Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Ein Gedanke vorab / One idea before
Am wichtigsten / Most important
Allgemein / General
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
UN-Friedensgespräche / UN peace talks
Huthis
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
China
Propaganda
Terrorismus / Terrorism
Jemeniten im Ausland / Yemeni diaspora
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Ein Gedanke vorab / One idea before
“Legitimität” kann nicht durch Kriegsverbrechen erreicht und bewahrt werden. Sind die saudischen Kriegsverbrechen legitim?
"Legitimacy" can not be obtained and kept by war crimes. Are Saudi war crimes legitimate?!
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/680267454996680704
Kommentar: Die Dinge können so einfach sein. Die ganze Propaganda der saudischen Koalition, sie würden im Jemen die „Legitimität“ wiederherstellen (d.h. die Regierung von Präsident Hadi, von der sie behaupten, sie sei „legitim“), fällt mit diesen wenigen Worten in sich zusammen.
Comment: Things can be so simple. The whole propaganda of the Saudi coalition they would lead war in Yemen to restore “legitimacy” ( to restore the Hadi government they pretend to be “legitimate”) tumbles just by these few words.
Am wichtigsten / Most important
26.12.2015 – Katehon / Global Research
Riyadh’s Geopolitical Designs. Expanding Saudi Arabia’s Sphere of Influence?
The Global Ambitions Of The Saudi’s New “Anti-Terror” Coalition: Part II
Having just described the breadth of membership in the Saudis’ 34-nation “anti-terrorist” coalition [http://katehon.com/article/global-ambitions-saudis-new-anti-terror-coalition-part-i], a few words deserve to be said about some of the states that aren’t party to this framework because their absence is indicative of certain political decisions that don’t often meet with scrutiny from the public eye. The sectarian reasons for Iran, Iraq, and Syria’s exclusions are obvious, but less known are the grounds on which Algeria, Eritrea, and Oman didn’t join.
Algeria: Eritrea: Oman:
“Terrorists” Everywhere
It was earlier mentioned that one of the ‘benefits’ that the Saudi-led coalition members can receive from one another is multilateral support in fighting their own “Wars on Terror”, with the label of “terrorist” being subjectively thrown around to any manner of anti-government or anti-establishment group. It’s very probable that the aforementioned support will presumably be dominated by Saudi financial largesse, but it could also potentially see the formation of regional ‘peacekeeping’ deployments in support of the host state’s “anti-terrorist” mission, provided of course that the anticipated strategic and economic benefits were enough to justify the military risk. Saudi Arabia’s forecasted geopolitical application of this strategy will be discussed in the next section, but for now, it’s relevant to briefly address some of the ways in which the coalition members might abuse the “terrorist” label (commonly associated in the current global context with extreme Islamic groups, although by no means exclusive to them) in order to aggressively pursue their own self-interests
Yemen
The puppet government led by deposed premier Hadi has an existential interest in having the Ansarallah labeled and ‘widely’ recognized as “terrorists” so that an expanded Saudi-coalition-led occupation force (probably euphemistically labeled as “peacekeepers”) can come in and wipe them out completely.
The Contradiction And It’s Anti-Shiite “Solution”
In speaking about the self-serving interests that many members of the Saudi-led coalition are expected to promote through the “terrorist” label, it seems almost inevitable that the Saudis will turn against their Turkish and Qatari ‘partners’ by declaring war against the Muslim Brotherhood. One should bear in mind that the Muslim Brotherhood legitimately is a terrorist group, but that Riyadh is purposely turning somewhat of a temporary blind eye to Turkey and Qatar’s support of it for the moment in order to pursue the broad-based multilateral alliance that it’s constructed. Sooner or later, however, the internal terrorist contradictions between the Wahhabis and Muslim Brotherhood (different for the most part only by their hierarchy, foreign patronage, and slight divergences in religious misinterpretation) might become too strong to ignore, especially if one or the other feels confident enough to make a power play on their respective host’s territory one day. Another coalition-disrupting scenario would be if the Turkey and Qatar use the Saudi-led framework as a vehicle for advancing the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideological interests in some respect among all of the other coalition members, thereby engendering fierce competition from the Saudis that might warrant a militant backlash.
Either way, in order to prevent the bloc from falling apart along diverging terrorist lines, the Saudis are expected to informally link their alliance with a larger crusade against Shiites. The presence of an external, non-Sunni ‘enemy’ is the only real force capable of holding the alliance together for the long-term and indefinitely mitigating the terrorist differences between its respective Saudi and Turkish/Qatari ideological poles. Perceived in this manner, it’s not coincidental then that the Saudis probably masterminded the Zaria massacre in order to show that the so-called “Shiite threat” even stretches into Africa’s largest country. Considering that the Saudi-led coalition will most likely functionally become an anti-Shiite NATO (and therefore anti-Iranian, anti-Iraqi, anti-Syrian, and anti-Ansarallah), it implicitly supports the US and Israel’s grand strategic vision for the Mideast and can be seen as logical extensions of both of their militaries. From a conceptual standpoint, the Saudi-led bloc represents a partial civilization-wide Lead From Behind application of the US and Israel’s decades-long attempts in fiendishly trying to initiate a Muslim fratricide by turning most of the Islamic world against its Resistance Bloc members.
Riyadh’s Geopolitical Designs
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old Defense Minister, announced that the Saudi “anti-terrorist” coalition would be active in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan, and given everything that’s been discussed in the research thus far, it’s possible to make some solid assessments about Riyadh’s interests in each and possible forecasts for how they may be actualized.
It All Comes Back To Yemen
Prior to concluding this far-reaching study, it’s necessary to bring the reader’s focus back towards its beginnings and the failed War on Yemen. The Saudis interpret this unnecessary conflict as being integral to their conception of “security”, and they’re obsessed with ‘winning’ at all costs. Their present losses, the pathetically underperforming capabilities of their contracted armies, and the embarrassing ineptitude of their own Armed Forces have created a pitiful military situation that’s in need of immediate correcting. The “anti-terrorist” coalition is one of the methods by which Saudi Arabia hopes to gain tangible support for its war-fighting efforts, and it’s anticipated that some (if not most) of the members will pay ‘mercenary tributes’ to their institutional leader in exchange for the financial largesse mentioned earlier.
They also have their own perceived self-interests in having the entire bloc play along with their “anti-terrorist” labelling and supporting them in a similar manner, thus meaning that the Saudi-led coalition is really a ‘legitimized’ and large-scale marketplace for mercenaries. It’s also very probable that with the War on Yemen continuing to go south for the Saudis, they may desperately try to ‘institutionalize’ the aggrandized mercenary presence there under the false auspices of an illegal non-UN-mandated “peacekeeping” mission deployed by the “anti-terrorist” bloc. This, more so than any other possible application, would dramatically (albeit very brutally and with the major risk of identity cleansing) increase the likelihood that the Saudis could win their War on Yemen, which as was mentioned, has become an obsession for them and might even pave the way for future “peacekeeping” deployments in other “anti-terrorist” locations within the coalition.
