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Saudi Arabian airstrike kills 120 civilians as US-backed war in Yemen rages

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Humanitarian crisis continues with no end in sight as forces armed and supported by the United States continue to terrorize the people of Yemen

Houthi followers demonstrate against Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 24, 2015. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. (Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

Houthi followers demonstrate against Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa July 24, 2015. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. (Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Intense fighting between Houthi factions and Yemeni forces allied with a Saudi-backed military campaign continued on Sunday, just a day after the killing of approximately 120 civilians by a Saudi airstrike spurred an impromptu call for a five-day ceasefire in the war-torn and poverty-stricken country.

According to the Associated Press:

The airstrikes late Friday hit workers’ housing for a power plant in Mokha, flattening some of the buildings to the ground […] A fire erupted in the area, charring many of the corpses, including children, women and elderly people.

Wahib Mohammed, an eyewitness and area resident, said some of the bodies were torn apart by the force of the blast and buried in a mass grave on Saturday. Some of the strikes also hit nearby livestock pens, he said. Human and animal blood pooled on the ground of the surrounding area.

The deadly strike highlights growing concerns that the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes are increasingly killing civilians as they continue to target Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

Responding to the carnage, Hassan Boucenine of the Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders told AP, “It just shows what is the trend now of the air strikes from the coalition. Now, it’s a house, it’s a market, it’s anything.”

In the wake of the deadly airstrike on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition, which includes the United States and allied Gulf states, called for a five-day ceasefire that would begin at midnight local time on Sunday.

However, even as mixed reporting by Reuters indicated that Houthi military leaders may have rejected the call, a fierce battle raged near the port city Aden over a strategically valuable air base:

The al-Anad base, 50 km (30 miles) from the major southern port city, has been held by the Iranian-allied Houthi movement for much of a fourth-month-old civil war, and is regarded as a strategic asset commanding the approaches to Aden.

The Arab coalition on Saturday announced a ceasefire to take effect at 11.59 p.m. (2059 GMT) on Sunday evening for five days to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Reuters indicated that a Houthi leader may have taken to Twitter to reject the call for the midnight ceasefire, but other journalists expressed doubt that the message was valid:

Since the Saudi-led bombing began in March of this year, the United Nations last week estimated that in addition to the many more thousands injured and maimed, at least 1,693 civilians have been killed in Yemen, of which 365 were children. Already one of the poorest nations on the planet before the fighting and subsequent bombing campaign began, both the UN and independent aid agencies have warned that so long as the war continues and humanitarian blockade enforced, Yemen’s further spiral towards total political chaos and a full-fledged famine will continue.

The role of land, oil and ports in the Yemeni crisis

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Yemeni crisis

by Shoks Mnisi Mzolo, Cii Broadcasting

On the surface, the roots of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to rain bombs on its southern neighbouring are hard to determine. The kingdom, whose military and their personnel are turning Yemen to a wreck, defends its involvement, in the violence and political strife gripping its neighbour, to its determination to stop an illegitimate government from taking over in Sana’a. Many have scoffed at not only the theory but also lamented Riyadh’s brutality that, in the name of pursuing rebels, has claimed thousands of civilian lives and displaced scores more while destroying infrastructure such as water tanks, schools and hospitals.

Without explaining the rationale behind the deaths directed at civilians, with the death toll now approaching 4,000, Riyadh claims its violence is meant to stop Houthi rebels, who staged a coup d’état earlier this year – that brought down then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

Scratching the surface, Prof Najib Ali Abdullah Alsoudi, an academic at the University of Ta’if, insists that it all boils down to money. In an interview with Cii, he dismissed the much-recycled pretext about ethnic or creed chasm or threat to the region’s security. Central to the political turmoil manifesting itself today is the rich kingdom’s thirst to economically subjugate the Middle East’s southern-most part, the professor said, going as far back as the 1960s.

King Faisal, a successor to deposed King Saud, was in charge of the oil-rich monarchy for the greater part of that decade. Imam Yahya, a king of Yemen, was succeeded by Imam Muhammad, also known as Sayf al-Islam al-Badr, in 1962. Their descendants’ struggle for control, by their countrymen or scions, revolved around Yemeni land and resources. Decades later, according to Alsoudi, Saudi Arabia is not keen to let go and is seizing Yemeni lands now.

