Allgemein / General
27.10.2015 – Washington Post
Yemen’s transition to political stability was doomed to fail. Here’s why.
n the past seven months, in order to restore the transitional government in Sanaa, the Saudi-led coalition has attempted to push the Houthis out of territories and state institutions it had been occupying since September 2014, albeit with limited success. It would be wrong to assume, however, that it was merely the Houthis’ takeover or the Saudi military intervention that derailed the transition process. Rather, the starting point of the transition, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative, was ill-conceived, as it empowered the old elites. These elites vying for power in Sanaa — as well as their regional and international backers — used the process to further their own interests, thereby excluding considerable parts of the population, weakening state institutions and ultimately derailing the process.
Backed by the United States, European Union and United Nations, the GCC in 2011 forged an agreement among Yemeni elites to prevent a civil war through a peaceful transfer of power. The agreement included a power-sharing arrangement between the old ruling elites in Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) and the alliance of traditional opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP). It did not, however, include any representatives of the countrywide protest movements.
Transitional President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a former confidant of Saleh, confirmed in a non-competitive election in early 2012, was tasked to implement the GCC Initiative. His legitimacy and international support therefore rested on a successful implementation of the transition road map. Former president Saleh, in contrast, had an interest in undermining the agreement’s implementation to guarantee his family’s continued access to power – by Mareike Transfeld
Kommentar: Sehr interessante Analyse der Vorgeschichte: Aus eigennützigen Motiven hat das Ausland (USA und Golfkooperationsrat) im Jahr 2012 mit dem Übergang der Regierung an den damaligen Vizepräsidenten Hadi die Grundlage für die folgende Krise gelegt. Einen Auszug kann man hier nicht machen, muss man komplett lesen!
27.10.2015 – The American Conservative
The Saudis’ War Crimes in Yemen
The health center in northern Yemen run by Doctors Without Borders which was bombed at least twice overnight by warplanes belonging to the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia was one of the last medical facilities in Saada province. This part of Yemen has been bombed extensively by the Saudis in their campaign against the Houthis, especially since they illegally declared the entire province–and all the people living in it–a military target back in May. Unfortunately, the destruction of this health center is entirely consistent with the coalition’s attacks on civilian targets in Saada and elsewhere in Yemen, which have led human rights groups to accuse the coalition of committing war crimes. This attack is representative of the coalition’s air campaign, which the U.N. says is responsible for the majority of civilian deaths since March. It is this sort of attack that the Saudis and their allies don’t want subjected to independent scrutiny, which is why they have blocked the U.N.’s efforts to establish an independent investigation into war crimes and abuses committed by all sides in Yemen. The administration has also gone along with this. The U.S. has helped them both in committing these crimes and in keeping them from facing close scrutiny of what they have been doing – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-saudis-war-crimes-in-yemen/
26.10.2015 – The Russophile
Unrest in Yemen: Source of the Conflict
The al Houthi movement traces its roots back to the mid nineties to a political and paramilitary group called Believing Youth, established by Hussein Badr al Din al Houthi. The group was pro-government orientated, but after 2001. When the President Ali Abdullah Saleh aligned himself with the United States the turmoil began. The al Houthi movement opposes US as well as the influence of the Saudi regime which grew stronger over the years. In 2004. when the leader Hussein Badr al Din al Houthi was killed by the police, the gap between two sides in the country deepened. Shiite population which inhabits the northern part of the state has close ties to this movement and also supports their cause in fighting the government and the Wahhabi presence pushed by the Saudis regime. Since the start of the civil unrest in 2011, Iran has stepped up their support in humanitarian supplies to the country despite accusation of smuggling arms for Houthi forces.
The growing unrest in Yemen escalated in 2015. into a full-blown civil war between southern separatists and forces loyal to the President Rabbuh Mansur Hadi who clashed with Houthi forces and forces loyal to the former President Saleh. On first glance these factions seem confusing but the main fight lies between Houthi forces (which represent Shia population) and forces loyal to the government. Between these two large groups is also separated the military of Yemen, one side supporting the regime forces and the other giving their support to the Houthi’s. This gap in Yemen society has its political, religious, ethnic and cultural dimension. Complex situation such as this requires adequate attitude in resolving the conflict. Making some kind of an agreement among factions will be crucial for future meditation and stability in the country. Riyadh military intervention is just making things more difficult. Bombing a country that has a diverse society which is already in a bad situation, without any plans for future stabilization and installment of legitimate government reminds me of US intervention in Iraq in 2003. What happened to Iraq in years after the invasion could potentially occur in Yemen, but with a much dire consequences. Some of those consequences are visible even now, appearance of ISIS and AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula) among factions fighting the war in Yemen is a clear sign that using only aggressive military intervention cannot lead to a stable solution.
Hope still lies in diplomacy, the GCC meditation attempts back in 2011. had some level of success. Though primarily focused in maintaining their interests, this regional organization was able to bring all of the factions to the negotiating table and resolve some disagreements and ensure some kind of peace. Miscalculation and shortsightedness of regional and global powers is pushing Yemen towards a total collapse which can only serve the interests of extremists and terrorists. In order to avoid this scenario the global community must take a more active role in this conflict and accelerate efforts to negotiate between the factions currently fighting. The peace process that follows can’t be made in order to please the wishes of neighboring countries, on the contrary it must be accustomed for Yemen people, their security and well-being.
When it comes to the Middle East, everything seems to be happening a bit too fast. Power struggle that reaches back to the colonial days, vast array of factions clashing in proxy wars and devastating conflicts for the most wanted commodity(oil) turned this region into a spawning pool for extremists and terrorists which represent a global threat. Controlling the pass between Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, stability of Yemen directly affects the price of oil on global markets, the country is also relatively near Somalia and Sudan which have the potential of producing future extremists and are inherently unstable. Resolving the civil war in a country with an important geostrategic position such as Yemen can prevent future destabilization and provide security to the whole region.
http://www.therussophile.org/unrest-in-yemen-source-of-the-conflict.html/
26.10.2015 – Washington Post
How Yemen’s United Nations mediation could avoid failing again (but probably won’t)
Producing a peace deal will require a Herculean effort from the U.N. envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. But that is nothing compared to the work that will be needed to produce a settlement that is acceptable not just to the Houthis, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and its GCC backers, but also to the many local groups that have taken the fight to the Houthis since the war began.
As I recently argued in a paper for the British charity Saferworld, a key factor in derailing the political transition set in motion by Ahmed’s predecessor Jamal Benomar was that, while it was marketed as a transformative and inclusive process, little more than lip service was paid to addressing the needs and grievances of Yemenis who had not been part of the Saleh regime. Ahmed cannot afford to ignore the importance of these groups or he stands to be plagued by the same problems that ultimately derailed the transition. The deal brokered by Benomar to end fighting in Yemen in 2011 saw Saleh relinquish power but was unable to prevent the collapse of the subsequent political transition process when Houthis — hitherto seen as a relatively marginal player in Yemen’s power struggles — entered Sanaa in September 2014.
Groups like the southern secessionist Hirak al-Janoubi (Hirak), residents of Yemen’s industrial and cultural hub, Taiz, tribesmen from the oil-rich central province of Mareb and the Houthis were each offered a place at the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), a 10-month series of peace talks aimed at producing the basis of a new constitution, in Sanaa. But the day-to-day running of the country was left to Hadi, Saleh’s longtime deputy, and a coalition government made up of Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party and an opposition bloc led by Saleh’s onetime allies turned key rivals, the Sunni Islamist Islah party.
The behavior of the GPC, Islah and indeed Hadi during the transition increasingly led Yemenis to see the NDC as an illusion masking a deeply worrying political reality. As the NDC trundled on into 2014, a series of “hidden wars” came into focus between Saleh and Islah’s military backers — and between the same military factions with ties to Islah and the Houthis, who had fought six wars with the Saleh regime, backed by Islah, between 2004 and 2010.
The war has pushed historically nonviolent groups like Hirak to take up arms against the Houthis, and has seen deepening rifts in Yemeni society down the lines of sectarian, political and regional differences. While regional Arab media often paints those fighting the Houthis as “pro-Hadi” or “pro-government,” by and large anti-Houthi fighters have battled to defend their home regions rather than to see Hadi reinstated as president in Sanaa.
Hard power in Yemen now lies in the hands of a divided collection of local and identity-based armed groups with clashing agendas, who will demand to be taken seriously in the event of a new round of negotiations over Yemen’s future. These groups have little trust in the ability of a centralized administration to act in their interests
A new negotiated process could all too easily repeat the mistakes of the past, with the international backers of the transition focused on the political balance between competing elite groups rather than meaningful change, ignoring the elite’s self-interested behavior until it is too late. An inclination toward reaching a deal quickly increases the odds that the grievances and needs of those outside of the Houthis, Hadi and Sanaa power brokers will be ignored. But that, in turn, makes failure more likely.
If whoever is handed power in a post-conflict settlement cannot display clear political will to govern on behalf of all Yemenis by acknowledging and addressing local grievances and improving living standards, the country is likely to collapse once again into a morass of inter-regional battles. Recognizing this pattern is the best hope for the United Nations to break the cycle of transitional failure – by Peter Salisbury
21.10.2015 – Exposure
Portraits from Yemen
6 months of war have had a devastating impact on the lives of ordinary Yemenis, yet the conflict often gets overlooked. Help us share these touching stories, and give voice to those affected.
Imagine you live in the midst of war. Since March, 15 of your family members have been killed. Everyone you know is unemployed. You question where you will get your next meal or water. The local school is shut down and turned into a shelter for the internally displaced. You have already fled four times with your family. Your children are traumatized with little hope for the future, knowing a rocket gone astray could be the end.
This is life in Yemen right now. The situation, to say the least, is dire.
21.5 million—over 84-percent of the population—are in need of assistance, the World Food Program warns that the country is one step away from debilitating famine. People are struggling to access basic necessities including food, fuel and medicine. Millions currently lack access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare. Yet, the war in Yemen receives much less attention than other ongoing conflicts in the region. In an effort to shed light on the conflict, UNDP has captured a number of voices from Yemenis and international partners, lending their perspective on daily life in the midst of this conflict.
Nabila Al-Zubair, National Dialogue Conference:
“I am from Sana’a. People there and Yemenis everywhere are praying for their problems to end. They are looking for security and a loaf of bread. Are we all failing our people? Women are the greatest victims of the war and most in danger. The deteriorating economical and security situation has a negative effect on their mobility, on their livelihoods and on the security of their family as a whole. It is not safe for them to leave their homes. They have a lot to deal with. Many families are politically divided; there are cases where brothers got killed fighting for opposing sides of the conflict. This war must and will end. We need a political solution. We need a dialogue between the parties putting Yemen back into the hands of its people. When it is over, we will need a development plan to rebuild our country and have to start from where we stopped.”
and 17 other people from and 17 other people from Yemen
https://undp.exposure.co/portraits-from-yemen
Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
27.10.2015 – Al Monitor
Yemen's decaying religious history
Historic sites are being destroyed by the civil war in Yemen’s once-peaceful city of Aden, known for its history of diversity and coexistence.
The Yemeni city of Aden has been a unique case of coexistence and diversity in the region, where numerous groups lived together despite their differing beliefs. The city’s strategic location — along the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — made the town an enticing locale for colonial powers. The last occupiers were the British, who ruled the city from 1839 to 1967, and over its history Aden became a meeting point for various nationalities
Alas listed numerous historical landmarks that have suffered from military operations in the city, including the oldest neighborhood, the Qatia district, which was entirely destroyed. The so-called English Cemetery in Aden’s famed Al-Mualla district was demolished, and the Catholic Church of St. Joseph was burned. The church, the second oldest in the city, was built in 1854.
