Yemen airline resumes Sanaa-Jordan flights, banks rejoin global network under new deal

Special Yemen airline resumes Sanaa-Jordan flights, banks rejoin global network under new deal
Yemen’s national airline resumed flights from the Houthi-held city of Sanaa to Jordan on Thursday. (Yemenia)
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Updated 25 July 2024
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Yemen airline resumes Sanaa-Jordan flights, banks rejoin global network under new deal

Yemen airline resumes Sanaa-Jordan flights, banks rejoin global network under new deal
  • Yemenia said in a statement that three flights were scheduled to leave Sanaa airport for Amman on Thursday
  • Militia leader warns of ‘escalation’ after Hodeidah airstrikes as US launches raids on missile sites

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s national airline resumed flights from the Houthi-held city of Sanaa to Jordan on Thursday, while the international banking transfer system reconnected Sanaa banks to its network after an agreement was implemented between the Yemeni government and the militia.

Yemenia Airways said in a statement that three flights were scheduled to leave Sanaa airport for Amman on Thursday, and that it was seeking permits for flights from the same airport to Egypt and India. 

On Monday, the Yemeni government and the Houthis agreed to lift economic sanctions on banks and allow Yemenia Airways to increase its daily flights from Sanaa to Amman from one to three.

The agreement also allows the airline to arrange more flights to Cairo and Mumbai, and to organize meetings to resolve its difficulties. 

Last month, the Houthis seized three Yemeni aircraft at Sanaa airport, disrupting flights to Amman and stranding hundreds of Yemeni pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

The militia attempted to put pressure on the Yemeni government to reverse its decision for Yemenia to transfer its headquarters to the harbor city of Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital, and to stop selling tickets in Houthi-controlled regions.

Meanwhile, the Houthi official news agency reported on Wednesday that SWIFT had told Sanaa banks it had reconnected them to its system after the Yemeni government lifted punitive economic measures.

The Aden-based central bank revoked the licenses of six banks in Sanaa earlier this month for failing to comply with a directive to relocate their offices from Aden.

The Houthis also said their central bank had relaxed restrictions against financial institutions in government-controlled cities.

Meanwhile, US Central Command on Thursday said that two Houthi missiles had been destroyed on launchers in an area of Yemen held by the militia.

This came a day after the US military announced it had targeted a Houthi-held area to destroy three missile launchers. 

Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship, sunk two more, and launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones, and drone boats at commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in what it claims are actions in support of the Palestinian people and to force Israel to cease military operations in the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, the militia’s leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, pledged to respond to Israeli attacks on the Houthi-held western city of Hodeidah by initiating strikes on Israeli towns and attacking Israeli ships. 

“Our military operations will continue in the seas and deep into Palestine, and the attacks on our country will not stop us from escalating,” Al-Houthi said. 


Kurdish militants declare a ceasefire in a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye

Kurdish militants declare a ceasefire in a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye
Updated 56 min 46 sec ago
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Kurdish militants declare a ceasefire in a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye

Kurdish militants declare a ceasefire in a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye
  • The PKK declaration was published by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group, on Saturday
  • It referred to the insurgents’ leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned by Turkiye since 1999

ISTANBUL: Kurdish militants who have waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye declared a ceasefire on Saturday in what could mark a significant boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, two days after their imprisoned leader called for the group to disarm.
The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, comes against the backdrop of fundamental changes in the region, including the reconfiguration of power in neighboring Syria after the toppling of President Bashar Assad, the weakening of the Hezbollah militant movement in Lebanon and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK has led to tens of thousands of deaths since it began in 1984. The ceasefire is the first sign of a breakthrough since peace talks between the PKK and Ankara broke down in the summer of 2015.
The PKK declaration was published by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group, on Saturday. It referred to the insurgents’ leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned by Turkiye since 1999.
“We declare a ceasefire effective today to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo’s call for peace and democratic society. None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it said, referring to Ocalan by his nickname.
A ceasefire follows a campaign of pressure on Kurds

