Yemeni Minister of Works: Our Projects Include Areas Controlled by the Coup

In this Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a Yemeni vendor displays honey for sale in a shop in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP)
In this Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a Yemeni vendor displays honey for sale in a shop in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP)
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Yemeni Minister of Works: Our Projects Include Areas Controlled by the Coup

In this Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a Yemeni vendor displays honey for sale in a shop in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP)
In this Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 photo, a Yemeni vendor displays honey for sale in a shop in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP)

A minister in Yemen’s legitimate government said that infrastructure projects in Yemen would also cover areas controlled by the coup forces, in response to claims that reconstruction works were carried out exclusively in regions that are under government’s authority.

Yemeni Minister of Public Works, Dr. Moeen Abdul Malik, underlined on saturday the presence of projects in the areas under the control of the coup forces, such as an urbanization project, with emergency intervention and waste transportation. These projects were carried out in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Aden, according to the minister, noting that works included rehabilitation of roads and the provision of basic electricity services in hospitals.

“We offer projects related to environmental sanitation that deal with the conditions of the population because the coup militia treats citizens as hostages and does not care about environmental sanitation projects or budgets for operating hospitals,” he stated.

The Yemeni minister emphasized the importance of transport projects as “they reduce the delivery cost of basic materials such as water and other services, adding that his ministry was now in a better situation, due to the mobilization of revenues from oil derivatives.

“The rehabilitation of the roads started with the restoration of some 84 square kilometers. The road has been rehabilitated, including repairing some of the bridges,” he stated, explaining that the main line that has been reconstructed was witnessing continuous flow of traffic.

Last week, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen launched a new humanitarian operation that includes qualitative initiatives, which are not limited to financial support, but extend to the development of infrastructure to increase the capacity to receive aid by air, sea and land, quickly and effectively.



Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's opposition groups on their dissolution and integration under the defense ministry.  

Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria's northeast.  

The meeting between the opposition groups and Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defense", said a statement carried by the SANA news agency and the authorities' Telegram account.

The announcement comes just over two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

On Sunday Sharaa, long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had said the new authorities would "absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control".  

That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), he said.  

Last week, the military chief of HTS told AFP that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that "Syria will not be divided".  

Thirteen years of civil war in Syria has left more than half a million people dead and fragmented the country into zones of influence controlled by different armed groups backed by regional and international powers.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP the question of his group's integration into the national armed forces "should be discussed directly".  

He did not dismiss the possibility, saying that doing so would strengthen "the whole of Syria".  

Shami added that his forces prefer "dialogue with Damascus to resolve all questions".  

- 'Economic leverage' -  

Türkiye has long held ties with HTS, and analysts say that since the opposition took over Syria, both sides have sought to profit from the relationship.  

Ankara accuses the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the main component of the SDF -- of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.  

Earlier this month, a Syria specialist who advises Western diplomats in Türkiye said: "The Turks would like to push HTS into striking at the Kurds but HTS doesn't want to get involved."

Although Ankara's role in Assad's overthrow had been "overstated", Türkiye now has "real economic leverage" thanks to the 900-kilometer (560-mile) border it shares with Syria, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.  

How the situation develops will also depend on US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20 but has already proclaimed that "Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria".  

Since late November, the SDF has been battling Türkiye-backed fighters who launched an offensive on Kurdish-held areas at the same time as HTS's anti-Assad campaign.  

On Tuesday, the SDF said in a statement its fighters were waging deadly combat to the east of the key city of Manbij, with 16 deaths in its ranks.  

Syria's Kurds, long oppressed under Assad's rule, saw an opportunity during the war to carve out a semi-autonomous territory in the northeast.  

They proved an indispensable ally to the US-led coalition battling the ISIS group.  

Since Assad's ouster on December 8, they have issued numerous statements welcoming his downfall, and also put out calls for dialogue with the new leadership in Damascus and with Türkiye.  

In Syria's northeast, both the Kurdish flag and the three-star independence-era flag used by the new authorities can be seen.