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Monday, September 16, 2019

ANALYSIS: Saudi Aramco attacks: What we know so far

September 17, 2019 00H:12 GMT/ZULU

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters News Analysts, Riyadh

An attack on Saudi Arabia that triggered the biggest jump in oil prices in almost 30 years was carried out with Iranian weapons, a Saudi-led coalition said on Monday, as President Donald Trump said the United States was “locked and loaded” to hit back.

Smoke is seen following a fire at an Aramco factory in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 14, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. VIDEOS OBTAINED BY REUTERS/via REUTERS

* The attack on Saturday was a reciprocal measure by “Yemeni people” to assaults on their country, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

* Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, which is battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saturday on sites run by state-owned Saudi Aramco.

* Oil prices jumped roughly 12% on Monday after the attack sliced the kingdom’s production in half and intensified concerns of retaliatory actions in the Middle East. Prices initially surged about 20%, with Brent crude posting its biggest intraday gain since the 1990-1991 Gulf crisis, before pulling back as various nations said they would tap emergency supplies to keep the world supplied with oil.

* U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled out Yemeni involvement and accused Iran of leading the attacks.

* Trump said the United States, which is embroiled in a row with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, was “locked and loaded” for a potential response.

* Russia said it was unacceptable to discuss possible retaliation and said that using the incident to increase tensions around Iran was counterproductive.

* An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said U.S. bases and aircraft carriers were within range of Iranian missiles, after Washington blamed Iran.

* Israel is prepared for the possibility it might be drawn into any U.S.-Iranian confrontation over a strike on the Saudi oil plant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

* Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia has previously accused Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which lies across the Gulf, of carrying out attacks on its oil facilities, charges Tehran denies. Riyadh has not blamed any party for Saturday’s strikes.

* Analysts said benchmark Brent, now trading at around $68 a barrel, could hit $100 if Riyadh failed to quickly bring back supply.

* The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is assessing the impact but says it is too early for members to take any action on raising production or holding a meeting, the UAE energy minister and other sources said.

* Saudi Aramco’s full return to normal oil output volumes “may take months”, two sources said on Monday.

* Saudi Arabia usually ships more than 7 million bpd of oil to global destinations and has for years served as the market’s supplier of last resort.

* Saudi Aramco has been seeking to prepare for a share sale that would make it the world’s largest listed company.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

BREAKING: Drone attacks target Jizan airport in Saudi Arabia

June 9, 2019 09H:51 GMT/ZULU

by Nasra Ismail and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, CAIRO

CAIRO - Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched multiple drone attacks targeting Jizan airport in Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, a tweet on Sunday by the group’s TV Al-Masirah said.

The attacks targeted Saudi drone bunkers and stations in the airport, it added.

There was no Saudi confirmation of the attacks.

(This is a breaking story. Come back here for more details.)

Sunday, December 2, 2018

UN plane to evacuate wounded Huthi rebels in Yemen: coalition

03 December 2018 - 05H09 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, France24, RIYADH

© AFP/File | A Yemeni soldier loyal to the Shiite Huthi rebels mans a turret in the back of a pickup truck as others ride during a military parade in the capital Sanaa on October 16, 2018 to show support against the Saudi-led intervention in the country

RIYADH -

A UN plane will evacuate 50 wounded Huthi militants from Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on Monday as a "confidence building measure" ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden, a Saudi-led military coalition said.

"A UN chartered plane will arrive at Sanaa international airport Monday to evacuate 50 wounded combatants... three Yemeni doctors and a UN doctor, from Sanaa to Muscat," a coalition spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The fate of wounded rebels had been a stumbling block to the start of a previous round of aborted peace talks in September.

The coalition agreed to facilitate the medical evacuations at the request of UN envoy Martin Griffiths for "humanitarian reasons" and as a "confidence building measure", the spokesman added.

Huthi rebels on Thursday said they will attend UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden this week if guarantees to ensure they can leave home and return back are maintained.

Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is also backed by a Saudi-led coalition, has already said it would attend the planned talks in Sweden.

Griffiths has held talks separately in the past few days with officials from both sides as part of efforts to lay the ground work for the peace talks.

In September, a previous round of UN-led talks failed when the Huthis refused to travel to Geneva, accusing the world body of failing to guarantee their delegation's return to Sanaa or secure the evacuation of wounded rebels to Oman.

Previous talks broke down in 2016, when 108 days of negotiations in Kuwait failed to yield a deal and left rebel delegates stranded in Oman for three months.

According to UN figures, nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the coalition joined the conflict in 2015 to bolster Hadi, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Rights groups fear the actual toll is far higher.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

BREAKING: Pro-government forces in Yemen take hospital in strategic port city

November 10, 2018 16H:01 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Leila Mohamed, Natalie Duval, and Biodun Iginla, France24, Djibouti

Latest update : 2018-11-10

Pro-government forces fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen have taken the main hospital in the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeida, government military officials said Saturday.

The May 22 Hospital lies in the east of the rebel-held city, a key aid conduit that is the target of a renewed offensive by the Saudi and Emirati-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

On Thursday, loyalist forces backed by Saudi air strikes entered the city for the first time, pushing towards the port and using bulldozers to remove concrete road blocks installed by the rebels.

Officials said pro-government forces took over the hospital on Friday evening.

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Amnesty International had accused the Houthis on Thursday of “deliberate militarisation” of the facility after they stationed fighters on its roof.

A medical source told us at France24 on Wednesday that the rebels had forced staff out of the hospital and set up sniper positions.

Save the Children’s Field Coordinator in Yemen, Dr Mariam Aldogani, went to the Al Amal hospital in Hodeida on Friday evening.

“This should stop immediately, this is the worst period for the Hodeida governornate. This is the worst time for Hodeida children. I visited Al Amal hospital. I saw one child, he is a teenager, he’s 15 years old. He’s totally paralysed because three days ago he was walking in the street and a stray bullet penetrated his neck and cut his spinal cord. He’s totally paralysed.”

“Since last week more than 20 children have been affected by shrapnel or bullets or shelling. Two children have died,” said Aldogani. “The ages of the children affected since just last week ranges from six months old to 17 years old. Some were injured on their way home from school. Most of the areas in Hodeida city have become unsafe.

“I’m a mother. I saw a mother crying openly in the hospital. Her child came from school and he became injured because of this war. Everyone is panicking, people are taking their children home from hospital because even the hospitals aren’t safe.

"Hodeida people and their children are paying the highest cost.”

Nearly 80 percent of Yemen’s commercial imports and practically all UN-supervised humanitarian aid pass through Hodeida’s port.

The Huthis have controlled Hodeida since 2014 when they overran the capital Sanaa and swept though much of the rest of the country, triggering an intervention by the Saudi-led coalition the following year and a devastating war of attrition.

The rebels have since been driven out of virtually all of the south and much of the Red Sea coast.

Nearly 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in the conflict since 2015, according to the World Health Organization. Human rights groups say the real death toll may be five times higher.

Date created : 2018-11-10