Letting out a sigh of sorrow, she said, “Destruction and vandalism have affected a number of religious and historical monuments. They destroyed mosques, churches, homes and everything that speaks to Aden’s heritage and history.”
She added, “The Houthis stormed the Church of St. Antonios in al-Tawahi, looting its contents and destroying parts of it. Shortly thereafter an armed group believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda stormed the Catholic church in the same district. After firing a barrage of bullets into the air, they then looted it and dismantled its bells, threatening to blow it up at any moment.”
Mohammed, who still resides in Aden, said that the same group then vandalized the statue of Christ atop the church, breaking its head and hands and removing the cross.
Mohammed reported that the war also has resulted in the destruction of the Prince of Wales Sidewalk, an important tourist destination in the city and a site also frequented by locals – by Ashraf al-Falahi
27.10.2015 – History Today
Yemen’s Endangered Treasures
The current conflict in southern Arabia is threatening one of the most remarkable sites of the region’s pre-Islamic civilisations.
Daily Saudi air strikes do not differentiate between military, civilian or archaeological targets and they have caused severe damage to the ancient Sabaean city of Sirwah, situated between the Yemeni highlands to the west and the vast empty quarter to the east.
The ruins of Sirwah are just as impressive as those of the more accessible and celebrated Sabaean city of Marib, just 30 miles to the east. The kingdom of Saba (biblical Sheba) existed from approximately 1000 BC to AD 290, first as the main power in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and later in constant conflict with other emerging south Arabian kingdoms. The Sabaeans have left us a wealth of architectural wonders, including the Great Dam of Marib, built in the eighth to seventh century BC and one of the most extraordinary architectural projects of the ancient world, and numerous temples.
There is especial concern about Sirwah’s main tower, which has been hit hardest by the explosions, and a now cracked inscription dating back to the seventh century BC. Damage has also been inflicted on a row of carved ibexes on the outside of its temple wall, some of which has fallen down, and its pillars, which have been hit by shrapnel. All these structures had withstood the centuries, but rockets destroy in seconds what nearly three millennia could not. Even if restoration can save the tower from collapsing – which at this moment is far from certain, since air strikes are ongoing – irreparable damage has been done.
Some scholars have claimed that Sirwah was Saba’s first capital before it was moved to Marib, though Iris Gerlach of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), who has conducted excavations on the site since 2001, has concluded that Sirwah was never Saba’s capital. It was, however, a major trading post on the incense route that connected Arabia and East Africa, the second-largest Sabaean settlement and its pre-eminent religious centre.
The main temple in Sirwah was dedicated to the Sabaean god Almaqah, whose epithet in Sirwah was ‘Ba’al Awa’el’, or ‘master of the ibexes’, which explains the numbers of carved ibex heads found on the site. It has often been suggested that the ibex represented the god Almaqah himself; however, since he is called their master, this is unlikely to be the case.
Sirwah was deserted after the Sabaean kingdom ceased to exist around 290 AD after being defeated by the Himyarites, a powerful semitic tribe from the south, which united the whole of ancient Yemen under their rule towards the end of the fourth century AD, just as the Sabaean Karib ‘il Watar had done centuries before. Never has Sirwah been so endangered as it is now – by Sarah Rijziger
http://www.historytoday.com/sarah-rijziger/yemen%E2%80%99s-endangered-treasures
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
27.10. – MSN Nachrichten
Saudische Allianz: Haben Klinik im Jemen nicht angegriffen
Die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Militärallianz im Jemen hat nach eigenen Angaben das Krankenhaus von "Ärzte ohne Grenzen" in der Stadt Saada nicht bombardiert. Auf die Frage, ob die Allianz die Klinik angegriffen habe, schrieb Brigadegeneral Ahmed Asseri am Dienstag: "Ganz und gar nicht."
Ein Sprecher der Vereinten Nationen sagte, UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-moon fordere ein sofortiges Ende aller Operationen im Jemen, einschließlich der Luftangriffe. Zugleich habe er sich für umfassende Ermittlungen ausgesprochen.
In der Nacht zu Montag war das Krankenhaus nach Informationen von "Ärzte ohne Grenzen" bombardiert und zerstört worden. Der zuständige Landeschef der Organisation betonte, vor rund zwei Wochen die genauen Lagedaten des Hauses an die Allianz weitergereicht zu haben. Laut Unicef war es bereits das 39. Gesundheitszentrum, das seit März im Jemen bei Luftangriffen getroffen wurde.
Kommentar: „Comical Achmed“ Asiri hat wieder verbal zugeschlagen.
27.10.2015 – Die Zeit von AFP
UN-Generalsekretär verurteilt Luftangriff auf Klinik im Jemen
UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki Moon hat einen Luftangriff der von Saudi-Arabien angeführten Militärkoalition auf ein Krankenhaus der Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen (MSF) im Norden des Jemens verurteilt. Ban forderte in der Erklärung am Dienstag eine umgehende Untersuchung des Angriffs, bei dem "mehrere Menschen" verletzt worden seien. MSF hatte zuvor gemeldet, dass die Klinik in der Hochburg der Huthi-Rebellen am Montagabend bei mehreren Luftangriffen getroffen worden sei, während etliche Mitarbeiter und Patienten in dem Gebäude waren.
27.10.2015 – Der Standard
Ärzte-ohne-Grenzen-Klinik im Jemen bombardiert
Eine Klinik von Ärzte ohne Grenzen in der jemenitischen Stadt Saada wurde Ziel von Luftangriffen der von Saudi-Arabien angeführten Militärkoalition. Das gab die Organisation am Dienstag bekannt. "Unsere Einrichtung wurde vergangene Nacht von mehreren Luftangriffe getroffen, mit Patienten und Personal in der Einrichtung", hieß es am Dienstag auf Twitter.
Dabei sollen mehrere Menschen verletzt worden sein, berichtete die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Saba unter Berufung auf Aussagen des Spitalsdirektors. "Die Luftangriffe führten zu der Zerstörung des gesamten Spitals samt der medizinischen Einrichtung", sagte Ali Mughli.
http://derstandard.at/2000024562232/Klinik-von-Aerzte-ohne-Grenzen-im-Jemen-bombardiert siehe auch http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/4852597/Jemen_Saudis-bombardieren-Spital-von-Aerzte-ohne-Grenzen
27.10.2015 – Zerohedge
US Ally Saudi Arabia Bombs Another "Doctors Without Borders" Hospital – by Tyler Durden
27.10.2015 – Common Dreams
MSF Hospital in Yemen Bombed by US-Backed Coalition
Active medical facility was struck while patients and staff were inside
A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in northern Yemenwas bombed Monday night by the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition.
Tim Shenk, press officer for MSF, confirmed to Common Dreams that the active medical facility, based in the Saada governorate, has been hit. The strike was initially reported by the aid agency's Yemen bureau, which noted that there were several patients and staff members in the facility at the time of the attack.
"Our hospital in the Heedan district of Saada governorate was hit several times. Fortunately, the first hit damaged the operations theater while it was empty and the staff were busy with people in the emergency room. They just had time to run off as another missile hit the maternity ward," MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told Reuters.
"It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it's a war crime. There's no reason to target a hospital," Boucenine continued. "We provided (the coalition) with all of our GPS coordinates about two weeks ago."
The bureau also released images of the facility following the bombing
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/10/27/msf-hospital-yemen-bombed-us-backed-coalition
27.10.2015 – BBC
Yemen conflict: MSF hospital destroyed by air strikes
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says one of its hospitals in northern Yemen has been destroyed by several air strikes.
The first, which occurred around 22:30 (19:30 GMT) on Monday, hit part of the facility in Saada province that was not being used, according to the charity.
All staff and patients had been evacuated by the time the second strike hit about 10 minutes later.
However, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthi rebel movement denied that it had bombed the hospital.
Asked by the Reuters news agency if he knew what had caused the blasts, spokesman Brig-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri said: "We cannot tell without investigation."
The charity's hospital in Saada's Haydan district served 200,000 people and was the only life-saving facility in the region, receiving 150 emergency cases a week.
An MSF statement said that all staff on duty and two in-patients managed to escape between the first and second air strikes on Monday night.
The facility's director was slightly injured during the evacuation.
fter visiting the site on Tuesday morning, MSF's project co-ordinator in Saada, Miriam Czech, said: "I was not able to go inside as we believed there were remaining bombs that have not exploded, but I can confirm that the facility is 99% destroyed."
The facility's director said that only the x-ray department and staffroom remained.
"It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it's a war crime," MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told the Reuters news agency.
"There's no reason to target a hospital. We provided [the coalition] with all of our GPS co-ordinates about two weeks ago," he added.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34645469
27.10.2015 – New York Times
Doctors Without Borders Says Yemen Hospital Is Destroyed
A health center in northern Yemen run by Doctors Without Borders was obliterated overnight in multiple bombings by warplanes belonging to the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, forcing the evacuation of staff members and patients, the group said on Tuesday.
“With the hospital destroyed, at least 200,000 people now have no access to lifesaving medical care,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement.Hassan Boucenine, the group’s head of mission in Yemen, said in the statement that the attack was “another illustration of a complete disregard for civilians in Yemen, where bombings have become a daily routine.”
The group said the hospital was “hit by several airstrikes” starting at around 10:30 p.m. Monday. Doctors Without Borders is one of the few international organizations operating extensively throughout Yemen.
About 12 patients and staff members were in the center at the time, and they were able to evacuate in the lull between the two airstrikes. One patient received burns and scratches, and another was in critical condition because of the hurried evacuation, Mr. Boucenine said. One staff member was slightly injured.
Doctors Without Borders had supplied the health center’s coordinates to the coalition about six months ago and reconfirmed them every month, Mr. Boucenine said.
The health center, in the Haydan district along the border with Saudi Arabia, was one of the few medical facilities still operating in the northern province of Saada, a Houthi stronghold that has been heavily bombed by the coalition – by Kareem Fahim
27.10.2015 – Huffington Post
Doctors Without Borders Hospital In Yemen Hit By Airstrikes
The latest attack comes while the U.S. is still investigating the bombing of one of the group's hospitals in Afghanistan.
A Doctors Without Borders hospital in Saada, Yemen, was hit by multiple airstrikes overnight, the group announced Tuesday morning. The hospital was destroyed but the group has not reported any deaths.
Doctors Without Borders identified the warplanes as belonging to a Saudi Arabian-led coalition.
Hassan Boucenine, head of Doctors Without Borders in Yemen, told The New York Times that the group had supplied the hospital's GPS coordinates to the Saudi coalition six months ago and reconfirmed them on a monthly basis.
The destruction of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen comes less than a month after U.S. airstrikes leveled one of the organization’s facilities in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing at least 30 staff members and patients.
The Pentagon has characterized the Afghanistan hospital bombing as a mistake, but Doctors Without Borders says it is implausible that the U.S. did not know the exact location of the hospital and has accused the military of war crimes. There are investigations by the Army, NATO and a joint U.S.-Afghan team underway, but the U.S. has resisted allowing an outside civilian group look into the attack – by Jessica Schulberg
27.10.2015 – Middle East Eye
MSF hospital in north Yemen hit by Saudi-led airstrike
A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in the Yemeni governorate of Saada was hit by Saudi-led airstrikes on Monday night, the organisation tweeted this morning. -
A MSF spokesperson contacted by Middle East Eye said that they were still gathering information on the strike. A spokesperson told AFP there had been "no casualties."
