Saudi bombing campaign helps to produce a humanitarian disaster in Yemen

After almost a month of bombing missions led by Saudi Arabia, which, mimicking US euphemisms, was called "Operation Decisive Storm," the Saudis announced they would end the bombing several weeks ago.

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A new mission was announced "Operation Renewal of Hope" which was to focus on the political process. Operation Decisive Storm was to end at midnight on Tuesday April 21: Brigadier-General Ahmed al-Asiri, the coalition's spokesperson, said on Tuesday that the coalition had achieved its military goals in Yemen and a new operation, called "Renewal of Hope", would aim to protect civilians and combat "terrorism".

The new operation started at midnight on Tuesday local time (22:00 GMT).Within a couple of hours bombing of Yemen began anew. The bombing has continued ever since, no doubt with the aim of protecting civilians and focusing on the political process.

The manner in which these raids protect civilians is illustrated by this report from a night attack Friday:Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition struck a residential district of the Yemeni capital Sanaa overnight, killing eight to 10 civilians, residents said on Friday.Saba, the state news agency, of the Houthi rebels put the number killed in the Sawan district of Sanaa at 20 with more than 50 wounded. While many residents oppose the Houthi occupation, the Saudi bombings are unlikely to make many friends.

As a way of further showing their concern for protecting civilians the Saudis bombed the runway at the Sanaa airport several days ago to prevent an Iranian cargo plane from landing after it refused to obey orders from the coalition not to land. The Saudi-led coalition has established its own no-fly zone. The damage to the runway has prevented aid planes from landing. The Iranians claim that the plane was carrying aid. Even if it had weapons surely the plane could have been allowed to land and an attack made wherever the weapons were taken or there could have been an attack on those transporting them. The Saudi action made the humanitarian disaster even worse.

The UN World Food Programme(WFP) urged all those involved in the conflict to allow aid agencies and the commercial sector to bring fuel and food into the country. Violence has blocked shipments of food, fuel, and medical supplies. All airports are closed to civilian traffic and some such as the one at Sanaa have come under direct attack. Naval shipments are being delayed as well. Secretary General Bank K-moon called for an immediate ceasefire to allow for aid to be delivered. More than 1,200 have been killed so far in the conflict with 300,000 more fleeing their homes to avoid the violence.

Russia has pushed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the UN Security Council but it was not supported in the Council even though all countries agree the bombings and clashes have created a humanitarian disaster and many aid groups claim they will have to leave Yemen in a few days because they have no supplies to run their operations. The US apparently will only support a resolution that "insists the Saudis are totally blameless for the humanitarian crisis, and that it is the Yemeni Shiite Houthis who are at fault." The point should be to stop the fighting not apportion blame. This is not just a Sunni Shiite conflict either, the Shia rebels could never have gone as far as they have without the support of former president Saleh, to whom many in the Yemeni armed forces are loyal. Given recent developments that include more bombings in Yemen I would suggest that the two operations "Decisive Storm" and "Renewal of Hope" be combined into "Operation Decisive Hopelessness."

Clashes continue in Libya as UN tries to hold peace talks

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon made a surprise trip to Libya to Tripoli in support of an ongoing reconciliation process. Libya has two separate governments, one in Tripoli, and the elected internationally-recognized one in Tobruk.

The two main warring factions are mostly-Islamist-dominated militias that control Tripoli and most of Benghazi and CIA-linked General Khalifa Haftar and his allies, who control the far east and important oil ports. Ban called on Haftar to stop his operations in the east and for the Libyan Dawn militia to leave the international airport in Tripoli. The Islamic militias earlier rejected the peace talks in Ghadames. However, some Islamists who had boycotted the parliament in Tobruk attended. Unless representatives of the militias are involved in negotiations, nothing is likely to be solved. There does not seem to be all-out warfare throughout the country. In fact oil production is increasing. Ban said: "The international community can't tolerate the continuous spilling of blood of Libyans." Ban was at a televised meeting of rival groups plus the Italian foreign minister and other European diplomats. Ban said that fighting had to end without any pre-conditions. Ban does not seem to have noticed that he had just demanded that an Islamist militia withdraw from the Tripoli airport. The UN dialogue was launched on Sept. 29. Ban said: "We understand the path will be long and difficult. The country can't afford to be politically divided." 

Meanwhile fighting between Haftar allies the Zintan Brigades and Libyan Dawn killed at least 23 people in Kikla, southwest of Tripoli, the capital. Hospital authorities in the nearby town of Gharyan — about 80 kilometres southwest of Tripoli — said that there were also 43 people wounded, 10 critically. The clash was a result of the Zintan Brigades trying to take the town occupied by Libya Dawn. The brigades took part of the town but were driven back and the road reopened to the capital. There have also been clashes in the Warshefana district near Tripoli that killed and injured dozens and resulted in 100,000 fleeing their homes.  

Another report claims that 46 were killed in the Kikla clashes as well as in Gharyan. Over 100 were said to be wounded. The towns are in the Nafusa Mountainous area about 120 kilometers south of Tripoli according to that source. The Zintan militias were said to have arrived in a convoy of 100 armoured vehicles and tanks. The attack was launched just as Ban Ki-moon was urging militias to arrange a cease fire. Neither of the competing groups of militia appear ready to negotiate a cease fire at present. The UN seems to be talking with political representatives who have no control over the militias.