The problem started when Imam Yahya’s impoverished then-monarch conceded to his neighbours, the professor said. “Imam Yayha was in a bad situation so he agreed to sign agreements, between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, that Najran and Aseer will be under Saudi as rental land for 20 years. When the 20 years finished, Ali Abdullah Saleh (then-president) he also re-signed the agreement between Yemen and Saudi,” Alsoudi added. That term came to an end last year, during Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s presidency. The then-incumbent turned down Saudi Arabia’s request to extend the land rental tenure. In a matter of months he was ousted and Yemen has been in the throes of the regional superpower’s bombs since then.

“After the revolution Yemeni people started talking about our land and the Saudi. So, the Saudi didn’t want the Yemeni people talking about that land. And, they want also, the Yemeni people to make Aden an international port. If Aden [were to become an] international port, that means Dubai and Jeddah will close already because all the ships will be coming to Aden because Aden is in the middle. So, if the ship is going to South Africa, it will stop in Aden,” the professor of in Arabic linguistics and Quranic studies pointed out.

The same goes for Australasia-bound ship and those headed for Asia, as far as Japan, among other destinations, Alsoudi explained. The UAE, which makes a fortune from the Dubai jackpot, would be one of the biggest losers if such a move passed and the kingdom the biggest winner given its landlord position. The two regional players, he added, have been at loggerhead over this with the impoverished Yemen finding itself in the middle.

With all of this in the background, Saleh, the former president, struck a relationship with Houthi. The latter was part of the 2011 revolution, among others. So, because of its role, Houthi is obviously no ally’s of the powerful kingdom. That said, its rise to power, not least after Hadi refused to extend the lease agreement, was bound to be solicit anger from Riyadh. Sadly, the Saudi military has since turned around and targeted civilians.

“[Saudi Arabia] don’t want to bring [our land] back,” as the academic summarised it, looking at some of the factors in the background. “They don’t want Yemeni people to take their oil from their land. We have a lot of oil… Saudi doesn’t want Yemeni people to take their oil and sell it to the world. They want us just to be poor people, a poor country. You know, in this [country] people eat leaves. Saudi has closed all the borders. We cannot receive any food [or aid]. I don’t know what’s wrong with that. I mean, we are Muslims, we are brothers. Why did the Saudi do that?”

Former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal dies

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Prince Saud, appointed in 1975, was the world’s longest serving foreign minister when he retired in April.

saud al-faisal

by Al Jazeera

Former Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has died, two months after he retired following 40 years in the job.

A statement from the Royal Court on Thursday said Prince Saud, who was born in 1940, died in the United States. No cause was given for his death, but he had faced many health problems.

Prince Saud, who was appointed in 1975, was the world’s longest serving foreign minister when he was replaced on April 29 by Adel al-Jubeir, the then ambassador to Washington.

His tenure saw Israel invade Lebanon in 1978, 1982 and 2006, the eruption of Palestinian intifadas in 1987 and 2000, Iraq’s invasions of Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, and the occupation of Iraq by a US-led coalition in 2003.

Prince Saud served under four Saudi kings, advancing the kingdom’s foreign policy, especially after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States.

He was also part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to lessen Iran’s influence in the region, including the continuing conflict in Syria, where Saudi Arabia has been supporting several rebel groups.

Asked in early 2012 if it would be a good idea to arm Syria’s rebels, he said briskly: “I think it’s an excellent idea.”

‘Well liked and respected’

Prince Saud, a son of King Faisal, was born in Taif near Mecca, where in 1989 he helped negotiate the agreement that ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.

A degree at Princeton in the 1960s was followed by years at the Petroleum Ministry, where he was taken under the wing of his father’s canny and charismatic oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani.

His career as a diplomat began traumatically: the new King Khaled named him as foreign minister following the assassination of Prince Saud’s father Faisal, who had retained the foreign affairs portfolio after being made king in 1962.

As the foreign minister of an important political and economic US ally in the region, Prince Saud was reported to have been well liked and respected in diplomatic circles.

