What about the media?
At the Stop the War demonstration in Bristol last night, surrounded by people who are interested in the Middle East and despairing of war, I found only two who knew anything significant about this brutal war in Yemen; most had not even heard about it. Shame on British politicians and the British media.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067622450056912
Commentary: It’s not only British media. German media might even be more extreme.
Allgemein / General
4.12.2015 – ABNA
Saudi Arabia Spends over $60bln in war on Yemen
The daily cost of the Saudi-US aggression on Yemen reaches 750 million riyal that covers ammunition, spare parts, supplies and subsistence, a well-known Saudi social networks activists tweeted on Friday.
Mojtahed (as he calls himself) said that this cost has reached in 9 months 200 billion riyal (over $60 billion) and does not include the "defense" recent deals.
He added that the war on Yemen has so far left 2000 Saudi soldiers killed and 4850 others injured, in addition to "450 tanks and armored vehicles, four Apache drones, one F-15 fighter jet and three boats were all destroyed or disabled," he said, noting that two other boats were also hit. Mojtahed indicated that publishing such facts does not intend to sow fear among Saudis, but to respond to Prince Mohamad Bin Salman, the Saudi Defense Minister, who started to take advantage of the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen through ammunition, spare parts and subsistence deals, as well as through compensations for destroyed vehicles, boats and aircrafts.
http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2015/12/04/723017/story.html
Kommentar: Der Krieg kostet die Saudis täglich 750 Millionen Rial, seit Beginn 200 Milliarden (1 Euro ca. 4 Rial). Bislang wurden 2000 saudische Soldaten getötet, 4850 verwundet, 450 Panzer und Fahrzeuge wurden zerstört oder unbrauchbar gemacht.
4.12.2015 – Oxfam
The US is about to enable more suffering in Yemen. Congress can stop it.
All of the parties to the conflict in Yemen bear some responsibility for creating this nightmare. Last year, Ansar Allah led an insurgency that seized control of the capital and much of Yemen’s territory. In response, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States launched a military campaign and blockaded parts of the country. The conflict has fueled both hunger and violence. Human rights organizations say that all parties, including the coalition, have committed war crimes, and Oxfam workers have seen the terrifying destruction that they have caused. Ansar Allah’s current siege of Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, is putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. Over 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes by fighting, and with little food, fuel, or medical supplies making it through the coalition’s de factoblockade, the situation could become even worse.
If there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, it’s that peace talks may resume soon. Merely getting agreement to hold the talks has been an achievement. A series of agreed “humanitarian pauses” over the summer failed to materialize, and until recently, the parties have been unwilling to consider a ceasefire, believing that they could better achieve their aims militarily, no matter what the cost to the Yemeni people. Getting the coalition, the Government of Yemen, Ansar Allah, and other parties to agree to negotiations is a significant accomplishment – but this recent progress has been put at risk by the Obama administration’s stamp of approval of the Saudi-led military campaign, in the form of a $1.3 billion sale of bombs and missiles to resupply the Royal Saudi Air Force.
US support has legitimized the continuation of the coalition’s ongoing military offensive and helped to excuse its abuses. After Saudi Arabia was accused of killing 130 people at a wedding party in September, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir explained, “We work with our allies including the United States on these targets.” Saudi Arabia is not alone in violating the laws of armed conflict in Yemen; all those involved in the fighting have exhibited a shocking disregard for civilian life. However, given its leadership of the coalition and close relationship with the Government of Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s approach to the coming negotiations will play a major role in determining whether one side of the conflict will come seeking peace or to enhance its position through additional fighting.
Leading up to the talks, the US has said all the right things – insisting on the free flow of commercial goods, urging a political settlement based on negotiations without preconditions, and calling attention to the dire humanitarian situation. A huge arms sale to Saudi Arabia sends an entirely different message. It gives a green light to indefinite military intervention, substantially relieving the pressure on the coalition and the government of Yemen to sign up to an urgently needed ceasefire – by Scott Paul
4.12.2015 – NDTV from AFP
At Saudi Base, Warplanes Roar Off to Pound Yemen Rebels
Roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Yemeni border, the King Khalid Air Base near the city of Khamis Mushait is at the forefront of the Saudi-led intervention against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.
Pilots, like Captain Khalid of the Royal Saudi Air Force, collect helmets, green vests and pistols from a locker room before walking through a wooden door to the tarmac, where warplanes from coalition countries stand by for missions.
Saudi Arabia's US-made F-15 fighters sit next to a desert-shaded Sukhoi from Sudan and a French-made Mirage from Qatar.
Standing beside his F-15, Khalid says his mission is to protect Yemeni civilians from the Huthis and their allies.
"We protect our country as well," the 32-year-old adds, speaking to AFP during the first visit by Western journalists to the base since the launch of the campaign in Yemen.
He says he has flown countless sorties in this latest conflict -- between 150 and 200 hours of flight time.
It has not released recent figures on how many strikes have been carried out but the air campaign has been intense.
"We always use guided bombs to make the weapon more precise," Captain Khalid says, his words difficult to hear as another fighter takes off, shaking the insides of those standing near the runway. "We target the military buildings and troops."
Khalid says the crew never release their weapons "unless we are 100 percent sure" of the target, but he and others in the coalition accuse the Huthis and their allies of using civilians as shields.
A source familiar with the operation told AFP the coalition was "making an effort" to respect international law, but it is "probably not 100 percent" successful.
The close proximity of civilian and military facilities means "it's not easy to target", the source said.
The air war has been so intense that the United States last month approved a $1.29 billion deal to replenish the Saudi air force's depleted arsenal. US forces have also assisted the coalition with aerial refuelling and intelligence. A few Americans in civilian clothes could be seen inside the base, which resembles a small city with its own post office, bank, mosques, convenience store and laundry, on streets decorated with large model warplanes.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/at-saudi-base-warplanes-roar-off-to-pound-yemen-rebels-1250878
Kommentar: Ein Flieger, der 100 % die amtliche Propaganda verbreitet, oder selbst an den Unsinn von den militärischen Zielen glaubt, den er verbreitet? Ein Kollege von ihm beging Selbstmord, als er im Internet die Bilder von getöteten Kindern eines Angriffs sah, an dem er selbst beteiligt war. Interessant auch der Hinweis auf die Amerikaner auf der Basis. Auf der Dubai Airshow hatte US-General Brown auf die Frage, wieviele Amerikaner denn zur Unterstützung der Saudis abgestellt seien, geantwortet, es seien nur ganz wenige. Im zentralen Luftwaffenquartier seien nicht einmal 10. Lügen, ohne zu lügen? Sie sind halt auch woanders, stupid.
3.12.2015 – Yemen News Today
Hidden deaths, starvation and human rights abuses – as Hadi obstructs the proposed peace talks. Update 3rd December 2015
This week the war on Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition has passed 250 days; some areas have suffered bomb attacks every one of those days. Saada city and much of Saada governate no longer exists – it has been wiped off the face of Yemen. Much of the capital Sanaa is similarly destroyed by the Saudi-led coalition. I have been saying this for months; a country like Yemen cannot survive a blockade of food and other goods – now on-going for nearly 9 months. I have been extremely touched by some posts from Yemen today. One is an interview with Fatema Al Ajal, Save the Children’s director in Sanaa, who describes the ongoing lives or ordinary people in Yemen, who are barely surviving now. Another short video by the ICRC called “Hayat walks again” shows a little girl – three years old -who lost her leg , her relatives and her home in a bomb raid, now learning to walk on an artificial leg, such an inspiration – and a credit to the ICRC. And a touching short essay by the human rights activist Abdulrashid Alfaqih to his yet to be born children; about his life in Yemen, and why he is forced to live it as he does.
Save The Children also put out a statement that “UK appears to put weapons sales above the lives of Yemen’s children”. Whilst Amnesty asks “Does the UK have blood on its hands?” stating British made bombs are hitting civilian targets, and that they are not keeping to the rules of the Arms Trade Treaty, in which UK was a leading member only two years ago. Human Rights Watch also issued similar criticism of the UK government policy. ICRC has suffered another disaster with their staff; a kidnapped international employee, following the murder of four of their workers in two incidents earlier this year. MSF have had another clinic bombed this week by the Saudi-led coalition, this time near Taiz, only two weeks after their hospital was bombed in Saada governate. I read that 51 hospitals have been destroyed, and many more have had to close because of the blockade, which is not only reducing medical aid and medicines that enter Yemen at this critical time, but also the desperate situation is forcing staff to move as their homes are destroyed and their lives put at risk due to starvation. As deaths are only counted in official statistics if registered in a hospital, this skews the death statistics as many who die are simply not counted.
