YEMEN APPEALS FOR URGENT INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

Yemen urgently needs foreign aid to jumpstart its recovery from years of poor governance, conflict and economic turmoil, the country’s future president said in an appeal to donors. In a recent televised address where he described his government’s priorities, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi asked for “urgent aid and support from brotherly and friendly countries.” He also proposed the establishment of an emergency fund for Yemen’s economic rehabilitation. Hadi is the country’s current vice president. He is the lone candidate for Yemen’s presidential election this Tuesday (Feb. 21) — one of the conditions of the power-transfer deal agreed to by outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hadi said his government’s top priority will be to resolve Yemen’s economic problem. But this would only be possible with international assistance given “current circumstances” and the effects of the recent political crisis in the poor Middle Eastern country, he said, according to Agence France-Presse. The United States has said it is ready to boost assistance to Yemen, but only if Hadi’s new government meets certain conditions. U.S. President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said the presidential elections, while very important, is just a step. The new government has to stem corruption and restructure military forces before the United States could increase financial aid, the Washington Post reports. Yemen is expected to require billions of dollar to recover from years of poor governance, internal conflict and the recent political crisis, which has left parts of the country without little food, fuel, water and electricity.