Schools and war - Western powers and Saudis - War on Terror failed in Yemen - Mumbling with Al Qaida - US drone war - Saudi lobbyists in USA - Saudis blackmailed UN, comments - and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1a Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1b Am wichtigsten: UNO und Saudis / Most important: UN and Saudis
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp1a Am wichtigsten / Most important
12.6.2016 – Save the Children (** A B H)
Futures on the Line: Yemen’s children missing an education
1,600 schools have been damaged or destroyed, occupied by IDPs or closed due to insecurity. Attacks on school, students and personnel as a result of aerial bombardments or ground attacks has resulted in deaths and injuries of educators and children and rendered many schools unusable.
1.8 million children have had their education interrupted, often for many months. As of May 2016, 560,000 children remained out of school as a direct consequence of the conflict, adding to 1.6 million school age children who already lacked access to education.
For those children who are in school the quality of education has further deteriorated as a result of the conflict, restricting the benefits that education can provide to children’s well-being and learning at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.
Despite the skills-building and life-saving role that education can play, the US$27.5 million requested under the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) for education is just 2% funded.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/futures-line-yemen-s-children-missing-education and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20160523_Yemen_Education_brief_FINAL_%28designed_version%29.pdf
Comment: And again: The priorities of the “West” and of Saudi Arabia is spending their money on bringing death, despair and destruction. The money still needed here equals the cost of 3 hours 14 minutes Saudi aerial war against Yemen or the sum the US is spending for it’s military in 23 minutes (USD 610 billion a year in 2013).
10.6.2016 – RT (** A P)
Will Western powers soon bow to House of Saud?
Within days of shaming Saudi Arabia for its atrocious war abuses against Yemen – most specifically Yemeni children, the United Nations was forced to back peddle on its decision, in order to assuage Riyadh’s wrath. What a 'brave' new world we live in!
Of course Riyadh could not let the United Nations get away with such crime of ‘Lèse majesté’. One does not criticize the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia! Not even the heavens would stand for such treachery.
And so the kingdom made the UN retract its initial statement, demanding that its good name be removed from the infamous human rights blacklist.
I’d like today to look beyond this new political scandal, and concentrate instead on its implications.
Ever since King Abdullah ibn Saud passed away in early 2015, the kingdom went from silent political partner of the West, to a vocal wannabe superpower. With Prince Muhammad bin Salman leading the show – let’s not pretend he isn’t - King Salman’s health is somewhat wavering, the kingdom has transformed into a power hungry imperial power with one massive ego, and check book to match.
No longer a timid Arab player Western powers can exploit, Riyadh wants the world to now dance to its tune. And why not? Riyadh has been bankrolling enough nations for its officials to feel entitled!
From where I’m standing we are witnessing a classic Greek tragedy – the proverbial tale of the son smiting his father to better claim his place under the Sun. The Sun is most definitely burning bright in Riyadh, and Prince Muhammad bin Salman is not one to share.
I would urge you NOT to underestimate Saudi Arabia’s ability to inflict harm upon its Western friends, should it chose to teach its unruly political partners how to bow before Riyadh’s growing hegemonic ambitions.
Saudi Arabia’s answer to the United Nations this June should really give you a taste of things to come – by Catherine Shakdam
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/346120-saudi-arabia-un-rights/
Comment (to headline): They already have.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1041147419271621&id=961126490607048
10.6.2016 – The Canary (** B T)
‘War on terror’ in Yemen has literally quadrupled al-Qaeda terror
The State Department’s new Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 reveals that al-Qaeda has quadrupled its presence in Yemen due to Saudi Arabia’s brutal military intervention.
Other sources, including a senior Dutch foreign ministry official, say that al-Qaeda is being directly supported by the Western-backed Saudis.
The latest Country Reports, released on 2nd June, estimates the number of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters at around 4,000. This is four times the “approximately one thousand” members estimated in 2014.
In 2010, the State Department estimated the size of AQAP to be “several hundred.” So al-Qaeda’s presence in Yemen has increased exponentially over the last half decade of conflict.
Although Saudi Arabia and its allies claim AQAP’s destruction is a key goal, sources say that the Saudis have selectively sponsored al-Qaeda in Yemen to establish a friendly puppet regime.
Earlier this year, I reported that a senior Western government official had confirmed Saudi Arabia’s supply of weapons to al-Qaeda.
By supporting Saudi Arabia’s war, the West is aiding and abetting the resurgence of al-Qaeda in Yemen – by Nafeez Ahmed
10.6.2016 – The Canary (** B T)
Did the West fake an entire attack on al-Qaeda for an oil pipeline?
The Western-backed military coalition currently bombing Yemen to smithereens just had an unprecedented opportunity to crush an al-Qaeda mini-state. But instead, they allowed nearly a thousand Islamist militants to escape to safety. The payoff? The rapid, bloodless takeover of a lucrative oil and gas pipeline route.
In April, a major Western-backed attack on al-Qaeda in Yemen reportedly routed the terror group from Hadramawt’s capital, the city port of Mukalla. But contrary to official claims, eyewitness sources said that the ‘offensive’ staged by Saudi and UAE-led forces was a charade.
Instead, the Western-backed coalition had held weeks of secret negotiations with AQAP before the planned military action. On the day of the ‘attack’, AQAP peacefully handed over the strategic oil port to its ‘attackers’. In return, al-Qaeda was granted a green light to evade capture – with hundreds of millions of dollars to fund future terror plots.
While under al-Qaeda’s control, Hadramawt had remained curiously free from Saudi aerial bombardment since the beginning of the war. The province is central to a longstanding Saudi plan, supported by the US and UK, to install an oil and gas pipeline route through Yemen to the Gulf of Aden.
The idea is to bypass Iranian influence via the Strait of Hormuz. Regional oil supplies must currently pass through the Strait to reach world oil markets.
Thanks to the April agreement reached with the Western-backed Saudi coalition, al-Qaeda in Yemen is now free to capitalise on its tremendous looting, perhaps by planning more Charlie Hebdo-style attacks – by Nafeez Ahmed
http://www.thecanary.co/2016/06/10/west-fake-entire-attack-al-qaeda-oil-pipeline/
Comment: There had been reports on this pipeline plan and it’s impact on Saudi Yemen politics before. Whether this plan had any influence or not, the question remains: Why did the coalition let escape about 1000 Al Qaida fighters without doing them any harm? Where did they go to, where are they now? What are they doing in the moment? On this subject, also see article in Asia Times, cp2.
9.6.2016 – Washington Post (*** B K)
A desperate woman’s email from Iraq reveals the high toll of Obama’s low-cost wars
The White House is on the verge of releasing a long-delayed accounting of how many militants and civilians it has killed, primarily with drones, in countries where the United States is not at war. The list will include airstrikes in countries such as Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
It will not include deaths in Iraq or Syria. Nor is it likely to mollify critics who say that Obama’s largely defensive, low-American-casualty approach puts too many civilians at risk and too often feeds resentment that benefits U.S. enemies. The report will mean little to Iraqis and Syrians in places such as Mosul, Ramadi and Raqqa, where the tragic consequences of American mistakes are often easily ignored and American precision bombs sometimes do not seem very surgical or precise.
In March 2015, Raja’a Zidan al-Ekabee’s car was destroyed by a U.S. airstrike at a checkpoint in Mosul, Iraq, as a driver she had hired to drive the vehicle to Baghdad allegedly awaited for clearance to travel.
Raja’a Zidan al-Ekabee sent this photo of her Kia Sorento to the U.S. Embassy along with an email saying that Americans had blown up her car in an airstrike, killing the driver and five of his relatives.
Her 2011 Kia Sorento, she wrote, was stopped at an Islamic State checkpoint near the Iraqi village of Hatra when a “missile of the international air forces struck the checkpoint.”
Inside the Kia, along with the driver, were three women and two children. The car was traveling with a GMC Suburban when the bombs and bullets hit, causing both vehicles and the people inside them to “burn entirely,” she said.
