Yemen Makes ‘Concrete Progress’ in Forming New Govt.

A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
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Yemen Makes ‘Concrete Progress’ in Forming New Govt.

A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)
A general view of the interim Yemeni capital Aden in 2018. (Reuters)

“Concrete progress” has been achieved in recent days over the formation of a new Yemen government after parties agreed on the distribution of shares, revealed Western and Yemeni sources on Sunday.

“Yemeni political parties reached an agreement concerning the division of ministerial portfolios between the North and South,” the sources said.

In recent days, Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi had stressed the need to expedite the process of implementing the Riyadh Agreement, which is required to unite Yemeni parties and to confront the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Consultations are going in the right direction towards reaching understandings between the various participating parties.”

The spokesman added that understandings are about to be reached between northern and southern Yemen on the distribution of ministerial portfolios based on the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.

“All parties are keen on implementing the Agreement, and everyone is aware of the gravity of the economic and military situation in the country,” Badi said.

Signed between the legitimate government and the Southern Transitional Council in August, the mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement calls for forming a new 24-minister government. Portfolios will be distributed equally between North and South Yemen.

Badi said, “Obstacles that some parties considered immense, were not that grave,” praising the support of Saudi Arabia to facilitate those talks.

“Our Saudi brothers are keen on removing any obstacle hindering Yemeni stability and they support easing the suffering of the Yemeni people at the hands of the Houthis,” he said.

Yemeni media had in recent hours published leaks related to the distribution of shares in the new government. However, no official sources confirmed those reports.

Meanwhile, British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron told Asharq Al-Awsat that all signs indicate that a breakthrough is about to be reached in the formation of a new cabinet.

He said that “good news” may be on the way.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.