, Personen, die versuchten, aus dem Gebäude zu fliehen, wurden erschossen, «Es war ein Alptraum», beschrieb eine überlebende Ärztin. Das Spital wurde vollständig zerstört.
«Ein Zusammenspiel aus technischem und menschlichem Versagen»
Zweck und Lage der Einrichtung von «Ärzte ohne Grenzen» (Mediciéns sans Frontieres) waren den USA bekannt. Verantwortlich für den «Fehler» sei «ein Zusammenspiel aus technischem und menschlichem Versagen», so eine Untersuchung des Pentagons. US-Präsident Barack Obama entschuldigte sich, das US-Militär ergriff interne Massnahmen. Vor Gericht verantworten musste sich für den Angriff bisher niemand.
Kunduz war kein Einzelfall. Menschenrechtsorganisationen sind alarmiert über die Zunahme von gewalttätigen Angriffen auf Gesundheitseinrichtungen und ihr Personal. «Zwischen Januar 2014 und Dezember 2015 fanden 594 Angriffe auf Gesundheitseinrichtungen in 19 Ländern statt», fasst ein Bericht der WHO zusammen. «Dabei wurden 959 Menschen getötet und 1561 verletzt». Mindestens 62 Prozent davon, sagt die WHO, waren gezielte Angriffe.
Ein vor kurzem veröffentlichter 60-seitiger Bericht der Organisation «Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition», der verschiedene Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGO) angehören, hat die Situation des Gesundheitswesens in Konfliktgebieten untersucht.
Der Bericht, der sich auf die Zeitspanne seit Januar 2014 erstreckt, trägt den vielsagenden Titel «Kein Schutz, kein Respekt». Das Papier liest sich wie eine Auflistung internationaler Konfliktherde.
Akribisch aufgelistet werden Morde, Verletzungen, Plünderungen und Zerstörungen von Spitälern, Behinderungen beim Zugang zu medizinischer Versorgung sowie die Folgen für die Gesundheitsversorgung.
Im Jemen wurden seit Dezember 2015 mehr als 100 Gesundheitseinrichtungen durch Bomben beschädigt. Laut UNICEF wurden dort 600 Spitäler geschlossen.
Tausende Ärzte und Pflegekräfte sind in den letzten Jahren aus Konfliktgebieten geflohen – von Daniela Gschweng
http://www.infosperber.ch/FreiheitRecht/Ein-Kriegsverbrechen-das-niemand-verfolgt
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
1.6.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A K)
Before and after.
The way our landscapes were, with villages, families, social fabric, and now: debris, rubble, dust. And death.
Do you see any military post in the first picture?
Why this madness against our civilians?
Help us saving what is left of our country, with its villages, families, social fabric.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1035641339822229&id=961126490607048
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
1.6.2016 – Nasser Arrabyee (A P)
Yemen acting President Mohammed Houthi attended today in Sanaa graduation ceremony of new forces from academy of war
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/738043135742337024
Comment: Just to see that the Houthis have formed their own Yemeni government.
31.5.2016 – Somalinet (A K)
Somali Woman Fighting For Houthis In Yemen..SMH
http://www.somalinet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=377523&p=4691874
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
1.6.2016 – Critical Threats (A T P)
Gulf of Aden Security Review
June 1 and back
http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/gulf-aden-security-review
1.6.2016 – Iona Craig (A)
Amongst other troubles in Aden the airport has closed again after reopening for less than a month
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/738014838455209984
31.5.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A H P)
Protestors n Aden block roads&burn tires condemning the long power cut n #Aden 3cars burned &ambulance ceased
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/737665496229675008 and also https://twitter.com/AdenNowNews/status/737651875982479360
31.5.2016 – Khaled Al-Abbadi (* A P)
Birth Pangs of a New State in South Yemen: Aden's Electricity Crisis
Take a look at the landscape in South Yemen, from Bab al Mandeb to Al Mahra. What do you see? It is not surprising to hear responses like "a failed state", "a war torn country", or "the next Somalia". The conflict of the past year compounded on the neglect of the past two decades would lead any logical person to conclude the same. But, do you know what I see? The coming of a new era. And, the suffering and instability are the birth pangs of a new state.
Some of the most challenging aspects of statehood are being figured out right now in Aden and Hadhramout. Providing security and electricity, regulating markets and state finances, balancing international diplomacy and local interests, crowd control and public transparency; these are challenges being addressed by the current local administrations in South Yemen. We are witnessing the birth of a nation. I mentioned before how a cohesive governance will emerge in South Yemen as a product of crisis; crisis is also driving the formation of responsive state institutions.
Aden's Electricity Crisis
Consider the current electricity crisis in Aden, the toll is devastating to the people of the South. Recent reports have put the toll at 8 deaths from ICUs in Aden's hospitals due to the lack of electricity; the dead include newborn infants and the elderly. Ramadan is quickly approaching and the heat in Aden consistently reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity stays at 80%, with a zero chance of rain. Aden is hot and humid, and without electricity during this long Ramadan summer things in the city are going to heat up in more ways than one. But, who is responsible for the lack of electricity in Aden, and what are Aden's authorities doing about it?
Aden's governor responded to the crisis by hosting a press conference. It was attended by the Governor himself and the Director of Public Electricity Corporation Aden's Office, who tendered his resignation publicly.
Learning from the Crisis
While the Governor of Aden and his administration have never dealt with a crisis like this before, this crisis is teaching Aden's leaders and institutions what it takes to manage and run a modern state. That is not to say that the electricity crisis is over, or that the current outcomes are optimal; hardly, there is a lot of work left. For starters, the city cannot sustainably run on diesel based generators and there is a lot of potential to promote alternative energy sources like solar. But we are witnessing a reforming and markedly different type of governance in Aden that we haven't seen in decades. We are seeing South Yemenis lead themselves, through popular support and active partcipation; and, local administrations are forming responsive state institutions. We are witnessing state administrations in dialogue with the people and citizens actively involved in the workings of the state; this is the most democracy the people of Aden have seen in decades if not ever.
I, for one, am excited about the future of South Yemen. For decades, the concept of separation for South Yemen was unthinkable due to the lack of independent institutions and technical capacity. Who would lead an independent South Yemen? How could a separate South Yemeni state emerge when so much of the public infrastructure was intertwined with the North? These were the real questions that made so many in the international community dismiss separation as an impractical outcome to Yemen's problems. The latest electricity crisis is addressing those questions head on. There are strong, local leaders and institutions emerging that show they are capable of handling the task. This is juxtaposed with the grave incompetence of President Hadi's unity federal government residing in 5 star hotels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; citizens are keenly aware that not only is Hadi's government responsible for the electricity crisis, they are incapable of addressing it. Yet, local institutions and leaders are. The challenges of providing electricity are just one of a myriad of challenges in managing a modern state; but, so far, the local administration and the residents of Aden have shown how they can work together to chart their own path. Recent policies from Aden whether it be the ban on Qat to just weekends or the controversial deportation of people without proper identification are clear signs of strong institutions forming out of crisis in Aden and South Yemen; clear signs of the coming of a new state.
http://khaledalabbadi.blogspot.de/2016/05/birth-pangs-of-new-state-in-south-yemen.html
Comment: A clear separatist voice. What will be the future of this country?
