Nawal Al-Maghafi: a Houthi Supporter and Collaborator with the Muslim Brotherhood
In the report published on April 3, 2024, the BBC made a professional error by claiming that the report’s preparer was a Yemeni investigative journalist covering the war for 8 years. However, testimonies from Nawal Al-Maghafi’s colleagues indicate that she is British of Yemeni origin, residing in the UK, and primarily working as a director. She exploited the war to promote her pro-Houthi and anti-Emirati and Saudi positions.
Furthermore, Al-Maghafi’s father was a Yemeni diplomat who lived abroad and studied in Tehran, making it not difficult for his daughter to be the only one, under the journalism banner, to enter Saada, the Houthi stronghold, during the war.
The second error was basing the BBC’s idea on the dubious testimony of Baraa Shibban, a well-known activist in the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, hiding behind a fictitious human rights organization.
“The Contradiction of Al-Sarari”
The BBC fell into the trap of including in its investigation the testimony of the Muslim Brotherhood activist Huda Al-Sarari, presenting her as a lawyer claiming that her son was killed in an assassination plot orchestrated by the UAE. However, the activist affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood stated in a previous tweet on Twitter (now deleted) on June 23, 2021, that “her son was killed in clashes.” The contradiction is sufficient evidence of her slander and falsification.
Fabrication of Mercenaries
The BBC report fell into the trap of relying on unknown elements, labeling them as mercenaries whose aim was to carry out assassinations of religious figures in Yemen, contradicting the guests’ statements that the target was “Brotherhood leaders.” Furthermore, the argument is fallacious… What benefit would the UAE gain from bringing foreigners to kill ordinary people in a country in total chaos, where it is easy to dispose of any of them in battles?
The Gilmore Story
The report claimed, in its introduction to the appearance of the former Navy officer Isaac Gilmore, that he was one of many American mercenaries involved in an assassination in Yemen. However, Gilmore clearly stated that his mission was to provide training missions to combat Al-Qaeda and ISIS elements in the country. It is certain that without the UAE, Aden and southern Yemen would have been entirely under the control of these organizations through facilitation by the Muslim Brotherhood and significant support from the Houthis.
Additionally, in a professional error, the report presented the first strikes of the Arab coalition as targeting civilians in 2016, when in reality, the first coalition strikes occurred in March 2015, targeting Houthi camps, just like the current American and British strikes.
The Song Meeting
The report presented the political leader in the form of an introduction, claiming he was the target of a car bomb assassination when he was “in a meeting with journalists to discuss Yemeni songs,” before his driver warned him and left the place half an hour before the explosion. However, the mentioned bombing took place in the Crater area in 2017 and did not target the politically weightless leader but was a car bomb targeting a military point of security forces allied with the UAE, more than 800 meters from the political leader’s house.
The BBC narrative does not hold up: is it conceivable that a professional Hollywood mercenary team would fail to assassinate an unarmed or unprotected Yemeni civilian? How did a driver of a politically insignificant politician know about the bombing before it happened? And what is the importance of a meeting on Yemeni songs amid a revolution and total war?
Port of Aden
The BBC made another mistake by claiming that the assassination of the leader of the popular resistance in Yemen, Ahmed Al-Idrisi, occurred after his refusal to hand over the port of Aden. However, the exact opposite happened, as Al-Idrisi officially handed over the port, and “witnesses attended the time of the handover.” Moreover, Al-Idrisi had received a clear threat from the named Helmi Al-Zanji, who controlled part of the port and was known to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Al-Idrisi was targeted just hours after signing the port handover agreement.
Fictitious List
The report fell into the trap of talking about a list of assassinations in Yemen, based on an unknown source, while the statements of its guests varied on the size and nature of the list.
The alleged list mentioned in the report appeared twice, once printed and once on Nawal Al-Maghafi’s computer, and was in Arabic despite an attempt to blur it, so how can a list in Arabic be presented to American mercenaries?
There are many similar lists to those mentioned in the report, most of which are universally recognized as lists of journalists and activists of the Muslim Brotherhood receiving payments for their work, not lists of targets for elimination. Furthermore, some names mentioned in a similar list have been circulating on social media since 2018 under the title “News of the arrest of a Yemeni spy cell in Jordan.”
Informational, professional, and methodological errors undermine the foundations of the BBC report, destroying it and its results, revealing its true objectives far removed from journalism.