In the worldwide news, the bombing of Syria has occupied many in the media, more interested in the leadership of the Labour Party that was split on the vote in the House of Commons than the consequences of the bombs. I went on a Stop the War demonstration in Bristol this week, and I spoke to 30 groups of about the war in Yemen whilst I was there; despite the fact that these were people interested in Middle East issues, only two people that I spoke to had significant knowledge of the war on Yemen; for most it was the first time they had heard of it. This war has been kept quite secret. In Yemen ISIS and Al Qaeda have been fighting openly with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen – unlike Syria, rarely mentioned by our selective British media. This week Al Qaeda gained more ground, taking control of most of Abyan governate in the southwest, including the cities of Zinjibar and Jaar, although they relinquished Jaar back to local control the following day. At the same time Islamic State and Al Qaeda have made inroads into the rest of the southwest corner of Yemen.
As the struggle for Taiz continues, there are signs that the Saudi-led coalition is developing cracks at the top as they fail to make the rapid progress they expected. Hadi and his deputy Bahah, the Prime Minister of Yemen are apparently not getting on, and Hadi tried to change members of the cabinet whilst Bahah was out of the country, in order to shore up his own support. There were also reports of Saudi Arabia not liking UAE’s plan to replace its own troops in Yemen with around two thousand mercenaries from South America; yet Saudi already has its own mercenaries in Yemen from Columbia and Sudan – a united nations at war with Yemen. The UAE mercenaries are necessary because of the high death toll amongst UAE soldiers and the lack of support for continued warfare amongst the UAE public. The new mercenaries are being trained by Columbians; USA declined to do so as it didn’t want to be implicated when atrocities come to light – as I guess they will be. One article asked if this was how wars are to be waged in the future – rich nations paying poor nations to fight their wars for them. How immoral can war get?
Meanwhile, it has being reported from some media outlets that Hadi is the obstacle that is hindering the start of the much heralded UN peace talks – due to take place in November and already put back till December, with no start date yet announced. Of course, when Yemen is at peace Hadi is so unpopular that he has no hope of remaining as President. So the destruction goes on.
The reports of two battle arenas vary widely depending on who is reporting them; Taiz and the Najran area in southwest Saudi Arabia, where the Yemen army loyal to Saleh is attacking southwest KSA in retaliation for their assault on Yemen. Both ‘sides’ claim to be killing a lot of those on the other side, and both claim satisfactory progress themselves. There are undoubtedly atrocities on all sides in this gruesome war, and there is little chance of either side winning in the near future, whilst civilians suffer horrendously. Especially from the blockade; 85% of Yemenis are now suffering ‘acute severe food insecurity’. Most governates have been described as on level 4 starvation for several months; I have spoken to people in Yemen who think they are witnessing famine already, with starving populations already on the move in the Tihama region.
It is sobering to think that with this level of catastrophe, that a large proportion of people in UK have not yet heard of this terrible war. Shame on our media – by J. Judith Brown
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
4.12.2015 – World Food Programme
Yemen: One Step From Famine. WFP Urgently Needs Safe Access and Funds (For the Media)
WFP has been assisting some 1 million people on average every month since the conflict began in April 2015 , and in September reached over 2 million. WFP aims to assist 3 million people across Yemen in December. However, fighting, damage to infrastructure and insecurity are major impediments to humanitarian operations. Yemen has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition globally. An estimated 1 in 5 people is “severely food insecure” in urgent need of food assistance. WFP aims to provide monthly nutritional support to 340,000 pregnant women and nursing mothers and children under 5 to treat and prevent moderate acute malnutrition. WFP calls on the global community to recognize the urgency of the Yemeni crisis, and deliver on pledges quickly.
http://www.wfp.org/videos/yemen-one-step-famine-wfp-urgently-needs-safe-access-and-funds-media
4.12.2015 – International Organization for Migration
Yemen Crisis: IOM Regional Response - Situation Report, 3 December 2015
Since April, 53,269 IDPs and conflicict- affected persons in Abyan, Aden, Al Dhale’e, Hajjah, Al Hudaydah, Sana’a, Shabwah and Socotra Island have been provided with health assistance including emergency and primary health care.
IOM continues to provide life-saving assistance in response to Cyclones Chapala and Megh. Distribu on of shelter and non-food items kits, and provision of health assistance and water trucking services to IDPs and affected communities in Socotra Island, Abyan and Shabwah continues.
As of 2 December, over 70,700 people have arrived in Djibouti , Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan from Yemen. To date, over 23,000 individuals have received post-arrival assistance from IOM.
Situation Overview Instability and violence continue across the country. Twenty of Yemen’s 22 governorates are directly affected by airstrikes, armed clashes, and shelling. The Yemen humanitarian crisis has been identified by the United Nations as one of the world's worst, with 80% of the country's popula on on the brink of famine.
On 2 December, the British Ambassador to the United Nations Ma hew Rycro told reporters that the UN-brokered peace talks for Yemen are expected to finally open in Geneva in mid-December. Peace talks were expected to begin mid-November, a er Houthi representatives announced their willingness to accept the UN Security Council Resolution calling for Houthi withdrawal from seized territories. UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been holding talks for weeks with all sides to try to launch peace talks. However, no date has been announced for the formal negotiations.
In response to Tropical Cyclones Chapala and Megh, the Logistics Cluster, through UNHAS, has facilitated two airlifts from Nairobi to Djibouti on behalf of IOM. The cargo consists of 48.1 metric tons of shelter, protection and WASH items, which will be airli ed from Djibouti to Socotra over a total of three rotations.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-crisis-iom-regional-response-situation-report-3-december-2015 and full PDF http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/IOM-Yemen-Crisis-Sitrep-3-December%20-2015-35.pdf
Ärzte ohne Grenzen, Rotes Kreuz / Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross
4.12.2015 – Common Dreams
Every Nation Backing This War—Including US—Must Answer for Hospital Bombing: MSF
'If we are not able to give hospitals in war zones some calmness and peace, I wonder how we can continue as a community in the world.'
From the United States to the United Arab Emirates, every country backing the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign against Yemen "bears responsibility" for Wednesday's bombing of a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in southern Yemen, a spokesperson for the medical charity told Common Dreams.
"We feel it is their responsibility to ensure that their fighter jets avoid medical facilities," Karline Kleijer, MSF operational manager for Yemen, said over Skype from Amsterdam.
Kleijer confirmed that the MSF-operated medical center, located in the southern city of Taiz, was hit despite the fact that MSF had repeatedly communicated its precise GPS coordinates to the Saudi-led coalition. What's more, Kleijer revealed that the charity had called the coalition earlier on the day of the bombing to express concern about "two air strikes a few hours earlier that were also close to our hospital."
Yet hours later, the hospital was bombed, wounding nine people, at least two of them MSF staff and a four-year-old child. As of Friday, at least one of those people had died, but Kleijer did not know the identity of this person. "We are still collecting the facts and trying to understand the context a bit more around the air strikes," she said.
Meanwhile, the Saudi coalition released a statement on Friday, published in the state-run Saudi Press Agency, which claimed that the alliance will launch an investigation to "verify whether the news is true." The statement added that aid groups need to have "beforehand coordination" and "remain away from the places where the Houthi militias are present."
While Kleijer welcomed the coalition's investigation, she rejected many of its claims, emphasizing that the charity helps all in need of care, regardless of affiliation. "Of course we need to work in Houthi-controlled areas, as we are working in Saudi-controlled areas," she said, adding: "We have no indication there was any military activity or presence near our clinic area.
"What we would like to know is what went wrong and why our GPS coordinates were not followed up and respected," she continued. "Our general concern is that our clinic is in a civilian area. There is no reason to believe there was any military activity to justify that air strike. We are confused and upset."
Kleijer said it is too soon to say whether the bombing was intentional or accidental. "What we are concerned with is the fact that medical facilities are being targeted, or these coalitions and their armies are—with all of their high-technology equipment—are attacking the wrong areas. I don't know which one is worse."
The day after of the bombing, Jerome Alin, head of mission for MSF in Yemen, declared in a press statement: "There is no way that the Saudi-led coalition could have been unaware of the presence of MSF activities in this location."
The airstrike marks the third U.S.-backed attack on an MSF facility in recent weeks. The Saudi-led coalition struck an MSF-supported hospital in Haydan District in Sa'ada, Yemen in October. Also in October, a direct U.S. bombing on an MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan killed 13 staff members, 10 patients, and 7 people whose bodies were unrecognizable. The Syrian government also bombed an MSF-supported hospital in Homs earlier this week.
MSF has repeatedly demanded an independent international investigation of the Kunduz bombing under the Geneva conventions, but the U.S. has so far refused to consent.
According to Kleijer, it is important for the U.S., as a powerful country actively involved in wars around the world, to take responsibility. "If they don't respect these laws, it will become even more difficult to to press other countries to do the right thing. The reason we cry out about this is that medical facilities and hospitals seem to be at least not actively avoided and, in the worst case, actively targeted."
