450 Yemeni evacuees depart Port Sudan for Jeddah, hundreds remain stranded

Yemeni evacuees who landed early aboard Saudi ships in Jeddah were taken by road to Aden and Marib. (File/SPA)
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Updated 07 May 2023
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450 Yemeni evacuees depart Port Sudan for Jeddah, hundreds remain stranded

  • ‘We express our heartfelt gratitude to our brothers in Saudi Arabia’: Yemeni Embassy

AL-MUKALLA: Two Saudi navy vessels transported 450 Yemenis from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan to the Kingdom on Sunday, the highest number of Yemeni evacuees since the Saudi evacuation operation began.
The Yemeni Embassy in Sudan said two Saudi ships named Abha and Riyadh left Port Sudan carrying 450 Yemenis to Jeddah Islamic Port on Sunday evening.
“We express our heartfelt gratitude and admiration to our brothers in Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government, the Yemeni Emergency Committee, and all those who worked tirelessly to finish the evacuation process,” the embassy in Sudan said in a statement on social media.

Thousands of Yemenis have been stranded since April 15, when violence broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Military Forces.
Hundreds of Yemenis who escaped safely from the capital Khartoum have been crowded into a handful of shelters in Port Sudan for two weeks, awaiting rescue by their government.
Speaking to Arab News, people stranded in Port Sudan complained about a worsening humanitarian crises, a lack of health services, food and money, as well as being packed into two banquet halls.

After the departure of 450 Yemenis, more than 2,000 are awaiting their turn to be evacuated as the Yemeni Emergency Committee, which coordinates evacuations, has received new calls from those in conflict-stricken cities who have decided to flee.
“We’ve received numerous phone calls from Yemeni families residing in and around Khartoum. They initially decided to reside there because there were no battles in their area, but they’ve now decided to depart due to the continuance of the conflict, the high cost of living and the scarcity of services,” student activist Afif Al-Barashi told Arab News, adding that Yemenia Airways will begin airlifting evacuees from Jeddah to Yemen’s port city of Aden.
A Yemeni mother and her daughter died in a car accident while escaping Khartoum to Port Sudan, Al-Barashi said.

Yemeni evacuees who landed early aboard Saudi ships in Jeddah were taken by road to Aden and Marib.
On Saturday, the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council instructed the airline to organize rescue flights from Port Sudan to Yemen, and asked the government to transport additional trapped citizens by sea to Yemen, according to the country’s official media.


Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold

Updated 03 February 2026
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Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold

  • The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around ‌1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates

RABAT: Morocco’s energy ministry said on Monday it has paused a tender launched last month ​for a gas pipeline project, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build a pipeline linking a future gas terminal at the Nador West Med port ‌on the Mediterranean ‌to an existing ‌pipeline ⁠that ​allows ‌Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic in ⁠Mohammedia and Kenitra.
“Due to new parameters and assumptions ‌related to this project... the ‍ministry of ‍energy transition and sustainable development is ‍postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco ​is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify ⁠away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52 percent of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45 percent now.
The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around ‌1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates.