Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has earmarked $10 billion in aid for the reconstruction of provinces retaken from Shiite Huthi rebels.
Riyadh, which since March 2015 has led a military coalition to support pro-Hadi fighters in Yemen, has made no official announcement on the aid.
Hadi said the oil-rich neighbouring kingdom had allocated $10 billion “for the reconstruction of liberated provinces, including $2 billion as a deposit in the central bank to shore up the (Yemeni) riyal”, the Saba news agency reported.
The president, speaking in the government’s temporary southern capital of Aden, called on his government to focus on power, water, roads, health and education in retaken areas.
Pro-government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition took back five southern provinces from the rebels in 2015, but Huthis still control the capital and much of northern Yemen.
More than 7,400 people have been killed since the coalition intervened in impoverished Yemen two years ago, including around 1,400 children, according to the United Nations.
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