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EU Measures Underway to Freeze Assets of Yemen's Ex-Leader, His Family
 [Yemen Post] Europe started measures to freeze assets of Yemen's ex-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and his relatives holding posts in the army and other public offices, coinciding with a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a report on Yemen on Tuesday, Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported. The London-based newspaper quoted a Western diplomat as saying that European banks and financial institutions are currently conducting intensive investigations to identify the source of the assets of Saleh and his family to freeze them in case the UN Security Council decides to punish them. Earlier this month, the US president Barrack Obama gave an executive order to freeze the assets of Yemeni officials obstructing a power-transfer deal, which was brokered by the GCC and backed by the UN in November after mass protests against the Saleh regime. After the US move, Europe hinted to punish Yemeni officials behind instability and acts affecting the implementation of the deal. Some military commanders, including Saleh's relatives, have rebelled against decrees replacing them, which were issued by new president Abdrabu Mansour Hadi. Some of them gave up, but Tariq Saleh, a nephew of Saleh, has been refusing to hand over the third brigade. The UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Beomar has failed few times to convince Saleh to hand over this brigade, and on his last visit to the country, he warned to submit his report on the situation in Yemen including suggestion to punish officials affecting the transition. "The insistence of Saleh and his family on staying in power and ignoring the terms of the power-transfer deal despite all efforts and agreements after the unrest has already been as a roadblock to a smooth transition in the country," the Western diplomat said, according to the newspaper. "Because of arrogance and not respecting the UN resolutions and regional agreements over Yemen, the EU and other countries have decided to freeze the assets of Saleh and his family," the source continued. "Harder sanctions will be taken if officials continue to affect the transition in Yemen as some European countries have already planned to freeze assets". Separately, the newspaper quoted an informed source as saying that Saleh and his family have exploited the time since the deal was signed to transfer their assets from Western countries into regional countries. The wealth of Saleh and his family has been estimated at $50 billion, including assets which have been transferred from the West to Asian countries to avoid punishments, the source said, according to the paper. Posted by: Fred 2012-05-30 |
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