While perhaps higher profile, MSF is not the only organization impacted by hospital bombings in Yemen. In fact, the International Committee of the Red Cross said last month that nearly 100 hospitals throughout the country were attacked since March 2015. This includes the shelling of the Al Thawra hospital, one of the major facilities in Taiz, in November.
But the bombing of civilian infrastructure extends beyond clinics. Since the Saudi-led and U.S.-backed military campaign began nearly nine months ago, the coalition has bombedmedical facilities, markets, schools, power plants, refugee camps, factories, and warehouses storing humanitarian supplies. In addition, the Saudi-led naval blockade has left 80 percent of Yemen's population in dire need of food, water, and medical assistance,according to aid agencies.
A recent report (pdf) by Action On Armed Violence and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs finds that, in 2015, 93 percent of people killed or wounded in populated areas as a result of "air-launched explosive weapons" were civilians.
According to the latest figures from the UN, more than 5,600 people have been killed and 32,000 wounded in the ongoing war, averaging 153 people per day since the Saudi-led bombings against a domestic rebel group known as the Houthis began March 26.
The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for the vast majority of these killings. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in September that "almost two-thirds of reported civilian deaths had allegedly been caused by coalition airstrikes, which were also responsible for almost two-thirds of damaged or destroyed civilian public buildings."
Despite mounting evidence of atrocities, the Gulf state has enjoyed relative impunity for its ongoing attacks. Bending to stiff opposition from Saudi Arabia, Western countries in October abandoned their proposal for a UN inquiry into human rights violations committed on all sides of the ongoing war.
The probe was ditched amid mounting evidence—from Yemeni people, Amnesty International, and some U.S. lawmakers—that Saudi Arabia and their powerful backers are committing war crimes.
"Laws are there to keep some stability to war. If we steer away from them, we lose our humanity," said Kleijer. "If we are not able to protect civilians in war, if we are not able to give hospitals in war zones some calmness and peace, I wonder how we should can continue as a community in the world." – by Sarah Lazare
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
4.12.2015 – The Guardian
MSF accuses Saudi-led coalition of bombing clinic in Yemen – by Kareem Shaheen
Commentary: A good summary. See also Yemen Press reader 58.
4.12.2015 – AFP
Red Cross awaits news of staffer kidnapped in Yemen
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday it was still awaiting news about a Tunisian employee kidnapped by gunmen in Yemen three days previously.
Nourane Hawas, responsible for a humanitarian aid programme at the ICRC mission in the Huthi rebel-held capital, was seized Tuesday along with a Yemeni employee who was released several hours later.
"We have nothing new on this abduction, and are continuing contacts with the authorities in an attempt to find out more about the kidnappers and their motive," the ICRC's Yemen mission spokeswoman Rima Kamal told AFP.
http://news.yahoo.com/red-cross-awaits-news-staffer-kidnapped-yemen-170047527.html
Kulturerbe / Cultural Heritage
Siehe / see USA:
Saudi Air Strikes Threaten Yemen’s Cultural Heritage
http://warisboring.com/articles/saudi-air-strikes-threaten-yemens-cultural-heritage/
UNO und Friedensgespräche – UN and peace talks
4.12.2015 – Middle East Eye / My Inform
Yemen: Hopes for peace and fear of endless war
Today, as the end of the year is fast approaching, the Geneva talks we have been eagerly awaiting have yet to begin.
I cannot help but wonder how fruitful the Geneva talks - if they do take place at all - will prove to be. The first round, held in June 2015, ended in miserable failure.
Most [Yemenis] are now sick and tired of the political games being played with their fates and at their expense in far-away hotel lobbies. With air strikes rain on them daily, Houthi shelling, suicide bombings and a brutal economic blockade that has left over 80 percent of Yemenis in dire need of humanitarian aid, their resilience is running thin.
Leading up to Geneva 2, people are debating who bears most responsibility for the delays. Sources close to the talks in Oman have told me that the Houthis are insisting on a ceasefire prior to the initiation of any peace talks, a request the Saudis have firmly rejected.
Rumours are also circulating that President Hadi has been engineering obstacles to prevent the talks from going ahead. Indeed, on the 1 December Reuters reported that diplomats following the peace process say he is increasingly an obstacle.
For their part, both the Saudi-led coalition and its ally, Hadi's government, have accused the Houthi-Saleh alliance of showing little commitment themselves to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls for the Houthis to withdraw completely from key cities, surrender their heavy weaponry and allow Hadi’s government to return to Sanaa.
However, many are questioning how relevant UNSCR 2216 can be now in an utterly transformed political landscape. One sticking point is the fact the resolution only calls for the Houthi militias to be disarmed even though a host of new actors have emerged on the ground since the resolution was formulated. Adam Baron, of the European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR), told me that “any potential peace deal really would need to incorporate the actual powers on the ground to have any hope of being effective.”
Another issue is that Resolution 2216 has been viewed not as a process to be implemented via negotiations but as a precondition to negotiations themselves. In recent months, the US and its allies have repeatedly insisted that this be changed, a position now accepted by the Yemeni government. It has now decided to enter the talks, despite the absence of an agreement on a timeframe, having previously insisted that 2216 be implemented as a precondition of negotiations.
Meanwhile, an especially worrying trend has been a deepening perception - particularly in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states – of the conflict in Yemen through the lens of Saudi-Iranian confrontation, where Houthis are seen as representing an Iranian threat - a perception that is increasingly shaping the conflict dynamics inside of Yemen. However, Baron says he tends to shy away from describing the conflict as a proxy war. “At the end of the day, this is a conflict that, on the ground, remains largely rooted in local issues.”Through both their rhetoric and actions, the Houthis have arguably given their neighbours ample reasons for concern, including their highly symbolic decision to open direct flights to Tehran, as well as sending a high-level delegation to Iran to ask – unsuccessfully, as it turned out - for assistance with economic development.
Many are warning that fears over Iran’s growing influence risk becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Despite its inability to provide military assistance to the Houthis - due largely to involvement in higher-stake regional showdowns in Syria and Iraq - Iran has nevertheless been successful in intimidating the Saudis.
A key player outside of the Saudi-Houthi dichotomy has been the Popular Resistance group, which played a major part in liberating Aden and is now active in Taiz. Amid a total collapse of state institutions and the absence of central government, the Popular Resistance has brought together a diverse array of political and social groups, securing generous financial and military support from the Saudi-led coalition.
Needless to say, the Popular Resistance is primarily an alliance of convenience that is unlikely to last the distance. Beyond a shared enemy - the Houthis - Resistance members harbour widely distinct motivations for joining the fight, as well as deep ideological differences. Everyone, though, seems to be agreed on one thing: securing Hadi’s return to the presidential palace is not a priority.
A few months ago, I was struck when asked, for the first time in my life, whether I was a Zaidi or a Sunni. For Yemenis to identify themselves by their place of worship or sectarian denomination, as is increasingly the case today, is a tragic new development and the direct product of a conflict that has ripped apart the country’s social fabric. This has not only reduced the chances of swift post-war reconciliation, but opened the doors for AQAP and IS, which thrive on poisonous sectarian rhetoric, to make Yemen a fertile ground for recruitment. –
Cole Bockenfield, the deputy director for policy in the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), told MEE: “While the US government has publicly called for all sides to halt fighting and seek a political solution, it is actively resupplying arms to one of those sides - the Saudi-led coalition - to continue fighting. The US has tried to maintain some position of distance from the conflict, but by providing intelligence and bombs used in the Saudi airstrikes, the Obama administration bears some of the blame for their misuse.”
All parties in the conflict must realise that definitive military victory is implausible.