As the checkpoint bombing outside Mosul demonstrates, even such narrowly defined missions can be morally fraught. Even the most surgical of strikes can carry unintended and deadly consequences - by Greg Jaffe and Loveday Morris
Comment: Please read in full! A very moving story – fully showing how criminal Obama’s drone and aerial war really is, how there is decided on bombing and how shabbily the USA behaves in the aftermath. This is an example from Iraq, but this happens in Afghanistan, Syrian, Yemen and everywhere where US drone and aerial war is led.
6.6.2016 – Map Light / NBC (** A P)
Top Lobbyist Slow To Disclose Relationship With Saudi Arabia
In September 2015, Republican political operative and lobbyist Ed Rogers slammed President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran in a Washington Post column. The headline blared: "Jimmy Carter was a better dealmaker than Obama." A week later, Rogers criticized the president again, writing that the deal contained "jaw-dropping, inconceivable accommodations to Iran."
Neither of those columns — nor a subsequent piece Rogers wrote in March — mentioned that his firm, BGR Government Affairs, had signed an agreement to handle "public relations and media management" for Saudi Arabia, a staunch opponent of the Iran nuclear deal. Department of Justice files do not show any record that BGR had disclosed the relationship to the U.S. government yet, either.
At the start of 2015, there were two companies actively lobbying for the Saudi Embassy in the United States, FARA records show. Today there are four such firms, as well as two employed by the Saudi Royal Court. Between them, the companies currently have at least 38 people registered as lobbyists for Saudi Arabia, including some who took up the country's cause not long after leaving positions in government – by Andrew Perez
http://maplight.org/ = http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/top-lobbyist-slow-disclose-relationship-saudi-arabia-n584156
cp1b Am wichtigsten: UNO und Saudis / Most important: UN and Saudis
10.6.2016 – NZZ (* A P)
Der Vorfall zeigt den begrenzten Handlungsspielraum der Uno auf, die keine Weltregierung mit Weltpolizei ist, sondern ein Zusammenschluss von souveränen Staaten, von denen die einen mehr und die anderen weniger Macht haben, für ihre Interessen zu lobbyieren. Druckausübung ist nicht ungewöhnlich, und dass Gelder gestoppt wurden, gab es auch schon.
Vergangenes Jahr krebste der Uno-Generalsekretär unter israelischem und amerikanischem Druck zurück, als die Verfasser des letztjährigen Berichtes über Kinderrechte im Krieg Israel und die Hamas wegen ihrer Verantwortung für die Bombardierung von Schulen und Spitälern auf den Annex setzen wollten. Schliesslich wurden in einem etwas faulen «Kompromiss» weder Israel noch die Hamas aufgelistet.
11.6.2016 – Lobelog (** A P)
Saudis Exert Pressure to Escape UN Backlist
James E. Jennings, president of Conscience International, said nobody disputes that the war in Yemen has slaughtered many innocent children, with a large percentage of deaths being blamed on the Saudi aerial bombing campaign. “When special interests taint the system with privilege and mask what is blatantly obvious, then another chink falls from the wall of international solidarity protecting all the world’s citizens,” Jennings said, adding that, as in Syria, both sides of the war in Yemen are guilty.
“Shame, however, is far deeper than guilt. Even though avoidance of shame is a hallmark of Middle Eastern social psychology, there should be no place to hide from the obvious truth that those who do such things must be on the list of violators of children’s rights,” said Jennings.
Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, said whether a member state is placed on a list of countries that have committed a particular kind of war crime should be based on the evidence, not on how much money they contribute to the United Nations. If Saudi Arabia went through with their threat and did withhold their contributions, then other nations should step up and increase their contributions accordingly, preferably those like the United States and Great Britain, which provide the Saudis with the armaments used to commit these atrocities, he noted.
“They should not allow the secretary general to have to make the difficult choice between accepting substantial losses to humanitarian programs and covering up for the murder of children,” he said.
This is not the first time that major contributors have made such threats, said Zunes, who has written extensively on the politics of the UN Security Council. Follows: History of Double Standards – by Thalif Deen
https://lobelog.com/saudis-exert-pressure-to-escape-un-backlist/
11.6.2016 – Press TV Iran (A P)
Rich powers use UN as tool to pursue own interests: Analyst
Press TV has conducted an interview with Brian Becker, with the ANSWER Coalition from Washington, and Jihad Mouracadeh.
Becker says the removal of Riyadh and its allies from the blacklist of child killers proves the UN is not a neutral body seeking to bring justice to the world.
“The United Nations has always been an instrument of the powerful against those who don’t have power,” says Becker, noting that the UN bureaucrats listen to those who “pay the bills and have the money.”
“The children of Yemen are vulnerable and they need someone to speak up for them, but they are not the ones who have a hundred million dollars to donate to the United Nations’ different programs,” he says.
Just like the regime in Riyadh, the US has also used the United Nations as a “fig leaf” to militarily intervene in other nations, the analyst says.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/06/11/469888/UN-Saudi-Arabia-Yemen-Becker-Mouracadeh
Comment by Judith Brown: Exactly true - UN supports rich states and rich people within them.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154426540833641
10.6.2016 – New York Times (* A P)
Ban Ki-moon’s Thankless Position
What is surprising is that Mr. Ban made the incident public and declared that the sort of pressure he came under was unacceptable.
He was right to do so: Saudi Arabia stands doubly named and shamed.
For many people, the affair will not come as a shock. The United Nations has developed an unenviable reputation over the years for hypocrisy in its approach to human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Council is famous for the human-rights violators who have figured among its rotating membership, which currently includes Saudi Arabia.
But for all its inefficiency, the United Nations provides a unique venue for nations to mingle and meet.
So to accuse Mr. Ban of caving in to Saudi intimidation, as some human rights organizations have done, is not fair.
The complexity and competing interests of the organization he leads do not allow for moral absolutism. The loss of Saudi Arabian financing for humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, South Sudan and Syria would, Mr. Ban said, have caused millions of children to “suffer grievously.”
Which is another way of saying he had no real choice. The pity is that Saudi Arabia put him in such a terrible position – by Editorial Board
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/opinion/ban-ki-moons-thankless-position.html
Comment: I partly disagree. Ban should resign now to stay personally halfway clean and to blame the Saudis showing them that such a situation just is unbearable for a UN General Secretary. Even better, he should have rejected the Saudi threat, at once making it public at once, thus blaming the Saudis for their threats and pressure them to not realize them. Do not forget that the sums the UN is depending on for it’s humanitarian work just is peanuts compared to the sums Western powers and Saudi Arabia alike are spending every day for military and destruction. The Saudi air campaign against Yemen alone costs USD 200 a day. For it’s work in Yemen, since more than half a year the UN still is in need of USD 1,8 billion – the equivalent of 9 days aerial war in Yemen. That just shows the priority not only of the Saudis, but also of the “West”: this sum equals 1 day 2 hours of the US military budget of USD billion 610 for 2013.
Comment: #UN: The stock exchange of humans
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1042004435852586&id=961126490607048
10.6.2016 – Deutsche Welle (** A P)
Saudi effort to squash criticism of Yemen war violations may backfire
Saudi Arabia is throwing its financial and diplomatic weight around in an effort to mask inconvenient but widely documented human rights abuses and violations of international law tied to its war in Yemen.
The Saudi efforts to squash criticism may even cause rights organizations to double down on their already harsh criticism of the kingdom's conduct in Yemen.
Jane Kinninmont. "It has not helped its international reputation in this case, but the move may be aimed more at the domestic audience, and also takes place in the context of possible legal challenges to the conduct of the war in Yemen," she said. "It is part of a general PR effort to discredit all reports of violations of international humanitarian law as Houthi propaganda."
"Now we have a pattern where you can bully your way off the list," Veronica Yates, the director of Child Rights International Network, told DW. "It really undermines a mechanism that has taken years to build up and strengthen."
Yet, the Saudis and Gulf states are also major contributors to UN operations, including in Yemen. This gives them considerable leverage and cover to pursue geopolitical objectives – by Chase Winter
10.6.2016 – AFP (A P)
France urges calm in Saudi-UN row on blacklisting
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Friday for calm to resolve an angry row between Saudi Arabia and the United Nations over the blacklisting of the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen.
Ayrault said France could help defuse tensions following a U.N. decision to remove the coalition from a list of child rights violators.
"We have to do everything to appease the situation," Ayrault told reporters at U.N. headquarters.
