Treasury announces sanctions against Yemeni partisans

Yemen’s former president and a pair of military commanders have been slapped with U.S. sanctions for using violence to try to overthrow the country’s government.

The Treasury Department announced the sanctions Monday against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and military commanders within the Huthi insurgent group, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim and Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi.

{mosads}“The U.S. government and the international community fully support Yemen as it works to implement its economic reform agenda, achieve effective governance, and secure a more representative future,” said Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen.  “We will hold accountable anyone who threatens the stability of Yemen and the efforts of the Yemeni people to accomplish a peaceful political transition.”

The Treasury said that since the fall of 2012, Saleh has been a main backer of using Huthi-sponsored violence to try and destabilize Yemen, proving funds and political support to such efforts.

The U.S. government also claimed that the two commanders were behind several operations aimed at fomenting unrest and attacking political opponents in the country. The Treasury said al-Hakim had been implicated in a June plot to overthrow Yemen President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and that he held several meetings with partisans loyal to Saleh.

In October 2013, the Treasury said al-Huthi led fighters disguised as Yemeni military in an attack and is preparing fighters to attack diplomatic facilities.

Under the sanctions, the three will have any assets held in the U.S. or by Americans frozen, and any Americans will be prohibited from doing business with them.