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Yemen’s Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 4 Portfolios

President of Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen Rashad al-Alimi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
President of Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen Rashad al-Alimi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Yemen’s Cabinet Reshuffle Includes 4 Portfolios

President of Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen Rashad al-Alimi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
President of Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen Rashad al-Alimi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Head of the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen, Rashad al-Alimi, replaced four ministers in the internationally recognized cabinet, including defense and energy ministers.

Alimi appointed Lieutenant-General Mohsen al-Daeri as defense minister and Said al-Shamasi as energy minister. He also named new ministers for the power and public works portfolios.

Manea Saleh was named minister of power, and Salim Mohammed was named minister of public works.

The official Saba news agency stated that the dismissed Minister of Defense, Lieutenant-General Mohammad al-Maqdashi, was appointed the chairman’s advisor for defense and security affairs.

This is the first cabinet reshuffle in the government chaired by Maeen Abdulmalik, and the defense minister, who has been in office for years, is being replaced for the first time.

The decision comes about 100 days after the formation of the Yemeni Presidential Council, which received broad international support. It also comes amid optimistic Yemeni expectations regarding the extension of the UN armistice, which expires on August 02.

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Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
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Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's media adviser Luna al-Shibl died on Friday three days after being injured in a car crash, Assad's office announced.

"The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic mourns the death of the adviser Luna al-Shibl, who passed away today after a serious car accident", it said in a statement.

"She served in recent years as a director of the political and media office of the presidency and then as a special adviser to the presidency," it added.

State media reported on Tuesday that she had suffered a "cerebral hemorrhage" which required emergency surgery after her car "veered off the road".

The 48-year-old rose to prominence for quitting a prestigious journalism career at Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera to become Assad's media adviser at a time when Damascus was cracking down on peaceful protesters in 2011, triggering Syria's ongoing civil war.

But her role expanded well beyond communications, carving out a place within Assad's inner circle as she accompanied him to high-level meetings in Syria and on his rare visits abroad.

She played an important role during the most intense years of the war and was part of the delegation to ultimately doomed peace talks in 2014.

Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported earlier this week that she had fallen out of official favor in recent months and her brother had been arrested.

"There was growing dissatisfaction with her within the regime," said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

"Accusations surfaced that she leaked minutes of closed meetings between Assad and Iranian officials," Abdulrahman added.

Syrian intelligence arrested her brother "on charges of communicating with a party hostile to Syria" after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April, the monitor said.

In 2020, Washington sanctioned Shibl and her husband Ammar Saati, with the US Treasury saying at the time that "she has been instrumental in developing Assad's false narrative that he maintains control of the country and that the Syrian people flourish under his leadership".