tanahMALAyu - Salah
satu negara yang paling miskin dan paling ganas di Timur Tengah, Yaman juga
merupakan kawasan yang mempunyai kepentingan strategik untuk peserta serantau -
dan beberapa kumpulan pengganas yang paling berbahaya di DUNIA. RT menjelaskan
alasan yang mendasari di sebalik konflik negara.
Lokasi
Strategik
Wilayah
yang terletak di dalam sempadan Yaman adalah salah satu buaian yang paling
purba tamadun di Timur Tengah, sekali dikenali sebagai Latin -'Arabia Felix' untuk
"gembira" atau "bernasib baik" - pada zaman purba. Dalam
negeri-negeri Yaman lebih subur daripada yang lain di Semenanjung Arab, kerana
mereka mendapat lebih hujan kerana gunung yang tinggi. Tetapi kerana penurunan
sumber semula jadi, termasuk minyak, Yaman dan penduduknya kira-kira 26 juta
kini amat miskin.
Namun,
negara ini menawarkan lokasi yang strategik di hujung barat daya Saudi. Ia
terletak di sepanjang laluan laut utama dari Eropah ke Asia, berhampiran
beberapa yang paling sibuk Laut Merah perkapalan dan perdagangan lorong.
Berjuta-juta
tong minyak melalui perairan ini setiap hari di kedua-dua arah, ke
Mediterranean melalui Terusan Suez dan dari kilang penapis minyak di Arab Saudi
untuk lapar tenaga pasaran Asia. Hab pengangkutan Yaman Aden merupakan salah
satu daripada pelabuhan paling sibuk di dunia pada abad ke-20.
Utara
& Selatan Yaman, ditambah dengan Puak-puak
Walaupun
sejarah dalam negeri-negeri Yaman tarikh kembali beribu-ribu tahun, Yemen moden
itu sendiri adalah sebuah negara yang muda, dengan sempadan semasa setelah
mengambil bentuk pada tahun 1990, selepas Utara dan Selatan Yaman bersatu.
Sebelum itu, kedua-dua bahagian adalah terlibat dalam konflik mereka sendiri.
Utara
Yaman telah ditubuhkan sebagai sebuah republik pada tahun 1970, setelah
bertahun-tahun perang saudara antara royalis dan Republikan, dengan yang
pertama disokong oleh Arab Saudi dan yang kedua oleh Mesir. Bekas Presiden
Yaman, Ali Abdullah Saleh, meningkat kepada kuasa melalui tentera dan memegang
kuasa selama beberapa dekad. Walaupun Selatan Yaman bersetuju untuk bergabung
dengan republik utara Saleh pada tahun 1990, mereka tidak lama lagi menjadi
gembira bergerak. Utara dan selatan terbabit dengan perang saudara baru,
menyebabkan beribu-ribu mangsa, manakala kuasa Saleh menang.
Di luar
bandar-bandar besar Yaman, terdapat beberapa kawasan puak yang berkesan yang
mentadbir diri. Dengan sejumlah besar orang awam kerana memiliki senjata - ia
dipercayai terdapat lebih senjata api di negara ini daripada rakyat - puak
militia tempatan sering menindas tentera negara dan memohon undang-undang
mereka sendiri, berdasarkan tradisi dan bukannya perlembagaan negeri. Houthis
telah meningkat menjadi salah satu militia yang paling berkuasa di Yaman.
Perselisihan
Sunni-Syiah
Majoriti
penduduk Yaman adalah Muslim, tetapi ia berpecah antara pelbagai cabang Islam -
terutamanya Sunni atau Syiah Zaidi. Bahagian-bahagian antara Sunni dan Syiah
adalah berdasarkan konflik agama lama berjalan yang bermula sebagai suatu
pertikaian tentang pengganti Nabi Muhammad. Sementara Syiah percaya sepupu
Rasulullah sepatutnya diisi peranan, Sunni menyokong memetik hampir rakan dan
penasihat Muhammad, Abu Bakar, sebagai khalifah pertama negara Islam.
