Allgemein / General
3.12.2015 – The Telegraph
Our coalition partners the Saudis are creating conditions in Yemen which let Isil flourish
Our ally is using British arms in contradiction to our self-proclaimed role in the world. At some point we need to address that
There is a real danger that unrest across the Middle East is now generating a genuine existential threat to the West – and to people of all faiths everywhere who seek to live peacefully alongside one another. Though at least some of the suicidal gunmen who wreaked havoc on the vibrant and multicultural streets of the French capital’s 10th and 11th arondissements in Paris were European nationals, all were inspired by a hate-filled ideology incubated in the chaos of Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. And as the UK Parliamentdecides to extend the reach of our RAF bombers into Syria, the question on many lips is, where do we go from here?
First a bit of realism: "we", the West, are not going to fix the Middle East. We don’t see it the way people in the region see it, and we certainly don’t understand it the way they do.
As an ally, arms supplier, and key counter-terrorism partner, the UK has an important relationship with Saudi Arabia, and therefore a special responsibility to highlight cases when it is acting in a way that is against its own and its allies’ interests – which is certainly the case in Yemen. We should publicly and privately support the Saudi leadership in shifting tack from a purely military strategy that is clearly not working, towards seeking a much broader diplomatic and political solution, built around a ceasefire. Apart from anything else, we need to do this to avoid the risk of complicity in war crimes and accusations of hypocrisy that undermine our status as a champion of the rules-based international order.
How our ally is using British arms runs counter to our self-proclaimed role in the world, and our aid efforts. Senior Government figures themselves privately recognise this contradiction.
The discussions on Syria highlight the national interest in preventing yet another failed state in the Middle East. We have the same interest in Yemen. We are in a unique position to help our ally secure a ceasefire and reach a political solution; we should act as an enabler, using diplomacy and humanitarian support to get people around the table. Most importantly, we should have confidence in our ability to play a positive role on Yemen, which could be an example of how we might engage more widely on foreign policy to assert British values, promote national and international security and development, and define our role in the world – by Major General Tim Cross CBE (retired)
Commentary: 'Our' coalition partners are doing more than just letting Isil flourish - the Saudis have AQ and Daesh operatives fighting in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. The internal civil war in Yemen that began just before the Saudis started bombing would not have been so intense but for the Saudi intervention and probably would have ended before now - and it was reported in an interview of an AQAP operative on Al Jazeera that Saudi Arabia arranged for Al Qaeda to control Mukalla so that it could not fall to the Houthi-Saleh alliance. The philosophy of Daesh/IS is so similar to that in Saudi Arabia - but without the monarchy. There are so many beheadings in Saudi now that they are advertising for 8 more executioners.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067487173403773
2.12.2015 – Bloomberg
Saudis Blamed for Waging Wrong War as Jihadists Thrive in Yemen
As Saudi Arabia’s allies try to bomb Islamic State out of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, the kingdom’s war in Yemen is enabling jihadists to seize new ones.
All that is grist to the mill for critics who say the world’s biggest oil exporter, already squeezed by the slump in crude prices, is storing up more trouble by fighting the wrong war. In making the Shiite Houthi rebels their military priority, the argument goes, the kingdom has inadvertently empowered more dangerous enemies -- Sunni jihadists who have repeatedly called for the overthrow of the Al Saud ruling family.
The Saudis and their allies “prioritize the fight against what they see as Iranian allies over the fight against Salafi jihadists,” Gregory Gause, a professor of international affairs at Texas A&M University, said by e-mail. “They think that they can clean up the latter after they have taken care of the former,” he said. “It is a dangerous and risky bet.”
For Gause and other analysts, there’s a parallel with the U.S. war in Iraq, now widely seen as having strengthened Islamist militants. Saudi Arabia got caught up in that backlash, suffering a series of bomb attacks that roiled energy markets.
There’s no sign of the Yemen conflict ending anytime soon: the Houthis still hold much of the country, even as jihadist groups emerge in the “liberated” areas.
Al-Qaeda now has “almost complete freedom of maneuver across much of southern Yemen,” Ludovico Carlino, a senior analyst at IHS Country Risk, said in an e-mailed note – by Mohammed Hatem, NafeesaSyeed and Glen Carey
2.12.2015 – Ende Genocide
The war in Yemen is far more complex than is often realized, with aspects carried over from the country’s protracted civil conflicts, the Arab Spring revolution, and the broader regional power struggles between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. additionally risks further entanglement in the complex regional dynamics at play in what has become an internationalized civil war.
In many ways, the current conflict in Yemen can be seen as not only the continuation of a decade old sectarian struggle but also of a bitter power rivalry left over from the Yemen Revolution during the Arab Spring. Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthis, are a Zaydi sectarian group predominately based in the northern part of the country that has struggled to overthrow the nominally Sunni Yemeni republic since at least 2004.
As with many opposition movements in the region, the Houthis were swept up in the Arab Spring Revolts of 2011, where their anti-government stance was coopted into the broader movement that saw the ouster of then President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Ironically, when the Houthi insurrection captured the capital of Sana’a years later, they would do so with the help of Saleh loyalists who had backed the Houthi regime to overthrowing his successor.
Since then the conflict dynamics have only become more complicated – by Jake Howry
http://endgenocide.org/the-u-s-is-helping-wage-a-dangerous-war-in-yemen/
2.12.2015 – The American Conservative
The U.S. and Its Clients Are Destroying Yemen
Restoring Hadi never seemed all that likely, but because he has been a vocal supporter of the coalition’s bombing campaign and blockade he lost whatever domestic support he might have had at the start of the year. The Saudis’ stated goals were always unrealistic, and their bombing campaign was never going to achieve them in any case. This was all fairly clear at the start of the intervention, but the Saudis and their allies blundered ahead anyway. It was a measure of howmindlessly the U.S. sided with the Saudis that our government didn’t understandwhat the coalition was trying to do but still aided their war effort.
As bad as the bombing campaign has been, Yemen continues to be stalked by the specter of famine on account of the coalition’s blockade.
In addition to all this, jihadists are now taking over even more of southern Yemen. Just this week, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized two more cities in southern Yemen from forces loyal to the deposed president. The coalition has been so fixated on fighting the Houthis that they neglected the threats from jihadist groups, and in some cases have tacitly cooperated with them. The Saudi-led intervention has been an enormous boon for AQAP and for the local ISIS affiliate, and both groups are thriving in the areas that the coalition has “liberated.”
The U.S. and its clients are steadily destroying Yemen, and worst of all they have been doing it for nothing. Even if the coalition eventually achieves some of its goals, which still seems unlikely, it will have come at an extraordinary and indefensible cost to the civilian population. Yemen has been ruined simply to satisfy the irrational fears of a handful of despots and their overindulgent American patron – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-u-s-and-its-clients-are-destroying-yemen/
2.12.2015 – SBS
War in Yemen no end !
Yemen to which direction ? And when will this bloody conflict end ? Questions posed by Saleh Saqqaf to the researcher specializing in Arabian Peninsula Dr. Khalaf Al-Maliki (Podcast)
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/arabic/en/content/war-yemen-no-end
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian Situation
3.12.2015 – Oxfam
Yemen: Oxfam scales up relief programs in war-torn Taiz
Oxfam announced today that it is scaling up its operations in Taiz governorate, Yemen, to meet the increasing humanitarian needs in communities affected by the escalating fighting in and around Taiz city. The UN’s Emergency Response Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, has described Taiz city as a ‘city under virtual siege’, with food, medical supplies, and fuel blocked from entering and humanitarian agencies denied access to the besieged population.
Sajjad Mohamed Sajid, Oxfam Country Director in Yemen, said: “The situation in Taiz city is one of the worst we’ve seen across Yemen so far, with civilians suffering from the worst impacts of ground war, as well as bombing. Civilian lives and their means of survival are in the line of fire. Vital supplies are running out in the city and people are unable to flee as they have no fuel and no place to go – they’re trapped in what is essentially becoming an uninhabitable city.”
“Oxfam has been working in Taiz since August, and we are committed to continuing our life-saving programs there. Now, with the support of local partners we are increasing our activities in Taiz city.”
As part of Oxfam’s scale-up plan, the number of people receiving clean water delivered by trucks will double, from 28,000 now to 62,000, in the besieged districts of Al Madafer, Al Qahira, and elsewhere in Al Hawban, Salah and Maouiah districts in Taiz city.
Oxfam will also rehabilitate the damaged water infrastructure in these areas.
Oxfam will buy and supply generators, water tanks, pipes, and other equipment needed to operate community water points managed by the Taiz local water authority.
These planned activities will ensure that over 200,000 people who are currently trapped by fighting can at least get clean water at regular intervals.
