Yemen PM: Int’l Support for Yemen Includes Security, Defense Sectors

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
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Yemen PM: Int’l Support for Yemen Includes Security, Defense Sectors

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak during a previous meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen (Saba News Agency)

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said international support for Yemen will go beyond politics and economics to include security and defense, aiming to strengthen the government’s ability to secure the country and its waterways.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the kickoff of an international ministerial meeting in New York to mobilize support for the Yemeni government, Bin Mubarak said: “For the first time, Yemen will be an active partner, and the international community will listen to its voice in a way that reflects a clear shift in the partnership between the Yemeni government and its supporters.”
The Yemeni government’s new plan, set to be unveiled at the New York meeting, has received backing from the United Kingdom, represented by Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer.
The event is expected to feature the official launch of Britain’s Yemen-led support initiative, known as “TAFFY,” which brings together Yemeni, British, and international experts and technical advisers working directly in Yemen.
According to British sources, TAFFY will also support Yemen’s coast guard by providing new equipment, enhancing capabilities, and offering advanced training. Minister Falconer is also set to announce an increase in the UK’s humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Bin Mubarak said his government’s plan, to be presented in New York, aims to shift from limited aid to a sustainable economic strategy that supports vital sectors and boosts private-sector partnerships.
“This effort is coordinated with the international community, including the UK, and supported by the Arab Coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Bin Mubarak said, adding that it reflects backing for Yemeni state institutions under the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
He noted that the visit focuses on political and economic issues and comes after recent Red Sea attacks, stressing the need for international support to help Yemen through this critical phase.
Bin Mubarak said international support is shifting toward backing his government’s economic plan, approved by the Cabinet and the PLC.
The plan aims to move from limited aid to a sustainable economic strategy, support key sectors, and strengthen partnerships with the private sector.
The Yemeni premier added that the New York meetings and international commitments will also focus on security and defense to help the government secure Yemen and its waterways.



Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
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Palestinians Receptive to Lebanon’s Call to Limit Possession of Weapons in Refugee Camps

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee meets at the government headquarters. (Dialogue committee)

Lebanon has started to exert serious efforts to restrict the possession of weapons inside Palestinian refugee camps in the country in line with President Joseph Aoun’s inaugural speech.

The president had demanded that the possession of weapons in the country and the camps be limited to the state.

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee met at the government headquarters in Beirut three days ago to discuss the issue.

All Palestinian factions attended the meeting, and the gatherers agreed to “completely” resolve the Palestinian possession of arms outside the camps. They also agreed to outline how to restrict weapons inside the camps in line with the president’s speech.

The Lebanese state has yet to come up with the mechanism to confiscate the weapons inside the camps.

A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arms will be tackled through a political approach drawn up by the government. “It will be carried out by the army with the security agencies and in coordination with the Palestinian factions in the camp, led by the Fatah movement, which is the official representative of the Palestinian people,” it added.

The Palestinians have expressed their “complete understanding” of the issue, it remarked.

The laying down of weapons by Palestinian factions is a step towards all illegal weapons throughout the country being turned over to the Lebanese state, it went on to say.

“There are no longer any excuses for weapons to remain in possession of any organization,” stressed the source.

Lebanese groups will be demanded to lay down their arms after the Palestinian ones do, it added.

In a first, the Palestinian factions have been very receptive to a Lebanese head of state’s demand to cooperate in limiting the possession of weapons in the refugee camps.

Member of the Palestinian National and Central Councils Haitham Zaiter said that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) recognizes that the camps are part of Lebanese territories, so they come under the authority of the state and its laws.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “complete coordination” is ongoing between the Lebanese security agencies and PLO inside the camps where several wanted Lebanese and Palestinian suspects and others from other nationalities have been turned over to the authorities.

The suspects had sought refuge in the camps to avoid justice in the crimes they have committed, he acknowledged.

“The PLO is the sole representative of the Palestinian people inside Palestine and in the diaspora,” he stated.

Moreover, Zaiter explained that Palestinian weapons in Lebanon are either carried by the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) outside the camps or by non-partisan individuals inside the camps.

The PFLP-GC laid down its weapons as soon as the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed in December.

Heavy weapons inside the camps had been previously brought in with the aim to undermine the PLO, he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “has constantly called for coordination with Lebanese authorities to limit the possession of these weapons,” Zaiter said.