Yemen - Civil War

[Khafee]

Houthis Admit bombing Oil pipeline


Saudi regime admits exposure of 2 pumping stations to attack by unmanned aircraft

[14/May/2019]
SANAA, May 14 (Saba) - A spokesman for the head of state security in the Saudi regime on Tuesday admitted that two pumping stations for a major oil pipeline were attacked by unmanned aircraft near Riyadh.

He said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency that "the competent authorities have started their responsibilities at the sites of Aramco in the province of Dawadmi and Afif province in Riyadh and will be announced later on any developments."

The (Houthi) Army air force, supported by popular forces, today launched an attack on vital Saudi targets.

A (Houthi) military official have told Saba that seven unmanned planes carried out a major military operation targeting Saudi vital installations.

The official confirmed that this operation came in response to the continued aggression and siege imposed on the Yemeni people for more than four years.

The source said that the army and the People's Committees are ready to carry out more qualitative and cruel strikes in the event of continued brutal Saudi-UAE aggression and unjust siege on the Homeland.

In turn, the Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that the targeting of oil pipelines was carried out by an attack of drones.

He claimed that the situation was under control.

He explained: "Between the 6 hour and 6: 30 A.M. on Tuesday, two pumping stations for the East-West pipeline, which carries Saudi oil from oil fields in the eastern region to the port of Yanbu on the west coast, came under attack from the drones and a fire broke out at Station No. 8.

"The attack targeted the pipeline between the eastern region and Yanbu," he said, asserting that Saudi Aramco had stopped pumping in the pipeline, where damage is being assessed and the station repaired to restore the pipeline and pumping to normal.


AA

Saba
Saba Net - Yemen news agency

 

[Khafee]

Yemen’s Houthi drone targeted civilian facility: Saudi coalition
May 21, 2019


CAIRO (Reuters) - Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement targeted an arms depot at Najran airport in Saudi Arabia which caused a fire to break out in the facility, the group’s Al Masirah TV said on Tuesday.

Earlier the Saudi-led military coalition said a civilian facility in Saudi Arabia’s province of Najran was targeted with a drone carrying explosives.

It did not mention casualties.

On Monday, Houthis denied Saudi media reports that it had fired a ballistic missile toward Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Gulf Arab states allied to Washington.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading a Western-backed coalition of Sunni Muslim states that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government ousted from power in Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.

Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Michael Perry

Yemen's Houthis step up drone attacks on Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia this week in a resurgence of tactics that had largely subsided since late last year amid United Nations-led peace efforts.

www.reuters.com

 

[Khafee]

Bomb-carrying drone from Yemen rebels targets Saudi airport
By JON GAMBRELL47 minutes ago


In this Sunday, May 19, 2019, photo released by the U.S. Navy, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 transports cargo from the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a replenishment-at-sea in the Arabian Sea.(Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels said Tuesday they attacked a Saudi airport and military base with a bomb-laden drone, an assault acknowledged by the kingdom as Mideast tensions remain high between Tehran and the United States. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The attack on the Saudi city of Najran came after Iran announced it has quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity a year after the U.S. withdrew from its nuclear deal with world powers, though still a level far lower than needed for atomic weapons.

Underlining the tensions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seeking expanded executive powers to better deal with “economic war” triggered by the Trump’s administration’s renewal and escalation of sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.

By increasing production, Iran soon will exceed the stockpile limitations set by the nuclear accord. Tehran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to set new terms for the deal, or it will enrich closer to weapons-grade levels in a Middle East already on edge. The U.S. has deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf over still-unspecified threats from Iran.

In the drone attack, the Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news channel said early Tuesday they targeted the airport in Najran with a Qasef-2K drone, striking an “arms depot.” Najran, 840 kilometers (525 miles) southwest of Riyadh, lies on the Saudi-Yemen border and has repeatedly been targeted by the Iran-allied Houthis.


A statement earlier on the state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted Saudi-led coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki as saying the Houthis “had tried to target” a civilian site in Najran, without elaborating.

