Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Am wichtigsten / Most important
Allgemein / General
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
UNO / UN
Friedensgespräche / Peace talks
Waffenstillstand / Truce
Ex-President Saleh
Houthis
Südjemen / Southern Yemen
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Großbritannien / Great Britain
Söldner / Mercenaries
Propaganda
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Most important / Am wichtigsten
4.1.2016 – Menschenrechte.eu
Saudi-Arabien: Kollaboration mit Terrorregime macht uns selbst zu Unrechtsstaaten
In Saudi-Arabien regiert eine radikal-sektierische Minderheit über die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung des eigenen Landes. Die Wahabiten sind ein religiöse Sekte des Islam, der das saudische Königshaus anhängt und deren radikalistische Islamauslegung die ideologische Basis für den "islamischen Staat" (ISIS) geschaffen hat. Ohne die wahabitische Ideologie und die Unterstützung durch saudische Spender wären wohl tatsächlich weder al-Qaida noch der "islamische Staat" (ISIS) entstanden.
Während aber die Welt sich über die Enthauptungen und Grausamkeiten von ISIS empört, führen Massenexektutionen, Enthauptungen und Kreuzigungen in Saudi-Arabien bei seinen westlichen Verbündeten höchstens zu einem Augenzucken. Klar ist, dass die westliche Staatengemeinschaft nicht bereit ist, ihr Bündnis mit Saudi-Arabien zur Disposition zu stellen. Menschenrechtsverletzungen fallen hierbei nicht ins Gewicht, sie sind nur dann bedeutsam, wenn sie vom Gegner begangen werden und sich daher propagandistisch nutzen lassen.
Die USA tanken die Bomber auf, die den Jemen zerstören, und helfen bei der Zielauswahl. Bundeskanzlerin Merkel erklärte den Krieg, der eine ganze Gesellschaft droht, zu vernichten, für legitim. Saudi-Arabien wird als Verbündeter bezeichnet und auch die Bundesregierung liefert Waffen. Auch Bahrain, welches gemeinsam mit Saudi-Arabien die Menschenrechte seiner Bevölkerungsmehrheit massiv unterdrückt, erhält uneingeschränkte Unterstützung durch die westliche Staatengemeinschaft, die USA unterhalten dort sogar gleich zwei Militärbasen, für deren Bestehen es keinerlei demokratische Legitimation durch die einheimische Bevölkerung gibt. Offensichtlich sind Demokratie und Menschenrechte in der Sichtweise der westlichen Staatengemeinschaft dann verzichtbar, wenn es eigenen machtstrategischen Interessen dient. Dass die westliche Staatengemeinschaft für sich dennoch gerne eine moralische Überlegenheit beansprucht, verdeutlicht, wie Moral durch sie instrumentalisiert wird, anstatt tatsächlich moralisch zu handeln.
Dem saudischen Königshaus wird durch die westliche Staatengemeinschaft de facto die Botschaft vermittelt, dass es walten und schalten kann, wie es will, solange der Ölbezug ungefährdet ist und sich Saudi-Arabien an der Bekämpfung von der westlichen Staatengemeinschaft missliebigen Regimen beteiligt
Noch sind nicht alle US-amerikanischen Soldaten abgezogen, die einstmals nach Saudi-Arabien kamen, um die Fortdauer der Saud-Herrschaft sicherzustellen. Kein Zweifel besteht, dass die USA erneut Soldaten senden würden, wenn die Macht der Saud-Familie ernsthaft gefährdet werden würde. Enthauptungen, Kreuzigungen, Auspeitschungen - all dies nehmen die westlichen Staaten in Saudi-Arabien hin, während sie sich gleichzeitig über die Brutalitäten des "islamischen Staates" (ISIS) empören, der doch in Wirklichkeit mehr Ähnlichkeiten als Unterschiede zum saudischen Gottesstaate aufweist.
Unter dem Mantel der Verteidigung von Menschenrechte haben die gleichen Staaten, die jetzt auf der Seite des saudischen Terrorregimes stehen, einstmals Gaddafi gestürzt und sich daran beteiligt, Syrien in Schutt und Asche zu legen. Sie haben für ihre Ziele Millionen Tote, ein Vielfaches an Vertriebenen sowie die letztliche Zerstörung ganzer Gesellschaften und Regionen in Kauf genommen. Gleichzeitig wollen sie die Flüchtlinge, die die Opfer dieser Politik sind, nicht bei sich selbst aufnehmen, sondern sehen hierfür andere Staaten in der Verantwortung. Dennoch bleiben die westlichen Staaten dabei, sich als Vertreter der Menschenrechte zu definieren, selbst jetzt, wo ihre saudischen Brüder erneut ihre Exekutionsmaschinerie angeworfen haben, auf neuen Hochtouren betreiben und den Jemen, das Armenhasu der arabischen Welt, in die Vernichtung treiben.
Wer sind wir aber wirklich und jenseits von Sonntagsreden, wenn wir Waffen an Saudi-Arbaien liefern und die Saud-Familie weiterhin als unseren engsten Verbündeten im Nahen Osten betrachten? Unrechtsstaaten!
http://menschenrechte.eu/index.php/meldung-im-detail/items/saudi-terror.html
4.1.2015 – Near Eastern Outlook
Mass executions at home, war abroad – Saudi Arabia tries to kill its way out of adversity
Missing from VOA and the rest of the Western media’s coverage of the mass executions was any of the indignation that usually accompanies articles on Wall Street, Washington, London, and Brussels’ enemies when they carry out acts of perceived reprisals against mostly Western-backed political opponents – reprisals that usually include sentences much less severe than execution, for crimes usually much more severe than political activism.
Also missing from Western reports was any attempt to analyze or question reports coming out of Saudi Arabia – such as claims that most of those executed were “Sunni militants” or “had ties to Al Qaeda,” a terrorist organization whose affiliates were just invited to Riyadh to consort with the Saudi government regarding ongoing militant operations Riyadh is underwriting in Syria, Iraq, and beyond – Al Qaeda itself being a gestation of joint US-Saudi conspiring beginning as early as the 1980s.
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr may or may not have been receiving foreign backing to help undermine the Saudi regime. He clearly represented regional aspirations to check and balance US hegemony and the regimes the US has used to maintain, expand, or claw back that hegemony – including Saudi Arabia.
However, his execution, had it been a prominent political leader in Syria, or Russia, would have resulted in widespread, coordinated condemnation across the West among political circles, throughout the media, and among alleged “human rights advocacy” groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Instead, for Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, there was only complicit silence. And while Western “human rights advocacy” groups like Amnesty International did indeed point out that Saudi Arabia was putting to death a political prisoner, such reports were selectively glossed over, rendered as minor footnotes in Western reports, or ignored altogether, and the usual threats, sanctions, and direct action wielded by Western politicians against nations like Syria, Russia, Iran, or China, utterly absent before and after Saudi Arabia’s mass executions.
Amnesty International’s report, “Saudi Arabia: Appalling death sentence against Shi’a cleric must be quashed,” would claim:
Evidence for all the other charges he was convicted of came from religious sermons and interviews attributed to the cleric. Amnesty International’s review of these texts confirms that he was exercising his right to free expression and was not inciting violence. Some of the charges, such as disobeying the ruler, should not be offences as they criminalize the right to freedom of expression. Other charges are vague and have been used simply to punish him for his peaceful activities.
Yet despite this, it appears the Western media is attempting to justify the mass executions in the minds of unwitting readers.
That the Western political establishment and the media monopolies that serve as its voice, selectively report on and exploit perceived human rights abuses in some nations, while intentionally muting, spinning, or otherwise covering up very real abuses by other nations, illustrates perfectly the West’s selective enforcement of what it claims are its central organizing principles – democracy, freedom, and the defense of human rights.
Indeed, the West’s hypocrisy goes far beyond this more recent mass execution. This same complicit silence accompanies Saudi Arabia’s US-European-backed war waged against neighboring Yemen. It is a war that has laid waste to many of Yemen’s largest and most important cities, destroying its infrastructure, and cutting off the Yemeni people from economic and humanitarian resources beyond their borders through the seizure of their ports and a coordinated naval blockade.
It is a war fought using Western weapons.
In other words, between brutal, armed crackdowns and mass executions at home, and a war of aggression abroad, Saudi Arabia is in every sense as real a threat to human rights, freedom, and democracy as the US claimed the government in Libya was in 2011 before intervening and toppling the government there, and as much so a threat as the US claims the Syrian government currently is amid an increasingly convoluted attempt to topple the government there.
Yet, instead of confronting Saudi Arabia – one of the West’s oldest and most stalwart allies in the region for decades – the US has continued propping it up, defending it, and covering up for its numerous and ever-multiplying crimes against humanity.
