Report: Al-Zubaidi used his influence to seize 9,587 square meters of state land in Aden

A report published by the website "Al-Masdar Online" has revealed documents it says show that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, head of the dissolved Southern Transitional Council (STC), used his influence in September 2023 to document a building and its annexes on an area of 9,587 square meters of state land, next to the Elephant Resort in the Tawahi district of Yemen's interim capital, Aden.

According to the report, a document dated September 17, 2023, showed directives to the head of the General Authority for Land, Survey, and Urban Planning to document the building and its surrounding area, after the site stated that the seizure and construction took place on state-owned land.

"Al-Masdar Online" places this incident within a broader file in which it says it is tracking the disposal of state lands, residential plans, public facilities, and resorts in Aden over the past years, based on documents and information from sources within the Land Authority.

The report said that about three-quarters of a residential plot in Sha'ab City, Buraiqa district, which was designated for employees of the Land Authority, was seized for figures linked to officials in the government and the STC, while the employees' share was limited to the remaining part and small plots.

The site listed the names of officials and figures it said had obtained plots within the plan or in other areas, including Aden's security director Mutahar al-Shaibi, former land protection unit commander Kamal al-Halmi, former Aden governor Ahmed Lamlas, and Minister of Fisheries Fahd Kafain, in addition to other personalities.

The report also presented documents of land lease contracts in various locations in Aden, stating that some were concluded for low rental amounts compared to the land areas and their locations. 

Among the cases it cited was a contract for leasing land in Sha'ab City with an area of 522 square meters, another with an area of more than 15,000 square meters, in addition to land in the Air Defense area in Arish with an area of 1,200 square meters.

The report also covered a number of resorts and public facilities, saying that sites including the Cable Car Resort in Buraiqa, Al-Komsari Park in Dar Saad, and the Diplomatic Resort in Tawahi were handed over to investors or individuals close to STC leaders without public tenders being announced.

It noted the leasing of the Elephant Bay Resort in Tawahi in 2017 for $200 per month, according to a document it said it obtained, in addition to other incidents related to public and private lands and properties.

"Al-Masdar Online" also touched on government, party, and media headquarters that it said the STC had seized over the past years, including the headquarters of the General People's Congress party in Tawahi, the headquarters of the Yemen News Agency "Saba" in Aden, and the headquarters of the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate, which the report said were later converted into headquarters for the council.

The report also mentioned that an official at the Land Authority's branch in Aden was kidnapped in March 2024, after he refused, according to the site's sources, to approve transactions for the disbursement of land in the Bir Fadl area to influential figures, before being released days later.

In the private property file, the report stated that a group associated with al-Zubaidi seized two villas belonging to a citizen in Khormaksar, despite a court ruling to return them to their owner, according to the site.

"Al-Masdar Online" concluded that the land issue in Aden has become one of the most prominent files of the struggle for influence in recent years, calling, as stated in the report, for a review of the contracts and actions taken during that period, the implementation of judicial rulings, the investigation of any violations, and the recovery of state properties proven to have been illegally disposed of.