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Save the Children: 130 Yemeni children die each day due to Saudi blockade

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According to prominent humanitarian organisation Save the Children, no less than 130 children die every single day in Yemen due to malnutrition and preventable disease caused by the Saudi-led near total blockade of the country. The organisation furthermore warned that the situation will deteriorate even further if the lockdown of Yemen isn’t immediately lifted. The warning comes less than two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced that it would further restrict all access to Yemen by sea, air and land. The increased lockdown comes after a Yemeni missile was fired at Riyadh in retaliation for the two-year long military campaign the Saudi kingdom has been waging on its southern neighbour. Along with humanitarian organisations, three UN agencies, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the WHO, have also made an official plea to Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade of Yemen, stating that unless Riyadh complies, “untold thousands of innocent victims, among them many children, will die”.

 

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Saudi Arabia’s advice: not to travel to Lebanon

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Saudi Arabia has advised its citizens not to travel to Lebanon and asked those who are in the country to leave as soon as possible. The official news agency SPA quoted an official source in the foreign ministry on Thursday as saying: “Due to the situations in the Republic of Lebanon, the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Saudi nationals visiting or residing in Lebanon are asked to leave the country as soon as possible. Lebanon has been edge after the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who announced his departure while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. His whereabouts have since been unknown. However, officials told on Thursday that Hariri may be under house arrest or temporarily detained in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

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Saudi Arabia calls on UN Security Council for action against Iran

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Saudi Arabia called on the United Nations Security Council to take appropriate measures against Iran’s active support of terrorism saying that it is seeking to compromise the security of the Kingdom and the region. In a letter presented by the Saudi mission to the United Nations on Wednesday, ahead of the closed session on the Humanitarian situation in Yemen, the Kingdom detailed the terrorist actions of the Iranian allied Houthi militias. The Houthi militias resorted only to aggression and violence since the beginning of the Yemeni crisis, the letter said. The militias refusal to the return of legitimacy, it said, or abide by the Security Council resolutions, has led to humanitarian disasters adding to that their dismissal of all political solutions to the conflict. Saudi Arabia stressed on the fact that Iran’s continuous supply of weapons to the militias in Yemen through smuggling routes, and the presence of Hezbollah fighters on the ground to assemble and operate these weapons, is clear evidence of Iran’s aggression.

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Iran criticized Saudi Airstrike on Hajjah, Yemen

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, has strongly criticized the Saudi Arabia’s recent air raids on residential areas in the Yemeni city of Hajjah. Reports suggest that at least 16 airstrikes targeted the village of Hiran in Hajjah on Tuesday night, killing at least 30 people, including women and children and 10 paramedics, leaving dozens of people wounded. He noted that the surge in Saudi airstrikes on residential areas against Yemenis and the continuation of its blockade of the Arab country indicate the “Saudi Arabia’s frustration and failure to achieve its purposes in invading Yemen”, as he said. Qassemi also slammed the international community’s silence over the crimes and disasters caused by nonstop Saudi air attacks on Yemen and the block of humanitarian aids to the war-hit country, denouncing it as a “clear violation of human rights”. He urged the United Nations and the other countries involved in the Yemen crisis to step up their efforts to immediately stop the military attacks and take effective measures to protect civilians, particularly women and children. Since March 2015 more than 10,000 people have been killed, million forced to leave their homes, and the country faced severe famine and a cholera outbreak. Since then, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement to restore the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s power.

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Yemeni President Hadi ‘under house arrest’ in Riyadh

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Saudi Arabia has barred Yemen’s president, along with his sons, ministers and military officials, from returning home for months. The officials said the ban was prompted by enmity between President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels and has come to dominate southern Yemen, the portion of the country not under rebel control. Hadi and much of his government have been in the Saudi capital Riyadh for most of the war. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the two main pillars of the coalition, which is ostensibly defending Hadi’s government and is battling the Shia rebels, known as Houthis. The coalition has waged an air campaign against the rebels since 2015, and the UAE has a strong military presence in southern Yemen – but the Houthis still control the north. Yemenis denounce Saudi siege as ‘collective punishment’ Saudi Arabia intensified its blockade on Yemen on Sunday, closing land crossings and all traffic to Yemen’s air and sea ports. A UN agency warned ships to depart Houthi-controlled ports, and flights to the only functioning airports in southern Yemen were cancelled. As night fell, prices of fuel hiked in Sanaa, with some petrol stations closed, and drivers queued to fill their tanks, fearing worsening fuel shortage. The coalition move came after the Houthis fired a missile towards Riyadh, their deepest strike into the Kingdom. Hadi’s inability to get back to southern Yemen underscores the president’s loss of authority – even in the south that is nominally under his administration.  Two other Yemeni officials confirmed that Hadi, his sons and several ministers with him in Riyadh have been prevented from going to Yemen. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the situation. Coalition Spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malaki referred any questions related to Hadi to his own office and government. Attempts to reach Yemen’s foreign minister and government spokesman were unsuccessful.