"France is always there when it comes to safeguarding the U.N.'s capacity to take action," he added.
Comment: What should this be? The facts are clear. The Saudis definitely must be included to the UN reports blacklist. The whole affair definitely has damaged the credibility of the UN, the position of UN general secretary and the person of Ban Ki-Moon. And it is a 100 % PR disaster for the Saudis, as the only positive effect.
10.6.2016 – The Guardian (* A P)
Saudi Arabia's row with Ban Ki-moon over Yemen marks new low in UN relationship
Yet overall, Saudis are not only unrepentant but angry. Social media in the kingdom has been overloaded with complaints that western rights watchdogs are failing to apply the same rigorous standards to their own governments and armed forces, or to Russia and Israel, never mind to Syria – where far more civilians have been killed than in Yemen.
Back in 2013 the late King Abdullah caused a stir when he declined to take up a non-permanent seat on the UN security council – in protest at the failure of international policy towards Bashar al-Assad, whom the Saudis want to overthrow. Now the UN is being lambasted as a “terrorist organisation”.
Defiant Twitter users have posted pictures of Saudi soldiers hugging Yemeni children; people being hanged from cranes in Ahwaz, where Iran’s Arab minority lives, and an anxious-looking Ban sitting on a pile of corpses in Syria and expressing his “concern”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/10/saudi-arabia-row-ban-ki-moon-new-low-un-relationship
10.6.2016 – Shooting Irrelevance (* B P)
SAUDI ARABIA, YEMEN, AND THE UN: A CASE STUDY IN POWER
[This affair does] show the tragedy of power. There isn’t much that the UN can do without money, which gives rich nations like Saudi Arabia, and powerful ones like the US and Russia, all the control. These are games played in air-conditioned rooms over millions of lives, over numbers on a spreadsheet. The UN backing down, almost understandably, demonstrates that blackmail works, and that the way the system is set up blackmail can always work, if you have the money to make it happen. Ban, and anyone else who is thinking globally, and not just about their own little corner, have to do a dreadful balancing act.
https://shootingirrelevance.com/2016/06/10/saudi-arabia-yemen-and-the-un-a-case-study-in-power/
10.6.2016 – Alternet (* A P)
How the UN Is Abetting Saudi War Crimes Against Children
Ban Ki-moon admits he bowed to pressure to remove the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen from a blacklist
Saudi ambassador Abdullah al-Mouallami adamantly denied that it exerted such pressure in an interview with the New York Times, saying, “It is not our style.”
This claim is dubious. Last year, the Netherlands abandoned a proposal for a United Nations inquiry into human rights violations committed in the Saudi-led war on Yemen following aggressive lobbying from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration is refusing to condemn the removal of the Saudi-led coalition from the blacklist. In an exchange with an unnamed reporter on Thursday, Mark C. Toner, deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said, “Look, I’m not going to second-guess the UN’s decision and the secretary-general’s decision,” he said. “It’s up to him to explain and defend his rationale for doing so.”
The U.S. has employed identical tactics to shield its allies from criticism. Last year, Ban Ki-moon removed Israel from a list of militaries and guerilla groups that violate children’s rights following intense pressure from the United States and Israel – by Sarah Lazare
http://www.alternet.org/world/how-un-abetting-saudi-war-crimes-against-children and more reports on the Saudis blackmailing UN: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2016/0610/Why-is-the-UN-s-Ban-Ki-Moon-battling-with-Saudi-Arabia
9.6.2016 – Human Rights Watch (* A P)
Dispatches: Blackmailing Your Way Out of Trouble at the UN
As it turns out, blackmail is good strategy for governments that want to get away with killing children in conflict.
Yesterday, a group of 20 organizations issued a joint letter to Secretary-General Ban, expressing outrage with his decision and urging him to return the coalition to the list. Failing to do so would send the message that governments can just use bullying and threats to avoid being held accountable for their actions.
To be clear, the responsibility here lies not just with Saudi Arabia or the Secretary-General. It also falls on the United States. Last year, the UN’s top envoy on children and armed conflict recommended that Israel be put on the list of shame, reporting that at least 540 Palestinian children had been killed during Israel’s military operations in Gaza in mid-2014. When the United States threatened to cancel assistance to the UN in protest, Ban capitulated and removed Israel prior to the list’s publication. Justifying the coalition’s removal, the Saudi ambassador to the UN said, “We have to ask the question: Why was Israel removed from the list last year?”
Politics trumping human rights is not new at the United Nations. But this manipulation of the truth is a new low – at the expense of children and the UN’s reputation – by Jo Becker
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/06/09/dispatches-blackmailing-your-way-out-trouble-un
10.6.2016 – Nizar Aboud (A P)
Film: UN Tarnished by Saudi Demarche
International media is outraged at Saudi blackmail of the UN [Ban Ki Moon’s speaker in press conference]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0iSDXqAO-g
10.6.2016 – Nizar Aboud (A P)
Film: Saudi Rep, "We do not care what UN thinks"
In response to comments made by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Saudi Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said his government did not exercise pressure or intimidation to remove the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from the blacklist of children’s rights abusers. Mouallimi said they instead made their point firmly on the issue and it was up to the Secretary-General to “evaluate” his feelings [Saudi ambassador at UN]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-afPB_tf9oM
10.6.2016 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (A K P)
Seems to be a bit of a confusion between UN reported no. of casualties and actual ones. This may help clear
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/741365030675992576
cp2 Allgemein / General
12.6.2016 – Asia Times (* B K P)
Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s pipeline wars in Yemen and Syria
In June 2015, a senior advisor on Yemen in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joke Buringa, wrote an article regarding Saudi Arabia’s interest in building an oil pipeline through Yemen. Her piece underscored the energy geopolitics behind Riyadh’s bombing campaign over the past year.
In her article entitled “Divide and Rule: Saudi Arabia, Oil and Yemen,” Buringa revealed that the Saudis fear an Iranian blockade of the Hormuz Strait, and were seeking pipelines through Yemen. This would provide Riyadh with direct access to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean to reach the Asian market.[1]
Middle East Eye columnist Nafeez Ahmed, citing a 2008 State Department cable from Wikileaks, has confirmed the Saudi interest in building a pipeline that is “wholly owned, operated and protected by Saudi Arabia, through Hadramawt to a port on the Gulf of Aden.”[2]
Jamestown Foundation’s terrorism analyst Michael Horton concurs Riyadh views AQAP as a useful proxy in its war against the Houthis, which “would mirror the situation in Syria where al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra has for some time been regarded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States as a relatively moderate proxy force” to counter the Assad government.[3] – by Christina Lin
http://atimes.com/2016/06/saudi-arabia-and-turkeys-pipeline-wars-in-yemen-and-syria/#_ftnref3 = http://www.css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/298b0ddb-accc-482d-b577-36a708c954fd
Comment: The articles the author refers to already had been listed in YPR. On this subject, also see article in The Canary, cp1a.
10.6.2016 – Code Pink (* A P)
Petition: END ALL WEAPON SALES TO SAUDI ARABIA!
http://www.codepink.org/end_all_weapon_sales_to_saudi_arabia
10.6.2016 – Shooting Irrelevance (* B P)
SAUDI ARABIA, YEMEN, AND THE UN: A CASE STUDY IN POWER
It’s the tragedy of Yemeni history writ large, but also strangely small. Decisions that impact it aren’t made in Yemen, and they are barely made with Yemen in mind. The battles that take place on its soil almost ignore local conditions, or rather only see local concerns through the prism of power. Saudi Arabia understands Yemen better than any other country in the world, and understands how to work with and manipulate the tribal system, but even they got sucked into the battle partly because of the idea that Iran was supporting the Houthis (who are, lineage-wise, the same people the Saudis supported in the 60s). And now Saudi Arabia, who has always wanted a Yemen that is divided and weak but still stable enough not to be chaotic, is helping to make sure that there is a vast and heavily-populated failed state on its southern border.
https://shootingirrelevance.com/2016/06/10/saudi-arabia-yemen-and-the-un-a-case-study-in-power/
6.6.2016 – Diwan Site (** B K P)
Missed Opportunities as Origins of Disorder
The conflict that erupted in late March 2015 had a number of causes. Analysis of an abundance of events leading to such a chaotic environment would be a mountainous task, but without a doubt a narrower focus can help understand a number of issues. In particular, by examining three critical mistakes made by ‘interim’ president Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi during the Transition Process can shed light into the downward spiral deepening Yemen’s crises.
