Vladimir Putin saves the world?

[Bengal_Tiger]

German deputy speaker: NATO must stop Turkey support for ISIS


By RUDAW 7 hours ago
Claudia Roth: ‘Germany must help the peace process to c
ontinue in Turkey.’

Claudia Roth: ‘Germany must help the peace process to continue in Turkey.’
BERLIN, Germany – NATO must force Turkey to stop its undeclared support of the Islamic State (ISIS) and shift its policy toward the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the deputy speaker of the German parliament said.

Claudia Roth said in an interview with Rudaw that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is pursuing a “murky” policy in Syria because it wants the Kurds weakened and their fighters “annihilated.”

“What we have learned is that Mr Erdogan wouldn’t mind if Kurds were weakened and then annihilated,” said Roth, deputy speaker of the Bundestag and a Green Party MP.

Erdogan’s “dealings with the ISIS are unacceptable. I could not believe that Turkey harbors an ISIS militant camp in Istanbul,” Roth said. “Turkey has also allowed weapons to be transported into Syria through its borders. Also that the ISIS has been able to sell its oil via Turkey is extraordinary,” she added.

Turkey categorically denies any dealings with ISIS. But there are many reported accounts of foreign jihadi fighters crossing from Turkey to Syria, wounded militants treated in Turkish hospitals and Ankara turning a blind eye to ISIS selling smuggled oil.

Turkey has invited criticism for its Syria policy. Ankara has remained idle while in Kobane Kurdish fighters of the PKK-affiliated People’s Protection Units (YPG) are making a last stand to keep ISIS from overrunning the Syrian town just across the border.

“I really don’t understand either why would Mr Erdogan and his ministers regard the PKK the same way they view the Islamic State,” Roth said. “Yes, it’s true the PKK does not have a democratic foundation, but it is no ISIS and one should not regard it as such,” she added.

“Germany must put pressure on Turkey to change course and reevaluate its policies. It should also ask NATO members to do the same. Germany must help the peace process to continue in Turkey.”

Regarding German help for Syrian Kurds, she said “Germany could have done so much more than just sending humanitarian help.”

She added that the world should also have helped the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, where the autonomous government has taken in some 1.6 million refugees from Syria and other parts of Iraq.

“Why has the international community not helped Kurdistan and the refugees the way it should have?” Roth questioned. She said she had seen refugees first hand in Kurdistan and the Turkish Syrian border of Suruc.

“It was devastating to see how an entire population is being eradicated before our eyes in Kobane,” she said.

“There is a refugee crisis even there where people have been sheltered in temporary places and on the streets. I want to underline that the international community must act very fast and aid the refugees. I have also asked the German government to increase its humanitarian help,” she added.

She said that the peace process between the PKK and the Turkish government, which has largely lagged since it was initiated in March 2012, would succeed only if Ankara changed its treatment of the outlawed PKK.

If Turkey continues to regard the PKK as a terrorist organization like ISIS it “will destroy this process and boost extremism among Kurds,” she warned. “In actual fact Kurds are victims of the rotten Turkish policies. No country should accept this.”

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, said recently that the fall of Kobane could kill the Kurdish peace process in Turkey.

Roth blamed regional powers and selfish interests for Kurdish suffering. “Unfortunately some regional powers think only about their interests without thinking about the suffering of the Kurds,” she said. “There is no coordinated action or will against the ISIS in the region, for instance between Iran and Saudi Arabia. I hope the UN will put pressure on them to take a clearer stand.”

She made a call for ISIS to be “annihilated” and targeted economically as well as militarily.

“Lightly arming Kurds won’t solve the problem. There should be extensive and radical efforts,” she said, fearing that Kobane would fall to ISIS but calling on Kurds not to despair.

“They should know that they have many friends who support them in their battle against the Islamic State.”

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/12102014

- Germany is the most powerful country in Western Europe.

- A senior German official is telling the Erdogan regime to stop supporting terrorism.

[jankhan]

Loooooooool.... Bengal cat is a big propagandist interfering in others' matters and spreading lies.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Kılıçdaroğlu accuses gov't of providing support to ISIL militants





CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu shows a document related to claims that Turkey armed Syrian opposition groups.(Photo: Today's Zaman, Mustafa Kirazlı)

October 14, 2014, Tuesday/ 18:32:12/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL


Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government of providing logistical, military and medical support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), saying that the government has trained foreign militants in Turkey and sent them to kill other Muslims in Syria.
In his speech at the party's weekly parliamentary group meeting, the CHP leader said the weapons in the hands of ISIL militants were sent by the Turkish government.
“The Turkish government helped ISIL grow. But, this will boomerang back on Turkey. Look; a lot of people died in Reyhanlı. Mr. [Ahmet] Davutoğlu keeps saying that they have been sending aid materials to Syria. He also says that those who claim that the government send weapons to ISIL are traitors. But everything is pretty obvious. Why was the Adana chief public prosecutor prevented from searching the trucks going to Syria? Now let me ask you a question: Who is the traitor, Mr. Davutoğlu?” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
On Sept. 30, in a telephone conversation with Adana Chief Public Prosecutor Süleyman Bağrıyanık, Undersecretary Kenan İpek asked the chief prosecutor to halt a search of trucks that were allegedly carrying weapons to Syria, saying that the trucks were travelling on the orders of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He said that prosecutors could not search the trucks because intelligence officers are immune from prosecution unless explicit permission is obtained from the prime minister.