Concluding Thoughts
Saudi Arabia’s “anti-terrorist” coalition may have come as a news-making surprise the moment it was first reported and was widely treated as a sick and ironic joke by most of those who heard about it, but upon closer examination, it can authoritatively be said that it was predictable in hindsight and is predicated on long-standing sectarian and geopolitical designs.
The bloc encompasses a wide swatch of territory across the world and abuts three separate oceans, but the cohesiveness of the organization has yet to be tested, especially as it relates to the group’s internal Wahhabi-Muslim Brotherhood fault line. In light of this terrorist contradiction within its own ranks, it means that the Saudis will press the anti-Shiite identity of the organization even more feverishly than if Turkey and Qatar hadn’t been admitted to the organization, thus raising fears that Saudi Arabia is preparing for a prolonged proxy conflict with Iran and other Resistance Bloc members like Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah, and the Ansarallah. However, it’ll probably be the last of the bunch that the Saudi-led military alliance attacks first, turning it into an unwitting bell weather of the bloc’s capabilities. If Saudi Arabia’s “anti-terrorist” coalition is ‘successful’ in their first real battle (given that the earlier GCC-majority coalition was a dismal failure by all metrics), then it’s exceedingly probable that it’ll swiftly ride the wave of confidence that this creates in getting itself directly entangled in Syria and Iraq, with all of the globally destabilizing consequences – by Andrew Korybko
http://katehon.com/article/global-ambitions-saudis-new-anti-terror-coalition-part-ii = http://www.globalresearch.ca/riyadhs-geopolitical-designs-expanding-saudi-arabias-sphere-of-influence/5497675
20.12.2015 – NSNBC
Saudi Arabia, the Mainspring of Islamic Radicalism
When we look at the phenomena of religious extremism and the consequent militancy and terrorism in the Af-Pak region in particular and the Islamic world in general, it is not a natural evolution of religion, some deleterious mutations have occurred somewhere which have negatively affected the whole of Islamic world.
In my opinion, the real culprit behind the rise of Islamic extremism and jihadism in the Islamic world is Saudi Arabia. The “Aal-e-Saud” (the descendants of Saud) have no hereditary claim to “the Throne of Mecca” since they are not the descendants of the prophet, nor even from the tribe of Quresh
The phenomena of religious extremism and jihadism all over the Islamic world is directly linked to the Wahhabi-Salafi madrassahs which are generously funded by the Saudi and Gulf’s petro-dollars. These madrassahs attract children from the most impoverished backgrounds in the Third World Islamic countries because they offer the kind of incentives and facilities which even the government-sponsored public schools cannot provide: such as, free boarding and lodging, no tuition fee at all, and free of cost books and stationery.
Apart from madrassahs, another factor that promotes the Wahhabi-Salafi ideology in the Islamic world is the ritual of Hajj and Umrah (the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.) Every year millions of Muslim men and women travel from all over the Islamic world to perform the pilgrimage in order to wash their sins. When they return home to their native countries after spending a month or two in Saudi Arabia, along with clean hearts and souls, dates and “zamzam,” they also bring along the tales of Saudi hospitality and their “true” and puritanical version of Islam, which some Muslims, especially the rural-tribal folk, find attractive and worth-emulating.
Yet another factor which contributes to the rise of Wahhabi-Salafi ideology throughout the Islamic world is the immigrant factor. Millions of Muslim men, women and families from all over the Third World Islamic countries live and work in the energy-rich Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Oman. Some of them permanently reside there but mostly they work on temporary work permits. Just like the pilgrims, when they come back to their native villages and towns, they also bring along the tales of Arab hospitality and their version of “authentic Islam.” […] They simply reproduce the customs and attitudes of the Arabs as an authentic version of Islam to their communities.
It might be true for the educated Sunni Muslims but on a popular level of the masses of the Third World Islamic countries “the House of Saud” plays the same role in Sunni Islam that the Pope plays in Catholicism. By virtue of their physical possession of the holy places of Islam – Mecca and Medina – they are the ex officio “Caliphs of Islam.”
Now, when we hear slogans like “no democracy, just Islam” on the streets of the Third World Islamic countries, one wonders that what kind of an imbecile would forgo his right to choose one’s government through a democratic and electoral process? This confusion about democracy is partly due to the fact that the masses often conflate democracy with liberalism without realizing that democracy is only a political process of choosing one’s representatives and legislators through an electoral process, while liberalism is a cultural mindset which may or may not be suitable for a backward Third World society depending on its existing level of social evolution. From an evolutionary perspective a bottom-up, gradual and incremental social change is more conducive and easily adoptable compared to a top-down, sudden and radical approach.
The illegitimate, and hence insecure, tyrants adopt different strategies to maintain and prolong their hold on power. They readily adopt the pragmatic advice of Machiavelli to his patrons: “Invent enemies and then slay them in order to control your subjects.” The virulently anti-Shi’a rhetoric of the Gulf-based Wahhabi-Salafi preachers, who are on the payroll of the Gulf’s petro-monarchies, appears to be a cunning divide-and-rule strategy on the lines of Machiavelli. The Arab petro-sheikhs cannot construct a positive narrative that can delineate their achievements, that’s why they espouse a negative narrative that casts the “evil Other” in a bad light.
The Sunni-Shi’a conflict is essentially a political and economic conflict which is presented to the lay Muslims in a veneer of religiosity.
[…] The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia […] has a significant and politically active Shi’a minority. Any separatist tendency in this Achilles heel of Saudi Arabia is met with sternest possible reaction. Saudi Arabia sent thousands of its own troops to help the Bahraini regime quell the Shi’a rebellion in the wake of “the Arab Spring” uprisings in the Shi’a-majority Bahrain, which is also geographically very close to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism is a threat to the Western countries but the Islamic countries are encountering a much bigger threat of inter-sectarian conflict. For centuries the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims have coexisted in relative peace throughout the Islamic World but now certain vested interests are deliberately stoking the fire of inter-sectarian strife to distract attention away from the Home Front: that is, the popular movements for democracy and enfranchisement in the Arab World.
Although the Arab sheikhs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and some emirates of UAE, excluding the comparatively liberal Dubai, generally sponsor the Wahhabi-Salafi brand of Islam but the differences between numerous sects of Sunni Islam are more nominal than substantive. The Islamic charities and madrassas belonging to all the Sunni denominations get generous funding from the Gulf Arab states as well as private donors. Therefore, the genie of petro-Islamic extremism cannot be contained until and unless that financial pipeline is cut off. And to do that we need to promote the moderate democratic forces in the Arab world even if they are moderately Islamic.