Barack Obama, the US president, expressed his condolences to the deceased’s family and described him as “a committed and accomplished diplomat”.  The US embassy in Saudi Arabia quoted Secretary of State John Kerry on Twitter as saying that “Saud was not only the longest-serving foreign minister, but was also one of the wisest”.

He was often described as a charismatic leader, willing to talk to reporters, and with a sense of humour.

With age, Prince Saud faced many health problems. In the last few years, despite suffering from chronic back pain and having various surgeries, he maintained his challenging role.

Witness of history

When he was appointed in October 1975, the region was dominated by Cold War rivalries, and secular pan-Arab nationalism seemed to be the future.

Egypt and Israel had not yet made peace, and Yasser Arafat led the Palestine Liberation Organisation from refugee camps in Lebanon. The shah still ruled Iran, while in Iraq a young Saddam Hussein was plotting his path to power.

Riyadh’s relationship with Saddam, which went from wary support during the Iran-Iraq war to fierce enmity after the invasion of Kuwait, dominated foreign policy for long periods during Prince Saud’s tenure.

But despite that complicated history, Prince Saud publicly argued against the 2003 invasion, presciently warning of a chaotic aftermath that could destabilise the region.

“If change of regime comes with the destruction of Iraq, then you are solving one problem and creating five more problems,” he said in a British television interview.

In 2002, he launched King Abdullah’s biggest foreign policy initiative, an Arab plan for peace with Israel in return for a withdrawal from all occupied land and a resolution of the refugee problem.

“All the neighbourhood, if you will, will be at peace with Israel, will recognise their right to exist. If this doesn’t provide security of Israel, I assure you the muzzle of a gun is not going to provide that security,” he said at the time.

Israel never agreed to the plan and Prince Saud said frequently that the failure to help create a Palestinian state was the biggest disappointment of his career.

Asked in early 2012 if it would be a good idea to arm Syria’s rebels, Prince Saud said briskly: ‘I think it’s an excellent idea’ [Reuters]

Israel’s clandestine alliance with Gulf Arab States is going public

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"Relations with Israel have long been a third rail for Arab states," writes Hussain. That, however, appears to be changing. (Photo: AP/Saudi Arabian Press Agency)

“Relations with Israel have long been a third rail for Arab states,” writes Hussain. That, however, appears to be changing. (Photo: AP/Saudi Arabian Press Agency)

by Murtaza Hussain, The Intercept

In 2009, a U.S. State Department diplomatic cable gave one of the first glimpses of a burgeoning alliance between Israel and the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The cable quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry official Yacov Hadas saying, “the Gulf Arabs believe in Israel’s role because of their perception of Israel’s close relationship with the United States,” adding that GCC states “believe Israel can work magic.”

Israel and the Gulf states also shared an interest in countering what they saw as rising Iranian influence in the Middle East. So while the two sides sparred in public — Israel’s “Cast Lead” military operation had just claimed more than 1,400 lives in the Gaza Strip and was condemned by Saudi Arabia, in a letter to the United Nations, as “fierce aggression” — they enjoyed “good personal relations” behind closed doors, Hadas said, according to one cable. Hadas reportedly added that the Gulf Arabs were still “not ready to do publicly what they say in private.”

Fast forward six years, and it seems as though the GCC states have finally readied themselves to go public about their warming relationships with Israel. In an event at the Council on Foreign Relations this week in Washington, reported on by Bloomberg’s Eli Lake, high-ranking former Saudi and Israeli officials not only shared the stage but disclosed that the two countries had been holding a series of high-level meetings to discuss shared strategic goals, particularly around the perceived regional ascendance of Iran. At the event, former Saudi General Anwar Eshki openly called for regime change in Iran, while former Israeli ambassador to the U.N., Dore Gold, once a fierce critic of Saudi Arabia, spoke of his outreach to the country in recent years, and of the possibility of resolving the remaining differences between the two nations, stating, “Our standing today on this stage does not mean we have resolved all the differences that our countries have shared over the years, but our hope is we will be able to address them fully in the years ahead.”

