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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Aug-2015
29-Aug-15 World View -- Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa

Web Log - August, 2015

29-Aug-15 World View -- Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa

Deadly MERS virus cases surge in Saudi Arabia as Hajj approaches

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa
Carnage grows in Yemen as both sides commit war crimes
Deadly MERS virus cases surge in Saudi Arabia as Hajj approaches

Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa

Men dig through rubble at residential compound struck by Saudi warplanes last month (HRW)

Men dig through rubble at residential compound struck by Saudi warplanes last month (HRW)

In what could be a major humiliation for Iran, Yemen Saudi Arabia-backed government in exile says that it's prepared to launch an attempt to recapture the capital city Sanaa within two months.

The Iran-backed Shia ethnic Houthi militias seized Sanaa last September, forcing the president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee to the south to the port city of Aden, Yemen's second largest city. The Houthi militias then swept south, first capturing Taiz, the third largest city, and continuing to the south to Aden. Hadi was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia as a government in exile.

A Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 26, in support of Sunni militias allied with Hadi. These recaptured Aden and then Taiz. Reportedly, some troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken part in some fighting in the south. On Friday, Yemen's foreign minister in exile said that government forces intend to launch the battle to recapture Sanaa with two months.

Saudi Arabia has appeared loath to send their own troops into the war, but for the first time, Saudi Arabian troops have entered Yemen, crossing the Saudi border into Yemen near a site where Houthis have launched shelling attacks on Saudi targets.

If Hadi government forces are able to recapture Sanaa, then it would be a major victory for Saudi Arabia, and a major humiliation for Iran. Earlier this year, Iran was bragging endlessly that it was in control of four major Mideast capital cities -- Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and Sanaa, in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, respectively. The loss of Sanaa would be particularly humiliating, in view of the recent defeats that have been inflicted on Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.

Iran has never called for a ceasefire by the al-Assad regime in Syria to stop using chlorine-laden barrel bombs on innocent women and children civilians in Syria, but it's now desperately calling for a ceasefire in Syria. Iran is demanding that the Saudi-led airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen must stop, and that an immediate ceasefire must be followed by negotiations, since “adopting a political solution and avoiding war” would be beneficial not only for Yemen but for the entire region as well. Arab News and International Business Times

Carnage grows in Yemen as both sides commit war crimes

Yemen has always been one of the poorest countries in the world, and the war in Yemen that began with the Houthi capture of Sanaa last year in September has brought a great deal of destruction to the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them civilians, but that figure is consider to be an almost certain underestimate.

According to Human Rights Watch, the blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition has had a severe impact on civilians. The activist organization says that 80% of the population need assistance, and half the population face food insecurity. The blockade has made it difficult to deliver food and medicines, according to HRW.

HRW says that both sides are guilty of war crimes. Houthi militias repeatedly fire mortar shells and rockets indiscriminately into populated area. But HRW particularly condemns the Saudi airstrikes which it says have killed nearly 2,000 civilians, including hundreds of children.

HRW is also claiming that Saudi warplanes have been dropping cluster munitions. Cluster bombs release hundreds of bomblets in order to cause blanket damage over a wide area. Some bomblets will often fail to detonate and remain on the ground as a latent explosive threat. More than 100 countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use and stockpiling of the weapons, though Saudi Arabia and the United States have not. Human Rights Watch and Vice News and AP

Deadly MERS virus cases surge in Saudi Arabia as Hajj approaches

Pilgrims attending last year's Hajj wore nose and mouth masks (AFP)

Pilgrims attending last year's Hajj wore nose and mouth masks (AFP)

A surge in cases of deadly MERS-CoV (the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital city, has killed 26 people in just the last two weeks. Saudi officials are taking immediate steps to isolate all cases as quickly as possible. There's an additional threat of spreading when more than 5 million Saudi students resume school on Sunday after summer vacation.

The sudden surge in new MERS cases is raising concerns because the annual Hajj will take place this year from September 20-25. The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is required to make at least one in his lifetime. Plane loads of Muslims have already begun to arrive for this year's Hajj. Millions of Muslims from around the world will arrive in Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks for their once in a lifetime Hajj pilgrimage.

Saudi officials are saying that even one case of MERS can present a major threat. With millions of people attending, a single infected person could transmit the disease to many others. The danger is increased because an infected person may not show symptoms for several days.

This is now the third year that MERS has appeared as a serious threat to the Hajj. Saudi officials are confident that the procedures that they followed for the last two years will keep everyone safe this year. Arab News and On Islam

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 29-Aug-15 World View -- Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (29-Aug-2015) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Aug-2015 29-Aug-15 World View -- Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa

Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa

Carnage grows in Yemen as both sides commit war crimes

Deadly MERS virus cases surge in Saudi Arabia as Hajj approaches

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 29-Aug-2015
29-Aug-15 World View -- Iran calls for Yemen ceasefire as Saudi-backed troops threaten Sanaa