The moderate and democratic Islamism is different from the monarcho-theocratic Islamism of the Gulf variety, because the latter is an illegitimate and hence an insecure regime; to maintain its hold on power it needs subterfuges and external rivals to keep the oppositional internal threats to its survival under check. Takfirism (labelling others as infidels) and jihadism are a manifestation of this Machiavellian trend. In the nutshell, Islam is only a religion, just like any other cosmopolitan religion, be it Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism; we don’t have to find any ‘exceptionalist’ justifications to explain the phenomena of Islamic resurgence; it’s the petro-Islamic extremism and the consequent phenomena of Takfirism and jihadism, which is like a collision of the continental tectonic plates that has engulfed the whole of Islamic world from the Middle East and North Africa region to Af-Pak and Southeast Asia.
Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are inconsistent. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam, as such. Though, I admit that there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make “a category mistake” which is a very serious logical fallacy. There is a big difference between democracy and liberalism. Democracy falls under the category of politics while liberalism falls in the category of culture. We must be precise about the definitions of the terms that we employ.
We only have two choices: one, to keep the people under paternalistic dictatorships; two, to enroll them in the school of representative democracy and let them experience democracy as a lived reality rather than some stale and sterile theory. The first option will only produce half-witted retards, but the second option will give birth to an educated human resource that doesn’t just consume resources but also creates new resources. We are on a historic juncture in the Arab World in particular and the Islamic World in general. This is the beginning of a new era; this is the beginning of the Islamic Renaissance and Enlightenment – by Nauman Sadiq
http://nsnbc.me/2015/12/20/saudi-arabia-the-mainspring-of-islamic-radicalism/
Comment: A very long article worth reading in full at the original site. A Muslim writer from Pakistan on the Saudi version of Islam. This article is showing what intellectual firebusts the “West” has made it’s closest allies in this region. The author then also deals with Islam and democracy – an idea which could work off course only without the Saudis and their Wahabism.
Kommentar: Ein sehr langer Artikel, der es wert ist, in voller Länge auf der Originalseite gelesen zu werden. Ein muslimischer Autor aus Pakistan setzt sich kritisch mit der saudischen Version des Islam auseinander. Und wieder einmal wird deutlich, was für geistige Brandstifter der Westen zu seinen engsten Verbündeten in der ganzen islamischen Welt gemacht hat. Der Autor geht dann über seine Kritik an den Saudis noch weit hinaus und zeichnet das Bild eines moderneren Islam, der keineswegs mit der Demokratie unvereinbar ist. Voraussetzung dafür freilich wäre: Mit den Saudis und ihrem Wahabismus geht so etwas nicht.
25.12.2015 – The Trent (from Wallstreet Journal)
The Article Everyone MUST READ To Understand Sunni-Shiite Conflict
“The differences between groups in Islam have always existed, but it is only when you mix them with politics that it becomes really dangerous—dangerous like an atomic bomb,” said Ihsan Bu-Huleiga, a Saudi economist […].
Indeed, from Yemen to Iraq and Syria to Bahrain, most of the wars and political conflicts in the region today pit Sunnis against Shiites. They aren’t, however, over who was the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad, the root of the original schism. Rather, they are fought for political and economic sway within these countries and in the broader Middle East.
“Sectarian tools are used in these struggles because they have greater impact,” explained one of Lebanon’s most senior Shiite clerics, Seyed Ali Fadlullah. “If you were to call upon people now to fight for a regional or international influence, they won’t act. But people will act when it is said that your sect is under threat, or that your sanctities are going to be destroyed.”
This transformation of the Sunni-Shiite struggle dates to the 1979 Iranian revolution and its aftermath, when conservative regimes in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, faced with Tehran’s claim to lead Muslims world-wide, responded by challenging the Islamic credentials of Shiite ayatollahs.
These sectarian alignments have been crystallized in the current war in Yemen, too, with Saudi Arabia assembling a coalition of Sunni nations against the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels, who adhere to a strain of Shiite Islam.
Saudi Arabia didn’t think twice in the 1960s about backing the Shiite royalist rebels in Yemen, the forefathers of today’s Houthis, against the invading troops from Sunni but revolutionary Egypt.
Then came the Iranian revolution that established Tehran’s Shiite theocracy. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for cleansing the region of Western influence, destroying Israel and sweeping away reactionary monarchies such as Saudi Arabia’s.
“Iran is a Shiite Persian country in a predominantly Sunni Arab region. They can’t lead the region by waving a Shiite flag, so they’ve tried to do so under the banner of Islamic resistance against America and Israel,” explained Karim Sadjapour, Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Predictably, Saudi Arabia and its allies responded by focusing attention on their foe’s Shiite identity. The kingdom sees itself as a leader of the Muslim world because the holy cities of Mecca and Medina rest on its soil, and for many decades Saudi-funded Islamic education networks around the world poured vast sums into spreading anti-Shiite propaganda – by Yaroslav Trifomov
http://www.thetrentonline.com/the-article-everyone-must-read-to-understand-sunni-shiite-conflict-13-2/ from http://www.wsj.com/articles/sunni-shiite-conflict-reflects-modern-power-struggle-not-theological-schism-1431611004
Comment: Interesting article worth to be read in full stressing the importance of the revolution in Iran and Ayatollah Khomeini’s claim of the Islamic republic of Iran to become the leader of the Islamic world. This claim was rejected by the Saudis, who themselves claimed to be the leaders of Islam. And while the Iranians for achieving their goal had to stress the unity of all Muslims, the Saudis did the opposite: rejecting the Iranian claim by segregating them because of their Shiite confession the Saudis could drive a wedge between the Sunni Muslim majority and the Shiites of Iran. Thus, we must conclude that anyway the Saudis were those who – for the reason not to be superseded as leader of Islam – started a sectarian conflict which they could be sure they would win simple because 90 % of Muslims are Sunni. They just had to start a propaganda asserting that Shiites were no real Muslims – a propaganda they could fuel with billions from oil revenues. It proved to be most successful and now fuels wars and conflicts all over the Muslim world. And the “West” had supported all this for decades.
Allgemein / General
26.12.2015 – Aljazeera / Brookings
Addressing fault-lines within the Saudi-led coalition
Before embarking on peace negotiations, the coalition should agree on how to deal with al-Islah party.
As the weeklong truce in Yemen coincides with the wrapping up of the scheduled peace talks, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition should take a moment to examine emerging fault-lines within its ranks, which have become particularly evident in the most recent offensive on Taiz.
Serious consideration should be given to the attitudes of some coalition partners, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, towards the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) - represented in Yemen by the al-Islah party.
Today, the city serves yet another symbolic role - as a proving ground for the unity of the Saudi-led coalition, testing the pragmatism of the anti-MB crackdown launched by Saudi and the UAE after the Arab Spring.
With its Sunni majority population, the city is known as an al-Islah stronghold.
Before embarking on peace negotiations, the coalition should agree on how to deal with al-Islah and its political ambition. In his two-year term [as governor], Saeed, a former chief financial officer assigned by Hadi in an attempt to make governance in Taiz "apolitical" and "technocratic", tried to resign from his role three times out of frustration with al-Islah's tactics.