The MSF spokesperson told MEE that all staff had left the facility following the first strike. There were two patients in the IPD department who also managed to escape after the first airstrike.
“I was not able to go inside as we believed there were remaining bombs that have not been exploded but I can confirm that the facility is 99% destroyed, “ said Miriam Czech, MSF project coordinator in Sa’ada. “ The emergency room was destroyed, the OPD, the IPD the lap and the maternity was destroyed. There was functioning OT but that was also destroyed.”
The facility is the only life-saving facility in the region and has a catchment area of 200,000 people. MSF said that they used to receive around 150 emergency cases a week. Since May 2015, MSF received around 3400 injured, but said that they had received less patients recently due to fears of airstrikes.
with photos – Mit Fotos
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/msf-facility-northern-yemen-hit-airstrike-1635444162
27.10.2015 – New York Times
Doctors Without Borders Says Health Center in Yemen Is Bombed
A health center in northern Yemen run by Doctors Without Borders was bombed at least twice overnight by warplanes belonging to the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, forcing the evacuation of staff members and critically wounded patients, the group said on Tuesday.
The Saudi-led coalition, which is fighting Houthi rebels, has bombed several health facilities during the seven-month war, but the airstrikes appeared to be the first time coalition warplanes had directly struck a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders.
Hassan Boucenine, the group’s head of mission in Yemen, said that the health center was hit by at least two airstrikes around 11 p.m. Monday, and that it had “collapsed.” Doctors Without Borders is one of the few international organizations operating extensively throughout Yemen.
About 12 patients and staff members were in the center at the time, and they were able to evacuate in the lull between the two airstrikes. One patient received burns and scratches, and another was in critical condition because of the hurried evacuation, Mr. Boucenine said.
Doctors Without Borders had supplied the health center’s coordinates to the coalition about six months ago and reconfirmed them every month, Mr. Boucenine said.
The health center, in the Haydan district along the border with Saudi Arabia, was one of the few medical facilities still operating in the northern province of Saada, a Houthi stronghold that has been heavily bombed by the coalition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/world/middleeast/doctors-without-borders-yemen-airstrikes.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 see also http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0SL0VK20151027
27.10.2015 – Aljazeera
Yemen MSF hospital hit by Arab coalition air strikes
Clinic in Saada hit by rockets, in second such incident after bombing of Afghan MSF hospital beginning of October.
A Yemeni hospital run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was hit by a series of Arab coalition air strikes, the group said, the latest bombing of a civilian target in the seven-month air campaign in Yemen.
One person was injured and in stable condition after the attack on the clinic in the northern province of Saada, MSF spokesman Hassan Boucenine told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
Boucenine said the overnight attack "must have been deliberate", as the group had provided the Saudi-led coalition with the coordinates of its facility in Saada only two weeks ago.
27.10.2015 – Reuters
Yemen hospital hit by Saudi-led air strike: Medecins Sans Frontieres
A hospital in north Yemen run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was bombed in a Saudi-led air strike, wrecking the facility and lightly wounding two staff members, the group said on Tuesday.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen's civil war in March to try to restore its government after its toppling by Iran-allied Houthi forces, but a mounting civilian death toll has alarmed human rights groups.
"Our hospital in the Heedan district of Saada governorate was hit several times. Fortunately, the first hit damaged the operations theater while it was empty and the staff were busy with people in the emergency room. They just had time to run off as another missile hit the maternity ward," MSF country director Hassan Boucenine told Reuters by telephone from Yemen.
"It could be a mistake, but the fact of the matter is it's a war crime. There's no reason to target a hospital. We provided (the coalition) with all of our GPS coordinates about two weeks ago," he said.
At least two staff members were hurt by flying debris, according to Boucenine.
The air raid occurred in north Yemen's Saada province, a region controlled by Houthi forces. The state news agency Saba, run by the Houthis, said other air strikes hit a nearby girls school and damaged several civilian homes – by Noah Browning
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0SL0VK20151027
27.10.2015 – The Guardian
Airstrikes hit Médecins sans Frontières facility in Yemen
Building in northern province of Saada destroyed by aerial attack, the second MSF hospital to be hit in a war zone this month
A Yemeni hospital run by Médecins sans Frontières has been hit by a Saudi-led airstrike, the latest bombing of a civilian target in the seven-month air campaign in the country.
“MSF facility in Saada Yemenwas hit by several airstrikes last night with patients and staff inside the facility,” MSF said in a tweet.
According to Saba, Yemen’s state news agency run by the Iran-allied Houthi group, which is the Saudi coalition’s enemy, the hospital director, Dr Ali Mughli, said several people had been injured in the attack.
Mughli said: “The air raids resulted in the destruction of the entire hospital with all that was inside – devices and medical supplies – and the moderate wounding of several people.”
Saba said other airstrikes had hit a nearby girls’ school and damaged several homes. It was not immediately possible to confirm that report.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/27/yemen-hospital-hit-by-saudi-led-airstrikes
26.10.2015 – Aljazeera
Civilians among scores of dead in Yemen's Taiz
At least seven civilians, more than 50 Houthi rebels and eight pro-government fighters killed in mutliple incidents.
At least seven civilians have been killed and 36 injured when Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh targeted residential areas in Yemen's Taiz, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
Monday also saw more than 50 Houthi rebels and pro-Saleh fighters killed in the southern city during Saudi-led Arab coalition air strikes and a battle with supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Eight pro-Hadi forces were also killed in the fighting.
The intensifying violence has left Taiz in a desperate situation, with closed hospitals and acute shortages of medicine, food, water and fuel, the Red Cross said this week.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/civilians-scores-dead-yemen-taiz-151026185306692.html
26.10.2015 – Fars News
Fresh Saudi Air Raids Hit Yemen
The airstrikes hit Labnat area in the province of al-Jawf, sources said.
The Saudi fighter jets also pounded al-Shawareq area in Razah district in Sa'ada province, killing 2 civilians and injuring another one.
Earlier reports said Saudi fighter jets continued bombing residential areas in the Yemeni Province of Ta'iz on Monday.
The airstrikes hit Jahmaliya district in Ta'iz province. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940804000988
26.10.2015 – Asharq Al-Awsat
Yemen: Coalition, pro-gov’t forces close to recapturing Taiz presidential palace
Forces belonging to the Saudi-led coalition targeting the Houthis and their allies in Yemen, aided by pro-government forces, are close to recapturing the presidential palace in the southwestern city of Taiz, according to sources.
Parts of the strategic city, which lies 109 miles (176 kilometers) northwest of the southern port city of Aden where the Yemeni government is now headquartered, have been under the control of the Houthis and their allies for months.
However, sources from the Popular Resistance, a coalition of volunteer forces loyal to the government and President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that the Joint Forces, which comprises the Popular Resistance and forces belonging to the Saudi-led coalition, have made progress in recapturing large parts of the city.
They said large numbers of Houthi fighters and those loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh—who along with Iran has aided the Houthi coup in Yemen—have in recent days fled the site of the presidential palace in the city, which has for months been in under Houthi control.
They said “fierce battles” have raged for days around the palace and the nearby headquarters of the state security forces, where Houthi fighters have encamped.
Local activist Fuad Al-Mussalami told Asharq Al-Awsat the Houthis have been “haphazardly targeting civilian areas in the city with a range of heavy and medium weaponry,” adding that “many” civilians have been killed in these attacks.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other NGOs operating in Yemen have accused the Houthis of targeting civilians in other areas of the country. HRW has said Houthi commanders and leaders could face war crimes tribunals over Houthi actions in Yemen.
Kommentar: saudische seite. Die saudischen Luftangriffe gibt es also gar nicht, also ist natürlich nur das reif für einen Kriegsverbrecherprozess, was die Huthis Machen.
26.10.2015 – Gulf News (Fotoserie)
"Coalition forces in Yemen embark on a mission to clear mines"
Coalition troops are engaged in mine-clearing operations in areas that have been liberated from Al Houthi rebels in Yemen
25.10.2015 – WAM
Arab Coalition forces continue to clear mines laid by Houthis in Yemen
The Arab Coalition forces in Yemen are embarking on a mission to clear mines, randomly laid by the Houthi militias and their allied forces loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the areas they are withdrawing from.
The Coalition forces also continue to renovate and maintain the schools, hospitals and mosques which were damaged as a result of the Houthis' indiscriminate bombing.
Over 100 people were killed and 225 injured in several provinces in the South due to the land mines laid by the withdrawing militias of Al Houthi and Saleh. In addition to killing and maiming of civilians, the land mines have also become a major obstacle to the Yemeni citizens' daily life as they prevent them from moving to their farms or to the markets. Also, children cannot go to the schools for fear of mines.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395287138897.html
26.10.2015 – Press TV Iran
Yemeni sniper kills 3 Saudi troops in Asir
Yemeni forces have managed to kill three other Saudi soldiers in their retaliatory attacks on the kingdom’s southern regions.
Sources close to Yemen's ruling Ansarullah movement, said on Monday that a sniper fire targeted positions in the southern Asir region.
Yemen’s al-Masirah TV said the soldiers killed in the attack were stationed in Raghabat Nashma district in al-Raboah region southeast of Asir.
It said attacks were also launched on other positions of the Saudi forces in the province, including in al-Ash, al-Zaba’a and al-Shab’a districts.
The deaths came hours after two Saudi soldiers lost their lives when Yemeni forces carried out an attack against a military base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Jizan.
According to al-Masirah, two military vehicles were also destroyed in an early Monday assault which saw Yemeni army troops backed by fighters from popular committees launching a barrage of artillery rounds at Ramazeh camp in Jizan.
Yemeni forces also fired a number of rockets at other Saudi military bases in the Jabal al-Doud, Qaim Zubaid and al-Khobe areas of Jizan, located 967 kilometers (601 miles) southwest of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, though no casualties were reported.
Late on Sunday, the allied forces destroyed a Saudi warship in the waters close to the southwestern province of Ta’izz. Yemeni sources said the vessel, which had regularly been shelling Yemeni coastal villages, was targeted with rockets.
On Monday, Saudi fighter jets targeted civilian areas in the southwestern province of Ta’izz. They also destroyed a water facility in the northwestern province of Sa’ada. Earlier, the provinces of Ma’rib and Sana’a came under a barrage of air attacks.
Attacks were also reported in the two northern provinces of Sa’ada and Sana’a where the Ansrullah enjoys more support. Reports said that two people were killed and another 15 were wounded in a Saudi airstrike on a school in Rajam district in Bani Hashish city, in Sana’a Province. Saudi jets also targeted residential areas in the city of Baqim in the province of Sa’ada while another attack was launched in Qataber in the same province, with no immediate reports available on the potential casualties.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/26/435043/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Asir
25.10.2015 – World Tribune
Saudi coalition air strike in Yemen kills Iran, Houthi commanders
A group of senior Iranian and Houthi commanders were killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike in Yemen’s capital on Oct. 23.
The air strike targeted the home in Sanaa of former Yemeni Gen. Mohsen Ali Ahmar, an ally of exiled President Abbed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, according to media reports in Yemen.
