More Gulf troops move into Yemen as coalition increase its air attacks on Sana'a

Destroyed buildings in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. This was the result of earlier bombardments on 6 September 2015 (Photo via Twitter). 

Saudi-led warplanes pounded rebel positions in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent said, reporting powerful explosions across Sanaa. Witnesses said targets included the police academy and the headquarters of the security services, both in the heart of the capital which has been controlled by the Houthi rebels since September last year. Overnight strikes also hit the Sanaa residences of Houthi leaders, witnesses said.
The strikes followed reports that Gulf Arab members of the Saudi-led coalition had sent thousands of heavily armed reinforcements to Yemen after a Houthi missile attack killed 60 coalition soldiers on Friday. Forty-five soldiers from the United Arab Emirates' and five troops from Bahrain have been killed on Friday when a Houthi missile hit a weapons storage depot near their position in the province of Maarib, about 120km east of the capital Sanaa, the UAE state news agency WAM reported late on Friday. Lateron it was reported that also 10 Saudi troops were killed. Officials from the Houthi media office in Sanaa confirmed a Soviet-era Tochka missile was fired at the site.

Saudis and allies attack Houthis in Yemen

Saudi Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman coordinated the strikes from the Royal Saudi Air Force operations centre near Riyadh (Photo SPA]

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional allies have launched a military operation in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who deposed the US-backed Yemeni president last month.
Adel al-Jubair, Saudi ambassador to the US, said on Wednesday that a coalition consisting of 10 countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), had begun airstrikes at 7pm Eastern time.
"The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country," Jubair told reporters in Washington.
At least 17 civilians were killed in Sanaa during the overnight offensive, civil defence sources told AFP news agency.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel reported that 100 Saudi warplanes were involved in the attacks. 
An Egyptian official told AFP news agency that Egypt would participate in the Yemen offensive. Saudi Arabian newsagency SPA said that also Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, have "expressed a desire to participate in the operation" which has got the name "Firmness Storm".

S-Arabia designates the Muslim Brotherhood, Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS ''terrorist organizations''

Leaders of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherood in happier days. Second from left is the deposed president Morsi, third form left is the Guide (leader) of the Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie.  

Saudi Arabia has formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.The kingdom has also designated as terrorist the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), whose fighters are battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Interior Ministry said in a statement published by state media.
Friday's move appeared to enforce a royal decree last month in which Riyadh, which backs some rebel groups in Syria with money and arms, said it would jail for between three and 20 years any citizen found guilty of fighting in conflicts abroad.
The Saudi Interior Ministry also listed as terrorist Yemen's Shi'ite Houthi movement and Hezbollah, a radical Shi'ite group in Saudi Arabia's eastern province which authorities say is linked to Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah.

S-Arabia, UAE and Bahrain withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar

Update Thursday: Also Egypt will not return its ambassador to Qatar, a move that looks to further diplomatically isolate the Gulf state on the same day that three other Arab countries withdrew their Qatari ambassadors. Nasr Kamel, an aide to Egypt's foreign ministry, said that the ambassador – who has been in Egypt since early February – will not be returned for political reasons.
Kamel said the decision was in protest over Qatari intervention in the Egypt's internal affairs and for not handing over Egyptians wanted by prosecutors on criminal charges. He added that that Qatar has been broadcasting false information regarding developments in Egypt, a reference to the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera news channel. Egypt is currently prosecuting 20 journalists working for Al-Jazeera English, including four foreigners.(End of Update)
Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar on Wednesday in an unprecedented public split between Gulf Arab allies who have fallen out over the role of Islamists in a region in turmoil. 

Gulf countries upset about visit Ahmadinejad to disputed islands

The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to supporters during his trip to the island Abu Mussa in the Persian Gulf. (AFP) 

 The United Arab Emirates has summoned Iran's ambassador to Abu Dhabi to denounce a visit last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to one of three disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, the state news agency of the UAE said on Monday. Abu Dhabi earlier recalled its ambassador to Tehran. The Saudi cabinet, meeting in Riyadh on Monday, branded the trip a "violation of UAE sovereignty." Foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states are to hold a special meeting in the Qatari capital on Tuesday to discuss the dispute.

On his controversial visit to the island last week, Mr Ahmadinejad, spoke to residents and insisted that the Gulf should be called the Persian Gulf and waved an Iranian flag before a crowd of people, also with flags in hand.
The Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, told the semi-official ISNA news agency yesterday: "Our legal right to these islands is not open for negotiation, and our ownership of these islands is something certain and registered."After 1971, some issues were raised that have led to misunderstandings, and we have announced numerous times that we are ready to discuss these misunderstandings, but not in the media.
The UEA foreign minister sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan said that the UAE considers Ahmadinejad's visit a violation of the agreement between Iran and the UAE". He said that the UAE wants to find a solution to the conflict, but that Iran's behaviour "might bring serious complications and implications", he said. "We have to have a clear agenda, a deadline for these negotiations." If necessary the parties should seek international arbitration or go to the International Court of Justice, Sheikh Abdullah said. "But we cannot keep this matter going on for ever."
Iran invaded the strategically situated islands, Abu Mussa, the Greater and Lesser Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz as Britain withdrew its forces from the Gulf on the eve of the UAE’s founding in 1971. A small force of Ras Al Khaimah police resisted. Three of them were killed. In an agreement between the UAE and Iran reached later that year, Iran was permitted to station troops on Abu Musa but the UAE retained sovereignty. Abu Dhabi says the Iranians have since taken control of the entire island which controls access to the oil-rich Gulf and have built an airport and military base there.