Consultations Set for Jordan in 2nd Phase of Prisoner Swap between Yemen Govt., Houthishttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2627871/consultations-set-jordan-2nd-phase-prisoner-swap-between-yemen-govt-houthis
Consultations Set for Jordan in 2nd Phase of Prisoner Swap between Yemen Govt., Houthis
A Red Cross plane sits on the tarmac in Seiyun city to ferry home prisoners as part of sway between the government and Houthis in October. (AFP)
Yemeni official sources said representatives of the legitimate government and Iran-backed Houthi militias have received an invitation from the office of UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, to hold a new meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to complete discussions on the implementation of the second phase of the prisoner exchange agreement.
Undersecretary of Human Rights Ministry and a member of the team negotiating the prisoner swap, Majed Fadael accused the Houthis of seeking to avoid the implementation of the second phase of the Swiss agreement.
He added, however, that he was optimistic about the success of the meeting, which has been scheduled for Thursday.
“We agree to engage in a round of consultations to increase the number of prisoners, including the four included in the UN Security Council Resolution,” Fadael told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.
The four prisoners are Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of the Yemeni president, former Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Sabhihi, Military Commander Faisal Rajab and al-Islah Party member Mohammed Qahtan.
“We are ready for this round and are fully prepared to carry out an inclusive swap deal on condition that the Houthis are committed to what they signed,” he said.
Fadael added that he was optimistic that the Amman meeting would produce a win-win outcome for both sides.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Houthi committee for prisoner affairs, Abdulqadir Al-Murtada confirmed the militias received an official invitation from the UN to attend the Jordan consultations.
He claimed that the militias are ready to implement the second part of the Amman agreement on prisoners that calls for swapping 200 Houthi prisoners in exchange of 100 legitimate government prisoners, including the brother of president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. He neglected to mention the three other Yemeni officials.
Murtada’s comments prompted criticism from the government. Fadael posted a tweet reminding the militias of their previous commitment during the recent Switzerland consultations.
“We would like to remind you of what has been signed in Montreux, Switzerland, in the third paragraph, which stipulates your commitment to release all prisoners and detainees, including the four prisoners covered in the UN Security Council resolution. Enough lies.”
Last month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a prisoner exchange deal of 1,061 captives, considered the largest between the Yemeni legitimate government and Houthi militias since the coup in late 2014.
The exchange is the result of negotiations that took place over the last few months in Switzerland under UN sponsorship and based on the Stockholm Agreement, a deal signed between the Yemeni government and Houthis in 2018.
At Least 13 Tunisians Missing after Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisiahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5309785-least-13-tunisians-missing-after-migrant-boat-sinks-tunisia
At Least 13 Tunisians Missing after Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia
Migrants on a boat waiting for assistance from a rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, July 24, 2025 (Reuters)
At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a migrant boat sank off the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, and two people were rescued, the head of a migrant rights group said on Saturday.
The boat set off early on Thursday, Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters.
One of the two survivors told rescuers in a local boat they had been stranded at sea for hours after their vessel capsized. The second survivor was in critical condition, said Abdelkebir, whose group monitors migration issues.
Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, but departures have fallen sharply over the past two years amid a crackdown and tighter maritime controls, backed by European funding and modern border-monitoring equipment, particularly from Italy.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens of other human rights and humanitarian groups said in a statement last month that the EU-Tunisia migration deal had fueled and normalized serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia.
The groups called on the EU to suspend funding for migration and border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.
Tunisia has not commented on the statement but has repeatedly said it is bearing the brunt of a major migration influx. President Kais Saied said in 2023 that the influx was aimed at changing the country's demographic makeup.
The central Mediterranean route is one of the world's deadliest migration routes, used by migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to reach Europe, often in overcrowded or unseaworthy boats.
Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Armyhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5309783-salam-inspects-military-units-south-litani-no-capable-lebanese-state-without-one
Salam Inspects Military Units South of Litani: No Capable Lebanese State without One Strong Army
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam during his visit to South Lebanon on Friday. (NNA)
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tied the restoration of state authority in South Lebanon to a broader process extending beyond military deployment to strengthening institutions, restoring services and advancing reconstruction.
During a visit to the Benoit Barakat Barracks in Tyre, Salam stressed that “every position where the army deploys in the South is a place where the state regains its authority.”
“Restoring sovereignty requires building a capable state, and there can be no capable state without one strong army,” he added, arguing that sovereignty restored through security must also be consolidated economically and socially.
One authority
“We want the South, like all of Lebanon, to be under one authority, and Lebanese citizens there to feel safe because they have an army protecting them,” the PM declared, linking lasting stability to the state and its constitutional institutions regaining control over decisions of war and peace.
At the same time, he acknowledged the challenges confronting the military amid continuing Israeli attacks. “True sovereignty is neither taken nor given; it is built,” he emphasized.
Salam reaffirmed his government’s commitment to building a national state faithful to the constitution, describing efforts to strengthen the army as “a strategic choice at the heart of our project to restore the state,” rather than a secondary priority.
The government continues to mobilize Arab and international support to develop the army’s personnel capabilities, improve its equipment and enhance service members’ living conditions, he went on to say.
He described the military as one of the few institutions around which Lebanese citizens remain united.
Addressing troops, Salam urged them to shield the army from political and sectarian divisions.
“Preserve the unity of the army. Do not allow politics to divide you and accept only the constitution and the law as your guide,” he told them, warning against allowing “the evils of sectarianism” to infiltrate their ranks.
