Sisi warns of response after Islamic State kills 21 Egyptians in Libya

This is, obviously, an Iranian site, but the photos rather tell their own story:

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/04/01/404251/Yemenis-condemn-Saudi-aggression

Yemenis take to streets to condemn Saudi aggression against their country



Yemeni people have taken to streets to in Bab al-Yemen district of the capital, Sana’a, to condemn Saudi aggression against their country and voice their support for resistance.

Yemeni protesters chanted slogans against Saudi regime, in favor of Houthi movement’s Ansarullah revolutionaries.

Similar demonstrations are also underway in Yemen’s cities of Ta’izz, Amran with protesters calling for the boycott of goods made by countries engaged in Saudi-led aggression of Yemen.

Protesters also chanted slogans against the US, Israel, and Saudi regime describing Saudi regime as an ally of Israel, which is implementing US-Israeli agenda.

Calling for popular mobilization against Saudi aggression against Yemen, the protesters also condemned international silence over Saudi crimes in their country.

They also asked for international probe into unauthorized Saudi aggression of Yemen.

SS/SS


Yet another chaotic, bloody mess.

http://rt.com/news/246077-russian-consulate-yemen-airstrikes/


Russia’s Yemen consulate damaged amid Saudi-led airstrikes – embassy source

The Russian Consulate General in the Yemeni sea port of Aden has been damaged during airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led military coalition against the Houthi rebels, said a source in the Russian embassy in Yemen.

“There is not a single intact window left,” the source told Sputnik. A possibility of consulate closure and the evacuation of Russian nationals is currently under review, the source added.

Earlier on Wednesday a Russian plane charted for the evacuation of Russian citizens caught in the conflict had been diverted to Cairo, after the coalition denied it landing in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The evacuation has now been delayed until Thursday, when the chartered flight “accompanied by two other aircraft” is expected to arrive in Sanaa, according to a source of Russian daily Kommersan. In addition to Russians, the aircraft will also help to evacuate the citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the source added.....more at link.

An accident, doubtless. Just like the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was a 'accident'.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/17/balkans

Nato deliberately bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the war in Kosovo after discovering it was being used to transmit Yugoslav army communications.
According to senior military and intelligence sources in Europe and the US the Chinese embassy was removed from a prohibited targets list after Nato electronic intelligence (Elint) detected it sending army signals to Milosevic's forces.

The story is confirmed in detail by three other Nato officers - a flight controller operating in Naples, an intelligence officer monitoring Yugoslav radio traffic from Macedonia and a senior headquarters officer in Brussels. They all confirm that they knew in April that the Chinese embassy was acting as a 'rebro' [rebroadcast] station for the Yugoslav army (VJ) after alliance jets had successfully silenced Milosevic's own transmitters.

Do bear in mind that NATO attacked the legitimate government of Yugoslavia, and then concocted 'atrocity' stories to justify its actions. Standard Operating Procedure, in short.

http://rt.com/news/246189-troops-aden-port-yemen/

Dozens of unidentified foreign troops reported disembarking in the port of Aden turned out to be Chinese soldiers maintaining security as an unknown party opened fire on a vessel evacuating foreign citizens, a Yemeni official told Sputnik.

He added that Chinese soldiers have already left the port, though reportedly they did not manage to take with them all the people intended to evacuate, not all of the Chinese nationals.

The city of Aden has turned into battlefield as violent street-to-street fighting between advancing Houthi rebels and pro-president troops making a stand.

The data from medics and military suggest that up to 44 people have been killed in street clashes, AFP reports.

Earlier member of the Houthi political council Daifullah Shami told Sputnik that the foreign troops in Aden disembarked from Saudi and Egyptian vessels.

"The number of troopers who landed in the Yemen port of Aden is unknown, but we are talking about dozens. They were covered by several airplanes. They disembarked from Saudi and Egyptian ships," said a member of Ansar Allah movement, Ahmad Al-Shami.

Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels in March.

The Saudi-led coalition has declared Yemeni airspace a “restricted zone.”The allies also claim to control the maritime area adjoining the port of Aden, allegedly captured by the Houthis.

Ships in the region have also been urged not to approach Yemen’s ports due to the ongoing military operation.

Yemen’s ousted officials have requested a ground intervention to bolster the air offensive. On March 31, Saudi authorities said they had gathered troops along the border with Yemen in preparation for any possible ground offensive, according to Reuters, adding that no exact time to send the troops in has yet been stipulated.

