Sana'a University.. Houthi efforts to control its lands and the Iranian role behind that (file)

The Houthi militia has launched a series of attacks to seize the assets and some of the buildings of Sana'a University, in a new plan that apparently aims to undermine the university and establish private Houthi universities and hospitals in its place, using the assets and capabilities of Sana'a University.

In May 2024, a document obtained by "Yemeni Youth Net" showed a Houthi order to the Real Estate Authority to hand over 10,000 bricks from the land of Sana'a University to a Houthi merchant who recently appeared to build a medical city inside Sana'a University without any legal basis.

Another document obtained by "Yemeni Youth Net" showed an order to Sana'a University from Ahmed Hamed, director of Al-Mashat's office and the number one Houthi man in the state institutions in Sana'a - according to observers - to hand over the land to the university without talking about compensation or addressing the university's share of any money in exchange for handing over thousands of real estate units.

Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi militia’s Supreme Political Council, ordered Sana’a University to hand over at least 8 buildings of the university’s assets located on its northern side to the Houthi Endowments Authority.

Al-Mashat said in his speech on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at a major conference organized by the Houthi militia and attended by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, to force state institutions to hand over their assets, buildings, real estate and funds to the Endowments Authority, that Sana'a University must hand over the northern buildings of Sana'a University to the Endowments Authority according to the latest agreement between the two parties. Al-Mashat did not reveal the details of the latest agreement between them.

The Houthi attacks on the university began much earlier, as the Houthi Saba news agency published news at the end of July 2016 about a meeting held between the Minister of Endowments in the Houthi government at the time, Najib Al-Aji, and the President of Sana’a University, Dr. Fawzi Al-Saghir, to give the university ownership of the residential endowment buildings located to its north.

Sana'a University Residential Buildings

After the pressure from faculty members at Sana'a University intensified, demanding that they be provided with housing, the university, headed by Saleh Basra, signed an agreement with the Ministry of Endowments during the era of "Hamoud Al-Hatar" to build 8 residential complexes for faculty members, funded by the Faculty Housing Association, according to an article published by Dr. Abdullah Al-Fadhli on the website of the Faculty Members Syndicate in 2012.

Two other professors at the university told Yemen Youth Net that the agreement was between Sana'a University and the Investment Authority of the Ministry of Endowments, whereby the ministry would undertake the construction in return for a sum it would receive. Within a few years, 7 or 8 residential buildings, most of which were multi-storey, were constructed, and then the project was halted.

A faculty member said the project was halted after the Endowments tried to change the plans to build markets and shops inside the university. Meanwhile, an informed source in a former presidency of Sana’a University said that the university handed over all the money to the Endowments in exchange for carrying out the works, not in exchange for the land, as the land is owned by the university.

A third source told Yemen Youth Net that the university had paid everything it owed, but technical disagreements over the project plans halted the work.

The former university president, Saleh Basra, said in 2005 that disagreements and rejections arose over the issue of building residential complexes within the university, which led to the project’s completion being delayed immediately after Basra was dismissed from the university presidency.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Fadhli explained that the disputes arose after the Awqaf insisted that residential buildings contain shops that it would rent as part of the construction fee.

The Houthi Ministry of Endowments admitted early on that its role was implementation and that the reason for not completing the construction was the refusal of Sana’a University to pay the sums allocated for construction only.

In 2019, Houthi Minister of Endowments Sharaf al-Qalisi said that Sana'a University had not paid the 500 million it owed for construction. He added another reason that confirms what Basra and two sources who spoke to "Yemeni Youth Net" said: "Sana'a University changed the construction plan, which led to the project's completion being delayed."

After the peaceful revolution, the Faculty Union led new demonstrations to seize housing for its members, which led to the government of Mohammed Salem Basindwa issuing a decision to distribute 13 bricks to faculty members, but it was not implemented.

Claiming ownership of endowments

After the change of the presidency of Sana'a University, the Endowments held the first meeting regarding the funds that it claims Sana'a University did not hand over in exchange for building residential complexes north of the university, and the Houthi Saba Agency reported that the meeting included the university purchasing the residential buildings.

The meeting was held between Fawzi Al-Saghir, the university president, and Fouad Naji, the deputy minister of endowments, who is a Houthi, and several reports say he sold thousands of lands at low prices to the families of Houthi fighters.