31.5.2016 – Aden Now News (A H P)
Aden rise up en masse
Burning government cars and shut down the city streets and the death of 8 because of power outages and health services
https://twitter.com/AdenNowNews/status/737635044710350848
31.5.2016 – Yemen Post (A H P)
CHAOS in Aden: Serious heatwaves & weeks of no electricity forces 1000s cut roads, burn cars & tires
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/737633664557813760
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
1.6.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Yemen’s warring sides swap prisoners
Yemen’s warring sides on Wednesday swapped prisoners, with 19 Houthi militia men exchanged for 16 fighters from the pro-government Popular Resistance fighters, sources told Al Hadath, Al Arabiya News Channel’s sister channel.
The prisoner swap took place after Yemeni government officials and rebels agreed on Tuesday to free half of the prisoners and detainees held by both sides within 20 days.
The deal, seen as the first breakthrough in peace talks which began in Kuwait on April 21, came during a meeting of the joint working group on prisoners and detainees formed by UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
1.6.2016 – Alwaght (* A P)
When Yemen War Ends?
The negotiation is a way for two or more conflicting groups or ideas to get closer to each other. But just unlike what the nature of negotiations dictates, in many cases the people negotiate to insist on their positions, and so remove the hurdles ahead of pursuit of their specific policy.
In Yemen’s conflict, Saudi Arabia as major side of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement in political and security terms, showed no willingness to a political solution of the Yemeni crisis before peace negotiations held in 2016 in Kuwait. However, Saudi Arabia all of a sudden told Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN special envoy to Yemen, that Riyadh was ready to approve of a round of serious negotiations with the aim of ending the conflict in Yemen. Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri, the spokesman for the Saudi army, asserted that the war was drawing to its end.
But this did not happen. Not only the war was not concluded but also during the course of the two weeks that Kuwait peace dialogue was under way, the pounding of Yemeni positions witnessed no easing.
Clearly, Saudi Arabia does not think much about peace, rather, it is looking for a modality through which it could foil the Yemeni revolution that started in 2011 by the youth movement. In fact, Riyadh seeks a political transition process, with smallest possible changes in the form and structure of power in Yemen. This comes while Yemen’s conditions have undergone crucial changes and now the Yemeni opposition groups have gained power in the country, and also now the revolutionaries of today cannot be taken equal to the youths of yesterday Sana'a’s Change Square.
Riyadh regime expects Ansarullah's engagement in a political game the certain end of which is disappearance of the Yemeni resistant group. In Saudi Arabia’s game, Ansarullah holds no place in security equations, as in the society a surrendered Ansarullah is of no credibility. The kingdom argues that the revolutionary group, after surrender and losing its social credit, has to form a political party and only mind political matters. The outcome of such an approach is clear, and it is completely normal that Ansarullah, which so far sacrificed with thousands of its members, refuses to succumb, and fails to shoulder commitment to a negotiation that produces such an unfair situation.
But the question is not what Saudi Arabia wants and how Ansarullah reacts. The question is that could Riyadh impose what it wants on the Yemenis? The answer to the question clarifies the reasons behind a protracted war that was set to last only ten days with great results.
With these in mind, no doubt should remain that the foreign war on Yemen and the intra-Yemeni groups’ clashes see an end only when Riyadh comes up with the notion that it is unlikely to make gains with the force of the weapons.
http://alwaght.com/en/News/55129/When-Yemen-War-Ends?
31.5.2016 – Haykal Bafana (A P)
This looming #Yemen peace deal is basically a twice recycled 2011 GCC Initiative with the immunity clause this time granted to Saudi Arabia.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/737725088620027905
31.5.2016 – Gulf News (A P)
Gulf states seeking ‘peaceful settlement’ in Yemen
Saudi foreign minister says kingdom cannot have relations with countries that encourage terrorism
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said that the consultative summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders was “fruitful and successful” and that it was characterised by “mutual understanding, cordiality and harmony.”
The GCC leaders reviewed the situations in Yemen and Iraq and wished success to the Yemen talks in Kuwait, Adel Al Jubeir said at a press conference held jointly with the GCC Secretary General Abdul Lateef Al Zayani in the Red Sea city of Jeddah where the annual consultative council was held on Tuesday.
“Everybody is seeking to reach a peaceful settlement in Yemen, sooner than later,” he said.
31.5.2016 – Middle East Eye (A K P)
Yemen government officials dismiss reports of ceasefire deal
Officials say pro-government forces are 'ready' to storm capital as renewed fighting kills dozens across Yemen
Yemeni pro-government officials on Tuesday dismissed reports that they and their opponents were on the verge of reaching a ceasefire deal after weeks of tense talks in Kuwait.
Mohammed al-Ameri, a member of the government's delegation in Kuwait, said reports of an approaching agreement were “lies aimed at muddying the waters” during ongoing negotiations.
Diplomatic sources had told Iran's Press TV news site on Tuesday that a deal between the warring sides was “imminent” after weeks of UN-brokered talks in Kuwait City.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould al-Sheikh, did not address reports of an impending deal in comments made on Tuesday, but confirmed that “indirect” talks were continuing.
A second member of the delegation, Information Minister Mohammed Abdel Majid Qabbati, warned that pro-government forces were ready to launch an assault on Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, if talks fail.
Qabbati told Saudi news Okaz on Tuesday that “forces from the Saudi-led coalition are ready to enter Sanaa, and are now stationed just 40 kilometres from it”.
Comment: This article contradicts the following:
31.5.2016 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Yemen’s warring sides close to reaching major deal
The warring sides in the Yemeni conflict are close to reaching a major deal in Kuwait, where they have been negotiating for more than a month, a report says.
High-ranking diplomats attending the talks in Kuwait City said Tuesday that the two sides had agreed on ceasing the hostilities on the ground and setting up a transitional government in Yemen, the Lebanese al-Mayadin TV reported.
The sources said the new government would have resigned President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi at its head for a maximum of 45 days, after which he would give up his authorities to a deputy picked with mutual consensus.
Who that deputy will be is, according to the report, still an issue of disagreement.
According to the report, Yemen’s former vice president, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, will have no role in the transitional government.
A committee comprising senior political and military figures will also be established to supervise the implementation of the agreement during the transitional period.
If officially declared, the agreement will be the first major achievement of the peace talks on Yemen
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/05/31/468299/Yemen-talks-deal-imminent-Kuwait
Comment: Really true? That would be great and a real breakthrough.
31.5.2016 – Sputnik News (A K P)
Saudi Arabia Agrees on Ceasefire on Border With Yemen
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir said Tuesday that Riyadh had reached an arrangement on a ceasefire at the Saudi-Yemeni border in order to provide access for humanitarian aid coming to the war torn country.
According to Jubeir, Saudi Arabia supports holding of the intra-Yemeni talks.
"We tried to work with all sides of the Yemeni conflict, including Houthi rebels, on the way of reaching the agreement," Jubeir said at a press conference on the sidelines of a consultative meeting of leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160531/1040559773/saudi-arabia-yemen.html
Comment: Did we not already have got that?
31.5.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Yemen’s warring sides to form military committees
Yemen’s warring sides discussed on Monday the formation of military committees during the UN-backed peace talks, sources close the two Yemeni delegations told Al Arabiya News Channel.
During the latest round of peace talks in Kuwait, that are led by Yemen’s UN envoy, Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the rival delegations discussed the formation of temporary military and security committees as well as the tasks of the committees.
The source reported that another step would include the formation of sub-committees in Yemen’s provinces.
The delegations also discussed the geographical scope of the proposed military and security committees in the capital Sanaa, and other Yemeni cities.
During the talks, the criteria for selecting the members of the committee and sub-committees for each province were discussed.
According to the sources, the committees will be formed in accordance with national standards. According to plans, half of committee members would be from the south of Yemen – the homeland and powerbase of Hadi.