Al-Maliki warned there would be a “strong deterrent” to such attacks and described the Houthis as the “terrorist militias of Iran.” Similar Houthi attacks in the past have sparked rounds of Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen, which have been widely criticized internationally for killing civilians.

Civilian airports throughout the Middle East often host military bases.

The New York Times last year reported that American intelligence analysts were based in Najran, assisting the Saudis and a U.S. Army Green Berets deployment on the border. The Pentagon referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last week, the Houthis launched a coordinated drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. Earlier this month, officials in the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers were sabotaged and U.S. diplomats relayed a warning that commercial airlines could be misidentified by Iran and attacked, something dismissed by Tehran.

In its nuclear program announcement Monday night, Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to the 3.67% limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it usable for a power plant but far below what’s needed for an atomic weapon.

Iran said it had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the development. The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog did not respond to a request for comment. Tehran long has insisted it does not seek nuclear weapons, though the West fears its program could allow it to build them.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to pull the U.S. from the Iran deal, has engaged in alternating tough talk with more conciliatory statements —a strategy he says is aimed at keeping Iran guessing at the administration’s intentions. Trump also has said he hopes Iran calls him and engages in negotiations.

But while Trump’s approach of flattery and threats has become a hallmark of his foreign policy, the risks have only grown in dealing with Iran, where mistrust between Tehran and Washington stretches four decades. While both sides say they don’t seek war, many worry any miscalculation could spiral out of control. A Trump tweet Monday warning Iran would face its “official end” if it threatened the U.S. drew sharp rebuke from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter, who used the hashtag #NeverThreatenAnIranian.

In Iran, it remains unclear what powers Rouhani seeks. In Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq, a wartime supreme council was able to bypass other branches to make decisions regarding the economy and the war.

“Today, we need such powers,” Rouhani said, according to IRNA. He added that country “is united that we should resist the U.S. and the sanctions.”

Meanwhile, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told an audience in the United Arab Emirates on Monday night that America “needs to engage more in the world and intervene militarily less.” While “Iran’s behavior must change,” he urged the U.S. not to engage in unilateral action and that American “military must work to buy time for diplomats to work their magic.”

“I will assure you no nation will be more honest with you than America,” the retired Marine Corps general said, according to a report in the state-linked newspaper The National. “America will frustrate you at times because of its form of government, but the UAE and America will always find their way back to common ground, on that I have no doubt.”

Mattis abruptly resigned in December after clashing with Trump over withdrawing troops in Syria. He spoke at a previously unannounced speech before a Ramadan lecture series in honor of Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

___

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Bomb-laden drone from Yemen rebels targets Saudi airport

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi airport and military base with a bomb-laden drone Tuesday, an assault acknowledged by the kingdom as Middle East tensions remained high between Tehran and Washington.

apnews.com

 

[Khafee]

CNN exposes systematic abuse of aid in Yemen
May 20, 2019
By Sam Kiley, Sarah El Sirgany and Brice Lainé, CNN

Bani Qais, in Houthi-controlled Yemen (CNN)Issham Beshir is two years old. She's twig-thin and so badly malnourished she's yet to take her first steps. The world is trying to help her and nearly 16 million more hungry people in Yemen by sending food.

But, according to UN reports and CNN reporting on the ground, some of that food is being stolen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, on a scale far greater than has been reported before".

More detials:
CNN exposes systematic abuse of aid in Yemen

 

[Khafee]

Saudi Arabia, UAE Ink Deals to Combat Cholera, Malnutrition in Yemen Thursday, 23 May, 2019 - 09:00

Saudi Arabia and the UAE sign agreements to combat Cholera and malnutrition in Yemen. (SPA)

Riyadh - Saleh al-Zayed

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have inked agreements to tackle environmental and humanitarian challenges in Yemen, namely cholera and malnutrition ailing the war-torn country’s population.

Signed with UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), the agreements were signed at a high-level meeting in Riyadh that was attended by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) chief Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy and UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.

The first agreement sets up a plan to curb the cholera outbreak in Yemen in cooperation with the WHO as part of an initiative to support relief and humanitarian projects with $20 million, directly benefiting more than a million people and indirectly aiding more than 18 million.

