The French Foreign minister has revealed that the EU will discuss imposing sanctions on Saleh Sanaa – Khaled Al- Harouji The French Foreign minister, Alain Juppe, has revealed that the EU will discuss next week imposing sanctions on Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The sanctions are to include freezing assets owned by Saleh and his loyalists.
Juppe said after his meeting in Paris on Monday with Yemeni activist and Novel peace prize winner Tawakal Karman: “I think we will study freezing Saleh’s assets as soon as possible.”
He confirmed that the issue was listed on the agenda of the EU ministerial meeting in Brussels next week. The procedure will be considered a severe impediment by the Yemenis, and will force Saleh to respond to the people’s demands. It might also push him to sign the Gulf initiative, which he had earlier agreed on three times before.
Juppe called on the Yemeni opposition to unite in their efforts to help international pressure so that power would be passed peacefully and the International Council’s decision would be implemented.
He said: “I’m ready to discuss with my European colleagues the guarantees to implement the decision, but our work will be more effective if the Yemeni opposition unites,” pointing out that international law will ease the way to starting an investigation to know if crimes committed by Saleh and his cronies should be addressed at the International Criminal Court.
Political sources in Yemen have expected that that political parties in the government and the opposition parties will reach a solution in the coming few days, especially as Vice President Abed Rabo Hadi returned from the US after a medical visit. Hadi’s visit to the US delayed delegate Jamal ben Amr’s visit to Sanaa, to continue negotiations to reach an agreement with Saleh.
Sources also said that the “joint meeting” delegation and the national council of the Yemeni parties, which consists of the Yemeni National Council for Revolution Forces’ president, Mohammed Salem Basandowa;  Yaseen Saed Noaman, leader of the JMP; Abdul Wahab Al-Ansi, Secretary General of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform  will visit Saudi Arabia during the next two days. They are to meet with the Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince, Nayef.