Yemen attack on Saudi Aramco Oil Facilities may affect 5% world oil supply

The Yemenese strike back hard: This time their target being the world's largest oil facilities in Saudi Arabia - the Aramco, a joint Saudi-USA establishment.

Yemen claims that 10 drones had been used in the attack, hitting the oil fields in Abqaiq and Khurais. The attack is likely to affect almost 5% drop in Saudi oil exports. And may cause crude prices to jump between $5 and $10 a barrel.

Watch a video by Al Jazeera network:

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman said that 5.7 million barrels a day of crude oil and gas production have been affected. The latest OPEC figures put total Saudi production at 9.8 million barrels per day.

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Two Israeli F-16s shot down by Yemen

Two F-16s that have reportedly been shot down by the Yemen air defence system with Saudi markings - but such aircraft have never been supplied to Saudi Arabia by the USA.

Instead the lot from which the downed F-16s belonged was the one supplied to Israel probably one of the 50 surplus US F16 A models given to Israel during the Clinton administration. 

Another view point is that these may from the lot of recently surplus ex-NATO aircraft either from Italy or Portugal.

It is also reported that one of the two F16s was shot down by an updated BUK system supplied by Russia — Yemen is well-equipped with modern Russian weaponry including MiG-29s and advanced air-defense systems, a fact that has clearly been overlooked by the Saudis and their Israeli allies.

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Pakistan to help enforcing UN’s arms embargo on Houthi militia

Pakistan Prime Minister chairing a high-level meeting on Yemen issue with military hierarchy in Islamabad — Photo:I NP

The government of Pakistan has assured the Saudi government that it will help in enforcing the United Nations Security Council’s arms embargo on Houthi militia.

The commitment has been conveyed to the Saudi leadership by a high level Pakistani delegation which visited the kingdom on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a separate meeting with Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah for discussing the modalities of participating in the force which would monitor and enforce the UN-mandated arms embargo.

Read more at The Dawn

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Pakistan does not abandon friends: Says Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan has been caught in a situation where abandoning friends and strategic partners vis-a-vis participating in another war while its troops are already trying to rid the country of militants. 

The Pakistani stand on Yemen has however created some uneasiness in the Arab countries, which even resulted in a strong statement by a minister from UAE saying Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for not siding with Arabs and having a soft corner for Iran.

Scroll down for video of PM's statement

In order to clear the dust, Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif today urged a peaceful solution to the Yemen crisis through dialogue with warring factions and reiterated the importance of the Saudi Kingdom as a ‘strategic ally’.

It may be addeed that Pakistan's Parliament on Friday passed a resolution backing the government's commitment to protect Saudi Arabia's territory from Houthi rebels, but declined Riyadh's request for Pakistani troops, ships and warplanes inside Yemen.

Watch the video below:

Pakistan does not abandon friends and strategic... von dawn-news

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Anti Islam Film: Saudi Arabia joins world wide condemnation

Saudi Arabia condemned on Thursday a film Muslims consider blasphemous to Islam while denouncing the violent anti-American protests it sparked in some Middle East countries.

"Saudi Arabia has expressed... its condolences to the United States of America for the victims of violent actions in Libya that targeted the American consulate in Benghazi," state news agency SPA reported citing a senior official.

Arab outrage over the virulently Islamophobic film, "Innocence of Muslims", spread to Yemen earlier in the day when hundreds of angry protesters stormed the US embassy in Sanaa. 

Read more: France24

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Al-Qaida Bomber Was Double Agent

It has been reported by the U.S. media that a man sent by al-Qaida's branch in Yemen to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner was actually a double agent working for the United States, who infiltrated the terror network and volunteered to carry out the suicide attack.

Unidentified American and foreign intelligence officials provided details of the bomb plot. They told how the would-be bomber turned over his sophisticated explosive device to U.S. and Saudi officials, and also provided information that led to a successful airstrike against an al-Qaida leader in Yemen.

The New York Times said the details emerging Tuesday night amounted to “an extraordinary intelligence coup.” 

Read more: VOA

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Yemeni voters end President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule

Yemeni voters ended President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule in a historic ballot on Tuesday, pinning hopes on a new leader faced with the massive task of rebuilding an impoverished and war-ravaged country.

Yemni voters end President Saleh (L) 33 years rule and vote for the Vice President Hadi (R)

The only name on the ballot Tuesday was that of Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period as stipulated by a Gulf-brokered power-transition deal signed by Saleh in November.

Read details: The Gazette

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Yemen president's medical request puts U.S. in delicate position

[ via LA Times ] 27 Dec

The U.S. could help usher in a new regime in Yemen if it allows in President Ali Abdullah Saleh. But it could anger protesters who want to him to face justice.

A request by President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen to come to the U.S. for medical treatment puts the United States in a delicate position, and the White House has not yet made a formal decision about how to respond.

The administration is also mindful of history. In 1979,President Carter permitted the shah of Iran to enter the U.S. for medical attention. That decision was viewed as one of the causes of the Iranian street protests that led to the attack on the U.S. Embassy and the seizure of American hostages in Tehran.

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