OK, so the Chinese troops got off Saudi and Egyptian vessels....yes, that makes perfect sense. Somewhere.....

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-03/31/c_134112479.htm

Over 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-torn Yemen arrive in Djibouti



Chinese evacuees arrive in Djibouti, March 31, 2015. More than 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-ridden Yemen have arrived at the Djibouti port as the situation continues to deteriorate in Yemen. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

DJIBOUTI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- More than 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-ridden Yemen have arrived at the Djibouti port as the situation continues to deteriorate in Yemen.

A People's Liberation Army Navy fleet, which had been carrying out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, was dispatched for the evacuation on Sunday, according to China's Ministry of National Defense.

The first group of 122 Chinese nationals were evacuated from the Yemeni city of Aden and arrived in Djibouti on Sunday night.

The remaining 449 Chinese nationals and six people of other nationalities left the Yemeni coastal city of Al-Hodayda on Monday and have arrived in Djibouti.

Security sharply deteriorated in Yemen since early March when conflicts erupted in several provinces in the country's southern regions.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

Last Thursday, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014.

===========

What a complete, total clusterf*ck. Thanks, Obama.

More on the clusterf*ck:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-02/chaos-yemen-rebels-turn-aden-warzone-al-qaeda-stages-prison-break-saudi-arabia-suffe

Summary:

Between the first Saudi casualty, the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the logistical difficulties inherent in carrying out bombing raids on heavily populated areas, the rebel advance on military installations near the Bab el-Mandeb, and finally, with militants set to raid the country's cash, it may become increasingly difficult for the Saudi-led coalition to support an assertion that air raids alone will be enough to debilitate the Houthis and bring the situation under control.

Oh, and Al Quaeda has broken into prisons and let hundreds of its supporters out. Don't ask which 'side' they're on, probably Saudi Arabia's.

It's hard to make sense of anything happening in the Middle East at present, but it appears that Saudi Arabia now has strife within its own borders:

http://rt.com/news/247041-saudi-shia-province-raid/


‘It’s like a war here’: Saudi police raid defiant eastern province amid wider conflict with Shias



مهدي الزاهر @alzahir_ma
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House set on fire due to #Saudi forces raid in #Awamiya

#Qatif
#awamia
#KSA

Locals say 30 arrests were made, according to reports. They also accuse authorities of cracking down on anti-government protests and using it as an excuse for the raids. The region is keen to show its dissatisfaction with the Saudi coalition bombardment of Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen, whom they see as brothers in faith.



Labbaik Ya Hussain @LYH786
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#LIVE
#SaudiArabia #Awamia: Forces terrifying ppl, arresting, shooting fire in #AwamiaUnderSiege violently!!

This is aside from the more general grievances over Saudi discrimination of the Shia in nearly every sector of public life.

That the “exchange of fire” quickly turned into a gun battle is hardly a unique occurrence in the resource-rich, but poor majority-Shiite province – incidents have been happening since 2011 when the Shia (10 to 15 percent of the country’s 29 million inhabitants), decided they had had enough and began engaging in activities reminiscent of the Arab Spring protests.

More at link, including:

Associate Professor Firat Demir at the University of Oklahoma sees this as a measure to galvanize Sunnis to target Shias wherever they may be.

“I’m afraid the characterization of this war is quite misrepresented in international media, especially in the US press… the main goal isn’t to uproot or eliminate terrorism in Yemen, but in fact to encourage terrorism against Shias. We should remember that Saudi Arabia provided 15 of the 19 hijackers in 9/11. They have the same religion – Wahabism – as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and right now Sunnis are fighting against Shias not only in Yemen, but in Syria and Iraq. Here, the Shias are the underdogs - they are the good guys.

“Yemen is already a failed state,” he goes on, remembering that the same fate befell Libya, which became “a breeding ground for extremists.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/13/us-reportedly-steps-up-involvement-in-saudi-led-yemen-campaign/


US reportedly steps up involvement in Saudi-led Yemen campaign

The U.S. reportedly has taken on a greater role in the Saudi-led campaign of airstrikes against Shiite rebels in Yemen amid doubts about whether Riyadh can achieve its objectives.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the U.S. Navy has stepped up patrols looking for weapons that American and Arab officials believe have been sent to the rebel forces, known as Houthis, by Iran. On one occasion, the paper reports, U.S. sailors boarded a Panama-flagged freighter in the Red Sea that was suspected of carrying armaments. The search turned up nothing.

