In
Yemen As
Hadi's PM Is
Former Saleh
Oil Minister,
Who's
Blocking
Sanctions?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
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.
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.
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, 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.
We'll have
more on
this. Watch
this site.
, 
