ENB Poster Jerusalem ISSUE

Trump tells Abbas he will move US embassy to Jerusalem

Trump tells Abbas he will move US embassy to Jerusalem

Abbas gave Trump warning of "dangerous consequences" of such a move [File: Getty Images]

US President Donald Trump has told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he intends to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a plan met with condemnation across the Middle East and elsewhere.

Wafa, the official news agency of the Palestinian Authority (PA), reported on Tuesday that Trump called Abbas to inform him of his "intention".

"President Abbas warned of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the Palestinian president's spokesperson, said.

No further details were given about when Trump plans to move the embassy.

Speaking to reporters later on Tuesday,  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump will deliver remarks about his decision on Wednesday.

"He's going to continue having conversations with relevant stakeholders, but ultimately he'll make what he thinks is the best decision for the United States," said Sanders.

Asked if Trump has made up his mind, she replied: "The president, I would say, is pretty solid in his thinking at this point."

Earlier on Tuesday, a statement by the Jordanian royal palace said Trump had also called King Abdullah to inform him about his intention to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

The statement said the king warned Trump the relocation would have "dangerous repercussions on the stability and security of the region" and would also inflame Muslim and Christian feelings.

No embassy in Jerusalem
Jerusalem's status is an extremely sensitive aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel claims the city as its capital, following the occupation of East Jerusalemin the 1967 war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan, and considers Jerusalem to be a "united" city.

Palestinians have long seen East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

They say that a US move to relocate the embassy would prejudge one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict - the status of Jerusalem - and undermine Washington's status as an honest mediator.

No country currently has its embassy in Jerusalem, and the international community, including the US, does not recognise Israel's jurisdiction over and ownership of the city.

Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, called the planned relocation "a very reckless and dangerous act from the side of the US president".

Speaking from Ramallah, he told Al Jazeera that such a move would not "take into consideration what it means to 1.6 billion Muslims, to 2.2 billion Christians, and to 360 million Arabs".

"It will create a very serious reaction and destabilise the region - and definitely destabilise the situation in Palestine itself," he added.

"If President Trump proceeds with moving the embassy, he will be killing completely any future American role in any future peace process."

In a statement on Tuesday, the US consulate in Jerusalem instructed employees to stay away from the occupied West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.

'Red line'

In recent days, senior Palestinian officials warned of the potentially destructive effects of any move denying their claim to occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said this week he had spoken to Arab leaders, who relayed the message "that Jerusalem is a red line, not just for Palestinians but for Arabs, Muslims and Christians everywhere".

During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to move the embassy and recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

In June, however, like his predecessors, Trump signed a six-month waiver to delay the relocation, which would have complicated US efforts to resume the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

"Every US president for more than 20 years has recognised that this could have cataclysmic results and repercussions if it were to happen," Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said.

A number of world leaders have sharply criticised such a relocation, fearing it would further escalate regional tensions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over reports that the US plans to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

Such a move would be a "red line" for Muslims, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Trump by telephone that Jerusalem's status must be decided in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

Also on Tuesday, the Arab League held an emergency meeting to discuss developments on the status of Jerusalem, following a request by Palestinian officials.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said a move the by the US to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem "would have disastrous consequences for the US around the world".

"Arabs and Muslims will not take this lying down, if not today, then tomorrow, and that will have major consequences for the US."

Barghouti, the Palestinian politician, said if Trump proceeds with moving the embassy, then "the Palestinian people will react, with a public, popular non-violent uprising ... That's what you will see tomorrow, after tomorrow and the days after.

"This is a very serious matter," he added. "People should not forget that the second Intifada started because of the issue of Jerusalem."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

Catalan arrest warrants withdrawn by Spain's Supreme Court

Catalan arrest warrants withdrawn by Spain's Supreme Court
5 December 2017

Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont appears on a screen during an event of his political platform "Junts per Catalunya" to mark the official start of the electoral campaign

Image copyright REUTERS, Campaigning for the vote officially began at midnight

A Spanish judge has withdrawn European arrest warrants for ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four other ex-ministers.

They fled to Belgium a month ago after declaring unilateral independence in a referendum ruled illegal by Spain.

Despite the move, the judge said they still faced possible charges for sedition and rebellion.