Sajjad added: “Despite the daily challenges we face in reaching communities affected by conflict in Yemen, we are gradually expanding and reaching more people in desperate need of assistance across the country, particularly in Taiz. This is made possible through our coordination with the UN to get supplies we need into the country, and consultations with local organizations and local authorities that help us assess the humanitarian situations in different governorates, so that our programs are relevant and meet people’s needs.
“Taiz remains a fierce battleground. Despite prospects for political talks reconvening in coming weeks there is little hope for peace in Yemen in near future. Millions of people in Yemen are at the mercy of the warring parties that are tearing Yemen apart. For Oxfam and others to respond to the enormous scale of needs, a permanent ceasefire and a peaceful solution to the conflict are urgently needed.”
In the coming days, Oxfam will begin distributing food vouchers to 21,000 people in Al Turba city, Taiz governorate, so they can buy food and the essentials they need, amidst soaring prices caused by a shortages of supplies in markets. Oxfam will provide fuel to the city's local water authority for three months to maintain water supply to 18,000 people.
In Al Shamayatayn district, Taiz governorate, Oxfam is providing clean water and waste disposal services, and planning to respond to the spread of diarrhoea.
Elsewhere in Southern Yemen, in Aden governorate, Oxfam is supplying the local water authority with equipment needed to pump clean water to 800,000 residents. The same model will be used in the governorates of Al Dhal’e and Abyan.
In the Northern governorates of Amran, Hajjah and AL Hodeidah, Oxfam is providing clean water to nearly 350,000 people affected by the conflict – these include displaced people as well as members of the communities hosting them. Oxfam is also building toilets, conducting hygiene awareness sessions, distributing mattresses, blankets, kitchenware and hygiene products like soap.
3.12.2015 – Red Cross
Hayat Walks Again (Film)
This is the story of Hayat, a little girl from Amran governorate in Yemen who has lost her home, her sister and her right foot following an airstrike on her village. She has just received a prosthetic leg at an ICRC-supported rehabilitation centre. Hayat's story is shared by thousands of Yemeni children who continue to pay the price for the ongoing armed conflict.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-hayat-walks-again-rehabilitation and film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BblUCkYvdS4
Commetary: What a great little girl she is - suffering more in her short life than most of us have ever known in our full lives. I just love you Hayat, thank you for your courage.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067412243411266
3.12.2015 – Rudaw
Displaced in Yemen struggle to survive cold
Refugees throughout the Middle East, and throughout the world, have been struggling to survive after fleeing or being driven from their homes by violence and turmoil. Now, the winter weather will further complicate their struggles.
Seeking shelter wherever possible, refugees and IDPs in Yemen are in desperate need of basic necessities like warmer clothes and blankets. Rudaw’s Ayad Al Mausmy reports from the capital Sanaa.
http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/middleeast/03122015
Commentary: Sanaa the capital is in the huge mountainous region that covers most of West Yemen, and it is at 8,000 feet. When I lived there it was often around freezing in the winter nights. These displaced people are inside - many are living in makeshift tents, the cold can lead to many health complications and particularly the young and the old are very vulnerable. Even in homes that have not yet been destroyed it is difficult - no electricity, no fuel, very little wood and that has to be used for cooking. It is a desperate situation.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067465496739274
Ärzte ohne Grenzen / Doctors Without Borders
3.12.2015 – United Nations
Yemen: Ban calls for prompt investigation after Saudi-led airstrikes destroy another health clinic
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the airstrikes carried out yesterday by the Saudi-led Coalition on a mobile health clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Taiz city, Yemen, which injured seven people and destroyed the clinic.
“The Secretary-General underscores that medical facilities and medical personnel are explicitly protected under international humanitarian law. He calls for a prompt, effective and impartial investigation into today’s incident,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York.
Mr. Ban had condemned an earlier incident on 27 October during which a hospital run by MSF in Sa’ada province was hit by airstrikes.
“The Secretary-General reminds all parties of the utmost necessity to respect their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law to prevent attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the statement concluded.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52720#.VmB1zLjhDct
3.12.2015 – Ärzte ohne Grenzen
Krankenhaus von Ärzte ohne Grenzen in Taiz bei Luftangriffen getroffen. Neun Menschen verwundet.
Bei einem Luftangriff der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition im Süden Jemens wurde ein Krankenhaus der internationalen Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen getroffen. Neun Menschen wurden bei dem Angriff auf die Stadt Taiz verletzt, darunter zwei Mitarbeiter von Ärzte ohne Grenzen.
„Wir haben die GPS-Koordinaten unserer Klinik regelmäßig an Vertreter der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition übermittelt, zuletzt am 29. November“, sagt Jerôme Alin, Landeskoordinator von Ärzte ohne Grenzen im Jemen. „Auch über unsere medizinischen Aktivitäten in der Klinik haben wir die Vertreter der Koalition informiert. Es ist unmöglich, dass die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition nicht über die Präsenz von Ärzte ohne Grenzen Bescheid wusste.“
Nach Augenzeugenberichten ereigneten sich die Luftangriffe am 2. Dezember vormittags und zielten auf einen Park im Stadtbezirk Al Houban in Taiz. Die von Ärzte ohne Grenzen betriebene Al Houban-Klinik befindet sich zwei Kilometer von dem Park entfernt. Mitarbeiter von Ärzte ohne Grenzen veranlassten sofort die Evakuierung der Klinik und informierten Vertreter der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Koalition, dass deren Flugzeuge dort einen Angriff fliegen. Auch die Klinik selbst geriet unter Beschuss. Die bei dem Angriff Verwundeten – darunter zwei Schwerverletzte – wurden ins Al Qaidah- und ins Al Resalah-Krankenhaus gebracht. Beide Krankenhäuser werden von Ärzte ohne Grenzen bei der Behandlung von Kriegsverletzten unterstützt.
In der Klinik in Al Houban leisteten die Mitarbeiter von Ärzte ohne Grenzen seit zwei Monaten medizinische Nothilfe für Menschen, die von dem aktuellen Konflikt vertrieben wurden. Allein in den beiden Tagen vor den Luftangriffen wurden dort 480 Patienten behandelt.
„Die Bombardierung von Zivilisten und Krankenhäusern stellt eine Verletzung des humanitären Völkerrechts dar”, so Alin. „Zivilisten, die medizinische Behandlung brauchen und medizinische Einrichtungen aufsuchen, müssen geschützt sein.“
http://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/jemen-luftangriff-krankenhaus-taiz- siehe auch http://www.n-tv.de/ticker/Saudi-Arabien-bombardiert-MSF-Klinik-article16492561.html
3.12.2015 – Doctors Without Borders
Yemen: Nine wounded in Saudi-led coalition airstrike on MSF clinic in Taiz
An airstrike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition has hit a clinic in southern Yemen run by international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), wounding nine people, including two MSF staff.
According to local sources, at 11.20am on Wednesday 2 December, three airstrikes targeted a park in Taiz city’s Al Houban district, 2 km from MSF’s clinic. The MSF team immediately evacuated the clinic and informed the Saudi-led coalition that their jet planes were mounting an attack nearby. The clinic itself came under attack. The wounded, two of them with critical injuries, were transferred to Al Qaidah and Al Resalah hospitals. MSF supports both hospitals in treating war-wounded patients.
“I was in MSF’s mother and child hospital in Taiz, just 1 km away from Al Houban clinic, when we heard the airstrikes,” says Nora Echaibi, MSF’s medical team leader in Taiz. “Everyone was scared. We evacuated the teams as soon as possible.”
MSF’s team in Taiz is currently supporting Yemeni medical staff in providing emergency treatment to people wounded in the airstrikes.
At MSF’s tented clinic in Al Houban, staff provided urgent medical care to people displaced from their homes by the recent conflict. The Saudi-led coalition had been informed about the precise location and the activities carried out by MSF in Al Houban.
“The health structures GPS coordinates were regularly shared with the Saudi-led coalition, most recently on 29 November, when we informed them about this specific activity in Al Houban,” says Jerome Alin, MSF’s head of mission in Yemen. “There is no way that the Saudi-led coalition could have been unaware of the presence of MSF activities in this location.”
MSF has been providing those hospitals in Taiz that are still functioning with emergency medications, surgical supplies and practical support since May 2015. An MSF team has been providing urgent medical care at its clinic in Al Houban for the past two months. In the past two days, the team treated 480 patients in Al Houban.
“The bombing of civilians and hospitals is a violation of international humanitarian law,” says Alin. “Civilians seeking healthcare and medical facilities must be respected.”