The vital mistakes made by Hadi were: 1) not capitalizing on the momentum following the signing of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Initiative (GCCi) on 23 November 2011 and reaching out to the masses, specifically young independent Yemenis; 2) Hadi failed to capitalize on Saleh’s political weakness and GPC fears over unprecedented unpredictability in the political sphere. Hadi failed to move as Secretary-General of the GPC, to reinstate confidence early on among GPC party leaders to marginalize Saleh; 3) Hadi’s last major mistake was to obstruct the natural course of events following the Houthi take over of Sanaa in September 2014, when the temporary alliance of convenience with Saleh was on a collision path by November 2014.
President Hadi failed from start to cultivate a constituency beyond his narrow trust circle. Recorded speeches and lack of public audiences definitely contributed to Hadi’s diminishing public image. Hadi lacked a grassroots constituency among the southern population, millions boycotted the election of February 2012. Hadi failed to even secure a significant constituency within the Capital Sana’a.
https://diwansite.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/missed-opportunities-as-origins-of-disorder/
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
6.2016 – Launch Good (* A H)
Dress a Child for Eid Al-Fitr In Hodeidah, Yemen
This project will help financially support The Hemmati Association for Social Development Eid Al-Fitr project in Hodeidah, Yemen. The project will consist of distributing Eid outfits for children and young adults (until the age of 17) to the less fortunate during the islamic holidays. Each outfit will be bought from local suppliersso that the money may stay within the Yemeni economy, as opposed to buying the outfits outside of Yemen.
https://www.launchgood.com/project/dress_a_child_for_eid_alfitr_in_hodeidah_yemen
12.6.2016 – Press TV Iran (B H K)
Film: Saudi use of banned weapons affecting Yemen’s agriculture
The Yemeni province of Sa’ada has been one of the main targets of Saudi airstrikes since March last year. Riyadh is under fire for using internationally banned weapons, including cluster bombs, against Yemeni civilians. Prominent rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have already accused the Saudi kingdom of committing war crimes in Yemen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJgKZZ5-VFg
12.6.2016 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Infographics:
Yemen: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Shelter/CCCM/NFI Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Protection Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Nutrition Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Health Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Food Security and Agriculture Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Emergency Employment & Community Rehab. - Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
Yemen: Education Cluster Response (as of April 2016)
11.6.2016 – Aljazeera (A H)
Yemen crisis: 'Immeasurable’ suffering in Ramadan
Civilians suffer in Ramadan due to rising temperatures, erratic electricity supply and limited access to food and water.
Yemen's civilians are facing an "immeasurable" crisis with the onset of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the UN.
On Yemen's Red Sea coast, temperatures often exceed 40C and erratic electricity supplies makes observing the fast - where Muslims refrain from eating or drinking from dawn to dusk - particularly challenging.
"We're suffering not only poverty, but frequent power cuts and lack of water," Abdu Abdullah Gharefah, a Hudida resident, told Al Jazeera.
10.6.2016 – USAID (A H)
Yemen Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #11 Fiscal Year (FY) 2016
Reduced imports and increased prices constrain access to food and fuel – The UN condemns violence against civilians in the city of Ta’izz – Peace negotiations continue in Kuwait; cessation of hostilities remains in effect
INSECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN ACCESS – AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY, AND LIVELIHOODS – HEALTH AND WASH – PROTECTION AND SHELTER – LOGISTICS SUPPORT AND RELIEF COMMODITIES – OTHER HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-complex-emergency-fact-sheet-11-fiscal-year-fy-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/USG%20Yemen%20Complex%20Emergency%20Fact%20Sheet%2011.pdf
10.6.2016 – USAID (A H)
Map: Active USG Humanitarian Programs in Yemen (Last Updated 06/10/16)
11.6.2016 – Yemen Post (D)
ZOO animals risk DYING in #Yemen from lack of food & care as war left 85% population suffering of severe hunger.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/741713952795721728
10.6.2016 – Washington Post (* D)
‘Imagine living and dying in such a small space': Zoo workers in Yemen are struggling to feed starving animals
Add lions and endangered Arabian leopards to the casualties of Yemen’s civil war. To see the impact, enter through the rusting gates of the zoo in this southwestern city, go past the handful of donkeys in a fenced compound and walk toward the cages.
Inside are the desperate-looking lions, leopards and other animals. Their pens are the size of walk-in-closets, with some cramped with two predators. One lion is taking medication because his skin peeled off from hunger.
“We have about two and half weeks of food for them,” said Victoria Johner y Cruz, a Geneva-based lawyer who is trying to help save the animals – by Sudarsan Raghavan
6.2016 – One Green Planet (D)
Due to the ongoing civil war in Yemen, many people are fleeing the country in a bid to escape the infinite fighting, shelling, and blockade of food and water. Sadly, not everyone can escape. Animals living at the Taiz Zoo are struggling to survive in what has been called “Hell on Earth” as shelling and bombs hit the surrounding area, making it ever harder to obtain food for the animals plagued in this facility. With little food and veterinary care, the animals are struggling to get by each day, suffering from open wounds, and even turning to cannibalism.
Of the 280 animals living at the zoo, such as lions, leopards, monkeys, deer, and many others,11 lions and six leopards have already died. Thankfully, fundraising campaigns are helping the animals, but urgent action must be taken if they are to survive.
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/animals-starving-to-death-at-yemens-taiz-zoo/
Comment: Please, feed children first.
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
10.6.2016 – Anadolu (A H)
After one year, electricity partly returns to W. Yemen
Power supply was disrupted last year after generating station was damaged in fighting between Yemen's warring camps
Electricity was finally restored to some parts of Yemen’s western Al-Hudaydah province Friday after a nearly one-year hiatus.
Yemen’s official news agency, currently controlled by the Shia Houthi group, said technical teams from the state-run General Electricity Corporation were gradually restoring the province’s power supply.
"Electricity has now been restored in the Al-Hali and Al-Kornesh areas of Al-Hudaydah city as a first step towards restoring the power supply throughout the entire province," the news agency reported.
For the last year, residents of Al-Hudaydah -- known for its high temperatures and humidity -- had suffered from a total lack of electricity.
In May of last year, power was cut in most provinces of war-torn Yemen, including Sanaa and other major cities, after the Public Electricity Corporation failed to repair the lines linking Marib’s electricity-generating station to the capital – by Ali Owaida
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/after-one-year-electricity-partly-returns-to-w-yemen/587847
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
12.6.2016 – Albawaba (A E H)
Governmental sources revealed that Aden power station has been refueled after three ships docking in oil harbor have been emptied.
The ships were carrying fuel for power stations, some of which were about to shut down due to theworsening fuel crisis.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that additional amounts of oil derivatives will be distributed among gas stations to help end the gas crisis in the city.
The sources, preferred to remain anonymous, said that Emirates Red Crescent worked with General Electric that communicated with Turkish company Calik to present a report on technical electric problems in Aden.
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obein bin Daghr met with Aden Governor Aidarus al-Zubaidi and Aden Security Chief Major General Shallal Shaea. During the meeting, political and economic issues were tackled as well as the shortage in services in the governorate.
http://www.albawaba.com/business/yemen-respite-adens-fuel-crisis-power-station-refueled-850798
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
6.2016 – Nasser Kandil (A P)
The solution of Yemen is serious and in Ramadan
The consequences of the war of attrition affect the ability of the two teams to withstand within the limited financial resources, the Yemeni team which is supported by Saudi Arabia knows that the Saudi Gulf financial support has been reduced to less than a half, while the Houthis team and its allies know that the resources of the Yemeni treasury in Sanaa has depleted and it is no longer sufficient for more steadfastness unless there is a political solution, the consequences of the war of attrition has one beneficiary, it is Al-Qaeda organization in its original copy and its revised version ISIS.
