The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-17)

TUESDAY, MAY 17 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

The World

NORTHERN IRELAND

Johnson hears from

Sinn Fein on trade

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou
McDonald said her party had a
“fairly tough” meeting with
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson on Monday in which
they told him taking unilateral
action over post-Brexit trade
rules for Northern Ireland would
be wrong.
Johnson says the European
Union must make concessions
on the rules — known as the
Northern Ireland protocol — to
win over the province’s unionist
community loyal to the United
Kingdom, and has threatened
unilateral action that the E.U.
says could start a trade war.
McDonald, whose party seeks
a united Ireland and is the
region’s largest after an election
this month, said Johnson did not
give details of any proposed
legislation that would effectively
ditch parts of the protocol.
“We’ve had what we would
describe as a fairly tough
meeting,” she said after the talks
in Northern Ireland. “ ... We have
said directly to him that the
proposed unilateral act of

legislating at Westminster is

wrong. It seems to us absolutely

extraordinary that the British

government would propose to

legislate to break the law.”

Johnson agreed to the

protocol in 2019 to allow Britain

to leave the E.U.’s single market

and customs union without

controls being reimposed on the

border between Northern

Ireland and the Irish Republic,

a vital part of the 1998 Good

Friday peace deal that ended

three decades of violence.

But the plan effectively set up

a customs border between

Britain and Northern Ireland,

incensing many unionists.

— Reuters

SRI LANKA

Premier: Nation down

to last of its gasoline

Sri Lanka’s new prime

minister said Monday that the

crisis-hit nation was down to its

last day of gasoline, as the energy

minister told citizens not to join

the lengthy fuel lines that have

triggered weeks of anti-

government protests.

Ranil Wickremesinghe,

appointed prime minister on

Thursday, said in an address to

the nation that it urgently

needed $75 million in foreign

exchange to pay for essential

imports. “At the moment, we

only have petrol stocks for a

single day. The next couple of

months will be the most difficult

ones of our lives,” he said.

Two shipments of gasoline

and two of diesel using an Indian

credit line could provide some

relief, he added, but there is also

a shortage of 14 key medicines.

The economic crisis led to

widespread protests against

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

and his family, culminating in

the resignation of his brother as

prime minister last week after

fighting between government

backers and protesters left nine

people dead and 300 wounded.

— Reuters

Mali says it foiled countercoup:

The Malian government headed

by a two-time coup leader

announced that security forces

had thwarted a countercoup that

it said was supported by a

Western government. The

announcement was the latest

turmoil in Mali, where Col.

Assimi Goïta led coups in 2020

and 2021 before becoming

president. Mali didn’t name the

country it was accusing, but ties

with former colonizer France

have deteriorated significantly

under Goïta’s rule, prompting

the French military to pull out

forces that had been fighting

Islamist extremists.

Cyber-gang further threatens

Costa Rica: A ransomware gang

that infiltrated some Costa Rican

government computer systems

has upped its threat, saying its

goal now is to overthrow the

government. The Russian-

speaking Conti gang attacked

Costa Rica in April, accessing

critical systems in the Finance

Ministry. President Rodrigo

Chaves declared a state of

emergency after being sworn in

last week. The U.S. State

Department has offered a

$10 million reward in the case.

Woman chosen as No. 2 on

Kenyan presidential ticket:

Kenyan opposition leader Raila

Odinga has chosen a former

justice minister as his running

mate in August’s election,

making her the first female

candidate on a major

presidential ticket in the East

African country. Martha Karua

has a reputation for speaking her

mind and could prove a popular

choice among voters excited to

see a woman among top leaders.

Trains collide near Barcelona:

The driver of a suburban

passenger train died and dozens

were injured when two trains

crashed near Barcelona, Catalan

regional authorities said. About

85 people were hurt, with eight

going to hospitals. The crash

happened when a freight train

derailed and hit the o ther train.

— From news services

DIGEST

HUSSEIN FALEH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A man rides his bike in a sandstorm in the Iraqi city of Basra. There

have been at least eight sandstorms in Iraq since April, officials say,

and they have landed thousands of people in hospitals with breathing

troubles. At least one person died. The storms are s easonal, but their

frequency this year has alarmed experts, who blame climate change.