However, it should be clear by now that the US and its allies are failing in Syria and Iraq, while struggling in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s growing body count indicates a regime clinging to power amid increasing adversity. But as the body count grows, adversity grows with it. Should the US fail in Syria, Iraq, and should its proxy war waged in Yemen with Saudi and other Persian Gulf forces also fail, it will not be long before the conflict finds itself pushed from the Levant and the southern most tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and onto Saudi soil itself.
While the West is gladly playing its hegemonic games from the safety of Wall Street, Washington, London, and Brussels, it will be its proxies in the region – in Turkey, in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar that face a very real existential struggle and the prospect of falling victim to their own brand of “regime change” turned finally back against them – by Tony Cartalucci
http://journal-neo.org/2016/01/04/saudi-arabias-growing-body-count/ = http://www.therussophile.org/saudi-arabias-growing-body-count.html/
3.1.2016 – Journal 21
Schiitenfurcht und Schiitenverfolgung in Saudiarabien
Saudiarabien schneidet sich ins eigene Fleisch, die USA und die westliche Welt schauen zu und liefern die Waffen.
Schon vor der Erdölepoche hatte der Gründer des dritten Saudischen Reiches, Emir, später König, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, seine Herrschaft über die grössten Teile der Arabischen Halbinsel hin ausgedehnt. Er stützte sich dabei auf die wahhabitische Religionsrichtung. Die Nachfahren und Schülern Ibn Abdul Wahhabs sind vielfach verschwägert mit dem Hause Saud und befinden sich nach wie vor in führenden geistlichen Positionen. Die östlichen, am Golf liegenden, Landesteile der Provinz al-Hasa wurden 1913 an den saudischen Machtbereich eingeschlossen. Die dort lebende schiitische Bevölkerung besteht seit sehr alten Zeiten. Vor der Eingliederung in das wahhabitische Königreich gehörte die Grossoase al-Hasa am Persischen Golf zum Osmanischen Reich – vonArnold Hottinger
https://www.journal21.ch/schiitenfurcht-und-schiitenverfolgung-in-saudiarabien
2.1.2016 – The Independent
Saudi Arabia's executions were worthy of Isis – so will David Cameron and the West now stop their grovelling to its oil-rich monarchs?
The executions were certainly an unprecedented Saudi way of welcoming in the New Year
Saudi Arabia’s binge of head-choppings – 47 in all, including the learned Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, followed by a Koranic justification for the executions – was worthy of Isis. Perhaps that was the point. For this extraordinary bloodbath in the land of the Sunni Muslim al-Saud monarchy – clearly intended to infuriate the Iranians and the entire Shia world – re-sectarianised a religious conflict which Isis has itself done so much to promote.
After all, Isis cuts the heads of Sunni ‘apostates’ and Sunni Syrian and Iraqi soldiers just as readily as it slaughters Shias. Sheikh Nimr would have got precisely the same treatment from the thugs of the ‘Islamic State’ as he got from the Saudis – though without the mockery of a pseudo-legal trial which Sheikh Nimr was afforded and of which Amnesty complained.
Nimr’s execution will reinvigorate the Houthi rebellion in Yemen, which the Saudis invaded and bombed this year in an attempt to destroy Shia power there. It has enraged the Shia majority in Sunni-rules Bahrain. And Iran’s own clerics have already claimed that the beheading will cause the overthrow of the Saudi royal family.
It will also present the West with that most embarrassing of Middle Eastern problems: the continuing need to cringe and grovel to the rich and autocratic monarchs of the Gulf while gently expressing their unease at the grotesque butchery which the Saudi courts have just dished out to the Kingdom’s enemies. Had Isis chopped off the heads of Sunnis and Shias in Raqqa – especially that of a troublesome Shia priest like Sheikh Nimr – we can be sure that Dave Cameron would have been tweeting his disgust at so loathsome an act. But the man who lowered the British flag on the death of the last king of this preposterous Wahabi state will be using weasel words to address this bit of head-chopping.
Are the Saudis trying to destroy the Iranian nuclear agreement by forcing their Western allies to support even these latest outrages? – by Robert Fisk
Comment: Please read in full at the original site.
Allgemein / General
3.1.2016 – Al-Masdar News
The Battle for Yemen – Updated Map
Unknown to many, the Houthi uprising in Yemen actually began back in 2004. However, it took 10 years before Houthis were definitely able to put their name on the map; seemingly out of nowhere, they managed to surprise world audience by capturing the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. In early 2015, Houthi tribesmen sent the former Yemeni government in to exile in Saudi Arabia. While Houthis set up a government of their own in Sana’a, they also advanced deep south towards Aden where remaining government loyalists suddenly saw themselves inches from losing their last stronghold in the country.
As to combat the growing supremacy of Ansar Allah (Houthis), the predominately Sunni supporters of the former President Saleh teamed up with Ansar al-Shariah (al-Qaeda in Yemen) to stop the Shia-Houthi tribesmen capturing all of Yemen. When reports of the imminent capture of Aden reached Riyadh, the Saudi Royal Family embarked on a massive air bombardment campaign to defeat the Houthis and convinced many neighbouring countries to intervene militarily to defeat Houthi militants.
Mapping up the country: When reviewing a map of Yemen, looks can be decieving as the densily populated western part of the country holds far more strategic signifiance than the deserts in the east. In essence, the Aden-based government controls more square kilometers while Houthis control a larger part of the population. Nevertheless, the country is divided between four factions:
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/the-battle-for-yemen-updated-map/ | Al-Masdar News
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/the-battle-for-yemen-updated-map/
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
2.1.2016 – News of Yemen
#Saudi backed forces prevent a #WFP convoy from entering #Taiz city #Yemen
Saudi backed forces in Taiz have prevented WFP convoy of trucks full with food supplies and O2 from entering the Directorate of Al-Qahira today. The convoy came under fire when it reached the designated entry point as a start for more supplies to Taiz City. This convoy was supposed to be distributed as it was agreed, by waring factions in the city, by (The School Feeding Program) to people registered with the Social Welfare Program in that district of Taiz City.
According to one of the trucks drivers, the agreement was to make sure the food reached people registered with the Social Welfare Program in Al-Qahira district and the Oxygen Cylinder supplies where destined to Althawra hospital in Taiz.
He added that “the aid trucks came under fire when they were near areas controlled by Saudi backed resistance forces.
A security source said to News Of Yemen that some of the Saudi backed forces surprised everyone when they refused the supplies to be distributed by the School Feeding Program and insisted they, Saudi backed forces, be in charge of the whole distribution.
He added that the Houthis refused that the aid supplies be given directly to Saudi backed forces.
The Houthis insisted on the previous agreement that the aid must be distributed by the WFP or any independent organisation, like The School Feeding Program which all agreed to before, to be in charge of that convoy.
The convoy now is on hold in one of Taiz university’s compounds which is under Houthi control.
It has been very difficult for food supplies to reach Taiz city either because of the constant Saudi strikes targeting food and fuel truck between Hodeida and Taiz road Or by the street fights between the Houthis and the Saudi backed forces.
Kommentar: Die Berichte lasten die katastrophale Lage in Taiz nur oder einseitig den Huthis an. Die Dinge sind aber nicht so klar und die Rollen so klar verteilt, wie man hier sieht.
2.1.2016 – National Yemen
Infografik zur Lage in Taiz / Info graphic on the situation at Taiz.
https://twitter.com/nationalyemen/status/683386007824236544
UNO / UN
2.1.2016 – WAM
Yemeni official says UN agencies' insufficient attention to humanitarian disaster in Yemen is disappointing
An official source at the Yemeni Government's Higher Committee for Relief, today said it was disappointed that some United Nations agencies, namely those responsible for humanitarian aid and relief, are not giving enough attention to the humanitarian disaster in Yemen and the deadly siege laid by the rebel Houthi militia and forces loyal to now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh on Taiz governorate.
These UN agencies are ignoring the scale of the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, the source said.
The statement made yesterday by the WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, about the situation in Yemen and the siege on Taiz did not amount to the minimum stance expected from these international agencies, the source added.
The source said, "Failing, so far, to declare a position and expose the crime that Taiz is suffering because of the siege laid on it by the Houthi-Saleh rebel militias is unjustifiable and unacceptable by any logic."
http://www.wam.ae/en/news/[Arab]/1395289843546.html
Kommentar: WAM ist die Nachrichtenagentur der Emiratis, also spricht hier ein Vertreter der Hadi-Regierung. Er mag ja zumindest teilweise Recht haben, was die fehlende Aufmerksamkeit der UNO angeht – aber zumindest zum Teil doch anders als er es hier vermitteln will. Denn natürlich nutzt er seine Aussage wieder zur Propaganda gegen die Huthis. Er fordert ja hier von der Uno ein, sich gegen die Huthis zu positionieren und deren Blockade von Taiz zu verurteilen. Was er dabei einfach übergeht ist die viel größere Blockade, mit der die saudische Koalition das halbe Land, nicht nur eine Stadt, von jeder Versorgung abschneidet.