While Saudi Arabia considerably softened its anti-MB stance since the arrival of King Salman - partly in response to its escalating rivalry with Iran and partly owing to its historical support for al-Islah religious-tribal leaders since the 1960s - two important members of the coalition, the UAE and Egypt, have, if anything, renewed their animosity towards the movement.
The UAE, which launched a harsh crackdown on the movement in 2012 imprisoning up to 200 alleged MB-sympathisers, continues to list the group as a terrorist organisation.
Today, UAE senior officials appear to see their war not just against "groups supporting a sectarian Iranian scheme" but also against those "adopting the ideology of the [MB]".
Still, given the key role assumed by the UAE in Yemen, where they are increasingly perceived as "the ones in charge", the Saudis cannot afford to alienate them.
Riyadh needs to find a way to include al-Islah in its attempts to end the conflict and assuage fears in Abu-Dhabi and Cairo concerning the MB's long-term agenda. A "managed" alliance with al-Islah could bring security to the Gulf, both in Yemen and elsewhere, as the rivalry between Iran and Saudi continues to grow – by Sultan Barakat
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/12/addressing-fault-lines-saudi-led-coalition-151226080527727.html = http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/12/29-addressing-fault-lines-in-saudi-coalition-barakat
Comment by Judith Brown: Al Jazeera has written some good articles before and is generally well informed but this article is GREAT and a must read. It basically sees Islah militias and Mikhlafi who leads Islah on Taiz a major stumbling block in the Saudi led coalition. Mikhlafi has not been appointed as governor but the Hadi appointed governor has tried to resign several times - but not been allowed to - but in effect he is not ruling Taiz - Mikhlafi is. The Islah (Muslim Brotherhood) representatives that I communicate with in Taiz have a very uncompromising position and really are not prepared to negotiate a settlement and don't seem to care if Taiz is destroyed and all its people killed - they would rather that than concede anything to the Houthi-Saleh alliance - whom they unfailingly credit with ALL the destruction in Taiz though they are in my mind just as culpable. I understand a compromise was offered before a single building was damaged in Taiz but they refused it. So Islah is not just a problem with the Saudi-led coalition but I think also a headache for Hadi. Hadi is a GPC party member so I guess he is not wanted as President by Taiz either.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10153989711533641
26.12.2015 – American Thinker
Making Sense of the Mess in Yemen
It is unlikely in the near future that any unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country can be established. The country is a complicated mess with two capitals because of the variety of forces involved in the fighting.
Yemen, once called “Arabia Felix” is one of the saddest stories in the world.
The fundamental problem for Yemen, the Middle East, and the United States is that it is not really composed of a people or a nation, but a divided area and population.
Yemen is important for two reasons. One is its strategic position, and the use made of it by terrorists. Whoever controls Yemen can threaten two points: the Gulf of Aden, Bab al Mandab, which connects to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal; and the Gulf of Hawf and the Straits of Hormuz. The other is that has become an outsource of Islamist terrorism since a former group of al-Qaeda was present in the 1990s.
The complex set of parties in Yemen makes it confusing. Who’s on first? Al-Qaeda, a Sunni group, is carrying on a jihad against Shiites, Houthis, and others. Houthis are linked to Hizb’allah in Lebanon. but ISIS has carried out a number of attacks on the Houthis, including bombing a mosque in Sanaa.
Meanwhile the group known as al-Islah, a Yemenite Sunni Islamist group, essentially a coalition of tribesmen and religious elements, founded in September 1990 but divided on key issues seeks reform on the basis of Islamic principles and teachings. It stems from the Islamic Front, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, funded by Saudi Arabia to fight Marxist groups present at that time. However, the groups appear to take a neutral stand in the struggle against Shia and has been blackballed since 2014 by Saudi Arabia.
Yemen is another issue in which the Obama administration must play a role in order to prevent the increase in support for al Qaeda and ISIS, and the use of Yemen to spread the Islamist threat. It is […] important that the Gulf Cooperation Council attempt to end the costly war and oppose the Islamist threat in Yemen. That is the role of the Obama administration, to encourage and press the GCC to do this – by Michael Curtis
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/making_sense_of_the_mess_in_yemen.html = http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm/blog_id/63234
25.12.2015 – Infosperber
Fröhliche Weihnachten – mit unseren Waffen
Wegschauen ist feige: In Jemen hat der Krieg schon über 6000 Menschen getötet. 21 Millionen haben zu wenig Nahrung und Medizin.
Überblick über die Lage im Jemen.
http://www.infosperber.ch/Artikel/Politik/Jemen-Frohe-Weihnachten--mit-unseren-Waffen
25.12.2015 – Newszentinel
25.12.2015 Yemen Crisis News
Links mostly from Dec., 19 and Dec. 25.
http://newzsentinel.com/25-12-2015-yemen-crisis-news/
25.12.2015 – War News Update
Yemen War News Updates -- December 25, 2015
Links at sites on Yemen war fromabout the last week
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.de/2015/12/yemen-war-news-updates-december-25-2015.html
25.12.2015 – Beforeitsnews
Yemen update 12/25\2015.. Yemeni Forces Kill Saudi Prince in Ma’rib
Overview on the events of the last time: Films, a summarizing text, many links
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
24.12.2015 – Middle East Eye
Humanitarian aid floods the black market in Taiz
While the Houthis maintain a siege on Taiz city, traders have purchased the seized aid and smuggled it through unpaved roads
When representatives of Yemen’s government and the Houthi rebels met last week in Switzerland, they agreed to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged city of Taiz.
However, since the agreement, the Houthis have prevented aid organisations from delivering the basic commodities – foodstuffs and medical supplies - to Taiz. Instead, they have forced the organisations to store their aid in the nearby town of Al-Hawban, an area under Houthi control.
This week, the Houthis began selling the goods to some Taiz traders, thereby putting the humanitarian aid on the black market. Sources on the ground told Middle East Eye that these traders had delivered humanitarian aid such as flour, wheat, cooking oil, and beans to Taiz for a price.
The head of the Coalition of the Humanitarian Relief in Taiz, which consists of 200 associations and aid organisations inside Taiz, Abdul Kareem Shamsan, told Middle East Eye: "The humanitarian aid reached to the hands of the Houthis in Al-Hawban area, and there is not a single organisation could get the aid to the besieged areas inside Taiz city".
He stated that the traders had smuggled the commodities through unpaved roads.
"We started to see the humanitarian aid available with the traders in the black market in Taiz city, and the humanitarian aid already reached to the hands of the Houthis in Al-Hawban, so this is a clear indication that the Houthis sell the aid to traders," Shamsan added.
He pointed out that most of the residents in Taiz are in dire need of the aid and depend on the charitable associations and organisations for basic necessities.
The costs of basic foodstuffs used to be more than double their original price in the besieged areas in Taiz when the Houthis refused to allow the traders passage.
However, as recently as this week, prices have dropped by 50 percent, as the traders entered huge quantities of the basic commodities.
The residents expressed happiness with the new prices despite most of them not having the money to purchase these goods.