Kılıçdaroğlu also claimed that wounded ISIL militants are being admitted to Turkish hospitals in many cities for treatment. “ISIL sells illegal petrol and other materials. They have offices in many Turkish cities in order to enlist militants from Turkey. Camps were set up to train them. Truckloads of arms were sent. They are organizing meetings freely. Hundreds of people join ISIL by the crossing Turkish borders. And Davutoğlu still asks for official documents to prove these things. There is no need for an official document. Even Biden said that Turkey supports ISIL. He apologized not because of his words but for revealing a secret meeting. The government explicitly supports ISIL,” Kılıçdaroğlu added.

US Vice President Joe Biden apologized to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 4, as the latter was angry about Biden's comments saying that Erdoğan had admitted that Turkey made a mistake by allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria.
The CHP leader also stated that he would respect Prime Minister Davutoğlu if he did not act as Erdoğan's puppet. “Davutoğlu held a meeting last month saying that he was in charge. But he forgot something. Erdoğan does not see him as prime minister. We are willing to address ourselves to Davutoğlu. Now I call on him to prevent Erdoğan from entering the realm of authority. Before he began active duty, Erdoğan vowed to be impartial upon his honor. What honor are you talking about? Today the prime ministerial post is effectively empty,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
Kılıçdaroğlu also called on newly elected members of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) to be impartial. “If the judiciary is independent in a country, that means there is democracy there. I call on new HSYK members. You are the ones who will ensure the impartiality of the judiciary. Turning the judiciary into a tool of the government will deal a big blow to democracy,” Kılıçdaroğlu added.
At an election on Sunday in which judges and prosecutors went to the polls to choose members of the HSYK, the government-backed Unity in the Judiciary Platform (YBP), a group whose high judicial members are known for their pro-government stance, emerged victorious. Eight out of 10 newly elected members of the HSYK, which has a total of 22 members, are from the YBP. As another seven members of the board are selected by the government, according to the law, the government-backed group will now have 15 seats in the HSYK, forming a majority.

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_kilicdaroglu-accuses-govt-of-providing-support-to-isil-militants_361620.html

1. Kilicdaroglu is the leader of the no.2 party in Turkey, the CHP. The party founded by Ataturk.

He is the successor of Ataturk as party leader, so the successor to Ataturk is saying the current Turkish regime is supporting terrorists in Syria.


2. Turkish nationalists online are living in denial that the Erdogan regime is supporting terrorism, but when the no.2 politician of their own country says the same their false propaganda is exposed even more.

[Bengal_Tiger]

UPDATES:

- Erdogan regime humiliated at the UN after not receiving a seat on the UN security council despite a lot of effort lobbying for it and spending money.

This is seen as a result of the Ankara regime's lack of support for Kurds in Kobane.


- The Syrian army has taken control of parts of Jobar in the east of the city where there are lots of rebels.

http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=175910&cid=23&fromval=1

NB: Though the fighting around Damascus is not covered much in the western media. The fact is it is far more important than what happens in places such as Kobane, Deir az zour, Raqqah etc.

Damascus is the capital, if it falls then the Syrian government has effectively ended. Damascus in some ways is Syria.

Control of Damascus entitles its masters to call themselves the de facto rulers and government of Syria.

Once Damascus is fully secure and militants expelled from eastern Ghouta then the Syrian army can re-deploy a lot of its manpower and air power (the Syrian military enjoys air supremacy in Syria) to the rest of the country and the militants should easily be defeated.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Update continued....



- Pro-Iranian Shia militia men have taken de facto control of Yemen's capital, Sana'a.

Iranian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters in Yemeni jails have been released.


- A Yemen with a pro-Iranian government could lead to increased military co-operation between Yemen and Iran or even Russia, China or India.

A while ago on a notorious Pakistani website ("defence.pk"), a Saudi "prince" threatened Russia with terrorism.

The individual used the internet handle of "Yzd Khalifa", and he also posted videos of Iranian women being executed in Saudi Arabia and mocked their deaths, he also used to insult Bangladesh and call Bangladeshis "savages" and "criminals".

This Saudi regime official alluded to Saudi Arabia's involvement with Chechen terrorists that could carry out violence against Russia. Fortunately Russia has been able to stop Saudi-backed terrorism from taking place during the Sochi Olympics and elsewhere in the Russian federation.