Yang
berkata, Syiah Zaidi - yang membentuk kira-kira 40 % peratus daripada penduduk
Yaman - adalah satu-satunya mazhab Syiah Islam yang tidak berkongsi kepercayaan
dalam pilihan kemaksuman dan ketuhanan imam, sangat dihormati sebagai pemimpin
rohani di kalangan Syiah. Ini menyebabkan mereka untuk menyelaraskan lebih
dekat dengan golongan Syiah.
Pada
masa yang sama, sejak beberapa dekad yang lalu, dan idea-idea Salafi Wahabi yang
ketat dan puritanical Sunni Islam - datang dari negara jiran Arab Saudi - telah
menjadi semakin berpengaruh di Yaman.
Houthis
Houthis
mewakili cawangan Zaidi itu daripada Syiah Islam dari jauh di utara Yaman,
bersebelahan dengan sempadan Saudi. Nama kumpulan yang datang daripada keluarga
terkemuka suku itu. Anggotanya - seorang pemimpin Zaidi agama dan bekas ahli
parlimen Yaman, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi - dituduh oleh kerajaan sebagai
dalang pemberontakan Houthi, termasuk demonstrasi anti-Israel dan anti-Amerika
ganas, pada tahun 2004. Rejim Yaman mengarahkan satu pemburuan untuk al-Houthi,
yang berakhir dengan beratus-ratus tangkapan dan kematian pemimpin Zaidi,
dengan berpuluh-puluh penyokongnya juga dibunuh.
Sejak
itu, Houthis telah aktif berjuang dengan kuasa pusat, menuntut pengaruh politik
yang lebih besar dan menuduh kerajaan daripada bersekutu dengan terutamanya
Wahabi Arab Saudi manakala mengabaikan pembangunan negara dan keperluan
suku-suku tradisional Zaidi.
Walaupun
Yaman Presiden kini dilanda masalah Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi mendakwa Houthis
disokong oleh Hizbullah - militia Syiah Lubnan - beberapa pegawai Barat mendakwa
Iran, salah satu daripada negara-negara Islam beberapa cawangan Syiah, kewangan
menyokong Houthis dalam usaha untuk mengawal pantai Laut Merah Yaman. Dakwaan
ini dinafikan oleh Houthis diri.
Al-Qaeda
& ISIS
5
facts YOU Need to KNOW About Yemen and its Conflicts
One of
the poorest and most violent countries in the Middle East, Yemen is also an
area of strategic importance for regional players – and some of the world’s
most dangerous terror groups. RT explains the underlying reasons behind the
nation's conflicts.
Strategic
location
The
territory that lies within Yemen’s borders is one of the most ancient cradles
of civilization in the Middle East, once known as ‘Arabia Felix’ – Latin for
“happy” or “fortunate” – in ancient times. The lands of Yemen were more fertile
than most on the Arabian Peninsula, as they received more rain due to high
mountains. But because of declining natural resources, including oil, Yemen and
its population of about 26 million are now very poor.
Still,
the country boasts a strategic location on the southwestern tip of Arabia. It
is located along the major sea route from Europe to Asia, near some of the busiest
Red Sea shipping and trading lanes. Millions of barrels of oil pass through
these waters daily in both directions, to the Mediterranean through the Suez
Canal and from the oil refineries in Saudi Arabia to the energy-hungry Asian
markets. The Yemeni transport hub of Aden was one of the world's busiest ports
in the 20th century.
North
& South Yemen, plus the tribes
Although
the history of the lands of Yemen date back thousands of years, modern Yemen
itself is a young nation, with its current borders having taken shape in 1990,
after North and South Yemen united. Before that, both parts were involved in
conflicts of their own.
Northern
Yemen was established as a republic in 1970, after years of civil war between
royalists and republicans, with the first supported by Saudi Arabia and the
latter by Egypt. Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, rose to power
through the military and held power for decades. Although Southern Yemen agreed
to merge with Saleh’s northern republic in 1990, they soon became unhappy about
the move. The north and south became embroiled in a new civil war, resulting in
thousands of casualties, while Saleh’s power prevailed.
