Kerman calls for "liberating" the Yemeni gas Sanaa – Ali Rabea The Nobel Laureate, Tawakul Karman has criticised the current agreement for selling Yemeni gas and called for the abolition of the "corrupted deal" allowing foreign companies to extract natural gas and market it. The deal was agreed under the previous Yemeni administration and Karman has demanded that the government "liberates" Yemeni gas. In a message to the Yemeni president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa, Karman said that the agreements were tainted with corruption, involving kickbacks and bribes.
In a statement seen by Arabstoday, the activist added that Yemen is losing about three billion US dollars every year, due to this "corrupted bargain." This is a blow, considering Yemen’s annual revenue is less than $250 million per year.
Karman fears that if the agreements were not cancelled, they could see Yemen lose up to $60 billion."Unfortunately this situation will continue for a period of twenty years," she said.
The Yemeni government successfully persuaded the French company, Total, last September, to pay almost double for gas, starting from 2013.