Yemen Bahrain Saudi update 8/27/2016..Kerry ‘Peace Initiative’ demands Houthis surrender and disarm
Kerry in Saudi Arabia outlines new Yemen peace push
Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir Summarizes Yemen Crisis
In ‘Peace Initiative,’ Kerry Demands Yemen’s Houthis Surrender and Disarm
Also Condemns Iran as a Threat to the United States
by Jason Ditz
Visiting the city of Jeddah, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a deal with Saudi Arabia on a new “peace initiative” related to the ongoing Saudi invasion of Yemen. As with all previous such initiatives, Kerry’s statement laying out the plan demanded that the Shi’ite Houthis, who the Saudis are fighting, must immediately surrender all territory and unilaterally disarm before being allowed to participate in any talks.
The Saudis attacked Yemen in March of 2015, demanding the Houthis surrender all territory to former President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who lost the capital city to them in a failed military offensive against the Shi’ite north, and subsequently resigned in January.
The US backed the Saudi war, and has been conducting refueling operations for the Saudi warplanes bombing Yemen, which have killed thousands of civilians over the last year and a half, and which are fueling increasing international condemnation.
Though US officials occasionally issue statements urging “all sides” to stop killing civilians, they continue to support the Saudis more or less unconditionally. In the course of Kerry’s comments, he quickly shifted focus away from Yemen and angrily condemning Iran as a “threat to the United States,” comments which always play well to a Saudi audience.
Houthis reject US initiative to end Yemen crisis
Saudi Arabia: Houthis Capture SANG LAV (90mm) near Najran
Saudi Arabia: Houthis Seizing SANG Positions near Alab Land Port
Yemeni Army, Popular Forces Win Back Key Heights in Assir Province, Kill 9 Saudi Officers
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950606000950
The Yemeni army and popular forces continued their advances in the Southern parts of Saudi Arabia, and managed to seize back strategic heights in Assir province after killing over half a dozen of the kingdom’s military men, including officers. The Yemeni forces are now in full control of al-Sheibani heights in Assir province. At least 9 Saudi officers were killed in fierce clashes with the Yemeni army and popular forces.
On Friday, several military vehicles of the Saudi forces were also destroyed in the Yemeni attacks. Yemeni forces fired ballistic missiles at the facilities belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the kingdom’s Southwest, in a retaliatory attack launched after Saudi fighter jets targeted civilians. The retaliatory attack took place on Friday, hitting targets in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan region and causing considerable damage to the Aramco facilities there. The Saudi military has been pounding Yemen since March last year to undermine Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and to restore power to former fugitive President Mansour Hadi. Nearly 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Riyadh’s military aggression which lacks any international mandate.
Red Cross donates morgues in Yemen as death toll soars
A Kingdom In Turmoil: Saudi Societal Discontent Grows | Zero Hedge
……..What’s happening around the KSA provides some context for what is happening internally. As far as human rights are concerned, it appears that things are getting worse, as recently evidenced by a courageous – and shocking – documentary by ITV in the UK. What do you make of this?
AA: After King Salman inherited the Saudi Crown in January 2015, my organization, the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, wrote an analysis predicting human rights would suffer under the new King reign. Of all his predecessors (6 Saudi kings), Salman is notorious for his support of extremists in and outside the country and for his belief that the extremist Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and its arbitrary Shariah law is the true Islam. He considers the country his family’s private property and opposes any political reforms including his predecessor’s cosmetic gestures. Given these documented facts, it’s not surprising that King Salman purged the government of all less rigid members of his family and replace them with his like-minded sons and nephews. Given the Saudi’s economic hardships and the costly war engagement in Yemen, deteriorating situation in Syria, Iraq, continued occupation of Bahrain, frequent terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia are likely to worsen.
ET: Another surprising fact is the abject poverty that many Saudis are living under. How is this possible given all the petrodollars floating around the country?
AA: All state revenues are controlled and treated as property of the royal family. Only the king and a few high-ranking royals have direct access to the state’s income. Since there is no accountability, transparency or public scrutiny, this small clique of royals decides on the distribution of funds. The top spending priorities are internal security, namely the safety of the ruling family, stipends for the thousands of members of the extended royal family, the armed forces and maintaining the institutions of the religious establishment (universities, mosques, religious police and thousands of clerics.) Given this arrangement, little of the national revenues is spent on citizens.
It’s estimated that between 30-40% of Saudis live at or below the UN designated poverty level. This is due to high unemployment, where it is estimated that between 70-80% of Saudi women and about 20-30% of Saudi men are unemployed. Given these numbers, it’s culturally customary that those who work support those who don’t.
ET: There are over 9 million immigrants living in the KSA, representing more than a third of the population. Those are not small figures. Yet many complain of abuse and violation of human rights. Why is this so?
AA: It’s ironic that millions of Saudi men and women are unemployed, yet the public and private sectors import millions of expatriates to do jobs that the Saudi people need and could do if women were allowed to work and if the Saudis were paid decent salaries to feed their families. By importing poverty stricken laborers who are willing to live in appalling conditions, accept subsistence wages and have no benefits or rights under the Saudi judicial system, the Saudi employers make huge profits. The maltreatment of migrant workers by their Saudi employers has been compared to modern slavery by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many governments’ agencies, including our Department of State, have decried abuses of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia………..
Bahrain issuing terms for pro-Qassim protesters
Bahrain : Revolutionaries Painting {Down Hamad} and {Death To Al Saud} Stencils On The Streets
Bahrain : Revolutionaries Painting The King Name Stencils On The Streets
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/08/yemen-bahrain-saudi-update-8272016kerry.html