The paper also reported that the Obama administration authorized Pentagon war planners to cross-check a list of targets provided by the Saudis against U.S. intelligence and provide feedback ahead of the first airstrikes last month.

Two-and-a-half weeks of aerial and naval bombardment have done little to slow the Houthi advance in Yemen, though it has prevented the rebels from controlling the port city of Aden. The Journal reports that the relative lack of success has caused Washington to call on the Saudis to revisit the goals of their campaign. more at link.

The US may be helping with the bombing of Yemen, but it isn't helping get its own passport holders out.

http://rt.com/news/248925-americans-yemen-evacuation-war/

'Nobody will help us evacuate:' Americans urge Washington to help flee Yemen war

As the Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen continue and the fighting on the ground intensifies, US citizens stuck in Yemen have lashed out at Washington for ignoring their pleas for help as they try to leave the war-torn country.

Aerial bombardment and street battles have become a daily reality for people in Yemen. “We hear a few bombings a day. It’s very scary right now,” Arwa Al-Iraine, a US citizen trapped in Yemen told RT.

“Nobody will help us evacuate. The reply [of the US government] was an automated message that they do not have any evacuation plans. Basically we are left on our own.”

Another US citizen Shamsan Mansoob stranded in the strife-stricken country hit out at Washington, saying that “we never heard anything from them.” He told RT that his family - a pregnant wife and his son – couldn’t even leave the war zone as “there is no gas at the stations.”

Hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of casualties as scores of people are killed every day. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that between March 19 and April 6, 643 people had died as a result of the violence in Yemen. These figures include 74 children.

Two weeks ago, the first American citizen was killed in the conflict between Houthi rebels and the government forces.

“He was trapped there for over three weeks, waiting for assistance to leave the country, but unfortunately after the airports of the capital Sanaa and Aden were closed, he was stuck there with other people,” Mohammed Alazzani, 27, the cousin of the killed American Jamal al Labani, told RT.

The Freedumbing continues.

.....as planned.  

http://news.sky.com/story/1466525/yemeni-man-saw-family-burn-in-saudi-airstrike

Yemeni Man Saw Family Burn In Saudi Airstrike
Sky News meets Mohamed, who says there is "no point continuing" after he lost eight relatives to the violence engulfing Yemen.

More than 600 people have been killed in Yemen in the past three weeks as a result of airstrikes and ground fighting, over half of them civilians including 74 children, according to the United Nations.

Our cameraman, Abd Rabu Al Hushaishi, travelled to the village of Yarim, 150km south of Yemen's capital Sana'a, to see Mohamed Al Ammari.

Mohamed, 32, lost seven members of his family when an airstrike hit a fuel truck next to his house.

In just a few minutes his daughter, two brothers and their children died. The pain of watching them burn to death was too much for him to describe.

Now what was once his home is filled with charred belongings and the blood stains of his relatives on the walls and carpet.

"The Saudi plane hit it (the fuel truck) with a missile, which led to these homes being burned as well as the people who were sleeping in their beds. It was 2.30am," Mohamed told Sky News.

"They were targeting areas with weapons, but there were no weapons," he insists.

Mohamed says he can't stop thinking about his family: "It's a miserable life without them," he says.

"There's no point continuing our days, you wake up in the morning and you hope that God makes this day your last. "

The next morning Mohamed headed to Sana'a to visit his uncle, one of the only relatives that survived the strikes. Our cameraman went with him but by the time Mohamed got there, it was too late - his uncle had died of his wounds just an hour before.

With thousands wounded since the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi fighters began, hospitals around the country are struggling.

Vital medicine is running low and with limited aid arriving because of the naval and air blockade, the head of medical supplies at this hospital says they can no longer treat all the patients.

According to the head of medical supplies at Sana'a airport, Mohamed Mansour, "there is no more stock of emergency medicine and anaesthetic medicine".

It is not just medicine that is in short supply, the price of fuel has quadrupled since the airstrikes and fighting began. Despite that and the risk of being outside, people queue for hours to fill up their cars and generators.

Some 112,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. according to the UN. Power and water supplies are now running dangerously low.

Even before the latest crisis almost half of Yemen's population, more than 10 million people, were going hungry every day.

The poorest Arab country is under attack from the richest. Whatever the politics, it is clear it is ordinary people like Mohamed bearing the brunt of this war.

As Mohamed put it: "Inside me there's a sea of pain that will not end as long as I live, tragedies and wounds, things I will suffer from my entire life."

==========

The poorest Arab country is under attack from the richest.