Saudi coalition officials said 98 Houthi rebels were killed in the strike and 45 more were wounded. The strike was launched as senior Iranian and Houthi leaders were conducting a meeting at Al Ahmar’s home.
Al Ahmar had been a top commander and adviser to Hadi in Yemen’s internationally recognized government. His house raided by Houthis when they captured Sanaa last September. Before joining Hadi’s administration, Al Ahmar was an ally of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is now aligned with the Hoithis.
The sources said that among those killed in the Sanaa air strike were senior Houthi officials Saleh Ahmad Qarqash, Abdullah Ahmad Al Madani and Hussain Abdullah Aidha, Iranian commander Khouri Obaid Agha, and some crew members of the Houthi-run Al Maseera television channel.
http://www.worldtribune.com/saudi-coalition-air-strike-in-yemen-kills-iran-houthi-commanders/
Kommentar: Die zweite Meldung, die sich überhaupt hierfür finden ließ. Sonst keine Meldungen, keine Fotos, keine Filme. Eine Falschmeldung?
UNO / UN
27.10.2015 – Vice News
Saudi Arabia Used the UN to Brag About Helping Yemen While Still Bombing Yemen
Saudi Arabia has been accused of committing war crimes in Yemen, but that didn't stop the UN's humanitarian chief from appearing alongside Saudi government officials at a press conference on Monday to discuss the Kingdom's funding of relief operations in the war-torn country, a move that observers described as bizarre and perhaps unprecedented.
O'Brien welcomed Abdullah Al Rabeeah, the official responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid in Yemen, and said that the UN had been able "to establish a strong sense of relationship and partnership" with the King Salman Center.
Joel Charny, humanitarian vice president at InterAction, an umbrella group of American relief and development NGOs, said humanitarian support by countries to others in which they are engaged militarily is not new, and pointed to American aid in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he added that he could not recall a similar press conference taking place at the UN.
"This is the most senior humanitarian official in the entire UN system basically saying that we are happy with the way the Saudis are supporting us and carrying out the humanitarian response," said Charny. "It sends the message that we are validating and we are comfortable with the Saudi approach to this crisis."
Mouallimi, the Saudi ambassador, said he did not want to distract from the focus of the press conference and closed the event without answering a question about whether the Saudis are investigating civilian casualties in Yemen – by Samuel Oakford
26.10.2015 – UN News Centre
Yemen: UN envoy says negotiations only way to end country's 'terrible cocktail' of dramatic crises
Stressing that a political solution is key to resolving the "terrible cocktail" of crises in Yemen, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country today announced that preparations have begun for talks between the conflict parties.
In a recent interview with UN Radio, Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed said that the impending peace talks will be carried out for two weeks and the preparations are being planned in phases.
He said that the initial meetings would not encompass any direct talks between the two parties but be phased preparations, in Muscat between the Houthis and the General People's Congress, and in Riyadh with Government of Yemen.
“[These discussions] will really lay down the real basis on which the talk could take place in terms of agenda, […] the subjects which we will be discussing, […] the outcome and particularly managing the expectations,” said Mr. Ould Cheik Ahmed.
He observed that there is a deep lack of trust between two parties and added that this is a primary obstacle in successfully conducting the peace talks.
“We need to build confidence. We need to make sure that the two parties understand that there is no solution except a peaceful solution,” he added.
Mr. Ould Cheik Ahmed warned that unless a peaceful political solution is reached, Yemen will continue to be embroiled in a “terrible cocktail of dramatic humanitarian situation, continuous battle by air or on ground, shelling of cities, which is impacting civilians, and the increadible development of terrorist groups who are taking advantage of the situation.”
He also noted that UN Security Council resolution 2216 (2015) will provide as framework to the peace talks where the discussions, which will range from a complete ceasefire between the two warring parties, surrender of big weaponry and withdrawal of militias from the main cities.
The envoy also added that to ensure smoother discussions, there must be agreements on facilitating humanitarian access, release of prisoners and no provocation at the borders.
He also urged to both parties to cease talking through the media and said that making “statements do not help them.”
However, he did note that both parties are coming close to realizing that a political solution is the only possible solution to end the crisis.
He further suggested that all parties who are to join in the peace talks must ensure proper presentation and should participate with the intention of goodwill and to make a difference.
Lastly, he advised the international community and neighbouring countries, to help the in transition of Yemen after the resolutions made during the peace talks are implemented.
He also recommended setting up an internationally monitored mechanism that will ensure that there the norms of the ceasefire is respected.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52380#.Vi9-_yuSn3E
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
25.10.2015 – Die Zeit
Der Islam im Krieg gegen sich selbst
Es begann 1979: Ein radikaler, simpler Islam zerstört im Nahen und Mittleren Osten die einst vielfältige, schillernde Glaubenspraxis. Eine selbstverschuldete Katastrophe
Für die Welt des arabischen Islam war der 20. November 1979 eine Zäsur mit katastrophalen Folgen.
Am 20. November 1979 kidnappten 500 radikale Gotteskrieger die große Moschee in Mekka. Zwei Wochen dauerten die Kämpfe, hunderte Pilger starben, am Ende lag das zentrale Heiligtum des Islam teilweise in Trümmern. Das saudische Königreich, die Heimat des Propheten Mohammed, war in seinen Grundfesten erschüttert und reagierte mit einem ebenso fundamentalen wie folgenschweren Kurswechsel. Die Gewalttäter exekutieren, ihre geistigen Hintermänner aber zufriedenstellen, lautete die doppelte Marschroute.
So wurde in punkto sittlicher Strenge und religiöser Eindeutigkeit kräftig nachgearbeitet. Fortan ging ein Drittel der Schul- und Studienzeit mit Koranauslegung und Scharia-Unterricht drauf. Statt Vokabeln zu lernen und sich Formeln einzuprägen, büffelten saudische Schüler heilige Suren und Episoden aus dem Leben des Propheten. Frauen mussten sich verschleiern, Männer ließen sich Bärte wachsen, selbst auf den Dörfern erschienen plötzlich Religionspolizisten. Und bald waren die Jungen konservativer als die Alten.
Mit der innersaudischen Wende vor 35 Jahren jedoch begann das religiöse Koordinatensystem des Nahen Ostens immer heftiger zu oszillieren - zwischen dem alten Pol der gelassenen Pluralität und dem neuen Pol der ultraorthodoxen Eindeutigkeit. Für die einen ist Vielfalt im Glauben ein Reichtum, für die anderen ein Missstand – ein Antagonismus, der mittlerweile sämtliche Gesellschaften des Nahen Ostens zerreißt. Denn im Zentrum dieses innerislamischen "Krieges gegen sich selbst" steht das Verhältnis von Kultur und Religion.
Vor allem der salafistisch-wahabitische Islam, der nach 1979 in Saudi-Arabien mit aller Staatsmacht neu eingeschärft wurde, ist dezidiert kulturfeindlich und anti-intellektuell. Kultur gilt als unberechenbarer und verführerischer Gegenspieler der reinen Rechtgläubigkeit. Kulturelle Vielfalt ist eine Bedrohung, sie verunklart und verwässert die angeblich eindeutige Botschaft des Koran sowie die gottgegebenen Moralregeln aus der goldenen Vergangenheit des Propheten und seiner Mitstreiter.
Die fundamentalistischen Missionare der Arabischen Halbinsel locken ihre Glaubenskunden mit einer Handvoll simpler religiöser Marker, mit denen sich Rechtgläubigkeit demonstrieren lässt – in den arabischen Ländern entlang der Mittelmeerküste, längst aber auch in Europa. Der neu Erweckte kann es sich bequem machen in einer übersichtlich-strenggläubigen Welt.Die Golfregion wurde seit 1979 zur Drehscheibe religiöser Militanz. Im Zentrum: Saudi-Arabien. Die Missionierungsmaschinerie der salafistischen Prediger mit ihrer puritanischen, anti-modernen Einheitssaga wurde mit den Milliardeneinnahmen aus dem Ölgeschäft geschmiert und zeigte Wirkung. Heerscharen von ägyptischen Wanderarbeitern kehrten in den achtziger und neunziger Jahren mit Geld in den Taschen und einem anderen Islam im Kopf aus Saudi-Arabien in ihre Heimat zurück. Als Folge wuchs auch in den Mittelmeeranrainernstaaten Intoleranz, Ausgrenzung von Minderheiten und kulturelle Monotonie.
Entfesselt durch den Arabischen Frühling zogen Salafisten dann eine Spur der Verwüstung durch Ägypten, Libyen und Tunesien, der Hunderte von Sufi-Stätten, Friedhöfen und Pilgermausoleen zum Opfer fielen. Ein düsterer Prolog zum Feldzug gegen jede Form kulturellen Erbes, den der "Islamische Staat" jetzt in Syrien und Irak veranstaltet.
Mit dem Wüten des "Islamischen Staates" ist der sunnitische Islam nun 35 Jahre nach der fatalen Entweihung von Mekka am absoluten Tiefpunkt angekommen – von Martin Gehlen
http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-10/islam-saudi-arabien-salafismus-dogmatismus/
Golfstaaten / Gulf States
27.10.2015 – Dubai Eye
UAE aid campaign in Yemen benefits over 180,000 families
he UAE’s latest aid campaign in Yemen has benefited 181,000 families in the province of Hadramawt.
The project led by the Emirates Red Crescent mainly included food packages and other essential supplies.
Among the beneficiaries were over 700 people with special needs, including autistic children as well as visually and hearing-impaired persons.
The two-month long campaign has been implemented in collaboration with local aid agencies and mosques in the Yemeni province.
http://dubaieye1038.com/uae-aid-campaign-in-yemen-benefits-over-180000-families/
26.10.2015 – Gulf News
Drive to collect 20 tonnes of clothes for Yemen
Campaign encourages Dubai residents to donate clothes for people in need in Yemen
A month-long campaign has been launched in the UAE to collect clothes for people in the war-affected areas of Yemen, organisers said on Sunday.
Launched on October 21 by Oasis Mall in collaboration with Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), ‘Clothes for Compassion’ is collecting clothes until November 21.
Sanjay Kapoor, general manager, Oasis Mall, told Gulf News that the drive, now in its third year, aims to collect and deliver more donations than has been collected in the last two years of the initiative. “As part of this year’s drive, we’re hoping to see greater participation from the local communities, with an aim to curtail the hardships in Yemen. We’re positively hoping to surpass last year’s collection of 18 tonnes by 20 per cent,” Kapoor said.
Last year, the campaign collected clothes for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
This year, the ‘Clothes for Compassion’ donation drive kick-started with Babyshop donating 5,000 pieces of children’s garments worth Dh250,000 towards the cause.
Ruban Shanmugarajah, general manager of Babyshop, highlighted the brand’s full support to the ‘Clothes for Compassion’ initiative and this year’s “worthy cause”. “Children are often caught in the middle of wars, and we wanted to reach out and support the cause in the best way we can,” Shanmugarajah said.
Donors can make their contributions at the mall’s collection points, before they are delivered to the ERC for final distribution to Yemeni people in need.
Mohammad Abdullah Al Haj Al Zarouni, manager of the Dubai branch of ERC, pointed out the charity’s collaboration with Oasis Mall for the third consecutive year continues to support various initiatives across the world where relief operations, shelter, financial support, medical and educational support are required. “This time it’s to support the people of Yemen,” he said.
The drive also aims to support UAE Red Crescent’s ‘Yemen We Care’ campaign, which will manage the delivery and distribution process. The ERC’s humanitarian campaign aimed to help more than 10 million people affected by the unfolding crisis in Yemen, and is still accepting and delivering donations.