The expectation may ascend and descend about the solution in Yemen, but it is clear that there is an expected date since the starting of the negotiations of Kuwait; it is the end of Ramadan as a date for reaching to a solution which must be carefully noticed – by Nasser Kandil
12.6.2016 – Almanar (A P)
Yemen’s National Delegation Stresses Solution Must Be Comprehensive
Yemen's national delegation to the ongoing talks in Kuwait asserted that any solution must be comprehensive and based on the references of the transitional political process in order to be accepted by all the Yemenis.
In a statement the delegation added that the solution must include a consensual agreement on identifying the presidency situation, forming a national unity government and a military as well as a security committee, halting the Saudi-led aggression permanently, and lifting the blockade.
http://english.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=273843&cid=23&fromval=1
Comment: National delegation Houthi / Saleh delegation. “consensual agreement” and “national unity government”, that’s exactly what the Hadi government does NOT want.
12.6.2016 – The Arab Weekly (A P)
Yemen conflict edges closer to resolution
Major developments in diplomatic efforts to end the 15-month war in Yemen are taking shape, as negotiations and closed-door meetings have established conditions for a possible national unity government.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam, after meeting with Saudi officials in Riyadh, left for Yemen to brief Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi and other high-ranking members of the movement on terms of a tentative agreement, Yemeni sources said.
The initial terms of the agreement are predicated on a Houthi pledge to secure the border with Saudi Arabia to ensure safety and guarantee no further transgressions, as happened during previous peace talks and ceasefires.
Abdulsalam is seeking to obtain the Houthi leadership’s approval regarding a transitional government before returning to Kuwait to continue the negotiation process, sources said.
As far as the Saudi side is concerned, the invitation to the Houthi spokesmen is based on its insistence that a border agreement is finalised, as officials in the kingdom say a political solution cannot be reached while its border is being shelled by Houthi forces, source stressed.
http://www.thearabweekly.com/?id=5419
Comment: Based on Saudi sources. Might be, a border agreement really is coming now. But see the following:
11.6.2016 – Tasnim News (A P)
Yemen’s Ansarullah Denies ‘Common Ground’ with Saudi-Backed Delegation
Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement dismissed as baseless reports about deals and a “common ground” between the movement and a Saudi-backed delegation in the UN-brokered peace talks underway in Kuwait.
In a statement, Mohammed Abdulsalam rejected media reports about recent agreements between the Yemeni negotiators and the Saudi-backed delegation which would be regarded as a common ground for developing a peace plan in coming days, Arabic-language Al-Manar news channel reported.
The statement came after UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed said on his twitter account on Friday that the negotiating parties in the peace talks have “a lot in common on substance”.
http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/06/11/1101657/yemen-s-ansarullah-denies-common-ground-with-saudi-backed-delegation and also http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430425.htm
11.6.2016 – Narada (A P)
Al Houthi Proposal Rejected By Yemen Government
Al Houthis and their allies’ proposal to withdraw from the capital in exchange for resignation of Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was rejected by Yemen’s government delegation participating in the current peace conference in Kuwait.
Al Houthi militants are Iran-backed. They have also called for the formation of a unity government as a precursor to the implementation of UN Resolution 2216, which calls for their disarmament and withdrawal from occupied territory.
The government delegation foresee it as a ploy to derail the UN resolution altogether and has continuously rejected this demand.
“We rejected their proposal and insist on President Hadi’s legitimacy,” the official reportedly said.
Al Houthis also demand half the seats in the cabinet of a unity government.
“Given the current stances, the talks are unlikely to produce a united roadmap to end the conflict,” the official said.
http://naradanews.com/2016/06/al-houthi-proposal-rejected-by-yemen-government/
Comment: Nothing new. The Hadi government requires all for itself, stressing it’s “legitimacy”, and is not willing to give anything.
11.6.2016 – Saba News (A P)
National delegation meets Riyahd’s delegation in Kuwait
A direct joint session was held on Friday at Bayan Palace in Kuwait city and brought together heads of the national delegation and Riyadh’s delegation in the presence of the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh.
At the meeting, the national delegation stressed the need to address the prisoners file and to take quick steps in this aspect
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430358.htm
Comment: National delegation = Houthi / Saleh del.; Riyahd’s delegation = Hadi government del.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
10.6.2016 – Bloomberg (* A E P)
Saudi Arabia's Reform Plans Are Too Timid
A closer look at the National Transformation Program, however, suggests that the Saudi diversification attempt probably won't achieve much: It's not bold enough in the area that matters most -- developing human capital.
The Saudi government has acknowledged all these problems in its Vision 2030, a broad outline of planned reforms. Yet when it came to setting specific targets in the new Saudi program, the reformers have mostly proved timid.
Peterson Institute for International Economics's Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, who analyzed the Saudi Vision 2030 last month, wrote that the plan would not succeed "without giving the Saudi people a direct voice in electing their own government and breaking the chokehold of the Wahhabist clerical establishment." Such demands would be the inevitable result of a higher-quality, more inclusive Saudi workforce – by Leonid Bershidsky
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-06-10/saudi-arabia-s-reform-plans-are-too-timid
9.6.2016 – Globes (* B E P)
The other reason Saudi Arabia needs Israel
Sure, there's the fear of Iran, but Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States want to diversify their economies as well.
As a result, not only in the defense, security and intelligence fields, where there is already widespread if sub-rosa cooperation between Israel and its neighbors, there are multiple opportunities for fruitful collaboration in hi-tech, water management, agriculture and other fields – by Norman A. Bailey
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-the-other-reason-saudi-arabia-needs-israel-1001131374
3.9.2014 – Belfast Telegraph (* B P)
Saudi Arabia's proposal to destroy Prophet Mohammed’s tomb and move remains to anonymous grave risks new Muslim division
he controversial proposals are part of a consultation document by a leading Saudi academic which has been circulated among the supervisors of al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, where the remains of the Prophet are housed under the Green Dome, visited by millions of pilgrims and venerated as Islam’s second-holiest site.
The plans, brought to light by another Saudi academic who has exposed and criticised the destruction of holy places and artefacts in Mecca – the holiest site in the Muslim world – call for the destruction of chambers around the Prophet’s grave which are particularly venerated by Shia Muslims.
The 61-page document also calls for the removal of Mohammed’s remains to the nearby al-Baqi cemetery, where they would be interred anonymously – by Andrew Johnson
cp9 USA
12.6.2016 – AFP (A P T)
CIA chief says secret 9/11 report not evidence of Saudi complicity
CIA's Brennan backs release of classified 28-page section of 2002 report, which was only 'very preliminary review' of 2001 attacks
CIA chief John Brennan has said that secret findings of a 2002 congressional investigation into the 9/11 attacks should not be taken as evidence of official Saudi complicity.
A decision is expected soon on whether to release the classified 28-page section of the report by the House and Senate intelligence committees
Comment: release them completely, then we will see.
27.5.2016 – Open Society (* B K P)
This Tool Exposes How U.S. Security Assistance Is Being Spent Overseas
Since 9/11, U.S. security assistance has surged to $17 billion per year. Much of this is supplied to unrepresentative, sectarian governments that use it to consolidate their grip on power and clamp down on dissent. Yemen is one such example—a country in which hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been squandered in failed attempts to work with an undemocratic regime to stamp out terrorism.
While there are many reasons for these failures, the lack of adequate transparency and oversight around U.S. security assistance is an important one. Unlike U.S. military aid funded by the State Department, security assistance is increasingly funded by the Defense Department and comes with few public reporting requirements. The lack of data on security assistance to foreign countries makes it difficult for government officials and the public to get a clear picture of the U.S. government’s activities in conflict regions.
As a recent report showed, the U.S. government took a particularly risky approach to providing counterterrorism aid to Yemen under former President Saleh. This assistance included tactical military training and weapons for Yemeni security forces that were loyal to the regime.
Instead of effectively addressing al-Qaeda, however, these forces helped Saleh secure power, sometimes violently, undermining the country’s stability. Following the fall of Saleh in 2011, the United States continued its cooperation with Yemen’s security apparatus. Very little is known about this assistance, hindering an informed public debate about the United States’ involvement in Yemen.