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-nine-wounded-saudi-led-coalition-airstrike-msf-clinic-taiz
This is said to be a video of the site / Das soll ein Film von diesem Ort sein: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1765955
2.12.2015 – Doctors Without Borders
MSF: strike by #Saudi-Led Co hit a mobile clinic area in #Taiz #Yemen 7 wounded
Taiz, According to local sources; airstrikes carried out this afternoon by the Saudi-led coalition in southern Yemen hit a mobile clinic area where the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), provides urgent medical care to Yemeni people.
MSF cannot provide further details on the incident at the moment because our clinic staff had evacuated the site before the airstrikes on Al Houban area, in Al Khashabeh village where they deliver healthcare to Yemeni’s.
MSF teams said that seven people have been wounded so far and two of them are in critical condition. Our teams are still collecting more information about the incident and providing treatment to wounded people who were caught in the airstrikes.
MSF has been providing emergency medications and surgical supplies since early May 2015 to hospitals in Taiz and in the last two months, MSF started providing urgent medical care in the Al Houban area.”
2.12.2015 – The Independent
Saudi Arabia accused of bombing MSF medical facility in Yemen
Coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia have reportedly bombed a medical facility in Yemen, critically injuring at least two people in the south of the war riven country.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said local sources claimed a mobile clinic in the village of Al Khashabeh, Al Houban area, had been hit by air strikes on Wednesday afternoon. In total seven people are believed to have been injured.
There were few details as staff had been forced to evacuate the area, but Yemen is becoming increasingly dangerous for aid workers.
2.12.2015 – International Business Times
Yemen: Saudi-led coalition 'bombs MSF hospital' wounding seven
The Saudi-led coalition has bombed a mobile clinic of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in southern Yemen wounding seven people, of which two are in critical condition, according to the medical organisation.
Tim Shenk, press officer for MSF, told IBTimes UK that medical team in Taiz is still collecting more information about the incident and providing treatment to those who were wounded in the air strikes. Clinical staff had evacuated the site before the aerial bombings on the al-Houban area, in al-Khashabeh village, where they had been working – by Gianluca Mezzofiore
2.12.2015 – Middle East Eye
MSF mobile clinic bombed in Yemen
Seven people were injured as staff members evacuated the mobile clinic in the aftermath of aerial attacks by the Saudi-led coalition
Local sources in Yemen have confirmed that a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) mobile clinic was targeted by air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition on Wednesday.
In a statement, MSF said that they could not provide further information due to the evacuation of the site by staff members in the al-Khashabeh village in the southern area of Al Houb.
“Seven people have been wounded so far and two of them are in a critical condition,” the statement said. “Our teams are still collecting more information about the incident and providing treatment to wounded people who were caught in the air strikes.”
MSF spokesman Hassan Boucenine told Al Jazeera at the time that the attack “must have been deliberate” as the organisation regularly gives the coalition the coordinates of their facility.
“We give GPS positions, all the positions, of our hospital to the coalition head, and we renew them every month,” Boucenine said.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/msf-mobile-clinic-bombed-yemen-39630499
Commentary: Saudi is obviously trying to drive MSF out of Yemen - two reasons. 1 - they have been very critical of the Saudi campaign, and are credible witnesses that take their stories back to the Western World. 2 - Saudi has made a point of bombing hospitals in Yemen since the start of operations, this is the second MSF facility they have bombed. They are also stopping medical aid entering the port of Hodeida. Dead in this conflict are only counted if they are confirmed dead in a hospital. Fewer hospitals means fewer in the death statistics. The sad thing is, if they keep targeting MSF they will eventually be forced to leave. They say Yemen is the worst conflict they have ever been involved with - and they are involved in the worst all over the world.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067063940112763
2.12.2015 – Arab News
Kidnap: Yemen extremely fragile for aid workers, says Red Cross
A Red Cross employee’s kidnapping in Yemen underscored the “extremely fragile” situation in the country for humanitarian workers, with the coming days crucial for securing the hostage’s release, ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord said Wednesday.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said two people were taken by unidentified assailants on Tuesday in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, but that one was released unharmed. A Tunisian female staffer was being held hostage.
“The situation in Yemen is extremely fragile for an organization like the ICRC and the national Red Crescent,” Daccord told AFP in Geneva.
“When something like this happens, the kidnap of colleagues, this is always a shock. “We have to regroup immediately, try to understand what happened. This is exactly where we are right now.”
Daccord said that in this type of situation, “you most likely have two to three days” to try to connect with the possible perpetrators. If “it takes more than four to five days” before solid information emerges “then you are in a totally different dynamic, and we are also aware of that,” Daccord said.
http://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/news/844446
Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
2.12.2015 – Sputnik News
Huthis beginnen Prozess gegen Jemens Landesführung in Abwesenheit
In Sanaa hat ein Gerichtsverfahren gegen den Präsidenten und andere ranghohe Amtspersonen des Jemen begonnen, wie Sputnik meldet.
Die Huthi-Rebellen, die die Hauptstadt des Landes eingenommen hatten, klagen die Staatsführung wegen Landesverrats an.
„Die Generalstaatsanwaltschaft hatte die Akten zu sieben ranghohen Mitgliedern der Staatsführung ans Gericht weitergeleitet. Das Strafgericht, das sich mit Problemen des Terrorismus und mit der Staatssicherheit befasst, hat am heutigen Dienstag die erste Verhandlung im Prozess wegen Staatsverrats und der Hilfe für ‚den saudischen Feind‘ bei der Zerstörung des Landes begonnen“, hieß es.
Staatspräsident Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, seine drei Berater, der Ex-Außenminister, der Chef des Dienstes für nationale Sicherheit und der jemenitische Botschafter in den USA werden in Abwesenheit angeklagt.
3.12.2015 - Haberler
Court İn Houthi-Held Sanaa Tries Yemen's Hadi İn Absentia
Pro Houthi judicial source calls Hadi 'fugitive from justice' who is 'merely pretending' to be Yemen’s president.
A court in Sanaa on Wednesday began trial proceedings for President ABD Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and six other Yemeni officials charged with "assaulting the country" and "killing Yemenis", according to Yemen's SABA news agency, which is currently run by the Shia Houthi militant group.
The news agency "ed a pro-Houthi judicial source who described Hadi -- who is being tried in absentia -- as a "fugitive from justice" who was "merely pretending" to be Yemen's president.
http://en.haberler.com/court-in-houthi-held-sanaa-tries-yemen-s-hadi-in-851946/
Commentary: Hadi was elected in an uncontested election in 2012 as interim President for a two year term, extended by one year in 2014, term fully expired early in 2015. He resigned at that time when under pressure by the Houthis, but then left Sanaa for Aden and reinstated himself. When peace negotiations were under way after an unresolved outcome from the National Dialogue, Hadi would not agree to a proposed plan of a five man ruling committee with him at the head until Yemeni elections could take place. The then UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benowar carried on the negotiations between all parties, which were finally agreed, and then Hadi left Aden for Riyadh and asked Saudi to start bombing his country and his own people - which Saudi enthusiastically has done. Benawar resigned in protest. Not much of your country left now Hadi.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067074893445001
2.12.2015 – Almanar
Yemen’s Ansarullah: All Pretexts of Saudi-led Aggression Exausted
Yemen’s revolutionary movement, Ansarullah, stressed that the Saudi-led coalition waging it war on Yemen has exhausted all pretexts of the aggression.
In an interview with Yemeni media network, al-Massirah, Ansarullah spokesman Mohamamd Abdul Salam said that once the aggression on Yemen stops, the clashes on the border between Yemen and Saudi will be over.
“There is no need to go on with the aggression under the pretext of restoring legitimacy,” Abdul Salam said late on Tuesday.
“All aggression pretexts were exhausted and the public opinion realizes that the war on Yemenis is not aimed at implementing the UN resolution 2216 or restoring legitimacy as claimed by the Saudi-led coalition.”
Meanwhile, he stressed that the aim of the aggression “is to subdue the Yemenis and to impose their own agendas on them,” Abdul Salam said referring to the Saudi-led coalition.
On the other hand, he said that the military developments taking place at the border with Saudi are part of the “strategic options” announced by Ansarullah Chief Sayyed Abdul Malek al-Houthi.
“These battles are to confront the all-out war on Yemen,” Abdul Salam stressed.
“The Yemeni army and the popular committees launched attacks on the Saudi border posts six months after the aggression started. They had no other choice but to confront the Saudi-led invasion.”
