A member of Yemen's rebel-controlled Supreme Revolutionary Committee has defected and fled to the liberated city of Aden, senior government sources told The National.
A source confirmed the defection late on Wednesday night and said Mohammed Al Kairaee had fled Sanaa for his home town of Taez before making his way to Aden.
Mr Al Kairaee had served as a member of the steering committee of the General People's Congress (GPC), a Yemeni political party founded by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. He was appointed to the Supreme Revolutionary Committee after the Houthi rebels seized much of the country in 2014.
Mr Al Kairaee fled because the Houthi rebels had placed him and several members of the GPC under house arrest.
His defection comes just days after outrage spread in rebel-held areas because the Revolutionary Committee ordered local commanders to round up black Yemenis of the Al Akhdam caste to fill a new front-line battalion.
Yemeni Al Akhdam, literally meaning servant, are the bottom of the country’s supposedly abolished social caste system. They have faced racism and marginalisation for years and most live in slums around urban centres where they were confined to menial and labouring jobs even before the war.
Mr Al Kairaee heads the Organisation of Black Liberal Defence in Yemen, a body that champions rights for the country’s estimated 1 million Al Akhdam. As such, he is seen as a community leader and has represented Al Akhdam in politics since before the war.
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The Houthi drive to recruit Al Akhdam comes with the rebels under increasing international pressure to hold up their end of agreements reached at UN-brokered talks in Sweden last month, including a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeidah and a prisoner exchange.
Government and rebel representatives on Thursday chalked out the next steps in the prisoner swap after two days of talks in the Jordanian capital Amman. The government side led by Hadi Haig and the rebel delegation led by Abdel Qader Al Murtada submitted their final lists of prisoners that they want released.
Yemen's Deputy Minister of Human Rights, Majed Al Fadhil, said both sides agreed to submit their feedback on the meetings within three days.
"During the next few days we will respond to the Houthis' request on the names that they have presented," Mr Fadhil told The National.
Over the next 7-10 days, both sides expect to sign a final agreement to implement the operation, said Mr Fadhil, who is also a member of the government's prisoner committee.
The talks were attended by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will oversee the exchange of prisoners. The prisoners are to be flown out of two airports: Seyoun in central Yemen and rebel-held Sanaa.
Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Khaled Al Yamani, accused the Houthis of refusing to co-operate after the first day of talks in Amman.
Mr Al Yamani said the rebels had refused to provide the government with details of 232 detainees, including high-profile prisoners such as former defence minister Gen Mahmood Al Soubaihi, Maj Gen Naser Mansour Hadi, who is the brother of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, and Mohammed Qahtan, the leader of Yemen's Islamist Al Islah party. They have been detained since 2015.
Mr Al Yamani said the international community had to accept that the rebels do not want peace.
"The Houthis are evasive, they are bargaining on this issue and are extorting the international community in various forms,” he said.
The prisoner swap, which involves nearly 15,000 detainees from both sides, is part of a series confidence-building measures to lay the groundwork for peace negotiations.
During the last month, details of the prisoner agreement were sidelined as UN mediators focused on implementing a truce deal for Hodeidah, the entry point for most of Yemen's food and aid, and the battleground city of Taez.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday approved the deployment of up to 75 monitors to oversee the ceasefire in Hodeidah.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Teaching in coronavirus times
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
Civil%20War
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson
3/5
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.3-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E299hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E420Nm%20at%202%2C750rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12.4L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh157%2C395%20(XLS)%3B%20Dh199%2C395%20(Limited)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Looming%20global%20slowdown%20and%20recession%20in%20key%20economies%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Russia-Ukraine%20war%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Interest%20rate%20hikes%20and%20the%20rising%20cost%20of%20debt%20servicing%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Oil%20price%20volatility%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Persisting%20inflationary%20pressures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Exchange%20rate%20fluctuations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shortage%20of%20labour%2Fskills%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20A%20resurgence%20of%20Covid%3F%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8)
Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)