The second agreement works to address acute malnutrition in high-risk areas in cooperation with UNICEF.

It aims to treat 50,000 Yemeni children under the age of five who are suffering from acute malnutrition, promote infant and young child feeding practices and monitor their growth, provide health counseling to the local community, health facilities and 400,000 mothers, provide micronutrient supplements to 800,000 children under the age of five, and detect malnutrition in a million children.

The project has a total value of $40 million and will benefit 1.4 million people.

Around 360,000 children under five were suffering from severe acute malnutrition and require treatment, UNICEF said in March.

In a post-conference presser, Lowcock thanked Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their humanitarian support and relief work in Yemen.

He said the two countries offered around $1 billion at a UN pledging conference in Geneva in February.


https://aawsat.com/english/home/art...e-ink-deals-combat-cholera-malnutrition-yemen

 

[Khafee]

Saudi Project Demines 1,329 Houthi-laid Landmines
21 May, 2019

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center's (KSrelief) project for clearing mines (Masam) announced that its field teams managed to remove 1,329 Houthi-laid mines during the third week of May.

Director General of MASAM project Ousama Algosaibi said the demining teams removed 44 anti-individual, 586 anti-tank mines, 676 unexploded ammunition, and 23 explosive devices from different liberated areas of Yemen.

Algosaibi added that the teams have removed 8149 mines and explosives since the beginning of May.

MASAM has already demined 71,868 mines and explosives planted by Iran-backed Houthi militia in different Yemeni areas.

KSrelief also signed Monday two contracts to treat 200 injured people in Yemen.

The contracts aim to provide treatment for 100 injured Yemenis in Al-Barihi Hospital and 100 in Saber Hospital, said Assistant General Supervisor of the Center for Operations and Programs Ahmed bin Ali al-Bayez

The objective of the $800,000 worth contracts is to save the life of the injured in the early hours to reduce complications, and to rehabilitate health services in Yemen, benefiting 200 people in Aden and its directorates, Bayez added.

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Arab League Condemns Houthi Attempt to Target Makkah

Wednesday, 22 May, 2019

Coalition forces destroyed two Houthi drones above Saudi Arabia. (File Photo: SPA)

Cairo, Riyadh- Sawsan Abu Hussein and Abdul Hadi Habtoor

The Arab League reiterated Tuesday its condemnation of the Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Makkah on Monday.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abul Gheit issued a statement saying these acts pose a serious threat to regional and international security, and not just that of Saudi Arabia, voicing at the same time the Arab bloc's full support for the Kingdom in the face of terrorist threats that trigger regional chaos.

The spokesman of the Sec-Gen, Ambassador Mahmoud Afifi, affirmed that Abul Gheit reiterated full support to Saudi Arabia in confronting all threats to its national security and supporting the measures taken by the Saudi authorities to confront this threat.

Meanwhile, Joint forces of the Alliance to Support the Legitimacy in Yemen revealed that Houthi militias tried to target a vital civilian facility in Najran with a drone loaded with explosives.

Spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki said Iran-backed militias continue to carry out acts of terrorism that pose a real threat to regional and international security by targeting civilian facilities, as well as citizens and residents of all nationalities.

On Monday, Saudi air defense forces intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Makkah, and were able to destroy the missiles 60 km from Makkah.

“The Air Defense Systems spotted on Monday morning the objects and were dealt with accordingly,” he said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Shura Council Hadi al-Yami described the Houthi attempt to target one of the vital facilities in Najran as a new episode in the series of frequent abuses and attacks against civilians in Saudi cities.

Yami told Asharq al-Awsat that each time pressure increases, militias resort to targeting civilian facilities in order to cover up their successive defeats.

He asserted that Houthi attempts will not succeed because of the vigilance of Saudi forces.

Yami explained that the whole world knows that Houthi militias do not possess modern technologies and have no ability to operate them. Those technologies, he explained, are sent from the Iranian regime using the militias as a tool to implement its goals in the region.

