YEMEN: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh calls on the government's new cabinet to wage a vigorous war against corruption

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh calls on the governments new cabinet to wage a vigorous war against corruption. Saleh's newly appointed Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar says that the battle against corruption will be fought through institutional and legal reform as well monitoring transparency. Yemen's new cabinet must wage a vigorous war on corruption as it presses ahead with economic reform, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Saturday (April 7). "You must wage a vigorous war on corruption and the corrupt and those who wish to corrupt officials because there are elements that intentionally wish to corrupt officials. Therefore, a vigorous war must be waged on corruption and the corrupt," Saleh told members of Ali Mohammed Megawar's cabinet after they took the oath of office. Saleh, re-elected in September, appointed Megawar as prime minister on March 31 in what analysts regarded as a bid to show donors, such as the World Bank, he was serious about reform. After meeting with cabinet ministers and the president in the presidential palace, Megawar spoke of institutional and legal reform as well as setting up committees and monitoring transparency as a way of fighting the corruption President Saleh spoke of. In November, international donors pledged $4.7 billion (USD) for Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and an ally in Washington's war on terror. Saleh said that large scale strategic projects that can be adopted by the government alongside the private sector must be found in order to create jobs which will in turn improve the living conditions of citizens. Almost half of Yemenis are illiterate and 4 out of 10 people live on less than $2 (USD) a day, according to the British government. It says that Yemen's oil, its main earnings source, is expected to dry up by 2015. Megawar is regarded as having stronger economic credentials than his predecessor Abdul-Qader Bagammal. Yemen -- which receives grants and long-term loans from donor countries -- produces around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. Yemen's 2007 budget of 1.622 trillion rials ($8.24 billion USD) forecasts a deficit of 3 billion rials. Megawar said his cabinet, which includes new finance and trade ministers, will be focusing attention on creating a positive investment climate and removing obstacles hindering investment.

ITN Source | April 8, 2007

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