This and other related gaps in public information prompted the Center for International Policy to create the Security Assistance Monitor (SAM) in 2014. SAM is the first and most comprehensive resource housing all publicly available official data on U.S. security assistance in one place – by Colby Goodman
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
11.6.2016 – Londonderry Sentinel (A P)
Durkan accuses Government of ‘excusery’ over Saudi wolf’s UK-made cluster bombs
Londonderry MP Mark Durkan has accused the Government of presenting the Saudi “wolf in a sheepdog’s clothing” after United Kingdom-manufactured cluster bombs were recovered by Amnesty International researchers in Yemen.
“Once again, we have Ministers prepared to present the Saudi wolf in a sheepdog’s clothing. Today, we have been given a pub crawl of excusery – by Kevin Mullan
Comment by Judith Brown: Excusery that's a good word and it really sums up what is happening.
11.6.2016 – The Independent (** A B P)
What Blair accidentally revealed about Iraq during his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn was very interesting indeed
Blair’s periodic eruptions are so useful because he openly reveals that, like the Bourbons, he has learned nothing and forgotten nothing since the start of the Iraq War
Blair still favours foreign interventionism and believes it is effective and beneficial despite all the evidence to the contrary from Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan over the last 15 years. But it would be a mistake to think that here he is expressing an isolated opinion of his own because, for all his pariah status, much of the British media and a significant minority of his own party supported British participation in the US-led air campaign against Isis in Syria.
Blair is an extreme and self-interested example, but there is still very little understanding among Western leaders about what happened in Afghanistan after 2001 and in Iraq after 2003. Whatever the humanitarian justifications for foreign intervention there, the wars rapidly transmuted into neo-imperial ventures not much different from those undertaken during the high days of imperialism in the 19th century.
Blair is often criticised for his close commercial and political relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies but what he does is no different, even if it is more blatant, than other Western politicians. The struggle to defeat Isis is taking so long because the US, Britain, France and others are trying to overcome the extreme Islamists without damaging their strategic alliance with the autocracies of the Middle East – by Patrick Cockburn
5.6.2016 – Huffington Post (* A P)
Philip Hammond’s Bahrain Boosterism Is Appallingly Misjudged
At the beginning of last year the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond assured the House of Commons that the small but strategically significant Gulf state of Bahrain, though racked by several years’ of rolling social unrest and subject to wave after wave of arrests and unfair trials, was “a country which is travelling in the right direction.”
It was making “significant reform”, he said. Indeed, a new £15 million Royal Naval base, announced a month earlier, was apparently an important feature in this rosier picture. With British “Type 45 destroyer” warships and aircraft carriers set to be stationed at the new base, it was all part of the “expansion of Britain’s footprint” in the Gulf and “just one example of a growing partnership with Gulf partners to tackle shared strategic and regional threats.” – by Allan Hogarth, Head of Policy and Government Affairs at Amnesty International UK
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/allan-hogarth/philip-hammonds-bahrain-boosterism_b_10281122.html
17.3.2013 – The Independent (* A P)
Why do we cosy up to these Wahhabi tyrants?
The oil’s the thing and I do understand that. But in December 2012, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which provides independent statistical analysis, Venezuela was the second largest supplier of crude oil to the US. Saudi Arabia was the third biggest. So, why did the American and British spokespeople and commentators fearlessly slag off the late Hugo Chavez? Some of the criticisms were justified, others ideological and grossly unfair, but they didn’t hold their tongues as they do with Saudi Arabia, an evil empire if ever there was one – by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/why-do-we-cosy-up-to-these-wahhabi-tyrants-8538023.html
Comment: This is still the question of the day. Looking at the question related to Venezuela: Saudi Arabia buys a lot of US and UK weapons, Venezuela does not; Venezuela is a left force in the US backyard supporting countries which try to get rid of US supremacy in this backyard.
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
10.6.2016 – Netzfrauen (* A K P)
Wer bezahlt die Waffenexporte für Saudi Arabien? Die Saudis sind pleite!
Da fragen wir uns, wie die Bundesregierung weitere Waffenexporte in den Nahen Osten genehmigen konnte, und zwar erhielt Airbus Helicopter grünes Licht für die Ausfuhr von 23 zivilen Hubschraubern mit militärischen Einbauten nach Saudi-Arabien. Der baden-württembergische Waffenhersteller Heckler & Koch darf unter anderem 1210 Maschinengewehre und -pistolen nach Oman liefern. Das teilte Wirtschaftsminister Sigmar Gabriel im März 2016 dem Wirtschaftsausschuss des Bundestags in einem Schreiben mit.
Saudi-Arabien gehört zu den besten Kunden der deutschen Rüstungsindustrie. Trotz aller Beteuerungen Sigmar Gabriels, bei der Waffenausfuhr Zurückhaltung zu zeigen, genehmigte die Regierung allein im ersten Halbjahr 2015 Lieferungen im Wert von 178 Millionen Euro nach Riad. Seit langem schon schießen saudische Soldaten mit G36-Sturmgewehren, die dort mit deutscher Genehmigung gebaut werden. Katar, ein enger Partner Saudi-Arabiens im jemenitischen Krieg, kann dank der schwarz-roten Koalition auf Leopard-Kampfpanzer zählen.
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
12.6.2016 – Middle East Eye (A H P)
EXCLUSIVE: Threats from senior Bahrain official force activist into exile
In her first interview since leaving Bahrain earlier this week, campaigner Zainab al-Khawaja calls for the country's king to face trial.
A prominent Bahraini human rights activist, who was recently released from prison after an international outcry, told Middle East Eye that she has been forced into exile after she was threatened with re-arrest and indefinite separation from her children.
Zainab al-Khawaja is the daughter of well-known activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is serving a life sentence over his role in the 2011 uprisings that saw Bahraini protesters demand political freedom from the country's ruling family.
The 32-year-old rights campaigner left the Gulf kingdom on Tuesday – by Jamie Merrill
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/xxx-1224320450
10.6.2016 – Bloomberg (* A H)
Rights Group Says More Than 100 Burundi Girls Sold in the Gulf
More than 100 Burundian women were trafficked to Gulf nations in the past week, where some are in danger of being mistreated, a non-governmental organization said.
“They are taken there illegally,” Pacifique Nininahazwe, leader of the Forum for Conscious Awareness, known by its French acronym, Focode, said in a statement in the capital, Bujumbura.
As many as 800 others could have been trafficked to Middle Eastern countries last year, according to another organization, Burundi Women Association Confederation. Some of the women have been turned into slaves and are sold from one owner to another, according to police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye – by Desire Nimubona
Comment: Shocking. Those at the Gulf are the “West’s” very best friends in the region. Disgusting.
10.6.2016 – Pacifique NININAHHAZW
31 filles programmées pour #Oman sur le vol ET 806 de tout à l'heure à15h #Burundi #HumanTrafficking Au moins 181 filles en une semaine!
300 enfants partis en #SaudiArabia et #Oman depuis avril 2016 selon le #FENADEB ce soir sur #Humura-RPA #Burundi #HumanTrafficking
https://twitter.com/pnininahazwe/status/741230680114266112 and https://twitter.com/pnininahazwe/status/741373150047375360
25.1.2016 – Bonesha Amakaru (* A H)
Burundi- Alerte : Trafic humain ou recherche d’un travail domestique?
Des jeunes filles d’âge compris entre 14 et 25ans partent massivement vers les pays arabes comme l’Oman ,Dubaï et Qatar pour se faire embaucher comme travailleurs domestiques.
Des quartiers Buterere ,Kanyosha et Buyenzi sont les plus touchés par ce mouvement « étrange » .Ces filles disent qu’elles partent de façon officielle car les documents de voyage sont octroyés par les autorités habilités. Mais les parents de ces filles ne sont pas autorisés même à les accompagner à l’aéroport ; regrette un parent qui dit qu’il a vu sa fille embarquée dans un véhicule par un militaire jusqu’ à l’aéroport .
