By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 31 --
Amid Houthi
demands in
Yemen, on
October 31 the
US State
Department put
out this
answer to a
question taken
earlier that
day:
Question:
Do you have
any reaction
to reports
that the
Houthis have
given
President Hadi
10 days to
form a
government?
Answer: We
have seen the
reports that
speakers at a
Houthi-convened
conference
today
announced a
deadline for
President Hadi
to form a
government in
10 days.
U.S. officials
continue to
support the
efforts of
Yemen’s
political
constituencies,
especially
President Hadi
and Prime
Minister
Bahah, in
implementing
the provisions
of the
September 21
Peace and
National
Partnership
Agreement,
including the
formation of a
government.
All Yemenis,
including the
Houthis, have
an important
role to play
in working
peacefully to
form a
government
that can meet
the needs of
the Yemeni
people and
continue to
pursue the key
steps of its
political
transition.
Back on
October 13 after
Yemeni Prime
Minster
designate
Ahmed Awadh
Bin Mubarak
was vetoed by
the Houthis,
on October 13
President Hadi
appointed
Yemen’s
current UN
Ambassador
Khaled
Mahfoodh
Abdulla Bahah
to the
position.
Later
on October 13
after a
three-hour UN
Security
Council
meeting, brief
"press
elements"
were
read
out at the stakeout
once again
vaguely
threatening
sanctions --
Inner City Press'
questions
including
about
secession of
the South were
not answered
-- and
welcoming
Bahah as prime
minister.
He was
Minister of
Oil and
Minerals of
Yemen from
2006 until
2008, under
Ali Saleh,
including
being “the
Chairman of
the Board of
Directors for
the Yemen
Liquefied
Natural Gas
Project with
investments of
over $4
Billion,
Chairman of
the Safer
Exploration
and Production
Petroleum
Company and,
Chairman of
the Yemen
General
Corporation
for Oil and
Gas, which
includes the
Aden Refinery
Company, the
Yemen Refinery
Company, the
Yemen Oil
Company, the
Yemen
Investment Oil
Company, and
the Petroleum
Training
Center.”
That's a
whole lot of
hydrocarbons.
When
UN Security
Council
president for
October Maria
Cristina
Perceval of
Argentina
read-out the
Council's
press
statement on
Yemen on
October 10,
Inner City
Press asked if
there was
increased
discussion in
the Council of
imposing the
sanctions for
which a
committee,
well paid but
yet to act,
has already
been set up.
The
Security
Council's last
press
statement on
September 23
said that “the
members of the
Security
Council recall
that the
members of the
Sanctions
Committee
established
under
resolution
2140 expressed
their
readiness,
with a sense
of urgency, to
consider
proposals for
the
designation of
individuals or
entities as
subject to the
targeted
sanctions
measures under
resolution
2140.”
Perceval
said
there would be
consultations
of the Council
on October 10.
Yet
more sources
are telling
Inner City
Press that
even as the US
has belatedly
turned serious
about imposing
the long
threatened
sanctions on
Ali Saleh,
another
permanent
member of the
UN Security
Council,
France,
still hoping
for its
national
hydrocarbon
industry to
continue the
privileged
deals it had
under Saleh
(for example
the
2005 LNG deal
with Total,
criticized by
many including
Nobel Peace
Prize winner Tawakkul
Karman, UN angle
here) is
blocking or
delaying
sanctions, as
least until
now.
Security
Council
president for
October Maria
Cristina
Perceval of
Argentina, in
the elements
to the press
she read out,
said the
Council will
now urgently
considered
sanctions.
We'll see.
Watch this
site.
, 
