SANA'A: Alain Juppe, the French Foreign minister who is currently receiving Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman, has announced that the European Union is set to discuss the possibility of freezing President Ali Abdullah Saleh's assets as well as that of his entourage in a new effort to push him to resign. “I think asset freezes will be discussed as soon as possible,” said Juppe, adding that the matter was already on the Brussel's meeting's agenda next week as the EU is said to be determined to resolve the Yemeni crisis. The news was received warmly by Karman, as the young activist who has been traveling the globe has been lobbying hard for the international community to step up their involvement in Yemen, calling for sanctions against the 69 year-old autocrat. Karman has on many occasions declared that she would like to see Saleh's fortune seized and his person taken to the International Criminal Court what crimes against humanity. The activist has accused Saleh of “letting blood flow daily” in Yemen in a bid to retain his position. “We need more actions. We want you to freeze the assets of Saleh and his people and see that action is taken at the International Criminal Court as he is a war criminal.” Since the adoption of the 2014 UN Security Council Resolution, president Saleh has been under increased pressure to agree to a power-transfer enounced by the GCC brokered proposal. “I am ready to discuss with my European colleagues how to ensure the resolution is implemented, but our action would be more efficient if the (Yemen) opposition was more united,” said Juppe. He further added that the eventuality of an inquiry into alleged war crimes was on the table since there were not subject to immunity from prosecution according to the international law. BM
