Presidential Leadership Council: Houthis Don't Care About Yemenis' Sufferings

The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
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Presidential Leadership Council: Houthis Don't Care About Yemenis' Sufferings

The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)
The meeting of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (Saba)

The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council held meetings in Aden to launch a new phase where services, the economy, and security are a priority.

The meetings are held in the presence of the cabinet and initiated in parallel with the political track led by the Council, the UN, and the international community aiming to end the Houthi coup.

The Yemeni state, with its various legislative and executive institutions, returned to the country on April 20, 2022, which boosted the national and foreign policies and set the legitimacy on a more robust path.

The state-owned Yemeni News Agency (Saba) reported that Rashad al-Alimi chaired Friday’s meeting to discuss the national developments and challenges.

The agency quoted Alimi confirming that the current stage requires joint official and popular efforts to build the state and face all challenges, namely the economic issues, which he believes will "reflect on the citizen's lives."

Alimi stressed the necessity of achieving the priorities announced before the parliament, especially regarding the living and economic situation.

He asserted that the temporary capital of Aden is one of the top priorities and requires more vital efforts to achieve development and stability.

The meeting discussed military and security challenges, asserting the Presidential Council's commitment to the humanitarian ceasefire despite the Houthis' continuous violations, which the Council said "asserts the militias' unwillingness to achieve peace."

The Council renewed its call for peace as the only option to end the bloodshed, stating that the Houthis "never care about the suffering of our Yemeni people."

Meanwhile, the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission of the Presidential Leadership Council held on Saturday its first meeting in Aden, headed by Mohammad al-Ghaithi.

According to official sources, the meeting was attended by the Vice-President of the Commission, Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi, Jamila Ali Raja, and Judge Akram al-Amri.

The meeting discussed the priorities of the next phase, in line with the objectives to support the Presidential Leadership Council and create the appropriate conditions for boosting the partnership between various forces and political components.



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.