CNN: Yemen's President, Cabinet resign

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-islamist-insurgents-advance-around-idlib-city-monitor-104404890.html

Yemen Houthi rebels advance despite Saudi-led air strikes

 

Yemen's Houthi rebels made broad gains in the country's south and east on Friday despite a second day of Saudi-led air strikes meant to check the Iranian-backed militia's efforts to overthrow President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

 

Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters and allied army units gained their first foothold on Yemen's Arabian Sea coast by seizing the port of Shaqra 100km (60 miles) east of Aden, residents told Reuters.

 

The advances threaten Hadi's last refuge in Yemen and potentially undermine the air campaign to support him.

 

The losses came as the spokesman for the Saudi-led operation, Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, told a press conference in Riyadh that defending the Aden government was the campaign's "main objective."

 

"I want to confirm that the operation itself has as its main objective to protect the government in Aden," Asseri said.

 

"The operation will continue as long as there is a need for it to continue," he said.

 

Warplanes targeted Houthi forces controlling Yemen's capital Sanaa and their northern heartland on Friday. Asseri said that planes from the United Arab Emirates had carried out their first strikes in the past 24 hours.

 

In a boost for Saudi Arabia, Morocco said it would join the rapidly assembled Sunni Muslim coalition against the Houthis. Pakistan, named by Saudi Arabia as a partner, said it had made no decision on whether to contribute.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/11500518/UK-will-support-Saudi-led-assault-on-Yemeni-rebels-but-not-engaging-in-combat.html

UK 'will support Saudi-led assault on Yemeni rebels - but not engaging in combat'

 

Britain will support the Saudi-led assault on Yemeni rebels “in every practical way short of engaging in combat”, the Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, said on Friday.

 

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Hammond confirmed that British-built aircraft were being used in the campaign, in which Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies have bombed targets throughout the country.

 

He reiterated that Britain stood behind the intervention, intended to prevent the Houthis, an Iran-backed Shia militia, from taking over the country. He said that Britain was not directly involved but that might change.

 

“As yet, not,” he said. “But as you know we have a long-standing relationship with the Saudi armed forces, particularly the Royal Saudi Air Force.

[Stadium-Armory]

Saudi air strikes, and potentially a ground invasion of Yemen, is a worrisome escalation.  A war (all be it a proxy war) between Iran and Saudi Arabia brings the entire region one step closer to all-out war.

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-strikes-yemen-rebels-iran-warns-dangerous-step-035007482.html;_ylt=AwrSyCP8DhZVw30ALzfQtDMD

Saudi pounds Yemen rebel camps, Arab allies gather

 

Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed rebel camps in Yemen for a second day, as President Barack Obama said the United States shared a "collective goal" with its regional ally to see stability in the war-torn state.

 

Obama offered support to Saudi ruler King Salman in a phone conversation as it emerged the US military had rescued two Saudi pilots forced to eject from their fighter jet in the region on Thursday.

And an army unit loyal to Saleh, along with Shiite militiamen, captured two villages in Abyan province, near the main southern city of Aden, where Hadi took refuge after fleeing Sanaa last month, military sources said.

 

The rebels have also clashed with Sunni tribes as they push south.

 

At least 21 were killed Friday when tribesmen ambushed their vehicles north of Aden, a local official said.

Hadi, backed by the West and Gulf Arab states, flew to Egypt for a weekend Arab League summit set to be dominated by Yemen.

 

He travelled from Riyadh after making his way from Aden as the rebels advanced on the city.

 

Saudi Arabia says more than 10 countries have joined the anti-Huthi coalition.

 

Reports said Saudi Arabia has deployed 100 warplanes, with another 67 coming from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly also mobilised 150,000 troops near the border.

 

The coalition said all members had contributed to the operation, with UAE warplanes "intensively" participating in the strikes.

 

The coalition now completely dominates Yemen's airspace, and aircraft seized by the Huthis have been destroyed, spokesman General Ahmed Assiri said in Riyadh.

