Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi appointed Mohammed Al Maqdishi on Thursday as minister of defence, according to state news agency Saba.
The post had been vacant for more than three years following the detention of former minister General Mahmoud Al Subaihi in March 2015.
Mr Maqdishi, 56, was born in Yemen's northern Thamar province. He is one of the country's leading military figures and a close aid to the Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar.
In 2007 he was appointed commander of the Ataq military axis and in 2008 of the central military zone, two divisions of the Yemeni army.
Six years later Mr Maqdishi was tasked with leading Yemen's armed forces in the midst of the Houthi uprising in September 2014.
In 2015 President Hadi issued a decree appointing him as chief of staff of the ministry of defence, replacing Major General Hussein Khairan. He was later promoted as adviser to the supreme commander of the armed forces.
In his most recent post, Mr Maqdishi was handed the task of temporarily filling the position of minister of defence while the Houthis continued to hold Mr Al Subaihi under arrest.
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Mr Hadi also appointed Abduallah Al Nakhi as his new chief of staff and Ahmed Salem Rabeea as the new governor of Aden, the agency said.
Mr Rabeea, an engineer, was born in southern Yemen in 1970 before moving to Sanaa with his family. In 1990 he received a scholarship to study aviation engineering in Dallas. He returned to Yemen in 2006 and was appointed as assistant to Aden's governor until 2015 when he became deputy governor.
Mr Rabeea is also the eldest son of prominent politician Salim Rabeea Ali, the late head of state of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen between 1969 and 1978, when he surrendered and executed by firing squad.
Yemenis expressed divisive reactions to the nominations, with some saying the new appointments are key in helping to stabilise the country's fragile economy and security and others saying they will fuel the rift between the government and those calling for a reshuffling of power in the liberated areas.
The country's civil war, which began when the Iran-backed rebels seized Sanaa, the capital, in September 2014, has left 22 million people — about 75 per cent of the population — in need of assistance, according to the UN.
However the world body has no up-to-date estimate of the death toll in Yemen. It said in August 2016 that according to medical centres at least 10,000 people have been killed.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies in the Arab Coalition intervened in the conflict at the request of Mr Hadi's government in March 2015.
The Arab coalition has called for the complete withdrawal of the Houthis from Hodeidah, one of Yemen's largest ports. The rebels have offered to hand the operation of the port facility – a vital lifeline for coalition and international aid to reach millions living under the Iran-backed group – to the UN, but under their supervision.
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Match info
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Man of the match: Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace)
MATCH INFO
Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)
Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
