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.



Syria's New Foreign Minister to Appear at the UN in His First US Visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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Syria's New Foreign Minister to Appear at the UN in His First US Visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was set to raise his country’s new flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York Friday and to attend a UN Security Council briefing, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning opposition offensive in December.

The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country's official emblem, the Associated Press said.

The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the US and its allies in the wake of Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.

A delegation of Syrian officials traveled to the United States this week to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington and UN meetings in New York. It was unclear if Trump administration officials would meet with al-Shibani during the visit.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the offensive that toppled Assad. Washington has also so far left the sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief to some restrictions. The opposition group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains a US-designated terrorist organization.

Two Republican members of the US Congress, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit and met with al-Sharaa and other government officials.

Mills told The Associated Press before meeting with al-Sharaa that “ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s decision” to lift sanctions or not, although he said that “Congress can advise.”

Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the US conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the Assad era, coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with foreign militants who fought alongside the armed opposition to Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose a threat.

He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalize relations with Israel “under the right conditions,” without specifying what those conditions are.

Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities more quickly. The British government on Thursday lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, and the European Union has begun to roll back its sanctions.