Yemen ex-leader\'s party urges transparency in UN sanctions

Yemeni former President Ali Abdullah Saleh The party of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused of impeding the country's political transition, urged transparency Sunday following a UN Security Council decision to punish obstructionists. The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously backed sanctions against those found to be "obstructing or undermining the successful completion of the political transition," a decision said to be targeting Saleh and his supporters.
The measure will create a three-member panel that will oversee the imposition of sanctions and decide who would be targeted.
The General People's Congress "hopes the work of the committee will be transparent, clear and independent of any foreign or domestic influences," the party said in a statement posted on its website Sunday.
The statement followed a Saturday meeting of the party's politburo presided over by Saleh, who stepped down in February 2012 after a year of Arab Spring-inspired protests against his three-decade rule.
The party said it was committed to "cooperation" to conclude the political transition through the drafting of a new constitution and holding general and presidential elections.
The UN measure states that its targets include anyone committing "attacks on essential infrastructure or acts of terrorism" as well as those who violate human rights and international humanitarian law.
It is to remain in force for an initial period of one year.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is grappling with an increasingly violent separatist movement in the south, which was independent between the end of British colonial rule in 1967 and union with the north in 1990.
Some countries had wanted Saleh, often blamed for the unrest, named in the document, but the resolution refrains from listing any specific individuals or entities.
The UN Security Council's vote followed a national dialogue in Yemen last year which brought together representatives of different political families -- excluding southern secessionists -- and laid the foundations for a six-region federation.
Source: AFP