Gulf News is also contributing to the cause by distributing free charity bags along with the newspaper. The bags can be filled out and dropped at the collection points in Oasis Mall.
http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/society/drive-to-collect-20-tonnes-of-clothes-for-yemen-1.1606757
Kommentar: Kleidersammlung. Natürlich sollte man allen privaten Spendern dankbar sein – besser wäre natürlich ein Ende des Krieges.
USA
27.10.2015 – Mint Press news
As Civilian Casualties Mount In Yemen, Obama Officials Mull Support For What May Amount To War Crimes
Sources inside the administration say they are struggling to keep in check the opposing sides in Yemen, one of the clearest examples of the intensifying Saudi-Iran proxy war in the Middle East. But even as reports of civilian suffering and terrorist gains pile up, U.S. officials believe that reducing American support for the Saudis could make the situation even worse.
The White House does not want to anger Saudi Arabia, a vital, oil-rich ally already unhappy with President Barack Obama’s decision to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran. At the same time, what many hoped would be a short Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who overthrew Yemen’s government, is now entering its eighth month with no end in sight.
“The White House is increasingly frustrated with the Saudis, and they’re trying to figure out how to handle it,” said one foreign policy expert familiar with the administration’s deliberations. Private conversations seem to be having limited effect, the source said, but “the U.S. is walking on such eggshells around Saudi when it comes to the public domain that they’re not willing to ramp up their public pressure.”
That hesitation appears to be deepening internal rifts in the administration. A former U.S. official said the divisions are between administration members who fear “this humanitarian toll is ultimately going to be a stain on our reputation and we’re going to end up holding the blame as well as anyone else” and others who “will say it’s very important to restore order and deliver a very clear message about the intolerance that we as a nation and community of nations will have for this type of seizure of power.”
A State Department official acknowledged that different U.S. government factions have different opinions on how best to work with the Saudis to reduce civilian deaths, but he insisted that there’s broad consensus that the conflict in Yemen needs a political solution, and soon.
Still, Iran’s role may be more limited than advertised by the Saudis, and sectarianism is only one element of the fight. The Houthis, while Shiite Muslim, also have been aided by forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president who lost power in the wake of the Arab Spring and was replaced by Hadi.
What appears certain is that “the Saudis are in this for the long haul,” said Fahad Nazer, a former policy analyst at the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. “They continue to be very resolute in this campaign.”
Administration officials note that the Houthis are hardly blameless when it comes to civilian misery. They also insist the U.S. isn’t to blame for civilian casualties because it doesn’t pick the targets.
“There is a clear distinction between logistical and intelligence support, which we have provided, and taking part in targeting decisions, which we do not do,” a senior administration official said.
That may be a distinction without a difference, said Barbara Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen. “This is our military equipment,” Bodine said of the ongoing Saudi-led campaign. “It’s talked about in the region as the ‘Saudi-American’ air campaign. It’s seen on Al Jazeera that way. … You can’t say you’re giving them a menu of targets and then they pick the wedding party. Implicitly, if you gave them the menu of targets and the wedding party was on it, then you gave them the wedding party.”
Even still, Arab and U.S. officials argue the situation could be worse if the U.S. wasn’t involved. For one thing, without the guidance of the U.S., the Saudi-led units could make even more mistakes.
“The Americans are in very close cooperation with coalition countries, and the help they provide could help us avoid a lot of casualties,” said an Arab official familiar with the events in Yemen. “My understanding is it’s helping in stabilizing the situation.” – by Politico
26.10.2015 – Huffington Post
Obama's Gotten The U.S. Stuck In Yemen. Is He Looking For A Way Out?
More than 2,500 civilian deaths later, the White House is being asked to account for the war it's supporting.
The White House won't admit that the U.S. is even "in" Yemen. But it's refueling the planes bombing the country and providing intelligence to the Sunni states running the Yemen campaign. Now lawmakers, dissenters within the administration and human rights activists are ramping up their criticisms of the Obama policy. They argue that the U.S. is callously backing the Saudi-led coalition -- in part to reassure America's Sunni allies in the wake of the nuclear deal with Shiite Iran -- without concern for the consequences. By supporting the Saudi effort, they say, President Barack Obama risks empowering al Qaeda and implicating the U.S. and its allies in war crimes -- not to mention further tarnishing America's already damaged image in the Middle East.
"It's time for Congress to ask some serious questions about whether the United States’ current participation in this civil war is advancing our nation's national security interests," Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a statement Thursday.
Murphy and other lawmakers plan to increase their pressure on the administration this week. In his statement, Murphy suggested they may go as far as blocking future arms sales to Saudi Arabia until their humanitarian concerns are addressed -- which means this largely overlooked conflict could soon endanger a cornerstone of the Obama administration's policy in the Middle East.
Under Obama, the U.S. has consistently conducted drone strikes in Yemen since 2009 and treated that country's government as a "key partner." (President George W. Bush approved one strike there in 2002.) That means Washington is already to blame for the deaths of scores of Yemeni civilians. But it expanded its role in the country in March, when Saudi Arabia made clear to U.S. officials that it wanted to launch a military campaign against the Houthis, a rebel group that pushed the Saudi-friendly Yemeni government out of Yemen's capital last year. The White House approved American support for its Sunni Arab allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council, conscious that the Sunni-led powers were worried about nuclear negotiations then ongoing with Iran. The U.S. provided intelligence for the initial strikes in Yemen by the Saudis and their coalition, the Wall Street Journal revealed in April.
Since then, the U.S. has only gotten more involved. U.S. forces have established a joint planning cell with Saudi Arabia to monitor Yemen and provide the Saudi-led coalition with intelligence on potential strike targets, Commander Kyle Raines of U.S. Central Command told The Huffington Post. The U.S. also provides aerial refueling for planes flying with the coalition, he said.
Raines noted that the U.S. refuels coalition planes outside of Yemeni airspace. That caveat is important -- it dovetails with rhetoric from other administration officials, who are keen to maintain that Obama has not actually sent U.S. forces into Yemen or made targeting calls.
"The United States can't be seen as credibly calling on 'all sides' to halt the fighting in Yemen when it is actively arming and resupplying one of those sides -- the Saudi-led coalition -- to continue its attacks," argued Cole Bockenfeld, deputy director for the Project on Middle East Democracy.
Yemen watchers claim that one reason the civil war has continued -- with tragic consequences -- is the lack of a determined U.S. push for peace.
“Thanks to the U.S. government’s deep involvement in what many Yemenis call the 'Saudi-American' military campaign, American hands are far from clean," Paul O'Brien of Oxfam wrote earlier this month.
The Saudi-led coalition’s stated aim is to weaken the Houthis and restore the rule of Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who sought refuge in the Saudi capital.
But the Saudi effort -- and U.S. support for it -- may have more to do with Iran.
"The Yemen campaign is meant to send a powerful message to Saudi Arabia’s adversaries, especially Iran," Fahad Nazer, a senior analyst at the consultancy JTG Inc. and former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, told HuffPost in an email. “Yemen is Saudi Arabia’s proverbial ‘red line.’”
The trouble with this argument -- that the Saudis must be aided in a struggle with Iran -- is that the administration and outside analysts have previously made clear that they don't believe the Houthis are controlled from Tehran.
There's also a risk in the U.S. endorsing Saudi rhetoric on the crisis. The Saudi coalition's argument that the Houthis are directed by Iran is inciting sectarian mistrust and threatening the social fabric of a country that has been home to coexisting groups of Muslims for hundreds of years, Reuters reported last week. If outside interference means that Yemen ends up another regional battlefield for once-peaceful Shiite and Sunni communities, stabilizing the country will be impossible.
Who gains from the ensuing instability? Sunni extremist groups who rally supporters by denouncing Shiites and U.S.-friendly Arab governments.
Obama's plan to deal with al Qaeda's growing power in Yemen is to help restore a U.S.-friendly Yemeni government, according to the senior administration official. The official said that calculus shows that the White House cares about more in Yemen than the Saudis' dubious portrayal of the country as an Iranian satellite in the making.
Still, the U.S. links to the Saudi-led coalition mean Obama can't secure the outcome he wants in Yemen until he has the Saudis' say-so – by Akhbar Shahig Ahmed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-yemen-war_562a9ac0e4b0443bb5640b85
Kommentar: Gute Analyse, am Ende freilich mit einem Fehlschluss: Es kann nicht legitim sein, wenn die USA sich nach wie vor in die Verhältnisse im Jemen einmischen will, das scheint für den Autor aber ganz selbstverständlich zu sein (to help restore a U.S.-friendly Yemeni government), und die Karte mit den Orten, wo es tödliche Opfer der saudischen Luftschläge gab, ist eher putzig: Nur 13 Zielorte mit Todesopfern soll es gegeben haben?
26.10.2015 – Antiwar
Growing White House Rift Over Saudi Arabia’s Huge Civilian Toll Bombing Yemen
Sources within the Obama Administration are reportedly increasingly at odds over the Saudi war in Yemen, which the US has been participating in, and particularly the huge civilian death toll of Saudi airstrikes, with official estimates of about 1,500 civilians killed in Saudi airstrikes alone in the war.
But while those familiar with internal conversations say the White House has been “increasingly frustrated,” and has even privately complained about the toll to the Saudis, they also see the US “walking on eggshells” with public comments about the war, that even some officials are starting to see it as de facto support for Saudi war crimes.
Which as a practical matter it is, since the US has been refueling those Saudi warplanes for their airstrikes, and has also at times participated in the naval blockade that has brought much of Yemen to the brink of famine. Still, it’s clear when officials signed on for the Saudi war, they didn’t anticipate this.
Which may be the biggest problem, and why so many are up in arms. The US sees placating the Saudis as so desperately important right now that they feel as though they don’t dare criticize the enormous civilian toll of the war, a goal which really picked up amid trying to sell the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran.
The US has been openly trying to pay off opponents of the deal, chiefly Israel, to the tune of several billion dollars to acquiesce on the pact, but in the case of the Saudis it seems this is boiling down to the US looking the other way every time a wedding party is bombed or an airport destroyed – by Jason Ditz
26.10.2015 – The American Conservative
Obama’s Disgraceful Enabling of the War on Yemen
There was no reason to assume that the Saudi-led campaign would be short or successful. Even superficial familiarity with modern Yemeni history would have been enough to know that. The goals of their intervention were unrealistic from the start, and have only become more so as the campaign has dragged on and the suffering of the civilian population has increased. The U.S. backed the intervention anyway in order to keep Riyadh and the other reckless clients happy, but as so often happens the decision to indulge and enable bad clients has only encouraged them in their worst behavior. It’s also not true that Saudi Arabia is a “vital” ally. At best, it is a tiresome client state whose interests are increasingly diverging from ours, as this conflict demonstrates very well. Linking the U.S. with their disgraceful war effort is one of the great unforced errors of the entire Obama era. It served no U.S. interests, but it has aided the cause of jihadists in Yemen and deepened resentment against the U.S. throughout the country.
