Armed tribesmen who attacked Yemen’s main oil pipeline in March and earlier this month have agreed to let the government move in the repair the key export pipeline, the tribe’s leader said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
A Yemen government source said at the end of June a military operation may be launched to secure and repair the Maarib pipeline which has been shut since a mid-March attack, unless the tribesmen allow repairs to go ahead quickly.
“We have informed authorities that we will permit engineers to fix the pipeline,” said Ali al-Shabwani, the head of the tribe that claimed responsibility for damaging the pipeline, reports Reuters.
The lack of oil flowing from fields in the Maarib province has forced Yemen’s Aden refinery to halt, cut the poorest Arab country’s revenues and forced it to import more costly fuel.
Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan, having completed his visit to the country, has urged the Saleh government to “immediately implement a transition that serves the aspirations of the Yemeni people”.
