Arabian Peninsula / Persian Gulf update 8/6/2017..Yemen war pushes country ‘towards the edge of a cliff’

UN slams “brutality” of Saudi airstrikes on Yemen

UN: Millions of Yemeni people in desperate need of aid

Yemen war pushes country ‘towards the edge of a cliff’

نشرة الاخبار الانجليزية 5 8 2017

UAE Attempting to Fully Control Yemen’s Oil, Gas Fields in Shabwa Province

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960515001447

The UAE government is attempting to gain full control over the oil and gas fields in Yemen’s Shabwa province by sending more forces and mercenaries to the region. “The UAE has occupied the two towns of Azan and Haban in Shabwa in Eastern Yemen and has dispatched 3,000 forces to Dahar region in the province to take full control over Shabwa oil and gas,” Saudi social media activists revealed on Sunday. Noting that the UAE sends mobs to Yemen to stir chaos in the regions that it wants to occupy, they said the UAE mercenaries don’t dare to approach regions that are controlled by Ansarollah movement like Assilan and Bayhan and they are more active in regions under the control of the tribal and Sunni groups.

In February, a Yemeni economic expert disclosed that Saudi Arabia is stealing his country’s crude reserves in bordering regions in collaboration with the French energy giant, Total. “63% of Yemen’s crude production is being stolen by Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Mansour Hadi, the fugitive Yemeni president, and his mercenaries,” Mohammad Abdolrahman Sharafeddin told FNA.

“Saudi Arabia has set up an oil base in collaboration with the French Total company in the Southern parts of Kharkhir region near the Saudi border province of Najran and is exploiting oil from the wells in the region,” he added.

Sharafeddin said that Riyadh is purchasing arms and weapons with the petro dollars stolen from the Yemeni people and supplies them to its mercenaries to kill the Yemenis.

Saudi Siege Against Own Citizens continues | August 5th 2017 | Al-Awamiya SA

Arab Media Reveal Failed Assassination Attempt against Saudi Crown Prince

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960515000429

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has escaped an assassination attempt at one of the royal family palaces in Jeddah, Arab media reported. Arabic language Mer’at al-Jazeera quoted sources close to the royal family as saying on Sunday that bin Salman was targeted by an assassination attempt in Jeddah by one of the Saudi princes. Also, a western diplomat in Riyadh said that the Saudi crown prince wasn’t harmed in the failed attempt and the prince who made the move was arrested. Bin Salman’s ambitious acts in recent months and his attempts to dethrone the rivals have created wroth among other Saudi princes. The Arab media have been reporting recently that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is much likely to step down in favor of his son Mohammed, the new crown prince, within the next few months.

Last month, al-Ray al-Youm newspaper quoted informed sources in the Saudi royal family as saying that King Salman is likely to step down from power in the next five months. They referred to the past and future steps to be taken by the king to empower his son, and said the first step was replacing former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef by his own son, Mohammed bin Salman. “The second step is that the Saudi king wants to travel to his beach villa in Tangier, Morocco, for a two-month vacation and entrust the new crown prince and his aides with management of the country,” they added. Therefore, bin Salman will be the Saudi king during August and it will be a test for him until King Salman will confirm quitting power in favor of his son, the sources said. They added that the countdown for bin Salman’s ascending to thrown will start somewhere between October and December and then King Salman will officially embark on stepping down under the pretext of protecting Saudi Arabia’s interests.

The report by al-Ray al-Youm comes as Western, specially US, media outlets said last week that the King has already recorded a message to declare Mohammad as his successor. Sources in the Royal family in Riyadh disclosed that Saudi King Salman bin Abdolaziz al-Saud has pre-recorded a statement to soon abandon power in favor of his son Mohammed bin Salman in the next few weeks as former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef is still under house arrest.

According to Reuters, with Mohammad Bin Salman’s sudden ascent, there is now speculation among diplomats and Saudi and Arab officials that King Salman is poised to abdicate in favor of his son. Quoting a witness at the palace, one Saudi source said that King Salman pre-recorded a statement in which he announces the transfer of the throne to his son. The announcement could be broadcast at any time, perhaps as soon as September.

Also, the source close to Mohammed Bin Nayef disclosed that he would like to take his family to Switzerland or London but the king and his son had decided that he must stay, adding that “he wasn’t given any choice.” A source close to Mohammed Bin Nayef also announced that he remains under house arrest to keep him out of circulation following his overthrow, with no visitors allowed except close family members. He is not taking calls. In the past week he was only granted permission to visit his elderly mother with the new guards assigned to him. According to a report, on June 20 Mohammed bin Nayef was summoned to meet King Salman on the fourth floor of the royal palace in Mecca. There, according to a source close to Nayef, as he is known, the king ordered him to step aside in favor of the king’s favorite son because of his alleged drug addiction. “The king came to meet Mohammed bin Nayef and they were alone in the room. He told him: ‘I want you to step down, you didn’t listen to the advice to get treatment for your addiction which dangerously affects your decisions’,” the source close to bin Nayef said. At dawn bin Nayef gave up, telling a palace adviser that he was ready to see the king. The meeting was short and bin Nayef agreed to step down and signed a document to that effect.

According to the adviser, when Mohammad bin Nayef left the king’s quarters, he was surprised to see Mohammad bin Salman waiting for him. bin Nayef was embraced and kissed by bin Salman while television cameras rolled. The source close to Mohammed bin Nayef acknowledged that he had health issues, which were aggravated after an al-Qaeda attacker tried to blow himself up in front of him in his palace in 2009. The health issues were corroborated by three other sources in Saudi Arabia and Arab official sources with links to the royal family. The sources also announced that bin Nayef had shrapnel in his body that could not be removed and he depended on drugs such as morphine to alleviate the pain, as, according to one source, he had been treated in clinics in Switzerland on three occasions in recent years.

Fars News Agency (FNA) could not independently confirm Mohammed bin Nayef’s addiction issues but it had earlier reported the possibility of Saudi king’s leaving power to his son.

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