Rebellion is considered one of the most serious crimes in Spain, carrying a jail term of up to 30 years.

Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llareno announced the warrant's withdrawal on Tuesday morning, citing the willingness the Catalan leaders had shown to return ahead of fresh regional elections being held on 21 December.

He said the European-wide warrant would complicate the Spanish legal probe, and its removal allows Spain to gain full control over the investigation.

The ministers turned themselves into Belgian authorities after the warrant was issued last month, but were freed after being questioned.

A Belgian judge was previously expected to rule whether to extradite the ministers on 14 December. The five were fighting the move, saying they may not receive a fair trial on their return.

Mr Puigdemont has previously said he would return if this was guaranteed.

On Monday six Catalan ex-ministers being held in a prison near Madrid were released from prison on bail. But two others, including former Catalan Vice President Orial Junqueras, were remanded in custody.

Campaigning has now officially started ahead of the new vote organised by Spanish authorities in an attempt to try and resolve the Catalonia crisis.

Mr Puigdemont labelled the election as a choice between "nation or submission" while speaking on a video link from Belgium to a rally in Barcelona on Monday night.

He said voters must chose "between Catalan institutions or dark characters in Madrid".

A seat reserved for the former leader at the event was marked with a yellow ribbon, an emblem that has become a symbol of support for the jailed politicians.

All but one of the 13 Catalan leaders sacked by the Spanish government after the independence referendum are standing for election again in the fresh vote.

The Best of Bob Marley

Bob Marley Best Hits - The Best of Bob Marley

https://youtu.be/9r241Jr7pcw

Resettle Sinhalese and Muslims in North before polls - Sarath Weerasekara

Former Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara

Resettle Sinhalese and Muslims in North before polls - Sarath Weerasekara

December 5, 2017 

By Yusuf Ariff

Former Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara says that the Sinhalese and Muslim people who lived in the North need to be resettled in those areas before any elections are held.

He also claimed that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is the only opposition party in the world that supports the budget of the government.

If they somehow move for a separate state, then the incumbent government will also approve it, he charged, speaking during a press conference of the ‘Eliya Organisation’ in Colombo today (5).

He alleged that the government will not hesitate to betray the country and the people in that manner.

The former deputy minister further said that the Chief Minister of the Northern Province. C.V. Wigneswaran, who was silent during the regime of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is now very active after the new government coming to power.

He claimed that the Chief Minister is using his powers to move various unsuitable legislations and laws. 

CIA Agent Confesses On Deathbed: ‘I Killed Bob Marley’

CIA Agent Confesses On Deathbed: ‘I Killed Bob Marley’

November 30, 2017 Baxter Dmitry News

Former CIA agent Bill Oxley has confessed on his deathbed to assassinating Bob Marley on behalf of the government.
 
A 79-year-old retired officer of the CIA, Bill Oxley, has made a series of stunning confessions since he was admitted to the Mercy Hospital in Maine on Monday and told he has weeks to live.

He claims he committed 17 assassinations for the American government between 1974 and 1985, including the music icon Bob Marley.

Mr. Oxley, who worked for the CIA for 29 years as an operative with top-level security clearances, claims he was often used as a hitman by the organization, to assassinate individuals who could
represent a threat to the goals of the agency.

Trained as a sniper and marksman, Mr. Oxley also has significant experience with more unconventional methods of inflicting harm upon others, like poisons, explosives, induced heart attacks and cancer.

The 79-year-old operative claims he committed the assassinations between March 1974 and August 1985, at a time when he says the CIA “was a law unto itself.” He says he was part of an operative
cell of three members which carried out political assassinations across the country and occasionally in foreign countries.

Most of their victims were political activists, journalists, and union leaders, but he also confesses to assassinating a few scientists, medical researchers, artists and musicians whose ideas and influence “represented a threat to the interests of the United States.”

He claims he had no problem with going through with the assassination of Bob Marley, because “I was a patriot, I believed in the CIA, and I didn’t question the motivation of the agency. I’ve always
understood that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.”

But Mr. Oxley confesses that Bob Marley remains unique among his victims, as he was the only victim he “felt anything for.”