A Russian military base or presence in Yemen in conjunction with Iran would serve as a warning and a deterrence to the Saudi regime from causing trouble in Russia.




Pro-Iranian Houthi militia men have taken control of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. Iran is a military ally of Russia.



Putin smiles. Russia will most likely be happy with a Houthi victory and the decrease in Saudi power in Yemen.



Putin's probable message to the Saudi regime and Saudi thug "Yzd Khalifa" (whom the Russian FSB [intelligence agency] presumably have full details of as well as the Iranian intelligence agencies too]



I personally read with my own eyes where thug "Yzd Khalifa" was speaking to a Russian on the notorious Pakistani hate-site "defence.pk" and alluded to Saudi using terrorists to destabilize Russia as Saudi leverage over Russia. Here is a link from a Russian website - not on Yzd Khalifa - but on the Saudi threat to Russia:

http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_08_29/Bandar-Bush-threatens-President-Putin-with-Sochi-terrorist-attack-2596/

[Bengal_Tiger]

Continued...


Saudi Regime planning to execute a Saudi citizen, a Shia scholar from the east of Saudi Arabia.

Global international outcry against this:



Supporters of Al-Nimr, the Saudi Shia scholar being threatened with beheading by the Saudi regime.




Nimr, a prisoner in a Saudi jail.




Supporters of Nimr in London.

[Bengal_Tiger]

- Turkey, Tunisia, Sudan, Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia all of whom bullied Bangladesh over the Qader Mulla case and trials against the Saudi/Pakistani-backed Jamaat e Islami terrorist organization, are now all "silent" over the planned beheading of Sheikh Nimr.

Loud mouth thug and supporter of terrorism, Erdogan and his regime are silent over this though they went beserk over Bangladeshi war crimes trials.



May Allah subahanahu wa ta'ala protect the Muslims from the likes of Erdogan, the Al-Sauds, the "Muslim" Brotherhood, ISIL, Jamaat e "Islami" and others.

Ameen, thumma ameen.

[Bengal_Tiger]

From the British Guardian.


Saudi Arabia faces outcry over death sentence for Shia faith leader

Nimr Baqir al-Nimr’s conviction for sedition adding to unrest and promoting sectarian hatred, says Human Rights Watch


Saudi Arabia is facing an international outcry and accusations of promoting sectarian hatred after a Shia Muslim religious leader from the country’s volatile eastern province was sentenced to death.

Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who led protests in Qatif at the height of the Arab spring in 2011, was convicted on Wednesday of sedition and other charges in a case that has been followed closely by Shias in the kingdom and neighbouring Bahrain.

Shia Muslims make up 10%-15% of the population of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which bills itself as playing a lead role in the fight against the jihadis of Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq. Riyadh has supported Sunni groups fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad but denies backing Isis.

State prosecutors had reportedly asked for Nimr to be crucified. The sentence is thought likely to be commuted on appeal.

Nimr was arrested in 2012 and ill-treated during his two-year detention, much of it spent in solitary confinement. He was denied surgery for bullet wounds suffered when he was arrested. He was charged with “disobeying the ruler”, “inciting sectarian strife”, and encouraging and leading demonstrations.

In Iran, Saudi Arabia’s chief regional rival and the political centre of the Shia world, the foreign ministry warned on Thursday that execution would have “dire consequences”. It called Nimr an ayatollah, giving him the second most senior clerical title in the Shia hierarchy. Iran, like Saudi Arabia, uses capital punishment.

In London the Foreign Office stated that it was aware of the sentencing, adding: “The UK opposes the death penalty as a matter of principle.”

The Saudi authorities have portrayed the cleric as an “instigator of discord and rioting”. But Nimr’s supporters and family have denied that he incited violence.

In a BBC interview, Nimr said he backed “the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons”. The arrest of his brother and other relatives after sentencing has fuelled anger that is being ventilated on Twitter and other social media.

“Saudi Arabia’s harsh treatment of a prominent Shia cleric is only adding to existing sectarian discord and unrest,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi Arabia’s path to stability in the eastern province lies in ending systematic discrimination against Shia citizens, not in death sentences.”

Amnesty International described Nimr’s sentencing as part of a wider Saudi government crackdown on dissent.

Shia and Sunni groups said they were extremely alarmed by the sentence. “Ayatollah al-Nimr is a respected Muslim figure in Saudi Arabia,” 10 organisations said in statement. “He is a faith leader, reformist and human rights activist, who has campaigned for an end to discriminatory laws against the Shia minority. The sentencing will further inflame sectarian tensions and provide encouragement to extremist groups such as Isis to continue their persecution of religious minorities.”

Toby Matthiesen, a Cambridge expert on Saudi Arabia, said: “In the last two years Nimr has become known by Shia across the world. For many Salafis and Sunnis with anti-Shia leanings he has become a real hate figure. In the context of Isis, the Saudi royal family is trying to legitimise itself in the eyes of Sunnis by being tough. Nimr was a revolutionary who called for non-violent protests and the downfall of the Al Saud, but also for Assad to go. He wasn’t sectarian.”

