New Yemen government formed with Shaya Mohsin al-Zindani as prime minister
Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council has issued a decree to form a new government, with Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani confirmed as the country’s prime minister.Al-Zindani will also continue to serve as foreign minister, the state-run news agency Saba reported on Friday.Last month, the council accepted the resignation of former Prime Minister Salem bin Breik and asked al-Zindani to form a cabinet.The new 34-member cabinet includes 10 ministers from the previous government and three women, Saba reported.Marwan Faraj bin Ghanim was named as minister of finance, while Mohamed Abdullah Ali was confirmed as oil minister. Taher Ali al-Uqaili will serve as defence minister, according to the presidential decree.The government’s formation follows months of consultations held in Riyadh, aimed at easing tensions between the Yemeni government and the main southern Yemeni separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which announced its dissolution on January 9.In December, the STC – which Saudi Arabia says is backed by the UAE – gained control of areas across southern and eastern Yemen, advancing to within reach of the Saudi border, which the kingdom considered a threat to its national security. Saudi-backed fighters have since largely retaken those areas.The two Gulf states have recently also faced friction over numerous other matters, ranging from geopolitics to oil output.Saudi Arabia and the UAE had previously worked together in a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen’s civil war, which led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said last month that recent political and security developments – particularly in the south – underscored how quickly stability could unravel without a credible, inclusive political process.Speaking to the UN Security Council last month, Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the Humanitarian Sector for the UN aid coordination office, said Yemen’s crisis was worsening as needs rise, and humanitarian access has become more restricted amid funding shortfalls.More than 18 million Yemenis – about half the population – will face acute food insecurity in February, while tens of thousands could fall into “catastrophic hunger,” facing famine-like conditions, he warned.“Humanitarian action saves lives,” Rajasingham said, “but when access is obstructed and funding falls away, those gains are quickly reversed”.
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