“The others were assholes. Bob Marley was Bob Marley. I was no closer to being a long-haired hippy back then than I am now, but I must admit Bob’s music did move me. It held some power over me.”

He claims to have “mixed feelings” about Bob Marley’s death. On the one hand, Marley was “a good man, a beautiful soul” with “profound artistic gifts” who did not deserve to have his life cut short.

Former CIA agent Bill Oxley

But according to Mr. Oxley, Bob Marley was also placing the goals of the CIA in jeopardy and threatening the existence of the United States:

“He was succeeding in creating a revolution that used music as a more powerful tool than bullets and bombs. Bob Marley in 1976 was a very serious threat to the global status quo and to the hidden power brokers implementing their plan for a new world order. As far as the agency was concerned, Bob Marley was too successful, too famous, too influential… A Jamaican Rastaman who started
using his funds and fame to support causes around the world that were in direct conflict with the CIA… To be honest, he signed his own death warrant.”

“It’s not like we didn’t warn him. We sent a few guys to shoot up his house in Kingston,” Mr Oxley says, referring to a shooting in the Marley residence that left the singer with an injured arm and chest.

 “We had a message for him. We impressed upon him the gravity of the situation he found himself in. He didn’t listen.”

“Two days later, in the mountains, I stuck him with the pin.“

How Bob Marley was murdered by the CIA

Two days after Bob Marley was shot in the left arm by one of three gunmen who ambushed the singer and some of his crew in his house in Kingston, and after a brief stint in hospital, Bob Marley travelled to the protective hills of the Blue Mountains and spent time at the highest point in Jamaica,rehearsing for an upcoming concert.

The final photo of Bob Marley, days before his death.

Bob-marley-assassination

According to Mr. Oxley, he used press credentials to gain access to Bob Marley during his Blue Mountains retreat. He introduced himself as a famous photographer working for the New York Times, and gave Bob Marley a gift.

“I gave him a pair of Converse All Stars. Size 10. When he tried on the right shoe, he screamed out ‘OUUUCH.‘

“That was it. His life was over right there and then. The nail in the shoe was tainted with cancer viruses and bacteria. If it pierced his skin, which it did, it was goodnight nurse.”

“There had been a series of high-profile assassinations of counter-culture figures in the United States in the late sixties, early seventies. By the time Bob Marley’s time came around, we thought subtlety was the order of the day. No more bullets and splattered brains.”

Mr. Oxley says he kept close contact with Marley during the final years of his life, ensuring the medical advice he received in Paris, London and the United States “would hasten his demise rather than cure him.” He died from cancer in May 1981. He was just 36 years old.

Bob-marley-death

“The last time I saw Bob before he died he had removed the dreadlocks, and his weight was dropping like a stone,” he says.

“He was very withdrawn, unbelievably small. He was shrinking in front of us. The cancer had done it’s job.”

“The day he died in Miami was definitely one of the most difficult moments in my career. I felt real bad. For a long time I wasn’t comfortable with my part in his death. But eventually I came to realize it had to be done, for America.”

Source: http://yournewswire.com/cia-agent-deathbed-bob-marley/

Sri Lankan regime backing away from conflict resolution vows

Sri Lankan regime backing away from conflict resolution vows

Ana Pararajasingham

By ANA PARARAJASINGHAM
DECEMBER 5, 2017

Sri Lanka has by and large disregarded the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution passed in September 2015 that it had co-sponsored as part of its fresh approach under the new regime headed by President Maithripala Sirisena. Even the more modest aspects pertaining to demilitarization, repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act or releasing Tamil political prisoners remain unaddressed.

Lately, the government has taken a tougher, pro-Sinhala nationalist position in its dealing with the Tamil people.

On November 28, the Sirisena government, which now has been in power for nearly three years, evoked the Prevention of Terrorism Act to arrest Tamils who had organized events to honor the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Tamil rebellion. Maaveerar Naal has been observed annually since 1987 on November 27 to commemorate the day the first Tamil Tiger soldier was killed in action in 1982.

The annual commemoration continued even after the rebellion was put down in May 2009. During the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa (2005-15), the event was observed in secret, as it was clear that the government would punish participants. But in November 2016, it was observed openly and was allowed to proceed.