With the blessings of Washington and Whitehall.

Of course, Bonny.  

http://rt.com/news/253001-yemen-evacuation-russia-us/

The lack of clarity over the evacuation of US citizens from Yemen continues, as more Americans are lifted from the warzone by Russian planes. A relieved family of 10 spoke to RT amid Washington’s continuing inaction.

While it continues to say it’s too risky to evacuate its own, one American told RT of his disbelief at his government’s inaction to get his family to safety. A Russian rescue plane on Friday reunited them at New York’s JFK Airport.

“I really got lucky with Russia. It was a three-hour notice, I was contacted by them and they said they will provide a plane,” Khaled Alamari told RT in the arrivals hall, describing the trauma his children had faced amid the constant fighting and explosions. One of his daughters lost nearly half her body weight, the Yemeni-American adds.

The US State Department says it has been issuing guidelines for US citizens stuck in Yemen on how to leave the war-torn country, but the Americans evacuated by Russian planes say they haven't heard a word.

Meanwhile, the online help system the US government has set up is being lauded by spokeswoman Marie Harf, who advises the stranded people to sign up and “stay in touch” for news through email and text messages.


Yes, I am sure txt messages from the State Department are a great comfort when US's Gallant Allies the Saudis are dropping bombs on your head.

Isn't Obama in the least bit embarrassed by American citizens being rescued - from a war started by US allies - by Russia and others?

Even Somalia has got its nationals out, but not America, despite it being, as one of the rescued-by-Russia points out

“This is the most powerful country in the world…”

It obviously isn't, if all it can do is send txt messages.

http://www.infowars.com/in-iraq-isis-is-winning-and-the-united-states-is-losing/

IN IRAQ, ISIS IS WINNING AND THE UNITED STATES IS LOSING
Whatever the U.S. military accomplished during that war is being completely undone by ISIS

That's a good piece on the ongoing disaster in the Middle East.

Have bookmarked it Bonny, with thanks.   The US have been on the losing side before........

This is just about the worst, Lily. Think of all those young servicemen and women, killed and maimed, the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, left with a ruined nation - all for absolutely nothing.

Bonny, we know that  war is outrageously profitable to a few people.  They can make money from both sides too.

To hell with everyone else.  

Our Gallant Allies, the Saudis, take time off from advertising for new executioners and headsmen to drop a few more bombs on Yemeni civilians. One family had a lucky escape:

http://rt.com/news/260237-saudi-bomb-yemen-civilians/



Don't know what they're complaining about, that's a White House approved, Freedum-loving unexploded bomb they've got lying on what was their sofa.

Sigh.............

http://news.sky.com/story/1487671/al-qaeda-application-form-requests-next-of-kin

An al Qaeda recruitment form is among a trove of documents released by US intelligence officials from the 2011 Pakistan raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The document begins like any other form-filling exercise for a would-be hire to a professional organisation, asking candidates to "Please enter the required information accurately and truthfully."

Applicants are advised to "write clearly and legibly" and submit their "name, age, marital status."

But it soon poses questions revealing a more sinister purpose, including, "Do you wish to execute a suicide operation?"

"Who should we contact in case you become a martyr?" it also asks.

The declassified documents also show that Bin Laden was an avid reader of conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks he masterminded, as well as the Illuminati...etc


I don't think I can quite process the idea of Bin Laden being a conspiraloon....and WHY was he reading them? He's supposed to have known what happened.....

It all sounds so strange to me for some reason.  

On the same subject:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-21/isis-controlling-more-half-syria-us-alliances-prepares-pounce

Quote from a lengthy piece:

As Reuters also reports in an exclusive piece, Turkey's state intelligence agency helped deliver arms to parts of Syria under Islamist rebel control during late 2013 and early 2014, according to a prosecutor and court testimony from gendarmerie officers seen by Reuters.

As Reuters observes, the witness testimony contradicts Turkey's denials that it sent arms to Syrian rebels and, by extension, contributed to the rise of Islamic State, now a major concern for the NATO member.

In other words, a NATO member and a nation very close to the US, has been instrument in the rise of ISIS. Worse, unlike running speculation that ISIS was created by the CIA and funded by the Saudis, there is now documented evidence that ISIS is indeed a "western" creation.

The Reuters report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/21/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-arms-idUSKBN0O61L220150521

Related: WORLD, TURKEY, SYRIA
Exclusive: Turkish intelligence helped ship arms to Syrian Islamist rebel areas