Yusif al-Khoei, of the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation, said he was “appalled” by the news and with others was considering boycotting a Saudi-organised conference on inter-religious dialogue in Vienna.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/16/saudi-arabia-death-sentence-shia-nimr-baqir-human-rights

1. The Saudi regime have started an "inter-faith" centre in Vienna, Austria to promote the image of themselves as some sort of peaceful state while at the same time being supporters of the 1971 Pakistani genocide of Bangladeshis and the Jamaat e "Islami" terrorist organization operating in Bangladesh, whom they support and fund.



Regime foreign minister, Faisal Al-Saud with religious leaders of different faiths in the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) . The regime spends money trying to portray itself as some sort of champion of peace whilst supporting radicals and terrorists in Syria, Iraq and Bangladesh.


2. So far there has been no comment from the following international powers on the Nimr crisis. Nimr comes from the oil-rich east of Saudi which is one of the largest oil producers in the world supplying states all over the world with oil.


a: China.



Chinese foreign ministry. China has not yet issued an official statement on the Nimr crisis which could destabilize one of the largest oil producers in the world. China does however compile human rights reports including monitoring human rights abuses in the USA.


b: Indonesia.



Indonesia's foreign minister has made no statement yet over possible Saudi plans to behead Al-Nimr. However Indonesia has made statements expressing concern over the situation in Egypt.

Indonesia is the largest and richest Muslim country in the world and is seen as a moderate state. It is also one of the most advanced Muslim countries militarily. It has offered to send peacekeeping troops to the volatile middle east i.e. Syria. So far the Indonesian foreign ministry has not issued a statement nor called for restraint and compromise over the Nimr crisis which could heavily affect one of the largest oil producers in the world, Saudi Arabia.



c: India.




Nuclear power India is the second largest country in the world and unofficially could have the largest Muslim population on the planet (some Muslim figures in India say that Indian Muslims are actually 20% if not more of the actual population i.e. they would be more than Indonesia's 200 + million Muslim population). It is also home to millions of Shias. India has also not taken a more robust attitude towards the Saudi regime for its support for the notorious Jamaat e "Islami" terrorist organization in Bangladesh which has recently been accused of links to an organization suspected of plotting to murder the Bangladeshi prime minister, Hasina Wajid.




d. Brazil.



Brazil is the largest country in Ibero-America and does heavy trade with Saudi Arabia including the sale of basic every day meat items such as beef. The Brazilian foreign ministry has not yet issued a statement regarding the Al-Nimr crisis and its possible impact on the oil rich east of Saudi Arabia.



e. Russia.



Russian foreign minister, Lavrov.


Russia is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe. Islam in Europe is older than Protestantism and has a historical presence in the Russian Caucasus. Russia was also home to the northern-most Muslim state ever, the Siberian Khanate. Russia has not yet released any formal statement over the Al-Nimr crisis which could potentially destabilize the oil-rich east of Saudi and the middle-east region. Russia is also home to many Shia Muslims of Azeri and other backgrounds.


f. South Africa.



South Africa is regarded as a regional power in Africa and is a member of BRICS. It is home to arguably the most advanced Muslim community in the western world which is heavily organized with mosques, madrassas, halal food regulatory bodies and with senior Muslim representation in key decision-making positions.

[Bengal_Tiger]

India.







London.



















Sheikh Al-Nimr.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Sheikh Nimr, imprisoned by the Saudi regime and now being threatened with beheading.


No major leader of the international community has yet spoken out publicly for Saudi Arabia to implement restraint or compromise.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Saudi Arabia Warns Against Incursions as Houthis


By Glen Carey Oct 19, 2014 9:01 PM GMT - Comments Email Print


Saudi Arabia warned against any breach of its border after Shiite Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen seized a crossing point into the kingdom.

“If anyone comes into the border area, we are ready to engage them,” General Mohammed al-Ghamdi, spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s border guards, said in a phone interview yesterday. “We are always on alert because of the situation on the border.”

The swift gains by the Houthis have raised concerns among Gulf Cooperation Council nations that Shiite-led Iran is extending its influence through the well-armed fighters. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal cautioned last month about a “circle of violence” in Yemen.

The rebels grabbed the crossing along the kingdom’s southern border earlier this week as they expanded their control in impoverished Yemen. The passage is adjacent to the Saudi province of Jazan, where the kingdom’s troops were drawn into a conflict in 2009 following a cross-border incursion.

Arab News reported yesterday that Saudi forces had been placed on high alert.

Territorial Gains

Armed Houthis extended their territorial gains across Yemen after seizing Sana’a, the capital, last month in a move that forced Yemen’s GCC-backed President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi to appoint a new government. This week they captured the country’s second-largest port in Hodeidah and defeated tribesmen to take Yareem, a town in the central province of Ibb, according to residents in both locations.