Lebanon could emerge from its current predicament only by having “one army, one flag and one state,” he maintained.
Salam also paid tribute to fallen service members, telling their families: “Your sons are not only martyrs of the military institution; they are martyrs of the entire nation.”
Beyond army deployment
“The return of the state to the South is not limited to the deployment of the army, but extends across all sectors, including education, reconstruction and everything else,” he added, reiterating the government’s commitment to providing the military with everything needed to carry out its mission successfully.
He pledged that the state would spare no effort to secure Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory, recover prisoners and advance reconstruction.
Defense Minister Michel Menassa similarly framed Salam’s visit as an affirmation of state sovereignty.
“Our visit to the South is not merely an inspection tour. We are here today to reaffirm our unwavering position seeking to restore state sovereignty,” he vowed.
He identified the government’s primary negotiating objective as “the complete withdrawal of the Israeli enemy from Lebanon.”
Menassa praised the army as a symbol of “dignity, sacrifice and loyalty” that brings Lebanese citizens together and safeguards national unity and civil peace.
He also commended its professionalism in carrying out missions despite difficult conditions and pressure.
SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi with his fighters wearing the military uniform of the Syrian army in February. (Social media)
Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Syria’s Hasakah province and spokesperson for the presidential team tasked with overseeing integration with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), welcomed SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s announcement on integration, describing it as an acknowledgment of the SDF’s dissolution.
He cautioned, however, that “there is a difference between announcing an integration decision and completing its implementation on the ground.”
Syrian Kurdish writer and political researcher Ali Tami told Asharq Al-Awsat that integration was “complex and intertwined and cannot be concluded with a statement.”
He also challenged Abdi’s assertion that fighters who had come to support the SDF had left the region, noting that thousands of foreign fighters and remnants of the former regime remained in Hasakah.
Al-Hilali and Abdi attended celebrations Thursday marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Qamishli. In a speech, Abdi announced the “completion of the military, security and administrative integration” of his forces into Syrian state institutions under the January 29 agreement.
Late Thursday, al-Hilali told Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya television that Abdi’s remarks were “an important and positive development,” viewing them as a clear transition from understandings to actual implementation of integration into state institutions.
He explained that the announcement would translate into practical measures, including unifying institutions and administrative authority and restoring the state’s full powers, ensuring unified decision-making and Syrian sovereignty.
Abdi's remarks were aimed at ending “dual structures and parallel entities” and establishing “one state, one army and unified institutions,” he added.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi meet in Damascus earlier in August. (SANA)
Implementation
Al-Hilali stressed that the issue could not be considered definitively resolved through statements alone.
“What was announced, together with earlier steps, such as removing partisan symbols and flags from institutions and public squares, confirms that the process is moving forward,” he noted.
While describing the announcement as a highly significant political step, he emphasized that it did not mean all stages of administrative, security and military implementation had been completed.
The objective now is to turn the decisions into a fully institutionalized reality in which Syrian state institutions become the sole authority, all institutions and bodies return to the state framework, and security, military and administrative decision-making is unified, he explained.
In separate remarks carried by Syria TV, al-Hilali said Abdi’s declaration that military and security integration had been completed as an acknowledgment of the SDF’s dissolution.
Integration declared complete
Abdi announced that the integration of military, service and administrative institutions into national state institutions had been completed and that “from now on, a new process begins.”
In areas formerly under the Kurdish Autonomous Administration, new institutions are being established in the name of the Syrian state while existing institutions will continue operating, he explained, urging residents to protect them.
Abdi also announced that forces from other “parts of Kurdistan” that had supported the SDF during Syria’s civil war had withdrawn under an agreement and at the SDF’s own request, an apparent reference to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
Tami remained skeptical, arguing that the SDF had not formally announced its dissolution and that integration was too complicated to be settled by statements alone.
He maintained that the PKK controls the SDF and regards it as one of its instruments in confronting Türkiye, making it unlikely that the group would surrender its weapons before the direction of the peace process in Türkiye becomes clearer.
“In principle, we all support sparing the region further bloodshed, and integration is possible, but unfortunately the chances of success are very slim,” Tami lamented.
He also dismissed Abdi’s assertion that Kurdish forces that previously assisted the SDF had left the region as “illogical,” pointing to thousands of foreign fighters and former regime remnants still in Hasakah.
With efforts underway to ease tensions, integration continues to face major difficulties and challenges, he remarked.
SDF fighters in Ain al-Arab. (Reuters file)
From Autonomous Administration to integration
The Autonomous Administration traces its origins to the Kurdish Supreme Committee, formed by Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council following the July 12, 2012, Erbil agreement. Its armed structures included the People’s Protection Units (YPG), Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and Asayish security forces, followed in 2015 by the Kurdish-dominated SDF.
The administration expanded between 2014 and 2023, accompanied by growth in its military, security and civilian institutions, which employ tens of thousands.
The SDF lost a significant portion of its territory during nearly two weeks of clashes with the Syrian army in late 2025 and early 2026, followed by the January 29 agreement.
The accord provides for a ceasefire and gradual integration of Kurdish-established military and civilian institutions into the Syrian state, the handover of border crossings and oil and gas fields, and the departure of foreign fighters.
In July, residents in Hasakah mobilized for several days to demand that the state extend its authority across the entire province, allow displaced people to return to their towns and villages, and end SDF dominance and its abuses against residents.
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