Outside
big Yemeni cities, there are a number of tribal areas that are effectively
self-governing. With a large number of civilians being in possession of arms –
it is believed there are more guns in the country than citizens – local tribal
militias often repress the national army and apply their own laws, based on
traditions rather than the state’s constitution. Houthis have risen to be one
of the most powerful militias in Yemen.
Sunni-Shia
rift
The
majority of Yemen’s population is Muslim, but it is split between various
branches of Islam – mainly Sunni or Zaidi Shia. The divisions between the
Sunnis and the Shia are based on a long-running religious conflict that started
as a dispute about the Prophet Mohammed’s successor. While Shia Muslims believe
the prophet’s cousin should have filled the role, Sunnis support the picking of
Muhammad’s close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, as the first caliph of the
Islamic nation.
That
said, Zaidi Shias – making up about 40 percent of Yemen’s population – are the
only Shia Muslim sect that do not share the belief in the infallibility and
divine choice of imams, strongly revered as spiritual leaders among Shias. This
causes them to align closer to Sunni practices.
At the
same time, over the past decades, strict and puritanical Salafi and Wahhabi
ideas of Sunni Islam – coming from neighboring Saudi Arabia – have become
increasingly influential in Yemen.
Houthis
Houthis
represent the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam from the far north of Yemen,
adjacent to the Saudi border. The name of the group comes from a leading family
of the tribe. Its member – a Zaidi religious leader and former member of the
Yemeni parliament, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi – was accused by the government
of masterminding a Houthi rebellion, including violent anti-Israeli and
anti-American demonstrations, in 2004. The Yemeni regime ordered a manhunt for
al-Houthi, which ended with hundreds of arrests and the death of the Zaidi
leader, with dozens of his supporters also killed.
Since
then, the Houthis have been actively fighting with the central power, demanding
greater political influence and accusing the government of allying with mainly
Wahhabi Saudi Arabia while neglecting national development and the needs of the
traditional Zaidi tribes.
While
Yemen’s now embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has claimed that
Houthis are supported by Hezbollah – the Lebanese Shia militia – some Western
officials have alleged that Iran, one of the few Muslim nations of the Shia
branch, financially supports Houthis in an effort to control Yemen’s Red Sea
coast. This allegation is denied by the Houthis themselves.
Al-Qaeda
& ISIS
Since
2009, Yemen has been an operational base of Al-Qaeda militants. After the
Yemeni and Saudi branches of Al-Qaeda merged to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP), the group became one of the world’s biggest exporters of
terrorism, with the US considering it the most dangerous branch of Al-Qaeda.
Osama bin Laden’s family lived in southern Yemen before emigrating to Saudi
Arabia.
Yemen’s
fight against AQAP has been largely supported by the United States. Since 2007,
the US has supplied more than $500 million in military aid to Yemen through
programs managed by the Defense Department and State Department, and conducted
controversial drone strikes targeting terrorists in the country.
Al-Qaeda’s
ideology is based on radical Sunni Islam and thus is hostile to Houthis, who
have also been at war with AQAP militants.
With
several forces fighting in the country – including the official government,
Houthis, and AQAP – the Yemeni chaos provided a fertile ground for extremism.
Extremist groups affiliated with the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) now
operate in Yemen, conducting terror acts against both the military and
civilians. In the latest March 20 attack, over 100 people were killed and some
250 injured in suicide bomb attacks on mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa,
with ISIS militants claiming responsibility for the assault.
SAUDI Saudi BOM Yaman, pemberontak Lancar
Gabungan Op Terhadap Houthi . . .
QuestionMORE - Kuasa2 Arab Saudi, disertai oleh 9 negara2 lain, telah melancarkan operasi tentera di Yaman terhadap pemberontak Syiah Houthi, Duta Arab Saudi ke Amerika Syarikat berkata. Serangan yang bermula dengan serangan udara, juga akan melibatkan "aset tentera yang lain."