The administration is split between people who realize U.S. support for the war on Yemen is a disaster but won’t do anything about it and those that care more about placating a group of despotic governments regardless of the cost. At the moment, the latter are still prevailing, but it’s not clear what would change if they lost the debate. The story repeatedly claims that the administration is “frustrated” with the Saudis, but there is absolutely no evidence of this when one looks at the assistance that the U.S. continues to provide the Saudi-led coalition. What we see instead is a lot of blame-shifting and a desperate effort to avoid accountability for the war crimes that the U.S.-backed coalition commits in Yemen. The Obama administration keeps wringing its hands to the press about how unhappy it is with the Saudis’ war, but it has done nothing to limit or end its involvement in that war. The conceit that reducing U.S. support for this indefensible war would make things worse is just an excuse to avoid making the hard decision to risk breaking with the Saudis. It is very likely that the possibility of a cut-off of U.S. aid may be the only thing that will force Washington’s clients to halt their campaign and lift the blockade, and it is something that the administration is apparently not even considering – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/obamas-disgraceful-enabling-of-the-war-on-yemen/
26.10.2015 – Security Assistance
U.S. Continues Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Despite Increasing Devastation in Yemen
“What happened in Kunduz is happening multiple times a day in Yemen,” stated Tariq Riebl on an October 20 panel entitled “Humanitarian and Security Consequences of Military Support to the Region.” Riebl, who recently returned from three months in Yemen with Oxfam International, was joined by experts William D. Hartung, Director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy and Senior Advisor to Security Assistance Monitor, Martin Butcher, a Policy Advisor at Oxfam International, and moderator Natalie Goldring, a Senior Fellow for the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. The event, co-hosted by the Forum on the Arms Trade and Security Assistance Monitor, discussed the politics and consequences of U.S. and U.K. military support to the Saudi-led coalition and their campaign to oust the Houthi insurgency in Yemen.
Mr. Riebl began the event by emphasizing the gravity of the situation in Yemen and why Yemen could be considered statistically one of the worst crises in the world.
Mr. Hartung addressed the audience next, connecting the situation on the ground in Yemen with U.S. military assistance to the Saudis. During Obama’s first term in office, Congress approved a $60 billion weapons package for the Saudis including an array of attack helicopters, F-15s, bombs and missiles that are being felt in Yemen today. And since Saudi Arabia started the campaign in Yemen, the U.S. has approved nearly $20 billion in arms deals, including a massive $11.25 billion agreement for four littoral combat ships the day of the event. In addition to arms sales, the United States also provides logistics and intelligence to the bombing campaign.
Hartung added, despite support and in the aftermath of high casualty strikes, U.S. government officials have weakly defended their role saying they are not the ones directly picking the targets. And the death of thousands in Yemen at the hands of U.S. weapons is strategically unjustifiable. “Saudi Arabia has not proved itself to be a critical partner” in the international coalition against ISIS and furthermore, the reckless campaign has helped enable al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State or ISIS to thrive amidst the chaos, suggested Hartung. He concluded by commenting that instead of using its leverage for good, the United States continues to approve massive weapons deals – by Leah Schulz
24.10.2015 – Telesur
Noam Chomsky & Abby Martin: Electing The President of an Empire
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Abby Martin interviews world-renowned philosopher and linguist Professor Noam Chomsky.
Prof. Chomsky comments on the presidential primary "extravaganza," the movement for Bernie Sanders, the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, the bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, modern-day libertarianism and the reality of "democracy" under capitalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZLnfKSa_k&feature see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJATJ5jHmDU
15.10.2015 – The Intercept in deutscher Übersetzung
Der Mordkomplex
Aus geheimen Militardokumenten geht hervor, wie Obamas Drohnen-Krieg abläuft. Teil 1
Schon in seinen ersten Tagen als US-Oberbefehlshaber wurde die Drohne zur Lieblingswaffe des US-Präsidenten Barack Obama; sie wird vom US-Militär und von der CIA bei der tödlichen Jagd auf Menschen eingesetzt, die von der US-Regierung in einem Geheimverfahren ohne Anklage und Gerichtsverhandlung zur Exekution freigegeben werden. Es hat schon viele Veröffentlichungen über die Technologie des ferngesteuerten Tötens gegeben; die können aber nicht eine genauere Überprüfung des bisher ausgeblendeten Verfahrens ersetzen, in dem die US-Regierung über Leben und Tod entscheidet – von Jeremy Scahill
http://www.luftpost-kl.de/luftpost-archiv/LP_13/LP19915_261015.pdf
Großbritannien / Great Britain
27.10.2015 – Truthout
Yemen and the Guardian's Shameful War of Misinformation
The prominent rationale for this campaign, rife with the use of banned munitions and absent of any legal mandate, is that the Houthi rebels are a serious threat because they are backed by Iran. The Guardian has made this quite clear, stating in almost every article that Saudi Arabia is at war with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The problem is, more often than not, they have not provided any evidence at all that Iran is backing these rebels.
Let's take one of the most recent Guardian articles, published on October 15, 2015. This article states that "the coalition is fighting the Iran-backed Houthis to drive them from Sana'a and other areas they captured last year, and to restore the internationally recognised president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi." "Iran-backed Houthis" is underlined by a hyperlink, supposedly to educate the reader on the source of the claim that the Houthis are indeed Iranian-backed. However, clicking on this hyperlink will take you to another article that explains nothing further than the previous article except again to reiterate that the Houthis are backed by Iran, providing no evidentiary support. This time, however, the word "Iran" is hyperlinked. Click on this hyperlink and it takes the reader to the Guardian's world news page on Iran, with countless articles to choose from, mostly pertaining to the Iranian nuclear accord. This is where the rabbit hole ends.
When the Guardian isn't hyperlinking sources that provide no evidence for their claims, more often than not, the Guardian's articles will continue to perpetuate this rationale for war but will not hyperlink any sources at all, though they make sure to mention that the rebels are Iranian-backed at least two or three times per article.
But this isn't journalism. This is the propagation of misinformation of the lowest kind possible, the publication of which is something a university student would be looking at disciplinary action for. Given the horrendous crisis now facing Yemen, this spread of misinformation falls nothing short of shameful.
The Saudi-led coalition has no legal basis to be conducting its operations in the first place. When the coalition first announced plans to intervene, its stated goal and rationale was "to protect Yemen and the Yemeni people from the Houthi destructive aggression." In actuality, the coalition has unleashed a world of chaos, plunging Yemen to Syria-stricken levels in half a year of bombing.
Any journalist who perpetuates misinformation, stays silent on these atrocities and does not condemn the aggressor is not doing his or her job. If the Guardian has evidence that the Houthi rebels are backed by Iran, they should present it – by Darius Sahtahmasebi
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33399-yemen-and-the-guardian-s-shameful-war-of-misinformation
26.10.2015 – The Intercept
BBC Protects UK's Close Ally, Saudi Arabia, With Incredibly Dishonest and Biased Editing
The BBC loves to boast about how “objective” and “neutral” it is. But a recent article, which it was forced to change, illustrates the lengths to which the British state-funded media outlet will go to protect one of the UK Government’s closest allies, Saudi Arabia, which also happens to be one of its largest arms purchasers (just this morning, the Saudi Ambassador to the UK threatened in an Op-Ed that any further criticism of the Riyadh regime by Jeremy Corbyn could jeopardize the multi-layered UK/Saudi alliance).
Earlier this month, the BBC published an article describing the increase in weapons and money sent by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf regimes to anti-Assad fighters in Syria. All of that “reporting” was based on the claims of what the BBC called “a Saudi government official,” who – because he works for a government closely allied with the UK – was granted anonymity by the BBC and then had his claims mindlessly and uncritically presented as fact (it is the rare exception when the BBC reports adversarially on the Saudis). This anonymous “Saudi official” wasn’t whistleblowing or presenting information contrary to the interests of the regime; to the contrary, he was disseminating official information the regime wanted publicized. This was the key claim of the anonymous Saudi official (emphasis added):
In other words, the claim from the anonymous Saudi official which the BBC uncritically regurgitated – that the Saudis are only arming the “Army of Conquest” but no groups that “include” the Nusra Front – is self-negating. A BBC reader, Ricardo Vaz, brought this contradiction to the BBC’s attention. As he told The Intercept: “The problem is that the Nusra Front is the most important faction inside the ‘Army of Conquest.’ So either the Saudi official expected the BBC journalist not to know this, or he expects us to believe they can deliver weapons to factions fighting side by side with an al-Qaeda affiliate and that those weapons will not make their way into Nusra’s hands. In any case, this is very close to an official admission that the Saudis (along with Qataris and Turkish) are supplying weapons to an al-Qaeda affiliate. This of course is not a secret to anyone who’s paying attention.”
But what this does highlight is just how ludicrous – how beyond parody – the 14-year-old “War on Terror” has become, how little it has to do with its original ostensible justification. The regime with the greatest plausible proximity to the 9/11 attack – Saudi Arabia – is the closest U.S. ally in the region next to Israel. The country that had absolutely nothing to do with that attack, and which is at least as threatened as the U.S. by the religious ideology that spurred it – Iran – is the U.S.’s greatest “War on Terror” adversary. Now we have a virtual admission from the Saudis that they are arming a group that centrally includes Al Qaeda, while the U.S. itself has at least indirectly done the same (just as was true in Libya). And we’re actually at the point where western media outlets are vehemently denouncing Russia for bombing Al Qaeda elements, which those outlets are manipulatively referring to as “non-ISIS groups.”
It’s not a stretch to say that the faction that provides the greatest material support to Al Qaeda at this point is the U.S. and its closest allies. That is true even as Al Qaeda continues to be paraded around as the prime need for the ongoing war.
But whatever one’s views are on Syria, it’s telling indeed to watch the BBC desperately protect Saudi officials, not only by granting them anonymity to spout official propaganda, but worse, by using blatant editing games to whitewash the Saudis’ own damaging admissions, ones the BBC unwittingly published. There are many adjectives one can apply to the BBC’s behavior here: “objective” and “neutral” are most assuredly not among them – by Glen Greenwald
6.10.2015 – Channel 4 News
David Cameron on Ali Mohammed al-Nimr and Saudi Arabia
The Prime Minister suggests that he will try and personally intervene with Saudi Arabian authorities in the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to death, as he is tackled over the British response to human rights abuses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khGa49rM6iM
Kommentar: Es gibt britische Journalisten, die hart nachfragen. Da macht der Premierminister keine gute Figur.
Kolumbien / Columbia
27.10.2015 – Middle East Eye
Hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to fight for Saudi-led coalition in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has contracted hundreds of former Colombian soldiers to fight in Yemen as part of their battle to push back Houthi rebel fighters, according to reports in South America.
The pan-Latin American channel TeleSUR reported on Monday that up to 800 Colombians will “take up frontline positions” in the southern port city of Aden, which is currently the scene of a power battle between coalition forces and rival militant factions separately linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State (IS) group.
Colombian daily El Tiempo reported that around 100 Colombians had arrived in Yemen in early October, with more soldiers due to follow.
According to a former Colombian army special forces commander, the soldiers are being lured to Yemen by a good salary and better conditions than they endured during years of fighting at home against FARC, the left-wing armed group that battled the Colombian government for decades but announced a ceasefire earlier this year.
“Despite the heat [in Yemen], it is not the same fight [as in Colombia], because there is unrestricted air support, equipment, and new weapons,” the retired officer told El Tiempo. “And there is the certainty that if they (the soldiers) do not return, the future of their families are secured.
“We are called mercenaries, traitors, cowards and opportunists. We are nothing like that. We are men who made a decision in response to the lack of [financial] guarantees [at home].”
Local news site Colombia Reports reported that the mercenaries would be paid $1,000 per week more than at home, for three months of frontline service in Yemen.