On Thursday, a delegation of Kurdish politicians announced Ocalan’s call for the PKK to lay down its arms and disband after visiting him on his island prison.
In its statement, the PKK’s executive committee said Ocalan’s call indicated that a “new historical process has begun in Kurdistan and the Middle East.” Kurdistan refers to the parts of Turkiye, Iraq, Syria and Iran inhabited by Kurds.
While stating that it would “comply with and implement the requirements of the call from our own side,” the PKK emphasized that “democratic politics and legal grounds must also be suitable for success.”
Ocalan’s call came as the main pro-Kurdish political party in Turkiye has faced pressure, with several of its mayors being removed from office in recent months and replaced by government appointees.
The PKK also appealed for Ocalan to be released from Imrali prison, located in the Marmara Sea, to “personally direct and execute” a party congress that would lead to the militants laying down their arms.
The peace initiative between the Turkish state and the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies, was started in October by Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, a far-right politician who suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.
Erdogan said Ocalan’s message was a “new phase” in peace efforts in Turkiye.
“There is an opportunity to take a historic step toward tearing down the wall of terror that has stood between (Turkish and Kurdish peoples’) 1,000-year-old brotherhood,” Erdogan said on Friday.
The government’s first response to the ceasefire came from Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. “A new phase has been entered toward the goal of a terror-free Turkiye. … We hope that this opportunity will be seized, this effort will be concluded quickly and successfully,” he posted on X.
Erdogan’s allies eye Kurdish support for changing the constitution
Some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdogan’s government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his term ends.
Bahceli has openly called for a new constitution, saying it was essential for Turkiye’s future that Erdogan remain in power. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking parliamentary support from the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM.
“There will be a series of meetings next week, including state officials and politicians, and many things will become clearer and more concrete. We hope that everything will be arranged in the next three months,” said Sirri Sureyya Onder, one of the DEM members who visited Ocalan in prison on Thursday.
Ocalan, 75, wields significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment, during which the PKK has been led by top figures who have fled and found sanctuary in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
In Syria, Kurdish fighters — who have ties to the PKK — have been involved in intense fighting with Turkish-backed forces on the ground there.
The leader of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has said Ocalan’s call for a ceasefire does not apply to his group in Syria.
The Turkish government, however, says all Kurdish groups it claims are tied to the PKK — whether in Turkiye, Syria or Iraq — must disband.
In recent years, the PKK has been limited to isolated attacks inside Turkiye as the Turkish military, backed by armed drones, has pushed PKK insurgents increasingly across the mountainous border into Iraq.


Syria rights groups slam government over justice workshop ban

Syria rights groups slam government over justice workshop ban
Updated 01 March 2025
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Syria rights groups slam government over justice workshop ban

Syria rights groups slam government over justice workshop ban
  • “The abrupt decision to ban the holding of this meeting... constitutes a flagrant violation of fundamental rights,” the groups said
  • “It reminds us of the conditions we lived under before the victory of Dec. 8“

DAMASCUS: Human rights groups in the Syrian Arab Republic have condemned the last minute banning of a justice workshop they had planned to hold in Damascus, accusing the country’s transitional government of obstructing accountability.
Justice for the victims of crimes committed during the civil war which broke out in 2011 is one of the key issues facing Syria after Islamist-led rebels finally toppled longtime strongman Bashar Assad in December.
“The abrupt decision to ban the holding of this meeting... constitutes a flagrant violation of fundamental rights,” the groups said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“This arbitrary measure reflects an approach which undermines the principles of transparency and participation, and threatens the chances of delivering justice.
“It reminds us of the conditions we lived under before the victory of Dec. 8.”
An array of former members of Assad’s government and security forces have been accused of war crimes but allegations have also been made against the rebel groups who toppled him late last year.
“It’s possible that some officials considered that the presence of non-governmental organizations which documented the crimes and abuses that were perpetrated in Syria, and not just by the regime, risked one day putting them in a position where they would face accusations,” the rights groups said.
An official in Syria’s interim government said the foreign ministry would publish an explanation of the decision later.
The rights groups which had been due to take part in the workshop include the Caesar Files for Justice, the Syrian Archive, the Al Share’ Media Foundation and the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research.