On the UN-sponsored peace talks, Ansarullah spokesman said the negotiations were postponed till mid December because the draft has not been ready yet due to obstacles set by the other side.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=242317&cid=23&fromval=1
Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi government
2.12.2015 – Al Bab Blog
Yemen's Saudi-backed leaders at loggerheads: Rift between Hadi and Bahah grows
Simmering differences between Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is still widely described as Yemen's president, and Khaled Bahah, the man he appointed as vice-president and prime minister, turned into an open rift yesterday when Hadi announced a cabinet reshuffle and Bahah rejected the changes.
Bahah, who was in Paris representing Yemen at the climate summit, is said to be aggrieved because Hadi over-stepped his powers in attempting the reshuffle. Yemen's constitution (Article 130) clearly states that cabinet ministers are to be chosen by the prime minister, though "in consultation with the president".
The dispute further undermines claims that the disastrous Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen is aimed at supporting "legitimate" government.
Hadi's own legitimacy – such as it was – has long since evaporated. Having served President Saleh's deputy, he became acting president when Saleh was eventually persuaded to step down and his position was confirmed, after a fashion, by a presidential "election" in 2012 where he was the only candidate.
The one-candidate election was unconstitutional but at the time it offered a way out of Yemen's political impasse and Hadi's presidential term was supposed to end with the completion of a two-year "transition" process. When the transition process collapsed, Hadi remained in office.
After the Houthi insurgents over-ran the capital, Sanaa, Hadi resigned under pressure but subsequently fled to Aden in the south and un-resigned. Fighting then spread to the south and in March Hadi went into exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Aden briefly in September but fled again when the city came under renewed attack. He returned again to Aden in mid-November.
Bahah, meanwhile, is completely unelected. Before Hadi appointed him prime minister in October last year, he was Yemen's permanent representative at the UN in New York. In April this year Hadi appointed him vice-president. He is regarded as a capable technocrat and a less divisive figure than Hadi in terms of an eventual reconciliation among Yemen's warring factions. There are widespread expectations that he will replace Hadi as president at some point.
A further element in Yemen's legitimacy problem is the rump parliament which has not been re-elected since 2003.
Under present conditions there is no prospect of restoring any degree of legitimacy by electoral means.
The Hadi-Bahah rift also has implications for UN-led moves towards peace talks where Hadi, unlike Bahah, is increasingly viewed as an obstacle.
Yesterday, Reuters quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying: "Hadi has been trying to block any kind of talks because he knows that any settlement will be the end of this political career."
Others say Hadi is clinging to the (slender) hope of military gains against the Houthis before any talks take place.
Although Hadi is accused of being obstructive it's unclear whether he is doing so with or without connivance from the Saudis. As I noted in an earlier blog post, the Saudis say they are not averse to peace talks if only Hadi would agree to them. However, this sounds rather implausible because Hadi is totally dependent on Saudi support and if the Saudis were serious about peace talks they would surely not have too much difficulty in persuading him to accept them. – by Brian Whitacker
http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2015/december/yemen-hadi-bahah.htm#sthash.fxTqGKfY.kWYBhZf8.dpbs
(This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.)
2.12.2015 – Reuters
UAE troops dig in for a long war in Yemen
Soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, at the head of a Gulf Arab coalition fighting Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen, are preparing for a long, tough ground war from their base in the southern port of Aden.
As thousands of coalition soldiers fight daily battles with the Houthis on the front lines, their comrades in Aden are training Yemeni troops and trying to rebuild a functioning state loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
As well as fighting on the front lines, coalition soldiers are training around 7,000 Yemeni troops, and plan to begin building a police force in Aden to replace the ragtag local militias who currently man the checkpoints.
Nonetheless, progress on the ground has been slow since the coalition took Aden in July.
In the absence of a quick military victory, the UAE has poured money into reconstruction and humanitarian aid in Aden, hoping to build a sustainable economy and set an example of good governance that will turn public opinion against the Houthis.
A team from the UAE's Red Crescent Society said it had spent almost $100 million on power stations alone, and distributed food to 163,000 families.
Separatist sentiment, suppressed after a failed uprising in 1994, is once again on the rise. The PDRY flag, sporting a socialist star on Arab nationalist colours, is proudly hoisted alongside the UAE and Saudi colours at militia checkpoints around the city; the Yemeni flag is nowhere to be seen.
The resurgence of separatism suggests that not everyone in Aden shares Hadi's goal of reunifying Yemen. Local fighters who helped drive the Houthis from Aden may not have the appetite to chase them all the way back to Sanaa.
Even within the Hadi establishment, there are signs of a growing rift between the president, who is pushing for total victory to bolster his legitimacy, and Vice President Khaled Bahah, whom diplomats see as more amenable to peace talks.
http://www.trust.org/item/20151202114521-r8wgj
Kommentar: Dieser Reuters-Artikel ist so freundlich mit den Emiraten, dass ihn ein Organ vom Golf einfach übernommen hat: http://gulftoday.ae/portal/319fd421-631c-4422-a3b9-6262faf92809.aspx#.Vl9kuwv3UA4.facebook
Commentary: Dig in for a long war! Why don't they get on with peace talks? Of course, Hadi and his Saudi friends were hoping to take control of Taiz before the talks began, and that now seems a long way off. Taiz is still under heavy bombardment from the skies, and also a brutal ground war has been ongoing for some six months, with the civilian population caught in between.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067068183445672
UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
3.12.2015 – Gulf News
Yemen government puts forth demands before Geneva talks
Hadi government seeks confidence building measures including release of prisoners and handover of control of institutions
Yemen’s internationally-recognised government has demanded the release of all politicians and military officials kidnapped by the Al Houthi militia, and the handover of control of all government institutions, as a good-will gesture ahead of the upcoming UN-sponsored talks in Geneva. The talks are aimed at ending the crisis engulfing Yemen, an official said yesterday.
Mohammad Al Sa’di, Yemen’s minister of industry and member of the official delegation to the Geneva talks, said that the government delegation has held a series of “positive” meetings in the past few days to prepare for the next week’s talks, including a meeting with the UN envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, who has handed the Yemeni leadership a draft agenda for talks.
“The Yemeni government delegation has submitted its amendments to Geneva 2 agenda to the UN envoy and [said] that consultations are focusing now on reaching an agreement that is based on the implementation of the UN resolutions 2216 to end the Yemeni crisis,” Al Sa’di was quoted by the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al Awsat as saying.
Proposed amendments include adopting confidence-building measures before engaging in political talks through several steps, mainly the “release of kidnapped officials and activists, the handover of the government institutions, and the withdrawal from the cities” the Yemeni minister said.
“We know that Al Houthis and [former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah] Saleh are stubborn [in their attitudes] towards these demands, but we place the [demands] among our priorities,” he said.
Kommentar: Das hätte man auch unter Propaganda einordnen können. Hier werden also als „Good Will“ Gesten der Gegenseite die Machtübergabe gleich vor Verhandlungen, anstelle auch nur als Ergebnis von Verhandlungen verlangt. Selber gibt man natürlich keine Good-Will-Gesten wie etwa die Beendigung des Luftkriegs. Solche Äußerungen wie diese hier sind eben ein untrügliches Zeichen dafür, dass die Hadi-Regierung keine Verhandlungen will. Es bleibt abzuwarten angesichts der offenkundigen Meinungsverschiedenheiten innerhalb dieser Regierung.
2.12.2015 – AFP
Yemen peace talks could start in mid-December: British envoy
Long-delayed peace talks for Yemen are expected to finally open in Geneva in mid-December, the British ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday.
British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters that the UN-brokered talks "will probably happen in Geneva in the middle of the month."
"We strongly support those because that is the route to ending the conflict," he said.
Rycroft said the threat from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) highlighted the need to find an urgent resolution to the Yemen crisis.
UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been holding talks for weeks with all sides to try to launch peace talks, but no date has been announced for the formal negotiations.
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-peace-talks-could-start-mid-december-british-160909727.html see also http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/12/02/world/europe/ap-un-united-nations-yemen.html?_r=0
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
2.12.2015 – Fars News
Saudi Warplanes Drop Cluster Bombs on Own Soil to Prevent Yemeni Forces' Advances
Saudi Arabia's warplanes are targeting the Southern parts of the kingdom with cluster bombs in a bid to stop the Yemeni army and popular forces' continued and rapid advance deep into their territories.Saudi Arabia has used cluster bombs many times before, but this is the first time that it is using it against its own population in a desprate move to stop the huge advances made by the Yemeni forces inside the kingdom in recent days.