One thing seems certain. After all the bloodshed the country has witnessed these past few months, a return to power for President Hadi seems unthinkable. As such, with sectarian rhetoric bubbling on the surface, and groups such as AQAP and IS taking full advantage of the chaos and mistrust, the realisation that Sanaa is likely to find itself soon without a functioning government or army of any sort is a terrifying prospect. – by Nawal Al-Maghafi
http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/yemen-s-tug-war-50700445
Commentary: A must read article written by the filmmaker who made the excellent films for BBC newsnight some weeks ago. This sensible practical article demonstrates how pointless this war is, whilst at the same time the difficulties that ordinary Yemenis have in brokering the peace that they so desperately want, but their leaders and war makers see as unimportant.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067800193372471
USA
4.12.2015 – Fikra Forum
Misconceptions one of Yemens many challenges – by Ahmed al-Shalfy
http://fikraforum.org/?p=8229#.VmJ0D7jhDcs
Kommentar: Ein Artikel, der wenig zur Erhellung der Lage im Jemen beiträgt. Er vermittelt eine offiziöse Sicht im Sinn der USA. Was die Huthis angeht, werden ihre Kriegsverbrechen herausgestellt (zu Recht), die noch schwerer wiegenden der Saudis gibt es nicht. Westliche Menschenrechtsorganisationen (die nicht benannt werden, aber es ist klar, es geht um Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Ärzte ohne Grenzen) werden beschuldigt, die Menschenrechtsverletzungen der Huthis nicht zu erwähnen, was schlichtweg nicht stimmt. Bodenlos ist es auch, ihnen vorzuwerfen, sie würden sich auf Huthi-freundliche Medien stützen, was ja im Klartext wohl heißt, hier wird ihnen vorgeworfen, dass sie die saudischen Kriegsverbrechen thematisieren. Das ist mehr als dreist. Der Iran wird beschuldigt, mit der Unterstützung der Huthis die religiösen Gegensätze anzuheizen, als wäre es nicht Saudi-Arabien gewesen, das das durch seine ideologische Offensive gegen die Zaiditen nicht schon viele Jahrzehnte getan hätte. Bemerkenswert ist allenfalls, dass der Verfasser einräumt, dass die Huthis bei einer Friedensregelung eine wichtige politische Rolle bekommen müssen, wohl in der Einsicht, dass sonst eine Friedensregelung schlichtweg nicht möglich sein wird. Auch das mag offizielle Linie in den USA sein.
Der Autor wird als Mitarbeiter von Aljazeera genannt. Im (nichtarabischen) Internet kommt er fast nicht vor, was für einen Mitarbeiter eines großen Senders wohl auffällig ist.
Warum wird der Artikel hier als amerikanisch-offiziös beschrieben? Fikra Forum ist Teil des Fikra-Projekts, das vom Washington Institute for Near East Policy betrieben wird: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/about/research-programs/project-fikra/. Und dieses Washington Institute ist ein hoch offizieller Thinktank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Institute_for_Near_East_Policy (deutsch: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Institute_for_Near_East_Policy). Das Motto des Instituts: Das Institut wurde „gegründet, um ein ausgewogenes und realistisches Verständnis amerikanischer Interessen im Nahen Osten zu entwickeln. Unter Führung eines vorzüglichen Zweiparteienausschusses von Beratern vergibt der Ausschuss Stipendien, um die US-Politik in diese vitale Weltregion zu tragen. Zurückgreifend auf die Forschung seiner Lehrer und die Erfahrungen von Politikern befördert das Institut amerikanisches Engagement im Nahen Osten, um Allianzen zu stärken, Freundschaften zu entwickeln sowie Sicherheit, Frieden, Wohlstand und Demokratie für die Menschen der Region zu fördern.“ Das sagt eigentlich alles. Auf so einem Forum dürfte kaum ein Komma dem Zufall überlassen sein.
4.12.2015 – War is Boring
Saudi Air Strikes Threaten Yemen’s Cultural Heritage
Washington's Yemen policy is a contradictory mess
As Yemen’s civil war churns through its eighth month, Washington’s policy toward the small Arabian nation – once a critical ally – has become a contradictory mess. Despite criticism of Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign from the United Nations, humanitarian organizations and the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon provides support from weapons to fuel.
Now, although Washington hasn’t slowed the flow of military aid to Riyadh and its partners, American diplomats are joining others in worrying that air strikes are threatening Yemen’s cultural heritage.
On Dec. 3, the State Department announced on the government’s main contracting website FedBizOpps that it was looking for a private company to draw up a “red list” of “Yemeni cultural objects at risk.” In the event that corrupt officials, rebels or criminals smuggled items out of the country in the midst of the ongoing fighting, the report would help everyone from police to private collectors identify the stolen goods.
“Ongoing conflict in Yemen has included airstrikes that have shockingly targeted cultural heritage monuments, sites and museums,” the State Department noted. “Military action and intentional acts of destruction are posing extreme threats to the survival of Yemen’s rich cultural heritage.”
While the statement did not mention any actors by name, the comments are an unusually direct commentary on the Saudi-led campaign. But with Saudi pilots and their allies flying American-made planes, dropping American-made bombs while guzzling up American-supplied fuel, the statement appears to show frustration with the current state of affairs.
It further underscores the contradictions in Washington’s plans … and how little influence it has over the situation. “This is ultimately a Saudi-led intervention,” Adam Baron, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations told War Is Boring.
Washington stepped in to support the Saudi campaign in April. By Nov. 20, U.S. Air Force KC-135s had flown nearly 500 individual missions totaling more than 4,000 hours, a public affairs officer at the Pentagon’s top headquarters for the Middle East told War Is Boring. American tankers linked up with foreign jets more than 2,500 times and dispensed more than 18 million pounds of fuel in the process.
“A pause, along with commensurate disengagement of armed forces in all areas including Aden, Taiz, and Marib, would allow international aid organizations to deliver urgently needed food, medicine, and fuel to citizens throughout Yemen,” State Department Press Secretary John Kirby said in a July statement, without naming anyone in particular.
Kirby’s comments “reflected increasing U.S. concerns regarding the increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen,” Baron noted. “Although it is certainly not an indication that the U.S. will move to ending its support of the Saudi-led military intervention.”
And as the State Department warned in its contract announcement, there’s the matter of Yemeni cultural history being destroyed in the process.
“I am profoundly distressed by the loss of human lives as well as by the damage inflicted on one of the world’s oldest jewels of Islamic urban landscape,” Irina Bokova, the Director General of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a press release after bombs hit Sana’a’s old city in June.
“This heritage bears the soul of the Yemeni people, it is a symbol of a millennial history of knowledge and it belongs to all humankind.”
Riyadh denied that it was responsible for the damage, but Washington is well aware of the scale of destruction from air strikes in the country. Like UNESCO, American diplomats have become especially concerned about the fate of historical artifacts.
So, unwilling or unable to stop supplying Riyadh’s coalition for fear of the Houthis seizing power, American officials are now putting the world on alert that Yemen’s cultural history might end up on the black market.
“At the moment, the U.S. government appears to be acting as if they want to have it both ways – often seeming to send mixed signals,” Baron explained. “This has led to both sides in the conflict expressing a deep distrust of the U.S. – even as U.S. diplomats continue to play a key role in attempting to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict.” – by Joseph Trevithik
http://warisboring.com/articles/saudi-air-strikes-threaten-yemens-cultural-heritage/
Kommentar: Interessanter Artikel, der die Schizophrenie der amerikanischen Standpunkte zum Jemen aufzeigt. Die offizielle amerikanische Behauptung, die Amerikaner seien nur am Rand beteiligt, dieser Krieg sei ein Krieg der Saudis, wird vom Autor zwar nicht ausdrücklich zurückgewiesen, die von ihm selbst angeführten Fakten führen sie aber selbst ad absurdum: Das IST ein Krieg der Amerikaner genau wie der Saudis. Alles Andere wäre ein weiteres bewusst verbreitetes Missverständnis über den Jemenkrieg.
4.12.2015 – Ekurd.net
The only solution to the tragedy in Yemen: the reconstruction of peace and love
The policy of the U.S., which at first sight appears to be supporting the Sunni Arab coalition, is one of the striking aspects of the war in Yemen.
Although the countries in the coalition are not openly involved in the fighting, the U.S. is one of the powers that has been long been staging military operations in Yemen. Wishing to prevent the strengthening of al-Qaeda in Yemen in the wake of the Arab Spring, the U.S. stepped up unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks, thus intending to reduce al-Qaeda’s room to maneuver to a minimum. Intense aerial bombings were carried out in those parts of Yemen where al-Qaeda was strong. However, rather than achieving U.S. aims, these attacks made the organization look as though they had been wronged and this reinforced opposition to the U.S. among local people.
After October 2014, when the Houthis initiated their policy of expansion toward the capital, Sana’a, the U.S, made al-Qaeda a constant target of UAV attacks and even seemed to be backing the Houthi advance.