Menurut Duta Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, operasi ketenteraan di Yaman bermula pada 19:00 EST (23:00 GMT).
Obama mengarahkan sokongan kepada op Arab yang dipimpin, PBB 'butiran masih memeriksanya'
Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Obama telah diberi kuasa peruntukan sokongan logistik dan perisikan kepada Majlis Kerjasama Teluk (GCC) led operasi tentera di Yaman, White House berkata dalam satu kenyataan, yang mengesahkan bahawa Washington mempunyai komunikasi yang rapat dengan Hadi, Arab Saudi dan negara-negara GCC lain sebelum pelancaran operasi ketenteraan.
"Walaupun tentera Amerika Syarikat tidak mengambil tindakan ketenteraan secara langsung di Yemen untuk menyokong usaha ini, kita mewujudkan Cell Perancangan Bersama dengan Arab Saudi untuk menyelaraskan sokongan Amerika Syarikat tentera dan perisikan," kata kenyataan itu.
Selain itu, White House menggesa Houthis untuk segera menghentikan "tindakan ketenteraan tidak stabil" dan kembali semula ke dialog politik dengan kerajaan Yaman yang digulingkan.
Al Arabiya melaporkan bahawa pesawat perang daripada Arab Tentera Udara Diraja mengebom kedudukan militia Yemen Houthi, menyasarkan pertahanan udara mereka.
Gabungan Arab diketuai telah mengisytiharkan ruang udara Yaman yang "zon terhad." Kapal di rantau ini juga telah menggesa untuk tidak mendekati pelabuhan Yaman kerana operasi tentera yang sedang berjalan.
Lebih daripada 20 orang telah dilaporkan mati dan lebih 30 lagi yang cedera berikut serangan udara Arab Saudi yang dipimpin di Yaman, agensi berita Sputnik yang dinamakan keselamatan tempatan dan sumber perubatan sebagai berkata.
Majoriti mogok sekitar Sanaa melanda kawasan kediaman yang terletak berhampiran lapangan terbang antarabangsa di ibu negara. Bangunan kerajaan dan lapangan terbang juga telah melanda semasa serangan.
Laporan dari tanah menunjukkan bahawa kuasa-kuasa Arab telah mengebom sebuah pejabat milik pemberontak Houthi di kawasan Jiraf Sana'a ini. Saluran TV Houthi yang dikendalikan dilaporkan berpuluh-puluh mangsa serangan udara awam berikut utara Sanaa.
Penduduk berkata pesawat perang disasarkan lapangan terbang di ibu negara, menurut Reuters.
Houthis digunakan berat api anti-pesawat untuk bertindak balas kepada pengeboman.
Satu lagi serangan kapal terbang perang telah dikatakan telah dilancarkan pada Dulaimi pangkalan udara tentera Sana'a ini. Al-Jubair berkata kepada Al-Jazeera bahawa pejuang Houthi berada dalam kawalan senjata balistik dan berat Yaman dan boleh mengambil alih tentera udara negara.
Laporan memetik perkhidmatan keselamatan Yaman berkata, 4 jet Sukhoi ditempatkan di pangkalan udara tentera Dulaimi musnah dalam serangan udara. Sementara itu, satu laporan Al Arabiya mendakwa serangan Arab yang dipimpin memusnahkan pangkalan udara bersama-sama dengan beberapa senjata, serta mengambil kebanyakan pertahanan udara pemberontak '.
Sementara itu, Arab Saudi, Emiriah Arab Bersatu, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait dan mengeluarkan kenyataan bersama mengatakan bahawa mereka "memutuskan untuk menolak militia Houthi, Al-Qaeda dan ISIS (Negara Islam) di negara ini." Negara-negara Teluk berkata mereka bertindak balas kepada "ancaman besar" kepada kestabilan rantau ini, dengan mengatakan bahawa perjuangan mereka adalah untuk "menolak pencerobohan Houthi" di Yaman.