The Yemeni army and popular forces have frequently crossed the border captured the Saudi military bases and outpost, ruined the military sites and returned home in the last few months and after the Riyadh-led coalition refrained from stopping its air raids on residential areas in Yemen's cities.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940911000595
2.12.2015 – Telepolis
BND: Saudi-Arabiens Außenpolitik zu "impulsiv"
Dass Saudi-Arabien kein Teil der Lösung ist, sondern Teil des Problems, ist in unzähligen Berichten über die Kriegsschauplätze im Nahen Osten zu lesen. Jetzt äußert auch der Bundesnachrichtendienst etwas in der Richtung. Der BND warne vor einer destabilisierenden Rolle Saudi-Arabiens in der arabischen Welt, wird heute berichtet:
Die bisherige vorsichtige diplomatische Haltung der älteren Führungsmitglieder der Königsfamilie wird durch eine impulsive Interventionspolitik ersetzt.
Hervorgehoben wird in der Analyse des deutschen Auslandsnachrichtendienstes, soweit sie von Medien übermittelt wird, der Verteidigungsminister und Sohn des Königs, Mohammed bin Salman. Die Machtkonzentration, die Bin Salman erlangt habe, berge "latent die Gefahr, dass er bei dem Versuch, sich zu Lebzeiten seines Vaters in der Thronfolge zu etablieren, überreizt".
Mohammed bin Salman ist als Verteidigungsminister die treibende Kraft für die saudi-arabischen Militäraktionen im Jemen und er ist die treibende Kraft hinter einem massiven wirtschaftlichen Reformprogramm. Nie zuvor in der Geschichte des Landes habe es in kurzer Zeit gedrängt eine solche Menge an königlichen Dekreten gegeben, mit der Folge neuer Postenvergaben in der Regierung, was auf ein Ziel hinauslaufe: eine große Machtansammlung in einer Hand,konstatiert die Financial Times.
Im Königshaus soll es eifern. Es regt sich Widerstand gegen den neuen, faktischen Machthaber.
Die Warnung des BND vor einer zu "impulsiven Außenpolitik" Saudi-Arabien ist demgegenüber schönfärberisch, untertrieben und zynisch formuliert angesichts dessen, dass die saudischen Luftangriffe die jementische Haupstadt Sanaa in großen Teilen in Schutt und Asche gelegt haben.
Ob der BND mit seiner Warnung auf diese Konsequenzen einer falschen Politik gegenüber Saudi-Arabien abzielt oder auf die deutschen Waffengeschäfte mit dem Königreich, bleibt offen – von Thomas Pany
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/46/46737/1.html siehe auch http://www.huffingtonpost.de/2015/12/03/saudi-arabien-geheimdienst_n_8697424.html
2.12.2015 – T-Online
Neues Pulverfass: BND warnt vor Saudi-Arabien
Der deutsche Auslandsgeheimdienst (BND) befürchtet, dass sich die arabische Halbinsel zunehmend zum Pulverfass entwickelt: Der saudische König und sein Sohn wollen sich als "Anführer der arabischen Welt profilieren" und setzen auf eine aggressive Politik.
Die bisherige vorsichtige diplomatische Haltung der älteren Führungsmitglieder der Königsfamilie wird durch eine impulsive Interventionspolitik ersetzt", heißt es in einer Analyse des Bundesnachrichtendienstes. Dadurch wachse die Gefahr, dass Saudi-Arabien die arabische Welt destabilisiert.
Vor allem die Rolle des neuen Verteidigungsministers und Sohns von König Salman, Mohammed bin Salman, wird vom deutschen Auslandsgeheimdienst kritisch gesehen. Die wirtschafts- und außenpolitische Machtkonzentration auf den Vize-Kronprinzen "birgt latent die Gefahr, dass er bei dem Versuch, sich zu Lebzeiten seines Vaters in der Thronfolge zu etablieren, überreizt".
König Salman und sein Sohn Mohammed wollten sich als "Anführer der arabischen Welt profilieren", schreiben die BND-Analysten weiter. Die seit Jahren von dem Land wahrgenommene ungünstige politische Entwicklung werde zum Anlass genommen, die außenpolitische Agenda Saudi-Arabiens "mit einer starken militärischen Komponente sowie neuen regionalen Allianzen zu erweitern".
Mit seinem Militäreinsatz im Jemen wolle Saudi-Arabien beweisen, dass es bereit sei, beispiellose "militärische, finanzielle und politische Risiken einzugehen, um regionalpolitisch nicht ins Hintertreffen zu geraten", analysiert der BND.
2.12.2015 – The Telegraph
Saudi Arabia 'destabilising Arab world', German intelligence warns
Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilising influence in the Arab world, German intelligence has warned.
Internal power struggles and the desire to emerge as the leading Arab power threaten to make the key Western ally a source of instability, according to the BND intelligence service.
“The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy,” a BND memo widely distributed to the German press reads.
The memo focuses particularly on the role of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old son of King Salman who was recently appointed deputy crown prince and defence minister.
“Relations with friendly and above all allied countries in the region could be overstretched.”
Prince Mohammed is believed to have played a key role in Saudi Arabia’s decision to intervene in the civil war in Yemen earlier this year.
Both he and King Salman want Saudi Arabia to be seen as “the leader of the Arab world” and are trying to extend its foreign policy “with a strong military component and new regional alliances,” the BND analysts write
Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen was driven by a desire to show the country was “willing to take military, financial and political risks in order not to fall behind in regional politics”.
The overthrow of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad remains a priority for the kingdom, the BND says – by Justin Huggler
Großbritannien / Great Britain
17.6.2015 – RT
Britain is arming Saudi Arabia in Yemen conflict (Film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etWKjt0o41s
Commentary: This 8 minute video is so revealing, please watch it if you have one ounce of humanity in you. This Yemeni woman talks about everyday life in Yemen. You can see the strain of war in her face and hear the passion and concern in her voice as she tells of everyday life. I found myself crying as I watched it. Beautiful Yemen. Wonderful Yemeni people, so generous, so hospitable, so kind - what on earth is the world thinking to inflict this on you. Damn you leaders of the western world for turning your eyes the other way.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067364473416043
Söldner / Mercenaries
2.12.2015 – Middle East Monitor
Saudi refuses UAE request to send mercenaries to Yemen
Saudi Arabia refused a UAE offer to send Colombian mercenaries to Yemen, Arabi21reported an informed Saudi official as saying yesterday.
The official said that the UAE offer came in an effort to avoid a sole Sudanese military presence in Aden, but Saudi “decisively” refused the proposal and agreed to reinforce the Saudi-Sudanese existence in the strategic Yemeni city.
According to the official, Saudi is currently depending on the Sudanese forces more than the UAE forces in Yemen.
The New York Times revealed last week that the UAE had secretly sent hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to Yemen. The American newspaper added: “It is the first combat deployment for a foreign army that the Emirates has quietly built in the desert over the past five years.”
Yemeni military source have said that Sudanese forces have already arrived in Yemen and are taking part in the battles against the Houthis.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported that the UAE forces, which were taking part in the battle to liberate Ta’ez, had withdrawn and headed to Aden, the temporary headquarters of the Yemeni president.
The newspaper said that the main reason behind the withdrawal of the UAE from Ta’ez was the hostility between Abu Dhabi and the Muslim Brotherhood, whose stronghold lies in Ta’ez.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/22615-saudi-refuses-uae-request-to-send-mercenaries-to-yemen see also http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940911000579
Comentary: This is not the first disagreement between the two main arms of the coalition. Earlier, there were reported disagreements between UAE and Saudi over the use of Al Qaeda to hold cities against Houthi-Saleh militia advances - notably Mukalla and Aden. Saudi wanted to use AQ because they were Yemeni and therefore would remain there after the war ended, whereas UAE did not agree with this tactic and thought foreign troops should be used. You saw on this page pictures of AQ operatives in Aden driving through checkpoints a couple of months ago.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067065440112613
2.12.2015 – Counterpunch
The Tip of a Bloody Iceberg: Colombian Mercenaries in Yemen
Some 800 retired special-forces veterans of the Colombian army will be fighting in Yemen soon as mercenary soldiers. It’s no surprise: Colombia is a star contributor to the U. S. project of orchestrating proxy warriors to enforce its global plan. The mercenaries represent only a small part of the assistance Colombia provides overall. The big story is Colombia’s program of using military and police officers to instruct soldiers, police, and intelligence personnel in dozens of countries within the U. S. orbit.
The Colombian mercenaries will be joining military forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) engaged in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition now fighting to restore Sunni rule to that distraught nation. They will receive a pension and also UAE citizenship, along with family members. If they die in combat, their children will go to university free.
Arrangements were already in place. On behalf of his military contracting firm Xe Services, Erik Prince signed a $539 million contract in 2011 with UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to supply fighters for wars throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa.