Watch for more foreign involvement in Libya

A common narrative about what is happening in Libya will be about the threat of radical Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Sharia, a group thought to be responsible for the attack on the American consul in Benghazi which killed the ambassador among others.

Reuters has an article on the issue noting that a group of countries mostly Western and Arab state expressed readiness to help Libya's government confront "a growing presence of Islamic militant groups in the North African country." The entire narrative of what has happened fails to mention CIA-linked General Khalifa Haftar, Operation Dignity or his own attacks that started the present confrontation. Nor does the article mention that Haftar allies attacked and burned the Libyan parliament and kidnapped Islamist officials and legislators. The threat is apparently only from Islamist-linked militia. This is not so much news reporting as it is propaganda that ensures the public does not understand the context of what is happening. This is framing that will place discussion of what is happening in Libya in the appropriate context to justify foreign intervention.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held a high-level meeting on the sidelines during a session of the General Assembly. The group discussed the situation in Libya. A summary of the meeting said: "The meeting recognized the lead role of the government of Libya in addressing the growing threat of terrorist groups, and the readiness to support the government in this regard," France, Britain, the United Staes, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were all at the meeting. The Reuters article stresses the issue of Ansar al-Sharia: Western countries are particularly concerned by the presence of Islamist militant group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, which the United States blames for killing its ambassador and three other Americans in 2012 and classifies as a terrorist organisation. While the group is active in Benghazi, even there it is simply part of a larger umbrella organization of mostly Islamist militias who control most of Benghazi. In the capital, other groups such as the Misrata militia play a major role but again as part of a larger umbrella organization containing numerous groups.
 France has been taking the lead in urging international intervention. Laurent Fabius said at the UN meeting: "The efforts that are being used to fight Daesh (Islamic State) to limit the movements of foreign fighters and financing should also be used for these groups, We know there are groups on the south and east of Libya, and these, let's be realistic, will not be automatically neutralized just because, as we hope, there is a reconciliation in Libya. Of course the reconciliation is necessary but if we want Libyan forces to do what is necessary towards these terrorist groups, they need to be united. But we all know that other measures will need to be taken." However, these groups are part of much larger umbrella groups of militia who are not going to abandon militant groups simply because France, the US, and others consider them terrorists. Any move against them by foreign forces will simply unite the opposition that already controls Tripoli and Benghazi against foreign interference.
 All this talk about intervention is itself strange since just over a week ago the recognized Libyan government in Tobruk along with 15 other countries came out against any foreign intervention at a meeting in Madrid Spain: Libya's struggling elected government and representatives of 15 neighbouring nations have unanimously rejected the idea of military intervention as a way to restore stability in the oil-rich North African nation, which some say is on the brink of civil war. The group claimed that there was no military solution to the crisis.
 There has already been foreign intervention in the form of night airstrikes on Islamist positions in Tripoli. General Haftar claimed that they were a joint operation involving his forces and the international community. The rebels claimed the UAE and Egypt were involved in the attacks as did the US. However, neither country accepted responsibility. The US later decided that it should take back its accusation against the UAE and Egypt. The government in Tobruk does not hold the UAE or Egypt responsible either, nor does the Libyan ambassador to the UN. The Libyan government, the UN, and all those countries who reject foreign intervention as a solution to Libya's problem have all fallen silent. Perhaps Reuters will do an investigative report. Meanwhile the Libyan government has a space problem in Tobruk: (Funny sidelight: Tobruk, being a fairly small place, doesn’t have sufficient accommodations for all the HoR legislators and bureaucrats, so they leased a Greek car ferry, the Elyros, to live on. Now the ship’s owner wants his ship back and has demanded that they leave. As of this date, they have refused to disembark.)

UN chief sees Yemen as model to achieve peace in other areas of Middle East

Yemen's new government is praised by the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and seen as a model to achieve peace in other areas of the middle east. The new president was the only candidate in the recent presidential election. Now the UN says that the nation's transition to democracy is largely on track.

The new president Major General Mansour Hadi was originally vice-president under former president Saleh. After protracted protests during which many protesters were killed some opposition politicians and Saleh loyalists came to a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council which gave Saleh and his relatives immunity for any prosecution for crimes committed during the protests. Pro Democracy activists opposed the deal strenuously but they do not count.

Power was transferred to then vice-president Hadi. Later he would become president in an uncontested race and supported by the U.S. and neighboring states. There has been a transition to the old guard. Meanwhile democratic reforms take a back seat to the war on terror and battle against militants.

The special UN envoy to Yemen Jamaal Omar also praised the government but worried about "serious security concerns". He urged all factions to support Hadi in the name of stability. As well as pro-democracy groups who want Saleh and his cronies to face justice, there are two separatist movements one in the north and one in the south, and a growing Islamic insurgency that had seized large swaths of territory. A fine model for peace and democracy in the Middle East. For more see this article.