Yemen has been granted another opportunity to keep the historical city of Zabid on the UNESCO world heritage list, the September 26 website reported on Saturday, quoting a statement by culture minister, Abdullah Awbal.
"The UNESCO has given Yemen another test opportunity to keep the historical city of Zabid as a world heritage site," he said, adding the authorities are facing big challenges to conserve the country's historical cities.
Zabid, a historic city in the western province of Hodeida, was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 1993.
it has key historical and archaeological landmarks since it was the capital of Yemen from the 13th to the 15th century and a Islamic education center for Arabs and Muslims.
In 2000, the UNESCO put Zabid on the list of world heritage in danger and threatened to remove the city from the world heritage list, after its reports found that many ancient houses and landmarks were in a deteriorating state and many others replaced by concrete buildings.
It urged the Yemeni government to conserve the historical city to keep it on its list.
This year, the UNESCO warned again to remove the city from its world heritage list, giving the new government few months to rescue the town from threats to its historical landmarks.
The minister said the authorities are facing big challenges to conserve Yemen's historical cities including the old Sanaa city where random construction continues, according to the website.
Yemen has three historical cities, Old Sanaa City, Shibam City in Hadramout and Zabid as well as Socotra Archipelago in the Indian ocean as UNESCO world heritage sites.