The main tasks for the committees would be to oversee the withdrawal of the Houthi militias and their allies from army and security camps, and the handover of heavy and medium weapons.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/05/31/Yemen-s-warring-sides-to-form-military-committees-.html = http://nationalyemen.com/2016/06/01/yemeni-factions-to-form-security-committees/
31.5.2016 – AM (A P)
UN envoy to Yemen says violations to cessation of hostilities in Yemen unacceptable
UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has expressed concerns about violations of the cessation of hostilities by some parties in Yemen.
"Stabilising the situation is a fundamental demand of the Yemeni people. Violations to the cessation of hostilities are unacceptable and security has an impact on all," Cheikh Ahmed said in a press statement last night, according to Kuwait's News Agency, KUNA.
He underlined that political bickering would complicate the situation and urged Yemeni parties to do more to reach the aspired peaceful solution to the Yemeni crisis.
The UN envoy noted that security issues dominated the discussions in the Yemeni peace talks.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/international/1395296145828.html
30.5.2016 – Al Arabiya (A P)
Yemen parties review 6390 detainees list
Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait have witnessed positive progress regarding the issue of the detainees and prisoners, as close sources to the negotiating parties said U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has received lists of a total of 6390 prisoners, detainees and kidnapped people to review them, check their validity and the fate of each one of them.
Sources from the negotiating parties said the Yemeni government's delegation submitted a list that includes 2630 names of which the most important is Major General Mahmoud al-Sobeihi, the minister of defense detained by the rebels since March 25, 2015. The rebels' list included 3760 names of which the most important is Brigadier General Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh, son of the deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Sources from both delegations said on Thursday that they've agreed to a prisoner exchange before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early June.
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.
cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran
1.6.2015 – Badische Zeitung (A P)
Machtkampf zwischen dem Iran und Saudi-Arabien spitzt sich zu
Nach der Absage der Pilgerfahrt nach Mekka schimpfen in Teheran viele über Saudi-Arabien. Auch acht Monate nach der Massenpanik verhindert Riad eine Aufarbeitung.
In allen iranischen Zeitungen machte das Thema Schlagzeilen. "Kein Hadsch in diesem Jahr", titelte Arman-e Emrooz. "Die saudische Regierung raubt Iranern den Hadsch", sekundierte Jomhouri Eslami. In empörten Kommentaren im Internet setzten fromme Perser noch eins drauf.
Die Absage des Hadsch markiert eine weitere brisante Zuspitzung im Verhältnis der beiden Gegner am Persischen Golf.
Uneinig waren beide Seiten nicht nur über die Visaprozeduren und Landerechte iranischer Pilgerflugzeuge, sondern auch über die künftigen Sicherheitsvorkehrungen. Denn im vergangenen Jahr wurden bei einer Massenpanik in Mekka mindestens 2400 Wallfahrer totgetrampelt.
30.5.2016 – DPA (A P)
Teheran: Saudi-Arabien hat Iranern Pilgerfahrt blockiert
Zehntausende Iraner können heuer nicht an der jährlichen Pilgerfahrt nach Mekka teilnehmen. Ein Streit zwischen Saudi Arabien und dem Iran ist schuld.
Der Iran hat Saudi-Arabien vorgeworfen, Zehntausenden Iranern mit inakzeptablen Bedingungen die Pilgerfahrt nach Mekka (Hadsch) in diesem Jahr zu blockieren. „Die Saudis haben in den Verhandlungen elf inakzeptable Bedingungen gestellt, die es in den letzten Jahren nie gegeben hat“, sagte der Chef der iranischen Hadsch-Behörde, Saeid Ohadi, nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur ISNA am Montag.
Die Saudis hätten gefordert, dass die Visa für die iranischen Pilger in einem Drittland und nicht über die Schweizer Botschaft in Teheran ausgestellt werden. Außerdem dürften die Iraner für den Flug nach Mekka keine der für sie günstigen hiesigen Fluglinien benützen. Weiterhin wurde den Iranern verboten, Versammlungen zu veranstalten oder in Mekka ihre Nationalflagge zu hissen.
30.5.2016 – FT (* A P)
Iran boycotts Hajj as anger with Saudis grows
Iran’s boycott of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia illustrates the breakdown in relations between the Gulf superpowers as they vie for regional influence.
Tehran said that its citizens would not travel to Mecca this year, accusing Saudi Arabia of failing to guarantee their safety and placing politically motivated restrictions on Iranian pilgrims.
On Sunday, Iran’s Hajj Association said Riyadh had linked the pilgrimage dispute to the political situation in the region and changed the text of agreements that had been used in previous years.
“Considering the continuation of Saudi Arabia’s obstructive moves, Iranian pilgrims will be deprived of Hajj this year and its responsibility falls with the Saudi government,” it said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia in turn blamed Tehran’s intransigence for the failure to reach a bilateral Hajj agreement. The country’s Hajj ministry said that it had offered many solutions to Iran’s demands during two days of talks that ended on Friday.
A Saudi official said: “Iran has converted Hajj into a political demonstration in an attempt to weaken Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in the Islamic world.”
Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran’s Hajj Organisation, said on Monday that Saudi Arabia had added 11 new clauses to the previous pilgrimage agreement between the two countries.
He said that these covered issuance of visas in a third country; limitations on Iranian aircraft; and a ban on displaying Iranian flags. Saudi Arabia had also insisted on designing the identification wristband for Iranian pilgrims, as well as denying Iranians permits to gather publicly, he added.
“Saudi Arabia displayed serious determination [during negotiations] not to accept Iranian pilgrims and bought time to prevent Hajj pilgrimage for Iranians,” he said. But he added that Iran would nonetheless try to send pilgrims to Hajj next year.
30.5.2016 – Foreign Affairs (not rated, A P)
Keeping Iran and Saudi Arabia From War
Conflicts in the Middle East, whether in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, or Yemen, share a common factor: the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. For years, this rivalry has inflamed violence in areas already torn by war and created new battlefields where there had been relative peace before.
It is thus hard to imagine that the two countries could come together for the region’s greater good. But they’ll have to find a way to coexist if the region is ever to be peaceful. Even if they can’t fully resolve their rivalry, they can still contain their hostility. Making this happen will be a challenge, but both sides can take steps now that will help bring the Middle East back from the brink of destruction.
U.S. President Barack Obama, among others, has suggested that the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran “dates back millennia.” But history says otherwise. Despite some periods of heightened tension, particularly following the June 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, Iran and Saudi Arabia were civil toward each other from 1989–2005. In fact, Iranian Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatemi took a more moderate tone than their predecessor and pursued improved relations with the Gulf states. This led to Iran and Saudi Arabia restoring diplomatic relations and conducting reciprocal visits between their leaders. Relations even remained polite during the early days of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rule. But the 2011 Arab Spring changed the region’s political power structure. Longstanding dictatorships fell, leaving disorder in their place – by Ibrahim Fraihat
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https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2016-05-30/keeping-iran-and-saudi-arabia-war
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
1.6.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Saudi Arabia sentences 14 to death for terrorism: lawyer
Saudi Arabia sentenced 14 people to death for terrorism on Wednesday after they were convicted of attacks on police in the Shi'ite Muslim minority area of Qatif in Eastern Province, scene of past anti-government protests, their lawyer said.
Another nine people were given jail sentences of three to 15 years and one was acquitted, their defense lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
He said the 24 defendants had been held for about three years and accused of carrying weapons and shooting at police. During 2011-14 protests, around 20 Shi'ites and several police officers were killed.