He stated that the international community’s role is to pressure the Tehran regime and force it to end its negative interference in the affairs of regional countries.

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Yemeni President: We Will No Longer Accept UN Envoy’s Violations
Friday, 24 May, 2019

Hadi speaking last Wednesday during the 29th Anniversary of Yemeni Reunification on the 22nd of May 1990 (Saba news agency)

Riyadh - Abdulhadi Habtor

Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has on Thursday fully rejected violations made by UN Envoy Martin Griffiths, which he said would blow chances for a political solution in Yemen.

In a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Hadi considered the briefing made by Griffiths to the UN Security Council on May 15 as an example of the flagrant violation of the mandate granted to the UN envoy.

He accused Griffiths of praising a war criminal, Abdul Malak Al-Houthi, and depicting him as a peace dove.

“Griffiths insists on dealing with Houthi (militias) as a fait accompli government, and as an equivalent to the legitimate government,” the Yemeni President said in his letter.

Hadi added that Griffiths has also accepted a unilateral redeployment by the Houthis without any monitoring by the UN and the legitimate government.

In his letter, the Yemeni President accused Griffiths of sidestepping Security Council Resolution 2216.

“We can no longer accept the ongoing violations committed by the UN envoy,” he said, adding that Griffiths turned his back to the case of prisoners and hostages, and other important issues over his decision to partially implement the Stockholm deal, which was struck between Yemen’s warring sides in December.

In his briefing last week, the UN envoy said that General Michael Lollesgaard and his team from the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement confirmed that Houthis were fully compliant throughout the withdrawal and that they were very cooperative.

Last December, Griffiths brokered the ceasefire agreement and troop withdrawal from the ports of Hodeidah, Al Salef and Ras Isa during the peace talks in Sweden between the Yemeni legitimate government and the Houthis.

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Houthis Lead Coercive Recruitment Campaign against African Refugees
Friday, 24 May, 2019

Houthi security forces in Sanaa, EPA

Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat

Grappling with grave losses that struck its fighter ranks recently, Houthi militias revamped their foreign recruitment program, employing coercion as a tactic to get African mercenaries and youth to fight on their side.

Houthis, in the last two weeks, have been running an extensive recruitment campaign, local sources in Sanaa, a stronghold for the group, told Asharq Al-Awsat, saying African youth were forcibly drafted into training camps after militia commanders failed to gain the support of nearby tribes.

Sources unveiled that Houthis have been saturating their ranks with hired African mercenaries, fighting for a paid rate ranging from $80 to $100.

Houthi supervisors specialized in recruitment operations and who are popular among African refugees, according to same sources, have been assigned with militarizing refugees and the sorting and categorizing of new recruits according to previous combat experiences.

Most of the newly enrolled Houthi militias are being deployed to front lines.

Recruitment campaigns targeted Africans of different age groups who had sought refuge in a number of neighborhoods in Sana and Houthi-run territory.

A majority of the new recruits are Ethiopian and Somali nationals, sources noted.

After conscription, mercenaries are vetted by Iran-sponsored commanders who also conduct combat training courses in undisclosed boot camps. The most recent wave of foreign militia recruitment saw the conscription of 76 new fighters.

Apart from being trained in armed combat, trainees also undergo a fierce sectarian indoctrination program.

Families of Houthi-hired African fighters complain that they are being pressured by hard living conditions under Houthi rule in Sanaa. In addition to the starvation-level suffering they face, they are being pressured into accepting their relatives, mostly the family’s breadwinner, picking up arms.

A Sanaa-based official, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, confirmed that members of the African community in Houthi-run areas are the victims of racial slurs, oppression and human rights violations, especially when they refuse to heed Houthi demands.

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Three Hostages Die in Houthi Custody
Saturday, 25 May, 2019

A Houthi gunman holds his gun during a rally in Sanaa in August 2015. AP file photo

Taiz – Asharq Al-Awsat

At least three captives have recently been tortured to death while under Houthi custody, the Mothers of Abductees Association reported.