King Salman, meanwhile, thanked the US for rescuing two Saudi pilots who ejected off Yemen's coast in international waters.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/arab-league-tackles-saudi-led-air-strikes-yemen-150328072254413.html

Houthis told to 'surrender' at Arab League summit

 

Yemen's president has called on Houthi fighters to "surrender" at a meeting of the Arab League in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, as Saudi-led air raids continued to strike the group's positions for a third day.

 

Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled the country, also called for the continuation of air strikes against Houthi targets on Saturday, as leaders representing 21 nations opened a two-day summit.

 

"I call for the continuation of Operation Decisive Storm until this gang [the Houthis] announces its surrender, exits all occupied territories in the provinces, leaves state institutions and military camps," Hadi said.

 

"Operation Decisive Storm will continue until all the goals are achieved and the Yemeni people start enjoying security and stability."

Hadi said the Houthis should surrender their weapons and for their leaders to turn themselves in.

 

Saudi King Salman vowed that the military intervention his government is leading would continue until it brings "security" to the Yemeni people.

 

The kingdom has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to prevent Hadi's overthrow, accusing Iran of backing the attempted takeover by the Houthis, who have seized swathes of the country. Tehran denies any interference.

 

Other leaders, including the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,obliquely referenced Iran at the summit.

"This nation [Yemen], in its darkest hour, had never been faced a challenge to its existence and a threat to its identity like the one it's facing now,'' Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said.

 

"This threatens our national security and [we] cannot ignore its consequences for the Arab identity.''

Meanwhile, Yemen's former-President, who has been accused of backing the Houthis called for an immediate ceasefire and an end to hostilties.

 

"I call upon everyone to end military operations and stop the killing," Ali Abdullah Saleh said.
"I call on everyone to resort to reason and initiate a ceasefire,"
"I ask our sons not to be excited and to stop all violence in all provinces," he added.

 

Saleh's comments came after airstrikes continued for a third straight day, hitting targets in the city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea Coast, the Houthi stronghold of Saada in the north, and military installations in and around the capital Sanaa.

 

Meanwhile, at least 200 UN staff and other expatriates evacuated the Yemeni capital on Saturday, with only "personnel necessary for emergency humanitarian missions" remaining in the country, an aid worker said.

Hadi's comments seems somewhat...unhelpful and a bit cliche.

Saleh of course is full of hypocrisy and irony accusing Hadi of failing to lead the country when he's been tearing it apart since he was forced to resign and given a cushy landing by the same people who he's condemning now.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/AFP

BREAKING Arab coalition warplanes have hit the runway at the Yemen capital's airport, taking it out of service: aviation source
2:56 AM

 

https://twitter.com/NoonArabia

Aden spent a night of aggressive fighting with Saleh/Houthi tanks shooting at popular committees. Reports of Saudi tanks heading to Yemen
2:47 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/31/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0MR0HE20150331?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Saudi-led strikes again hit Yemen overnight

 

Air raids by a Saudi-led coalition again hit Houthi militia targets across Yemen on Monday night, striking the group's northern stronghold of Saadeh, the capital, Sanaa, and the central town of Yarim, residents and media said.

 

"There were huge blazes in the mountains outside Sanaa. It looks like they hit a missile depot and it was on fire for half an hour or so. Then there was anti-aircraft fire until dawn," a Sanaa resident said.

 

The strikes, which began on Thursday, are aimed at stopping the Houthis from taking more territory and pressing them and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to negotiate a power-sharing deal with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

 

The Houthis are from a Yemeni Shi'ite sect and are allied to Iran, Saudi Arabia's main regional rival. The Saudis and other Sunni Muslim countries in the region fear the advance of the Houthis will ultimately threaten the world's top oil exporter.

 

However, the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh have continued to advance on the southern port of Aden, the last big center still under control of Hadi, who left Yemen on Thursday and is now in Riyadh with other members of his government.