Some Saudi Shi'ites complain they suffer systematic discrimination in Saudi Arabia.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/idCAKCN0YN3MA
31.5.2016 – City A.M (A E P)
These three perilous trends spell disaster for Saudi Arabia
The Saudi government, led by the favoured son of the Saudi King, the remarkably young and untried Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, faces three daunting challenges at once: geopolitical, macroeconomic, and over the succession to the throne, any one of which could derail the over-confident Prince’s efforts to modernise his medieval country.
The problem is the Saudis have badly miscalculated. First, continued technological innovations have made shale far more resilient than the Saudis believed possible. Second, shale production is unlike most energy sources in that it can be turned on and off relatively easily. As such, unwittingly the Saudi strategy has made shale the ceiling on global energy prices, ready to be brought online if prices rise as the Saudis eventually hope comes to pass.
Lastly, the Saudis know precious little about private energy markets, as their vast holdings are state-controlled. Yes, their energy strategy regarding shale may drive the original wildcatters out of business, but who cares? The entire history of the US industry is the story of visionary oil producers developing fields and then falling apart, only for established eastern money to come in and scoop up the long-term profits. A very similar scenario is at play now. The Saudis have gambled big against shale, and they have gambled badly.
Given all this, and the fragile health of King Salman, who is to say the Deputy Crown Prince will retain his position when the present Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, comes to the throne? – by John Hulsman
http://www.cityam.com/242137/these-three-perilous-trends-spell-disaster-for-saudi-arabia
30.5.2016 – Muqawamist (A P)
Hypocrite Saudi Regime Accuses Iran of Interference in Iraqi Internal Affairs
As Iraqi Resistance forces have entered Fallujah this morning, miserable little troll Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says the participation of « Iranian Shi’ite armed units » in the Iraqi-led liberation of the City of Mosques is « unacceptable », whether the Iraqi government called for such help or not. But Saudi Arabia sending Takfiri terrorists from the four corners of the globe to overthrow President Assad and continue the destabilization of Iraq is perfectly acceptable?
30.5.2016 – Bloomberg (A E)
Saudi Arabia Said to Hire HSBC Banker to Set Up New Debt Office
Saudi Arabia hired HSBC Holdings Plc banker Fahad Al Saif to start a debt management office that will be responsible for the kingdom’s first international bond sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Al Saif joined the Ministry of Finance on an open-ended secondment from HSBC’s Saudi British Bank, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Saudi Arabia hired HSBC Holdings Plc banker Fahad Al Saif to start a debt management office that will be responsible for the kingdom’s first international bond sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Al Saif joined the Ministry of Finance on an open-ended secondment from HSBC’s Saudi British Bank, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
30.5.2016 – Gulf News (A E)
Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets fall to 4-year low
They are down 1.1% to $572b as slump in crude prices forces government to draw down reserves
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets fell for the 15th month in a row in April, as the kingdom announced its “vision” for a post-oil future.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency said on Sunday net foreign assets declined 1.1 per cent to $572 billion (Dh2.1 trillion), the lowest level in four years. The slump in crude prices has forced the government to sell bonds and draw on its currency reserves, still among the world’s largest. Net foreign assets fell by $115 billion last year, when the kingdom ran a budget deficit of nearly $100 billion.
The fiscal crunch has pushed Saudi Arabia’s rulers to look beyond oil, consider new taxes, and plan an initial public offering of state giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman sketched out the planned changes dubbed Saudi Vision 2030 on April 25.
Brent crude declined for a third day, falling 0.5 per cent to $49.07 a barrel at 9.42am in Dubai, bringing the drop for the past year to 24 per cent. It traded above $100 a barrel two years ago
27.5.2016 – Business Insider (** B E)
This is Saudi Arabia’s ‘Achilles’ heel’
In the aftermath of the 2003 terrorist attacks carried out by nationals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then-Crown Prince Abdullahargued that youth unemployment was the Kingdom’s biggest challenge.
Fast forward thirteen years into the future, and the problem remains a pressing issue for the Arab state to this day.
“Abdullah singled out youth unemployment as Saudi Arabia’s number one security challenge — and it is,” Helima Croft, the head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday.
“That’s the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of Saudi Arabia — the question of how to deal with its young population.”
Approximately two-thirds of the Saudi population is under the age of 30, but about 30% of the population aged 15-24 is unemployed, according to a 2014 estimate from the International Labor Organization. Plus, about 27% of the population is under the age of 14, which implies that Saudi Arabia’s going to need to create a lot more jobs in the near future.
And so, in this labor market, the big question is as follows: how do these large numbers of unemployed young people occupy their time if they don’t have jobs?
“It’s the problem of young, unemployed men who are idle. They can’t marry; they have no jobs,” Croft told Business Insider. “In the Middle East, it takes the form of young, idle men getting swept up in extremist groups.”
But the youth unemployment issue is not limited to Saudi Arabia. It’s actually a big obstacle for various countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
“The persistent high unemployment among both youth and adults in the [MENA] regions denotes the deep-rooted structural elements that cannot be resolved by supply-side policies alone,” the ILO report said.
Notably, the correlation between unemployment rates/lack of job opportunities and joining militant groups is evident in some of these MENA countries – by Elena Holodny
16.12.2015 – Bayernkurier (* B P T)
Dschihadisten aus dem Kosovo
Das europäische Land, aus dem gemessen an der Bevölkerungsgröße die meisten Dschihadisten kommen, ist doch nicht Belgien − sondern Kosovo: Presseberichten zufolge halten sich derzeit 300 Gotteskrieger aus dem Kosovo in Syrien und Irak auf. Mit Geld und wahabitischen Predigern aus Saudi-Arabien erreicht jetzt radikaler Islamismus das kleine Balkan-Land. Eine Warnung vor dubiosen Moscheefinanziers.
Der Pariser Tageszeitung Le Monde zufolge sollen sich derzeit etwa 300 kosovarische Dschihadisten in Syrien aufhalten, einige von ihnen samt ihren Familien. 60 weitere Gotteskrieger aus dem Kosovo sollen schon ums Leben gekommen sein.
Aber 360 Dschihadisten, wahrscheinlich für die Terrorarmee des Islamischen Staates − für ein Land mit nur 1,8 Millionen Einwohnern ist das eine dramatisch hohe Zahl.
Uno, Nato und EU haben den kosovarischen Staat sozusagen geschaffen. Was nicht verhindert hat, dass jetzt „die Versuchung des radikalen Islamismus Kosovo erreicht“, wie Le Monde es formuliert.
Unter dem Deckmantel humanitärer Arbeit betreiben saudische Nichtregierungsorganisationen wahabitische Mission, gibt Le Monde einen ausländischen Diplomaten wieder. Mit Wahabiten und Salafisten kommen Gewaltprediger in das kleine Westbalkan-Land.
Der Golf-Arabische Einfluss im Kosovo geht auf die Zeit unmittelbar nach dem Kosovo-Krieg zurück. Wahabiten und Salafisten aus Saudi-Arabien und anderen Golfstaaten nutzten das staatliche Vakuum der Nachkriegszeit, um im Kosovo ihren extremen Islam zu verbreiten. Mit Geld vom Golf wurden Moscheen gebaut, in die dann die Gläubigen gelockt wurden, die dafür, so Le Monde, ebenfalls Geld erhielten. Imame wurden vor allem in Saudi-Arabien und Ägypten ausgebildet, schreibt das Blatt – von Heinrich Maetzke
https://www.bayernkurier.de/ausland/8734-dschihadisten-aus-dem-kosovo
cp9 USA
31.5.2016 – Bloomberg (** C E P)
The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s 41-Year U.S. Debt Secret
How a legendary bond trader from Salomon Brothers brokered a do-or-die deal that reshaped U.S.-Saudi relations for generations.