It is not clear which of the Arab Gulf States has contracted the Colombian mercenaries. TeleSUR reported that it was Saudi Arabia, however, Colombia Reports said that mercenaries who completed their contract would be "granted instant citizenship to the UAE".
The UAE has a history of recruiting soldiers from the South American country. It emerged in 2013 that top Colombian soldiers had joined a US-led mercenary army in the UAE under the command of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
The New York Times revealed in 2011 that the mercenary army was set up by Erik Prince, the wealthy founder of controversial security firm Blackwater. Prince was given $529m to set up the UAE’s Reflex Responses force, which was charged with, among other duties, undertaking “anti-terrorism operations”.
The force has its own air and navy force, as well as an 800-man private army, staffed at least in part by Colombians who were initially smuggled into the UAE posed as construction workers.
Prince sold Blackwater to a group of investors in 2010 after a series of controversies involving his mercenaries, including in Iraq, where they were accused of wantonly killing civilians.
Analysts have previously commented that Arab Gulf States favour Colombian mercenaries because of their experience fighting FARC and because their salaries are lower than Western counterparts – by Rori Donaghy
26.10.2015 – Colombia reports
The Arabian dream: Colombians taking part in Yemen war
Some 800 former Colombian military troops will enter the city port of Aden in Yemen, switching the jungle terrain of their home country for the deserts of Arabia.
The former Colombian army troops will join a coalition of allied international troops fighting Shiite rebels. They will operate under the service of the UAE Armed Forces, donning a Saudi uniform in defense of the Yemeni government.
After over 50 years of civil war in their home country the Colombian military officials have a vast experience in this area, though a change in scenery will provide a variety of different challenges.
Troops have received training in urban combat in the desert, location control, police raids and security bases and caravans. They will reportedly also face advanced intelligence as they fight to regain the capital city under control of Shia rebels.
A retired commander of the Colombian Armed Forces spoke to El Tiempo about his experiences, “We are called mercenaries, traitors, cowards and opportunists. We are nothing like that. We are men who made a decision in response to the lack of guarantees.”
In return for 3 months on the line survivors the fighters, will receive an additional bursary of $1,000 each week on top of current salaries. For those that survive, they will be granted instant citizenship to the UAE.
This is not the first instance of Colombian exports of expertise in war, marketing their military skills for the promise of higher earnings outside of the home country.
“We are even teaching American troops how to fight irregular armies and Chinese troops how to become prime snipers,” Walther Giraldo, commander of Fort Tolemaida said – by Emma Rosser
http://colombiareports.com/the-arabian-dream-colombians-taking-part-in-yemen-war/
26.10.2015 – Syrian Free Press
Blackwater sends its staff in Yemen
According to aYemeni journalist, the U.S. companyBlackwatersendsits staff of mercenaries in Yemenunder-coverofthe Colombian military, to commit crimes.
Abdullah bin Amer, Yemeni journalist revealed [in a report on the website “Yemen Press“] that the American criminal society called ‘Blackwater’, whose license in Iraq was revoked by Baghdad for committing crimes, sent [on request by Saudi Arabia] military forces in Yemen.
He said that the information, published according to which the military were dispatched to Yemen militaries of Colombian nationality, were wrong.
“They are nothing but mercenaries of the U.S. company Blackwater who are active in Colombia and most of its elements are mercenaries from countries of South America”, said the Yemeni journalist.
He said that, suggesting that these soldiers were of Colombian forces, was to hide the truth from the public & the media because the American Blackwater [company of mercenaries] has a very bad reputation.
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/blackwater-in-yemen/ see also at http://anadoluhaber.org/katil-black-water-gucleri-yemene-gonderildi-iddiasi (Turkish)
25.10.2015 – Telesur
800 Colombian Soldiers to Join Saudi-Led Forces in Yemen
Hundreds of former Colombian nationals are fighting alongside Saudi Arabian-led forces in Yemen, according to reports Sunday.
The troops include former Colombian soldiers fighting under contract with Saudi Arabia. According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the first group of just under 100 Colombian troops arrived in Yemen earlier this month. The newspaper has reported the troops were set to arrive in the southern port city of Aden, which is currently under the control of Saudi Arabia and forced allied with Yemen's ousted president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
As many as 800 Colombian fighters could take up frontline positions under Saudi command, according to the newspaper. In recent days unconfirmed reports have surfaced the number of Colombians in Yemen may have already reached that number.
The news comes as Colombia’s government advances in peace accords with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas to end the country five-decade old conflict.
Propaganda
27.10.2015 – Emirates 24 7 from WAM
Yemeni writer hails UAE's noble stance for YemenSays Houthi rebels wreaked havoc
Yemeni newspaper Al Omanaa praised the people and leaders of the UAE for taking up a noble stance backing Yemen and providing continuous military and humanitarian support for the Yemeni people facing the current crisis as the Houthi rebel group and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh wreaked havoc in Aden and other Yemeni governorates and went on a killing spree targeting innocent people.
In an article titled "Thank You Very Much UAE", published by the paper today, Yemeni writer Abdullah Salim Madram praised the UAE and Saudi Arabia of the Arab Coalition for responding to the call of Yemen's legitimate government and standing up for Yemenis to defeat "this gang of aggressors".
The writer described the Arab countries' intervention for Yemen as an "act of magnanimity and dauntlessness".
"In addition to its military role, the UAE is undertaking relief efforts to help the Yemeni people in the Governorate of Aden in particular, he said adding that that the UAE and Saudi Arabia's humanitarian intervention was timely as Yemenis in Aden suffered from lack of government institutions, electricity, funds and services due to the siege laid by the "invaders".
He noted that the two countries provided food aid, medicines, fuel and other oil derivatives after wresting Aden city from the Houthi "invadors" and partner militia.
The UAE provided power generators for Aden and is restoring all power grids and water service in the city, he noted.
The writer praised the Yemeni president for renaming a number of street in the country after Emirati martyrs. He also noted that the hospital in Al Mansoura district, known as the 22 May hospital, was also renamed after Emirati President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The writer noted that Yemenis should reciprocate love and loyalty for the UAE's support for Yemen.
Kommentar: Dürfte sich erübrigen. Außer: Mittlerweile die Propaganda-Palme aus Platin.
27.10.2015 – WAM
Al Houthis slammed for abandoning their dead: paper
Al Houthis and their allied forces have been criticised for leaving the bodies of dozens of their fighters to decay after suffering heavy military losses in battles with government forces in the province of Marib, according to a report by Saeed Al Batati in the UAE daily, Gulf News.
The full story follows: Some of the fighters were killed in areas surrounded by landmines, which made it difficult for the Red Crescent to retrieve them.
Hassan Al Shabwani, Head of the Provincial Office of the Yemeni Red Crescent, told Gulf News on Monday that his colleagues have removed decomposing bodies of 41 Al Houthi fighters who were killed in months of fierce clashes in the province, adding that they are unable to reach dozens of others because of landmines.
"We retrieved bodies from around Marib dam, Tabbat Al Masaria and Al Ashraf. Today we removed nine bodies." Al Shabwani said that the retrieved bodies were handed to Al Houthis to bury them. "We did not find any body of dead fighters loyal to the government forces."
http://www.wam.ae/en/news/%5BEmirates%5D/1395287208186.html
Kommentar: Der Vorwurf an die Huthis, man habe ihre Gefallenen wegräumen müssen, ist schon dicke Propaganda. Wenn man militärisch geschlagen ist, zieht man sich zurück. dabei kommt es immer wieder vor, dass die Gefallenen nicht aufgesammelt werden können und zurückgelassen werden müssen. Vorwurf an die Gegenseite: Ihr hättet sie ja nicht abschießen müssen, dann hätten sie selber gehen können.
Presssefreiheit / Freedom of Press
26.10.2015 – The Guardian
The world needs to know about Yemen’s war. But journalists are being silenced
The conflict in Yemen which has caused immense suffering is largely invisible to the world while reporters and activists face intimidation, abduction and torture – by Charlene Rodrigues
Kommentar: Ein merkwüriger Artikel. Die Unterdrückung von Pressefreiheit und Journalisten durch die Huthis wird beklagt, aber das ist wirklich nicht schuld daran, wenn das Thema Krieg im Jemen in unseren Medien totgeschwiegen wird. Aus den Kommentaren zum Artikel:
J. K.: Not a single word about the US, Uk and France assistance in Saudis non stop bombing campaign...the richest countries in the world aligned against one of the poorest. Not word about how the warring parties were days away from starting peace talks, according to the UN representative to Yemen, when the bombing campaign started.
I give credit to the Guardian for being one of the few western media outlets which mentions Yemen at all, but while this piece may have elements of truth in it, the author's attempt to paint the Houthis as being entirely responsible for the plight of Yemenis is disingenuous at best.
M A: strange article. On alternative international TV stations reports are given every day by their journalists from Yemen showing the extensive damage caused by the Saudi regime bombing of residential areas and the effects of the naval blockade, some estimates of those killed are now over 7.000. Large protests are shown held in the capital Sana'a most Fridays with appeals to the outside world to stop the death and destruction.
The UK media are silent on this outrage as they are backing the Saudi regime and their attempt to reinstate the deposed dictator Hadi who is not wanted, except by the US,UK and the Saudi's.
X: You should've saved yourself from the embarrasement you put yourself in with this misleading, short-sighted article.
When people's homes are targeted by Saudi jet fighters based on reports of betraders on ground, it is normal to see Houthis are suspecious about anyone and everyone. The Saudis were paying as low as 1000 S.R. Per missile-guidance chip to be planted in vital installations or even in a Houthi residence. Killing Yemenis was a fruitful business for betraders, so what do you expect but strict security procedures.
Terrorismus / Terrorism
27.10.2015 – Sputnik News
General: Türkei fliegt IS-Terroristen von Syrien nach Jemen aus
Rund 500 Terroristen des Islamischen Staates (IS) sind mit vier aus der Türkei in Syrien eingetroffenen Maschinen nach Jemen ausgeflogen worden, wie Brigadegeneral Ali Mayhub von den syrischen Streitkräften am Dienstag in Latakia mitteilte.
„Nachrichtendienstlichen Angaben zufolge landeten die Flugzeuge in Aden. Zwei davon gehörten den Turkish Airlines, ein Flugzeug war aus Katar und noch ein aus den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten (VAE). Sie brachten etwa 500 IS-Terroristen aus Syrien, die sich vor russischen Luftangriffen retten wollten“, sagte Mayhub.
„Die Extremisten wurden von Offizieren der saudischen Koalition in Empfang genommen… Die IS-Leute sollen an einer Bodenoperation der Koalition teilnehmen, die in den jüngsten Kämpfen gegen die Huthi-Milizen erhebliche Verluste hinnehmen musste.“ Dabei sagte der General unter Berufung auf die Aufklärung, dass in nächster Zeit weitere IS-Terroristen aus Syrien ausgeflogen werden sollten.
http://de.sputniknews.com/militar/20151027/305231599/zur-rettung-vor-russischen-angriffen.html
27.10.2015 – Sputnik News
ISIL Militants Transported From Syria to Yemen - Syrian Army
Over 500 ISIL militants have been transported from Syria to Yemen aboard planes arriving from Turkey to fight against Houthi rebels, a Syrian general said Tuesday.
Syrian Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Ali Maihub claimed that more than 500 ISIL militants had been transported from Syria to Yemen aboard 4 planes that had arrived from Turkey on October 26.
