Houthis Shun Ceasefire by Escalating in Jawf, Bayda, Maarib

Photo: Mohammed Huwais, AFP
Photo: Mohammed Huwais, AFP
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Houthis Shun Ceasefire by Escalating in Jawf, Bayda, Maarib

Photo: Mohammed Huwais, AFP
Photo: Mohammed Huwais, AFP

Houthi militias have eluded abiding by a one-month ceasefire announced earlier this month by the legitimate government in Yemen by escalating their military attacks in Al Jawf, Bayda, and Maarib provinces.

The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council Mahdi Al-Mashat ordered Friday the deployment of additional fighters at the Yemeni fronts and called on merchants to pay more zakat.

Early in April, the Riyadh-led military coalition fighting Houthi rebels has declared a two-week ceasefire in the country in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

On Friday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on his Twitter account that the announcement by Saudi Arabia of a month-long extension to its unilateral ceasefire in Yemen helps create the conditions for a negotiated, political solution to this conflict. The Yemeni parties need to work with Yemen’s envoy Martin Griffiths to grasp this opportunity.

Meanwhile, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that some mosque preachers, loyal to the militias, were calling on worshipers to send their sons to Houthi military camps and to donate money for the military efforts.

“The insurgent militia asked its leaderships in the provinces surrounding Sanaa to prepare 2,000 recruits for later sending them to the fighting fronts in Maarib and Al Jouf,” the source said.

Observers believe that the pro-Iranian militia would not deescalate its fighting or even accept the new ceasefire.

On Friday, spokesman for the coalition forces, Colonel Turki al-Maliki affirmed that the coalition leadership decided to extend the ceasefire for a month starting from April 23, 2020, based on its previous declaration of a two-week ceasefire and at the request of Griffiths to establish to allow the warring parties to make progress in negotiations on a permanent armistice.

The Saudi Press Agency SPA quoted Maliki as saying that the decision came to allow the parties to the conflict to agree on the most important economic and humanitarian measures to resume the political process.

Houthis did not comment on the Coalition’s extension of the ceasefire.

Instead, the militia claimed on Friday that its fighters had fully seized the al-Labinat military camp from the Yemeni official army in the northern governorate of al-Jawf.



‘Oil-for-Salaries’ Deal Ends Dispute Between Baghdad and Erbil

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
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‘Oil-for-Salaries’ Deal Ends Dispute Between Baghdad and Erbil

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the need to put an end to attacks on the region, particularly targeting oil fields (Reuters)

The Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reached a landmark agreement on Thursday that ends a years-long dispute over oil revenues and public sector salaries.

The deal, announced following an emergency cabinet meeting in Baghdad, covers oil production handover, non-oil revenue sharing, and the resumption of salary payments to KRG employees beginning with May 2025.

According to a government statement, the agreement was based on a recommendation by a ministerial committee and aligned with Kurdistan’s regional cabinet decision No. 285, issued on July 16.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani confirmed the breakthrough, stating that the federal government had approved a “mutual understanding regarding salaries and the region’s financial entitlements.”

Under the terms of the deal, the KRG will hand over all crude oil production - currently 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) - to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), with the exception of 50,000 bpd reserved for domestic consumption. This marks the first such commitment in more than two years, during which oil exports were suspended amid ongoing disputes and recent drone strikes targeting northern oilfields operated mostly by US firms.

In return, the federal Ministry of Finance will pay $16 per barrel, in cash or in kind, to cover production costs. Revenues from locally consumed oil derivatives will go to the federal treasury after deducting production and transport expenses.

On non-oil revenues, the KRG will transfer an initial 120 billion Iraqi dinars (approx. $92 million) to the federal finance ministry, representing an estimate of Baghdad’s share for May. A joint audit team from both governments will verify and finalize the figures within two weeks.

To resolve long-standing disputes over public salaries, a new joint committee will oversee the localization of KRG employee payrolls, in line with a ruling from the Federal Supreme Court. The committee is expected to complete its work within three months.

As part of the agreement’s first phase, the federal government will begin disbursing May salaries following confirmation from SOMO that the agreed oil volumes have been received.