The goal: neutralize crude oil as an economic weapon and find a way to persuade a hostile kingdom to finance America’s widening deficit with its newfound petrodollar wealth. And according to Parsky, Nixon made clear there was simply no coming back empty-handed. Failure would not only jeopardize America’s financial health but could also give the Soviet Union an opening to make further inroads into the Arab world.
The basic framework was strikingly simple. The U.S. would buy oil from Saudi Arabia and provide the kingdom military aid and equipment. In return, the Saudis would plow billions of their petrodollar revenue back into Treasuries and finance America’s spending.
It took several discreet follow-up meetings to iron out all the details, Parsky said. But at the end of months of negotiations, there remained one small, yet crucial, catch: King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud demanded the country’s Treasury purchases stay “strictly secret,” according to a diplomatic cable obtained by Bloomberg from the National Archives database.
With a handful of Treasury and Federal Reserve officials, the secret was kept for more than four decades—until now.
“Everyone—in the U.S., France, Britain, Japan—was trying to get their fingers in the Saudis’ pockets,” said Gordon S. Brown, an economic officer with the State Department at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh from 1976 to 1978.
For the Saudis, politics played a big role in their insistence that all Treasury investments remain anonymous.
Exactly how much of America’s debt Saudi Arabia actually owns is something that matters more now than ever before.
Saudi Arabia, which has long provided free health care, gasoline subsidies, and routine pay raises to its citizens with its petroleum wealth, already faces a brutal fiscal crisis.
The commitment to the decades-old policy of “interdependence” between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, which arose from Simon’s debt deal and ultimately bound together two nations that share few common values, is showing signs of fraying.
“Buying bonds and all that was a strategy to recycle petrodollars back into the U.S.,” said David Ottaway, a Middle East fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. But politically, “it’s always been an ambiguous, constrained relationship.” – by Andrea Wong
31.5.2016 – Sputnik News (B K P)
Cluster Bombs or Not, Washington Still Helps Saudis to 'Wreck Yemen'
Washington has apparently decided to stop selling cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia as Riyadh's is waging its devastating military campaign in Yemen with US-made weapons, however the long overdue measure will come too late, if it is implemented at all, Daniel Larison wrote for the American Conservative.
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160531/1040553438/us-saudi-arabia-yemen.html
30.5.2016 – Daily Mail (A P)
'A vote for Hillary is a vote for endless, stupid war': Julian Assange accuses Clinton of 'spreading terrorism' through 'poor decisions' in diatribe against US Presidential hopeful
WikiLeaks founder brands Mrs Clinton a 'war hawk' who fuelled rise of ISIS
Accused her of getting 'an unseemly emotional rush out of killing people'
Said she had 'set back women's rights in Middle East by hundreds of years'
Assange said he had read 'thousands' of Mrs Clinton's leaked cables
For more of the latest on Hillary Clinton visit
30.5.2016 – The American Conservative (* A K P)
A Very Belated Decision on Cluster Bombs and the Saudis
John Hudson reports that the Obama administration is finally blocking the transfer of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia.
The decision to halt the transfer of these inherently indiscriminate weapons to the Saudis is of course a welcome one, but it is still inadequate and very late. As Hudson notes, this is the first time that the U.S. has taken any action to slow the supply of weapons to the Saudis since the intervention in Yemen began fourteen months ago. This decision doesn’t affect the sale and delivery of other munitions that the Saudis will use on Yemen in the future, and it may not even apply to a new shipment of cluster bombs.
Because cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate and pose a particularly grave threat to civilians, the U.S. shouldn’t be involved in their sale or use in the first place, but it certainly shouldn’t be providing other governments with these weapons when we know that they are using them in civilian areas. There have been credible reports of the Saudi use of cluster bombs in civilian areas for more than a year, so the administration’s action is inexcusably tardy.
The fact that it has taken the administration more than a year of indiscriminate coalition attacks on civilian areas to take even this first step shows how thoroughly the U.S. has been enabling the Saudi-led war on Yemen. For the most part, the U.S. is still enabling that war. We shouldn’t let this small bit of good news make us forget that the U.S. still provides weapons, fuel, and intelligence to assist the Saudis and their allies in wrecking Yemen, and Washington backs the coalition blockade that is starving Yemen to death. Blocking the transfer of cluster bombs to the Saudis is a good first step in changing this atrocious policy, but it is only a first step and has to be followed by many more – by Daniel Larison
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
31.5.2016 – Philipp Hammond (A P)
Talks in #UAE w/ @MBZNews on regional challenges. Key security & trade partner & destination for UK firms & tourists
https://twitter.com/PHammondMP/status/737628181344067585
Comment by Jamila Hanan: #UAE hardly finished bombing #Yemen and already @PHammondMP is talking holidays! Typical Brit.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/737793432186441728
Comment: On Foreign Minister Hammond’s visit to the Near east see YPR 151, 150.
26.5.2016 – Parliament (A P)
Stephen Doughty
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30727, what knowledge UK military personnel based in the command and control centre for Saudi Arabian airstrikes in Yemen had on the alleged use of cluster munitions in that conflict.
Michael Fallon
The UK is aware that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions in the current conflict in Yemen, as the Saudis have themselves publicly confirmed.
Based on all the information available to us we assess that no UK-supplied cluster weapons have been used, nor have UK-supplied aircraft been involved in the use of cluster weapons, in the current conflict in Yemen.
Comment: The first is improbable. The second is ridiculous. as there are more than 70 Eurofighter Typhoons sold to Saudi Arabia by the IK in 2014. They will not stay on the ground since 14 month. Most of the cluster bombs dropped on Yemen are produced in the US, they Saudi will have used all their fighting jets to drop them.
30.5.2016 – Jamila Hanan (A P)
UK vows full support for #Saudi Vision 2030?? No we didn't. @PHammondMP is not 'the UK'. This is a democracy.
https://twitter.com/JamilaHanan/status/737351770356191236
30.5.2016 – Morning Star (A P)
Hammond pushes us further into conflict
FOREIGN Secretary Philip Hammond hinted at further British military involvement in the Middle East yesterday during a visit to the region to drum up support for action in Syria and Yemen.Amnesty’s policy and government affairs officer Allan Hogarth said: “Philip Hammond should use the visit to inform Saudi Arabia that the reckless conduct of its military coalition in Yemen is totally unacceptable and the UK will be ceasing arms sales to it and other coalition members until a full independent investigation of this bloody conflict is undertaken.
“Time and time again Mr Hammond has sought to brush the issue of civilian deaths in Yemen under the carpet. Is today’s visit going to be just the latest example of that?”
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-7ef9-Hammond-pushes-us-further-into-conflict#.V0wdM-Rpn3E
30.5.2016 – Philipp Hammond (A P)
Discussed #Yemen w/ #UN Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in #Kuwait. Political talks vital. There can be no military solution to the conflict.
https://twitter.com/PHammondMP/status/737208389105750016
Comment by Dr. Karim: "and we'll continue to sell weapons to saudi Co to kill more Yemen civilians. Something we officially deny"
https://twitter.com/StopDestroyYem/status/737216645551292416
Comment: Look at Yemen Press Reader 151 for this visit.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
31.5.2016 – dpa (A P)
Saudi-Arabien droht mit Ende der Rüstungskäufe in Deutschland
Saudi-Arabien hat wegen der kritischen Debatte über Rüstungsexporte in das Königreich gedroht, in Zukunft keine Waffen mehr in Deutschland zu kaufen. Der saudische Botschafter in Berlin, Awwad al-Awwad, sagte dem Berliner "Tagesspiegel" (Dienstag), das Thema werde in Deutschland für interne politische Auseinandersetzungen missbraucht. Sofern dies nicht aufhöre, werde sein Land "zukünftig sehr zurückhaltend sein, was weitere Waffengeschäfte mit Deutschland angeht".