BY ALI AL-MUJAHED

AND SIOBHÁN O’GRADY

sanaa, yemen — The brothers
arrived at the airport before dawn,
pushing their elderly mother in a
wheelchair as they rushed to
board a flight they hoped might
save her life.
They hurried to their gate in a
compound visibly damaged from
years of war and disuse. Some
windows were broken. Parts of the
roof had collapsed.
But battle scars aside, the air-
port managed to host a scene of
near-normalcy Monday, when the
first commercial flights since 2016
took off and landed on its runways
— delivering a much-needed glim-
mer of hope to Yemeni civilians
after years of war.
For Waleed and Mohammed
Hamza, Monday’s trip to Amman,
Jordan — unfathomable just
months ago — could mean the
difference between life and death
for their mother, Lutfiya, who has
multiple myeloma, a form of can-
cer. Like many other Yemenis,
they have previously had to resort
to long and dangerous road trips
to reach working airports in the
southern cities of Aden or Seiyun
to travel abroad, braving check-
points on both sides of the coun-
try’s war and at times taking un-
paved routes to avoid front lines.
This year, as their mother’s con-
dition worsened, the brothers
feared that the treacherous jour-
ney was so risky it would not be
worth seeking medical treatment
for her outside of Yemen — even if
it might save her life.
“She just wouldn’t be able to
make it,” Waleed said of the long,
bumpy roads. “The trip to Aden
could kill her.”
Instead, they staked their
hopes on the possibility the air-
port might one day reopen.
Yemen has for years been divid-
ed between the internationally
recognized government, which
controls most of the country’s
south and is backed by Saudi Ara-
bia, and the Houthis, who took
over the capital of Sanaa in 2015
and are backed by Iran. The seven-
year civil war has left tens of thou-
sands of people dead and sub-
merged the country in one of the
world’s worst humanitarian cri-
ses. Saudi Arabia controls the
country’s airspace. Aid groups
have argued that keeping the air-
port shuttered to normal flights
has effectively stranded needy ci-
vilians in the country’s north,
where there is limited access to
advanced medical care.
Then, in early April — after
many failed attempts at peace
deals and a violent uptick in hos-
tilities earlier this year — the Unit-
ed Nations said it had helped bro-
ker a two-month truce between
the two sides that, among other
conditions, would allow some
flights to begin operating from the
airport in Sanaa.
But the first flight, scheduled
for April 24, was canceled shortly
before it was scheduled to take off,
prompting fears that the condi-
tions of the truce might not hold —
and dashing the dreams of many
passengers seeking urgent medi-
cal treatment abroad.

Following new discussions, the

flight was rescheduled for May 16.

Passengers arrived hours early for

the scheduled flight — fearing

again that it would not take off.

Several declined to speak to The

Washington Post, citing concerns

that they could face repercussions

because of sensitivities around

the flight.

Khaled Alshaief, general man-

ager of Sanaa Airport, said there

was “great joy” in organizing the

first flight, which carried more

than 100 passengers to Jordan. “As

you can see, the passengers are

families: women and children and

sick people,” he said, describing it

as a “great victory” for the govern-

ment in the Houthi-controlled

north. Under the terms of the

agreement, he said, two flights are

scheduled each week, so long as

the truce holds.

Officials hope to soon increase

the number of flights, he said,

describing the first flights as “a

trial” for others, including some to

and from Egypt.

Washington, which long sup-

ported Saudi Arabia’s air cam-

paign in Yemen — which human

rights groups say has killed thou-

sands of civilians — but has more

recently distanced itself from the

fight and urged peace talks, hailed

the flights as a crucial step toward

peace. The Biden administration

and blood clots,” Alwazan said.

“When I heard they opened the

airport I was so happy. As you can

see, I’m unable to walk, let alone

travel a long and tiring trip to

Aden or Seiyun.”

Nearby, a man named Ahmed

sat with his relatives, waiting for

his brother, whose kidneys are

malfunctioning, to board the

flight. He spoke on the condition

that only his first name be used

because of security concerns.

His brother’s long illness has

left him unable to travel to Aden

by road, he said. He originally

planned to travel April 24 — but

his hopes were dashed when that

flight was canceled.

This time, the flight — sched-

uled to arrive empty from Aden —

was delayed. The family fidgeted

about, worrying it would be called

off once again.

“Do you think the flight will still

take place?” Ahmed asked every

few minutes. “We will not leave

the airport until we hear the

sound of the plane landing.”

Then, at about 8:15 a.m., the jet

descended into Sanaa, water can-

nons spraying the runway to hail

its much-anticipated arrival.

Shortly after, it took off again.

At last, Ahmed’s brother was on

his way.

O’Grady reported from Cairo.

Reopened Sanaa airport is a lifeline for sick and stranded

Amid a two-month truce in Yemen’s long-running civil war, the first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from the rebel-held capital

HANI MOHAMMED/ASSOCIATED PRESS

People wait to board a flight at t he Sanaa airport in Yemen on Monday. The first flight leaving Sanaa since 2016 had already been rescheduled from April 24.

has pledged to end the war in

Yemen and also appointed its own

special envoy to try to broker a

resolution.

“Yemen today is witnessing its

calmest period since the war be-

gan, and these flights are an im-

portant step in further improving

the lives and opportunities for the

Yemeni people,” National Security

Council spokeswoman Adrienne

Watson said in a statement Mon-

day.

Ahmed Alwazan, over 70,

looked exhausted as he sat in a

wheelchair waiting for the flight.

In the past, he had traveled abroad

to Egypt, Jordan and Germany for

medical treatments. But he and

his wife have not managed to go

abroad since 2011 — most recently

because of the airport closure.

“I suffer from problems in my

prostate, hemorrhoids, fistula

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Yemeni passengers leave Queen Alia International Airport in Amman after arriving in the

Jordanian capital from Sanaa on Monday. Many passengers were seeking medical care abroad.