Relations with Israel have long been a third rail for Arab states. Following the creation of Israel in 1948 and the resulting displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, other Middle Eastern countries have maintained a position of public hostility towards Israel, in line with longstanding domestic public opinion. Although countries such as Egypt, under military dictatorship, have concluded formal peace treaties with Israel in defiance of popular sentiment, for the most part Gulf states have remained aloof.

In recent years, however, the dual phenomena of the Arab uprisings and growing Iranian influence have pushed GCC leaders closer to Israel. Last year, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal took the unprecedented step of publishing an op-ed in a major Israeli newspaper calling for peace between Israel and GCC nations, as well as for a resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the United States under the Obama administration has pursued détente with Iran in recent years, reports have also surfaced suggesting covert security cooperation between Israel and GCC states. The investigative news site Middle East Eye recently documented the existence of regular, secret flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, despite the ostensible ban on Israeli citizens entering the UAE.

In his 2012 book After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies, Durham University Professor Chris Davidson wrote that Gulf states will continue to seek Israeli support thanks to growing external pressures on Gulf States in the wake of regional upheaval. Even as it describes the GCC countries as consisting of “national populations who for the most part are anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, with the topics of Israel and Zionism often stirring strong emotions,” the book documents increasing clandestine economic and political coordination by GCC leaders with their Israeli counterparts in recent years.

There are signs, however, that even popular anti-Israeli sentiment within these countries may be shifting. A recent poll of Saudi public opinion conducted by students at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, an Israeli university, found that a minority of the Saudi public viewed Israel as a major threat to their country, and cited instead either Iran or the nascent Islamic State as their primary objects of concern. “What we think here in Israel about the Saudis is not exactly what they are,” said Alex Mintz of IDC Herziliya, who helped oversee the poll. “We assume that we know what people in Iran, Gaza and Saudi Arabia think, [but] nobody that I talked to thought that Saudis would say by a margin of 3-to-1 that Iran scared them more than Israel, nobody predicted that.”

With the Obama administration seeking to conclude a controversial nuclear agreement with Iran next month, it seems likely that Gulf Arab states and Israel, traditional U.S. allies united in their opposition to the deal, will continue to grow their strategic coordination. The recent decision by high-ranking former officials representing both Gulf and Israeli interests to go public with their cooperation is only the latest signal of the strength of this burgeoning alliance. Given that this relationship is flourishing against the backdrop of the still-ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis, as well as the ascendance of far-right political parties within Israel itself, it seems clear that GCC leaders have decided in the wake of the Arab Spring to place their own narrow political interests above any publicly-stated principles about stability in the region.

 

UN: Over 2,200 Yemenis killed in fighting since late March

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According to the UN, nearly 78 percent of the Yemeni population is in need of humanitarian assistance. (Al Bawaba/File)

According to the UN, nearly 78 percent of the Yemeni population is in need of humanitarian assistance. (Al Bawaba/File)

by Andolu Ajansi

At least 2,288 people have been killed and nearly 10,000 others were injured in Yemen since the beginning of a Saudi-led military campaign against the Shia Houthi militant group in late March, the U.N. said Friday.

“More than one million people have been displaced across all governorates in Yemen between the 26 March and the end of May,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press conference at the U.N. in Geneva.

“Half of the new displacement — more than half a million people — has occurred in three governorates alone: Hajjah, Ad Dhale’e and Ibb. The number of displaced is expected to increase further over the coming weeks if the conflict continues,” Laerke said.

Nearly 20 million Yemenis are now in need of humanitarian assistance, which is 78 percent of the entire Yemeni population, the U.N. said.

The number of people who need humanitarian assistance in the country increased by 4 million with the Saudi intervention in March 2015, it added.

Meanwhile, talks are expected to start in June 14 at the U.N. in Geneva, with a view to ending the current fighting and restoring momentum toward a Yemeni-led democratic transition.

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when Houthi militants overran Sana’a from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.

On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign targeting Houthi positions across the country.

Riyadh says its campaign comes in response to appeals by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi — who is in Saudi Arabia — for military intervention against Houthi militants.

The Houthis, however, denounce the offensive as unwarranted “Saudi-American aggression” against Yemen.

Pakistan rules out sharing nukes with Saudis, anyone else

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Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry

Washington: Pakistan ruled out sharing its nuclear weapons with Saudi Arabia, insisting Thursday that the atomic arsenal would continue serving solely for the country’s national defence even as world powers and Iran near a possible nuclear agreement.

Closing a wide-ranging trip to Washington, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry angrily rejected speculation that his country could sell or transfer nuclear arms or advanced technology as “unfounded and baseless”.

Pakistan has long been among the world’s greatest proliferation threats, having shared weapons technology with Iran, Libya and North Korea. And American and other intelligence services have been taking seriously the threat of Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries potentially seeking the Muslim country’s help in matching Iran’s nuclear capabilities, even if the US says there is no evidence of such action right now.

“Pakistan is not talking to Saudi Arabia on nuclear issues, period,” Chaudhry insisted. The arsenal, believed to be in excess of 100 weapons, is focused only on Pakistan’s threat perception from “the East” Chaudhry said, a clear reference to long-standing rival and fellow nuclear power India.

Chaudhry said his country has significantly cracked down in recent years on proliferation, improving its export controls and providing UN nuclear monitors with all necessary information. Pakistan also won’t allow any weapons to reach terrorists, he said.

Pakistan detonated its first nuclear weapons in 1998, shortly after India did. At the same time, the man regarded as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, A Q Khan, was shopping advanced technology to many of the world’s most distrusted governments.

He sold centrifuges for enriching bomb-making material to the Iranians, Libyans and North Koreans, and also shared designs for fitting warheads on ballistic missiles. He was forced into retirement in 2001. Concerns now centre on how the governments of the Middle East will respond if the US and other governments clinch a nuclear deal with Iran by the end of the month.

Such questions inevitably lead to Pakistan, the only Muslim country in the nuclear club and one with historically close ties to Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials, for their part, have repeatedly refused to rule out any steps to protect their country, saying they will not negotiate their faith or their security.

Foreign secretary’s US visit
Aizaz Chaudhry during his visit to Washington DC attended a meeting of the Working Group on Strategic Security, Stability and Non-proliferation (SSS&NP) and held meetings with several senior diplomatic and military officials for US-Pakistan strategic dialogue.

The US State Department said Wednesday the agenda included “international efforts to enhance nuclear security” as well as non-proliferation and export controls.

It described the discussions as “productive” and said the governments would work together to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Speaking to reporters, Chaudhry praised the progress thus far in the Iran nuclear talks.

He told reporters that a diplomatic success would have significant economic benefits for Pakistan, allowing it to complete a long-sought gas pipeline project with its neighbor to the west.

During a meeting at the Pentagon with US Defence Undersecretary Christine Wormuth, both sides discussed a wide range of issues related to bilateral defence cooperation. Continuing high level exchanges and regular dialogues between defence communities of Pakistan and the US was agreed upon and Chaudhry appreciated the United States’ support in assisting Pakistan in its counter-terrorism campaign.

Both sides also reviewed developments in the region and agreed on the need to further strengthen mutually beneficial security cooperation.

Continuing his busy schedule in Washington DC, the foreign secretary met with the US Undersecretary for Treasury Adam J Szubin. Undersecretary Szubin oversees the US policy on economic sanctions and countering terrorist financing.

Chaudhry briefed Undersecretary Szubin on various legislative and administrative steps taken by the government in the domain of anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing. Sharing the key points of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s National Action Plan (NAP), the foreign secretary highlighted the various implementation measures, in particular, the steps taken towards countering financing for terrorism.

Undersecretary Szubin praised Pakistan’s dedication and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and noted the significant success achieved by the ongoing military operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

Undersecretary Szubin also appreciated the positive steps taken by the Pakistani government to meet international financial standards to monitor and interdict suspicious transactions.

Reviewing their collaboration in combating terrorism at the bilateral and multilateral levels, the two sides agreed to further intensify their cooperation.

Chaudhry also met Deputy Secretary of State, Tony Blinken in the Department of State today. The Foreign Secretary and the Deputy Secretary reviewed the state of bilateral relationship and expressed satisfaction over its growing momentum and positive trajectory.