 

Shooting continued in Aden during the night, a Reuters reporter said. If the Houthis took the city, it would represent a significant defeat for the Saudi-led coalition, which has repeatedly said protecting the presence of Hadi's government there is a major objective.

 

An air strike on Monday killed at least 40 people at a camp for displaced people in northern Yemen, humanitarian workers said, in an attack apparently aimed at the Houthis.

 

Saudi Arabia's military spokesman said he could not confirm a camp had been hit, but said jets might have returned fire on anti-aircraft weapons placed in civilian areas. Hadi's foreign minister, Riyadh Yassin, blamed Houthis for the explosion.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/BaFana3

Nasser Mansor Hadi ..has been captured in aden ..he is Hadi brother Yemen
5:30 PM

 

It looks likely Aden will fall to pro-Saleh and pro-Houthi forces within hours as the battle with pro-Hadi forces continues tonight. Yemen
5:59 PM

 

[visionary]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/31/yemen-in-crisis-air-strike-leaves-40-civilians-dead-at-camp?CMP=share_btn_tw

Witness to air strike on Yemen refugee camp: women and children burned beyond recognition

 

If Hisham Abdulaziz had left al-Mazraq refugee camp in Yemen a few minutes later, he too would have been incinerated in the strike, just like the bodies he later saw at the hospital.

 

“They were burned, it was a very horrible image,” said the doctor after labouring to treat the wounded, including women and children, who streamed into the nearest hospital. By the end of the day there were 29 bodies in the hospital morgue.

 

“One man came looking for his five children who were missing, and he was able to identify two of their corpses, but he couldn’t find the others,” said Abdulaziz, who spoke with the Guardian by telephone. “It was difficult to identify them.”

 

More than two dozen people in the camp were killed in the apparent air strike on Monday by the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Houthi rebels, believed to be backed by Iran.

 

The coalition battling the rebels is alarmed by the growing influence of Iran in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. But as the fighting intensifies, so does the humanitarian cost of the struggle, which is threatening to further push Yemen – already the poorest country in the Arab world – towards disaster.

 

“It is an inhumane situation, these are women and children who have nothing to do with war,” said Abdulaziz. “In fact, they had tried to flee the war.”

 

The camp, which was established years ago to accommodate civilians fleeing previous rounds of fighting between government forces and the Houthis, had begun to empty before the latest outbreak of conflict.

 

But almost 1,000 families had returned to seek refuge when the air strikes began, according to Julien Harneis, Unicef’s representative to Yemen.

 

 

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/mar/30/yemen-houthi-enigma/

Yemen: The Houthi Enigma

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/03/us-yemen-security-aden-idUSKBN0MT0G820150403?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Yemen's Houthis seize central Aden district, presidential site

 

Yemeni Houthi fighters and their allies seized a central Aden district on Thursday, striking a heavy blow against the Saudi-led coalition that has waged a week of air strikes to try to stem advances by the Iran-allied Shi'ite group.

 

Hours after the Houthis took over Aden's central Crater neighborhood, they marked another symbolic victory by fighting their way into a presidential residence overlooking the neighborhood, residents said.

 

The southern city has been the last major holdout of fighters loyal to Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled Aden a week ago and has watched from Riyadh as the vestiges of his authority have crumbled.

 

By nightfall the Iran-allied Shi'ite fighters had reached the edge of Aden's port district of Mualla, they said.

 

The Houthis and their supporters swept into the heart of Aden despite an eight-day air campaign led by Riyadh trying to stem their advances and ultimately return Hadi to power.

 

Although the Saudi air strikes have had little apparent impact on halting the Houthi advance, a senior U.S. military official in Washington played down the possibility that Saudi Arabia would send in ground forces.

 

“I don’t think they’re going to do that. I think they are arraying their forces along their border to prevent a Houthi incursion,” the official told a group of reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They’re postured defensively.”

 

By midday on Thursday the Houthis were in control of Aden's Crater neighborhood, deploying tanks and foot patrols through its otherwise empty streets after heavy fighting in the morning.

