US Unable to Account for $500 Million Military Aid to Yemen

Reuters20.03.2015 Yemen
US Unable to Account for $500 Million Military Aid to Yemen

US Unable to Account for $500 Million Military Aid to Yemen

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The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) admitted that it is unable to account for more than 500 million USD worth of military aid given to Yemen from 2007.

“We have to assume it's completely compromised and gone," said a Pentagon official whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the "sensitivity of the matter” to the Washington Post's Wednesday issue.

The equipment which consists of hundreds of light guns, ammunition, night-vision goggles and tens of vehicles, aircrafts and boats are feared to be in possession of Al Qaeda or other parties amid the turmoil and instability Yemen has been facing.

“Even in best-case scenario in an unstable country, we never have 100 percent accountability,” the official added announcing that an aid package which is estimated to be worth USD 125 million scheduled to be delivered to Yemen will be halted and instead be donated to other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Meanwhile, Gulf Arab states said on Wednesday that they would not allow Yemen to transform into a center for regional terrorism organizations.

In a statement issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Arab states also condemned “the actions taken by Houthi rebels to dissolve the Parliament and the takeover of government institutions in Yemen.”

The Arab Gulf bloc expressed its “rejection of the various acts of violence, for achieving political goals, intimidating the Yemeni people, suppressing their freedoms, and violating their rights.”

On Tuesday Houthi militiamen who control the Yemeni capital attacked the house of a Senior Army Commander, killing one guard and detaining two more, an army source said.

General Mohammed Rajah Laboudha was not home at the time. 

General Laboudha heads the Fifth Military Region, which covers the strategic Red Sea province of Hudeida, which has been partly held by the Huthis since they seized power in Sana'a on February 6.

Tuesday’s attack came the day after the Huthis fired Air Force Commander General Rashid al-Jund and one of his deputies, General Abdellatif al-Zuhairi, replacing them with Officers close to Sana’a new masters.

Source: Reuters; Washington Post

 



 
 

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