Huge Revenues Push Houthis to Tighten Grip Over Yemeni Institutions

Hodeidah port on the Red Sea, west of Yemen (AFP)
Hodeidah port on the Red Sea, west of Yemen (AFP)
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Huge Revenues Push Houthis to Tighten Grip Over Yemeni Institutions

Hodeidah port on the Red Sea, west of Yemen (AFP)
Hodeidah port on the Red Sea, west of Yemen (AFP)

The huge revenues of several Yemeni institutions prompted the Houthi militia to implement new administrative and financial measures to control and manage the profit in their favor.

The new measures introduced e-accounting systems and complex administrative control procedures, dismissed the head of these institutions, and replaced them with group members.

Sources in Sanaa stated that the group assigned several affiliated companies, specialized in technology, to prepare new accounting systems for institutions, such as the Red Sea Ports Authority, the Oil Corporation, the Kamaran Company, the Public Telecommunication Corporation, the Economic Corporation, the Post, the Tax Authority, the Tax Authority Customs, and the capital's secretariat revenues.

The militia sought to establish a supervisory body to oversee all revenue institutions and monitor their activities, profits collection, and disbursement mechanism.

According to the sources, this procedure was established after the militia discovered it was difficult to launch alternative revenue institutions similar to other institutions it created.

The militias lack qualified technical cadres loyal to them to replace the personnel working in institutions such as the Red Sea Ports Authority, the tax and customs authorities, the Public Telecommunication Corporation, the oil companies, Kamaran, and others.

Houthis aimed to appoint their leaders at the top of these institutions to gain the support of technical staff and employ several of their members in various departments as informants to monitor the progress of accounting and administrative activities and procedures.

The militia began using the "Code of Ethics and Conduct," which it recently announced, and it includes rules for public servants, including accepting Houthis' right to rule and participating in their sectarian activities.

The sources stated that the militias have started implementing new accounting procedures in Hodeidah port after it achieved huge revenues during the past eight months, during the UN-sponsored truce, which Houthis refused to extend.

They said the militias noticed it was possible to obtain data and information about Hodeidah port revenues and several other institutions, given the nature of the administrative and accounting procedures of the institutions under Houthi control since Sept. 2014.

In October, the Yemeni government revealed that the militias had achieved more than YR203 billion after Hodeidah port received 54 shipments of oil and its derivatives during the humanitarian truce that began on Apr 2 and ended on Oct 2. One of its most important provisions was to allow the port to operate and permit fuel shipments fully.

Hodeidah port continues to receive fuel shipments despite the end of the armistice more than two months ago after Iran's arm stipulated that the salaries of employees in its areas of control are paid from oil and gas revenues in the liberated governorates only, and its refusal to include the Hodeidah revenues in the salary disbursement.



Türkiye Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ If Syria Govt Cannot Address Kurd Militia Issue, FM Says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
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Türkiye Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ If Syria Govt Cannot Address Kurd Militia Issue, FM Says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)

Türkiye will do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara's concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday.

Türkiye regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

Hostilities have escalated since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad less than two weeks ago, with Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9. Assad's fall has left the Kurdish factions on the back foot as they seek to retain political gains made in the last 13 years.

In an interview with France 24, Fidan said Ankara's preferred option was for the new administration in Damascus to address the problem in line with Syria's territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, adding that the YPG should be disbanded immediately.

"If it doesn't happen, we have to protect our own national security," he said. When asked if that included military action, Fidan said: "Whatever it takes."

Asked about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi's comments about the possibility of a negotiated solution with Ankara, Fidan said the group should seek such a settlement with Damascus, as there was "a new reality" there now.

"The new reality, hopefully, they will address these issues, but at the same time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we want. We don't want to see any form of military threat to ourselves. Not the present one, but also the potential one," he added.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the fighters.

The US-backed SDF played a major role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards its fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the extremist group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.

Fidan said he didn't find the recent uptick in US troops in Syria to be the "right decision", adding the battle against ISIS was an "excuse" to maintain support for the SDF.

"The fight against ISIS, there is only one job: to keep ISIS prisoners in prisons, that's it," he said.

Fidan also said that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which swept into Damascus to topple Assad, had "excellent cooperation" with Ankara in the battle against ISIS and al-Qaeda in the past through intelligence sharing.

He also said Türkiye was not in favor of any foreign bases, including Russian ones, remaining in Syria, but that the choice was up to the Syrian people.