The U.S. Department of the Treasury today sanctioned the former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and two military commanders affiliated with the Huthi group, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim and Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13611 for engaging in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen. bdullah Yahya al Hakim has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen.
In June 2014, al Hakim was implicated in plotting a coup against Yemeni President Hadi. In a meeting aimed to coordinate efforts to take over Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, al Hakim met with military and security commanders, tribal chieftains, and leading partisan figures loyal to former Yemeni President Saleh.
In an August 29, 2014 public statement, the President of the UN Security Council stated that the Council condemned the actions of forces commanded by al Hakim, who overran Amran, Yemen, including the Yemeni Army Brigade headquarters on July 8, 2014. Al Hakim led the violent July 2014 takeover of the Amran Governorate and was the military commander responsible for making decisions regarding ongoing conflicts in the Amran Governorate and Hamdan, Yemen.
As of early September 2014, al Hakim remained in Sana’a to oversee combat operations in case fighting began. His role was to organize military operations so as to be able to topple the Yemeni government, and he was also responsible for securing and controlling all routes in and out of Sana’a.
On November 9, 2012, OFAC issued the Yemen Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 552 (the “Regulations”) (77 FR 67276, November 9, 2012), to implement Executive Order 13611 of May 16, 2012, “Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen” (77 FR 29533, May 18, 2012) (E.O. 13611). The Regulations were initially issued in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC is amending and reissuing the Regulations as a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, statements of licensing policy, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public. Due to the number of regulatory sections being updated or added, OFAC is reissuing the Regulations in their entirety.
Executive Order 13611. On May 16, 2012, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA), issued E.O. 13611. In E.O. 13611, the President found that the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Yemen and others threaten Yemen's peace, security, and stability, including by obstructing the implementation of the agreement of November 23, 2011, between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provides for a peaceful transition of power that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people for change, and by obstructing the political process in Yemen. The President further found that these actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
