Cabinet study means to preserve Zabid City

SANA'A, Dec. 29 (Saba) - Cabinet was
briefed on Tuesday on the necessary steps to preserve the historic city of Zabid in
Hodeidah
governorate, west of Sana'a.

In the weekly meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ali Mujawar, the cabinet reviewed a
report on the current situation of Zabid city.
The report was submitted to a committee chaired by Deputy Premier for Interior
Affairs Sadiq Abu Ras with the membership of Culture and Endowment Ministers,
Hodeidah governor
and reprehensive of the Development Social Fund.
The committee is to study the report in details and prepare a comprehensive vision
to protect the unique architectural character of the historic city.
The committee has to submit its findings to the cabinet, which accordingly would
ratify the required policies and procedures that guarantee the protection of the
architectural
character of Zabid City.
Zabid (100 km south of Hodeidah governorate, which is some 265km away from the
capital Sana'a) is one of the oldest cities in Yemen.
It is a town with a population of around 23,000 people on Yemen's western coastal
plain.
It was a former capital of Yemen, from the 13th to the 15th century, and a center
of the Arab and Muslim world due in large part to its famed University of Zabid and
being
a center of Islamic education.
Zabid has been declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. Its Great Mosque
occupies a prominent place in the city. The vestiges of its university can also be
visited.
The Yemeni government had asked for Zabid to be inscribed on the List of World
Heritage in Danger to facilitate its preservation.
In 2000, Zabid was listed on the list of World Heritage in Danger.
According to a UNESCO report, roughly "40% of the city's houses have been replaced
by concrete buildings and other houses and the ancient souk are in a deteriorating
state.
AF/AF