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Houthi Sports Minister Assassinated in Sanaa

Flood water fills a canal following heavy rains in the Old City of Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 14, 2020. (AFP)
Flood water fills a canal following heavy rains in the Old City of Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 14, 2020. (AFP)
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Houthi Sports Minister Assassinated in Sanaa

Flood water fills a canal following heavy rains in the Old City of Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 14, 2020. (AFP)
Flood water fills a canal following heavy rains in the Old City of Yemen's capital Sanaa on April 14, 2020. (AFP)

Gunmen shot dead on Tuesday the Sports Minister in the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ illegitimate government.

Hassan Zaid died in hospital from his wounds after gunmen opened fire on his car in an area of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa that houses embassies, two sources close to his family told Reuters.

Zaid’s daughter was also in the car and was seriously injured.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital that the Houthis have controlled since 2014.

Zaid was wanted by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, which had announced a 10-million-dollar reward for anyone who would step forward with information about him.

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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.