The New York Times indicated Colombian mercenaries were involved and suggested that the U. S. government was endorsing Prince’s venture. The United States had concerns about political changes following the “Arab Spring” and about gains for Iran. Prince’s earlier company, Blackwater, “has a long history of working with Colombians,” analyst Jeremy Scahill pointed out.
Colombians fighting in Yemen will be serving U.S. strategic purposes. Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 at the head of a coalition of four Arabian Gulf states including the UAE. The United States is contributing to a naval blockade and provides military advisers and drone attacks. The coalition’s objective is to thwart the return to power ofYemen’s Houthi movement of Iran-backed Shiites. The Saudis have enjoyed $90 billion in U. S. military assistance since 2010.
Yet Colombian mercenaries fighting a war in Yemen on the U. S. side are contributing far less to U. S. purposes than does direct Colombian government assistance in the form of ongoing instruction provided to the soldiers and police of U. S. allies. Colombia’s lead role recalls the nation’s deployment of 5,100 soldiers to the Korean War; no other Latin American sent troops.
President Obama in April 2012 praised Colombia for sharing its “expertise in security.” In recent years Colombian military and police trainers have instructed counterparts in Latin American and Caribbean nations, and also in Africa and Afghanistan.
One report refers to teaching provided for 9,983 foreign security forces between 2010 and 2012; another, to preparation of 3,000 trainees from 2005 to 2012. The U. S. government provided Colombia with funding in 2014 for preparing 6,526 police and soldiers in 10 Latin American countries. Since 2009 Colombia has supposedly trained 30,000 security personnel in 60 countries.
Colombia pays the salaries of military and police teachers. The U. S. government provides equipment and supplies and pays for the travel, housing, and feeding of instructors and students. The U. S. State Department supervises student selection. Many Colombian instructors qualify through past attendance at the U. S. Army’s School of the Americas, renamed as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. They’ve maintained combat skills through counter-insurgency war at home. Instruction takes place inside Colombia and abroad.
Just as U. S. military aid to Colombia is often misidentified as “drug war” assistance rather than as support for the counter-insurgency war, references to teaching about how to fight drug traffickers – pervasive in the material surveyed here – may be similarly inaccurate.
For the U. S. government to pay the cost of housing, feeding, and equipping foreign trainees is less onerous than paying for “a U. S. “squadron of instructors” abroad. U. S. Assistant Secretary William R. Brownfield regards help from the Colombians as payback: “It’s a dividend we get for investing over $9 billion in support for Plan Colombia.”
Importantly, there is the notion that if trainees violate human rights, the U. S. government is blameless inasmuch as the military and police instructors are Colombian. The dismal human rights record of police, soldiers, and paramilitaries in U. S. client states in Latin America provides a rationale for expecting trouble.
Testifying before Congress, U. S. Southern Command head General John Allen spoke of “The beauty of having a Colombia – they’re such good partners, … When we ask them to go somewhere else and train the Mexicans, the Hondurans, the Guatemalans, the Panamanians, they will do it almost without asking, [And it’s] important for them to go, because I’m–at least on the military side–restricted from working with some of these countries because of limitations that are, that are really based on past sins. And I’ll let it go at that.”
The Leahy Law of 1997 prohibits the “furnishing of [military] assistance … to any foreign security force unit where there is credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” by W. T. Whitney
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/02/the-tip-of-a-bloody-iceberg-colombian-mercenaries-in-yemen/
On this subject, see also http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-carlsen/mercenaries-in-yementhe-u_b_8704212.html = http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/mercenaries-in-yemen-the-us-connection/
Kommentar: Das ist “hammerhart”. Bitte denken Sie dabei auch daran, dass die kolumbianische Regierung in keiner Weise willens oder fähig ist, die auch nur elementare Sicherheit der eigenen Bürger zu gewährleisten – ganz im Gegenteil. Ein Land mit fast 6 Millionen Binnenflüchtlingen, eine Stadt, die von Banden terrorisiert wird, so dass die Hälfte der 290.000 Einwohner geflohen ist. Und die Regierung lässt dann ihre Sicherheitskräfte in anderen Ländern den Büttel für die Amerikaner machen. (Wenn sie nicht im eigenen Land auch selbst noch die Einwohner terrorisiert). Siehe hierzu: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/abibac/marktoeffnung-wider-willen
Commentary: This is scandalous. The US is saying they prefer to use Columbians to assist and train mercenaries because it absolves them of any responsibilities when atrocities come to light. No that I've noticed US taking much responsibility for their own troops and mercenaries fighting in the Middle East. The Yemeni people, as if they haven't suffered enough, now have an onslaught of mercenaries known to conduct abuses - not only in Columbia, but also the Sudanese mercenaries, the notorious 'Janaweed' that were the devil incarnate when they were killing in Sudan - their leader is even wanted at the ICJ for war crimes.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067059493446541
Propaganda
3.12.2015 France 24
Saudi-led coalition to probe alleged Yemen clinic strike
The Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen said Thursday it will investigate accusations that it bombed a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Yemen.
Non-governmental organisations have repeatedly criticised the 10-month-long air war in Yemen, saying warplanes hit areas that don't contain military targets.
The coalition has denied the accusations, but this is the first time it has said it would probe a specific incident.
"We will investigate. We will come up with a result," coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told AFP.
http://www.france24.com/en/20151203-saudi-led-coalition-probe-alleged-yemen-clinic-strike
Kommentar: Angesichts des bisherigen Verhaltens der saudis hier klar unter Propaganda eingeordnet. - Beaxhte auch die Formulierung von "alleged", angeblichem Angriff auf die Klinik. Hier ist nichts angeblich. Eine westliche Quelle, die die Verbrechen eines Verbündeten des Westens verunklart; das muss man nur ein paar Tage durchhalten, dann ist das Thema sowieso durch.
3.12.2015 – UAE Interact
UAE PLAYING A HISTORIC ROLE IN YEMEN
The UAE has played a historic and strategic role in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Following the liberation of Aden, the UAE focused on supplying urgent aid to the city and nearby areas.
The range of help the UAE is giving Yemen is vast, covering food and relief supplies, rebuilding schools, providing generators and sanitation, operating hospitals and even manning the air traffic control in Aden.
The total cost of power generating projects was Dh217.3 million. The power station that was provided by the UAE contributes to generating 90 per cent of power used to provide lighting in various affected areas
The recapturing of the oil and gas-rich Marib, famous for its 4,000-year-old dam, has immense symbolic value. It was the founding father of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had ordered the rebuilding of the dam in 1984 at a cost of $100 million (Dh367.8 million).
It is estimated that about 14.7 million Yemenis now depend on humanitarian aid.
List of organizations giving help
http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/UAE-playing-a-historic-role-in-Yemen/72672.htm
Kommentar: Die in der Tat nennenswerte humanitäre Hilfe der VAE wird hier freilich propagandistisch genutzt. Und sie ist ja vor dem Hintergrund des von den VAE mitbetriebenen Krieges zu sehen.
2.12.2015 Gulf News
UAE and Yemen share a common history
http://www.pressreader.com/uae/gulf-news/20151202/281732678409755/TextView
Terrorismus / Terrorism
3.12.2015 - Huffington Post
U.S.-led coalition vs. ISIS seen crumbling as Arab members focus on fighting Iran in Yemen
U.S. President Barack Obama's coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) is reportedly disintegrating with only less than a dozen of the 65 member-countries now actively contributing to support the air campaign against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.
A report by the Washington Times said many Arab members including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not flown missions in the last 10 months or contributed anything to support the sorties.
"The Saudis haven't flown a bombing mission in nearly three months, Jordan stopped flying sorties in August, and the United Arab Emirates hasn't flown one since March," the Times reported Tuesday, citing information from an unnamed Pentagon official.
The report said that a former Obama administration official who helped build the coalition last year divulged that Persian Gulf Arab powers made a strategic gamble months ago to focus their military resources on helping Saudi Arabia wage war against Houthi rebels, which are seen as Iranian proxies, in neighbouring Yemen.
"They're eye-deep in Yemen now, and their attention is completely skewed in that direction," he said. "It's sucked up all the sorties and ground forces that we had wanted to deploy in Iraq and maybe in Syria." - by Shianee Mamanglu-Regala
3.12.2015 – The Hill
Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen is great news for al Qaeda
Neither the Saudi-led coalition nor the Houthi Shiite rebels are winning the war in Yemen. Who is? Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Yes, the same terrorist group that senior U.S. officials once listed as the "most dangerous" threat to domestic and international American interests. As a U.S.-led coalition of 65 nations degrades the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) across nine lines of effort, the war in Yemen continues to strain the resources of various Arab air forces, with some Gulf states temporarily withdrawing from counter-ISIS sorties in order to support the war in Yemen.
