US to freeze assets to help Yemeni transition
US President Barack Obama meets with small business owners to discuss income tax credits during a roundtable discussion at Taylor Gourmet restaurant in Washington on May 16, 2012. — ReutersWASHINGTON, May 16 — US President Barack Obama today ordered the freezing of US assets of anyone the United States considers to be obstructing the Washington-backed political transition in Yemen.
The executive order targets “certain members of the Government of Yemen and others,” according to a copy of the document released by the White House that did not include names or organizations already determined to be in violation.
Washington has stepped up its drone attacks in Yemen since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February amid an al Qaeda-fueled rebellion in the south.
The Pentagon said this week it had recently resumed sending military trainers into the Gulf Arab country.
Washington backed a power transfer plan that made Hadi the successor to President Ali Abdullah Saleh after a year of mass protests which coincided with a split in the army that threatened to erupt into civil war.
The deal stipulates the new president should lead Yemen through a two-year period in the hope that the impoverished nation will be able to use that time to end political chaos. — Reuters