Al-Jubeir berkata gabungan 10 negara telah melancarkan kempen "untuk melindungi dan mempertahankan kerajaan yang sah" Presiden Yaman Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi selepas rayuannya untuk campur tangan.
Pembantu Hadi telah mendedahkan bahawa presiden adalah "dalam semangat yang tinggi" dan kekal di pangkalan Aden di selatan Yaman. "Presiden . . . berterima kasih negara-negara Teluk, Mesir, Jordan, dan Sudan, dan semua negara-negara di rantau ini," pengarah pejabat Hadi, Mohammed Marem, kepada Reuters. Serangan itu telah "dipulihkan penentuan rakyat" untuk memerangi Houthis, katanya.
Arab Saudi merancang untuk melakukan 100 pesawat perang dan 150,000 tentera untuk serangan Yaman itu, menurut Al Arabiya. Emiriah Arab Bersatu, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan dan juga bersedia untuk menyumbang pesawat, manakala Mesir, Pakistan, Jordan, Sudan dan ingin menyumbang kepada operasi darat.
Mesir menyediakan sokongan politik dan ketenteraan untuk menjalani pembedahan, kata media kerajaan negara itu. Kaherah bersedia untuk mengambil bahagian dalam operasi udara, laut dan darat jika perlu, Kementerian Luar Mesir telah diumumkan.
Laporan media berkata, Jordan, Sudan, Maghribi dan Pakistan juga merupakan sebahagian daripada gabungan itu dan telah menawarkan sokongan mereka untuk operasi tentera di Yaman.
Walaupun duta Arab Saudi menegaskan Washington hanya "berunding" Riyadh, seorang pegawai Amerika Syarikat memberitahu Reuters dengan syarat tidak mahu namanya disiarkan bahawa Amerika telah menyokong operasi ketenteraan dengan cara yang tidak ditentukan.
Pemimpin Houthi telah seterusnya berjenama serangan Arab sebagai "pencerobohan" dan memberi amaran bahawa ia akan seret kawasan Teluk keseluruhan ke dalam konflik.
"Terdapat satu pencerobohan dijalankan di Yaman dan kita akan menghadapinya dengan berani," ahli jawatan politik Houthi, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, memberitahu Al Jazeera. "Operasi Tentera akan seret kawasan yang berperang yang luas."
Sementara itu, timbalan jurucakap PBB Farhan Haq kepada TASS bahawa PBB sedar Arab Saudi melancarkan operasi tentera di Yaman dan sedang mencari maklumat lanjut. Hanya beberapa jam sebelum pembedahan, Haq kepada wartawan bahawa PBB tidak percaya dalam tindakan tentera untuk menyelesaikan konflik di Yaman.
Sebelum pelancaran serangan di Yaman, militan Houthi mendakwa telah menawan pelabuhan selatan Aden, kubu kuat Presiden Hadi. Para pejuang berkata bandar adalah di bawah kawalan mereka dan penyokong presiden telah ditangkap.
Para pemberontak telah mengumumkan 20 juta riyal (US $ 100,000) ganjaran untuk menangkap Hadi, selepas mendakwa bahawa dia lari dari negara itu, yang berpangkalan di Lebanon Al-Manar TV melaporkan.
Pada bulan Ogos 2014, pemberontak Houthi bergerak dari utara dan menuntut pembaharuan ekonomi dan politik. Pada bulan September, mereka merampas pemasangan negeri utama di Sanaa.
SAUDI Arabia bombs Yemen, Launches Coalition
Op Against Houthi REBELS . . .
Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, have launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. The offensive, which started with airstrikes, will also involve “other military assets.”
According to Ambassador Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the military operation in Yemen started at 7 p.m. EST (11 p.m. GMT).
Obama ordered support to Saudi-led op, UN still ‘checking details’
US President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-led military operations in Yemen, the White House said in a statement, confirming that Washington had close communication with Hadi, the Saudis and other GCC states prior to the launch of the military operation.
“While US forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support,” the statement said.