Comment: Well an understatement - Yemen is being ignored altogether. I heard yesterday that in Yemen they have set up a group to support the 124,000 displaced living in tents around Sanaa and they have NO international support. When they were interviewing one of the volunteers running this group he burst into tears with pain and frustration. How can this be happening in a world which is joined by Internet?????
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081247928694364
Friedensgespräche / Peace talks
3.1.2016 – Fars News
Senior Negotiator: US Main Cause of Failure of Yemeni Talks
A senior Yemeni peace negotiator blamed the US for the failure of the recent talks held in Switzerland to resolve the Arab country's crisis.
"As many western ambassadors have acknowledged the US support for Saudi Arabia resulted in the failure of this round of the negotiations," Yemen's Senior Politician Nasser Baqezqouz said on Sunday.
Baqezqouz was a senior negotiator in the recent peace talks held in the city of Biel in Switzerland in mid-December.
He noted that the US envoy played a negative role in the Switzerland talks.
"We went to Switzerland to help stop the Saudi aggression against the Yemeni nation and break the siege on 25 million people while the former fugitive President Mansour Hadi's representatives were looking for their own personal interests in Yemen," he said.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941013001128
Comment: Well, I guess there has to be truth in this, even though posted by and Iranian news agency. USA rules the world and peace or no peace is in American hands in most arenas.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081735628645594
Waffenstillstand / Truce
2.1.2016 – Deutsche Welle
Saudi-Arabien kündigt Waffenruhe im Jemen auf
Sie war immer brüchig, doch nun hat die arabische Militärkoalition unter saudischer Führung die Waffenruhe im Jemen offiziell beendet. Als Grund wurden anhaltende Rebellenangriffe auf saudiarabisches Gebiet genannt.
Die Waffenruhe sei am Samstag um 12.00 Uhr MEZ abgelaufen, erklärte die von Saudi-Arabien angeführte Militärallianz laut der amtlichen Nachrichtenagentur SPA. Die Huthi-Rebellen hätten immer wieder Attacken auf saudiarabische Städte und Grenzposten gestartet, durch die auch humanitäre Hilfseinsätze behindert worden seien, hieß es weiter.
Brüchige Waffenruhe
Mitte Dezember hatten die Bürgerkriegsparteien unter Vermittlung der Vereinten Nationen (UN) einen Waffenstilltand vereinbart - zum einen, um Friedensverhandlungen zu führen und zum anderen, um Nahrungs- und Medizinlieferungen für die notleidende Bevölkerung des Landes im Süden der arabischen Halbinsel zu ermöglichen. Doch stabil war die Waffenruhe nie.
http://www.dw.com/de/saudi-arabien-k%C3%BCndigt-waffenruhe-im-jemen-auf/a-18955316 siehe auch http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/jemen-saudi-arabien-und-verbuendete-erklaeren-waffenruhe-fuer-beendet-a-1070199.html
Kommentar: Die Waffenruhe war schon längst keine mehr. Diese ganze Erklärung ist eine Farce. Die Saudis und ihre Verbündeten haben selbst die Waffenruhe heftig gebrochen.
2.1.2016 – Reuters
Saudi-led coalition ending Yemen ceasefire, state news agency says
A Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing the Houthi movement in Yemen for nine months announced on Saturday the end of a ceasefire that began on Dec. 15, the Saudi state news agency SPA said, in a setback to attempts to end the conflict.
"The leadership of the coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen announces the end of the truce in Yemen beginning at 1400 (1100 GMT) on Saturday," the agency said.
"The coalition has been and still is keen to create the right conditions to find a peaceful solution," the statement said. But the ceasefire could not be maintained because of "the continuation of the Houthi militias and Saleh forces in violating it."
The statement charged that Houthis and Yemeni troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh had fired ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, targeted its border posts and shelled civilian areas where the Houthis are fighting pro-Saudi Yemeni forces.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-yemen-secusecurity-idUSKBN0UG09820160102
2.1.2016 – The National UAE
Saudi Arabia-led coalition announces end of Yemen ceasefire
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen announced the end on Saturday of a ceasefire that had been violated on a daily basis since it was declared last month.
The “coalition leadership announces the end of the truce in Yemen starting from 1400” local time on Saturday, the alliance said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The ceasefire announced on December 15 had been ended due to continuous rebel “attacks on the kingdom’s territories by firing ballistic missiles towards Saudi cities, targeting Saudi border posts, and hampering aid operations,” it said.
The rebels have also “continued to shell residents and kill and detain Yemeni civilians in cities under their control,” said the coalition.
“All this shows how unserious the militias and their allies are and their disregard for the lives of civilians, and how they have clearly exploited this truce to make gains.”
However, the coalition “was and is still eager on creating the suitable circumstances to find a peaceful solution in Yemen,” it said.
Comment: There had been no more ceasefire at all. The ceasefire had been severely broken by the Saudis and their allies themselves. The whole declaration is a farce.
Comment: There was no ceasefire - friends in Sanaa said that the bombs did not stop, although they reduced on the first two days and after that it was worse than before. The ceasefire was a condition of the Houthis attending the peace talks, and Hadi reluctantly agreed to it, but even on the first day the Saudi-led coalition were announcing gains, for example, in Al Jawf, Marib and parts of Taiz. They could not make gains unless they were not respecting the ceasefire - the Houthis said they would not come back to talks unless the UN condemned the violations by the Saudi-led coalition, and the UN condemned both sides, and they came back to the talks. The response of the Houthi-Saleh alliance made big gains in southwest of Saudi Arabia two days ago and the response of the Saudi-led coalition was to drop horrible bombs on Sanaa in particular for the past two days and nights. So saying 'they' are announcing the end of the ceasefire and blaming the Houthis is hardly credible.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081337612018729
Ex-President Saleh
2.1.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat
Bin Dagher to Asharq Al-Awsat: Russians Told Me of a plan for Saleh to Exit Yemen
Ahmed Obayed bin Dagher, Yemeni Presidential Advisor, revealed that Russia is contemplating on relieving former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from his plight in exchange of him abandoning Houthi rebels, and leaving them to their fate, or for both parties comply with peace.
Bin Dagher told Asharq Al-Awsat that he had met with the Russian Ambassador Vladimir Dedushkin, who informed him that Russia is still working within the frame of the Security Council’s resolution, and that Saleh himself represents an “issue”.
Bin Dagher and Dedushkin got together in the sidelines of a diplomatic meeting in Riyadh, “ he told me that he will be visiting Yemen to meet with Ali Abdullah Saleh, and I believe that he already did”, bin Dagher added referring to the Russian ambassador.
“Saleh has become an issue”, bin Dagher reported being told by ambassador Dedushkin, to whom he later responded with Russia’s capabilities of relieving Saleh from his plight, and advising him to exit leaving the Houthis to face their fate or comply with peace. “That’s what we are thinking of”, replied Dedushkin.
Moreover, Presidential advisor bin Dagher believes that Saleh “is looking for a way to drag Russians into Yemen. However, the visit that the Russian ambassador will be paying him will not play to his wishes. The Russians might propose for Saleh to safely exist Sana’a, given that the Americans, the British, and one of the Gulf countries have specially proposed the idea before, yet the former President refused.
Furthermore, bin Dagher adds “Saleh has felt defeat, over the past few days, perhaps for the first time he has heard the cannons close to the capital Sana’a” – by Nasser Al-Haqbani
http://english.aawsat.com/2016/01/article55346122/55346122
Comment: Well, this is in a Saudi newspaper,so guess you have to read this in that context. Of course there might be truth in it... or maybe not. You can't believe anything in this war... I'm still giggling about the rumours about Al Jubair and his gender realignment surgery!
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081343018684855
Houthis
2.1.2016 – Reuters
Yemen's Houthis condemn execution of 'holy warrior' Nimr
Yemen's Houthi movement mourned a Shi'ite cleric executed by Saudi Arabia on Saturday as a "holy warrior", in a strong rebuke of the Sunni-dominated kingdom by the Arabian Peninsula's most powerful armed Shi'ite group, a major Saudi foe.
