Yemeni Regime Massacring Protestors with Saudi Supplied Israel-Made Weapons

Navideshahed: A senior military expert revealed on Monday that remnants of the former Yemeni regime are using hi-tech Israel weapons to kill protestors in the country, adding that the highly destructive weapons are purchased and supplied to the Yemeni military by the Saudi regime.

News ID: ۳۱۶۲۰۵

سه‌شنبه - ۲۰ آذر ۲۰۱۱ / 2011 20 September

"The form and shape of injuries (in the bodies of the martyred protestors) indicate that the weapons used in the suppression of the revolutionary Yemeni demonstrators are Israeli made and use two-staged bullets which have been recently purchased by the Saudi regime and delivered to Yemen's Presidential Guard," Retired Colonel Abdolfattah bin Jobayr, an ammo expert, told FNA on Monday.

Elaborating on the functioning of the weapon, he said that these hi-tech weapons use two-staged gas bullets which explode inside the target after piercing it, and thus make a deep cut in the body.

Different world countries have condemned the Yemeni security forces brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Yemeni people poured to the streets of the country on Sunday to stage rallies against the remnants of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime, asking them to leave power.

Yemeni government forces opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and automatic weapons on protesters in the capital Sana'a, killing at least tens of people.

Saleh remains in Saudi Arabia, where he fled to for medical treatment following a rocket attack on the Yemeni presidential palace in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on June 3.

The Yemeni opposition says Washington and Riyadh are responsible for the current stalemate in the country, stressing that the US and Saudi Arabia have blocked the path of the Yemeni revolutionary forces to victory.

"Saudi Arabia and the US are the main reason why the Yemeni revolution has prolonged and been unable to yield its results yet," Ali al-Saqqaf, a senior member of Shabab al-Sammoud, a coalition of young revolutionary groups, told FNA.

"Saudi Arabia is totally against the victory and triumph of the Arab revolutions unless these revolutions serve the interests of Riyadh and its American and western masters. That is why they are providing a safe haven for ousted dictators and leaders," Saqqaf added.

"Riyadh seeks its survival in a troubled and destroyed Yemen," he stated, and stressed that Yemen's revolution will continue its peaceful move towards final victory.

Saudi Arabia has played a major role in the crackdown on popular protests in the Persian Gulf Arab states of Bahrain and Yemen.

In Bahrain, Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states were dispatched to the tiny kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain, home to a huge American military installation for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.

The Saudi forces deployed in Bahrain clashed with a peaceful congregation of the mourning people who had gathered for the funeral of a young man killed by the al-Khalifa security forces last Wednesday and fired tear gas and robber bullets into the large crowd in Sitra village.

"The (Saudi and Bahraini) security forces used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the people," a senior member of Al-Wefaq, Bahrain's largest Shiite opposition group, Matar Matar said on Saturday.

He said that tens of thousands of Bahrainis were at the funeral of Jawad Marhoun, a 36-year-old who died late Wednesday from what was "excessive exposure to tear gas from a canister tossed into his parents' home on September 10."

The Saudi forces after witnessing the large crowd of people entered the scene and blocked Sitra village's bridge to prevent the funeral procession and popular protests.

Western governments - specially the US, Britain, France and Germany - have for decades helped the Saudis to improve their arsenals.

Diplomatic and military experts announced last month that the German government had decided to equip Saudi Arabia with armored tanks to help Riyadh in repressing local and regional popular uprisings.

German media outlets said Berlin's decision to deliver 200 state-of-the-art Leopard 2 armored tanks to the Saudi monarchy - a deal estimated at 1.8 billion euros - has triggered a wave of criticism by opposition leaders, commentators, the church and human rights groups.

Despite this criticism, the German government defended the delivery of the tanks to Saudi Arabia, saying that the Saudi monarchy, albeit a despotic regime, is "a pillar of stability" in the Middle East.

The German government also cited lack of US or Israeli opposition, as justification for the deal with Saudi Arabia.

Avi Primor, former Israeli ambassador to Berlin, and current president of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Association, said "Saudi Arabia uses various types of military equipment to combat domestic popular uprisings."

In their recent intervention in Bahrain to help repress the popular protests against the al-Khalifa family regime, the Saudis used light AMX armored tanks and not the heavier M1A2 Abrams tanks, of US manufacture, Primor explained.

The Leopard 2 tanks are addressed to Iran specifically, Primor said.

Primor added, "Israel has an urgent interest to strengthen the Saudi military capabilities, as a fortification against the Iranian danger, and as a stable power in the now unsecure Arab world."

However, Primor said that the critique of human rights groups against the delivery of military equipment to Saudi Arabia is "understandable". "The Saudi regime is quite archaic," he said.

Despite such arguments, criticism of the tank exports is not going to end soon. Reinhold Robbe, until last year parliamentary commissioner for the German army, said that Saudi Arabia "is surely not a country that can stand up to the western standards of democracy and human rights."

Such standards should be the guideline of German foreign policy, including military aid, Robbe said.

The Catholic Church also criticized the deal. "Germany should not deliver weapons in regions in military crisis, or to regimes that violate human rights," said Bishop Stephan Ackerman, head of the church commission 'Justitia et Pax'.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the Saudi human rights record "dismal", and emphasized that the regime is one of very few countries in the Arab region whose government has offered no human rights reforms in the wake of the popular uprisings spreading through neighboring countries since the beginning of the year.

"The sight of Saudi tanks rolling into Bahrain signaled the start of Bahrain's crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protesters there," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Saudi Arabia researcher at HRW. "Saudi reformers may well interpret selling tanks to Saudi Arabia at this time as German support for repressive regimes."

But the German government is turning a deaf ear to such criticism. Instead, it has been offering military equipment to other regimes with similar human rights records, like Angola.

