Legitimacy Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Isnad Aids in Restoring Ports

Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Legitimacy Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Isnad Aids in Restoring Ports

Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yemeni government's top priority is to restore basic services and stabilize security in all Yemeni provinces, according to a senior Yemeni government official.

"The main services are to ensure the stability of electricity, especially as the country is coming to a hot summer season, and some areas of the country are suffering from shortages of basic necessities," Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq al-Awsat.

The spokesman stressed the importance of the Isnad Center for comprehensive humanitarian operation throughout Yemen and King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). He stated that a Yemeni Higher Committee was formed to implement the grant program which enables the government overcome power cuts in all Yemeni provinces.

Badi stressed that the government's priority is to resolve the situation of workers in Aden and the rest of the Yemeni provinces, indicating that the return of the Yemeni government to Aden is a “message to the inside and outside that Yemenis only accept the legitimacy of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and that the society will not be associated with any armed rebellion within Yemeni territories.”

Badi stated that Isnad center and KSRelief are both working to increase productivity in all Yemeni ports urgently and quickly, noting that this is done in four ports Mukalla, al-Sheih, Aden and al-Mocha, by reconstructing their docks to increase the reception of relief aid.

On recent military developments carried out by the Yemeni National Army, backed by the Coalition, the spokesman said that the field visits of Arab coalition commanders was a clear message to those who doubt that Midi on the west coast was completely liberated, lauding the progress of the forces in Saada governorate. For the first time, Yemeni forces reached Marran heights, hometown of Houthi militia leader.

He also discussed the reconstruction on the main roads in Yemeni governorates, done under the support of Isnad center. He stated that the operations are done as well in areas reaching governorates under Houthi militias control in order to ensure the speedy access of aid to all Yemenis, including citizens in areas under Houthis control.

Badi concluded by revealing that some relief aid is confiscated in Houthi areas and charges are imposed on them which led to raising their prices in the black market.



Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday Lebanon will cooperate with an Interpol request to arrest former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, accused by US authorities of war crimes under the toppled Assad government.

Last week, Lebanon received an official notice from Interpol urging judicial and security authorities to detain Hassan, whose whereabouts remain unclear, if he is found on Lebanese soil, three Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

"We are committed to cooperating with the Interpol letter regarding the arrest of the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, as we continue to cooperate on all matters related to the international system," Mikati told Reuters.

The directive also called for Hassan's arrest if he enters Lebanon, with the ultimate aim of extraditing him to the United States, the sources said.

On Dec. 9, a US indictment unsealed charges against Hassan, 72, with war crimes, including the torture of detainees, some of them US citizens, during the Syrian civil war.

Hassan is also one of three senior Syrian officials who were found guilty by a French court in May of war crimes over their involvement in the disappearance and subsequent death of a French-Syrian father and his son.

According to Lebanese judicial sources, the Interpol arrest warrant accuses Hassan of involvement in "crimes of murder, torture, and genocide."

Hassan is also allegedly responsible for overseeing the deployment of thousands of barrel bombs against the Syrian population, leading to the deaths of countless civilians, the sources said.

The Interpol request was circulated among Lebanon’s General Security and border control authorities.

Up to 30 lower-ranking former intelligence and Fourth Division army officers under the Assad administration are now in police custody in Lebanon following their arrest by Lebanese authorities, two security sources told Reuters.