Moreover, the White House urged the Houthis to immediately halt “destabilizing military actions” and to return to political dialogue with the deposed Yemeni government.
Al Arabiya reported that warplanes of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombed positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia, targeting their air defenses.
The Saudi-led coalition has declared Yemeni airspace a “restricted zone.” Ships in the region have also been urged not to approach Yemen’s ports due to the ongoing military operation.
More than 20 people have reportedly died and over 30 others were injured following Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes in Yemen, Sputnik news agency cited local security and medical sources as saying.
The majority of the strikes around Sanaa hit residential areas located near the capital’s international airport. Government buildings and the airport were also hit during the offensive.
Reports from the ground indicate that Saudi forces have bombed an office belonging to Houthi rebels in Sanaa’s Jiraf area. A Houthi-run TV channel reported dozens of civilian casualties following airstrikes north of Sanaa.
Residents said that warplanes targeted the capital’s airport, according to Reuters.
Houthis used heavy anti-aircraft fire to respond to the bombing.
Another warplane attack was said to have been launched on Sanaa’s Dulaimi military airbase. Al-Jubair told Al Jazeera that Houthi fighters are in control of Yemeni’s ballistic and heavy weaponry and could be taking over the country’s air force.
Reports citing Yemeni security services said four Sukhoi jets stationed at the Dulaimi military airbase were destroyed in airstrikes. Meanwhile, an Al Arabiya report claimed that Saudi-led strikes destroyed the airbase along with several arsenals, as well as taking out most of the rebels’ air defenses.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued a joint statement saying that they “decided to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the country.” The Gulf states said they were responding to a “major threat” to the stability of the region, saying that their cause is to “repel Houthi aggression” in Yemen.
Al-Jubeir said the 10-country coalition launched the campaign “to protect and defend the legitimate government” of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after his appeal to intervene.
Hadi’s aide has revealed that the president is “in high spirits” and has remained at his Aden base in the south of Yemen. “The president...thanks Gulf countries, Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan, and all countries in the region,” the director of Hadi's office, Mohammed Marem, told Reuters. The offensive has “restored people's determination” to fight against the Houthis, he said.
Saudi Arabia is planning to commit 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the Yemen offensive, according to Al Arabiya. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan are also willing to contribute aircrafts, while Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Sudan want to contribute to ground operations.
Egypt is providing political and military support for the operation, the country’s state media said. Cairo is prepared to take part in air, naval and ground operations if necessary, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has announced.
Media reports said that Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan are also part of the coalition and have offered their support for military operation in Yemen.
While the Saudi envoy insisted Washington only “consulted” Riyadh, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that America has been supporting the military operation in an unspecified way.
Houthi leaders have in turn branded the Saudi offensive as “aggression” and warned that it will drag the entire Gulf region into conflict.
Read more
Saudi Arabia moves heavy arms to border with chaos-stricken Yemen
“There is an aggression underway on Yemen and we will confront it valiantly,” a member of the Houthi political office, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, told Al Jazeera. “Military operations will drag the region to a wide war.”
Meanwhile, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told TASS that the UN is aware of Saudi Arabia launching a military operation in Yemen and is looking into more details. Just a few hours before the operation, Haq told journalists that the UN does not believe in military actions to resolve the conflict in Yemen.
Before the launch of the offensive in Yemen, Houthi militants claimed to have captured the southern seaport of Aden, President Hadi’s stronghold. The fighters said the city was under their control and the president’s supporters were being arrested.
The rebels have announced a 20 million riyal (US$100,000) reward for Hadi’s capture, after alleging that he fled the country, Lebanon-based Al-Manar TV reported.
In August 2014, Houthi rebels moved in from the north and demanded economic and political reforms. In September, they seized key state installations in Sanaa.
As Houthis took command of the capital last month, the US embassy closed its operations in Sanaa, while the two rival governments in the north and south have continued to compete for power. Last weekend, Shiite rebels seized Yemen’s third largest city Taiz.
READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/bcv6jp