It's everything AQAP has ever wanted. Worrisome of what the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the agreement to halt Iran's enrichment of uranium — will mean for the region, Riyadh is focused on checking Tehran's influence in southwest Asia.
The weak power projection of Hadi's government forces and the Houthis' resolve in the north are allowing for swathes of central and eastern Yemen to essentially be ungoverned areas, which is ripe for al Qaeda's expansion. With neither a functioning government in Sanaa to provide services and a coalition that is undoubtedly failing to drive their Iranian-backed opponents out of power, Yemen has once again become a safe haven for AQAP and, to a dramatically lesser extent, ISIS militants.
Western media agencies are exclusively focused on the anti-ISIS coalition, and with legitimate reason after ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13. However, the difference between ISIS and al Qaeda is that while the former has to hold territory to ensure its legitimacy, the latter does not and can survive as a fluid, transregional entity. It's important to note that while ISIS focuses on holding territory in light of an international air campaign (even fortifying itself through tunnel networks) AQAP is hell-bent on striking Western targets.
Although al Qaeda may appear to be out of the limelight as ISIS seeks to monopolize the global jihadist movement, the rise of ISIS might even embolden al Qaeda.
The worry here is that as coalition airstrikes degrade ISIS safe havens and the group shifts its strategy to undertake external operations like the ones in Paris, the Sinai Peninsula and Beirut, then al Qaeda will see this as a cue to stay relevant in the global jihadist movement. Significantly degraded in Afghanistan by NATO and in Somalia by AMISOM, al Qaeda sees a golden opportunity to exploit the war in Yemen as the international community focuses its attention elsewhere – by Nicholas A. Glavin
3.12.2015 – Wall Street Journal
As Yemen’s Civil War Rages, Al Qaeda Gains
Extremist group advances in southern Yemen, exploiting breakdown of central government’s authority
The extent of AQAP’s control over Zinjibar and Ja’ar was unclear, but its advance on the two cities underscores how the Saudi-led military campaign to defeat Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and restore AbedRabbo Mansour Hadi as Yemen’s president has undermined the fight against Islamist extremist groups in Yemen.
“AQAP’s capability to gradually expand its geographical reach highlights two things: how the jihadist group continues to be the main beneficiary of the current Yemeni civil war, and how the absence of an effective military force capable to challenge them is granting AQAP an almost complete freedom of maneuver across much of southern Yemen,” said Ludovico Carlino, a senior analyst at IHS Country Risk – by Asa Fitch and Mohammed Al Kibsi
http://www.wsj.com/articles/as-yemens-civil-war-rages-al-qaeda-gains-1449160723
3.12.2015 Handelsblatt
Regierungskräfte vertreiben Al-Kaida aus Dschaar
Die strategisch wichtige Stadt Dschaar im Süden des Jemen ist zunächst wieder frei von Extremisten: Truppen der Regierung haben Anhänger des Terrornetzwerks Al-Kaida vertrieben. Diese hatten die Stadt zuvor eingenommen.
3.12.2015 – Reuters
Al Qaeda militants quit south Yemen town of Jaar, still in Zinjibar: resident
Al Qaeda militants who fought their way into the southern Yemeni town of Jaar on Wednesday have withdrawn and police are back in control, although the Islamist fighters remain in the nearby town of Zinjibar, residents said on Thursday.
In Zinjibar, about 10 km (6 miles) south of Jaar, residents said that al Qaeda fighters had also briefly deployed on the streets on Wednesday before returning to their compound. The militants have long had a presence in the town, the provincial capital of Abyan, without fully controlling it, they said.
They described the al Qaeda force as mostly local tribesmen who had helped fend off attempts by the Iran-allied Houthis to advance in the area earlier this year.
Jaar residents said on Thursday that the militants withdrew quietly from the town and regrouped at an old ammunition factory 25-30 km (15-20 miles) away.
"It seems they had withdrawn from the city at night, and all is quiet now," resident Mohammed Suhail told Reuters by telephone. A local police source also said that police were back in control.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/03/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0TM1L020151203
3.12.2015 – Handelsblatt / Die Welt
Regierungskräfte vertreiben Al-Kaida aus Dschaar
Regierungstreue Kräfte im Jemen haben eine strategisch wichtige Stadt im Süden des Landes von Kämpfern des Terrornetzwerks Al-Kaida zurückerobert. Sie hätten die Extremisten aus der zweitgrößten Stadt der Provinz Abjan, Dschaar, vertrieben, sagte ein lokaler Verantwortlicher am Donnerstag. Die Truppen planten, auch die Provinzhauptstadt Sindschibar von Al-Kaida-Kämpfern zu befreien.
http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/konflikt-im-jemen-regierungskraefte-vertreiben-al-kaida-aus-dschaar/12673482.html = http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article149565339/Al-Qaida-aus-der-Stadt-Dschaar-im-Jemen-vertrieben.html
Commentary: Al Qaeda seem to be in control of much of Abyan province at the moment. Note the wording; the AQ members are part of a local tribe. This is so true in Yemen - the tribe members morph from AQ to tribe and back again. The way to deal with AQ in Yemen is to bring the tribes into the negotiations. The drone attacks that kill civilians only increase recruitment to extremist militias.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067416630077494
IS jihadists kill two Yemen tribesmen
Sources say two members of influential Awlaki tribe kidnapped and executed by 'supporters of Daesh'
Jihadists have killed two members of an influential tribe in southeastern Yemen, tribal sources said Thursday, accusing the Islamic State group of carrying out the executions.
"Supporters of Daesh on Wednesday executed members of the Awlaki tribe after kidnapping them," a senior tribesman told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Another tribal source said Hashem and Ahmed Maklam al-Tunssi were killed in Seiyun, the second largest town in Hadramawt province, where Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQA
The pro-government "Popular Resistance" force in Hadramawt confirmed the deaths of the two men in a statement accusing IS of the killing.
2.12.2015 – Agression Y on Twitter 18 +; Graphic; Nichts für Sensible!)
ISIS Hadramout executions 2 soldiers from Shabwa 1-Ahmed Mohammed Al-Tolsi 2-Hidra'a Hashim Al-Tolsi
https://twitter.com/AggressionY/status/672143877378322433
2.12.2015 – AFP
Qaeda fighters in 'show of force' in south Yemen
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has tightened its control over parts of southeast Yemen, including Mukalla, the capital of the vast province of Hadramawt, imposing a strict form of Islamic law.
On Wednesday the jihadists seized Jaar, in the province of Abyan to the west, in fighting that killed 15 people.
Officials described Jaar as a key link between Al-Qaeda-held parts of the country further north and Aden, the southern base of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi who returned from exile in Saudi Arabia last month.
Jaar is a stronghold of the pro-government "Popular Resistance" which includes Sunni Islamists, tribesmen, loyalist soldiers and southern separatists who have been fighting the Huthis.
The Al-Qaeda jihadists blew up the main Popular Resistance headquarters in the town and hunted down pro-government fighters, most of whom fled, witnesses said.
A military analyst in Aden, who asked to remain anonymous, described the assault as an attempt to "send a threat" to Hadi's government.
A militant leader announced on a loudspeaker that AQAP had full control of "the emirate of Jaar" and that residents were now safe and life could go on normally, locals said by telephone.
Later, sources said the jihadists had "redeployed" across the town, after residents previously reported that the Al-Qaeda militants had withdrawn.
Intelligence sources said the jihadists had "partially" withdrawn, while witnesses said they were setting up checkpoints.
http://news.yahoo.com/qaeda-seizes-strategic-south-yemen-town-security-officials-081826347.html
2.12.2015 – Reuters / APA
Al-Kaida erobert zwei große Städte im Jemen
Die Islamisten hätten die Provinzhauptstadt Sindschibar sowie die Stadt Dschaar in der Nacht auf Mittwoch angegriffen und sich Kämpfe mit den Truppen vor Ort geliefert, wie Einwohner berichteten. Die Extremisten richteten demnach später Kontrollpunkte an den Zugangsstraßen ein und verkündeten ihren Sieg über Lautsprecher. Der Al-Kaida-Ableger auf der arabischen Halbinsel hatte beide Städte etwa 50 Kilometer östlich der wichtigen Hafenstadt Aden bereits 2011 unter seine Kontrolle gebracht. Ein Jahr später wurden sie von der Armee wieder zurückgedrängt. Diesmal habe der Staat dem Al-Kaida-Angriff nichts entgegenzusetzen gehabt, sagte ein Einwohner in der Sindschibar, der Hauptstadt der Provinz Abjan
http://www.onvista.de/news/einwohner-al-kaida-erobert-zwei-grosse-staedte-im-jemen-19424899 = http://derstandard.at/2000026808878/Einwohner-Al-Kaida-eroberte-zwei-grosse-Staedte-im-Jemen
2.12.2015 – AFP
Qaeda seizes key south Yemen town
Al-Qaeda fighters seized a strategic town from pro-government forces in southern Yemen on Wednesday after clashes that left at least seven people dead, security officials said.