Von der Idee, deutsche "Leopard 2"-Kampfpanzer zu kaufen, habe sich sein Land ohnehin verabschiedet, erklärte der Botschafter, der seit Dezember in Berlin ist. "Die klare Wahrheit ist, dass wir an dem Panzergeschäft nicht interessiert sind", sagte Al-Awwad. Waffengeschäfte seien für die Beziehung zwischen Deutschland und Saudi-Arabien "nicht ausschlaggebend", da deutsche Lieferungen nur einen geringen Anteil an den saudischen Rüstungsimporte ausmachten.
http://web.de/magazine/politik/saudi-arabien-deutschen-panzern-interessiert-31590270 = http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/ruestungsindustrie-saudi-arabien-nicht-an-deutschen-panzern-interessiert_id_5579927.html
Kommentar: Hoffentlich.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
30.5.2016 – Agrpress (B K)
Un giorno in Yemen: per non dimenticare un conflitto dimenticato
È tornato recentemente alle cronache il conflitto che è in corso da oltre un anno in Yemen, iniziato nel marzo 2015.
L’associazione Salam For Yemen, presieduta da Sadek Alsaar, ha organizzato a Parigi, il 28 maggio, presso la Scuola Speciale d’Architettura l’iniziativa culturale Un giorno in Yemen per celebrare questo Paese martoriato, i cui abitanti e il patrimonio sono gravemente in pericolo, e per sensibilizzare la gente a non dimenticarli e ad aiutarli. Una manifestazione articolata in un ricco e condensato programma tra proiezioni di documentari, esposizioni fotografiche, incontri con autori ed editori, conferenze, arte e architettura, musica e anche gastronomia.
Tra le fotografie esposte quelle paesaggistiche del celebre fotoreport e documentarista Yann Arthus-Bertrand, i magnifici ed espressivi volti ritratti daEric Lafforgue e quelle più dure scattare da Guillaume Binet per Medici senza frontiere che mostrano gli effetti devastanti della guerra – di Cristina Biordi
http://agrpress.it/varie/un-giorno-in-yemen-per-non-dimenticare-un-coflitto-dimenticato-5214
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
31.5.2016 – The Int’l Spectator (B K)
The US has facilitated $33 billion worth of weapons sales to its Gulf state allies over the past eleven months.
https://twitter.com/intlspectator/status/737350450341519360
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
Siehe cp1 Am wichtigsten / See cp1 Most important
26.5.2016 – Almasdar (* A K)
Exclusive: Blackwater mercenaries in Yemen hired by Gulf owned company
The company sending foreign mercenaries to fight the Houthi forces in Yemen has finally been identified after a year of fighting. According to Tony Toh, Al-Masdar’s Yemeni War correspondent, Yemen-based “Al-Masirah News” sources revealed that Reflex Responses Management Consultancy LLC. was the company hiring mercenaries from the U.S. owned Blackwater Group to fight in Yemen. Reflex Responses Management Consultancy LLC. is an Emirati owned company that hires foreign mercenaries for the UAE’s armed forces.
In particular, the Emirati Army officer behind the deployment of these foreign mercenaries was Major General ‘Issa Seif Mohammad Al-Mazrawi. Furthermore, Al-Masirah News revealed that the RRMC contract with the Emirati regime was worth $529 million (U.S.).
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/mercenary-group-yemen-identified/
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
31.5.2016 – Fars News (A K T)
Saudi-Led Coalition Sends Modern Military Equipment to Al-Qaeda in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has sent large cargos of state-of-the-art military weapons and equipment to the al-Qaeda terrorist group in Yemen, a commander disclosed on Tuesday.
"The Saudi-led coalition has recently sent modern military equipment, including tanks and armored vehicles, through the sea to the port city of Mukalla in Hadhramout province, Southern Yemen," Adel Abdollah, a Yemeni military commander, told FNA.
"The al-Qaeda terrorist group has received the military equipment to suppress the revolutionary moves and carry out terrorist operations," he added.
Abdollah dismissed the Saudi-led coalition's claims that it has increased deployment in Southern Yemen to fight against al-Qaeda, and said it is actually helping the terrorist group intensify its attacks.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, a senior Yemeni military source disclosed that the Saudi regime has coordinated with Al-Qaeda to dispatch a large number of Takfiri terrorists to the strategic regions in Southern Yemen.
"Saudi Arabia has stationed a large number of al-Qaeda terrorists around the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandeb in Southern Yemen in line with a US plot to increase its military presence there," Khalil Abdollah told FNA.
Abdullah also said that Saudi Arabia has asked its Sudanese mercenaries to advance towards Ta'iz and Lahij provinces.
"Hundreds of Al-Qaeda terrorists are now in Southwestern Yemen and they have pointed their artillery at the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait," Abdollah said.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950311000503
cp15 Propaganda
31.5.2016 – Gulf News (A P)
Gulf states seeking ‘peaceful settlement’ in Yemen
Saudi foreign minister says kingdom cannot have relations with countries that encourage terrorism
The Saudi minister also blasted Iran’s role in the region.
“Tehran interferes in the domestic affairs of neighbouring countries, trains militias and sponsors terrorism. We cannot have relations with a country that encourages terrorism in our countries,” he said.
“The developments have indicated that the GCC countries are a source of stability in the region. We strive to provide an appropriate environment for the development of the Gulf citizen.”
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Makroum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, took to Twitter to express thanks to the Saudi king.
“King Salman is today leading a Gulf and Arab movement to consolidate security and stability in the region and stand in front of all external interventions. All thanks to the people of the Kingdom .. and all the love for the people of Jeddah for the organising and hosting of the GCC summit,” he said.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
1.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
War jet launches raid on Serwah
The Saudi-led coalition waged on Wednesday an air raid on al-Wakefah area in Serwah district of Mareb province, a military official said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429478.htm
1.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplanes, hirelings continue to violate ceasefire
The Saudi aggression's war jets and it mercenaries continued to breach the UN-announced ceasefire during the past 24 hours in several provinces, a military official said Wednesday.
The official explained that the hostile warplanes continued to fly in the sky of Sana'a province and waged a raid on Harib area in Nehm district, while the mercenaries bombed Mabda'a area in the district with Katyusha rockets.
According to the military official, the Saudi war jets flew intensively in the sky of Mareb province and launched two raids on Wadi al-Dhaiq and a raid on al-Wakifa area in Serwah district. The hirelings attacked the areas of Nushor, al-Rabia'a and al-Matar in the same district with artillery and missiles.
The Saudi warplanes waged several airstrikes on Harf Sufian district in Amran province and hovered in the sky of the province.
In Jawf province, two women and a child were wounded in an artillery bombing of the mercenaries on citizens' homes in western of al-Ghail district and in al-Maton district, the official said.