Thousands of Hodeidah residents protested yesterday against the Houthi takeover, demanding that the rebels leave the port city, resident Abdulkarim al-Ayashi said by phone.

The rebels, named after the group’s founder, Hussein al-Houthi, say they face discrimination from Yemen’s Sunni majority. Yemeni authorities have accused the Houthis of trying to reinstate Shiite religious rule, overthrown in 1962, with arms supplied by Iran.

Iran is interfering in the affairs of Arab countries, “most recently and dramatically Yemen,” Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, said yesterday in a speech in Abu Dhabi. “The fact that this foreign policy is inherently sectarian further exacerbates the tension in the region.”

Iran supports the rebels’ “rightful fight,” Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Border Defense

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil supplier, has reinforced security along its 1,100-mile (1,800-kilometer) border with Yemen to try to block infiltrators operating in the rugged terrain and remote mountain villages. Saudi soldiers patrol in search of drug and arms smugglers and monitor the frontier from a chain of watchtowers.

It has also bolstered its defenses in the north to prevent Iraq’s sectarian conflict from spilling across the border.

“We have to defend our border,” al-Ghamdi said. “We are monitoring the situation closely.”

Five years ago, Saudi forces battled Houthi rebels who had seized land inside the kingdom; more than 100 Saudi soldiers were killed in three months of fighting.

That same year, al-Qaeda militants based in Yemen attempted to assassinate Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was then running the kingdom’s counter-terrorism program before being appointed minister.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-19/saudi-guards-keep-watch-after-houthis-seize-border-post-in-yemen.html

1. The Saudi regime have been supporting extremists and terrorists through out the world e.g. in Iraq, Syria and Bangladesh.

They did this even threatening Russia. It is well known that their former spymaster, Bandar, threatened Putin about a year ago.

Online, Saudi thug, "Yzd Khalifa" (high-level Saudi regime official and very anti-Bangladeshi), even casually threatened a Russian on a notorious Pakistani hate-site with this.


2. Now however after destabilizing Iraq, Syria and Bangladesh they are now facing problems of their own as the pro-Iranian Houthi militia in Yemen are getting stronger.


3. Saudi should stop supporting extremists and terrorists including the Jamaat e "Islami" terrorist organization in Bangladesh and work towards a more democratic and inclusive society state heading towards a constitutional monarchy similar to Jordan, Kuwait etc.




Yemenis protest outside the Saudi embassy in support of Saudi citizen, Sheikh Nimr, threatened with beheading.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Updates:

Imprisoned Saudi figure receives 0.2 million twitter impressions of support.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/surge-support-saudi-arabia-jailed-activist-and-preacher-1271244744

Surge of support in Saudi Arabia for preacher al-Hashemi

#SaudiStruggle A Twitter campaign in support of Saud al-Hashemi has attracted more than 200,000 impressions as users call for his release from
prison



Saud al-Hashemi was sentenced to 30 years in prison and 30 year travel ban (YouTube screengrab)

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/su....sjm3QsI9.dpuf



- Some Sunni support for Al-Nimr.

For some Saudi activists, however, they see hope in the country’s youth. They told MEE of emerging solidarity with Sheikh Nimr from young Sunnis in the country.

“We have a new generation in Saudi Arabia. The young people are using their brain, they don’t just follow what the government wants them to think. The government is always trying to split the Sunni and Shia but our young people are beginning to reject this narrative. The government use a sectarian narrative to keep the people divided,” said Dubaisy. “I have many Sunni friends through social media.”

Yahya Assiri, head of the Sunni-run ALQST human rights group, pointed to social media as evidence of cross-sect rejection of Sheikh Nimr’s death sentence.

“From what I have seen on social media a lot of Sunnis are angry with the death sentence and do not accept it. People are wiser than in the past, they see beyond the government narrative. There is a big campaign on Twitter, with many Sunnis taking part, protesting the decision against Sheikh Nimr,” he said.

“I am a Sunni and I have received lots of calls from others Sunnis asking me: should we participate in the protests with the Shia or not? There are lots of Sunnis who want to take part in the protests.”

With more protests expected in Qatif in the coming days, Assiri urged restraint from the country’s security services.

“The security forces must remember the protesters are citizens just like the rest of us. They must not be violent in dealing with the protests. We should accept the protesters, they are angry at the government and it is true authorities have not respected the rights of these people. The police must accept that.”