The U.S. has to date hit hundreds of al-Qaeda targets, but has never hit a Houthi one. The U.S. has also targeted tribes that oppose al-Qaeda that resist the Hothis’ policies of expansion. Nabeel Khoury, a U.S. diplomat serving with NATO, says that many innocent civilians have lost their lives in every U.S. UAV attack, and that for this reason, for every person killed, 40 to 60 new ‘enemies of America’ emerge – by Harun Yayha
http://ekurd.net/solution-tragedy-yemen-2015-12-04
Deutschland / Germany
4.12.2015 - German Foreign Policy
Verbündete in gemeinsamer Sache
Schwere Vorwürfe gegen Saudi-Arabien werden im deutschen Establishment laut. Die aktuelle saudische Regierung habe "die bisherige vorsichtige Haltung der älteren Führungsmitglieder der Königsfamilie" aufgegeben und "durch eine impulsive Interventionspolitik" ersetzt, heißt es in einer Analyse des BND, die in der Mitte dieser Woche an die Medien durchgestochen worden ist. Dies sei riskant; Riad drohe damit im In- wie im Ausland auf Widerstand zu stoßen. Die kritischen Einschätzungen, die von der Bundesregierung offiziell zurückgewiesen werden, deuten auf heftige Auseinandersetzungen im Berliner Polit-Establishment über den Umgang mit Riad hin. Die saudische Regierung, mit der die Bundesrepublik bislang unter anderem in Syrien eng kooperierte, sperrt sich derzeit, Kurskorrekturen der westlichen Nah- und Mittelostpolitik mitzuvollziehen; Teile der deutschen Eliten dringen deshalb darauf, Druck auf sie auszuüben. Konservative Medien, die bislang nicht mit Kritik an den Verhältnissen in Saudi-Arabien hervorgetreten sind, berichten plötzlich über die strukturelle Nähe zwischen der Golfdiktatur und dem "Islamischen Staat" (IS, Daesh). Riad ist Berlin nicht nur ökonomisch, sondern auch politisch eng verbunden: Ein langjähriger saudischer Geheimdienstchef ist Mitglied im Beirat einer der einflussreichsten sicherheitspolitischen Organisationen der Bundesrepublik.
Die bekannt gewordenen Passagen aus der BND-Analyse sind am gestrigen Donnerstag von der Bundesregierung umgehend scharf zurückgewiesen worden.
Ungeachtet aller Dementis weist die Tatsache, dass die BND-Kritik an der saudischen Regierung durchgestochen und publiziert wurde, auf heftige Auseinandersetzungen im Berliner Polit-Establishment über den Umgang mit Riad hin. Hintergrund ist, dass die saudische Regierung sich gegen Kursänderungen in der westlichen Nah- und Mittelostpolitik sperrt. Bereits gegen das Nuklearabkommen mit Iran hat sie heftig protestiert; jetzt weigert sie sich, die Einbindung des syrischen Präsidenten Bashar al Assad in eine Übergangsregierung in Damaskus zu akzeptieren, die nach dem Beginn der russischen Intervention in Syrien aus Sicht Berlins wohl nicht mehr zu vermeiden ist. Teile des deutschen Establishments dringen deshalb darauf, den Druck auf Riad zu verstärken.
Im medialen Bereich spiegelt sich dies aktuell in ungewöhnlich kritischen Medienberichten über Riad wider. So heißt es in der konservativen Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, die "Brandschatzer" des "Islamischen Staats" (IS, Daesh) stünden "dem Königreich Saudi-Arabien ... ideologisch nahe". In Saudi-Arabien, "dem islamischen Gottesstaat, der seine Ideologie in die ganze Welt exportiert, werden Kritiker ausgepeitscht, Kirchen und Synagogen sind verboten, die schiitische Minderheit, Frauen und Homosexuelle werden diskriminiert. Bei Gotteslästerung droht die Todesstrafe." All dies trifft zu, kann jedoch aufmerksamen Journalisten schon vor Jahren nicht verborgen geblieben sein. Der plötzlichen Kritik aus dem konservativen Establishment an den gesellschaftlichen Verhältnissen in Saudi-Arabien entspricht eine ebenso plötzliche Kritik an den deutschen Rüstungsexporten in das Land.
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/59266
Kommentar: Dass man Saudi-Arabiens Krieg im Jemen auch einmal kritisch sehen sollte, so weit sind deutsches establishment und Medien offenbar noch nicht.
4.12.2015 – Christian Tuscher bei Merkur
Haarsträubende und verlogene Außenpolitik
Die Tatsache, dass der BND mit seinen Erkenntnissen über Saudi-Arabien direkt an die Öffentlichkeit geht, offenbart wie haarsträubend und verlogen unsere derzeitige Außenpolitik ist. Merkel schickt unsere Soldaten jetzt in den Krieg, weil der IS gegen alles steht, was angeblich unsere Werte sind. Unsere liberale Art zu leben, Meinungsfreiheit, Religionsfreiheit, Pressefreiheit usw. Verbündeter in diesem Kampf und geschätzter Geschäftspartner in der Region ist hierbei Saudi-Arabien. Dabei steht doch genau dieses Land gegen alle jene Werte, die wir eigentlich verteidigen wollen. Als in Syrien noch kein Bürgerkrieg war, lebten die unterschiedlichen Volksgruppen, zwar mit eingeschränkter Meinungsfreiheit, jedoch in Frieden und gebietsweise beinahe westlichem Wohlstand und konnten ihre Religion frei ausüben.
Die wahabitischen Wüstenkönige dagegen herrschen in ihrem Staat mit so einer brutalen Härte, die das Assad-Regime von damals dagegen wie einen Kindergartenverein aussehen lässt. Angesichts ihrer Vorstellung von Pressefreiheit erscheint Putin dagegen wie ein Augstein. Auf den Übertritt vom Islam zu einer anderen Religion steht die Todesstrafe. Doch am Schlimmsten wiegt die Tatsache, dass sie mit ihren Petrodollars skrupellos ihre muslimischen Brüder im Irak und in Syrien in den Krieg gegen die Schiiten hetzen, um ihre Macht in der Region weiter auszubauen. Sie finanzieren Söldnerheere aus dem Sudan und sogar aus Kolumbien um im Jemen ihren Einfluss zu wahren.
Wenn es um unsere angeblichen Werte gehen soll, muss doch jedem klar sein: Wer nach Riad blickt, sieht wo unser wahrer Feind sitzt. Tatsache ist doch, der IS könnte ohne die Geldgeber aus Saudiarabien keine sechs Monate überleben. An den Händen des saudischen Mörderclans klebt mehr Blut als an den Händen aller Diktatoren zusammen, die der arabische Frühling hinweggefegt hat. Doch bei den oben aufgeführten Werten, die für unsere westliche Kultur stehen, habe ich das wichtigste Ideal, das weit über allem steht, vergessen: Das Streben nach Profit. Die Fotos, auf denen unser SPD-Wirtschaftsminister zu sehen ist, wie er sich bei den Scheichs für Milliardenaufträge unterwürfig anbiedert, zeigen anschaulich was wirklich unsere wahren Werte sind. P.S. Saudi-Arabien gehört zu den reichsten Ländern der Erde. Obwohl sie direkte Nachbarn der Bürgerkriegsländer sind, nehmen sie keine Flüchtlinge auf. Aber immerhin haben sie sich bereit erklärt 200 Moscheen in Deutschland zu bauen.
Kommentar: Chapeau!
4.12.2015 - FAZ
Regierung verärgert über BND-Analyse zu Saudi-Arabien
Die Bundesregierung hat verstimmt auf die Veröffentlichung einer kritischen Saudi-Arabien-Analyse durch den Bundesnachrichtendienstesreagiert und sich zugleich von deren Inhalt distanziert. „Die in diesem Fall öffentlich gemachte Bewertung spiegelt nicht die Haltung der Bundesregierung wider. Die Bundesregierung betrachtet Saudi-Arabien als wichtigen Partner in einer von Krisen geschüttelten Weltregion“, sagte ein Regierungssprecher am Donnerstag. „Der BND spricht sicher nicht für die deutsche Außenpolitik, schon gar nicht über Dritte“, hieß es auch im Auswärtigen Amt.
Nach Angaben aus Regierungskreisen reagierte auch Saudi-Arabien verärgert. „Natürlich bleibt so etwas nicht ohne Reaktion. Wir sind mit saudiarabischen Regierung auf verschiedenen Ebenen im Gespräch“, hieß es im Auswärtigen Amt.
3.12.2015 – Der Tagesspiegel
Auswärtiges Amt verärgert über BND
Das Auswärtige Amt ist sauer: Der Auslandsgeheimdienst BND hatte vor der Rolle Saudi-Arabiens gewarnt. Aus dem Hause Steinmeier heißt es nun: "Der BND spricht nicht für die deutsche Außenpolitik."
Das Auswärtige Amt ist verärgert über eine Warnung des Bundesnachrichtendienstes vor einer destabilisierenden Rolle Saudi-Arabiens in der arabischen Welt. „Der BND spricht sicher nicht für die deutsche Außenpolitik, schon gar nicht über Dritte“, hieß es am Donnerstag aus dem Ministerium. „Der BND soll die Bundesregierung mit Informationen versorgen und hoffentlich kluge Analysen liefern.“ Ohne eine konstruktive Zusammenarbeit mit Saudi-Arabien werde es nicht gelingen, in Syrien und anderswo in der Region die politischen Fortschritte zu erzielen, die dringend gebraucht würden – von Frank Jansen
3.12.2015 – Zeit Online
Auswärtiges Amt verärgert über BND-Kritik
Eine konstruktive Zusammenarbeit mit Saudi-Arabien sei wichtig, um in der Region Fortschritte zu machen. Auch die Bundesregierung distanziert sich von dem BND-Bericht.