Some aid organisations have resorted to purchasing these basic goods from the local markets in Taiz.
While the Coalition of the Humanitarian Relief in Taiz accused the Houthis of selling the aid to the traders, the Houthis emphatically deny this accusation and have said that they do not steal any aid.
Zuhair Ali, a Houthi supporter in Taiz city, told MEE that the Houthi prevented the aid from getting into the hands of the Popular Resistance because they say the Resistance only gives the aid to their supporters. The Houthis also stressed that they do not sell the aid to the traders – by Nasser Al-Sakkaf
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/humanitarian-aid-floods-black-market-taiz-1910158712
Comment: This has been a common tactic of the Houthi militias - with extremely tight finances it is one of their only sources of income - but puts extra strain on the people living inside war.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1078458572306633
UN-Friedensgespräche / UN peace talks
26.12.2015 – Middle East Eye
Behind the scenes at Yemen's peace talks in Switzerland
Indeed, these had been a turbulent seven days. As fighting intensified on the ground, the initial “cautious optimism” of the talks - as one delegate had characterised it to me – gradually morphed into a resigned gloominess.
It was clear from the outset that the UN Security Council meeting, that took place this past week, had put a lot of pressure on the Yemeni government and their Saudi patrons to take this round of talks seriously.
A UN insider close to Security Council members told me that they were concerned that the Yemeni government and the Saudis were making no progress on the ground, with fighting in Taiz going on for months and neither side making substantial progress. As the humanitarian situation was growing more desperate by the day and new militias emerging, he told me, talk of a new Security Council resolution was already under way – talk that would put more pressure on the Saudis as the current resolution only speaks of the Houthis – by Nawal Al-Maghafi
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/behind-scenes-yemens-peace-talks-switzerland-506308571
Comment: Very interesting article looking at the backstage of the failed peace talks in Switzerland. Any excerpts don’t make sense, please read in full on the original site. Most interesting facts: The pro-Saudi government side more or less had to be urges to these talks and to a ceasefire. Both sides broke the cease-fire, but the most heavy offence was the advance of the government troups, by which the government tried to enforce it’s position in the talks. Both sides tried to influence the international media. The government side seemed to have been more successfull, using a simple tactis of manipulating by simple mass effect of all speaking the same propaganda phrases as reading from a hand-out. Most of the delegates from both sides where not residents of Yemen, so they personally were affected much less by the war.
Houthis
26.12.2015 – Press TV Iran
Balance of power in favor of Yemen in Saudi war: Ansarullah official
A senior member of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement says the balance of power has tipped in favor of the Yemeni side nearly 10 months into Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Arabian Peninsula country.
“The Saudi enemy thought that nothing can stand in its way in Yemen and that it is secure from any retaliation. But our attacks have now terrorized Saudi forces. The balance of power is being shifted toward the Yemeni army and allied Popular Committees,” Mohammad al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Political Council of Ansarullah, said in a press conference in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Saturday.
“Earlier, Saudi forces were confronted only inside Yemen, but thanks to the recent developments and the use of short range ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia, the confrontation has now spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. This is the only way to stop the Saudi aggression and intervention in Yemen,” the Houthi official added.
Bukhaiti further said al-Qaeda terrorists who had almost been defeated by the Yemeni forces in the south have now resumed acts of terror due to the Saudi aggression against the country.
Blaming Riyadh for the failure of the Yemeni-Yemeni dialog aimed at resolving the conflict in the impoverished country, the Houthi official denounced UN Resolution 2216 as a biased document that justifies the Saudi war on Yemen.
The top Ansarullah member said both the movement and the Yemeni nation are against the resolution as it runs counter to Yemen’s national sovereignty.
The resolution, which was adopted in April, calls for the withdrawal of Ansarullah fighters from the areas under their control and for them to lay down arms.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/26/443354/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Ansarullah-Bukhaiti-alQaeda/
Kommentar: Bei der Einschätzung der militärischen Lage mag er die Dinge für seine Seite zu positive sehen. Tatsache ist jedenfalls, dass es den Saudis auch in 10 Monaten nicht gelungen ist, die Huthis zu besiegen. Völlig zutreffend ist freilich seine Bewertung der UN-Resolution 2216.
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Siehe auch “Am wichtigsten” / See also “Most important”
26.12.2015 – Fars News
Western Diplomatic Sources: Saudi Leaders Split over Yemen War
The Saudi rulers whose differences have been widely reported in the world media in recent months, are now at loggerheads over the war in Yemen, a western diplomat said.
"Such differences have now entangled them with the decision about ending or continuing war against Yemen," a western diplomat revealed, referring to the widening gaps between the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz and his Deputy Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.
In response to the question how long Saudi Arabia will continue its war against Yemen, he said, "Which group in Saudi Arabia are you talking about? Are you talking about Mohammad bin Salman who is after continued war and finds capability in himself to annihilate the Houthis? Or Mohammad bin Naif who is a moderate person and views continued war as an opportunity to further grow terrorism?"
His remarks came after a Russian political analysis website said the monarchy in Saudi Arabia might come to an end in the coming years if it keeps on attacking the neighboring Yemen and its adventurism in the region.
"The collapse may well happen in the next 2 to 3 years, if the Al Saud continues its military adventures and also continues to be rude to Iran, Iraq and Yemen," the Iran.ru analytical website wrote.
It said that although there has recently been a change in the Saudi leadership, where leadership positions were the representatives of the younger generation, and, in theory, the kingdom was to embark on the path of reform and modernization, Riyadh continues direct interference in the internal affairs of the neighboring countries, including the use of military and terrorist methods.
The Russian website noted that the Saudi regime is a forged and illegitimate regime, and said, "Saudi Arabia has been created artificially from different religious and ethnic groups, and the Al Saud government only tries to maintain a complex balance of interests among tribal heads."
Also in June, sources in Saudi Arabia revealed that a group of princes have worked out a plan to stand up to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.
Jamal Bin, a prominent Saudi activist who writes about the events within the Saudi monarchy on his tweeter page, disclosed concerted efforts by a number of Saudi princes, including Tallal, Ahmed and Mota'b, to take an immediate and integrated position against the events happening in Saudi Arabia.
According to him, the Saudi princes are seeking to save their country from the adventurism of Mohammed bin Nayef and his deputy Mohammed bin Salman who are named by Jamal Bin as "teenagers who have perpetrated a coup".
His remarks came after a source said in May that Saudi king's younger half-brother Muqrin bin Abdulaziz is under house arrest after being relieved of his duties as crown prince.
Asa'ad Omabiya Abu Qalilah, an independent Libyan journalist and writer who has links within the Saudi monarchy, said that Muqrin cannot visit anyone or receive any guests at his palace.
On April 29, King Salman relieved Muqrin of his duties as crown prince and appointed his nephew, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as the new heir apparent.
It is the first time that a grandson of the founder of the country (Ibn Saud), rather than a son, has been appointed crown prince.