The event in 2016 was attended by Tamil parliamentarians and politicians. The Sri Lankan government’s inclination to allow Tamils honor their sons and daughters killed in battle was widely regarded as a goodwill gesture toward the Tamil people and a signal to the world at large that the new regime was democratic in its approach.

''The situation in late 2017 appears to be no different to what prevailed before the conflict erupted into war in 1983.''

However, last month, the Sri Lankan security forces actively engaged in intimidating people attending commemoration events across the northeast of the island – the Tamil homeland. Participants were photographed, people were warned that any display of Tamil Tiger symbols including photographs of the fallen in uniform was illegal, and there was a menacing army presence outside the premises where the commemoration events were conducted.

The very next day, Sri Lanka’s state minister of defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, ordered the Terrorism Investigation Division, notorious for its use of torture, to investigate and arrest those involved in organizing the commemoration.

The heavy-handed response to this year’s Maaveerar Naal by the Sirisena government comes in the wake of several other setbacks in the efforts to bring about an end to the conflict. These include the absence of any progress in respect of the UN Human Rights Council resolution to investigate war crimes committed during the latter stages of the civil war; delays in introducing a new constitution addressing the question of self-rule for the Tamil people; and the continuing specter of torture of Tamils taken into custody.

UN resolution

The UN resolution of 2015 was primarily focused on establishing a mechanism involving foreign judges in a local investigation probing war crimes committed during the latter stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war. This was a further dilution of earlier resolutions calling for international investigation.

In March this year, Sri Lanka was given another two years to implement the proposals, but there is little evidence of any progress. On the contrary, Sirisena has stated categorically that he will not make any “war hero” a suspect in cases of alleged war crimes. Addressing the Sri Lankan expatriate community in South Korea on November 28, he was dismissive of the UN resolution, stating: “There won’t be electric chairs, international tribunals or foreign judges. That book is closed.”

New constitution

The Sirisena government that replaced the Rajapaksa regime had agreed to address the root cause of the conflict via a new constitution to share political power with the Tamil people. The Tamil National Alliance, which had been in negotiations with the government, had understood the new constitution was to be “outside the unitary constitution amounting to federalism in substance.”

However, Sirisena has since stated categorically that he would never “betray the country” by introducing a federal constitution. This would mean that a new constitution, if implemented, would be unitary, ensuring that political power continues to reside with the majority Sinhala people. As it was this majoritarian rule that was the root cause of the conflict in the first place, a new unitary constitution is unlikely to resolve the conflict.

Torture

Early last month, an investigation by The Associated Press found that more than 50 Tamil men had been raped, branded and tortured by the current government. The men were accused of trying to revive the Tamil Tigers rebel group and were tortured between early 2016 and July of this year, the report said.

There is some confusion as to whether the perpetrators were from the police or the army. Captors had identified themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation Department, a police unit that investigates serious crimes. But some of the victims thought their captors and interrogators were soldiers.

Back to the future

Almost three years after promising to address the issues that gave rise to the conflict and two years after co-sponsoring a resolution calling for a probe into the alleged war crimes, the Sri Lankan government has reverted to type, pandering to ultra-Sinhala nationalism. The situation in late 2017 appears to be no different to what prevailed before the conflict erupted into war in 1983.

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Yemen's Houthi: Ali Abdulla Saleh killed for 'treason'

The leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels

Yemen's Houthi: Ali Abdulla Saleh killed for 'treason'
AL  JAZEERA

The leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels has praised the death of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country's overthrown president, as a victory against a Saudi-led military coalition that Yemen has been battling.

Saleh's party has confirmed reports that he was killed in a roadside ambush on Monday outside the capital, Sanaa, after switching sides in the civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favour of the Saudi-led coalition.

In a lengthy televised speech aired on the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV network, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said his fighters killed Saleh for his "treason" and congratulated Yemenis "on this historic, exceptional and great day in which the conspiracy of betrayal and treason failed, this black day for the forces of the aggression".

He said the uprising of Saleh's loyalists against the Houthi group was the greatest threat the Arabian Peninsula country had faced, but that it was defeated in three days.

He said the Houthi group - officially called Ansar Allah (Partisans of God) - would maintain the country's republican system and would not seek vengeance against Saleh's party.