The aggression's war jets continued their intensive overflights in the provinces of Sa'ada, Hajjah, Mahweet and Hodeidah.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429481.htm
1.6.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
SMOKE of War: Saudi airstrikes rock #Yemen regions of Mareb, AlJawf & Taiz today while clashes intensify nationwide.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/738037347892252673
1.6.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A K PH)
Saudi led-coalition jets launch a raid on al-Masloob area of Jouf in eastern #Yemen
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/738027489197477889
31.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplanes launch raids on al-Amaliqa camp
The Saudi warplanes waged a series of air raids on al-Amaliqa military camp in Harf Sufyan district of Amran province, a military official said.
The warplanes waged also an air raid on Harib-Nehm area in Sana'a province, the official added.
No reports of any casualties in the raids.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429396.htm
31.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Aggression continues to breach UN-backed ceasefire
The Saudi aggression and its hirelings continued to breach ceasefire in several provinces during the past 24 hours, a security official said Tuesday.
Two people were killed and three others injured by Saudi war jets targeted Harf Sufyan district of Amran province with more than ten air raids, he added.
The Saudi warplanes waged four raids on Hareb-Nehm area in Sana'a province, he said.
The warplanes waged three raids on each of Serwah in Mareb province, al-Malil area in Kutaf district of Sa'ada province and al-Moton district in Jawf province.
The Saudi warplanes flew on the skies of the Capital, Taiz, Mareb, Jawf, Amran, Sana'a, and Sa'ada provinces,the official said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429388.htm
30.5.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Saudi air bombing kills two in Amran
Two people were killed on Monday by Saudi air bombing on Harf Sufyan district of Amran province, a military official said.
The official added that three people were injured when the warplanes attacked al-Amaliqa Brigade camp in the district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429315.htm
30.5.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Aggression, hirelings continue to breach truce
The Saudi aggression and its hirelings continued to breach the UN-backed ceasefire in several provinces during the past 24 hours, a security official said Monday.
The Saudi warplanes launched three raids on Hareb-Nehm area, two others on Mabda'a, one raid on al-Dhabua'a and another on al-Hawl in Nehm of Sana'a province, the official said.
The war jets also waged 11 sorties on Harf Sufyan in Amran province, one raid on Abbas in Hajjah province and another one on al-Jar area in Hajjah.
Moreover, the hostile fighter jets targeted a store of the Yemeni Economic Cooperation (YECO) in al-Marawe'a district of Hodeida province.
The Saudi war jets waged an air raid on Shadha border district in Sa'ada province.
The warplanes' overflights continued in the skies of several provinces, including the Capital, Taiz, Mareb, Jawf, Amran, Sana'a and Sa'ada .
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429294.htm
30.5.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Aggression launches raid on Serwah
The Saudi-led coalition waged on Monday an air raid on al-Wakfah area in Serwah district of Mareb province, a local official said.
The official added the Riyadh's hirelings pounded many areas in Serwah with artillery shells
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429282.htm
30.5.2016 – Khabar Agency (A K PH)
Yemen: Two airstrikes targeted Sirwah of #Marib province
http://khabaragency.net/lasten61853.html
30.5.2016 – Crimes of Decisive Storm (A K PH)
Saudis war criminals jets are hovering and bombing now on Sanaa on Yemen
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1549982125297776
30.5.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
More ATTACKS: 8 killed/injured in wave of Saudi airstrikes bombarding #Yemen regions of Amran, Saada & Nihm today.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/737338730760011776
30.5.2016 – Hussain Albukhaiti (A K PH)
16 #Saudi #UAE strikes on Giants brigade #Amran N #Sanaa & #Saada kild2&inj4
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/737345022652260353
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
1.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Two women injured in Jawf
Two women were critically injured on Wednesday when Riyadh's hirelings pounded citizens' houses in al-Moton district of Jawf province.
The hirelings intensively fired artillery shells on houses in al-Abadan village, one shell hit the house of Yahya al-Tawil, resulting in wounding the two women, a local official said.
He added the hirelings' bombing left huge damage to houses and citizens' properties in the village.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429484.htm
1.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Army destroys two armored vehicles in Mareb
The army and popular committees destroyed on Wednesday two armored vehicles of the hireling's in Hareb-Nehm area, on the western outskirts of Mareb province.
The vehicles were hit by rockets, when they were trying to advance towards the sites of the army and popular committees in Harib-Nehm, a military official said, adding many hirelings on the vehicles were killed.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429493.htm
1.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi warplanes, hirelings continue to violate ceasefire
The Saudi aggression's war jets and it mercenaries continued to breach the UN-announced ceasefire during the past 24 hours in several provinces, a military official said Wednesday.
In Taiz province, the aggression mercenaries pounded with artillery shells al-Madrab and al-Qarf areas in al-Wazeiyah district and several populated areas in the province, the official said.
Meanwhile, the army and popular committees forces repulsed an attempt to advance toward Usailan district in Shabwa province, killing and injuring a number of the mercenaries.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429481.htm
1.6.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Taiz WAR ZONE: 3 civilians killed & 35 injured by Houthi clashes/rocket attacks over 2 days in war torn #Yemen city.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/737988874014707712
1.6.2016 – Almanar (A K PH)
Yémen: 100 miliciens de la coalition tués à Chabwa
yéménites (armée et Ansarullah) ont avorté la plus grande offensive de la coalition saoudo-US et de leurs mercenaires contre les régions de Bijane et Assilane à Chabwa (Est).
Selon un officier militaire yéménite, le but de cette offensive menée il y a deux jours était de s’emparer des régions de la province de Bayda (centre) qui connait de violents combats depuis des mois.
Cet officier, cité mardi soir par le site yéménite Khabar, a expliqué que les forces yéménites ont sécurisé les positions à Assilane et Bijane après avoir chassé les milices pro-saoudiennes.
« Ces combats ont fait près de 100 tués et un grand nombre de blessés parmi les assaillants », a-t-il précisé. Et d’ajouter : « 3 brigades soutenues par l’Arabie ont été dépêchées vers Chabwa dans le but d’avancer vers Bayda, mais leur tentative a tourné au fiasco ».
http://french.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=306381&frid=76&seccatid=30&cid=76&fromval=1
Comment: This figure is higher than otherwise reported.
31.5.2016 – The National UAE (A K PS)
New Yemen clashes kill 38 rebels, loyalists
Sniper fire from Al Houthis kills Yemeni journalist covering the clashes in Bayhan
Renewed clashes between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels killed at least 38 people in Yemen in the past 24 hours, loyalist military sources said on Tuesday.
The latest fighting comes despite an ongoing ceasefire and United Nations (UN)-brokered peace talks in Kuwait that began in April.
Battles raged in Bayhan, on the border between Shabwa province in the south and Marib in the east.
There was also fighting in Sarwah, an oil-rich area west of Marib, the sources said.
At least 23 rebels and 15 soldiers were killed in both areas, the same sources said.
Bayhan is the only part of Shabwa province still controlled by the Iran-backed rebels, who on Tuesday retook positions seized by loyalists during the past two days, the military sources said.
Fierce fighting in Bayhan on Sunday claimed the lives of 48 fighters, a senior military officer has said.
Meanwhile, media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that “sniper fire” from Al Houthi rebels killed Yemeni journalist Abdullah Azizan while he was covering the clashes in Bayhan on Sunday.
Azizan worked for the local news website marebpress.net.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/new-yemen-clashes-kill-38-rebels-loyalists-1.1838168
Comment: Who actually has killed him. Reporters Without Borders is more cautious, the International Federation does not blame anybody. “He is said to” really means nothing.
31.5.2016 – Reporters Without Borders (A K)
Yemeni reporter killed covering clashes, ten others missing
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by the situation of media freedom in Yemen, where another journalist was killed while covering the war on 29 May and ten journalists held by the Houthi rebels have reportedly been moved to an unknown location.