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-refuel-saudi-led-aircraft-yemen-war-230232806.html

US to refuel Saudi-led aircraft in Yemen war

 

The United States will provide aerial refueling for a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen but is not passing on precise information for air raids, a senior military official said Thursday.

 

The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) has been given the green light to deploy refueling tankers for the Saudis and their Gulf partners in the operation, though the refueling will take place outside of Yemen's airspace, the official told reporters.

 

"We have given CENTCOM the authority to do tanking," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Officials had said previously Washington was considering offering refueling assistance as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACs).

 

The Saudis were expected to reimburse Washington for the refueling flights, which have not yet started, officials said.

 

President Barack Obama's administration had earlier promised intelligence and logistical support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have advanced deep into the southern city of Aden.

 

The United States was delivering intelligence from surveillance satellites and aircraft to help the Saudis monitor their border and to track the location of Huthi rebel forces as they push south, the official said.

 

The intelligence was helping create "a battlefield picture" of where the Huthis were deployed and to enable the Saudi-led aircraft to avoid causing civilian casualties, the official said.

 

"We're helping the Saudis understand what's happening on their border," the official said. "They're looking for evidence of any Huthi ground incursions."

 

The Huthis are "poised above Aden and we're trying to help the Saudis build a picture of that," the official said.

 

"But we're not providing them with targeting information."

[visionary]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudis-airdrop-weapons-to-yemeni-militias-fighting-houthis-1428088364

Saudis Airdrop Weapons to Yemeni Militias Fighting Houthis

 

Saudi Arabia on Friday airdropped crates filled with weapons to reinforce Yemeni-government aligned militias struggling to retake the strategic city of Aden from rebels who seized it earlier this past week, Saudi and Yemeni officials said.

 

The crates contained artillery, sniper rifles and bulletproof vests, among other equipment, said Yemeni security officials and militias who received the packages.

[visionary]

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268777/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Mpzo4MEd

Fierce fighting as rebels move on holdouts in Yemen's Aden

 

Pitched fighting intensified Monday in Yemen's second-largest city, Aden, leaving streets littered with bodies, as Shiite rebels and their allies waged their strongest push yet to seize control of the main bastion of supporters of their rival, the country's embattled president.

 

The fierce fighting in the southern port city on the Arabian Sea raises doubts over the possibility of landing ground forces from a Saudi-led coalition backing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to try to carve out an enclave to which Hadi, who fled the country two weeks ago, could return.

 

Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan to contribute soldiers to the military campaign, as well as air and naval assets, Pakistan's defense minister said Monday. Pakistan's parliament is debating the request and is expected to vote in coming days.

 

Saudi Arabia has been leading an air campaign since March 26 against the Houthis and their allies, military units loyal to Hadi's predecessor, ousted autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh. The International Committee for the Red Cross said Monday it was still unable to get medical supplies into the capital, Sanaa, or to Aden amid the air and sea blockade by the coalition.

 

On Monday, Houthi fighters and pro-Saleh forces attacked Aden's Moalla neighborhood, one of the last districts held by Hadi loyalists where the presidential palace, port facilities, TV, government offices and a military camp are located. The districts are on a peninsula that juts into the sea, meaning Hadi's forces are bottled up in the neighborhoods.

 

"We are jumping over dead bodies," Radwan Allawi, a pro-Hadi fighter, told The Associated Press from Aden. He said mosque loudspeakers were calling on Hadi's supporters to defend Moalla.

 

"It's intense street fighting, direct fire. The only difference between life and death may be an electricity pole behind which one can hide," the 20-year-old said.

Pro-Hadi fighters destroyed three tanks deployed in Moalla by their opponents overnight, only to find new ones Monday. At least one residential building was in flames from the fighting. Coalition forces started an airdrop of weapons to Hadi's forces on Friday, but some military officials say the weapons are falling into the wrong hands.

 

The number of casualties was not immediately known, with medical facilities in the city overwhelmed and volunteers coming under fire from rival groups.