Mohamed bin Nayef, 55, the grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia, was appointed as crown prince and also minister of interior.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal was also replaced by Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubair.
The changes signaled a major shift at the top of the ruling Al Saud family away from princes chosen by the late King Abdullah, who died in January, and towards those close to the new monarch.
Earlier reports from inside the Saudi family said that Muqrin was bribed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz to be relieved of his duties as crown prince to push his son up the ladder to be the next king.
Mujtahid, a Saudi political activist who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, said in his latest tweets that the king's son, Muhammad bin Salman who is trying to become the next king, has proposed to pay a $10 billion sum to Muqrin.
Meantime, Muhammad bin Salman has opened hundreds of Twitter accounts and recruited many employees to publicize for him in their accounts.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941005000351
26.12.2015 – Vancouver Sun
Yemen’s Soldiers are Forced to Begging – by Brian Murphy
http://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-vancouver-sun/20151226/281908772111035/TextView
On this subject, see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/for-those-wounded-in-yemens-war-a-feeling-of-abandonment-in-saudi-capital/2015/12/19/0a05c9fc-a417-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html
25.12.2015 – Egypt Independent
2015: A year of disasters and explosions for Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has seen a number of natural and manmade disasters in 2015, including terrorist attacks and involvement in a military campaign in Yemen.
The collapse of the crane in the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the hajj crush of September and the Jazan Hospital fire left behind the largest number of dead and injured people (with films) – by Al-Masry Al-Youm
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/2015-year-disasters-and-explosions-saudi-arabia
Comment: An interesting perspective from Egypt - calling the Yemen situation a man made disaster - which of course it is.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1078467825639041
21.12.2015 – Express Tribune from AFP
Saudi reformist writer 'jailed for 4 years'
A Saudi reformist writer who called his fellow intellectuals “cowards” and his country racist has been jailed for four years and banned from writing, his lawyer and son said Monday.
Zuhair Kutbi “was sentenced to four years prison” and banned from writing for 15 years, lawyer Ibrahim al-Midaymiq tweeted at @imodattorney.
Half of the sentence was suspended, meaning he will serve the other two years.
The writer was also fined 100,000 riyals ($26,667) and banned from travelling for five years, they said.
In a tweet on Sunday, the son said his father was to be sentenced by a “terrorism” court.
It was not immediately clear what he was guilty of, but activists have accused Saudi Arabia of using such courts to target members of civil society.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in August that Kutbi, 62, was detained after an interview in June in which he called for reforms including “transforming the country into a constitutional monarchy and combatting religious and political repression”.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1013950/saudi-reformist-writer-jailed-for-4-years/
China
26.12.2015 – Matthe Waid
Based on government supplied pictures and video shown on TV it appears Saudi Arabia and the UAE are both using Chinese UAVs. Both countries are known to have been discussing such a purchase with the Chinese, who have a UAV (CH-4) similar to the American Predator that is getting a lot of export sales. Pakistan is known to have some CH-4s. The Chinese UAVs sell well because many nations have been unable to buy similar American UAVs because of American fears that UAV secrets will be sold to enemies of the United States or that the UAVs will be used to support war crimes.
http://www.matthewaid.com/post/135969818256/yemen-peace-talks-collapse-even-before-they-begin
Comment: UAV = Drone. The article is an overview on the situation in Yemen, clearly overstressing the role of Iran.
Propaganda
26.12.2015 – Almanar News
Saudi Awards Nurse by Writing Her Name on Shells Directed at Yemen
Riyadh has awarded a nurse who saved the lives of babies from hospital blaze by writing her name on shell bound for Yemen.
Not ashamed, the Saudi newspapers published the photos of missiles written on them the name of the Nurse “Amira Ismail” followed by: “hero of Jazan catastrophe”.
It is worth to note that the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen has claimed the lives of at least 1729 Yemeni children.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=246827&cid=23&fromval=1
Kommentar: Pervers. Kinder zu retten und dann so als Namensgeberin für Mord an Kindern missbraucht zu werden: Das hat diese Krankenschwester nicht verdient.
Terrorismus / Terrorism
24.12.2015 – The Long War Journal
AQAP leader says America is the ‘primary enemy’
On Dec. 20, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video featuring the group’s top leader (or emir), Qasim al Raymi. Sitting in front of a marker board, al Raymi delivers a nearly 20-minute lecture on jihad and the importance of confronting America. He claims that the US is the primary obstacle standing in the way of the jihadists’ quest to build a truly Islamic state.
Al Raymi describes the US as the “primary” and “real” enemy, because it supposedly props up the jihadists’ adversaries around the globe.
The “Americans create for us countless enemies so as to distract us from [fighting against] them, and they bring conflict to our land so that conflict stays away from their own land,” al Raymi says, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal. No other party is “capable of mobilizing and inciting people other than the Americans.”
As the war rages on, the jihadists should “look at the issue from the point of view of a single ummah to find out who is the real enemy,” and not from “the standpoint” of standalone battlefields in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen or elsewhere. From this perspective, al Raymi argues, it becomes clear that “the true enemy is the American.”
He claims the US has propped up Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government in Yemen, and without America’s backing Hadi’s forces would be incapable of doing any real damage to the jihadists’ cause. The “most this agent [Hadi] could do” is plant tracking devices on the jihadists’ leaders, or point to targets the Americans should strike.
Al Raymi was appointed as AQAP’s senior leader after his predecessor, Nasir al Wuhayshi, was killed in a US drone strike in mid-June.
Although al Raymi says the jihadists should focus on fighting the US, however, AQAP actually spends most of its resources fighting the Houthis, who are backed by Iran.
Al Raymi makes it clear that AQAP’s chief goal is to establish an Islamic state in Yemen based on the jihadists’ radical version of sharia law. However, he says the jihadists will not succeed as long as America stands in the way – by Thomas Joscelyn
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/12/aqap-leader-says-america-is-the-primary-enemy.php
Jemeniten im Ausland / Yemeni diaspora
21.12.2015 – UN Development Programme
Yemen Our Home, innovative online platform connects Yemeni Diaspora with local communities in need
Hundreds of youth in Sana’a, Taizz, Aden, Seyoun and Al Mukalla celebrated today the launch of Yemen Our Home, a crowdfunding platform supported by the United Nations Development Programme that links the Yemeni Diaspora with projects targeting affected communities.
Yemen Our Home is articulated around three campaigns: Green Yemen, Productive Yemen, and Inclusive Yemen, reflecting the immediate needs of communities in Sa’ada, Hajjah, Sana’a, Taizz, Ibb, Hadramaut, Aden and Abyan Governorates.
Disrupted electricity supply and a heightened fuel crisis have forced millions into darkness, meaning many communities are unable to operate productive machines, run hospital surgery rooms, collect garbage, or truck or pump water for livestock, irrigation and drinking use. The scarcity of cooking gas has led to high dependency on unsustainable energy sources such as wood and charcoal which further damages natural assets of the country. Green Yemen will provide alternative energy, solid waste management support and water to safeguard the environment for future generations.