Vertreter des Auswärtigen Amtes zeigten sich verärgert über eine Warnung des Bundesnachrichtendienstes (BND) vor einer destabilisierenden Rolle Saudi-Arabiens in der arabischen Welt. "Der BND spricht sicher nicht für die deutsche Außenpolitik, schon gar nicht über Dritte", hieß es aus dem Außenministerium. Der BND solle die Bundesregierung mit Informationen versorgen und "hoffentlich" kluge Analysen liefern. Ohne eine konstruktive Zusammenarbeit mit Saudi-Arabien werde es nicht gelingen, in Syrien und anderswo in der Region die politischen Fortschritte zu erzielen, die dringend gebraucht würden.
Auch die Bundesregierung hat verstimmt auf die Veröffentlichung der kritischen Saudi-Arabien-Analyse reagiert und sich zugleich von deren Inhalt distanziert. "Die in diesem Fall öffentlich gemachte Bewertung spiegelt nicht die Haltung der Bundesregierung wider. Die Bundesregierung betrachtet Saudi-Arabien als wichtigen Partner in einer von Krisen geschüttelten Weltregion", sagte ein Regierungssprecher.
http://www.zeit.de/politik/2015-12/saudi-arabien-kritik-jemen-auswaertiges-amt
Kommentar: So etwas war ja zu erwarten. Die Reaktion zeigt, was die politische Linie der deutschen Regierung ist: Schmusekurs mit einem der repressivsten Regimes der Welt, das die geistigen Grundlagen des Terrorismus weltweit verbreitet und ein Nachbarland mit einem Blutbad in Schutt und Asche legt. Glückwunsch, Herr Steinmeier! Die Nutzerkommentare auf beiden Webseiten sind eindeutig. Dass Saudi-Arabien zur Stabilisierung der Lage in Syrien gebraucht würde, ist lachhaft. Saudi-Arabien verfolgt dort ausschließlich eigene Interessen: Den Sturz von Assad als einem Verbündeten des Iran. Dem ist alles andere untergeordnet, vor allem der Kampf gegen den IS und andere Terrorgruppen. Saudi-Arabien trägt vielmehr entscheidend zur Destabilisierung in Syrien bei – durch massive Unterstützung islamistischer Terrorgruppen – und sollte völlig aus Syrien ausgeschlossen werden. Auch noch auffällig: Die ersten beiden Absätze beider Artikel sind völlig identisch. Da werden einfach dpa-Meldungen kopiert.
Söldner / Mercenaries
3.12.2015 – Morocco World News
Morocco Sends 1,500 Soldiers to Participate in Ground Operations in Yemen
According to Moroccan daily Assabah in its Friday issue, Morocco has sent 1,500 elite soldiers to Yemen to participate in the Arab Coalition’s ground military offensive, which will be carried out under the command of Saudi Arabia.
“1,500 soldiers who took part in the African Lion 2015, during the Moroccan-American maneuvers held last May in Tan-Tan, will take part in the Arab Coalition’s ground offensive battle against the Houthi rebels,” Assabah said.
According to the same source, a contingent of Moroccan military police (gendarmerie) is expected to arrive in the coming days in King Khaled Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
“The first contingent expected in Saudi Arabia consists of elite units of the military police. “There are 1,500 of paratroopers who have been specially trained recently in Tan-Tan, for a ground intervention in Yemen,” Assabah added.
“The units in question have operational experience and prepared to be involved in armed conflicts.”
According to the same source, the training carried out during the 2015 African Lion focused on the latest developments of military aviation, including F16, technical and tactical coordination, refueling fighter bombers in the air, in addition to humanitarian interventions in disaster areas.
The mobilization of Moroccan troops on the ground was made in coordination with the United States, the same source added.
Morocco has been participating in the Saudi-led airstrikes carried out by the Arab Coalition against the Houti rebels. Since the beginning of the operations last March, Morocco expressed its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its “Decisive Storm,” aimed at restoring legitimacy in Yemen.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/12/174251/morocco-sends-1500-soldiers-to-participate-in-ground-operations-in-yemen/ see also http://www.albawaba.com/news/morocco-send-1500-troops-support-saudi-coalition-yemen-777314
Commentary: I wonder if these are more mercenaries - Morocco has so far only provided minimal assistance. If UAE and Saudi have shown a willingness to pay for assistance from poor countries, why would Morocco send troops for free? Yet more of the world fighting in Yemen. Its no wonder so many Yemenis are moving towards supporting the Houthi-Saleh alliance - they are pure Yemeni, and these foreign troops are seen as invaders and occupiers by a large proportion of the Yemeni population. This was not reported on even one Western media outlet.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1068763906609433
3.12.2015 – War is boring
Sudanese Troops Get Their First Taste of Combat in Yemen
Saudi-led coalition pushes into Lahij
Sudanese troops had their first clash with Houthi rebels in Yemen. They are backing the Yemenese army, which began a push to reclaim the strategic Al Sharija area in the province of Lahij.
Khartoum sent a detachment of about 850 soldiers to the city of Aden in October to join the Saudi-led coalition, and plans to send a total of about 10,000 troops.
Though this their first ground fight, Sudanese forces have been contributing to the air war against the Houthis since at least spring. Khartoum sent several Su-24 Fencer supersonic bombers to King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Satellite Sentinel Project, a group that tracks Sudanese military activity in Darfur, the Sudanese Air Force acquired 12 Su-24 aircraft from Belarus in 2013.
For many observers, the participation of Sudanese troops in Yemen is a disturbing aspect of an already bloody and controversial war. The Sudanese military has a brutal history in its home country, facing widespread accusationsof rape, murder, looting and genocide – by Kevun Knodell
http://warisboring.com/articles/sudanese-troops-get-their-first-taste-of-combat-in-yemen/
Propaganda
4.12.2015 – Gulf News
Arab coalition exercises utmost caution in Yemen
Command urges humanitarian agencies to provide their coordinates to avoid collateral damage
The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Iran-backed Al Houthi militants in Yemen has called upon humanitarian agencies operating in Yemen to provide their coordinates in order to avoid any collateral damage.
As intense battles rage in the city of Taiz to oust Al Houthi militants, the Coalition Command is urging that its forces exercise the utmost caution.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Command said it was investigating a claim by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) that its mobile health clinic was hit in a coalition strike.
The Command said it was talking to officials in MSF to gather more information on the time and circumstances of the reported incident.
It also vowed transparency and said it would publish the findings. The Command said it was taking all possible precautions to ensure no collateral damage takes place when targets are hit and pointed out that Al Houthi militants do not practice the same precaution in their deliberate and systematic targeting of residential areas.
The Command added that it welcomes and appreciates the work that MSF is doing by helping to alleviate the suffering of Yemeni people.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/arab-coalition-exercises-utmost-caution-in-yemen-1.1631440
Kommentar: Ausgesprochen dümmliche Propaganda. Nach eigener Aussage haben die Saudis bisher noch nie zivile Ziele angegriffen und auch noch nicht einmal versehentlich getroffen.
4.12.2015 – Mena
36th GCC Summit to be held amidst critical challenges topped by Yemeni crisis
The coalition launched "Operation Decisive Storm" and "Operation Restoration of Hope" against the Houthi rebels and their local allies.
The GCC ministerial council asserted, in the final communique of its 136th session held in Doha in September, that participation of the armed forces of the GCC states in the "Operation Restoration of Hope" was aimed at restoring legitimacy and peace to Yemen as well as defending security of the GCC countries and help "the Yemenis regain their sovereignty and evict the powers of evil." It mourned martyrs of duty from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen who were killed during the military operations. The UAE announced in September martyrdom of 45 of its soldiers while Bahrain had lost five. Spokesman of the Arab coalition Brig. Ahmad Aseeri had announced martyrdom of 10 Saudi soldiers.
The GCC council had praised efforts exerted by the UN to find a solution to the Yemeni crisis and victories achieved by the popular resistance against the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as well as for liberation of a number of Yemeni cities.
The council had also denounced violations by the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Saleh against civilians and their hindrance delivering humanitarian aid to various parts of Yemen.
The council extolled humanitarian efforts exerted by the GCC states for Yemen, hailing the key role played in this regard by the Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, urging the world community to double efforts for alleviating suffering of the Yemeni people.
King Salman had called for establishment of King Salman Center for Charity Work in Yemen and designated additional one billion riyals. He also called for doubling the aid to Yemen during the humanitarian truce to stand at USD 540 million to be added to the USD 274 million pledged by Saudi Arabia to the UN.