Une de ces jeunes filles qui est rentrée d’Oman après un mois à Oman nous raconte qu’elle a subi des tortures de la part de ces patrons
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=948240038577858&id=483559535045913
23.12.2015 – iBurundi (* A H)
ALERT #Burundi Human trafficking 500 burundian women being sent ("sold" per some accts) to Saudi Arabia w/ govt nod (see image)
https://twitter.com/iburundi/status/679641793944764416
cp13 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
12.6.2016 – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (A H)
Yemen: Refugees and Migrants Multi-Sector Response (as of April 2016)
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
Siehe cp1a Am wichtigsten / See cp1a Most important
12.6.2016 – Iran front Page (A T)
Iraq Calls for Clarity after Saudi Arabia Admits ISIS Fundraising
The call by Iraq’s Foreign Ministry came after Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said earlier this week that Iraq’s current offensive against Daesh had sparked a flurry of new fundraising campaigns in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement on Saturday June 11, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry denounced the case as “An obvious violation of the Security Council’s decisions.”
“We are waiting for a clarification from the Saudi Government regarding its spokesman’s press statements on the collection of financial donations for ISIS (Daesh) within the kingdom,” the statement said.
“The real efforts being exercised to fight terrorist organizations must eliminate their funding sources,” the ministry said, in an apparent jab at Turki touting Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism efforts.
11.6.2016 – AFP (A T)
US drone strike in Yemen 'kills two Qaeda men'
A US drone attack in Yemen killed two suspected Al Qaeda members in their vehicle on Saturday in Marib province east of the capital Sanaa, a local official said.
The official named the two dead men as Gazwan al-Waili and Zubeir al-Sanaani and said "they were known for their links to Al Qaeda".
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/497695/US-drone-strike-in-Yemen-kills-two-Qaeda-men
10.6.2016 – Juan Cole (* B T)
Why Isn’t this News? US-Saudi War Helping al-Qaida Flourish in Yemen
AQAP has gladly taken advantage of the Saudi-led campaign’s almost exclusive focus on the Houthi-Saleh alliance.
Much of the work to deny AQAP a safe haven in Yemen, flawed as it was, has now been completely undone. Uprooting AQAP was always going to be a long, onerous process in a state as weak as Yemen, but Saudi’s U.S.-facilitated war has significantly increased the difficulty. The widespread bombing, which has destroyed hospitals and factories in addition to hundreds of homes, has ensured that any future Yemeni government will be unable to take on AQAP by itself for years, if not decades. In effect, the United States has helped to guarantee that its controversial and costly counterterrorism mission in Yemen will have to continue indefinitely.
Though much damage has already been done, the United States must at the very least stop contributing to its own insecurity – by Bill Hess
cp15 Propaganda
12.6.2016 – Saudi Press Agency (A H P)
King Salman Relief Center delivers 647 tons of dates as gift to Yemen
King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid handed over at its headquarters here today 400 tons of dates as a gift from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of Yemen, and 247 tons of dates through the World Food Program allocated to the brotherly Yemeni people in the presence of representative of the Yemeni government, Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population, Dr. Abdullah Dahan, the representative of the World Food Program Ashraf Hamouda, a number of officials and employees of the center.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1510054
Comment: First bombs, then dates.
12.6.2016 – WAM (A H P)
Khalifa Foundation continues aid distribution on Yemen's Socotra Islands
The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is continuing the provision of aid to Yemen's Socotra Island through the launch of its air bridge project consisting of 12 humanitarian aid planes carrying 400 tonnes of Ramadan food supplies.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates-international-aid/1395296632052.html
Comment: the island of Socotra had been given to the Emirates by the hadi government for 99 years. Now, the island is used as a military base – later the Emirates plan to use it a a luxury tourism resort.
12.6.2016 – The Pensinula Qatar (A P)
Real democracy for Arabs needed to stop the bloodshed
Real democracy has become an absolute necessity for us as Arabs, in order to stop us killing each other, and instead to achieve good governance. This is applicable to Arab republics that collapsed after the Arab Spring while trying to get rid of traditional Arabic dictatorship systems. These countries failed even to restore the traditional tyrant systems which were the reason for their collapse during the 2011 revolutions. Therefore true democracy remains the only elusive possible solution to end the current bloodshed.
Arabs in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen only need democracy to survive and to stop the killing machines which are claiming hundreds of thousands.
However, Arabs whose hopes were in democracy, have begun to lose confidence in it. People in Iraq demonstrated against the parliament and assaulted it’s headquarters in Baghdad. Unfortunately democracy in Iraq is still only on paper, described in the constitution but failing in practice because of sectarianism, corruption and Daesh.
The problem with the opponents of democracy in the afflicted countries is that they don’t offer any alternative solutions except restoring the traditional Arab regimes that collapsed in 2011 after half a century of ruling.
This [democracy] is the solution that the collapsed Arab states needs, and it is futile to support one side to take power and control all the country, if we assume that there are other parties remaining.
In Yemen for example, the greatest support that Saudi Arabia and the other GCC countries could provide after the war is not membership of the GCC as some demanded, or even a Marshall Plan or donations of billions of dollars, but to help the country to establish a real democratic system for peaceful power exchange and bring all its components and the regional actors to an agreement on this solution – by Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabian journalist, columnist, author and the General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of Al Arab News Channel.
Comment: This is upsetting.
Comment: This is somewhat crazy. Khashoggi is a Saudi propagandist. Certainly, everybody would agree that these war stricken countries would need “democracy” as a remedy and way out of crisis. But Saudi Arabia as the one who is bringing democracy to these countries?? What about democracy in Saudi Arabia itself?? Does the author not realize how stupid the idea of Saudi Arabia bringing democracy to other countries must be? And take the case of Syria: The Saudis since many years are eager to kick President Assad out, in any case, with all means. For them, it does not matter that “democracy” would mean that just the Syrians and only the Syrians alone would decide about that. This article by Khashoggi is just a Saudi good-will article for the Western audience after the UN blacklist and blackmailing scandal turning out to be a 100 % PR disaster for the Saudis. Khashoggi might be a eager propagandist – credible he is not at all.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1042026182517078&id=961126490607048
11.6.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
International Officials Laud Saudi Relief and Humanitarian Role
For his part, Dr. Nasser Baaoum, Yemeni Minister of Health and member of the supreme committee for relief, acknowledged the spent efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on supporting Yemen saying: “the center provided aid to the needy people in the first two weeks of its establishment,” lauding the Kingdom’s direct support for Yemen and the health sector.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Abdul Khair, Director of Operations and Emergencies at International Organization for Migration in Geneva, also recognized the Kingdom and the center’s support, praising the strong and active partnership established between the two or helping people in dire need.
On the other hand, Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr. Nabil Othman thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid for helping refugees, underlining that the center has signed a program with UNHCR to provide support for the displaced Yemenis.
Comment: This is the propaganda you could wait for after the scandal of Saudi Arabia blackmailing the UN and threatening to cut off it’s humanitarian support. It’s not astonishing that in the first place a Yemeni minister is praising the Saudis: exactly that is one of the main tasks of the Hadi government. The UNCHR representative better should have been silent in this moment after what happened to the UN. What about the Saudi aid? Off course, they do. Look here: http://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2015/9/55ed7fcb6/signing-memorandum-understanding-united-nations-high-commissioner-refugees.html And be aware: USD 31 million for UNCHR is the equivalent of 3 hours 43 minutes Saudi aerial war against Yemen (USD 200 daily). That about Saudis’ priorities.
Comment by Judith Brown: And this is what the Saudi papers are saying about Saudis international role. Surprise surprise. If they Saud anything else the editor would not trust his head to stay on his shoulders.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154426544753641
11.6.2016 – Strategy Page (A P)
Yemen: Iran Quietly Wins One
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/yemen/articles/20160611.aspx
Comment: This article really is dull propaganda – seeing Iran even behind the UN’s report on children’s rights’ violations in Yemen.
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
11.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
War jet launches raid on Harib-al-Qaramish
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430375.htm
11.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Child injured in Mareb by Saudi airstrike
The Saudi war jets launched an air raid on Friday on a farm in Harib-al-Qaramish area in Mareb province.
A child was injured in the raid, a military official said, adding the Riyadh's hirelings targeted different areas in Serwah.
The Saudi aggression kept on breaching the UN-sponsored ceasefire during the past hours in several province, he said.
The Saudi war jets waged two air raids on Harib-Nehm area in Sana'a province. At the same time, the hirelings pounded Mabda'a, Melh, Bani Abed, al-Medraj, Bani Bareq areas in Nehm district in Sana'a.