The foreign minister apprised the deputy secretary on Pakistan’s effort to address the threat of terrorism. He underscored that the military operation, Zarb-i-Azb, was progressing well. He thanked the US for the cooperation extended in the post-operation relief and rehabilitation of temporarily dislocated peoples. The foreign secretary reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to a peaceful, stable and united Afghanistan.

Blinken lauded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to reach out to Pakistan’s neighbours and hoped that his initiatives would help bring prosperity to the people of the region. He also noted the improved mutual trust and positive relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Separately, Chaudhry also held meeting with Dan Feldman, Special Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP). Both sides took stock of the recent developments in the region in wake of the visit of the SRAP to Pakistan last month.

(AP)

ISIL claims responsibility for Saudi mosque attack

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At least 21 people killed after suicide bomber detonates explosives during Friday prayers in Qatif province.

Qatif

by Al Jazeera

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has claimed in an online statement that it carried out a deadly suicide bomb attack at a mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province of Qatif.

The statement said “the soldiers of the Caliphate” were behind Friday’s attack by a suicide bomber “who detonated an explosives belt” in the mosque in the Shia-majority city of Qatif.

The group identified the bomber as Abu Amer al-Najdi, and published a picture of him.

Earlier on Friday, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement that a suicide bomber had set off an explosion during weekly prayers at a Shia mosque, leaving at least 21 dead.

“It has been established that an individual detonated a bomb he was wearing under his clothes during Friday prayers at Ali Ibn Abi Taleb mosque in Kudeih in Qatif province,” the statement, which was carried by the official SPA news agency, said.

The ministry spokesman called the attack an act of terrorism, vowing that “Security authorities will spare no effort in the pursuit of all those involved in this terrorist crime”.

Pictures posted on social media purported to show the devastation, with dead bodies strewn across the floor and shattered glass covering the courtyard of the mosque.

Saudi Arabia’s Shia population is mostly based in two oasis districts of the Eastern Province, Qatif on the Gulf coast, and al-Ahsa, southwest of the provincial capital al-Khobar.

The community accounts for between 10 to 15 percent of the total population.

The attack was the first to target the Shia community in Saudi Arabia since November when gunmen killed at least eight people in an attack on a religious anniversary celebration, also in the east.

Suicide bomber attacks Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia

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At least seven people reportedly killed after attacker detonates explosives during Friday prayers in Qatif province.

About 150 people were praying in the mosque when it was attacked [Twitter]

About 150 people were praying in the mosque when it was attacked [Twitter]

by Al Jazeera

A suicide bomber has detonated his explosives at a Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, killing at least seven people and wounding several others, witnesses said.

One witness described a huge explosion at the Imam Ali Mosque in a village in the province of Qatif, where more than 150 people were praying.

An activist told the AFP news agency that at least four worshippers were killed, while a source told the Reuters news agency that there appeared to be at least 30 casualties in the attack. More recent estimates have placed the death toll higher.

Pictures posted on social media purported to show the devastation, with dead bodies strewn across the floor and shattered glass covering the courtyard of the mosque.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital Riyadh, said authorities expected the death toll the rise.

Saudi Arabia’s Shia population is mostly based in two oasis districts of the Eastern Province – Qatif on the Gulf coast, and al-Ahsa, southwest of the provincial capital al-Khobar.

Qatif and al-Ahsa have historically been the focal point of anti-government demonstrations.

The kingdom’s Shia community accounts for between 10 to 15 percent of the total population. They say they face discrimination in seeking educational opportunities or government employment and that they are referred to disparagingly in text books and by some Sunni officials and state-funded clerics.

They also complain of restrictions on setting up places of worship and marking Shia holidays, and say that Qatif and al-Ahsa receive less state funding than Sunni communities of equivalent size.

The Saudi government denies allegations of discrimination.

Saudi to purchase Pakistani nuclear weapons

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The Saudi-Pakistan talks come amid the P5+1 negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. (AFP/File)

The Saudi-Pakistan talks come amid the P5+1 negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. (AFP/File)

Saudi Arabia has reportedly held talks with Pakistan for the purchase of nuclear weapons amid the ongoing nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran, according to a US senior official who spoke with The Sunday Times.

