US froze huge Yemen aid deal amid unrest: report

AFP/Washington

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the ousting of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa yesterday

The US halted a record aid deal for Yemen in February amid growing unrest, marking a sharp about-face in US policy toward the anti-terror ally, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Unnamed US officials told the Journal the latest package potentially worth $1bn or more was an attempt to get fluctuating US-Yemen counter-terrorism co-operation back on track. Washington had been due to deliver in February the first instalment of the aid package, the White House’s biggest investment yet to secure more active support from President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the fight against Al Qaeda’s notorious branch in Yemen. But protesters took to the streets before the aid could reach Saleh, calling for an end to his 32-year rule amid a wave of anti-regime unrest roiling across the Middle East and North Africa. The newspaper said the proposed package included up to $200mn in counter-terrorism support for the fiscal year that ends on September 30 - up from $155mn in fiscal 2010 and a mere $4.6mn in 2006 - and about the same amount of funds for development assistance. Saleh had long sought the development aid in order to convince the Yemeni public of the benefits of co-operating with Washington after he allowed US Special Forces to target militants inside his country despite widespread public opposition. White House support for Saleh has also gradually ebbed. Spokesman Jay Carney reminded Saleh on Tuesday of his “responsibility to ensure the safety and security of Yemenis who are exercising their universal right to engage in political expression” in an unusually personal warning following violence against demonstrators by Yemeni government forces. Carney also urged Saleh to resolve the political impasse with the opposition so that “meaningful” political change could take place in an orderly and peaceful manner. Western officials believe Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen—Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—was behind a failed plot to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit in 2009 and an attempt to detonate explosives last year on a cargo plane bound for Chicago. In Yemen, Saleh’s official response to opposition demands to step down and hand over to his deputy for an interim period has been to urge protesters to dismantle their roadblocks and go home.