Yemen’s Hadi Appoints New Head of Shura Council, Attorney General, Cabinet Secretary

President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi chairs a meeting with cabinet ministers, Saba News Agency
President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi chairs a meeting with cabinet ministers, Saba News Agency
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Yemen’s Hadi Appoints New Head of Shura Council, Attorney General, Cabinet Secretary

President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi chairs a meeting with cabinet ministers, Saba News Agency
President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi chairs a meeting with cabinet ministers, Saba News Agency

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen announced its rejection of “unilateral” decisions issued recently by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, saying that they undermine the Riyadh Agreement.

A presidential decree released on Friday had appointed a new attorney general and Shura Council head.

Former prime minister Ahmed Ubaid bin Dagher was appointed as the head of the Shura Council and Ahmed Al-Mosai as attorney general.

Each of Abdullah Muhammad Abu Al-Ghaith and Taha Abdullah Jaafar Aman were appointed as deputy heads of the Shura Council.

The appointments came around a month after a new government was formed under the Riyadh Agreement.

Under Saudi sponsorship, the agreement was signed by the former government and the STC.

Hadi’s decision to have a change of leadership at the Shura Council comes as an apparent effort to rebuild Yemeni institutions whose performance was disrupted by the war waged by Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Al-Mosai, the new attorney general, held the post of deputy minister of interior and has worked on sensitive issues such as the war on terror and assassinations.

It is worth noting that Muti' Ahmad Dammaj was assigned the post of Secretary-General to the premiership.

“These decisions (appointments) are a dangerous escalation and a clear and unacceptable departure from what has been agreed upon, and undermining the Riyadh agreement,” the STC spokesman, Ali Al Kathiri, said today, on Twitter.

More so, the Club of Southern Judges criticized Friday's decrees.

The club said the appointment of the new attorney general violated the Yemeni constitution and judicial authority law.

There should have been a proposal by the president of the supreme judicial council for the appointment of the attorney general as the judicial authority law and its procedural amendments state, the club said.

Al-Mosai did not come from the judicial authority but from the ministry of interior, it stressed.



EU Announces 235 Mn Euro Aid Package for Syria, Neighboring Countries

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib in Damascus, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib in Damascus, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
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EU Announces 235 Mn Euro Aid Package for Syria, Neighboring Countries

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib in Damascus, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib in Damascus, on January 17, 2025. (Photo by SANA / AFP)

EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib announced a 235-million-euro aid package for Syria and neighboring countries on Friday during the first visit by a senior EU official since Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

The trip comes two weeks after foreign ministers from France and Germany visited, calling for a peaceful, inclusive transition, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by countries seeking to engage with war-torn Syria's new authorities.

"I come here to announce a new package of humanitarian aid of 235 million euros ($242 million) in Syria and in neighbouring countries," Lahbib told a press conference in Damascus after meeting Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

"Our funding will contribute to basic needs like shelter, food, clean water, sanitation, health care, education and emergencies among others," she said.

Neighboring countries have taken in millions of Syrian refugees over the years.

"We count on the authorities to ensure unrestricted and safe access for humanitarian actors to all regions of Syria including those in hard-to-reach and conflict-affected areas" in the east, Lahbib added.

"We are at a turning point and the decisions that will be taken in the coming days and months will be crucial," Lahbib said.

According to AFP, her meetings were expected to focus on the future of the sweeping economic sanctions that the 27-nation bloc imposed on Syria during Assad's rule.

The transitional government has been lobbying to have the sanctions lifted, but some European governments have been hesitant, wanting time to see how the new authorities exercise their power.

"We want to see a bright future for Syria and for that, we need to see the rule of law being respected, human rights, women's rights," Lahbib said.

"What I've heard from the mouth of the current authorities (is) really encouraging... Now we need action.

"Let's help Syria but without being naive," she said.