"The (royal) Al Saud family executed today the holy warrior, the grand cleric Nimr Baqr al-Nimr after a mock trial ... a flagrant violation of human rights," an obituary on the Houthis' official Al Maseera website said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-saudi-security-idUSKBN0UG05Y20160102 = http://www.trust.org/item/20160102093145-3uf0h/ = http://news.yahoo.com/yemens-houthis-condemn-execution-holy-warrior-nimr-093012328.html
Südjemen / Southern Yemen
3.1.2016 – Al-Masdar News
ISIS emerges in Yemen – city captured and camps established
“We’ve arrived”: those are the cynical words uttered by the Islamic State’s wing in Yemen after they released their very first regional propaganda video in which they threatened Shia-Houthi tribesmen. Now, ISIS has established itself in the town of Lawdar near Aden after they quickly defeated demoralized government soldiers in the area. Furthermore, ISIS has set up several camps in undisclosed locations in the deserts of Yemen to train new recruits.
This newly formed Yemeni ISIS army is believed to have emerged from local Ansar al-Sharia (al-Qaeda) defectors; many whom are of Saudi descent. Currently, the Islamic State can boast of control in areas of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Nigeria and now Yemen as well. The stated long-term goal of self-proclaimed ISIS Caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, is to capture the whole of Africa and the Middle East within the next five years.
Put together, the Islamic State, Ansar al-Shariah and their affiliates are now control of an estimated 15-20 % of the country. However, the strongest factions in Yemen still remain Ansar Allah (Houthis) who have established themselves in the capital of Sana’a and loyalists of the Aden-based president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Remarkably, the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi militants, which includes 10 different African and Middle Eastern countries, stubbornly refuses to target jihadists fighters from ISIS and Ansar al-Shariah – by Chris Tomson
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-emerges-in-yemen-city-captured-and-camps-established/
3.1.2016 –AP
YEMENI GOVERNMENT FORCES CLASH WITH MILITANTS OVER ADEN PORT
Yemeni government forces clashed Sunday with militant groups for control over the strategic Port of Aden in the southern city with the same name, Yemeni government officials said.
The officials say the militants - who are using the port to run lucrative smuggling operations - have refused to hand over the port to the government. They accuse the militants of receiving support from al-Qaida.
Residents in a neighborhood near the port described seeing militiamen deploy in the area and hearing clashes between the militia fighters and government forces.
The officials said heavy clashes are taking place at the port's main gate.
The new governor's plan targets recapturing police stations and other state buildings currently controlled by armed groups, according to a security official – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-03-08-05-12 = http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/01/03/yemeni-government-forces-clash-with-militants-over-aden-port/78228540/ and see also http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/fighting-erupts-control-yemen-aden-port-160103135753845.html
Comment: The remains of Aden are being struggled over at this moment - extremist Sunni militias are in charge and that is being challenged by the Yemeni government. The local militas - Al Hirak have ceded control of their areas to the government recently, but most of the Al Hirak fighters refuse to join the Yemen army because they are intent on Southern independence. So although not fighting, they are still around and with the same notions of sovereignty.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081737351978755
Comment: The ongoing work in Aden to get rid of the militias that helped them throw out the Houthi-Saleh alliance. It would have been much easier to just negotiate with the Houthis surely?
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081848785300945
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Wikileaks, Saudi cables: https://wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/
4.1.2016 – Die Welt
Saudi-Arabien bricht diplomatische Beziehungen zum Iran ab
Wütende Iraner stürmen die saudische Botschaft, der oberste Führer des Landes droht der Ölmonarchie. Jetzt reagiert Saudi-Arabien – und bricht die diplomatischen Beziehungen zum Iran ab.
4.1.2016 – Telepolis
Machtspiele: Saudi-Arabien verschärft Konflikt mit Iran
Der westliche Alliierte, der angeblich für Stabilität steht, erweist sich immer stärker als Garant für Instabilität - auch in Syrien
Ganz offensichtlich ging es den saudischen Herrschern, die seit Monaten einen Krieg im Jemen gegen die dortigen Schiiten führen, um eine Provokation, die auch gezündet hat, da Teheran sich als Hüter der Schiiten sieht. Ajatollah Ali Chamenei, der oberste geistliche Führer Irans, ergriff die Gelegenheit, um der saudischen Regierung schnell mit der "Rache Gottes" zu drohen (Ayatollah Khamenei: Göttliche Rache für das Todesurteil). Die Revolutionsgarden drohten mit "Vergeltung", in Teheran stürmten wütende Demonstranten die allerdings leere saudische Botschaft, zerstörten Möbel und legten Feuer, bis sie von der Polizei wieder vertrieben wurden. Der iranische Präsident Hassan Rouhani verurteilte die Stürmung als nicht akzeptabel und rechtfertigbar.
Im Osten Saudi-Arabien kam es zu Protesten der schiitischen Minderheit, gegen die die saudischen Sicherheitskräfte offenbar gewohnt scharf vorgehen. Proteste gab es auch wieder von der schiitischen Mehrheit in Bahrain, die die Führung des Landes mit der militärischen Hilfe Saudi-Arabiens 2011 brutal unterdrückten.
Die Erregung dient vor allem den auf Konflikt ausgerichteten konservativen Fraktionen in Saudi-Arabien und Iran. Saudi-Arabien konnte sich so einer Solidarität der sunnitischen Länder sicher sein, die sich wie Katar, die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, der Sudan, Ägypten oder die sunnitische Regierung im Jemen hinter die Monarchie stellten.
Saudi-Arabien unter Führung des Königs Salman nutzte den provozierten Konflikt, um die Spannung mit Iran zu vertiefen. Gestern verkündete der saudische Außenminister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir den Abbruch aller diplomatischen Beziehungen mit dem Iran und forderte das iranische diplomatische Personal auf, das Land binnen 48 Stunden zu verlassen. Teheran sei eine regionale Bedrohung, würde Waffen schmuggeln, den Terrorismus unterstützen und habe nach 2001 al-Qaida-Mitglieder beherbergt. Die saudischen Diplomaten wurden aus Teheran abgezogen und befinden sich bereits in Dubai.
Mit dem verschärften Konflikt zwischen den beiden Regionalmächten wird, was Saudi-Arabien, das aufgrund des Ölpreises unter schwindenden Geldemengen leidet, wohl auch beabsichtigte, eine Lösung in Syrien erst einmal unmöglich. Schwierig dürfte die Situation auch im Irak werden.
Saudi-Arabien könnte also darauf setzen, dass US-Präsident Obama, der die Annäherung an den Iran mitgetragen hat, bald das Feld räumen muss und dass die Republikaner eher auf der Seite Saudi-Arabiens stehen – von Florian Rötzer
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/47/47018/1.html
3.1.2016 – Handelsblatt
Wichtige Fragen und Antworten zur Hinrichtung und den Auswirkungen
Wer war Scheich Nimr al-Nimr?
Warum ist seine Hinrichtung so wichtig?
Sein Tod soll all jenen als Warnung dienen, die daran denken, Reformen und politische Freiheiten in Saudi-Arabien zu fordern. Darüber hinaus sind saudische Schiiten angesprochen, die behaupten, von den Behörden des Königreichs diskriminiert zu werden. Viele ultrakonservative Sunniten betrachten die Schiiten als Ketzer. Einige schiitische Moscheen und Gebetsplätze im Osten des Landes waren 2015 von sunnitischen Extremisten angegriffen worden.
Es wird erwartet, dass sich durch seinen Tod die Stellvertreterkriege um die regionale Vorherrschaft zwischen Saudi-Arabien und dem Iran verschärfen werden. Die beiden Rivalen unterstützen derzeit die jeweils gegnerischen Seiten in den Bürgerkriegen in Syrien und im Jemen.
Wie wird sich die Exekution Al-Nimrs auf die sunnitisch-schiitischen Beziehungen auswirken?
3.1.2016 – Berliner Zeitung u.a.
Das saudische Königshaus hat Angst
Kein Zweifel: Das saudische Königshaus hat Angst, dass es ihm so ergehen könnte, wie es Hosni Mubarak in Ägypten erging oder Baschar al-Assad in Syrien. Es hat Angst vor einem Machtverlust, der vor zehn Jahren noch unvorstellbar schien. Die Folge: Das Königshaus schlägt um sich.