Mohammed Abdo Hariri, a 50-year old resident of Aden, said he fled the city during a lull in the fighting and found its streets littered with corpses and burned-out armored vehicles. "This is a tragedy," he said.

 

Military experts say the intense fighting makes any ground operation in Aden far more difficult, particularly if the administrative center falls. Saudi officials have never said publicly that the coalition intends a ground operation, but some officials in Hadi's government have called for one. Egyptian officials have previously told the AP of plans to land forces at Aden and move other troops across the Saudi border into northern Yemen once airstrikes have sufficiently weakened the Houthis and their allies.

 

 

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/13/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0N308K20150413?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Yemen's exiled president appoints conciliatory figure as deputy

 

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi appointed his former prime minister as vice president on Sunday, a move apparently aimed at improving the chances of a peaceful settlement to the civil war that forced Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

 

"The president issued an order today appointing Khaled Bahah as his deputy," a presidential advisor told Reuters.

 

Bahah is popular across Yemen's spectrum of feuding parties and may be seen as a figure who could calm tensions and bring warring parties to the negotiating table.

 

"The appointment of Bahah may help in finding a political solution as part of efforts to revive the dialogue process sponsored by the United Nations," the Hadi aide told Reuters.

 

There are no signs that the war will let up anytime soon.

 

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies have been bombing Yemen for over two weeks, hoping to slow the advance of Iranian-allied Houthi militias toward the southern port city of Aden.

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday said he was concerned by the fighting and urged peace talks.

 

"In Yemen, I have strongly objected to the Houthis attempting to control the country by force. This is unacceptable. But I am also deeply concerned about the military escalation," Ban told reporters in the Qatari capital Doha.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/world/middleeast/legal-advocacy-group-says-us-drone-program-sets-dangerous-example.html?ref=world&_r=0

Drone Strikes in Yemen Said to Set a Dangerous Precedent

 

An investigation of American drone strikes in Yemen concludes that the Obama administration has not followed its own rules to avoid civilian casualties and is setting a dangerous example for other countries that want to use unmanned aircraft against terrorists.

 

The study, by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a legal advocacy group based in New York, was released on Monday at a time when Yemen has been engulfed in violence and American drone strikes have been slowed or halted. But its observations about the performance of American counterterrorism strikes from 2012 to 2014 remain relevant for assessing a novel weapons system that the United States has used in several countries and has now approved for export to a limited number of allies.

 

Despite promises of greater openness about drone strikes, the Obama administration has continued to guard their secrecy closely and says nothing publicly about strike targets and results. The resulting information vacuum has been partly filled by independent studies by groups like the Open Society Justice Initiative, which worked with the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, a Yemeni group that interviewed witnesses.

[PeterMP]

Other than history, is there a reason we are supporting the Saudis in this?

 

Do we have an actual reason to support a Sunni vs. a Houthis lead Yemen?

[visionary]

Other than history, is there a reason we are supporting the Saudis in this?

 

Do we have an actual reason to support a Sunni vs. a Houthis lead Yemen?

Well we and the international community did invest a lot of time and effort into getting Hadi to be president back when Saleh was still in power and he was the VP and Yemenis wanted Saleh out, but he was reluctant to go (until a rival group attacked him and blew him up a bit).  And then Yemen did vote Hadi in, albeit without any other option, I think.  And The Houthis are somewhat supported by Iran and former president Saleh who oppressed them and much of Yemen for decades, but is now helping them destabilize and in many ways destroy the country.  Hadi and the international community has repeatedly tried to make concessions to satisfy the Houthis, but they keep breaking agreements and trying to take over more areas of the country (Sunni areas mostly.)

 

 

I mean, I was never crazy about the whole Yemen Plan in the first place, since Yemenis didn't really have much choice in the matter, but Hadi seemed relatively popular and not hated like Saleh was.  And I'm definitely sympathetic to the plight of the Houthis, but they've really gone about as badly as they could have.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/imposes-arms-embargo-yemen-rebels-150414140733146.html

Yemen's Houthi rebels condemn UN-imposed arms embargo

 

Yemen's rebel Supreme Revolutionary Committee has condemned a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo on the group, saying the decision supported "aggression".