The Saudi war jets waged an air raid on al-Mezraq area in Harad district of Hajjah province and the Saudi aggression pounded Harad and Midi districts with artillery shells.
The Saudi aggression also waged an air raid on al-Moton district of Jawf province and dropped a sound bomb on al-Qanaws district in Hodeida province.
The Saudi warplanes launched many raids on Harf Sufyan district in Amran province and targeted wells in the district.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430386.htm
11.6.2016 – Dr. Karim (A K PH)
#Yemen's #Taiz: report of 6 civilian casualties (1 killed) in cluster bomb explosion
https://twitter.com/StopDestroyYem/status/741720165050679297
11.6.2016 – Fars News (A K PH(
Commanders: S. Arabia Intensifies War in Yemen after Omission from Child Killers List
Yemeni commanders revealed that the UN move to take off the name of Saudi Arabia from the list of violators of children's rights has emboldened Riyadh to intensify its attacks against Yemen.
"The Saudi fighter jets are still launching strikes against the innocent Yemeni people as the UN excluded the name of Saudi Arabia from the blacklist of violators of children's rights," Khamis Zahir al-Hamdani, a Yemeni military commander, told FNA on Saturday.
He said that during the past 24 hours, the Saudi fighter jets have killed 5 civilians in al-Jawf province wounding 3 others people.
Also, the Saudi-led coalition's warplanes bombed different parts of Harf al-Safian city in al-Imran province four times in the past 24 hours, Hamdani said, adding that the coalition also launched missile and artillery attacks against different regions in Sana'a.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950322000599
10.6.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Aggression's breaches to ceasefire continue
The Saudi aggression and its mercenaries continued to breach the cease-fire during the past hours in several province, a military official said Friday.
The Saudi warplanes flew intensively on the sky of the capital and waged an air raid on Harib-Nehm area in Sana'a province. At the same time, the Riyadh's hirelings pounded Bani Bareq and Mabda'a area in the province.
The Saudi warplanes waged an air raid on al-Amri schools in Dhubab city. The war jets flew intensively on the sky of Taiz province.
The warplanes dropped a sound bomb on Harf Sufran area of Amran province.
Meanwhile, the army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of the Riyadh's hirelings to advance towards Qarn al-Dhbab zone in Harib-al-Qaramish area, causing them heavy losses.
The Saudi war jets flew intensively on Mareb province and launched five raids on Serwah district and another on Hailan Mount in the district. At the same time, the hirelings pounded many areas in the district.
The Saudi warplanes waged an air raid on al-Moton district of Jawf province.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430305.htm
10.6.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
WAR ZONE: 17 Saudi airstrikes attack #Yemen regions Amran, Mareb, Nihm, Hodieda & Jawf today, UN peace talks resume.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/741357082914476032
10.6.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Hostile war jets launch raids on Serwah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430290.htm
10.6.2016 – Ahmad Alghobary (A K)
Breaking: 2 #Saudi air strikes on Almatoon area in Aljawf city #Yemen Also another air 2 air strikes on Sofian district Sadaa city
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/741411798218375168
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
11.6.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Taiz BLEEDING: 21 civilians killed (8 children/6 women) in 1 week by Houthi rockets/clashes in war torn #Yemen city.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/741728861415739393
11.6.2016 – Saba Net (A K PH)
The Saudi aggression kept on breaching the UN-sponsored ceasefire during the past hours in several provinces.
The army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of the Riyadh's hirelings to advance towards Qarn al-Dhyab zone in Harib-al-Qaramish area, causing them heavy losses.
The Saudi hirelings pounded Dhubab city with artillery shells.
In Taiz province, many hirelings were killed when they tried to advance towards Tabat al-Raqa'a area in Maqbana district in the southern part of Taiz province. Meanwhile, the hirelings pounded Dhubab city and many areas in al-Shabka and al-Ghawi in al-Waze'yah district with artillery shells.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430386.htm
10.6.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)
Commander: Ansarullah Captures New Areas From Saudi Forces in Ma'rib Province
The Yemeni popular forces have managed to take back strategic areas from the Saudi-led coalition in Ma'rib province, a senior commander announced.
He noted that the liberated areas were located in Arqoub and Mashja'a regions.
On Wednesday, another senior Ansarullah commander announced that the Yemeni popular forces had started massive operations to purge Takfiri terrorists from the country's Western provinces.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950321000520
10.6.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Nonstop BOMBARDING: Fierce Houthi clashes in #Yemen region of Taiz & Saudi airstrikes rock regions of Nihm & Mareb.
https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/741319281720320001
10.6.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Aggression's breaches to ceasefire continue
Tthe army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of the Riyadh's hirelings to advance towards Qarn al-Dhbab zone in Harib-al-Qaramish area, causing them heavy losses.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430305.htm see film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ39BJgAdyA
10.6.2016 – Saba News (A K PH)
Army fires missile on 115th brigade camp
Many Riyadh's hirelings were killed on Friday in a missile attack on the 115th brigade camp in al-Hazm city of Jawf province, a military official said.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news430283.htm
Comment: Army = Yemeni army fighting on the side of the Houthis.
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
12.6.2016 – Living in Yemen on the Edge (A)
Amazing sight : Locust swarms land in southern #Yemen province of Abyan. Delicacy for many, disaster for farmers.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1042035869182776&id=961126490607048
11.6.2016 – Deep Root (E)
Yemen Transition 2.0: M-Floos: A Game Changer?
Yemen ranks as the second worst country in the world in financial inclusion as measured by the Global Financial Inclusion Index 2014 (Global Findex). But now there is a potential game changer being introduced in the country: M-floos, a mobile money service that has the potential to disrupt the financial sector in Yemen and have ripple effects in other sectors.
This new paper from DeepRoot Consulting provides a primer on the evolution of mobile money services internationally, and looks into the regulatory process for mobile money services in Yemen. The paper provides a background on M-Floos, the first mobile money service in Yemen, and explores the potential future applications for mobile money services in Yemen – by Rafat Al-Akhali
http://www.deeproot.consulting/#!Yemen-Transition-20-MFloos-A-Game-Changer/tv2qr/575ab5650cf2cc77abfe813e and in full: http://media.wix.com/ugd/df2b40_6922d2a1c6d1445aa63533578055bf34.pdf
Comment by Marie-Christine Heinze: I've just read this new publication by Rafat al-Akhali with absolute fascination. This could be a game changer in Yemen indeed.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154426609138641
Comment by Judith Brown: I'm not sure about the mechanics of this but it almost reads that a new mechanisation for moving money called m-floos will create usable virtual money that is stored and moved using mobile phone technology. Seems incredible.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154426609138641
Comment: This already exists in many countries, and broadly is used in Kenia for instance. I am somewhat doubtful. Yes, this could be useful for Yemenis in many cases. No, in the first place it is a good business for the big Western companies. And, Yemen anyway has much more severe problems in the moment. And one – as a direct consequence of the war – is the lack of electricity not only in the countryside, but also in the cities like Sanaa, Aden, Hodeida. Without electricity no cellphone, without cellphone no electronic money.
10.6.2016 – Gard (A E H)
Gard Alert: Yemen – new port clearance procedures
Yemen’s Ministry of Transport has announced that, after 5 May 2015, shipping companies or owners shipping commercial goods or services to ports not under the direct control of the Government of Yemen (the ports of Saleef, Mokha and Hodeidah and associated oil terminals) must notify and apply for an entry permit via UNVIM. The permit application must be submitted upon departure from the port of origin of their cargo and at least five days prior to arrival at their port of destination in Yemen. See notice from the Yemen Ministry of Transport published 2 May 2016 for details.
http://www.gard.no/web/updates/content/21254771/gard-alert-yemen-new-port-clearance-procedures
Comment: Saudi blockade is still in effect.
6.2016 – Free Unlimited E-Books
Yemen; the unknown war by Dana Adams Schmidt
http://insaneemmerspdf.org/yemen-the-unknown-war
Comment: This is a book from 1968 on the Yemen war from 1962 to 1967. And what did change in the world’s interest in a war in Yemen from 1968 to today? Nothing, as the title shows. But today, the “West” itself is deeply involved in this war.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-156
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-156: / Yemen Press Reader 1-156:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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