Yemeni cabinet intensifies reform work

The Yemeni cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Salim Basindwa decided in its weekly meeting to form a cabinet committee of five ministers to set follow up on decrees by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The committee will include the ministries of defence, interior, communications and information technology, planning and international cooperation, and the Minister of State as well as a cabinet member. The body will be responsible for procedures to implement the directions based on President Hadi’s discussions with the cabinet on Sunday. The cabinet affirmed said the government was committed to helping implement President Hadi's decrees and the remaining steps prescribed by the Gulf-backed power transfer deal that put Hadi in place of veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country for 33 years. Yemen's richer oil-rich Gulf neighbours stepped in to prevent the chaos that gripped the country from worsening after a pro-democracy uprising erupted in the country. The cabinet praised efforts and steps by the technical committee for preparation of the national political dialogue. PM Basindwa stated that the financial aid donated to Yemen would be placed in a special international support fund to “ensure their being invested in the best possible means, returning the benefit to Yemen and its people, and achieve the desired development,” and justified the move as a means to “prevent tampering and corruption from [reaching] this aid.” Basindwa said that Yemen “will not succeed in achieving any development except by uprooting corruption which affected the country’s resources and aid”. He said the government would be "firm" in dealing with corrupt officials "whoever they may be", saying “all the world’s wealth cannot achieve development while corruption continues.”