“Abductees died in Houthi militia coup prisons in Hodeidah province, west of Yemen. They suffered torture and are suspected of having been beaten to death,” the Association said in a statement.

Mohammad Yohieh Al Massoudi, one of the victims, 35, was kidnapped by masked Houthi gunmen on April 19, 2019. His bruised body was handed back to his family under the conditions that they do not allow a forensics examiner to conduct an autopsy.

Adel Ayash Matari Mahboum, another victim, 27, was taken from the safety of his home in Al Rukba village on May 7, 2017. He breathed his last breath a few days later in what appears to be a case of death by electrocution. His corpse was held at a morgue in a Houthi-run hospital in Sanaa for two years.

It was only recently that his family members were informed of his passing.

Ali Bin Ali, the third victim listed by the Association, was abducted early on May 2019, but Houthis told his family that he was still undergoing investigations.

Soon after, downpour washed off what later appeared to be a shallow grave dug for Ali’s tattered body.

The Association, for its part, urged the United Nations Security Council to take action against Houthi murders, and called on “activists and legal aides to work seriously to bring kidnappers and murders to justice.”

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Houthis Systematically Target Expatriate-owned Properties
25 May, 2019

Yemeni carrying bread in central Sanaa (AFP)

Sanaa - Asharq Al-Awsat

Yemeni activists have raised the alarm on Houthi militants, in areas under their control, unashamedly plundering assets of Yemeni expatriates who had left the country before the war.

Rights activists said the Iran-backed militias have recently been focused on looting the property of expatriates, sending armed mobsters to extort their relatives for money.

Gatekeepers and relatives are being asked to pay stupendous amounts of money in order to keep militants at bay and away from vandalizing, looting and destroying private properties.

While many expatriates have refrained from returning to their hometowns, which are now overrun by Houthi militants, they have voiced deep anxieties towards the safety of not only their property but also relatives.

“Once a Houthi officer figures out that the owner of any real estate is living abroad, they immediately move to extort relatives,” the legal representative of an expatriate residing in the United States, speaking under conditions of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

On Houthis coercing civilians at gunpoint, Yemeni expatriate in the US, Abu Saleh Al-Baadani said: “We suffer all kinds of extortion, theft and robbery, and we have to pay money for the Houthi war effort.”

“If my relatives were not guarding the villa I own in the city of Ibb, it would be in the hands of militias," Baadani noted.

“My relatives clashed with armed Houthi loyalists who tried to storm the house under the pretext that they were searching for anti-Houthi actors, which is a justification they often flash before storming and looting the homes of expatriates.”

The situation was later settled by paying off militants 5 million Yemeni rials to leave the premise.

Similar to Baadani’s case, many other homes and farmlands have been raided by Houthi gunmen. Ali Morshid Al Wasabi, for example, had his farmland confiscated and transformed into a private militia graveyard.

“I came to visit my family after having been gone for a year, and I was surprised by an armed group of Houthi men who wanted to take my land. I tried to prevent them, yet without avail. They asked for a huge amount of money that I am unable to pay,” Wasabi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Unchecked, Houthi ring commanders are independently ransacking and stealing lands, something which has created fierce competition among warlords vying to secure personal interests.

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Saudi Intercepts Drone Launched by Houthis Towards Jazan
Sunday, 26 May, 2019

Pictures of the drone wreckage. SPA

Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi air defense forces intercepted a drone armed with explosives which had been launched by Yemen's Houthi militias and aimed at an airport in the south of the Kingdom, state news agency SPA said on Sunday.

The aircraft had been targeting the airport in Jazan, SPA said, citing a statement from the Arab Coalition.

SPA posted pictures of the drone wreckage on its Twitter feed.

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UN Chief to Hadi: Yemen Envoy to Redouble Efforts in a Balanced Manner
Sunday, 26 May, 2019

United Nations envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, gestures as he arrives at a meeting in Hodeidah, Yemen January 29, 2019. (Reuters)

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his “full confidence” in UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths after the envoy was accused by Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi of committing violations that threaten the political solution.