Meantime, sources had earlier revealed that Britain had also been training Saudi forces for suppressing the Bahraini people.

The British government admitted in May that the Saudi troops sent to Bahrain to crush the popular uprisings in the tiny Persian Gulf island have had British military training.

The End
Source: Fars News Agency

"The form and shape of injuries (in the bodies of the martyred protestors) indicate that the weapons used in the suppression of the revolutionary Yemeni demonstrators are Israeli made and use two-staged bullets which have been recently purchased by the Saudi regime and delivered to Yemen's Presidential Guard," Retired Colonel Abdolfattah bin Jobayr, an ammo expert, told FNA on Monday. Elaborating on the functioning of the weapon, he said that these hi-tech weapons use two-staged gas bullets which explode inside the target after piercing it, and thus make a deep cut in the body. Different world countries have condemned the Yemeni security forces brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters. Yemeni people poured to the streets of the country on Sunday to stage rallies against the remnants of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime, asking them to leave power. Yemeni government forces opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and automatic weapons on protesters in the capital Sana'a, killing at least tens of people. Saleh remains in Saudi Arabia, where he fled to for medical treatment following a rocket attack on the Yemeni presidential palace in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on June 3. The Yemeni opposition says Washington and Riyadh are responsible for the current stalemate in the country, stressing that the US and Saudi Arabia have blocked the path of the Yemeni revolutionary forces to victory. "Saudi Arabia and the US are the main reason why the Yemeni revolution has prolonged and been unable to yield its results yet," Ali al-Saqqaf, a senior member of Shabab al-Sammoud, a coalition of young revolutionary groups, told FNA. "Saudi Arabia is totally against the victory and triumph of the Arab revolutions unless these revolutions serve the interests of Riyadh and its American and western masters. That is why they are providing a safe haven for ousted dictators and leaders," Saqqaf added. "Riyadh seeks its survival in a troubled and destroyed Yemen," he stated, and stressed that Yemen's revolution will continue its peaceful move towards final victory. Saudi Arabia has played a major role in the crackdown on popular protests in the Persian Gulf Arab states of Bahrain and Yemen. In Bahrain, Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states were dispatched to the tiny kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain, home to a huge American military installation for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf. The Saudi forces deployed in Bahrain clashed with a peaceful congregation of the mourning people who had gathered for the funeral of a young man killed by the al-Khalifa security forces last Wednesday and fired tear gas and robber bullets into the large crowd in Sitra village. "The (Saudi and Bahraini) security forces used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the people," a senior member of Al-Wefaq, Bahrain's largest Shiite opposition group, Matar Matar said on Saturday. He said that tens of thousands of Bahrainis were at the funeral of Jawad Marhoun, a 36-year-old who died late Wednesday from what was "excessive exposure to tear gas from a canister tossed into his parents' home on September 10." The Saudi forces after witnessing the large crowd of people entered the scene and blocked Sitra village's bridge to prevent the funeral procession and popular protests. Western governments - specially the US, Britain, France and Germany - have for decades helped the Saudis to improve their arsenals. Diplomatic and military experts announced last month that the German government had decided to equip Saudi Arabia with armored tanks to help Riyadh in repressing local and regional popular uprisings. German media outlets said Berlin's decision to deliver 200 state-of-the-art Leopard 2 armored tanks to the Saudi monarchy - a deal estimated at 1.8 billion euros - has triggered a wave of criticism by opposition leaders, commentators, the church and human rights groups. Despite this criticism, the German government defended the delivery of the tanks to Saudi Arabia, saying that the Saudi monarchy, albeit a despotic regime, is "a pillar of stability" in the Middle East. The German government also cited lack of US or Israeli opposition, as justification for the deal with Saudi Arabia. Avi Primor, former Israeli ambassador to Berlin, and current president of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Association, said "Saudi Arabia uses various types of military equipment to combat domestic popular uprisings." In their recent intervention in Bahrain to help repress the popular protests against the al-Khalifa family regime, the Saudis used light AMX armored tanks and not the heavier M1A2 Abrams tanks, of US manufacture, Primor explained. The Leopard 2 tanks are addressed to Iran specifically, Primor said. Primor added, "Israel has an urgent interest to strengthen the Saudi military capabilities, as a fortification against the Iranian danger, and as a stable power in the now unsecure Arab world." However, Primor said that the critique of human rights groups against the delivery of military equipment to Saudi Arabia is "understandable". "The Saudi regime is quite archaic," he said. Despite such arguments, criticism of the tank exports is not going to end soon. Reinhold Robbe, until last year parliamentary commissioner for the German army, said that Saudi Arabia "is surely not a country that can stand up to the western standards of democracy and human rights." Such standards should be the guideline of German foreign policy, including military aid, Robbe said. The Catholic Church also criticized the deal. "Germany should not deliver weapons in regions in military crisis, or to regimes that violate human rights," said Bishop Stephan Ackerman, head of the church commission 'Justitia et Pax'. Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the Saudi human rights record "dismal", and emphasized that the regime is one of very few countries in the Arab region whose government has offered no human rights reforms in the wake of the popular uprisings spreading through neighboring countries since the beginning of the year. "The sight of Saudi tanks rolling into Bahrain signaled the start of Bahrain's crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protesters there," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Saudi Arabia researcher at HRW. "Saudi reformers may well interpret selling tanks to Saudi Arabia at this time as German support for repressive regimes." But the German government is turning a deaf ear to such criticism. Instead, it has been offering military equipment to other regimes with similar human rights records, like Angola. Meantime, sources had earlier revealed that Britain had also been training Saudi forces for suppressing the Bahraini people. The British government admitted in May that the Saudi troops sent to Bahrain to crush the popular uprisings in the tiny Persian Gulf island have had British military training. The End Source: Fars News Agency