Tensions in the region have escalated in light of the framework agreement the United States and the other world powers have made with the Islamic Republic, with Saudi Arabia increasingly concerned with the repercussions of a deal that may see the easing of sanctions leaving Iran more legroom to continue developing weapons of mass destruction.

The strain in relations was evident when Saudi Arabia’s King Salman skipped a major summit in Washington this week, along with the leaders of three other Gulf nations.

“For the Saudis the moment has come,” The Sunday Times quoted a former US defense official as saying.

“There has been a long-standing agreement in place with the Pakistanis and the House of Saud has now made the strategic decision to move forward.”

Saudi Arabia is skeptical that any final, comprehensive deal with Iran will curb its nuclear ambitions, with the West’s engagement  having actually “opened the door to nuclear proliferation,” a military source told The Sunday Times

The agreement allows Iran to keep 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges at Natanz, and another 1,000 centrifuges at its underground enrichment facility in Fordow.

According to one senior British official who also spoke with The Sunday Times, military leadership from all Western countries “assume the Saudis have made the decision to go nuclear.”

“The fear is that other Middle Eastern powers — Turkey and Egypt — may feel compelled to do the same and we will see a new, even more dangerous, arms race.”

Fresh bombing in Yemen as humanitarian ceasefire ends

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Coalition warplanes target Houthi rebel positions in al-Sawlaban and al-Arish in Aden province, Saudi officials say.

Yemen

by Al Jazeera

Arab coalition nations have resumed air strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen as a UN envoy called for an extension of a five-day humanitarian ceasefire that expired late Sunday.

The coalition targeted Houthi rebel positions in al-Sawlaban and al-Arish in Aden province, Saudi military officials said early on Monday.

Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-backed channel, reported that Saudi troops were also shelling al-Manzala district in al-Dalih near the Yemen-Saudi border, in addition to Al-Ghawr mountain.

“I call on all parties to renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least,” UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said earlier in Riyadh. “This humanitarian truce should turn into a permanent ceasefire.”

His appeal followed clashes between rebels and pro-government forces across south Yemen on Saturday despite the truce, which has largely held since starting on Tuesday at 2000 GMT.

Speaking in Seoul on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US continues to support the idea of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen, but that such a truce was difficult given the current circumstances.

The official Saudi Press Agency, meanwhile, reported that the UN envoy met Saudi chief of staff Lieutenant General Abdulrahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan and discussed “humanitarian aid efforts” in Yemen.

Aid groups have called for a lasting truce in the impoverished country, where a Saudi-led regional coalition has waged an air war Houthis and their allies since late March.

Yemeni political parties began talks on Sunday in the Saudi capital aimed at finding a solution to the crisis. But the Houthis stayed away from the meeting of some 400 delegates, including President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh.

Hadi repeated accusations that the rebels had staged a “coup”.

“We are trying to regain our nation” from militias backed by “external” forces, he said in a reference to Iran, which has denied arming the rebels.

An Iranian aid ship bound for Yemen in defiance of US warnings has entered the Gulf of Aden and is expected to dock on Thursday, media in Tehran reported.

Clashes in Aden

Its mission has been overshadowed by US calls for it to head to a UN emergency relief hub in Djibouti instead of the Yemeni port of Hodeida.

Clashes raged overnight Saturday in the central city of Taiz between Houthis – supported by troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh – and pro-Hadi forces.

The rebels, who seized Sanaa in September and have since swept across many other regions, bombed a village south of Taiz, killing 14 civilians, a local official said.

Sporadic clashes also continued in Aden, the scene of fierce fighting since rebels advanced on the southern port in late March after Hadi took refuge there.

Aden health chief al-Khader Laswar said four people were killed in clashes Sunday and 39 were wounded, among them two children and four women.

Laswar has said that 517 civilians and pro-Hadi fighters have been killed there in the past 50 days. The toll includes 76 women and children, he said.

Quoted by the government news agency Sabanew.net, Laswar said he could not provide a toll for the rebels.

He added that 3,461 people were wounded, and said most Aden hospitals were currently out of service as “most” medics have fled.

The United Nations has expressed deep concern about the civilian death toll from the bombing as well as the humanitarian impact of an air and sea blockade imposed by the coalition.

It says more than 1,600 people have died in the conflict since late March.

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