 

In a news flash on the group's official television channel on Tuesday, the Houthi rebels' governing body said it "calls on the masses of the Yemeni people to rally and protest on Thursday to condemn the Security Council resolution in support of the aggression".

 

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Yemen earlier on Tuesday, imposing an arms embargo on the Houthi rebels and calling on them to withdraw from areas they have seized, including the capital Sanaa.

 

The 15-member council passed the resolution on Tuesday, with 14 countries voting in favour while one - Russia - abstained.

 

Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, said the embargo should have been imposed on the whole country.

 

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's envoy to the UN, said the resolution was not fully in line with the requirements which were put forward to the international community.

 

"The adopted resolution should not be used for further escalation of the armed conflict which could have the most difficult consequences for Yemen itself as well as the whole region," said Churkin. "There is no alternative to a political solution to the conflict in Yemen."

 

He said Russia's "constructive proposals" were not taken into account during the drafting of the resolution, the second passed on Yemen this year. The first was passed in February.

 

Samantha Power, US envoy to the UN, said her country strongly supported the resolution as it "shows that the Security Council will take action against those who continue to undermine the efforts to the reconciliation".

 

She also said that "a legitimate transition in Yemen can only be achieved through political negotiations and a consensus agreement among all political parties based on the [Gulf Cooperation Council] GCC initiative and the outcomes of Yemen's national dialogue conference".

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iraqi-prime-minister-fears-yemen-conflict-could-spark-wider-sectarian-war/2015/04/15/9ea63bd2-e374-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html?tid=HP_lede?tid=HP_lede

Iraqi prime minister fears Yemen conflict could spark wider sectarian war

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday that he fears the ongoing military intervention by Saudi Arabia in Yemen will lead to regional sectarian war, and he added that the Obama administration shares his concerns.

 

“I don’t want to speak for them, but I think we agreed on this,” Abadi said of his conversations Monday with President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John F. Kerry. “They want to stop this conflict as soon as possible,” he said of the administration, but the Saudis “don’t want a cease-fire now.”

 

Abadi spoke in a wide-ranging interview with a small group of journalists at Blair House in Washington, where he is staying during his first U.S. visit since taking office.

 

“There is no logic to the operation . . . what’s the aim?” he said of the air campaign Saudi Arabia began last month.

 

The Saudis are trying to push back Shiite Houthi tribesmen in Yemen who have overthrown the U.S.-backed government and advanced through key portions of the country. Saudi Arabia has said that Iranian backing is responsible for the Houthi advances, an assertion with which the United States only partly agrees.

 

“The problem with Yemen is within Yemen,” Abadi said. “The Houthis took over, which we don’t necessarily support, I don’t support myself. But still there are local forces in Yemen who have their own grievances against some elements. And here comes Saudi Arabia, intervenes and bombing Yemen.”

 

“We don’t want another problem on our hands,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is our neighbor. . . . They claim, of course, this is an Iranian proxy, which, in my opinion, it isn’t. I think they are mistaken.”

 

National Security Council spokesman Alistair C. Baskey differed with Abadi’s assessment of their talks, saying that neither Obama nor Biden criticized Saudi actions in Yemen. “We firmly support…operations to defend Saudi Arabia’s southern border and provide support to the defense of the legitimate Yemeni government,” he said, noting that the United States is providing intelligence and logistical support to the Saudi effort.

[visionary]

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-al-qaeda-yemen-airport-20150416-story.html

Al Qaeda affiliate claims Yemen airport; U.N. envoy resigns

 

Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, capitalizing on the chaos gripping the country, was reported to have taken control of an airport, seaport and oil terminal in and around a key southern city on Thursday.

 

That news came as the United Nations' special envoy to Yemen resigned under pressure, after four years of diplomacy failed to avert a war that has killed hundreds and caused an escalating humanitarian crisis in the Arab world’s poorest nation.

