Oil deal angers MPs [Archives:2004/736/Front Page]
Mohammed Al-Qadhi
Yemen's parliament has intensified its confrontation with the ruling GPC over a recent controversial oil deal by demanding that the prime minister should summon before parliament next Wednesday.
The parliament decided Saturday that Abdulqader Bajamal should stand before the parliament to reply to the accusations he made against the MPs who voted against the oil deal in which the government sold of 60% of its revenue in the field 53. The parliament gave the government a choice either to abolish the deal or withdraw its vote of confidence from the minister of oil.
MPs were angered by the accusations of Bajamal who described them of being opportunists, saying that the government will not cancel the deal. MPs decided Saturday that the PM should be give proof of his accusations or be interrogated.
However, MPs of the ruling party tried to calm down the tension, by voting for the decision in favor of summoning the PM.
On the other hand, Bajamal said that sheikh Abdulmajeed al-Zindani will not be turned over to the US whatever the evidence it gives.
The US Treasury Department added the name of Zindani to the list of suspected supporters of terrorism some months ago. It also said that it would request the UN to do the same.
Bajamal said in an interview with the military weekly 26 September Thursday that his government will never extradite Zindani to the US, adding that al-Zindani himself expressed his willingness to appear before any Yemeni court. “Therefore, the request to turn over an important person like Zindani is rejected. I will protect him as a government; they would find the same reply from the ruling party or president Ali Abdullah Saleh,” he said.
However, the US has never so far requested the extradition of Zindani. The US ambassador Edmund Hull said earlier that they have accurate information on the involvement of the man in supporting terrorism and the role of his university, al-Eman in promoting terrorism in Yemen. They, at the moment, are interested in working to stop the flow of money to al-Zindani and his university.
——
[archive-e:736-v:13-y:2004-d:2004-05-10-p:front]
