The fall of Marib to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels would mark the end of Yemen's peace process, Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said on Sunday.
The rebels began a major push towards the northern city, a government stronghold, in February. It has become the main focal point of the war as it hosts more than two million internally displaced people, almost 70 per cent of the total displaced in Yemen.
“The fall of Marib won't only lead to a horrific humanitarian situation it will also mark the end of the political and peace process in Yemen,” Mr Mubarak said at an event organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Mr Mubarak said a takeover of Marib would unleash a disaster on a par with the collapse of the city's ancient dam that destroyed the kingdom of Saba.
In the Quran, the dam collapses and causes flooding that decimated its ancient kingdom.
“We will undoubtedly say that if the Houthis control Marib, it will be as bad as when its historically famous dam was destroyed,” Mr Mubarak said.
“Today, Marib is the impenetrable wall for Yemen.”
Today, Marib is the impenetrable wall for Yemen
Yemen Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak
Taking control of Marib would present major gains for the rebels as it is home to oil and gasfields in which international firms including Exxon Mobil and Total SA have interests.
Marib’s natural gas bottling plant produces cooking gas for the nation of 29 million people. Its power plant once provided 40 per cent of Yemen’s electricity.
The push to take Marib by the rebels has become “a strategic priority for the Iranian regime and its tools in the region”, said Mr Mubarak.
Without changing the facts on the ground, the Houthis will not come to the table, said the top Yemeni minister.
“Having a functioning government from Aden serving all Yemenis, unifying all forces and defending Marib will be the main points to pushing the peace process forward,” he said.
Mr Mubarak said there is no alternative to peace in Yemen.
“The war must end today rather than tomorrow,” he said.
“The danger has widened. It makes no doubt that the failure of the Iranian project in Yemen will ensure the failure of the Iranian project and the entire region.
“Its success in Yemen will usher in a new phase of conflict and lead to another cycle of violence.”
Stalled peace process
Mr Mubarak told the audience that although the government appreciates efforts towards peace that the international community has made in Yemen through the years, the mistake was viewing the war as a humanitarian crisis only.
“One of the mistakes we all made was that the Yemeni crisis was seen as a humanitarian crisis, that was the driver of any initiative, but we never approached the problem itself,” he said.
“Most of the talks were focused on a process rather than being result orientated.”
Mr Mubarak said the political roots of the war must be addressed to achieve a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE's final round of matches
- Sep 1, 2016 Beat Japan 2-1 (away)
- Sep 6, 2016 Lost to Australia 1-0 (home)
- Oct 6, 2016 Beat Thailand 3-1 (home)
- Oct 11, 2016 Lost to Saudi Arabia 3-0 (away)
- Nov 15, 2016 Beat Iraq 2-0 (home)
- Mar 23, 2017 Lost to Japan 2-0 (home)
- Mar 28, 2017 Lost to Australia 2-0 (away)
- June 13, 2017 Drew 1-1 with Thailand (away)
- Aug 29, 2017 v Saudi Arabia (home)
- Sep 5, 2017 v Iraq (away)
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Infiniti QX80 specs
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
EPL's youngest
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Lexus LX700h specs
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Sunday's fixtures
- Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
- Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
Sweet%20Tooth
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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