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Shabwah Governor: Unity of Ranks Behind Governorate’s Liberation

Shabwah Governor Awadh al-Awlaqi, Asharq Al-Awsat
Shabwah Governor Awadh al-Awlaqi, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Shabwah Governor: Unity of Ranks Behind Governorate’s Liberation

Shabwah Governor Awadh al-Awlaqi, Asharq Al-Awsat
Shabwah Governor Awadh al-Awlaqi, Asharq Al-Awsat

A few days after announcing the official liberation of the three districts of Yemen’s Shabwah governorate from the hold of Houthi militias, Governor Awadh al-Awlaqi pledged to bring about a development revolution in the newly freed county.

In an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Awlaqi confirmed that unifying ranks and raising Shabwah’s interests above the interests of political parties and organizations played a significant role in defeating the common enemy, the Iran-backed Houthis.

The governor stressed that aerial support from the Saudi-led Arab Coalition was “decisive” in freeing Bayhan district and achieving victories against coup militias in a short period. Al-Awlaqi also commended the prominent role of the Yemeni Army’s Giants Brigades and predicted military units making a push for liberating nearby governorates.

Freeing Bayhan:

Close follow up from the country’s political leadership and Arab Coalition active countries, especially the UAE, played an integral part in freeing all three regions of Bayhan, noted al-Awlaqi, adding that the Giants Brigades had a major role in regaining control of the district.

“Shabwah governorate has been completely cleansed of Houthi militias, and engineering teams are still working in full swing in the three liberated districts,” al-Awlaqi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Things are fine, and we hope to see a development revolution, and that the three districts will receive a generous gesture from the authorities and leadership,” he added.

The governor thanked Yemen’s political leadership represented by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Arab Coalition countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the Giants Brigades.

He wished injured soldiers from the Giants Brigades a quick recovery.

Responding to a question about the continuation of military operations beyond Shabwah, al-Awlaqi said: “It seems that some units will advance to other governorates, but for us, matters have been resolved in Shabwah.”

Keys to a Speedy Liberation:

Shabwah’s liberation from Houthi hold was achieved at a remarkable speed. For al-Awlaqi, this can be attributed to two key factors: the unification of ranks and military action conducted by the Arab Coalition from the air and the Giants Brigades on the ground.

“Unity shown by the political parties in Shabwah and prioritizing the interests of the governorate is important to maintaining the governorate’s stability and liberation,” said al-Awlaqi.

“We sat with all parties, and there was an understanding on the governorate’s best interest superseding all political trends,” he added, noting that such an agreement is the product of logic and sophistication upheld by Shabwah’s residents.

When describing the contribution of the Arab Coalition to freeing Shabwah, al-Awlaqi said: “Without the Saudi-led Coalition, things would not have been resolved so quickly.”

“The role of the Coalition’s aviation was effective and key. Had it not been for the aviation and the airstrikes, matters would not have been decided so quickly.”

On the ground, the Giants Brigades had the key role in freeing Shabwah.

“We thank and appreciate their efforts,” said al-Awlaqi, adding that he hoped the support would be extended to Shabwah’s development.

Al-Awlaqi stated that the process of normalizing the situation in the districts liberated from the Houthi group is taking place at a good pace with the follow-up of the local authorities and the assistance of the army forces.

“Local authorities in the liberated districts are following the process of normalizing the situation, and the presence of the army helps in this aspect,” he said.

The governor pointed out that some humanitarian assistance was delivered to the freed governorate by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center but added that more aid is needed in Shabwah.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.