 

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, regarded by many as the most lethal branch of the organization, claimed control of the Riyan airport and other facilities in the city of Mukalla, the Associated Press reported. The militants overran much of the city this month, looting the central bank and freeing comrades from prison.

 

Yemeni security officials in the capital, Sana, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press, said the leaders of the brigade in charge of protecting the area fled.

 

Mukalla is the capital of Yemen's largest province, Hadramawt, where Al Qaeda has long maintained a presence despite U.S. drone strikes and Yemeni counter-terrorism operations.

 

“They are consolidating their hold of the city and will paralyze the whole coast of Hadramawt,” said Nasser Baqazouz, an activist in the city, who added that the troops guarding the airport put up little resistance.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/world/middleeast/yemen-houthi-leader-is-defiant-in-face-of-saudi-airstrikes.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Yemen Houthi Leader Is Defiant in Face of Saudi Airstrikes

 

More than three weeks after Saudi Arabia began a bombing campaign aimed at crippling his movement, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels responded with defiance on Sunday in a televised speech, saying that Saudi attempts to “humiliate” his country were doomed.

 

“Those who want the people to give in are just dreaming,” the leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said in a long, fuming address that was also sharply critical of the United States. “Our Yemeni people have the right to fend off the aggression, and to confront the aggressor with all possible and available means,” he said on a Houthi news channel.

 

Mr. Houthi gave no indication that he was willing to negotiate with the Saudis or to agree to their conditions for a cease-fire, including that the Houthis withdraw from cities they have captured. His defiance suggested a prolonged war and raised further questions about the Saudi government’s military strategy, which has been centered on pounding the Houthis and their allies from the air.

In the latest sign the war is spreading, dozens of people have been killed in recent days in Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, where fighters loyal to Mr. Hadi, backed by Saudi airstrikes, are battling the Houthis and their allies.

 

Several military units have switched sides by declaring their loyalty to the exiled president, Mr. Hadi. On Sunday, Yemeni officials told the Reuters news agency that a brigadier general who commands a district along the Saudi border and leads 15,000 troops had also pledged his support for Mr. Hadi.

 

It remained to be seen whether the defections would tip the balance in the conflict or simply further fracture the country. A multiplying cast of combatants are being drawn into the fight — including military units with shifting loyalties, armed tribesmen, separatist fighters and extremist militants with Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch — and are confusing the battle lines.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/20/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0NB0R820150420?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Air strike on missile base in Yemen capital causes huge explosion: residents

 

An air strike on a Scud missile base in the Yemeni capital Sanaa caused a massive explosion that blew out windows in houses, residents said, adding that it was the largest explosion in more than three weeks of bombing.

 

There was no immediate word of casualties from the blast, which sent a thick pillar of smoke into the air.

 

Saudi Arabia has led an alliance of Sunni Arab countries in air strikes against the Iran-allied Shi'ite Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/21/middleeast/yemen-crisis/index.html

Yemen airstrike campaign to end Tuesday, Saudi Arabia says

 

A Saudi-led coalition will end "Operation Decisive Storm" -- its nearly monthlong airstrike campaign in Yemen -- by the end of Tuesday, and a new undertaking called "Operation Restoring Hope" will begin, Saudi state-run TV reported without immediately elaborating.

 

Saudi Arabia had launched airstrikes on Houthi positions across Yemen, hoping to wipe out the Iranian-allied rebel group that has overthrown the government and seized power.

 

The Saudis say they want to restore the Yemeni government, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda, which was kicked out of the capital by the rebels earlier this year.

 

This month, Saudi officials said airstrikes have degraded Houthi-controlled military infrastructure, including key buildings in the capital Sanaa.

 

The campaign achieved its objectives "by a very good planning, very precise execution, by the courage of our pilots, our sailors, our soldiers," said Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, a Saudi military spokesman.

 

The next phase will focus on security and counterterrorism.

