Tawwakul Karman: Britain must freeze Saleh’s assets
Nobel Peace Laureate Tawwakul Karman has called on the British government to freeze the assets of Ali Abdullah Saleh during a meeting in the Houses of Parliament.
Speaking shortly after meeting with Foreign Secretary William Hague and Development Minister Alan Duncan, Ms Karman made a passionate plea to a meeting of parliamentarians and NGOs that the assets of the regime, stolen from the Yemeni people, should be frozen.
“The regime has used the fear of al-Qaeda and instability to steal money from the international community.”
“To the British people, I say, we don’t want your aid, we don’t want your taxes. We want our own money.”
She also called on the United Nations Security Council to refer the killing of protestors to the International Criminal Court. She praised British democracy and said that she hoped for a similar system in Yemen one day, promising to return to her protest tent when she returned to Sana’a, despite fears for her safety.
“I give you the voice of women in the street. And of democracy in the street,” she said. “What we started in our country is for all of us.”