Ramadan in war-torn Sudan eclipsed by famine and inflation

Ramadan in war-torn Sudan eclipsed by famine and inflation
Updated 01 March 2025
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Ramadan in war-torn Sudan eclipsed by famine and inflation

Ramadan in war-torn Sudan eclipsed by famine and inflation

PORT SUDAN: In the safety of Sudan’s eastern coast, residents preparing for Ramadan were struggling to afford basic holiday staples as the war raging elsewhere in the country has sent prices soaring.
The situation was much more dire in areas hit directly by the nearly two-year war, where famine, displacement, severe shortages and looting overshadowed the usual spirit of generosity and community of the holy Muslim month that began on Saturday.
At a market in Port Sudan, a relative safe haven in the east, prices are out of reach for many families.
Sugar, widely used in drinks and sweets to break the daily dawn-to-dusk fast, goes for 2,400 Sudanese pounds ($1) per kilo.
A kilo of veal costs 24,000 pounds, and mutton 28,000, according to consumers.
“We are struggling to afford Ramadan goods,” said resident Mahmoud Abd El Kader, protesting the “extremely expensive” prices.
Another resident, Hassan Osman, told AFP that “prices are too high, goods are too expensive, people cannot afford them.”
According to labor unions, the average monthly pay is around $60, but public workers in some Sudanese states have gone without pay during the war.
Those who did have had to grapple with the plummeting value of the local currency, down from about 600 pounds to the US dollar to 2,400 pounds on the parallel market, and inflation that hit 145 percent in January according to official figures.
In some parts of Sudan, there were pressing concerns not about the prices of food — but about whether it was available at all.
The fighting since April 2023 between the forces of rival generals, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million, has also pushed entire areas of Sudan into hunger and cut off crucial supply routes.

NO FOOD, SUPPLIES
In parts of the vast western region of Darfur and Kordofan in the south — both focal points of the war between the army the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — food supply routes have been cut off, and starvation has set in.
Famine has gripped three displacement camps in North Darfur and some parts of the south, and is expected to spread to five more areas by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.
Some residents of Darfur have resorted to eating peanut shells and tree leaves to survive.
And with aid agencies struggling to reach these areas, hunger is spreading rapidly.
The UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday it was forced to suspend operations in and around one famine-hit camp in North Darfur because of escalating violence.
“It is very difficult here,” said Omar Manago, a humanitarian worker in North Darfur.
“There is a severe shortage of drinking water and food. Many families have not eaten a proper meal in months,” he added.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned on Thursday that without an immediate surge in aid, hundreds of thousands of people could die.
“Sudan is... on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine,” Turk told the UN Human Rights Council.
Manago said that most markets in North Darfur are now gone.
“Everything has been burned down by the” paramilitary fighters, he said.
Other conflict-hit areas, where food stocks are running dangerously low, have also seen widespread looting.
In the capital Khartoum, where fighting between the army and the RSF has intensified in recent weeks, volunteers were distributing any aid they could find, but the needs far outweigh the meagre supply.
Some cherished Ramadan traditions have perished.
“Before the war, volunteers used to line the streets, handing out iftar meals to those who could not make it home in time,” said Sabrine Zerouk, 30, from Omdurman on the outskirts of the capital.
“That is no longer happening like before,” she told AFP.
In previous years, Sudanese families would prepare elaborate iftar meals the break the daily Ramadan fast, sharing food with neighbors and those in need.
“What I miss the most is breaking fast with family and friends,” said Mohamed Moussa, a 30-year-old doctor at one of the last functioning hospitals in Omdurman.
“And the Ramadan decorations, too — these are among the things we’ve lost.”


Uncertainty looms as first phase of Gaza truce due to expire

Uncertainty looms as first phase of Gaza truce due to expire
Updated 01 March 2025
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Uncertainty looms as first phase of Gaza truce due to expire

Uncertainty looms as first phase of Gaza truce due to expire
  • Hamas says there’s been ‘no progress’ on second ceasefire phase in indirect talks with Israel

