AL-MUKALLA, Yemen: War-weary Yemenis are enjoying a rare moment of celebration after UNESCO added historic structures in the central province of Marib to its World Heritage Site list.
During an extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris on Wednesday, the UN body added the seven landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba in Marib, as well as two other locations in Lebanon and Ukraine, to its World Heritage List and a list of the world’s endangered sites.
The decision brought a jubilant response from Yemeni officials, archaeologists and the general public.
“Congratulations to Marib, Yemen, and the Arabs for this significant cultural accomplishment, which was the result of three years of efforts on the ground and in the halls,” Mohammed Jumeh, Yemen’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, tweeted, praising the team of Yemeni and foreign specialists who worked for international recognition of the historic landmarks.
Muammar Al-Eryani, Yemen’s minister of information, culture and tourism, also congratulated Yemenis, local authorities and the ministry team that prepared the file, adding that there are now five Yemeni sites on the UNESCO list.
“Congratulation to Yemen and Marib governorate for UNESCO registering the antiquities of the ancient Kingdom of Saba in Marib on the World Heritage List, in the culmination of three-year of teamwork efforts of the ministry, local authority and Yemen’s permanent delegation at UNESCO,” El-Eryani wrote on Twitter.
He thanked Princess Haifa Al-Mogrin, Saudi Arabia’s permanent delegate at UNESCO and the session’s chairperson, for supporting the listing of Marib’s landmarks.
In a press release issued after the meeting, UNESCO said that the Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba in Marib provide evidence of a powerful kingdom with a centralized and intelligent government that controlled incense routes across the Arabian Peninsula, and also had commercial influence in the Mediterranean and East Africa.
UNESCO said that the seven archaeological sites that make up the site “bear witness to the rich Kingdom of Saba and its architectural, aesthetic and technological achievements” from the 1st millennium B.C. to the arrival of Islam about 1,400 years ago.
Ali Tueaiman, a Yemeni archaeologist and leader of the team that compiled the nomination dossiers, told Arab News: “I am overjoyed. We worked on this case for three years, traveled to several countries, and sought the assistance of Arab and international specialists.
“Our file was persuasive. The Kingdom of Saba is the Yemeni civilization’s backbone and one of the most prominent ancient Arab kingdoms. The sites illustrate the depth of civilization across thousands of years.”
He said that the world, including UNESCO, will be responsible for the preservation and restoration of the Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba sites following the international recognition.
However, other Yemeni specialists warned that fighting between Yemeni government troops and Iran-backed Houthis poses the greatest danger to the sites because of their proximity to the battlegrounds.
The Ancient City of Serwah, one of the seven classified monuments, is located in the disputed Serwah district, the scene of fierce fighting in the past two years following a Houthi assault on Marib city.
“The location of the site in the line of fire poses a significant threat to it, which may result in its partial or total destruction,” Riyadh Bakarmom, an archaeologist, told Arab News.
He said that worldwide acknowledgment of Marib’s sites might also tempt smugglers seeking to take advantage of any security lapses to steal valuable relics.
“Another risk is the excavation of historic sites and the smuggling of artifacts during times of chaos and war. There are some signs that certain ancient sites have been excavated in Marib,” Bakarmom said.
UNESCO listing of Marib’s ancient sites delights Yemenis
https://arab.news/8qy9t
UNESCO listing of Marib’s ancient sites delights Yemenis
- The UN body added the seven landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba in Marib to its World Heritage List
- The seven archaeological sites that make up the site “bear witness to the rich Kingdom of Saba and its architectural, aesthetic and technological achievements”
Egypt says to support South Africa ICJ case against Israel
Pretoria brought its case to the ICJ in December, calling on the UN court to order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza.
In its most recent appeal to the ICJ on Friday, South Africa again accused Israel of “continuing violations of the Genocide Convention” and of being “contemptuous” of international law.
Egypt on Sunday said its move to back the case comes “in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
It further pointed to Israel’s systematic “targeting of civilians and destruction of infrastructure” and “pushing Palestinians into displacement and expulsion.”
South Africa has called on the world’s top court to order Israel to “immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive” in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city where about 1.5 million Palestinians had been pushed against the Egyptian border.
Israel on Monday sent ground troops and tanks into eastern Rafah, later seizing and shutting the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Gaza risked an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has acted as a key mediator between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, including in the current war.
It also shares the only border with the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, but has refused to coordinate aid access through the Rafah crossing since Israeli forces seized it.