His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah had designated USD 100 million to carry out a comprehensive rescue plan for Yemen and deputized the supreme committee for relief and the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) to carry out this operation.
GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani had also announced that the GCC states had pledged 67 percent of the cost for restoration operation in Yemen, which exceeded USD eight billions. A number of GCC charitable organizations had also vowed to offer medical and humanitarian aid to Yemen.
The GCC council had asserted need for a political solution to the crisis according to the GCC initiative and its executive mechanism as well as according to the comprehensive national dialogue framework, Riyadh conference and UN Security Council resolution 2216/2015.
The GCC initiative stipulated formation of a power-sharing government led by the opposition and conditioned by securing Yemen's security and stability as well as smooth transfer of legitimacy to spare Yemen from sliding into chaos.
The UNSC issued resolution 2216 last April which stipulated freeze and travel ban against the Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi and son of former Yemeni president Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh as well as banning import of weaponry and ammunitions to the Houthis, the former president and his son.
The resolution called on Yemen's neighboring countries to impound all suspicious incoming cargo and called on the Houthis to stop fighting and withdraw from all areas they had previously captured.
The Operation Decisive Storm had cost the Houthis and pro-Saleh rebels extensive casualties and forced them to retreat.
The operation also aimed at continuing to safeguard the civilians in Yemen and counter terrorism as well as to facilitate safe exit for foreigners.
http://menafocus.qa/63773.html/36th-gcc-summit-to-be-held-amidst-critical-challenges-topped-by-yemeni-crisis/ = http://myinforms.com/en/a/20116181-yemen-hopes-for-peace-and-fear-of-endless-war/
Kommentar: Ein Potpourri an üblicher Propaganda. Krieg „aimed at restoring peace“; Bombardierungen mit Tausenden Toten „to safeguard the civilians”, und auch die Hungerblockade lässt sich noch mit der unsäglichen UN-Resolution 2216 begründen. Und der saudische König tritt als großer Menschenfreund und Helfer auf.
4.12.2015 – Saudi Gazette
So what is one to do now?
An emerging regional power must be in a position to assert its interests, but in the case of an emerging regional hegemon, this principle is even more applicable. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not obliged to be passive or indifferent to those with an ostentatiously hostile initiative directed at it. The situation in Egypt, Yemen, Iraq and Syria and the emergence of hostile entities throughout the region require the attention of a regional hegemon.
A famous German theoretician on war once said: “War is policy achieved by different aims and at their highest summit they are one and the same.” Although the use of operational military forces to achieve political aims are decisions that must be taken seriously, one must use them when the opportunity is suitable. At the moment the best and brightest of the Arabian Gulf along with Egypt and other coalition forces are the very example of the maxim stated earlier. The ultimate question becomes: So what is one to do now?
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz has clearly shown that its prerogative to assert its interests and to protect its citizens from security threats both within and outside the Kingdom will not be forfeit.
And rightly so. It is the responsibility of any sovereign government to protect the life and welfare of its citizenry. This is an absolute must and non-negotiable. The brave citizens of Najran have had to endure the threat of war, and it is our duty to respond appropriately and without recourse to anyone. The war in Yemen is not over. As long as the sons of the Kingdom and its noble coalition partners are on the ground, our hearts must remember the sacrifice that has been made and see to it that the accomplishments of this campaign are not lost.
Long and hard work remains, especially on the political front. In Egypt, President Al-Sisi has laid the foundation for potentially being his country’s most influential head of state since Nasser. His patriotic efforts to stabilize Cairo deserve our respect and congratulations. Egypt and Yemen are both part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s core interests and cannot be allowed to fail. As the emerging leader of the Arabian Gulf and beyond, it is going to be these two linchpins, stable and secure due to appropriate intervention, that will allow Riyadh to stare boldly across the border into the firestorm that rages across the lands of the Tigris and Euphrates. And it will be there that the next chapter of the rise of the Kingdom will be written – by Faisal Al-Shammeri
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/so-what-is-one-to-do-now/
Commentary: Was zu tun? Als erstes raus aus dem Jemen. Dieser Text ist eine Rechtfertigung einer lupenreinen Hegemonialpolitik, die über alles andere, Leichen inclusive, hinweggeht.
Terrorismus / Terrorism
4.12.2015 – Critical Threats
2015 Yemen Crisis Situation Report: December 4
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants are taking control of key cities in Abyan governorate, reconstituting its presence in the area and potentially staging to threaten the Saudi-led coalition’s recent efforts to re-establish the Yemeni government under President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Aden.
AQAP is replicating its proxy style of governance from Hadramawt to Abyan. AQAP militants temporarily seized Jaar, the city that had served as the capital of AQAP's "Emirate of Waqar" in 2011-2012, on December 2. The group rapidly established a domestic council as a proxy administration, mirroring AQAP's April 2015 takeover of al Mukalla, Hadramawt. Militants also raided the house of Abdul Latif al Sayyed, a key commander of Abyan’s Popular Committees who helped drive AQAP from Abyan in 2012, on December 2014. Ansar al Sharia, AQAP’s militant arm, placed a seven million riyal bounty on Abdul Latif on December 4. AQAP also claimed to have killed Ali al Sayyed, deputy commander of the Popular Committees, on December 2. The group is reestablishing itself as an authority in Abyan governorate and maintains a significant presence inZinjibar, Abyan’s regional capital. AQAP Field Commander Jamal Bal’idi al Marqishi, also known as Abu Zinjibari from his time commanding AQAP in Abyan in 2011, survived a reported airstrike in Jaar on December 4, indicating that AQAP senior leadership is active in the area. AQAP's growing presence in Abyan extends a corridor of support from al Mukalla, Hadramawt, through Shabwah, to just east of Aden. The expansion may be an indicator that AQAP is positioning itself to directly contest control of Aden, where the Saudi-led government is bolstering the Hadi-led government.
AQAP and the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) are vying for influence in Hadramawt governorate in eastern Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition is attempting to secure Aden and build the legitimacy of Hadi’s government. The coalition announced plans to integrate 12,000 popular resistance fighters into a pro-Hadi Yemeni army in Aden, reflecting its efforts to bolster President Hadi’s government against both dissent from southern separatists and encroachment by AQAP – by Emily Estelle
http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/yemen-crisis-situation-reports-december-4-2015
4.12.2015 – Business Standard from AFP
Qaeda offers bounty for head of Yemen pro-government force
Al-Qaeda threatened today to kill the leader of a pro-government force in southern Yemen, putting a bounty on his head, as it seeks to impose itself on the war-torn country.
Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, in a statement circulated during main weekly prayers in mosques, vowed to kill Abdellatif al-Sayed, the Abyan provincial commander of the Popular Resistance, an alliance of Sunni Islamists, tribesmen, loyalist soldiers and southern secessionists.
Accusing him of having "stabbed the mujahedeen in the back", it placed a bounty of seven million Yemeni riyals ($32,500) on his head and warned that his accomplices would be regarded as "legitimate targets".
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/qaeda-offers-bounty-for-head-of-yemen-pro-government-force-115120401310_1.html see also http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/qaeda-offers-bounty-head-yemen-pro-government-force-1713768314
Commentary: As expected - and as reported before on this page - the 'victors' who evicted the Saleh-Houthi alliance from Aden and the southwest was a strange mix of militias with nothing in common except their hatred of the Northern Tribes and their militias, are now at war amongst themselves. This is another report of their vicious disagreements.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1068317156654108
4.12.2015 – Heavy.com (Film: 18 +, Nichts für Sensible, Graphic!)
New ISIS Video Shows Houthi Rebels Executed in Yemen (Neues Isis-Video: Hinrichtung ovn gefangenen Huthis)
In a new video purportedly released by the Islamic State, alleged Houthi rebels are beheaded and more are executed with Katyusha rockets on a Red Sea beach in Yemen. The video is stated to have been film in “Wilayat Aden Abyan” or “State of Aden Abyan.” According to the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, “Wilayat Aden Abyan is a relatively new wilayat. The wilayat began at Wilayat Aden in the spring of 2015 and then became Wilayat Aden Abyan in the fall of 2015 as its reach expanded from the Aden province of Yemen to include the Abyan province.”
he video begins with scenes of warfare. Soon, six men in orange boiler suits are force marched onto a hillside. They are then fired at and killed by what appears to be a Katyusha rocket launcher, a kind of rocket artillery first built by the Soviets in World War II.
Later, six more men in orange boiler suits are force marched into a boat. The boat is set adrift and it is again fired upon by what appears to be a Katyusha rocket launcher.
Still not satiated with their blood thirst, ISIS then has four more men stand with artillery around their neck. Then then fire upon these men, too.