The jihadists took control of Jaar in southern Abyan province, which is a key link between main southern city Aden and Mukalla, the Qaeda-held capital of southeastern Hadramawt province, a military source told AFP.
The source said the takeover of Jaar would "secure the link between Mukalla and Aden," which houses the internationally-recognised government's temporary headquarters.
The militants can now send reinforcements from their stronghold in Mukalla to Aden through Jaar, according to the source.
The battle for Jaar killed four pro-government "Popular Resistance" fighters, including a commander, security officials said.
The so-called Popular Resistance, which has been battling the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies, includes Sunni Islamists, tribesmen, loyalist soldiers and southern separatists.
Three Al-Qaeda fighters were killed in clashes on the outskirts of Jaar, the sources said.
As they entered the town, the jihadists blew up the main Popular Resistance headquarters and were hunting down pro-government fighters, the majority of which have fled the city, witnesses said.
A local Al-Qaeda leader announced over loudspeaker from the town's Grand Mosque that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had full control of "the emirate of Jaar" and that residents were now "safe" and life could go on "normally", locals told AFP by telephone.
The armed jihadists soon withdrew from the streets and shops had reopened by midday, the sources said – y Mohammed Oraby and Yasser Rayes
http://news.yahoo.com/qaeda-seizes-strategic-south-yemen-town-security-officials-081826347.html
2.12.2015 – CNN
Al Qaeda seizes key towns in south Yemen
Hundreds of al Qaeda fighters seized two major cities in Yemen after hours of clashes, part of the terror group's effort to expand its presence in southern regions of the war-torn country.
According to three senior security officials in Abyan, al Qaeda militants on Wednesday took over Zinjbar, the capital of Abyan province, and Jaar after fierce clashes with groups loyal to Yemeni President Abdurabu Hadi amid absence of the armed forces in the province.
Abdulatif Said, the head of pro-government committees, said their forces evacuated during the fierce clashes and that both Jaar and Zinjibar are now in the control of al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda destroyed the headquarters for the popular committees in Jaar and killed at least 4 senior popular committee commanders, the officials told CNN.
The authorities have been unable to bring the situation under control even after the coalition has also deployed troops to help restore stability and security.
Militants are roaming key streets and targeted killings are on the rise in Aden, the temporary capital. The majority of Aden is controlled by al Qaeda fighters as they control more territory in the country – by Hakim Al Masmari
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/02/us/al-qaeda-yemen/index.html
Commentary: I was in Aden when this happened in 2011 - lots of people from Zinjibar and Abyan governate were displaced and moved into the Aden schools. The schoolchildren in state schools in Aden had to move to private schools in consequence. It was the Yemen army currently fighting with the Houthis that drove AQ out so that the population could go back to their homes. Nowhere for them to go now - Mukalla and parts of Aden are under Al Qaeda control themselves.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067055356780288
See also films / Siehe auch Filme: Al Kaida / IS in Jaar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5npvZzx0KQ / in Abyan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJoU38Iegv4
Flüchtlinge / Refugees
3.12.2015 – The Media Line
How Hard Can it Be to Get Out of Yemen?
If you thought holiday-time travel was bad, think about what Ismail Ahmed, a resident of Sana’a, Yemen, had to do to get to Saudi Arabia, where he had a job offer.
First, he had to sell his taxi. Ahmed is a mechanic, but the cab provided a much-needed second income. He sold it to leave his wife Mariam and children with some cash to live on till he was settled in Saudi Arabia, and able to send money.
Then he had to borrow $300 to buy a passport—a fortune in Yemenite terms.
Why $300? Because Yemenites are desperate to get out of Yemen, and a lively and lucrative business of middlemen—and sometimes government officials— “facilitating” passports has sprung up. […]
As of last week, only students with scholarships for study abroad or patients with medical documents proving they require treatment abroad, or Yemenis with valid work visas issued to them by other countries and their family members, and citizens bearing visas from countries in which they have parents or legal guardians, would be eligible to get passports from the Authority.
This means that if you’re a Yemeni without proof of an urgent need to be abroad, you’re flat out of luck. Or, you can pay the $300 bribe.
Yemenia Airways, Yemen’s national air carrier, is operating some of the few flights in the national skies.
One man, Ali Al-Amer who paid $2000 for two round-trip tickets when his mother required medical treatment in Jordan, said he was relived they both at least had gotten their passports earlier this year, and had only to buy tickets.
Following the new requirements imposed by the Arab Collation forces, Al-Amer’s plane stopped in Saudi Arabia for inspection before continuing to Amman, Jordan. […]
The only way to leave Yemen by land is through Saudi Arabia at the Al-Wadiaa port, which is not under Houthi control.
It is much cheaper to travel by land: about $70 for a one-way ticket, but the journey is not problem free. […]
When they reached the border, Khalil said, they had to walk another almost another 2 miles under the burning sun to reach the Saudi controlled port, in many cases abandoning their luggage along the way. When they go to the port– he had a ten-hour line ahead of him.
Some Yemenis trying walk over to Saudi Arabia are obliged to wait for up to a week often running out of food and water or coerced into paying exorbitant prices for basic goods.
Eyewitnesses told The Media Line that migrants are oftentimes reduced to scavenging, begging or stealing from one another, and that the Saudi authorities have been known to throw food and water over the border fence at the Yemeni migrants up to four times a day, hoping to avoids deaths in the extreme weather.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/how-hard-can-it-be-to-get-out-of-yemen/
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
3.12.2015 – South Front
YEMEN MAP OF WAR – DEC. 3, 2015
The British-made missile used by the Saudi coalition to destroy a Yemeni ceramics factory producing only civilian goods in September was a violation of international humanitarian law and the laws of war and demands a ‘proper investigation’. This incident shows UK policy to be misleading and ineffective and the UK should suspend all sales of aerial munitions to the Saudi coalition members, according to HRW. The UK may also be in violation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) regulating the international trade in conventional weapons. The US is still providing targeting intelligence as well as refueling aircraft and other logistical support.
Mounting evidence suggests that UK-made missiles, sold to the Saudi Arabia, were used against civilian targets in Yemen, UK Foreign Office lawyers and diplomats have warned.
Amnesty and other NGOs, including HRW say that UK and US munitions are being used in the Saudi-coalition bombing campaign and that Britain is at risk of being charged with war crimes.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating ever since the Saudi coalition’s aggression commenced. Several refugee camps have been set up in the suburbs of Sana’a, for the people who have fled indiscriminate bombardment.
The blockade of Yemeni ports, the sealing of borders by Saudi security forces, and the humanitarian suffering of civilians are fueling the growth of already entrenched extremist movements and have allowed Al Qaeda to capture territory in Yemen, including a military base and a port.
The UN accused the Houthi alliance of blocking the delivery of humanitarian supplies for 200,000 residents besieged in Ta’izz.
The liberation of Ta’izz could represent the real beginning of an end to this tragic war but the topography of Ta’izz has halted the advance of the Saudi coalition towards the city. Landmines were also planted by the Houthi alliances around Ta’izz and this has delayed and complicated the liberation of the city.
The UAE has secretly dispatched hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to Yemen. This foreign army was quietly built in the desert over the past five years, initially trained by Blackwater. The arrival of 450 troops – some even from Panama, Salvador and Chili – adds to the diversity of government armies, armed tribes, terrorist networks and Yemeni militias currently.
A Houthi alliance spokesman said that the army and popular forces are advancing deep inside Saudi Arabia and capturing more military bases in the Southern parts of the kingdom. He added: “The Yemeni forces have managed to inflict heavy losses on the Saudi enemy inside Saudi Arabia.”
Day by day from Nov. 25 to Dec. 3
Many say the Saudis are gradually realizing that they underestimated the Yemeni forces’ capability in defending their territory.
With al-Qaeda gains in the east, Houthi alliance gains in south-western Saudi Arabia and the Saudi coalition caught up in quagmire in the approaches to Ta’izz in a hope of taking Sana’a, the only hope for Yemen is a negotiated settlement.
http://southfront.org/yemen-map-of-war-dec-3-2015/
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-58: / Yemen Press reader 1-58:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Saudischer Luftangriff auf Dorf / Saudi air raid at village
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages2015-12-01-Baqaa-1.htm
http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages2015-12-01-Baqaa-2.htm
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