Für den Westen ist das heikel, um das Mindeste zu sagen. Einerseits ist es richtig, den Saudis deutlich die Meinung zu sagen – in Sachen Menschenrechtsverletzungen und Islamismus-Export. Mit den Waffenlieferungen nach Riad muss Schluss sein. Andererseits ist die Alternative zum schlingernden Königshaus keineswegs die Demokratie, sondern mutmaßlich das Chaos. Auch in Saudi-Arabien gibt es schließlich keine demokratischen Traditionen, an die sich anknüpfen ließe. Der Iran jedenfalls will keine Demokratie beim Konkurrenten. Es will ihn schwächen und sich selbst stärken. Sonst nichts. Jetzt ist guter Rat teuer. Lediglich eines ist klar: Der Streit muss entschärft werden, mit allen Mitteln. Sonst wird die übrige Welt die Folgen noch empfindlich spüren. – von Markus Decker
http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik/kommentar-zum-streit-zwischen-saudi-arabien-und-dem-iran-das-saudische-koenigshaus-hat-angst,10808018,33049226.html?piano_d=1 = http://www.mz-web.de/politik/kommentar-zum-streit-zwischen-saudi-arabien-und-dem-iran-das-saudische-koenigshaus-hat-angst,20642162,33049226.html = http://www.fr-online.de/aktuelle-kommentare/hinrichtungen-in-saudi-arabien-die-mutter-aller-konflikte,30085308,33048710.html
Kommentar: Warum sollte man in Deutschland überhaupt noch mehr als eine Zeitung lesen?????
3.1.2016 – Süddeutsche Zeitung
König Salman gehen die Freunde aus
Für [die Saudi-Herrscher] läuft es schlecht. Der König vergreist sehr, sehr öffentlich, während sein Sohn und mögliche Nachfolger hitzköpfig und unerfahren schattenregieren. Die sozialen Spannungen in dem früher märchenhaft reichen Land steigen parallel zum Schwinden der Öleinnahmen. […] Außenpolitisch ist die Bilanz ebenso miserabel, den Saudis gehen die Freunde aus.
Saudi-Arabien wird wahrgenommen als ein Nordkorea mit Wüste, aber ohne Atombombe – von Thomas Avenarius
3.1.2016 – Kölner Stadtanzeiger u.a.
Riad spielt mit dem Feuer
Mit seiner Entscheidung, direkt zum Jahresauftakt 2016 den prominenten schiitischen Prediger Nimr al-Nimr zusammen mit 46 Terror-Verurteilten hinrichten zu lassen, provoziert Saudi-Arabiens sunnitische Führung ein politisch-religiöses Erdbeben – zwischen Sunniten und Schiiten in der Region, aber auch im Verhältnis zu den eigenen schiitischen Landsleuten. Die Europäische Union warnte Riad vor „gefährlichen Konsequenzen“. Die USA befürchten die Verschärfung konfessioneller Spannungen in einer Zeit, „wo diese dringend reduziert werden müssten“.
Die drei Millionen Schiiten im Osten Saudi-Arabiens, unter deren Siedlungsgebieten praktisch die gesamten Ölschätze des Landes liegen, fühlen sich seit Jahrzehnten diskriminiert und als Bürger zweiter Klasse behandelt. Sie haben keinen Zugang zu hohen politischen Ämtern, wenig gut bezahlte Jobs und kaum Aufstiegschancen. Sie leiden unter viel zu geringen staatlichen Investitionen in Wohnungsbau, Schulen, Universitäten und Wirtschaft. Seit dem saudischen Krieg im Jemen rufen sunnitische Kleriker zum Heiligen Krieg gegen die schiitischen Huthis im Nachbarland auf. In ihren Hasspredigten bedrohen sie auch die eigene Minderheit und prangern sie an als fünfte Kolonne Teherans.
Für viele saudische Schiiten war der exekutierte Scheich Nimr al-Nimr ein Vorkämpfer für ihre Rechte, der ihnen mit seinen charismatischen Predigten eine Stimme gab. 2012 ließ das Königshaus den wortgewaltigen Geistlichen verhaften, der dabei angeschossen wurde. Tagelange Ausschreitungen in seiner Heimatstadt Awamiyya bei Katif waren die Folge. Im Oktober 2014 verurteilte ein Anti-Terrorgerichtshof den 56-Jährigen zum Tode mit anschließender Kreuzigung. Er habe religiöse Konflikte geschürt und „Ungehorsam gegenüber dem Herrscher“ gezeigt, hieß es zur Begründung des Scharia-Verdikts.
Immer mehr Aktivisten müssen wie Nimr al-Nimr vor Anti-Terror-Gerichte, ein Signal an alle Kritiker, dass auch sie auf dem Schafott enden könnten – von Martin Gehlen
http://www.ksta.de/politik/hinrichtungen-in-saudi-arabien-riad-spielt-mit-dem-feuer,15187246,33050628.html = http://www.badische-zeitung.de/ausland-1/eine-politik-der-eisernen-faust--115805498.html
3.1.2016 – The New York Times
Iranian Protesters Ransack Saudi Embassy After Execution of Shiite Cleric
Saudi officials said the mass execution, one of the largest in the kingdom in decades, was aimed at deterring violence against the state. But analysts said that the grouping of Sheikh Nimr with hardened jihadists was a warning to domestic dissidents that could ripple across the region.
The execution of Sheikh Nimr is widely seen as part of the growing rivalry, and Shiite leaders in different countries — in Iran, in particular — condemned it.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported late Saturday that the Saudi Foreign Ministry had summoned the Iranian ambassador to Riyadh to give him “a statement of protest in severe language” because of the “aggressive” statements made by Iran about the executions. The ministry called them “blatant interference in the kingdom’s affairs.”
Saudi officials denied that sectarianism had played any role in the executions.
“This means that Saudi Arabia will not hesitate to punish all terrorists,” said Anwar Eshki, a retired major general in the Saudi Army who is the chairman of a research center in Jidda.
When asked about Sheikh Nimr, General Eshki replied, “In Saudi Arabia, there is no difference between the criminals.”
In recent weeks, the Saudi government appeared to be preparing the public for the executions. Reports that they were imminent had appeared on Saudi news websites, and Al Arabiya, a Saudi-owned satellite channel, recently aired a multipart documentary that dramatized the kingdom’s fight against Al Qaeda.
The executions came as Saudi Arabia sought to battle comparisons between its application of Shariah law and that of the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group – by Ben Hubbard
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-executes-47-sheikh-nimr-shiite-cleric.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/saudi-arabia-executes-47-people-including-prominent-shiite-cleric/2016/01/02/01bfee06-198e-4eb6-ab5e-a5bcc8fb85c6_story.html
3.1.2016 – Infowars
SAUDI EXECUTION OF SHI’A CLERIC AL-NIMR INTENDED TO PROVOKE IRAN
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was from al-Awamiyah, an eastern province in Saudi Arabia. Although critical of the Saudi government and its treatment of the Shi’a minority in the country, he was not an especially militant opponent of the al-Saud royal family.
According to a cable posted on the WikiLeaks website, in 2008 during a meeting with US officials in Riyadh al-Nimr made an attempt to
…distance himself from previously reported pro-Iranian and anti-American statements, instead adopting a less radical tone on topics such as the relationship between Iran and the Saudi Shi’a, and American foreign policy. Arguing that he is portrayed publicly as much more radical than the true content of his words and beliefs, the Sheikh also espoused other conciliatory ideas such as fair political decision-making over identity-based politics, the positive impact of elections, and strong “American ideals” such as liberty and justice. Despite this more moderate tone, Al-Nimr reasserted his ardent opposition to what he described as the authoritarianism of the reactionary al-Saud regime, stating he would always support “the people” in any conflict with the government.
The execution came as a surprise to the sheikh’s brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, who told the Associated Press the execution came as a “big shock” because “we thought the authorities could adopt a political approach to settle matters without bloodshed.”
Other WikiLeaks documents from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry reveal the Saudi royal family’s fanatical obsession with Iran and Shi’a Islam and its zeal in spreading its Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam.
“While the documents do not show any Saudi support for militant activity, critics argue that the kingdom’s campaign against Shiites — and its promotion of a strict form of Islam — have eroded pluralism in the Muslim world and added to the tensions fueling conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere,” The New York Times reported in July.
Saudi nationalism fostered by the al-Saud ruling clique produced the intervention in Yemen against the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group from Sa’dah.
“Ever since the Saudi-led coalition launched operations in Yemen in late March, the kingdom’s Grand Mufti, Abdel Aziz Al Sheikh, has called for national support and conscription. This is significant as it is the Al Sheikh family, the official interpreter of Wahabism, that provides the religious foundation for Saudi nationalism,” notes Theodore Karasik, writing for The National.
http://www.infowars.com/saudi-execution-of-shia-cleric-al-nimr-intended-to-provoke-iran/
2.1.2016 – Professor Ali
An Open Letter To Saudi Arabia
I do despise you for how you have treated Tamils, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, East Africans and other racial groups who constitute a modern day slave labor system in your nation, complete with the viciousness of the days of old; and yet this is not the main reason for this letter.
I do despise you for how my friend (name omitted for security reasons) and his family are brutalized by the elites of your nation, despite being Saudi himself, and have no recourse for justice, since you have a system that blames the victim, when that victim represents a minority of any kind; and yet this is not the main reason for this letter.