This is ISIS’s third video in the first four days of December. Yesterday they released “To the Sons of Jews,” which shows shows six boy jihadists in Syria directed through an obstacle course where alleged spies are hidden for execution. On December 2, an alleged Chechen Federal Security Service spy named Khasiev Magomid was beheaded in a video from the terrorist capital of Raqqa, Syria.]
4.12.2015 – Daily Mail (18+, Nichts für Sensible, Grpahic!)
Death by explosive necklace, rocket launcher, or obliterated at sea: ISIS release a series of sickening execution videos from war-torn Yemen filmed in just 24 hours
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Four videos show Shi'ite rebels being killed in different shocking scenarios
At least 23 men, believed to be Houthi fighters, killed somewhere in Yemen
Four had mortars tied around their necks, six blown up by rocket launcher
ISIS has released a series of depraved execution videos from Yemen whose ongoing sectarian war has allowed the terror group to spread its tentacles into the country.
Four videos show Houthi rebels, who are battling both the government and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), being executed in different sickening scenarios in a desert location.
Six men were blown up by a rocket launcher, another six were put on a boat which was sent out to sea and exploded, four were obliterated by the mortar shells hung around their necks and nine were beheaded with sharp daggers.
In one video, four men in orange jumpsuits stand with mortar shells tied around their necks like lanyards.
A deafening blast then sends huge amounts of soil and rock into the air. As the dust settles, the men's destroyed, charred bodies can be made seen.
In another of the group's gruesome propaganda videos, a group of men are led single file onto a boat which is then pushed out to sea.
As they sit there, shackled and helpless, the boat and the men on board are blown up remotely.
Six men were killed when a remotely triggered rocket launcher fired a grenade at them, as they sate on the side of a rocky hill.
Nine more were led to a deserted outpost somewhere in Yemen, their hands tied behind their backs, and beheaded by masked ISIS fanatics.
4.12.2015 – Yemen News Today / Terrormonitor / Hussam Almolaiki auf Twitter (18+; Nichts für Sensible; Graphic!)
https://twitter.com/Terror_Monitor/status/672829820145766401 und https://twitter.com/hussam25173474/status/672882028459765761 und https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1068147976671026
4.12.2015 – Tribune of Yemen / Terrormonitor auf Twitter
Isis sprengt Schrein in Provinz Shabwa
Isis blows up shrine in Shabwa province
https://twitter.com/Tribuneofyemen/status/672914848058068998 und https://twitter.com/Terror_Monitor/status/672990803309019136
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
4.12.2015 – Cybercomnet
Yémen : l’armée détruit le 6e navire de guerre de la coalition saoudienne
Un autre navire de guerre de la coalition arabe sous la houlette de l’Arabie saoudite a été visé par les militaires yéménites et il a coulé », a annoncé le porte-parole de l’armée yéménite.
Selon la chaîne de télévision libanaise Al-Mayadeen, le colonel Sharaf Qaleb Luqman, porte-parole de l’armée yéménite a déclaré que lors d’une opération précise sur les côtes d’Al-Mokha, un autre navire de guerre de la coalition anti-yéménite avait été pris pour cible par les missiles Katioucha de l’armée yéménite et qu’il avait coulé ensuite. Il a ajouté qu’il s’agissait du sixième navire de guerre de la coalition arabe dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite, détruit par les tirs de missiles Katioucha.
4.12.2015 – Almanar News
Yemen Tribal Forces Control Saudi Military Site, Riyadh Fails to Restore It
Yemeni tribal forces attacked a Saudi military site near the northern Yemeni border city of Saada, killing several Saudi soldiers, sources said.
Forces of Takhya tribe launched a surprise attack on al-Manara military base in the Saudi territories near the Yemeni border, according to the Yemeni sources, who said that tribesmen managed to control the site.
The attack took place late on Saturday. On Sunday, the Saudi land forces, backed by air forces, were trying to restore the base. However, they failed to do so, the Yemeni sources said.
The tribesmen also seized large amounts of arms and ammunition, as well as a number of military vehicles from Saudi forces.
The sources noted that the Saudi forces were shocked by the attack, adding that Saudi airstrikes were reported in the area following the attack.
Reports said that the attack was in retaliation for repeated Saudi aerial assaults on the positions of the tribe and the slaughter of its members.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=3&cid=18&frid=23&seccatid=31&eid=205610
Kommentar: “Tribesmen” hier Kämpfer auf Seiten der Huthis. Und wieder verbreiten beide Seiten Siegesmeldungen, diesmal auch vom selben Schauplatz, siehe folgender Artikel:
4.12.2015 – Al Araby
Scores of Yemen rebels reportedly killed along Saudi border
At least 48 Yemeni rebels have been killed along the Saudi border as fighting between pro government forces and Houthis raged across the poorest country in the Arab world.
Dozens of Yemeni rebels have been killed in clashes along Saudi Arabia's rugged border with Yemen as fighting continues to escalate across the country, al-Araby al-Jadeed's Yemen correspondent reported Friday.
Saudi media said 48 Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed in in the border province of Jazan on Thursday. Earlier this week 170 rebels were also killed along the border.
Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abd al-Salam has said the border attacks will end once the "Saudi-US aggression" against Yemen ends, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed's Arabic service.
"There is no longer any reason for the continued aggression because it has become clear to Yemenis that this war is against them and not to enforce UN resolutions or reinstate the so-called legitimate government," Abd al-Salam said in an interview with the pro-Houthi satellite channel al-Masirah.
"[This war] is to control Yemenis and their political and sovereign decisions as well as take away their freedoms," he added.
The pro-government Sabaa news agency has reported that Houthi rebels have fired more than 1,000 rockets into "Saudi-controlled areas" over the past three days.
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2015/12/4/at-least-48-yemeni-rebels-killed-along-saudi-border
4.12.2015 – Emirates 24 7
Yemeni nationalists advance in Al Jawf towards Sanaa
Scores of rebels were killed, wounded or captured in battles
Yemen’s national army and resistance fighters killed scores of Iranian-backed coup militias in heavy fighting on Thursday as they advanced on rebel positions in the Northern Al Jawf governorate to open the way towards the capital Sanaa.
The nationalists, backed by coalition air raids, launched a two-pronged offensive on Wednesday to capture Al Labnat military camp, the main stronghold of Houthis and their allies in Al Jawf, news reports from Yemen said.
Capturing of the camp will open the way for the army and resistance to attack Al Jawf capital, Al Hazm, and expel the rebel remnants from the entire province.
“Scores of rebels were killed or wound in the battles to seize Al Labnat…two rebel field commanders, Abu Al Hassan Mathar and Abu Mansour Al Fakhri, were also killed…a large number of the rebels were also captured,” a resistance source said, quoted by the UAE Arabic language daily Emarat Alyoum.
The source said the coalition warplanes and Apache helicopters supported the resistance with heavy raids on the military camp, which is the main gate to Al Hazm.
“The target is to seize Al Hazm, the capital of Al Jawf…we then will begin pushing our way towards Sanaa to liberate it from the coup insurgents,” the source added.
Commentary: Now I'd like you to look at the wording and if you have followed this war you will see the wording in the headline in both politically charged and meaningless. Whats a Yemeni nationalist? Those who are fighting what they see as an invasion and occupation by a foreign army would call themselves nationalists. And it appears, so do the other side who are fighting for control of Yemen paid for and on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition. And who are exactly are the 'rebels' in this war? Every man has his own idea of who is a rebel in this polarised and brutal war. That's why I always use wording in my articles that makes it clear exactly who I mean.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1067793786706445
Kommentar: Einmal wieder eine Erfolgsmeldung der Kämpfer gegen die Huthis. Diese behaupten, an der Front in Saudi-Arabien erfolgreich zu sein:
3.12.2015 – Press TV Iran
Yemen forces lay siege to Saudi's Najran, Jizan cities: Army spokesman
The Yemeni army says it has with the backing of popular forces surrounded the Saudi cities of Najran and Jizan as the Yemenis push ahead with their retaliatory campaign against Riyadh's deadly aggression.
The development was announced by Yemen's army spokesman Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar TV on Thursday.
He said the Yemeni army units, backed by fighters from popular committees, are now waiting for a “political decision” to capture the two cities, both located in Saudi Arabia’s southwest.
Luqman also expressed the army’s readiness to embark on an operation on a larger scale, saying that the Yemeni troops have stepped up their attacks on the Saudis.
Touching on the status quo in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib, he said the army and tribal volunteer forces are working together in a bid to restore ceasefire in two volatile districts there.
Luqman said the Saudi forces have been attempting in vain to seize the al-Omari camp north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/03/440203/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Najran-JIzan-Sharaf-Luqman
Kommentar: Iranische Quelle, daher Yemeni army hier der mit den Huthis verbündete Teil.
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-59: / Yemen Press reader 1-59:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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