 

Ground troops will continue to protect the border and confront any attempts to destabilize the situation, Asiri said. Military action will be taken if needed.

 

But beyond the military campaign, the Saudis and their allies have said they want to find a political solution for the violence-plagued nation.

 

The aim is to bring back Yemen's "security and stability through establishing a political process," said a statement from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/altoflacoblanco

Reports that oman initiative agreed by Saudis and Tehran to be presented to Houthis through GPC yemen
3:52 PM

 

https://twitter.com/AJENews

Developing: Senior Houthi leaders say political deal to end the conflict in Yemen has been reached, Reuters reports.
4:22 PM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/oomarGCC

hadispeech 'they must withdraw from the cities and surrender their weapons.' Houthis/Saleh #Yemen
5:52 PM

 

https://twitter.com/altoflacoblanco

Hadi says a 10 point power sharing deal with the Houthis has been agreed to. #hadispeech
5:54 PM

 

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam

First 10 minutes of Yemen 's President Hadi speech: Blaming Houthis +Saleh 4 staging coup, dragging country to civil war,copying Iran model
5:57 PM 

[visionary]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fresh-saudi-led-air-strikes-yemen-rebels-witnesses-060203149.html;_ylt=AwrXoCDMjDhVQzsA8wjQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByYnR1Zmd1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMyBHZ0aW

Fresh Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen rebels: witnesses

 

Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck several Yemeni rebel positions in fresh raids overnight, witnesses said Thursday, two days after the alliance announced an end to its month-long aerial campaign.

 

The strikes hit rebel positions close to the capital Sanaa, north of the third city Taez, and in the central town of Yarim, the witnesses said.

[visionary]

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/egypt-wary-of-ground-offensive-in-yemen

Egypt wary of ground offensive in Yemen

 

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has turned to one of his most quoted catchphrases to describe Egypt’s readiness to help Gulf Arab allies if they ever faced a threat to their national security. “Masaft el sekah,” the general-turned-politician has often said, using Egyptian Arabic parlance for: “It’s a short distance away”.

 

More recently, the phrase has been used by Saudis on social media to highlight what they believe to be Mr El Sisi’s failure to dispatch troops to join the Saudi army in a ground offensive against Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen.

 

The criticism, traces of which are found in opinion pieces by Saudi analysts but not officially embraced, is built on several assumptions, including that a ground offensive in Yemen is part of the plan by the Saudi-led alliance, that it had been due to start sometime in the past four or five weeks and that Egyptian troops were supposed to take part in that operation.

 

The governments of close allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been tight lipped on the supposed differences between the two nations over the military strategy in Yemen, leaving the media in both countries to further deepen the mystery with speculation and leaks.

 

At the start of the Saudi-led air strikes, numerous reports spoke of a ground offensive that would come after the air campaign had sufficiently weakened the Houthi rebels and the military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh that support them.

 

But five weeks into the air campaign there is no sign of a ground offensive. Moreover, the air strikes have fallen short of clearing the rebels from Aden, a victory that would have allowed president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to return to Yemen from Saudi Arabia, where he fled last month as the Houthis advanced into the city.

Pakistan, traditionally a close Saudi ally, was asked by Riyadh to commit troops to the campaign, but the nation’s parliament voted against such a deployment and said Islamabad must remain neutral in the conflict.

 

Whether or not Saudi Arabia had considered a ground offensive and wanted others to join it bears little relation to the fact that putting foreign boots on the ground in Yemen is a grave risk. The country’s landscape of barren deserts and foreboding mountains as well as its complex tribal and ethnic mix make for an inhospitable environment for any army.

 

They are conditions that Egypt has already experienced. In 1962, Cairo dispatched troops to Yemen to fight on the side of republicans against loyalists of a dynasty overthrown by a military coup. At one point there were 70,000 Egyptian troops in Yemen and thousands were killed in a fight many in Egypt today feel it had no business getting into. Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war prompted then president Gamal Abdel-Nasser to pull his forces out of Yemen, but the republicans eventually won the war.