As an American I hold you responsible for all the 9/11 hijackers who came from your country. I hold you responsible for Bin Laden and your export of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which has hijacked the lives of many people, including Americans overseas and continues to hold our tax dollars hostage in military expenditures. I hold you responsible for the Janjaweed, for Boko Haram and for ISIS, all of whom you directly or tacitly support.
But these are not the greatest reasons for why I hate you.
As a Muslim I hold you responsible for hijacking Islam. In your backwards pseudo-intellectual interpretation of the faith, you have birthed every single example of Islamic terror we see in the world and have made the word terror inextricably connected to Islam in ignorant minds as a result. You gave birth to Islamophobia, because your form of Islam is one that we should fear. You hijacked hajj, the holy pilgrimage, which you don’t even hold on the proper day and your mismanagement has cost thousands of lives.
And still these are not the primary reasons for my disdain.
I hold you responsible as a human being, who sees your citizens, impish oil sheikhs, who travel to places like Los Angeles and London, prey upon women with brutal sexual violence and escape their crimes by using the façade of diplomatic immunity and paying off those who compromise their own values for filthy oil dollars. I am in disbelief that women and both religious and ethnic minorities are treated with greater disdain and inequity than that experienced by those groups before Islam.
The greatest reason for my disgust of your regime is the simple fact that all of these valid critiques are looked upon you as a sources of pride and that this pride fuels even greater abuses such as your financial and military support for the genocide in Bahrain and the extermination of the Houthi people in Yemen. The news of your execution of Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, whose only crime was to ask for open elections, speaks volumes that you are a regime who is so wrapped up in the cloak of your perceived self-importance that you strike out at any that you can who disagree with you. You destroy shrines and world heritage sites to make space for your own aggrandizement, but also because those places represent legitimacy and you know you’re an illegitimate ruler of Holy Lands.
There are those Americans who read this and wonder why I am focusing all my energy on you, when there are so many other despotic regimes in the Middle East—and it is because you are the reason for many of their existences as well and I’d rather focus my attention on the head of the beast rather than its tentacles for if you kill the head, the rest will fall – by Professor A.L.I.
http://professorali.com/2016/01/02/an-open-letter-to-saudi-arabia/
2.1.2016 – Press TV Iran
Saudi armored vehicles heading to Qatif: Report
Saudi armored vehicles are headed to the restive city of Qatif in Eastern Province after the execution of prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a report says.
Hundreds of anti-riot personnel carriers set off for the city on Saturday to quell any potential protest on the part of its Shia population against the execution, according to Lebanon’s Al Ahd news website.
Security forces have also been alerted in other Shia-populated cities across Saudi Arabia.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Nimr’s execution, who was put to death alongside 46 others, earlier in the day, citing the kingdom’s Interior Ministry.
The ministry said those executed had been found guilty of involvement in “terrorism.”
Following the implementation of the cleric’s death sentence, all security outposts were evacuated across the country and all police stations shut down amid fears of Shia outrage.
An outspoken critic of Riyadh’s policies, Nimr was shot and arrested by the Saudi police in the Qatif region of the kingdom’s Shia-dominated Eastern Province in 2012.
He was charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security, making anti-government speeches, and defending political prisoners. He had rejected all the charges as baseless.
In 2014, a Saudi court sentenced the clergyman to death, provoking widespread global condemnations.
The sentence was upheld last March by the appeal court of Saudi Arabia. Back at the time, UK-based rights body Amnesty International called the sentence “appalling,” saying the verdict should be quashed since it was politically motivated.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/01/02/444169/Saudi-Arabia-execution-unrest-Qatif-Nimr-crackdown/
2.1.2016 – Deutschlandradio
SCHIITEN VERURTEILEN HINRICHTUNG VON RELIGIÖSEM FÜHRER
Im Mittleren Osten gibt es großen Protest, weil Saudi-Arabien einen berühmten schiitischen Geistlichen hingerichtet hat.
Saudi-Arabien hat heute 47 Menschen hingerichtet, darunter auch den schiitischen Führer Nimr al-Nimr. Der hatte 2011 Proteste von Schiiten angeführt, gegen die Unterdrückung durch die sunnitische Mehrheit in Saudi-Arabien.
Schiiten im Mittleren Osten kritisieren die Hinrichtung als Verbrechen. Reaktionen kamen unter anderem aus dem Iran, dem Irak, dem Libanon und dem Jemen. Der Iran drohte Saudi-Arabien mit Konsequenzen und sagte, die Hinrichtung sei politisch und religiös motiviert gewesen. Schiitische Geistliche im Libanon sprachen von einem schweren Fehler. Schiitische Politiker im Irak sagten, dass die Hinrichtung dazu führt, dass Schiiten und Sunniten gegeneinander aufgebracht werden.
In Bahrain, wo Schiiten die Mehrheit stellen, gingen Menschen aus Protest auf die Straße. Die Polizei ging mit Tränengas gegen sie vor.
2.1.2016 – Kronenzeitung
Saudi-Arabien: 47 Exekutionen an nur einem Tag
Saudi-Arabien hat am Samstag 47 Menschen wegen Terrordelikten hingerichtet. Unter anderem wurde der prominente schiitische Geistliche Scheich Nimr Baker al-Nimr exekutiert, wie das Innenministerium in Riad mitteilte. Nimr hatte zu den Anführern der Schiiten-Proteste im Osten des Königreichs gehört, die im Zuge des Arabischen Frühlings 2011 ausgebrochen waren. Der Iran kritisierte die Hinrichtung des Klerikers scharf. Diese droht die Spannungen zwischen Sunniten und Schiiten in der Region weiter zu verschärfen.
Nimr war ein entschiedener Gegner des sunnitischen Königshauses. Er hatte während der Proteste im Jahr 2011 die Abspaltung der mehrheitlich schiitischen Regionen Katif und Al-Ihsaa im Osten des Landes befürwortet. Vor einem Jahr wurde er wegen Aufwiegelung, Ungehorsams und Waffenbesitzes von einem Sondertribunal zum Tode verurteilt. Ende Oktober wurde das Todesurteil vom Obersten Gerichtshof Saudi-Arabiens bestätigt.
Der Iran verurteilte am Samstag die Hinrichtung Nimrs scharf. "Anstatt sich mit den IS-Terroristen zu beschäftigen, die die Region und die ganze Welt gefährden, lassen die Saudis eine Persönlichkeit wie Nimr hinrichten", sagte Außenamtssprecher Jaber Ansari. Die rein politisch und religiös motivierte Tat reflektiere die irrationale und verantwortungslose Politik der Saudis. Die Hinrichtung werde für das Königreich "Konsequenzen" haben. Bereits zuvor hatte es aus Teheran geheißen, im Falle einer Exekution Nimrs werde Saudi-Arabien einen "hohen Preis zahlen".
Auch führende Schiiten aus dem Irak und dem Libanon zeigten sich am Samstag empört über die Hinrichtungen. Im Golfstaat Bahrain kam es zu Protesten, die Polizei feuerte in dem Ort Abu-Saiba nahe der Hauptstadt Manama Tränengas auf Dutzende Demonstranten ab. Die aufgebrachte Menge hielt Bilder von Nimr in die Höhe. Auch Schiiten im indischen Kaschmir demonstrierten gegen das Vorgehen der Führung in Riad.
Saudi-Arabien hingegen verteidigte die Exekutionen. "Diese Menschen folgten den Fußstapfen des Teufels. Durch ihre terroristischen Taten ist unschuldiges Blut vergossen worden mit dem Ziel, die Stabilität in diesem Land zu erschüttern", teilte das Innenministerium in Riad mit.
Saudi-Arabien hatte 2015 so viele Todesurteile vollstreckt wie seit 20 Jahren nicht mehr.
2.1.2016 – The Guardian
Saudi execution of Shia cleric sparks outrage in Middle East
Iranian government and religious leaders say killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr will have serious repercussions for royal family
The Iranian government and religious leaders across the Middle East have condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric and warned of repercussions that could bring down the country’s royal family.
In a serious escalation of religious and diplomatic tensions in the region, councils and clerics in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon said the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr would prompt widespread anger.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a leading Iranian cleric, said repercussions would bring down the Saudi ruling family.
He told the Mehr news agency: “I have no doubt that this pure blood will stain the collar of the House of Saud and wipe them from the pages of history. The crime of executing Sheikh Nimr is part of a criminal pattern by this treacherous family … the Islamic world is expected to cry out and denounce this infamous regime as much as it can.”
The interior ministry statement began with verses from the Qur’an justifying the use of execution, and state television showed footage of the aftermath of al-Qaida attacks in the last decade. The Saudi grand mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, appeared on television soon after to describe the executions as just.