"The problem is not with the General People's Congress (GPC) as a party or with its members," Houthi said.

The GPC was Yemen's ruling party under Saleh but is now divided.

Several warnings

Without mentioning Saleh by name, Houthi said that he knew about Saleh's communication with the coalition and his efforts to turn against the Houthi group.

Houthi also said he had sent several warnings to Saleh.

"We have notified the leader of the traitor and criminal militias to retract, be wise, to stop his militias from continuing committing crimes," he said.

"Today is the day of the fall of the conspiracy of betrayal and treason. It's a dark day for the forces of the coalition."

Houthi also praised a missile launch announced by the group towards the UAE this week as a message against its enemies, advising against foreign investment in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as their campaign in Yemen continues.

The Houthi rebels had similarly fired a missile towards Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh last month, which official media said had been intercepted by the kingdom's air defence.

"The official story was clear: Saudi forces shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group last month at Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. It was a victory for the Saudis and for the United States, which supplied the Patriot missile defense system," New York Times said in a report on Monday.

However, evidence analysed by a research team of missile experts at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, indicate that the missile's warhead flew unimpeded over Saudi defences and nearly hit its target, Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, according to the report.

The Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the November 5 explosion in Riyadh, saying they fired a long-range ballistic missile that travelled more than 800km over the border with Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the rebels told Al Jazeera they launched a Burkan 2-H missile - a Scud-type missile with a range of more than 800km - towards Riyadh.

Videos on social media that evening showed smoke rising from an area near the King Khalid International Airport.

The Middlebury Institute analysis found that the warhead detonated so close to the domestic terminal that people jumped out of their seats.

"The findings show that the Iranian-backed Houthis, once a ragtag group of rebels, have grown powerful enough to strike major targets in Saudi Arabia, possibly shifting the balance of their years-long war," the New York Times said.

Houthi origins

The Houthi rebels, seen at present as the most powerful political faction in Yemen, emerged in the 1990s as a movement to revive the Zaidi Shia traditions of Yemen's historically dominant northern highlands.

The group originated in the northwestern province of Saada to protest at what their followers said was discrimination against them and their stronghold by the central government.

A crackdown by Saleh, then Yemen's president, in 2004 led to the killing of founder Hussein al-Houthi, followed by six military campaigns to quell guerrilla warfare in the group's stronghold of Saada.

His younger brother Abdul Malek took over and stepped up the group's rhetoric against the government and its alliance with the US.

In 2011, the eruption of protests in Yemen against Saleh's long rule expanded the Houthis' clout beyond Saada. Their populist and anti-corruption rhetoric won them some support in Sunni areas too.

Under a UN-sponsored power transfer deal, Saleh stepped down and was replaced by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, his deputy, in 2012.

In July 2014, the Houthis took advantage of an unpopular move by the government to cut fuel subsidies and called for mass demonstrations in Sanaa.

In September, Houthi rebels took control of Sanaa and have since swept across the country.

On Monday, Hadi urged Yemenis to unite against the Houthi rebels, describing them as "Iranian militias".

Hadi, who has been self-imposed exile in Riyadh in recent past years, delivered his televised speech just hours after the killing of Saleh.

"I call on all Yemenis, in all the provinces, which are still under the rule of these criminal and terrorist militias, to rise up in their face and resist them. And our army will be the victor," he said.

"We are with you, in the same trench, and with one goal, which is battling for the republic and the revolution, and the expulsion of the Iranian Houthi militias."

Fighting and air strikes in Yemen's Sanaa trap civilians and halt aid: U.N.

Fighting and air strikes in Yemen's Sanaa trap civilians and halt aid: U.N.

Reuters Staff

GENEVA (Reuters) - Fighting and air strikes have intensified in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, where roads are blocked and tanks are deployed on many streets, trapping civilians and halting delivery of vital aid including fuel to supply clean water, the United Nations said on Monday.

Some of the fiercest clashes are around the diplomatic area near the U.N. compound, while aid flights in and out of Sanaa airport have been suspended, the world body said in a statement following its appeal for a humanitarian pause on Tuesday.


“The escalating situation threatens to push the barely functioning basic services ... to a standstill. These services have already been seriously compromised with the latest shock of the impact of the blockade,” it said, adding that fighting had also spread to other governorates, such as Hajjah.