As of August 2015, 27 percent of micro, small, medium and large enterprises had closed as a result of the crisis. Businesses are being damaged and losing their customer base. Sourcing goods and commodities is made difficult due to import restrictions. Unemployment, which already stood amongst the highest in the region, is dramatically increasing as markets close and the economic activity comes to a standstill. Productive Yemen aims to revive businesses and social entrepreneurship skills, particularly among youth, to mitigate the impact of the war on communities.
Women bear a heavier burden of war, in particular women-headed households and widows, who must now find work in a culturally accepted profession to sustain their families. Women represent 50 percent of the Yemeni population; yet their role remains secluded and limited. An estimated 90 percent of Yemeni women of working age do not participate in the labour force. In addition, war has disrupted many maternal health facilities and midwifery services. The clinics lack equipment, medicine, and basic facilities. Inclusive Yemen will economically empower women for self-reliance and improve midwifery services as social business.
The Yemeni Diaspora plays an important role in supporting families back home. Encouraged by trade, and also because of conflict, Yemenis have sought better opportunities abroad. Between 6 to 7 million Yemenis have settled in over 40 countries across Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. Of the approximately $3.4 billion in remittances annually going through official channels, and it is anticipated that a significant amount of remittances transferred through informal networks due to the poor penetration of financial services in the country. Through a rapid survey led in August, UNDP estimates that families’ access to international remittances since March has dropped by half. This represents an important source of income for millions that is now shrinking due to the conflict. Yemen Our Home will capitalize on innovative finance, crowdfunding, for communities to better cope.
During the Yemen Our Home launch in Sana’a, at the Sana’a Heritage House in the Old City, Jamie McGoldrick, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, said: “the recovery and reconstruction process requires the full participation of the private sector both inside and outside the country for its success. Yemenis living in the diaspora play a crucial role in supporting communities in need in Yemen, helping to make sure they have access to the goods and services they need.”
"Linking Yemeni individuals and companies outside the country with local needs for local solutions is an innovative response to the crisis, and ensures a Yemeni-driven process”, he added.
More information about the Yemen Our Home campaign, plus ways to engage, can be found on our website:www.yemenourhome.org and social media (details below). Yemen Our Home will encourage Yemeni expatriates to support and drive early recovery efforts that will improve living conditions of the most vulnerable populations in Yemen.
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
27.12.2015 – Yemen Media
The Saudi air defense intercepted a Scud missile fired from Yemen Houthis early Sunday, Saudi media reported on Sunday.
"The Saudi air defense destroyed a Scud missile which was heading to Najran to the south of Kingdom," said Saudi Al-Akhbaria TV channel.
According to the source, the missile was damaged before hitting its target.
Houthis late Saturday announced firing a ballistic missile aimed at the military camp of Saudi national guard in Najran to the south of Saudi Arabia.
http://yemen-media.com/news_details.php?sid=13031
26.12.2015 – Fars News / Alalam
Yemeni Army Troops Surround Hundreds of Saudi-Led Forces in Eastern Yemen
The country's defense ministry has announced on Saturday, the Yemeni army troops backed by popular forces have surrounded a large number of Saudi and UAE forces in Jawf province, Eastern Yemen.
Hundreds of Saudi and Emirati military men are now surrounded by the Yemeni forces in the town of al-Jabal al-Aswad in al-Jawf province.
The Yemeni forces captured 130 military troops from the Saudi-led coalition, including at least 39 Emirati soldiers and 9 officers during a series of clashes in Jawf province yesterday.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941005001434 = http://en.alalam.ir/news/1773153
26.12.2015 – Beforeitsnews
Yemen update 12/26\2015
Films, successes of Huthis
26.12.2015 – Middle East Monitor
Houthis shell Yemeni presidential palace in Maarib
A number of Yemeni soldiers were killed and injured Saturday when the Houthi Shia militia targeted a presidential palace in Maarib, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.
The source said five soldiers were killed and another five were injured in the Katyusha rocket attack.
26.12.2015 – AP
Officials: Battles overnight in southwestern Yemen kill 31, including civilians, despite truce
Yemeni officials say overnight fighting between the country's Shiite rebels and pro-government in the southwestern Taiz province has killed 31 people, including eight civilians.
The officials also said Saturday that the rebels, known as Houthis, are blocking the flow of humanitarian aid to the provincial capital, also called Taiz, which is in government hands.
27.12.2015 – Deutschlandfunk
Erneut Gefechte in Vorort der Hauptstadt Sanaa
Im Jemen halten die Kämpfe zwischen regierungstreuen Soldaten und Huthi-Rebellen an.
Im Nordosten der Hauptstadt Sanaa wurden nach Angaben des Militärs mindestens 20 Aufständische getötet, als sie versuchten, einen zuvor verlorenen Stadtteil zurückzuerobern. Ob es auch Opfer unter den jemenitischen Soldaten gab, wurde nicht mitgeteilt.
Kommentar: Immerhin werden zunächst die Begriffe erklärt. Die jemenitischen Kämpfer auf Seiten der Regierung zu „jemenitischen Soldaten“ zu erklären und dabei außer Acht zu lassen, dass ein großer Teil der jemenitischen Armee auf Seiten der Huthi kämpft, dabei die Gegenseite unter „Rebellen“ zusammenzufassen, heißt, der Propaganda-Terminologie der Saudis, Emiratis und Co. aufzusitzen. – Die Hadi-Truppen sollen in der Provinz Sanaa ca. 40 Meilen vor Sanaa stehen. Es wäre zu prüfen, wo tatsächlich gekämpft wird. Ob sie die Außenbezirke der Hauptstadt schon erreicht haben, ist doch zweifelhaft. Wohl geht es hier um Orte in der Provinz Sanaa. Offensichtlich hat man beim Deutschlandfunk die Formulierung „in Sanaa“ mussverstanden, das ist eine gängige Formulierung für „In der Provinz Sanaa“, bedeutet nicht „in der Stadt Sanaa“: http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/yemen-loyalists-inflict-heavy-losses-on-rebels-in-sanaa
26.12.2015 – AFP
Yemen fighting persists outside rebel-held capital Sanaa
Yemeni loyalists killed at least 20 Iran-backed rebels on Saturday in a pushback against insurgents seeking to retake positions to the northeast of the capital they control, military sources said.
"The Huthis (rebels) on Friday launched an offensive in the direction of Jabal al-Salb in Nihm" district of Sanaa province, "but were repelled on Saturday morning", a loyalist commander told AFP.
"At least 20 Huthis were killed" since Friday night, another military source said.
He added that loyalists also died, but he did not give a death toll.
Meanwhile, coalition fighter jets led dawn raids on rebel positions in Majzar area in neighbouring Jawf province to the north, which is mostly under loyalist control, a spokesman for the pro-government Popular Resistance militia said.
Loyalist forces advanced in Ghayl area in the same province, around 20 kilometres northeast of Majzar, Mohamed al-Behaih added.