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Detained suspects face many charges

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Bribery, embezzlement, money laundering and abuse of power are among the charges against dozens of princes, officials and businessmen detained in an anti-corruption probe, according to sources. The Saudi Center for International Communication (CIC), an initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Information, said that sums of money that appear to be linked to corruption cases will be reimbursed to the Saudi state’s General Treasury. A no-fly list has been drawn up and security forces in some Saudi airports were barring owners of private jets from taking off without a permit, a section of the Arabic press reported on Monday. Eleven princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers were detained late on Saturday after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman decreed the creation of an anti-corruption committee chaired by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. The new body has been given broad powers to investigate cases, issue arrest warrants and travel restrictions, and seize assets. The royal decree said the crackdown came in response to “exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to, illicitly, accrue money”. On Sunday, Attorney General Sheikh Saud Al-Mojeb said in a statement, “The suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen. A suspect’s position or status does not influence the firm and fair application of justice”.

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Saudi accuses Iran of potential ‘act of war’

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Saudi Arabia has lashed out at Iran over the firing of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh by Houthi rebels in Yemen, citing evidence that Tehran was behind the attack and labelling it a potential “act of war”. A statement issued on Monday via the state news agency SPA denounced the “flagrant military aggression by the Iranian-controlled Houthi militias” and said that an examination of the debris “confirmed the role of Iran’s regime in manufacturing [this and a previous missile] and smuggling them to the Houthi militias in Yemen for the purpose of attacking the Kingdom, its people, and vital interests”. The statement accused Iran of violating the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, which prohibits states from supplying weapons to Yemeni armed groups. The statement also noted that Saudi Arabia would temporarily close all Yemeni ground, air and sea ports while investigating how the missiles were smuggled in. Yemen’s national airline, Yemenia, subsequently cancelled all flights to the country. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and political leaders have rejected allegations of the country’s involvement in the strike.

 

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European Parliament underscores Saudi Arabia’s support for dialogue of civilizations

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The European Parliament has emphasized the role of the Kingdom in supporting dialogue among the different cultures and civilizations of the world. The Parliament said the Kingdom supports local, regional and global projects in promoting a culture of dialogue and respect, as well as engendering peace around the globe. The European Parliament made the statement through its delegation, which recently visited the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue (KACND) in Riyadh. They also expressed appreciation for the programs organized by the center. The programs aim to enhance national unity by promoting the concepts of coexistence and intercultural understanding, and spreading a culture of tolerance and moderation. During the visit, the delegation was briefed on the activities of the center, which include the Peace for Civilization Program, the Dialogue Academy, and National Center for Public Opinion Polls. These programs were developed to promote the values of coexistence, diversity, tolerance and moderation as part of the realization of Vision 2030.

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Saudi Arabia: UN’s support of Houthi militias is unacceptable

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Saudi Arabia expressed its deep condemnation of the report by a UN committee stating that the United Nations has provided $14 million to the Yemeni Ministry of Education run by the Houthi militia in Yemen; as the militias are planting thousands of mines inside Yemen and on the Saudi border. Saudi Arabia asked the committee to reconsider the submitted report, and reflect facts that has been ignored asking for the commitment of all involved United Nations organizations, regarding resolution 2216, stressing that United Nations support for the Houthi militias was unjustifiable and unacceptable. Saudi Arabia confirmed that the Houthi and Saleh’s militias has planted and deployed at least 50,000 mines on the Saudi-Yemeni border, engrained tens of thousands of mines in populated Yemeni cities and villages, and laid mines in the Red Sea near the Saudi border. This came in a speech delivered by the Saudi delegation to the United Nations on Wednesday to the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on Mine Action section number 50. In addition, the delegation of Saudi Arabia expressed its appreciation for the efforts of the United Nations in the area of mine clearance, and the efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Mine Action Strategy for the period 2013-2018. This is to ensure the safety of people from mines and explosives, and in line with the achievement of the goals of the United Nations’ Plan for Sustainable Development 2030.

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Russia says working with Saudi on energy investment, NEOM

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Russia is working closely with Saudi Arabia to facilitate bilateral investment in the energy sector and Russian companies are interested in the kingdom’s planned new NEOM business zone, energy minister Alexander Novak said. Novak, who was at an investment event in Riyadh held by the two oil producers, said Russian companies were looking at various Saudi sectors such as solar, healthcare, education, artificial intelligence and port infrastructure, according to the Russian energy ministry’s Twitter account. He said that Moscow was working with the Saudi energy ministry to encourage Russian investment in the kingdom’s energy sector and vice versa, without giving details. The RDIF and Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund PIF have already invested $1 billion in nine joint projects, according to Russia’s energy ministry. “Cooperation on the ‘peaceful atom’ could be key”, Novak is quoted as saying, referring to nuclear energy. Saudi Arabia plans to award a construction contract for its first two nuclear reactors in 2018.

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