A report indicates that "Naji" sold at one time Waqf lands in the Madbah and Shamlan area for tens of millions to the families of Houthi fighters.

In this regard, the Houthi Saba News Agency published news stating that the amounts borne by Sana'a University for the construction of the buildings amount to 500 million riyals, and that the construction contract included that the Ministry of Endowments would invest in the construction and finance it. An informed source said that the university paid all the money.

On March 22, 2016, the Houthi-appointed Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Abdullah Al-Shami, issued a decision to change the leadership of Sana’a University, replacing it with a new leadership loyal to the group.

The decision stipulated the appointment of Dr. Fawzi Hamoud Al-Sagheer as Acting President of the University, Dr. Muhammad Ali Shukri as Acting Vice President of the University for Student Affairs, and Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mutaa as Acting Vice President of the University for Academic Affairs.

The university and college councils rejected the decision and went on several strikes and sit-ins that lasted for weeks at the time. But the decision was actually implemented.

After the change, the presidency of Sana’a University, appointed by the Houthis, held a meeting with the Ministry of Endowments at the end of July 2016, in which they agreed to value the buildings at the price of the time and place, and pay it to the endowments.

The two parties agreed to form a committee to determine the value of construction and occupancy within one month. But the committee did not complete its work. It seems that the plan was clear from the beginning and the excuse was the debts owed to the university.

The matter developed from demanding the payment of debts to claiming ownership of vast lands in the university, amounting to more than half of it; the first Houthi claim of ownership of the university was mentioned in a news item published by the Houthi Saba Agency on January 10, 2017, by the Director of the Endowments Office in the Capital Secretariat, in which he claimed that the Houthi Endowments own more than 24 thousand bricks on the campus of Sana’a University.

An informed source at Sana'a University told "Yemeni Youth Net" that the entire land of Sana'a University amounts to 41 thousand bricks. This means that the Houthis want to seize more than half of the university, including buildings, colleges and assets. The informed source confirms that there is a large Houthi plan to control the university under these claims and justifications.

The two parties held another meeting a week later between Houthi leader Sharaf al-Qalisi, the Houthi Minister of Endowments, and members of the teaching staff at Sana’a University, represented by Najib al-Maghribi, in which they agreed to complete the residential buildings project, but they called it the “Residential Endowments City,” and to search for financiers to purchase the buildings.

The news published by Saba Agency also included a new formula for controlling the land, which included Sana’a University’s commitment to paying the rent of the endowment lands, which amount to 24,000 bricks. The agency said that the agreement, according to the proposal, was submitted by the director of the endowment office in the secretariat, without mentioning this person’s name.

Sana'a University's deduction and division

In 2019, the Houthi Saba News Agency published news about the House of Representatives listening to the responses and clarifications of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Hussein Hazeb, and the Minister of Endowments and Guidance, Najib Nasser Al-Aji, regarding the unfinished residential buildings of Sana’a University - which the former Houthi Minister of Endowments said cost less than 500 million riyals.

The news reported that the Endowments will separate the buildings project from Sana'a University due to the failure to pay the debts owed to the Endowments. It then added that Sana'a University must pay the cost of the works while keeping the lands under the Endowments.

The demands expanded to include Sana'a University signing lease contracts for the university's endowment lands, including paying rent for past periods, i.e. a period of 40 years. The agency said that Al-Ajji proposed the option of separating the residential project, which was renamed the Endowment City, from Sana'a University, and handing it over to the Endowment to implement its projects.

In February 2020, the Houthi Saba Agency published that the engineering committee tasked with preparing the report, consisting of the Ministries of Endowments and Public Works and Sana’a University, regarding the project consisting of eight buildings, each building consisting of eight floors, at a total cost of the work carried out on the project of two billion and 786 million riyals, at a time and place price.

Awqaf University is an alternative to Sana'a University

Ahmed Hamed, by order of Al-Mashat, established the Houthi Endowments Authority in January 2021, separating it from the Ministry of Endowments, and began a fierce battle against the people and the private sector, reaching state institutions, as happened in yesterday’s meeting to recover endowment lands. Abdul Majeed Al-Houthi claimed in a press interview that the authority aims to recover millions of frankincense from endowments, including 170 types of endowments.

This comes at a time when the latest report by sanctions experts stated that the organization seized lands in Hodeidah worth more than $12 million in a single robbery.

Just two months after its formation, the organization evicted more than 41 university professors from an old residence at Sana’a University, and evicted dozens of others from apartments rented by university faculty members, and housed its followers instead.