State-linked television channel Al-Qahera News on Sunday reported a high-level source denying Israeli media reports of “coordination between Israel and Egypt at the Rafah crossing.”
Egypt has also issued repeated warnings against escalation since negotiators from both Israel and Hamas departed Cairo on Thursday after talks again failed to achieve a truce.
In January the ICJ called on Israel to prevent acts of genocide following the original South African request for international action.
The court rejected a second South African application for emergency measures over Israel’s threat to attack Rafah. South Africa made a new request in early March.
Qatari emir meets US congress members
- Two sides discussed ways to strengthen relations between Qatar and the US
DOHA: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met a delegation of US Congress members on Sunday during their visit to Doha.
The visitors were Democrats Salud Carbajal, Ami Bera and Juan Vargas (California) and Derek Kilmer (Washington) and Republicans Dave Joyce (Ohio) and Lance Gooden (Texas), the Qatar News Agency reported.
The two sides discussed ways to strengthen relations between Qatar and the US, strategic cooperation in various sectors, and regional and global developments.
The talks came a day after Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani spoke to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the situation in Gaza.
During a phone call, they discussed joint mediation efforts to end the war, the release of prisoners and detainees, and getting humanitarian aid to all areas of the enclave.
Qatar has played an intermediary role throughout the war in Gaza. Along with the US and Egypt, it was instrumental in helping negotiate the brief halt to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages.
Israel lacks ‘credible plan’ to safeguard Rafah civilians, says Blinken
- Blinken said Biden determined to help Israel defend itself and shipment of 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs was only US weapons package being withheld
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended a decision to pause a delivery to Israel of 3,500 bombs over concerns they could be used in the Gazan city of Rafah, saying Israel lacked a “credible plan” to protect some 1.4 million civilians sheltering there.
Speaking to ABC News’ This Week, Blinken said that President Joe Biden remains determined to help Israel defend itself and that the shipment of 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs was the only US weapons package being withheld.
That could change, he said, if Israel launches a full-scale attack on Rafah, which Israel says it plans to invade to root out fighters of the ruling Hamas militant group.
Biden has made clear to Israel that if it “launches this major military operation to Rafah, then there are certain systems that we’re not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation,” said Blinken.
“We have real concerns about the way they’re used,” he continued. Israel needs to “have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen.”
Rafah is hosting some 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Gaza by fighting and Israeli bombardments, amid dire shortages of food and water.
The death toll in Israel’s military operation in Gaza has now passed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel says 620 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
Dubai laboratory develops AI technology to detect Legionella bacteria
- The AI system works by pinpointing live colonies of the bacteria
DUBAI: Dubai Central Laboratory has developed an artificial intelligence technology able to detect Legionella pulmonary bacteria, the first of its type in the Middle East region, the Emirates News Agency reported on Sunday.
The system works by pinpointing live colonies of the bacteria, which causes a variety of acute respiratory infections, and delivers examination results with an accuracy rate in quantifying bacterial counts of 99 percent, the report said.
The technology also streamlines work processes by reducing reliance on laboratory supplies, leading to faster completion times.
“This revolutionary method of detecting Legionella pulmonary bacteria is among the latest to be accredited globally by the European Water Testing Network. It also has a certificate of recognition from AOAC International,” Hind Mahmoud Ahmed, director of the Dubai Central Laboratory Department, said.
“The technology is very accurate and quick to produce results, typically needing 48 hours as opposed to the 14 days that traditional methods require.”
Laboratories conduct more than 100,000 tests every year to ensure the safety of various goods sold in Dubai.
UN chief calls for ‘immediate’ Gaza ceasefire, hostage release
- Israeli strikes on Gaza continued Sunday after it expanded evacuation order for Rafah operation
- Gaza war tearing families apart, rendering people homeless, hungry and traumatized, says UN chief
KUWAIT CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged an immediate halt to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the return of hostages and a “surge” in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“I repeat my call, the world’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid,” Guterres said in a video address to an international donors’ conference in Kuwait.
“But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war,” he added.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah despite international outcry over its military incursion into eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid crossing.
“The war in Gaza is causing horrific human suffering, devastating lives, tearing families apart and rendering huge numbers of people homeless, hungry and traumatized,” Guterres said.
His remarks were played at the opening of the conference in Kuwait organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN’s humanitarian coordination organization OCHA.
On Friday, in Nairobi, the UN head warned Gaza faced an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