Air strikes also targeted rebel positions in Baqim and Kitaf areas in Saada province, the Huthis' stronghold in northern Yemen, loyalist military sources said.
The rebels confirmed these strikes in a brief statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-fighting-persists-outside-rebel-held-capital-sanaa-144209590.html
Kommentar: Zu dem Satz: Air strikes also targeted rebel positions in Baqim and Kitaf areas in Saada province, the Huthis' stronghold in northern Yemen, loyalist military sources said sehe man sich die Bilder aus Kitaf an. Sie sind nichts für sensible Gemüter. Wenn Sie tote Kinder sehen wollen oder einen Vater, der den abgerissenen Arm seines Kindes in der Hand halt, bitte sehr: http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages2015-12-23-Saada.htm . Das nennt die Propaganda der gegen die Huthis kämpfenden „Loyalisten“ „rebel positions“. Eine Familie wurde kurz nach Mitternacht in ihrem Haus im Schlaf getroffen. Denken Sie also immer daran, wenn Sie solche Propaganda-Verlautbarungen hören.
Comment by John: Translation into reality: "Saudi backed Yemeni mercenaries killed at least 20 Yemeni government soldiers Saturday in a pushback against a government seeking to retake positions to the northeast of the capital it controls ..."
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-fighting-persists-outside-rebel-held-capital-sanaa-144209590.html
26.12.2015 – Saba News
Army, committee bomb Saudi military sites in Jizan
The army and popular committees forces bombed on Saturday Saudi locations in Jizan, killing a number of Saudi troops and destroying military vehicles. In a statement to Saba, a military official said a number of Saudi soldiers were killed in artillery shelling on Saudi military locations west of Matha'an. He pointed out that a PMB vehicle was destroyed in the Saudi Jelah center and another military vehicle was burnt in al-Khashal site by the army's bombing on those sites and other sites included Ma'aqal al-Seid and military sites behind al-Khawba.
The army and popular committees fired missiles at Najran's protection site, the maintenance camp and a gathering of Saudi military vehicles west of al-Shorfa area, as well as artillery shelling on al-Makhroq site in Najran, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news413943.htm
25.12.2015 – Iran German Radio
Mehrere Tote bei Saudischen Luftangriffen auf Jemen
Bei saudischen Luftangriffen auf verschiedene Gebiete im Jemen sind mehrere Zivilisten getötet bzw. verletzt worden.
Saudische Aggressoren haben einen Basar in der Stadt al-Macha in der Provinz Taez bombardiert, wobei fünf Zivilisten getötet und vier weitere verletzt wurden. Zwei der Verletzten schweben in Lebensgefahr.
Drei jemenitische Bürger wurden bei Luftangriffen von saudischen Kampfjets auf ein Gebiet der Provinz al-Hadida getötet.
Bei Luftangriffen von Kampfjets der Anti-Terror-Koalition unter der Führung von Saudi-Arabien auf den Hafen al-Hiba in der Provinz al-Hadida wurde eine Person getötet und eine weitere verletzt.
Saudische Kampfjets haben außerdem einige Male das Gebiet Al Jabal al Aswad und das Telekommunikationsnetzwerk in der jemenitischen Provinz Omran bombardiert. Angaben über Verluste wurden noch nicht bekannt gegeben.
25.12.2015 – AFP
Gunmen kill Yemen intelligence officer: security source
Assailants shot dead a senior Yemeni intelligence officer in Marib city east of the capital Sanaa on Friday, a security source said.
Commander Jarallah Salhi was gunned down in the centre of the city controlled by forces loyal to the government in the conflict against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels.
The officer had actively taken part in the battle for Marib dam, southeast of the city backed by a Saudi-led coalition.
http://www.france24.com/en/20151225-gunmen-kill-yemen-intelligence-officer-security-source
25.12.2015 – Press TV Iran
Yemeni forces kill Saudi prince in Ma’rib Province
Yemeni army forces, backed by allied Popular Committees loyal to the Houthi Ansarullah movement, have killed a Saudi prince during an attack in the oil-rich province of Ma’rib in central Yemen, a report says.
Amir Mohammad bin Mosa’ed bin Jalawi, an assistant inspector general, and his comrades were killed when Yemeni forces targeted them in the al-Hajar region, Sa’ada Press news website reported on Friday.
This comes a day after Houthi Ansarullah fighter killed several mercenaries fighting on Saudi Arabia’s behalf and militants loyal to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the same region.
In a separate development, Yemeni forces captured at least 48 Emirati soldiers, including nine military officers during a series of clashes in the northern province of al-Jawf.
Over 130 militants were also captured during the fierce fighting, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Ahd news agency reported.
Several Yemeni civilians have lost their lives over the past three days as Saudi warplanes continue to pound areas across Yemen.
On Wednesday, leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi lashed out at Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom’s policies are the same as those of the US and Israel, “which seek to crush the Muslim Ummah without paying any price.”
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/25/443159/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Marib-Amir-Mohammad-bin-Mosaed-bin-Jalawi/ see also http://en.alalam.ir/news/1772729
25.12.2015 – Almasdar News
Yemeni Army, Houthis capture Jabal Al-Aswad and Jabal Sadbah in southern Yemen
Moments ago in the Al-Jawf Governorate of southern Yemen, the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard – backed by the Houthis – imposed full control over Jabal Al-Aswad (Black Mountains) and Jabal Sadbah (Sadbah Mountains) after a fierce battle with the Saudi-led Coalition forces and the Hadi Loyalists. According to several battlefield reports from Al-Jawf, the Saudi-led Coalition forces and Hadi Loyalists retreated from Jabal Al-Aswad and Jabal Sadbah following a two week long battle that originally began with the aforementioned forces seizing theses mountains from the Houthis and the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard. Firefights between the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard and the Saudi-led Coalition forces are still ongoing to the south of Jabal Al-Aswad; however, the Republican Guard and the Houthis have secured the previously contested mountains. In retaliation for the Republican Guard’s recent gains in southern Yemen, the Saudi-led Coalition’s warplanes began bombarding the region with indiscriminate bombs that killed several Yemeni civilians, including many women and children.
Firefights between the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard and the Saudi-led Coalition forces are still ongoing to the south of Jabal Al-Aswad; however, the Republican Guard and the Houthis have secured the previously contested mountains. In retaliation for the Republican Guard’s recent gains in southern Yemen, the Saudi-led Coalition’s warplanes began bombarding the region with indiscriminate bombs that killed several Yemeni civilians, including many women and children.
24.12.2015 – Fars News
Source: 50,000 Yemeni Forces Preparing to Attack S. Arabia
50,000 Yemeni army and popular forces have been prepared to attack Saudi Arabia and liberate the strategic regions, a military source said.
"50,000 Yemeni forces are ready to attack positions in Saudi Arabia and liberate the biggest cities in Jizan and Asir regions within the framework of the first stage of strategic options," a military source said on Wednesday.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941003000334
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-75: / Yemen Press reader 1-75:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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