According to Yemeni media reports, Ma’reb Press website correspondent Abdallah Azizan was killed on 29 May while covering clashes between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces in Bayhan, a town in Shabwah province 300 km east of the capital. He is said to have been killed by sniper fire from the Houthi side.
https://rsf.org/en/news/yemeni-reporter-killed-covering-clashes-ten-others-missing
31.5.2016 – International Federation of Journalists (A K)
Yemen: a sixth journalist killed in 2016
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), representing 600,000 journalists worldwide, joined its affiliate, the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate (YJS), in condemning the killing of a journalist in Shabwa, South-East of Yemen - the sixth one killed this year in the country.
The YJS reported that Abdullah Azizan, correspondent of Mareb Press - an online news outlet - was killed on Sunday 29 May while covering clashes in the Bayhan area.
"The YJS expresses its deep regret for the continuous targeting of journalists and presents its sincere condolences and sympathy to the family and friends of Abdullah Azizan," said the union in a statement.
IFJ President Jim Boumelha said: "We are appalled by this new killing of a journalist in Yemen and are deeply concerned about the safety of journalists.
http://www.ifj.org/nc/news-single-view/backpid/1/article/yemen-a-sixth-journalist-killed-in-2016/
31.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Army, popular committees cleanse sites in Shabwa
The army and popular committees forces managed on Sunday to purge several sites of the aggression hirelings in Usailan district of Shabwa province, a military official said.
The aggression mercenaries carried out in the past three days about 12 attempts in order to advance toward Usailan district, the official said.
He confirmed that 70 of the hirelings were killed, including al-Qaeda leaders, and seven military vehicles and one BMP were destroyed in the confrontations of the past two days.
The official pointed out that the army and committees forces repulsed the mercenaries’ progress and retook the control of al-Sulim and al-Alam sites and al-Qarn al-Asfal area and broke the siege on al-Safra’a area.
The mercenaries suffered big losses in lives and gear during the confrontations, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429424.htm
31.5.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Aggression continues to breach UN-backed ceasefire
The Riyadh's hirelings targeted al-Tabha al-Hamra, Tabat al-Hawal and Wadi Melh areas with medium and heavy weapons.
The army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of Riyadh's hirelings to advance towards al-Rabe'ah area Serwah district and in Hailan Mount as well, the official said.
The Riyadh's hirelings in Taiz province pounded Dhubab coastal city and al-Qashuba area in al-Waze'yah district with artillery shells.
Many hirelings were killed or injured when they tried to advance towards Usailan district in Shabwa province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429388.htm
31.5.2016 – Katehon (A K PH)
YEMEN: PACIFICATION AND COORDINATION COMMISSION : HADI FORCES TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IGNITING WAR AGAIN
Pacification and coordination Commission of the ceasefire in Marib, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi forces to take responsibility for the military escalation, calling for the intensification of efforts and attempts to put pressure on the opposing party's for the commitment to the agreements that have been agreed upon in Kuwait negotiations.
Military Commission of the calm and the coordination of the cease-fire in Marib province, Yemeni President forces blamed the military escalation and might have the effect of igniting the war and fighting again.
31.5.2016 – Fatik Al-Rodaini (A K PH)
Heavy clashes between #Yemen army and pro-Hadi fighters taking place in Jouf, Shabwa, Baydha and Marib provinces
https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/737688426925981696
30.5.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Aggression, hirelings continue to breach truce
The Saudi aggression and its hirelings continued to breach the UN-backed ceasefire in several provinces during the past 24 hours, a security official said Monday.
The army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of the Riyadh' hirelings to advance towards al-Saq area in Usailan district of Shabwa province, the official added.
He said the Riyadh's hirelings pounded different areas in Nehm district of Sana'a province with artillery shells and katyusha rockets, adding that they targeted Bani Bareq and Wadi Melh with medium weapons in the same district.
The Riyadh's hirelings in Taiz province bombed al-Amri Mount and Dhubab coastal city in Taiz province and targeted al-Jawi area in al-Waze'yah district with medium weapons, according to the military official.
He pointed out that the army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of mercenaries to advance towards Tha'abat and Jabal Habashi mount areas.
The Riyadh's hirelings in Jawf province continued to target al-Moton district with missile and artillery bombardment, the official said.
He added that a top leader of the hirelings in Jawf was killed in the military clashes in al-Gail district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news429294.htm
31.5.2016 – Saudi Press Agency (A K PS)
Air Defense Forces intercepts ballistic missile launched from Yemen toward kingdom
The command of the alliance to support legitimacy in Yemen announced in a statement on Monday that the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted Monday evening a ballistic missile launched from the territories of Yemen towards the Saudi territories. It was destroyed without any damage.
The Air Forces immediately destroyed the missile launch platform, which was located inside Yemeni territories.
In its statement, the command said that the repetition of the firing of missile towards the territories of the kingdom by the Huthi militias and the forces of the ousted aims at ending the state of calm and aborting the international community's efforts to ensure the success of Kuwait consultations and expresses failure by these militias to deal positively with all the efforts being made by the coalition and by the international community to save the blood of the brotherly people of Yemen.
Thus, the command of the alliance and through this statement stresses that the repeated violations of the cease-fire by the Huthi militias and their associates, targeting the territories of the kingdom and their continued irresponsible practice - despite the policy of restraint followed since the tenth of last April - will force the alliance to reconsider the feasibility of continuing that policy and take all necessary measures to defend the sovereignty and territories of the kingdom and defend the gains of the people of Yemen in the framework of Operation Renewal of Hope.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1505944
Comment: This missile is said to be the first for many weeks and a retaliation for permanent Saudi air raids. Just look at cp16 here and in YPR 151, 150 to see whether this sounds reasonable.
30.5.2016 – AP (A K PS)
Houthi Rebels Launch Missile into Saudi Arabia Boarder
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched a missile over the border into Saudi Arabia for the first time in weeks in the latest violation of a shaky truce between the insurgents and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
Pro-Houthi television channel al-Masirah said Monday that the rebels had launched a long-range missile into Saudi territory.
Saudi Arabia’s military said in a statement that several missiles had hit the Jizan border region, the first such strike in over a month, without wounding anyone – by Ahmed Al-Haj
Comment by Judith Brown: Here we go again...its obvious that if Saudi and Hadi continued to make the same demands and not offer anything in return, then the goodwill gesture of the withdrawal from southeast KSA would one day be reversed.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154396618908641
31.5.2016 – ABNA (A K PH)
In response to Saudi aggression Yemeni forces launch ballistic rocket on Najran
The rocketry force of the Yemeni Army and popular committees launch on Monday a ballistic missile onto the Saudi city of Najran in response to the Saudi continuous aggression on the various cities of Yemen.
http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/05/31/757402/story.html and https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/737345022652260353 and also https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/737339069169041408
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
31.5.2016 – Livenet (S)
Jemen: Christlicher Scheich denkt kurz vor Abreise im Hafen um
Ein Scheich aus dem Jemen dachte, er sei der einzige Christ im Land. Aus Sicherheitsgründen wollte er das Land verlassen. Nachdem alles gepackt war, erreichte er den Hafen, von dem aus er abreisen wollte. Dort traf er einen anderen jemenitischen Christen, der Hilfsgüter ins Land brachte und ihm riet, in der Nation zu bleiben. Im Wissen, dass er nicht alleine war, veränderte sich seine Ausgangslage völlig …
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-151
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-151: / Yemen Press Reader 1-151:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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