2.1.2016 – ABC News from AP
Saudi Executes 47, Including Top Shiite Cleric Nimr Al-Nimr
Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including al-Qaida detainees and a prominent Shiite cleric who rallied protests against the government.
The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is expected to deepen discontent among Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority and heighten sectarian tensions across the region.
Saudi Arabia's top cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh said the executions were carried out in line with Islamic law and the need to safeguard the kingdom's security. He described the executions as a "mercy to the prisoners" because it would save them from committing more evil acts and prevent chaos.
Islamic scholars around the world hold vastly different views on the application of the death penalty in Islamic Shariah law. Saudi judges adhere to one of the strictest interpretations, a Sunni Muslim ideology referred to as Wahhabism.
Influential Shiite figures and groups across the region were swift to condemn al-Nimr's execution, with Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran describing it as "irresponsible."
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jaberi Ansari was quoted on the state-owned English-language Press TV warning that the Saudi monarchy would pay a heavy price for its policies. A senior Iranian cleric, Hossein Nouri Hamedani, said in a statement broadcast on state television that the region should expect "both Shiite and Sunni Muslims to react."
In Iraq, influential Shiite militia Asaib Ahl Al-Haq called on the government to reconsider allowing Saudi Arabia to keep its newly reopened embassy in Baghdad; the Saudi embassy was reopened Friday for the first time in more nearly 25 years.
A Saudi lawyer in the eastern region of the kingdom told The Associated Press that in addition to al-Nimr, three other Shiite political detainees were executed Saturday.
The Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah issued a statement calling al-Nimr's execution an "assassination" and a "ugly crime."
The group added that those who carry the "moral and direct responsibility for this crime are the United States and its allies who give direct protection to the Saudi regime and cover its crimes against its (Saudi) people and people of the region."
Advocacy organization Reprieve, which works against the death penalty worldwide, said two out of the four Shiite activists executed were teenagers when they were arrested.
Al-Nimr, who was in his 50s, had been a vocal critic of Bahrain's monarchy, which forcibly suppressed protests in 2011 with the help of Saudi troops. He was popular among disgruntled Shiite youth in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Al-Nimr never denied the political charges against him, but maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence – by ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI AND AYA BATRAWY
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/state-tv-saudi-arabia-executed-47-criminals-36054451
Kommentar: Die Hinrichtung der prominenten Schiiten sollte nicht nur nach innen abschreckend wirken, sondern auch nach außen hin gegenüber dem Iran und den Schiiten im Irak, im Libanon, im Jemen und gegenüber den Alewiten in Syrien: Die Saudis führen den Religionskrieg gegen euch ohne jede Rücksicht.
Comment: This execution was politically motivated - Nimr Al Nimr was the a cleric for the Shia population in Saudi Arabia, who was said to be very outspoken about the oppression of Shia in Saudi Arabia. The Shia live in the east of Saudi Arabia, next to Iran, and the Saudis have a neurosis about this group separating from KSA and joining Iran - taking the most productive oil deposits with them. Nimr's nephew is also on death row for attending a peaceful demonstration when he was 17 years old. No wonder there is no protest in Saudi about the war in Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081339942018496
Comment: Haykal Bafana says "Saudi beheading 47 "terrorists" : Take note that under Saudi counter-terrorism law, insulting king Salman or any dead royal family member is also defined as terrorism.
Since I've written multiple reiterations in various languages of the phrase "fuck you, ya Salman", I am a terrorist by Saudi "law". Enough to chop my head off 12 times.
Atheists get their heads chopped off as terrorists too, under Saudi "law". Where did these monkeys go to law school?"
These are the people to whom we provide terrible weapons. Our UK government says Saudi Arabians approve of this beheadings law. Oh yes, and I guess that those who object would not worry too much about buying a new hat.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081344895351334
See also:
11.7.2015 – Memri TV
Saudi Ayatollah Shiekh Nimr Al-Nimr Dares Saudi Regime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bRh_-CkBgE&sns=fb
Comment by Judith Brown: Wow what a courageous and righteous man - and such a powerful speaker. No wonder they feared him. This is why he has died. The backlash is that I had never seen this man speak before - and I guess neither had you. Now I know who he was, and what he stood for. So beheadings him means his fame will spread, and he will be more powerful in death than in life.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154006575098641
7.10.2015 – International Business Times
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr crucifixion: Defiant Saudi Arabia rejects international 'interference' in protester's crucifixion
The Saudi Arabian embassy in the UK has released a statement in which it rejects "any form of interference in its internal affairs" regarding the case of 21-year-old dissident Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to death by beheading for engaging in pro-democracy protests.
Nimr, the nephew of a vocal Shia cleric and activist, was arrested in 2012, when he was 17, for taking part in a protest. According to human rights organisation Reprieve, he was forced to sign a confession under torture and has since been sentenced to death on a diverse set of charges, including attacking police, breaking allegiance to the king, setting up terror cells, rioting and robbing a pharmacy.
Under Saudi Arabia's draconian legal system, he is to beheaded and his body crucified in public. The case has triggered uproar worldwide – by Gianluca Mezzofiore
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ali-mohammed-al-nimr-crucifixion-defiant-saudi-arabia-rejects-international-interference-1522958 see also http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ali-al-nimr-awaits-his-execution-in-a-saudi-prison/
Großbritannien / Great Britain
3.1.2016 – The Guardian
UK arms exports escape scrutiny under Tory government
MPs raise questions about delay in setting up Commons committee on arms exports following general election
Arms sales from the UK have not been subject to independent scrutiny for more than nine months after the mysterious disappearance of the Commons watchdog on the export of weapons and military equipment.
MPs have begun to raise concerns about the fate of the committee on arms export controls, which was not re-established at the beginning of this parliament last May – by Rowena Mason
3.1.2016 – The Independent
Here is the British government's meek statement on Saudi Arabia's execution of 47
David Cameron has been accused of "deafening" silence on Saudi Arabia's decision to execute 47 people on terrorism charges on Saturday morning.
With sectarian tensions rising across the Middle East region, including the Saudi embassy being ransacked in Iran's capital Tehran, Number 10 left it down to the foreign office to issue this statement:
“The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. The death penalty undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent.
The foreign secretary regularly raises human rights issues with his counterparts in countries of concern, including Saudi Arabia. We seek to build strong and mature relationships so that we can be candid with each other about those areas on which we do not agree, including on human rights.”
In its editorial this weekend, our sister paper the Independent on Sunday described the statement as "vague" and "feeble in the extreme":
The death penalty is abhorrent and our leaders and diplomats should say so at every opportunity, but this is a particularly shocking example.
The Saudi law of January 2014 does not merely criminalise dissent, it defines it as terrorism and imposes the harshest penalties.
The early silence from Mr Cameron was deafening, and the failure of the Foreign Office to put out more than a vague statement of disapproval of the death penalty was feeble in the extreme – by Evan Bartlett
3.1.2016 – The Independent
Saudi Arabia executions: The death penalty is abhorrent and our leaders should say so at every opportunity
It would enhance Britain’s standing in the world if our Government condemns the beheading of 47 people in clear and forthright terms
The death penalty is abhorrent and our leaders and diplomats should say so at every opportunity, but this is a particularly shocking example. The Saudi law of January 2014 does not merely criminalise dissent, it defines it as terrorism and imposes the harshest penalties. The early silence from Mr Cameron was deafening, and the failure of the Foreign Office to put out more than a vague statement of disapproval of the death penalty was feeble in the extreme. This is all the more disappointing because, a few days after the awkward interview already quoted, Mr Cameron sided with Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, to resolve a Cabinet dispute with Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to cancel a contract to supply prison services to Saudi Arabia.
It was after that decision that the Saudi ambassador to London wrote that he felt there had been “an alarming change in the way Saudi Arabia is discussed in Britain”. If the ambassador is alarmed, this confirms that British disapproval does count for something.
We had hoped that the cancellation of the prisons contract might mark a recalibration in our relationship with Saudi Arabia. It would make sense, even in cynical terms, over the medium to long term, to downgrade it.
The Independent on Sunday understands that compromises are needed in life and diplomacy. We do not advocate the end of the British arms industry, or a foreign policy that refuses to work with any government that fails to live up to the best human rights norms. But we believe that it would enhance Britain’s standing in the world if our leaders would condemn the Saudi government in clear and forthright terms.
2.1.2016 – Green Party
Natalie Bennett: Saudi executions are the acts of an ‘outlaw regime’
Söldner / Mercenaries
3.1.2016 – Hispan TV
Mueren dos agentes estadounidense y francés de Blackwater en Yemen
La televisión estatal yemení informa de la muerte de dos agentes de la empresa militar estadounidense Blackwater, de nacionalidades estadounidense y francesa, en la provincia suroccidental de Taiz.