Late 2021, the Houthi-appointed president of Sana'a University, Al-Qasim Abbas, appealed in a memorandum to Abdul Majeed Al-Houthi to allocate assistance to faculty members at Sana'a University from the authority's funds, including the payment of cash assistance to senior professors at Sana'a University at a rate of 100,000 riyals per month for a professor, 60,000 riyals for an assistant professor, and 40,000 for employees and teaching assistants. Abdul Majeed Al-Houthi expressed his intention to allocate an amount to assist the faculty under the item of the scholars and learners' bank, but then he reneged on that.

In early 2022, Abdul Majeed al-Houthi asked Sana’a University to help him amend the endowment law to suit the Endowment Authority. He then intensified his meetings with the president of Sana’a University, Al-Qasim Abbas, who was appointed by the Houthis.

Iranian University

In June 2022, the Houthi Endowments Authority organized the first conference on endowments, in which Abdul-Malik al-Houthi participated with an opening speech supporting the authority. The conference resulted in a recommendation to restore all endowments from each party. It also called for the establishment of the Endowments University for Science and Technology.

Only six months later, talk began in Sana’a about the Houthi practical measures to implement the Awqaf University, and the authority said on January 3, 2023, that a meeting headed by the head of the General Authority for Awqaf, Abdul Majeed Al-Houthi, approved the budget of the Center for Studies and Research for the year 1444 AH and the preparation of a study to establish the Awqaf University for Science and Technology, establishing scientific, medical, engineering and applied colleges, in implementation of the outcomes of the first National Conference on Awqaf.

This was followed by another meeting between the President of Sana'a University, Al-Qasim Abbas, Abdul Aziz bin Habtoor, and the Houthi Endowments Authority, which discussed the issue of handing over the lands of Sana'a University and the unfinished teachers' housing to the Houthi Endowments Authority.

Less than a month later, the procedures for establishing the Houthi-owned Awqaf University on the grounds of Sana’a University were moving forward with the holding of a scientific workshop on the correct academic steps and procedures for establishing the Awqaf University for Science and Technology, organized by the Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance Council for Higher Education.

On June 20, 2023, the Houthi militia organized a broad meeting for the leaders of state institutions and the Endowments Authority, in which it ordered them to hand over all contracts, grant them judicial control, and deduct any amounts from any non-revenue entities through the central accounts.

Al-Mashat said: “Sana’a University must hand over the buildings belonging to the Endowments Authority north of the university to complete them and benefit from them according to the latest agreement between the Endowments Authority and the university, in accordance with the purpose designated for the project.” This means building the Endowments University for Science and Technology as an alternative to Sana’a University.

Al-Mashat provided a huge opportunity to finance the project by seizing the bank funds confiscated by a law he issued in March 2023, which the militia refuses to return to the people and depositors, and granting it to Abdul-Majid al-Houthi to complete the construction of his private university on the ruins of Sana’a University.

He said in his speech in June 2023: “The Economic Committee and banks must cooperate with the Awqaf Authority in seeking financing for its investment projects by activating the suspended capital after amending the usury law.”

What about the Iranian role in this plan?

Only two weeks after the Houthis stormed Sana’a University with armed force and changed its presidency at the end of March 2016, the then Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Sana’a, Mortada Abdeen, visited the university, accompanied by the university president appointed by the Houthis, Fawzi al-Saghir. He then opened and later the College of Persian Language and closed dozens of other academic departments.

At the end of 2021, specifically in October of that year, Iran announced the arrival of a new chargé d'affaires in Sana'a, Hassan Irloo, who was killed in late 2022 by Corona, as Iran says, but he was very active at Sana'a University. He established a large hall for scientific research, as the Iranian embassy claimed at the time, and stressed its support for the university.

According to statistical reports, more than forty prominent scholars from Sana'a University were killed and died in 2021 in various ways.

This comes at a time when sources indicate that the Iranian International Azad University intends to establish a branch in Yemen, according to a statement by Ali Velayati, the Iranian Supreme Leader’s advisor for cultural affairs, in September 2021.

In July of last year, Sana'a University announced the provision of scholarships and entertainment to Iran for students enrolled in the Persian Language Department, in an attempt by the militia and Iran to recruit the largest possible number of Yemeni youth through Sana'a University students to form a branch of the Iranian Basij in Yemen.