The atmosphere is tense in the Eastern Province and the people are angry. The future too looks anything but positive with Matthiesen saying little has changed throughout decades of protest by the Shiite community.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/th....xIljaFUD.dpuf

[Bengal_Tiger]

Al Houthi takeover threatens GCC security

The Iran-Hezbollah connection to the rebels is not new, but after their takeover of most of Yemen that link has raised red flags in Riyadh and other Gulf capitals

By Osama Al Sharif | Special to Gulf NewsPublished: 20:00 October 19, 2014

With world’s attention focused on the international campaign against Daesh (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in Iraq and Syria, Al Houthis in Yemen, a Shiite minority group comprising 20 per cent of the population, have been making spectacular gains on the ground heralding a major geopolitical shift in this tribal and poverty stricken, but strategic, country on the southwestern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. The rebel group’s takeover of the capital Sana’a last September and its quick advance in other areas, including the south and west, is bad news for Saudi Arabia and by extension the rest of the Gulf states.

No one expected Al Houthi militias to force their way on the political scene so quickly that they have become the major power broker in Yemen. Until this summer they had been challenging government control from their home region of Saada, in the north. Their armed rebellion goes back to 2004 and they had come under successive attacks by the army of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh resulting in the killing of a number of their leaders. But their power began to grow in the aftermath of the popular uprisings that gripped Yemen in 2011 which culminated in a Saudi-brokered deal to remove Saleh in 2012.

His successor President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi launched a national reconciliation process, which Al Houthis initially joined then boycotted. They continued their armed insurgency taking over the governorates of Saada and most of Amran and Al Jawf. President Hadi’s grip over the army and security forces remained lax and ousted president Saleh was accused of breaching his commitments and sabotaging the political process. It was when the government raised the price of fuel last September that angry demonstrations broke out in the capital. This was the cue for the Al Houthis, whose numbers are estimated at 100,000 armed fighters, to make their move on Sana’a. It took them a few weeks to reach the outskirts of the capital. Initially, the army resisted them but by mid-September the rebels marched into the capital and took over key government ministries without resistance.

President Hadi caved in to their demands and fired the government. UN special envoy Jamal Benomar intervened and made an unexpected breakthrough. Al Houthis, led by Abdul Malek Al Houthi, signed the “Peace and National Partnership” agreement, but in spite of promises to withdraw they maintained control of the city. On Tuesday, Hadi bowed to pressure and named former oil minister and the country’s envoy to the United Nations, Khaled Bahah, as prime minister.

Still Al Houthis continued their advance and in the past few days they managed to spread their control over most of western and northern Yemen, including the strategic Red Sea port of Al Hudaida. They stopped short of taking Taaz, but secured a border town on the Saudi border.

Al Houthis’ stunning ascent to power has taken regional players by surprise. But their rise could not have happened without external help. Hadi had accused Iran of aiding the insurgency, and under pressure from Al Houthis he recently set free a number of Iranians which the authorities claimed were members of the Revolutionary Guard. Hadi had also accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah of training the Al Houthi militia and again was forced to release two operatives allegedly belonging to that group. The Iran-Hezbollah connection to the rebels is not new, but in light of Al Houthi takeover of most of Yemen that connection has raised red flags in Riyadh and other Gulf capitals.

Last week the GCC said that “it would not stand idle in the face of factional foreign intervention in Yemen whose security and the security of the GCC states is one and the same.” The upheaval in Yemen has also soured relations between Riyadh and Tehran in spite of earlier indications that a political breakthrough was imminent. Last Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal lashed out at Iran, accusing it of having forces inside Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and insisting that Tehran is “part of the problem” in these countries.

Yemen has always been part of the political sphere of influence of Saudi Arabia. Since the 2011 uprising and the ousting of president Saleh, Riyadh has watched Iran’s weight grow in two neighbouring states: Yemen and Bahrain. The conflict with Iran has extended to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, giving credence to Saudi fears that Tehran was looking to become a regional power broker.

But Yemen poses a special problem for the Gulf states. The Houthi challenge is one aspect of it. The weakening of the central government in Sana’a has encouraged the Hirak in the south to renew calls for secession. Protesters in Aden have given the government until November to withdraw from the south and there are signs that their efforts are being backed byAl Houthis.
The recent developments in Yemen have awakened another old nemesis of Saudi Arabia; Al Qaida which has mobilised to confront Houthi expansion on sectarian grounds. Disgruntled Sunni tribes in Yemen may find an ally in Al Qaida to relieve them from the domination of the Houthis. Local Sunni tribes have clashed with Al Houthi rebels in Al Baida province on Friday. They were backed by Ansar Al Sharia, an Al Qaida-linked militant group.
By aiding the Al Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran hopes to distract Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states who have been at the forefront in backing the Syrian rebellion against the Damascus regime. As things stand the GCC can do little to stem the tide of the Al Houthis at this stage. And if the southern Hirak movement carries out its threat to secede then Yemen could be heading towards civil war very soon.

Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/al-houthi-takeover-threatens-gcc-security-1.1400956

1. Syria has no border with Saudi - Yemen does.


2. Iran is sending a message to the Saudi regime to behave better or otherwise Tehran has options against the Saudi regime via Iran's assets in Yemen, the Houthis.


