A general view of the mass wedding ceremony in Sana’a.
Sana’a: Upon a gesture by the Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and under the auspices of Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a mass wedding, supervised by the Orphan Foundation in Yemen, was held yesterday in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
The ceremony at May 22 Hall in the Sport City was the world’s largest as 4,000 brides and grooms from various provinces tied the knot.
A Qatari delegation, led by the Assistant Foreign Minister for International Cooperation H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Jabor Al Thani, the Adviser to the Yemeni President for Defence and Security Affairs, Maj. Gen. Ali Muhsin Salih, ministers, top officials, members of diplomatic corps, representatives of charitable and civic organisations and associations from more than 30 countries were present.
In a speech, Sheikh Ahmed expressed pleasure over participating in the event as a representative of Qatar and on behalf of the Father Emir.
He said the wedding aimed at strengthening solidarity and cooperation between various segments of society and reducing expenses for those wanting to get married.
The Minister also highlighted Qatar’s humanitarian and development support for Yemen and said it stemmed from Qatar’s keenness and commitment to support efforts that will provide a favourable climate for national dialogue and the attainment of security and stability and a conducive infrastructure for sustainable development that would fulfil aspirations of the Yemeni people .
He cited Qatar’s assistance to the Yemeni people and said in the light of a Gulf initiative, Qatar had pledged $350m to support Yemen.
He said Qatar had also pledged to build Hamad Medical City in the city of Taiz, at a cost of $280m as part of $500m committed by Doha at the donor conference. He said technical and engineering consultations on the project have been completed.
He also referred to the gesture of the Father Emir, estimated at about $2.82m, in support of the mass wedding.
He said Qatar had also provided $2.7m to fight malaria, stressing that Qatar was sparing no effort in supporting dialogue in Yemen to help achieve aspirations for development and prosperity.
He hoped that the national dialogue conference would come out with the consensus required for successful implementation of the Gulf initiative. QNA
