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* Con Coughlin: Attention President Biden: Yemen's Houthi Rebels are Iranian-backed Terrorists
* Judith Bergman: Lukashenko Still Crushes Belarus


** Attention President Biden: Yemen's Houthi Rebels are Iranian-backed Terrorists ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • March 16, 2021 at 5:00 am
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* [T]he Houthis have also used the sophisticated weaponry they have received from Iran, such as drones and ballistic missiles, to broaden the conflict into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which is leading the coalition military campaign to re-establish Yemen's democratically-elected government.
* [US sanctions were] promptly denounced by humanitarian and aid agencies, which claimed that designating the Houthis as terrorists would impede the global effort to help Yemen's starving population, an argument that appears perverse as the Houthis control most of the key aid supply routes, and regularly steal aid supplies to sell on the black market and fund their terrorist operations.
* So far this month the Houthis have launched more than 20 drone and missile attacks against predominantly civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. In the most high profile attack, the Houthis used an explosive-laden drone and a ballistic missile against the Saudi petroleum plant at Ras Tanura, prompting global oil prices to rise above $70 a barrel earlier this week, its highest in more than a year.
* Mr Biden has indicated he is keen to revive the controversial nuclear deal with Iran and, by easing the pressure on the Houthis, whose success on the battlefield is entirely due to the weapons and support they receive from Tehran, the White House was hoping to send a message to Iran that it was serious about having a constructive dialogue with Tehran. Instead, in the weeks since Mr Biden lifted the FTO, the region has seen a significant increase in Houthi activity.
* [B]y helping to facilitate these attacks by providing the Houthis with sophisticated weapons, Tehran is showing that, far from seeking improved relations with the new US administration, it remains committed to pursuing an uncompromising policy of aggression throughout the Middle East, one that is unlikely to result in the resumption of talks on the problematic issue of Iran's nuclear programme anytime soon.

So far this month the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched more than 20 drone and missile attacks against predominantly civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. Pictured: Supporters of the Houthis protest against the US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation, on January 20, 2021, in Sanaa, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)

US President Joe Biden has good reason to regret his hasty decision to remove the terrorist designation applied to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen after they responded to his act of benevolence by unleashing a fresh wave of attacks in the Middle East.

The Houthis and their Iranian backers are primarily responsible for starting Yemen's long and bitter civil war after they overthrew the democratically-elected government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in 2014.

Apart from helping to create what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster, the Houthis have also used the sophisticated weaponry they have received from Iran, such as drones and ballistic missiles, to broaden the conflict into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which is leading the coalition military campaign to re-establish Yemen's democratically-elected government.

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** Lukashenko Still Crushes Belarus ([link removed])
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by Judith Bergman • March 16, 2021 at 4:00 am
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* Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since he came into power in 1994, has cracked down violently on the still-ongoing protests in which police have detained more than 33,000 people.
* Belarus "is not a member of the Council of Europe – it still has the death penalty which is an automatic bar to its membership. This means that it is not subject to... requirements... to bring its prison system in line with the norms outlined in the European Prison Rules.... All prisoners are vulnerable to their treatment in custody being manipulated at the behest of investigators to exact confessions and witness statements from them. The lack of transparency of the Belarus prison service is almost absolute." — Judith Pallot, Director of the GULAGECHOES project at the University of Helsinki, Open Democracy, November 20, 2020.
* The US has "designated" several individuals and entities in Belarus for their role in undermining democracy and human rights abuses. The EU has also imposed several rounds of sanctions against high-level officials.... It is up for debate, however, whether sanctions have any effect on the leadership of Belarus, especially because Belarus largely relies on Russia, not the West.... "The individuals on the list don't care about being on it. On the contrary, they consider it a medal of honor." — Artyom Shraibman, a political analyst based in Minsk, politico.eu, September 19, 2020.
* "I will not suddenly give up the presidency. I have nothing other than Belarus. I cling to it and I hold on to it". — Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, France 24, February 11, 2021.

Belarus is currently seeing daily criminal trials against journalists, human rights defenders and protesters. On February 18, two journalists, Ekaterina Andreyeva and Daria Chultsova (pictured), who work for Belsat, a Poland-based TV station, were each sentenced to two years in a penal colony for doing their job. (Photo by Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

It has been six months since protests began in Belarus against the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko and the unfree elections that took place there on August 9, 2020. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since he came into power in 1994, has cracked down violently on the still ongoing protests, in which police have detained more than 33,000 people.

On November 5, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a report, OSCE Rapporteur's Report under the Moscow Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020, which concluded that the presidential elections "fell short of fulfilling the basic international requirements for genuine elections. Accordingly, the allegations that the presidential elections were not transparent, free or fair were found confirmed."

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