GAZA: The latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has made no progress so far, and it was unclear whether the talks would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official said.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which paused 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, saw the release of 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Phase one expires on Saturday, but under the terms of the deal, fighting is not to resume while negotiations are underway on the second phase, which could end the war in Gaza and see the remaining living hostages returned home.
Officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been involved in negotiations on the second phase in Cairo, with the goal of bringing an end to the war with the return of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Hamas did not attend the talks, but its position has been represented through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told The Associated Press there had been “no progress” on finding a solution before Israeli negotiators returned home on Friday.
It was unclear whether those mediators were going to return to Cairo to resume talks on Saturday as has been expected, and Naim said he had “no idea” when negotiations might start again.
Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7 2023 attack that left 1,200 dead in Israel. Since then, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say that more than half the dead have been women and children.
The two sides agreed to the three-phase ceasefire deal in January, with the aim of bringing an end to the war.
On Friday, Hamas said that it “reaffirms its full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details” and called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately proceed to the second phase without any delay or evasion.”
In addition to phase two of the ceasefire, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that mediators in the talks were “also discussing ways to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the population and support stability in the region.”
Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first phase by 42 days, saying it goes against the truce agreement, according to a member of the group who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
The Israeli proposal calls for extending the ceasefire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday, in return for an additional hostage exchange, the Hamas member said.
The U.N. food agency, the World Food Program, said in a post on social media on Saturday that it reached 1 million Palestinians across Gaza during the deal’s first phase.
The pause in fighting helped “restoring distribution points, reopening bakeries, and expanding cash assistance,” the agency said.
“The ceasefire must hold,” it said. “There can be no going back.”


Lebanon’s president to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of war and peace lies solely with the state

Lebanon’s president to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of war and peace lies solely with the state
Updated 01 March 2025
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Lebanon’s president to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of war and peace lies solely with the state

Lebanon’s president to Asharq Al-Awsat: Decision of war and peace lies solely with the state
  • Aoun said Israel should have committed to ceasefire agreement by withdrawing from Lebanese territories
  • Lebanese leader says during his visit to Saudi Arabia he plans to ask the Kingdom to revive a grant of military aid to Lebanon

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says he wants to build a state that has the decision of war and peace and stressed he is committed to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, his first since his election in January, Aoun said: “Our objective is to build the state, so nothing is difficult. And if we want to talk about the concept of sovereignty, its concept is to place the decisions of war and peace in the hands of the state, and to monopolize or restrict weapons to the state.”

“When will it be achieved? Surely, the circumstances will allow it,” he told the newspaper.

Asked whether the state will be able to impose control over all Lebanese territories with its own forces and without any military or security partnership, he said: "It is no longer allowed for anyone other than the state to fulfill its national duty in protecting the land and the people ... When there is an aggression against the Lebanese state, the state makes the decision, and it determines how to mobilize forces to defend the country."

He also stressed his full commitment to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. “The state and all its institutions are committed to implementing the Resolution” on the “entire Lebanese territories,” Aoun said.

On the possible adoption of a defense strategy, Aoun insisted that even if a state does not have enemies on its borders, it should agree on a national security strategy that not only deals with military goals but also economic and fiscal objectives.

“We are tired of war,” he said in response to a question. “We hope to end military conflicts and resolve our problems through diplomatic efforts,” he said.

Asked whether he was surprised that the Israeli army has stayed at five points in south Lebanon, Aoun said that Israel should have committed to the ceasefire agreement that was sponsored by the US and France and should have withdrawn from all areas it had entered during the war with Hezbollah.

“We are in contact with France and the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from the five points because they don’t have any military value,” he said.

“With the emergence of technologies, drones and satellites,” an army does not need a hill for surveillance, Aoun added.

"Saudi Arabia has become a gateway for the region and for the whole world. It has become a platform for global peace,” he said when asked why he has chosen to visit the Kingdom on his first official trip abroad.

“I hope and expect from Saudi Arabia, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that we correct the relationship for the benefit of both countries and remove all the obstacles ... so that we can build economic and natural relations between us.”

He said that during his visit he plans to ask Saudi Arabia to revive a grant of military aid to Lebanon.

On relations with the Syrian authorities, Aoun said he intends to have friendly ties the new Syrian administration and that one of the pressing issues is to resolve the problem of the porous border between the two countries.

“There are problems on the border (with Syria) with smugglers. Most importantly, the land and sea border with Syria should be demarcated,” he said.

Aoun also called for resolving the problem of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. “The Syrian state cannot give up on 2 million citizens who have been displaced to Lebanon.”

The refugees should return because “the Syrian war ended and the regime that was persecuting them collapsed,” he said.

 

  • This article was originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat and can be read here.