Yemen's Saleh killed by Houthi fighters

Yemen's Saleh killed in RPG, gun attack on his car, party confirms death
Reuters | Published — Monday 4 December 2017

Yemeni former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)

SANAA/DUBAI: Officials in Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress party (GPC) confirmed to Reuters that the former Yemeni president and party leader has been killed outside Sanaa, in what sources in the Houthi group said was an RPG and gun attack.

The GPC officials said Saleh was killed south of the capital Sanaa along with the assistant secretary-general of the GPC, Yasser Al-Awadi.

Sources in the Houthi group said fighters stopped his armored vehicle with an RPG rocket and then shot him dead.

A Houthi video distributed on social media showed what appeared to be Saleh’s body, clad in grey clothes and being carried out on a red blanket. The side of his head bore a deep wound.
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Viewer discretion is advised

https://youtu.be/kXw2S9dXvFw

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Unverified footage that circulated earlier on social media showed armed militiamen unfurling a blanket containing the corpse and shouting, “Praise God!” and “Hey Ali Affash!,” another last name for Saleh.

In a televised address Monday evening, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called on all citizens in all provinces of the country to rise up against the Houthi militias.

The radio station of the Houthi-run Yemeni Interior Ministry first reported Saleh’s death but his party quickly denied this to Reuters, saying he was still leading his forces in Sanaa.

Earlier on Monday, Houthi forces blew up Saleh’s house in Sanaa and came under aerial attack by Saudi-led coalition warplanes for a second day, residents said.

Saleh’s loyalists have lost ground on the sixth day of heavy urban warfare with the Houthis during which the death toll has jumped to at least 125 with 238 wounded, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We are supporting the main hospitals in Sanaa who urgently need war-wounded kits,” ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said in Geneva. “We are also looking at donating dead body bags to hospitals which are actually asking for them and hope to donate fuel to the main hospitals because they depend on generators.”

The United Nations called for a humanitarian pause in Sanaa between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to allow civilians to leave their homes, aid workers to reach them, and the wounded to get medical care.

STREETS ARE “BATTLEGROUNDS“

Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, said in a statement that the streets of Sanaa had become “battlegrounds” and that aid workers “remain in lockdown.”

McGoldrick warned the warring parties that any deliberate attacks on civilians and against civilian and medical infrastructure are “clear violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes.”

Sanaa residents reported intense fighting overnight and into the morning with families cowering in their homes as explosions rocked the city. Coalition air strikes hammered Houthi positions in an apparent bid to shore up Saleh’s forces, witnesses said.

The realignment of Saleh’s forces with the Saudis would mark a significant turn in a war that is part of a wider struggle between regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Yemen’s protracted bloodshed has compounded the woes of one of the Arab world’s poorest countries and left at least 10,000 dead as hunger and disease have spread.

At the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring parties to stop all ground and air assaults. He also called for the resumption of all commercial imports into Yemen, saying millions of children, women and men were at risk of mass hunger, disease and death.

However, in a speech late on Sunday, Saleh formally annulled his alliance with the Houthis and pledged to step up his fight.

Saleh, who dominated Yemen’s heavily armed tribal society for 33 years before quitting in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, and the Shiite Muslim Houthis had made common cause against Hadi loyalists.

But they vied for supremacy over the territory they ran together, including Sanaa, which the Houthis seized in September 2014, and their feud burst into open combat on Wednesday.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam claimed significant gains in the battle for Sanaa on Monday.

“With the aid and approval of God, the security forces backed up by wide popular support were able last night to cleanse the areas in which the militias of treason and betrayal were deployed,” he said in a statement.

The Houthi movement’s TV channel Al-Masirah and witnesses said Houthi fighters had seized the downtown home of Saleh’s nephew Tareq, an army general.

Residents said the warring sides traded heavy automatic and artillery fire as the Houthis advanced in the central Political District, which is a redoubt of Saleh and his family.

“We lived through days of terror. Houthi tanks have been firing and the shells were falling on our neighborhood,” said Mohammed Al-MadHajji, who lives in the frontline district.

“The fighting has been so violent we feel we could die at any moment. We can’t get out of our homes.”

Source: Arab News