Griffiths has not commented on Hadi’s letter, which he had delivered to the UN chief.

“In his letter to President Hadi the secretary-general says that the United Nations commitment to the Stockholm agreement stems first and foremost from our deep desire to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and assist in addressing the humanitarian crisis which continues to beset Yemen,” said Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“He assured President Hadi that his special envoy, Griffiths, will redouble efforts to support the parties on delivering on the commitment made in Stockholm and do so in a manner which is balanced and fully supportive of achieving a peaceful and lasting political solution to this conflict,” he added.

In his letter, Hadi said: “We can no longer accept the ongoing violations committed by the UN envoy.”

He made his stance after a briefing by Griffiths to the UN Security Council on May 15, which the president deemed as an example of the flagrant violation of the mandate granted to the envoy.

“Griffiths insists on dealing with Houthi (militias) as a de-facto government, and as an equivalent to the legitimate government,” he added, accusing the envoy of legitimizing the Iran-backed militants.

He also accused Griffiths of sidestepping Security Council Resolution 2216.

The letter stated that Griffiths has failed to properly oversee the Stockholm agreement struck last year for a ceasefire and withdrawal plan for the port city of Hodeidah, and has not dealt with issues surrounding detainees and hostages.

“It is clear the envoy has a weak understanding of the nature of Yemen’s ongoing conflict, especially the ideological, intellectual, and political elements of the Houthi militias and their fundamental rejection of the principles of democracy and the peaceful rotation of power,” it added.

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Guterres Promises Hadi to be Impartial
27 May, 2019

Guterres delivers a speech on disarmament at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2018. Reuters

London- Badr Al-Qahtani

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he was willing to discuss with the legitimate Yemeni government reservations expressed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on UN Envoy Martin Griffiths’ briefing to the Security Council on May 15, a high-ranking Yemeni official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Yemeni government official said that Griffiths would not attend the proposed meeting between the two sides.

“We will discuss with Guterres, or the person representing him, all the violations committed by the UN envoy to Yemen,” the source said.

“We will tell Guterres that the UN should focus on the three references, not take one-sided decisions and just stick to the clauses of the Stockholm deal” that was truck between the legitimacy and Houthi militias in December, the official added.

The meeting’s outcome will decide if the legitimate government would re-engage with Griffiths, according to the same source.

Last Thursday, Hadi sent a letter to Guterres in which he said he would no longer accept the ongoing violations committed by the UN envoy.

He criticized Griffiths for publicly praising the war criminal, Abdul Malak Al-Houthi.

Meanwhile, a UN source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Guterres has clarified his position by sending a letter to Hadi.

A few days ago, Guterres reiterated his “full confidence” in the envoy.

“In his letter to President Hadi the secretary-general says that the United Nations commitment to the Stockholm Agreement stems first and foremost from our deep desire to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and assist in addressing the humanitarian crisis which continues to beset Yemen,” the UN chief’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.

However, Dujarric failed to reveal in detail information on Guterres’ letter to Hadi.

Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of the letter in which Guterres affirms that “every effort will be made to maintain the impartial stance that is expected of the United Nations” while implementing the Stockholm Agreement.

He also expressed keenness on the importance of reaching out to all parties to activate the written agreement and transform it into reality.

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Saudi Arabia, Yemen Sign Development, Reconstruction Agreement
Monday, 27 May, 2019

The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen signs a joint cooperation agreement on development and reconstruction in Yemen. (SPA)

Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat

The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) signed a joint cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government on the development and reconstruction of Yemen.

The deal was signed by Supervisor of the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen and Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al Jaber and Yemen's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib al-Auj at the SDRPY headquarters in Riyadh.

The agreement is part of the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and the reinforcement of ties between the fraternal countries to provide and implement development and reconstruction projects and services in Yemen.

The SDRPY was established in May 2018 by a royal decree issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz to contribute with international donors and the World Bank in developing and reconstructing Yemen.

The SDRPY projects cover the health, education, energy and agriculture sectors. They have also tackled fishery resources, water, dams, roads, airports, government and residential buildings.

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