Coordination between the Houthis and the Yemeni Minister of Information and Tourism in the smuggling of antiquities

Observers and antiquities experts condemned the position of the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism in the Yemeni government, Moammar Al-Eryani, for his silence in the face of the phenomenon of smuggling Yemeni antiquities, which has recently spread significantly and remarkably.

While more than 62 directorates are witnessing random exhumations in many archaeological sites in most governorates, and antiquities trading is increasing, Al-Eryani turns a blind eye to this tampering, which the security services monitored in many of the cases that they seized. There is no doubt that he is a member of it.

In this regard, the antiquities Abdullah Mohsen said in a post on his page that catalogs of some antiquities dealers were issued with limited circulation, while the National Security Agency in Aden and its branches, and the Security and Intelligence Agency in Sana’a monitored many cases, and this resulted in Aden informing the Minister of Culture Moammar Al-Eryani of the situation, but he never looked at their reports, nor those of the Antiquities Authority in Aden.

Similar to what is happening in the areas controlled by the Houthis, the head of the so-called Houthi Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, had issued directives to the governors, through his office director, Ahmed Hamid, “on the necessity of serious interaction with attacks on archaeological sites, coordination with the security authorities, the authority’s branches, and arrest the vandals.

Activists in defense of antiquities asked about this organized looting and whether there is a joint gang that trades in Yemeni antiquities, according to Houthi coordination with Minister of Culture Moammar Al-Eryani and others in the Yemeni government of Maeen Abdul Malik.

Sales of Yemeni antiquities during the ten months of this year 2022 are increasing in number and decreasing in value, except for specific types of antiquities.