Según un informe de este domingo de la cadena yemení Al-Masirah, como resultado de los ataques del Ejército yemení contra las posiciones enemigas en la ciudad de Dhubab en la citada provincia, se dio muerte a decenas de elementos mercenarios, entre ellos dos agentes de Blackwater.
http://hispantv.com/newsdetail/Yemen/199628/yemen-blackwater-taiz-arabia-saudita
Propaganda
3.1.2016 – WAM
Yemen condemns attacks on Saudi embassy, consulate in Iran
The Yemeni government has condemned the storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi Consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad, and the starting of fires at the two Saudi diplomatic posts yesterday as a crime. It also declared Yemen's full support for the Saudi Arabia's anti-terror measures.
In a statement, Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, said, "The attack on the Kingdom's embassy in Tehran is a crime and in violation of regional and international laws, norms and agreements and is a continuation of Iran's hostile policy towards the Arab Nation that was demonstrated (by acts) in a number of Arab countries, including in the Arabian Gulf region and Yemen."
"Yemen, which has been suffering from all forms of terrorism, extremism and foreign interference, backs the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's right to protect its security and stability in line with its own laws," he added.
The Yemeni minister also reiterated Yemen's full support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in any measures it takes to combat extremism, terrorism and violence.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/arab/1395289899934.html and see also https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2480693&Language=en
Kommentar: Jemens “Präsident” Hadi als Sprachrohr der Saudis und als nichts mehr.
3.1.2016 – EastAfro
“Thank Eritrea” Signs Floods Streets of Aden, Yemen
Organizers of the “Thank the Kingdom” and “Thank Emirates Goodness” campaigns unveiled yesterday the “Thank Eritrea” campaign using a major painting of President Isaias Afwerki in all major streets of Aden, the Capital city of Yemen.
According to the Almashhad Al Yemeni website, the campaign was carried out under the auspices of the ‘Truth Media Inc.’ and the first painting was raised yesterday at the Cairo road that leads to the office of the Directorate of Sheikh Othman.
Head of the “Thank Emirates Goodness” campaign and General coordinator of “Thank the Kingdom” campaign Mr. Firas Al Yafei said the upload of pictures of Eritrean president on major streets of Yemen comes in recognition of his efforts within the Saudi-led Arab coalition in the rescuing of Yemen from disintegration and taking over by groups loyal to Iran.
Mr. Firas Al Yafei also said Eritrea’s participation in the process of restoring legitimacy to Yemen, including the training of the resistance and the forces of the national army on its territory as well as the use of Naval base which passes into the port of Aden are being the backbone of the process.
He also adds that Eritrea stressed on more than one occasion that it stands on its support and legitimacy in Yemen under a legitimate leadership. The President made it clear that the need for security, stability and unity of Yemen’s land and people is in the interest of the peopleEritrea as the links between the people of Eritrea and Yemen is interdependent and historic.
Last month, Eritrea officially threw her support to the Saudi-led 35 states military coalition force in the spirit of establishing a strategic alliance to combat terrorism and lawlessness in the Red Sea region and beyond.
http://www.eastafro.com/2016/01/03/thank-eritrea-signs-floods-streets-of-aden-yemen/
3.1.2016 – Skyscrapercity
"Thank you Somalia" billboard in Yemen
This is a billboard which says "Thank you Somalia" in Aden, second biggest city in Yemen or the new capital of South Arabia if they get their wish.
There were also other billboards thanking KSA and Sudan for their military involvement. I think Somalia was thanked for taking in their refugees.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1882043 and discussion in Somalia: http://www.somalinet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=372493&p=4612260
Kommentar: Grotesk. Der Präsident von Eritrea ist übrigens international geächtet. Marokko gibt es auch noch, wurde in Yemen Press Reader 79 vorgestellt.
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
4.1.2016 - Iran English Radio
Saudi warplanes pound Sana'a gas tanks
n a fresh wave of aerial aggression on the Yemeni capital Sana'a, Saudi warplanes have targeted private food warehouses and the city's main gas tanks.
The airstrikes were carried out on Sunday following a much-violated truce that lasted for a week, Yemen's al-Masirah news channel reported. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties.
Earlier in the day in a separate air raid in Saqain district in the northwestern province of Sa'ada, at least four members of a family lost their lives when their house was destroyed.
Reports say that a mosque in Ahma al-Talah area in Sahar district of the province was also pounded during an airstrike.
http://english.irib.ir/news/world/west-asia/item/220937-saudi-warplanes-pound-sana-a-gas-tanks
4.1.2016 – Al-Masdar News
Yemeni Army, Houthis capture several sites inside Saudi Arabia
On Sunday morning, the Yemeni Army’s Republican Guard and their popular civilian committees (primarily the Houthis) captured 2 villages inside the Jizan region of Saudi Arabia, killing several enemy combatants from the Saudi-led Coalition Forces in the process. According to Al-Masdar’s Yemeni War reporter – Tony Toh – the Yemeni Army and the Houthis captured the villages of Khobe (var. Old City) and Shabakah before they advanced south towards Jabal Al-Doud (Al-Doud Mountains) and west towards the large town of Qarn.
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/yemeni-army-houthis-capture-several-sites-inside-saudi-arabia/
3.1.2016 – Beforeitsnews
Yemen update 1/3/2016.. Yemeni Army, Ansarullah Kick Off Massive Operations to Win Back Ta’iz
Overview on events, especially in fighting and war.
3.1.2016 – Iran German Radio
Sechs Frauen bei Bombenangriff gegen Saada in Jemen durch getötet
Saudi-arabische Bomber haben letzte Nacht das Viertel Atis in Kataf in der Provinz Saade angegriffen; sechs Frauen kamen bei dem Angriff ums Leben.
Das meldete die amtliche Nachrichtenagentur Jemens. Des Weiteren wurde eine Frau vereltzt. Saudi-arabische Flugzeuge haben sechs Angriffe gegen Al-Jascher in Kataf geflogen, dabei wurden zahlreiche Wohnhäuser und öffentliche Gebäude zerstört.
http://german.irib.ir/nachrichten/item/295594-
3.1.2016 – Press TV Iran / Alalam
Yemeni forces kill more Riyadh mercenaries
The Yemeni army, backed by the Popular Committees supporting the Houthi Ansarullah movement, has conducted a successful operation against Riyadh’s mercenaries in the southwestern province of Ta’izz.
Yemen’s al-Masirah news channel reported on Sunday that the operation was carried out in the al-Aqrooz and al-Sharija districts. Fatalities were reported on the side of the mercenaries.
Yemeni forces also carried out retaliatory missile attacks against the bases of the invaders in the Wazi’iyah district of the province.
Al-Masdar Online news website reported that Ansarullah fighters took control of the strategic mountain of al-Aqsha’ in al-Qabbaytah town in Lahij Province early on Sunday after fierce gunfight with Saudi-backed militants. Ansarullah forces began their attacks on the mountain, which overlooks the al-Anad base, on December 30.
Following the clashes, the militants withdrew with their weapons, a Yemeni source said, adding that an unspecified number of people were killed or injured on both sides.
On Saturday, six Yemeni civilians lost their lives and over 40 others were injured in Saudi airstrikes on Ta’izz.
In the Saqayn district of Sa’ada Province, northern Yemen, three civilians were killed in a Saudi airstrike on a residential area.
In another airstrike on the Kataf district of Sa’ada, six women were killed.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/03/444300/Yemen-mercenaries-Ansarullah-Saudi-Arabia-Taizz-Saada/ = http://en.alalam.ir/news/1775639
Comment: There have been mercenaries from Europe, Australasia, Africa and the Americas killed around Taiz. It really is a multi-national war going on there. I would like to make more comments on the wording in this article - this time by an Iranian news agency. "Popular committees" is absolutely meaningless and is used by both 'sides' to mean the people supporting them.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1081733711979119
2.1.2016 – Beforeitsnews
Yemen update 1/2/2016..Riyadh announces end to ceasefire in Yemen
Overview of theater of war; films
2.1.2016 – Saba Net
Qahir-I rocket targets Strategic Storage Management in Abha
The army and popular committees launched on Friday night a ballistic missile of Qahir-I type on the Saudi strategic storage management in Abha region.
A military official confirmed to Saba that the missile hit its target with high accuracy.
http://sabanews.net/en/news414637.htm
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-79: / Yemen Press reader 1-79:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Fotos von saudischen Luftangriffen / Photos of Saudi air attacks
Aushungern durch Vernichtung der Landwirtschaft / Starving out by destruction of farming:
http://poorworld.net/Yemen/YemenImages2016-01-01-Farming.htm
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