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Saudi Envoy Says Civil Defense on Rescue Mission in Cyclone-ravaged Al Mahara

Saudi soldiers and aid workers distributing food aid, Asharq AL-Awsat
Saudi soldiers and aid workers distributing food aid, Asharq AL-Awsat
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Saudi Envoy Says Civil Defense on Rescue Mission in Cyclone-ravaged Al Mahara

Saudi soldiers and aid workers distributing food aid, Asharq AL-Awsat
Saudi soldiers and aid workers distributing food aid, Asharq AL-Awsat

Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber, who also heads the Isnad Center for Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations in Yemen, announced Saudi Civil Defense is heading to the Yemeni Al Mahara province for assistance and rescue missions.

Al Mahara sustained heavy damage in the aftermath of a category 1 tropical cyclone that hit a few days earlier.

Joint Arab Coalition forces will airlift trapped civilians and airdrop aid packages to Yemenis ravaged by cyclone Luban.

Isnad center and King Salman Humanitarian Aid And Relief Centre are currently running Saudi-sponsored efforts for the development and reconstruction of Yemen, rebuilding of infrastructure and reparation of power plants damaged by the tropical storm in Al Mahara.

“We have also briefed them on the initiatives launched by Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-led coalition to support the humanitarian situation in Yemen and explained to them the projects currently being implemented by the Saudi Reconstruction Program (SRPY) in several governorates, including Al-Jawf, Marib, Hadramout, Al-Mahrah, Socotra and Dhala, and the importance of supporting Yemen’s economy,” Al Jaber told a presser.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), at least 20 tons of food baskets were successfully delivered to areas besieged by flash floods.

KSRelief also delivered a land convoy carrying 125 tons in food baskets for those affected by the cyclone.

The center distributed 100 tents, 8 tons of food baskets, 1,500 blankets and 200 mats so far.

Social activists posted pictures of Saudi Joint Forces relief efforts in Al Mahrah who performed rescue missions and delivered food aid side by side with local relief workers.

Al Mahara Governor Rageh Bakrit thanked, on behalf of the local population, the Saudi efforts for rescuing and delivering food aid to devastated citizens.

Over 250 families were evacuated to shelters by helicopters, Bakrit stated.

He said that some areas of Al Mahra are in a communications blackout after the network was put out of service by the storm.

Bakrit had officially raised the alarm on Monday for Al Mahara, appealing to the government and the Arab Coalition to swiftly intervene.

The governor further said that at least 50 families were trapped on houses' roofs and that the local authorities are unable to save them.

Local authorities are exerting relentless efforts to alleviate the suffering of injured Yemenis, but remain impotent as they come face-to-face with their limited capacities.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.