According to him, two of the planes belong to Turkish airlines, one is a Qatari aircraft and one is a UEA plane.
"According to the intelligence data, 4 planes arrived from Turkey at the airport of Aden [in Yemen] on October 26. Two of them [planes] belonged to Turkish airlines, one — to Qatar airlines and another aircraft was owned by an UAE airline. More than 500 militants of ISIL terrorist group were on board, they were transported from Syria to save them from Russian airstrikes," Maihub said, according to RIA Novosti.
He further claimed Saudi-led coalition officers met ISIL militants at the airport in Yemen. The Syrian general said that the jihadists were supposed to take part in a ground operation against Houthi rebels.
"[ISIL] militants were met by officers from the Saudi-led coalition, who took them out of the [Yemeni] airport in three groups. The first group was taken to the town of al-Bab in the Mandeb province, the second — to Maariv, the third — to Saudi provinces Jazan and Asir," he said.
"The militants are expected to take part in the ongoing ground operation where ground coalition forces have recently suffered serious losses in clashes with Houthi fighters," the general said, adding that, based on intelligence data, similar transfers of ISIL militants from Syria would continue.
"According to available information, operations aimed to transport ISIL terrorists from Syria will continue in a short time," he added.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151027/1029190132/isil-militants-yemen-syria.html
Kommentar: Das ist heftig.
27.10.2015 – Reuters
Islamists rise as chaos descends in Yemen's cosmopolitan port
In Aden, Yemen's most cosmopolitan city, the masked Islamist gunmen seem to have burst onto the streets from some other world.
They storm university classrooms to demand men and women to stop studying together, charge into supermarkets firing in the air to force the female cashiers to cover up, harass families celebrating a Muslim holiday on the beach.
"Aden is at risk of falling to Islamists and if it does, that would be a disaster for everybody," said a prominent Yemeni academic who, fearful of the consequences of speaking out, asked not to be identified.
The Islamists are hardly new to Yemen: for years, Yemen's rural tribal areas have sheltered one of the most powerful regional branches of al Qaeda, which the United States has targeted in a secret drone war, in alliance first with Saleh's government and then with Hadi's.
But what is new is their assertiveness on the streets of Aden, which served as the capital of an independent Communist South Yemen until 1990.
Aden has grown more conservative since North and South Yemen were unified into a single state. Nevertheless, residents still regard the port city, set around a spectacular mountain peninsula, as far more cosmopolitan than the surrounding countryside or the northern highland capital Sanaa.
Since the Houthis captured Sanaa a year ago, al Qaeda fighters have exploited chaos and expanded their influence across southern and eastern Yemen.
Fighters seized heavy weapons from army camps, organized tribal resistance to the Houthis and filled the security vacuum as Hadi's government was beaten back.
In Lahej and Abyan, the two southern provinces adjacent to Aden, mediators last week failed to persuade militants to hand over to government forces 55 armored vehicles and tanks and 22 rocket launchers seized from the military.
With Hadi's government now trying to fight its way back into power, it has avoided direct confrontation with al Qaeda, which in turn has avoided attacks on government targets. Many Yemenis believe Hadi and his Arab allies reached some sort of truce with the militants.
Al Qaeda's strict Sunni Muslim ideology makes it natural enemies of the Shi'ite Houthis, and the Houthis say Hadi's government and al Qaeda have become de facto allies on the battlefield.
But although al Qaeda is still probably the biggest jihadist faction in Yemen, it is no longer the only one, and the emergence of Islamic State this year has brought a force that has made clear it will observe no truce.
Since Hadi and his government returned to Aden in September, the security situation in the city has continued to deteriorate, causing resentment among residents desperate for stability.
Gunmen - whether loyal to al Qaeda, Islamic State or some other group, or acting on their own - have capitalized on frustration with the lack of jobs or public services and the absence of government authority to swell their ranks.
But the southern fighters, who fought on Hadi's side in a tactical alliance against the Houthis, worry that their movement risks being overshadowed by Islamists, unless the government does more to assert its authority – by Sami Aboudi
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-yemen-security-aden-insight-idUSKCN0SL0S320151027 = http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/insight---islamists-rise-as-chaos-descends-in-yemen-s-cosmopolitan-port/41742572
26.10.2015 – Australian National Review
Iraqi army downs two UK planes carrying weapons for ISIL
Iraq’s army has shot down two British planes carrying weapons for ISIL terrorists in Iraq’s Al Anbar province.
Hakem al-Zameli, head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defence Committee revealed that the committee “has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL,” FARS News reported. The senior lawmaker said that the Iraqi parliament has asked London for explanations and added it is receiving daily reports from security forces and people in the province on countless flights led by the U.S.-led coalition’s planes, which airdrop weapons and supplies for the group in terrorist-held areas.
The Iraqi lawmaker explained that the United States prefers the chaotic situation in the province because it reportedly does not want the ISIL crisis to come to an end.
Mr Al-Zameli has previously said that the planes of the anti-ISIL coalition have dropped weapons and food supplies for the terrorist group in Al-Anbar, Salahuddin and Diyala provinces. The head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defence Committee noted that the coalition is the main reason why ISIL still exists in Iraq. He told the news agency in January “there are proofs and evidence for the U.S.-led coalition’s military aid to ISIL terrorists through air.” Mr Al-Zameli added that the members of his committee have proved that planes belonging to the United States have dropped advanced weaponry for the ISIL, which is why it has set up an investigation committee to probe into the matter.
Mr Al-Zameli said the United States “drops weapons for the ISIL on the excuse of not knowing about the whereabouts of the ISIL positions.” Furthermore, the United States is attempting to “distort the reality with its allegations,” the senior lawmaker said.
http://www.australiannationalreview.com/iraqi-army-downs-uk-planes-carrying-weapons-isil/
26.10.2015 – Al Araby / Gulf News
Gunmen demand gender segregation at Yemen university
Radical Islamist gunmen have threatened to use force against university students in Yemen's southern city of Aden if they do not observe segregation of the sexes on campus, witnesses said.
Students said armed militants distributed leaflets containing the threats and signed by the Islamic State group in at least three departments of the university of Aden.
The leaflets also banned music and demanded that students perform collective prayers on campus, they added.
They set a Thursday deadline for the demands to be met. Otherwise they threatened to carry out car bomb and petrol bomb attacks.
The authenticity of the leaflets signed by the Aden and Abyan branch of IS could not be immediately verified.
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2015/10/26/gunmen-demand-gender-segregation-at-yemen-university = http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-suicide-bomber-targets-fighters-in-aden-1.1607540
25.10.2015 – RP Online
Militante Islamisten stürmen Supermarkt in Aden
Am Sonntag stürmten rund 30 militante Extremisten einen Supermarkt und nahmen mehrere Geiseln.Das berichteten Sicherheitsbeamte und Augenzeugen. Nach knapp einer Stunde ließen die Täter alle Geiseln frei und zogen ab.
Die Extremisten schossen den Angaben zufolge in die Luft und protestierten lautstark dagegen, dass Frauen und Männer in dem Geschäft nicht voneinander getrennt einkauften. Die weiblichen Angestellten müssten zudem ihr Gesicht verschleiern, verlangten sie.
Vielen Kunden gelang es, aus dem Supermarkt zu fliehen, bevor die Extremisten die Türen zuschlossen. Einige wurden von den Extremisten geschlagen, hieß es weiter.
http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/ausland/jemen-militante-islamisten-stuermen-supermarkt-in-aden-aid-1.5497017 und http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-militante-islamisten-stuermen-supermarkt-in-aden.447.de.html?drn:news_id=539535
25.10.2015 – AP
Islamic militants storm supermarket in Yemen's southern city of Aden, briefly taking hostages
Islamic militants stormed a supermarket in Yemen's southern city of Aden on Sunday, firing into the air and briefly taking hostages, security officials and witnesses said.
About 30 militants arrived at the supermarket in four pickup trucks on Sunday afternoon, the officials and witnesses said. Shoppers fled when the militants fired in the air, but an unknown number were trapped inside when the gunmen locked the doors. The militants freed the hostages after less than an hour and left the scene.
Some supermarket employees were slightly hurt when the militants kicked and punched them.
The witnesses said the militants shouted that they were protesting the mingling of men and women in the supermarket and demanded that female employees cover their faces, in keeping with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. A supermarket worker said the militants told them this was the final warning.
The incident happened in the late afternoon when the Zamaran supermarket, the city's largest, is usually packed with shoppers. It appeared to be intended as a show of force by the militants who have in recent months wielded significant influence in parts of the city overlooking the Arabian Sea.
An official at the University of Aden said Islamic militants have threated faculty deans, demanding they ban students of the opposite sex from mixing – by Achmed Al-Haj
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/10/25/world/middleeast/ap-ml-yemen.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 = http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-25-11-47-27 = http://www.startribune.com/suspected-al-qaida-gunmen-free-prisoner-in-yemen-s-aden/336838921/
Flüchtlinge / Refugees
27.10.2015 – UNCHR
Despite conflict, refugees continue to arrive by boat in Yemen
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 27 October 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Despite on-going conflict and a deepening humanitarian crisis, almost 70,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants – primarily from Ethiopia and Somalia – have arrived by boat in Yemen so far this year. More than half of these arrivals have been since the conflict erupted in March.
UNHCR and its partners provide shelter, food and medical care in the Mayfa'a reception centre for those arriving on the Arabian Sea coast.
For those arriving along the Red Sea coast, reception facilities have been suspended after an attack destroyed a village hosting new arrivals in Bab el Mandab (last week, the remaining reception installations were looted). As a result of the attack, two partner staff who were working in the transit centre were killed: a Yemen Red Crescent medical assistant and a Somali refugee who was working as an interpreter.
Travel to Yemen is particularly perilous – three weeks earlier a boat with migrants and refugees capsized in the Arabian Sea en route to Yemen. Of the 68 passengers, only 33 survived: 32 were rescued by a passing boat and one managed to swim to shore. UNHCR's partner, Nansen award winner Society for Humanitarian Solidarity (SHS) arrived to take the survivors to their clinic in Mayfa'a for treatment. Since the beginning of the year there have been 88 recorded deaths at sea between the Horn of Africa and Yemen.
Most of the movements to Yemen have shifted to the Arabian Sea coast where people believe the situation is calmer – over 10,000 new arrivals in September, a 50 per cent increase on August, and over 10,000 so far in October. UNHCR and its partners have been able to provide reception and medical services. While some are Somali refugees who had previously fled Yemen, the majority are Ethiopian migrants for whom Yemen is a transit stop on a journey in search of better opportunities.
Yemen itself is meanwhile seeing a continue rise in the number of people who are displaced internally. On 15 October an IOM-UNHCR displacement-tracking mechanism published new data showing that the IDP population has reached a record-high of 2,305,048 people.
This figure is up from 545,719 individuals in mid-May. Today close to one out of ten Yemenis has had to seek refuge elsewhere in the country as a result of on-going conflict or lack of basic services and a minimum of livelihood opportunities. UNHCR along with other humanitarian actors continue to support the Yemeni people in addressing their needs despite the tremendous challenges.
Today Yemen hosts 264,615 refugees, of which 250,260 are Somali. Over 121,000 people have fled Yemen to neighbouring countries since March.
http://www.unhcr.org/562f6bba6.html
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-39: / Yemen Press reader 1-39:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Fotos von saudischen Luftangriffen / Photos of Saudi air raids
(18+, Nichts für Sensible--Graphic!!)
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