3. Saudi Arabia is now busy with many internal and external problems.

i - The Syria crisis and overthrowing Assad

ii - Sunni anger in Saudi at the Saudi regime's bombing of ISIS, popular amongst many of the Salafi youth of Saudi.

iii - Dissatisfaction with Saudi rule from liberal women e.g. in the past day or two a woman drove her car in the capital Riyadh and encouraged others to do so.

iv - Shia anger at the Saudi regime

v - Internal tension between the royal family themselves, many are unhappy with Muqrin being appointed the 2nd in succession.

vi - Rise of Houthis in Yemen

vii - Decreasing the price of oil in conjunction with the Americans to damage the Russians, which however the Chinese have countered by helping the Russians:

http://www.examiner.com/article/as-secret-saudi-deal-increases-harm-to-russian-currency-china-intervenes

Also with an increasing population, growing more dissatisfied, with greater aspirations than previous generations (e.g. the 150,000 + Saudis studying abroad to be doctors, engineers etc), inspired by street protests in Egypt and Tunisia (during the "Arab Spring") the Saudis need to have more money to keep the population happy, however they are lowering the price of oil.

viii - Liberal Saudis unhappy with conservative Wahabi social rules.



All of these things and many other factors should keep the Saudi regime busy with their own country and the middle east rather than destabilizing other Muslim countries such as Bangladesh and others by supporting radicals such as the Jamaat e "Islami" terrorist organization.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Blowback in Yemen: Houthi advance is a Saudi nightmare




David Hearst

Tuesday 21 October 2014 08:48 BST

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been playing with fire in Yemen and are now likely asking themselves: 'Who lost Yemen?'

Nothing illustrates the free-wheeling chaos of the Middle East better than what is going on in Yemen.

A small Iranian-backed North Yemeni militia, modeled on Hezbollah and from an offshoot of Shiite Islam, has walked into the capital Sana'a, taken over Hodeida, Yemen's main port on the Red Sea, and is now advancing southwards towards one of the most sensitive straits for oil traffic in the region. Cut off Bab al-Mandab, or the Mandab Strait, between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa and you make the Suez Canal redundant.

The Houthi offensive, complete with chants of "Death to America, and Curse on the Jews" is being conducted under the nose of a US military base in Djibouti from where drones operated by the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command base attack al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Houthis are even protecting the US embassy in Sana'a.

Whatever the original demands of the Houthis were - they took part in the 2011 uprising and held non-violent protests against social injustice and economic corruption - today they look and act like a well armed, ideologically motivated force bent on seizing control. They have the capital, North Yemen's main port, and they are now attacking Safir, Yemen's largest oil company.

The chaos factor gets worse when you take into account the mounting evidence that the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia's closest ally, sent the Houthis on their way. The Houthis were unopposed because government forces, still loyal to the former Yemeni president and strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, abandoned their bases. The Houthis were literally handed the capital on a silver plate.

I can reveal the existence of a meeting which took place months before the offensive, which might explain why Saleh's forces melted away as the Houthis approached.

The information comes from sources close to Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, whose presidency has been hollowed out by these events. Hadi has not been slow to point the finger of blame.

According to the sources, Hadi claims a meeting took place in Rome in May between the Iranians and Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was commander of the Republican Guard and is Yemen's ambassador to the UAE. The Iranians told Ahmad that they were willing to endorse his position in Yemen, if government units loyal to his father did not oppose the Houthi advance.

Hadi said he was informed of the meeting in Rome by the Americans, but only after the Houthis had captured Sana'a.

The Iranian backing for the Houthis is no longer a subject of conjecture. Senior Iranian advisers have few qualms today about claiming the credit for the Houthi offensive. Ali Akbar Velayati, one of the Supreme Leader's loyal lieutenants, and a former foreign minister of 16 years standing, said he hoped the Ansarullah (Houthi) group would play the same role in Yemen as Hezbollah does in Lebanon.

Ali Reza Zakani, another Tehran politician close to Ali Khamenei, boasted a month ago that Sana'a was the fourth Arab capital - after Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut - in Iranian control. For two years, US military and intelligence officials have been saying that significant quantities of light arms and rocket propelled grenades have been smuggled in with the help of Iran's Quds Force. Last month, two alleged members of the Iranian elite force were deported from Yemen to Oman.

A well connected Iranian writer and analyst Muhammad Sadiq Al-Husseini interviewed on Al-Mayadeen TV said: "We are the new sultans of the Red Sea; we the new sultans of the gulf. We, (I mean) the axis of resistance: Tehran, Damascus, the (southern) district (of Beirut), Baghdad and Sana'a. We are the ones who will create the map of the region and we are also the sultans of the Red Sea. Remember Sayyid Hassan Nasrullah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah and the master of the resistance, when he said two years ago, I think: 'We are now coming out for you from the Mediterranean. We have not yet come out for you from the Red Sea.'"

Husseini described Saudi Arabia as a "tribe on the verge of extinction".

