SANA'A: In a recent interview with al-Arabiya TV channel, the special UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar admitted by omission that former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was seriously hindering the transitional process, allowing his loyalists to run havoc in Yemen, stirring trouble and preventing the restructuring of the army as per provisioned under the GCC brokered power-transfer agreement. Ever since President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi attempted to remove some of Saleh's relatives form their key military positions, Yemen went from one drama to the next having to rely on western powers' influence over the veteran politician to enforce Hadi's presidential decrees. European officials said to have grown tired of such political manipulation as they stressed it was preventing Yemen from concentrating on its terror threat. In a press conference on Monday with Director of the MENA Department at the European Union (EU), Christian Berger, and EU Ambassador to Yemen, Michele Cervone d'Urso, the latter told reporters that the troops stationed in Sana'a should be redeployed in the front lines to fight against al-Qaeda, namely in the south where this organization is active. Cervone stated that the EU supports President Hadi and the Military Affairs Committee with regard to security aspects, and the presidential decisions regarding the changes in the military and security leaderships. And while all Yemen “partners” are hailing Hadi's progress and its recent decisions in regards to the new Information Law and the organization of the national dialogue conference, they warned that “negative influences” would face severe consequences. The UN visiting official said that the European aids and the financial grants increased during this year, and would rise in the next coming years, expressing concern at the critical economy situation in Yemen. As reported by IRIN in its last publication, Yemen is staring at a humanitarian abyss of astronomical proportion which will only get worse if funds are not immediately release where they are needed.