"Now, the one who is mighty is the Yemeni and the one who is poor is the Saudi. This is not in financial terms or in terms of weaponry and international ties but terms of creating geopolitics and making history. We are now in a state of transformation," he added.

The Iranians are long term planners. The Saudis, in contrast, are anything but. Considering they now have an active, armed and trained Iranian proxy on their vulnerable southern border, their initial contacts with the Houthis now seem like a bet which has gone wildly wrong. From the Saudi perspective, the Houthi advance into the Sunni heartland of Yemen is a text-book example of what the CIA calls blow-back.

I first reported a year ago that the Saudis had opened contacts with the Houthis (with whom they once fought a bitter war) by flying the Houthi leader Saleh Habreh via London to meet with Prince Bandar, who was then Saudi intelligence chief. Saudi ambitions had been tactical and probably limited. They were aimed primarily at crushing Islah, the political Islamist group with whom Hadi was sharing power.

However, the Saudis may never have intended the Houthis to walk into the capital unopposed. They calculated, wrongly, that Islah would have stopped the Houthis long before they were at the city's gates. They assumed the Houthis and Islah, the Muslim Brotherhood's Yemeni affiliate, would cancel each other out.

Islah did not play ball. They refused to confront the Houthis, saying that this was the task of the government. By allowing, or at the very least, doing nothing to stop the Houthi offensive from taking place, Riyadh has opened the door to a much bigger and more destabilising struggle taking place - a conflict involving al-Qaeda and the southern Yemeni tribes that has already become sectarian.

As the Zaydi Houthi movement advances into territory and cities which are traditionally Sunni, al-Qaida militants have launched car bombs against Houthi targets. A car bomb targeting a house sheltering Houthi militiamen in the western province of al-Bayda killed 20 on Monday.

Considering how much effort the Saudis put into keeping Saleh in power for 33 years, Riyadh's loss of control in what they have always regarded as their back yard must be regarded as one of the worst blunders in recent memory. They should be asking themselves: "Who lost Yemen ?"

Are they rethinking their disastrous, short term, policies? A high-ranking Yemeni general, regarded as close to Islah, Gen Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, took shelter in the Saudi Embassy as Sana'a was falling. He was smuggled out of it and is now in Jeddah. Are they going to use him to regain influence? It would be ironic, to say the least if that were to be the case.

Meanwhile, the Saudis are trying to fight back using other more traditional methods. Letting the price of oil fall, is one way of hitting back at Iran and Russia and letting them know that there is a price to be paid for surrounding the kingdom from the north and the south.

- David Hearst is editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye. He was chief foreign leader writer of The Guardian, former Associate Foreign Editor, European Editor, Moscow Bureau Chief, European Correspondent, and Ireland Correspondent. He joined The Guardian, from The Scotsman, where he was education correspondent.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/blowback-yemen-houthi-advance-saudi-nightmare-1637935200

1. This is a major victory for Iran and it is openly boasting it now controls Baghdad, Damascus Beirut and now Sana'a, four Arab capitals.

2. It is encircling Saudi Arabia and now from the Red sea.

3. Saudi foreign policy is run by amateurs. One example is the notorious "Yzd Khalifa" himself, who foolishly goes on a public internet forum and doe the following:

a: - Says he is a Saudi prince.

b: - Says he works in a strategic decision-making post for Saudi security.

c: - Threatens a Russian poster with Saudi terrorism against Russia through Chechen proxies.

d: - Insults Bangladeshis as criminals and savages, insults our independence struggle, calls for it to be a vassal state of Pakistan (hence igniting this reaction from me).

Threatens a Bangladeshi poster by saying in decision-making meetings he will call for aid to Bangladesh to be reduced.

e: - Says on a public forum, Bahrain is now controlled by Saudi

f: - Openly talks about Muqrin and sensitive information about some of his views on security/geo-political issues.

g: - Taunts Iranians and posts videos of Iranian women being executed in Saudi Arabia and gloats over it.


The fact is both the Iranian intelligence services and the Russian FSB (Russian intelligence agency) have probably identified who Yzd Khalifa is now and are monitoring him and have a file on him.

The Saudi government should expel Yzd Khalifa from his post.

It is fools like this who have caused the Yemen debacle.

4. If any Saudi security official is interested in how they can strengthen their position in the middle east, please feel free to join this forum and private message me.

I can give them useful advice.

This is if they have time as they are busy supporting Jamaat e "Islami" in Bangladeshi, organizing the physical harassment and assault of Bangladeshi workers by the Saudi police in response to Bangladesh not implementing pro-Pakistan policies and implementing economic sanctions on Bangladesh e.g. ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers.




Velayati, the former Iranian foreign minister. Iran is delighted with its victory in Yemen putting rival Saudi Arabia in a state of panic.

[jankhan]

I don't know why Bengal Tiger interfere in others' matters.