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| Yemen
History |
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To the Romans, Yemen was Arabia
Felix, whose fertile areas and mountains distinguished
it from the barren desert of the rest of the Arabian peninsula.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Yemen came into the 7 th century
under the influence of Islam, which was then rapidly expanding throughout
the region. It remained within the orbit of various regional powers
until, in the 15 th century, it became a flash point in the strain
between the Egyptians and the Ottoman Empire. Its tactical location
subsequently attracted European powers and, during the early 17
th and early 19 th centuries, there was a constant struggle for
control between the Europeans and the Ottomans.
The development of trade routes
to India and the Far East finally made protection of the Suez sea
route an imperative for the British, who occupied the port of Aden
in 1839 as a staging post and military base. The Yemeni hinterland
was, for the most part, under the slack control of the Ottoman Empire
throughout the 19 th century, until 1918, when the Imam Yahya took
power in what became the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR).
Aden
and its surroundings, meanwhile, were securely established as a
British colony. Yahya was eliminated in 1948 and his son Ahmed took
over. From 1958 to 1961, the YAR was federated with Egypt and Syria
in the United Arab States. Ahmed died in 1962 and an army rebellion
led to civil war between Egypt, backed republicans and Saudi backed
royalists.
By this time, in the south, the British colonial forces
were challenged with armed opposition from both the leftist National
Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied
South Yemen (FLOSY).
In November 1967, just before the creation of the Yemen
Democratic People’s Republic in the south by the
victorious NLF forces, a Republican government took control in the
north. There was alternating warfare between the 2 Yemens throughout
the late 1960's and early 1970's and political instability in the
north throughout the 1970's.
Lieutenant Colonel Ali Abdullah Saleh became Head of State
in 1978, and in 1983, he was unanimously re elected by the People’s
Assembly. In the south, Ali Nasser Muhammad became Head of State
in 1978. In January 1986, civil war between rival elements within
the armed forces broke out after an endeavoured Politburo purge.
A new government was formed under the previous
Construction Minister, Haydar Abu Bakr al-Attas. The long promised
merger of the 2 Yemens took place in 1990, with unexpected ease.
Ali Abdullah Saleh became leader of the united Republic of Yemen.
The newly shaped republic gave firm diplomatic
support to Iraq during the 1990 / 1991 Gulf crisis. This made little
practical difference at the time but consequently caused substantial
problems for the Yemenis in their relations with Saudi Arabia. Multiparty
elections in early 1993 were won by the main northern based party,
the General People’s Congress (GPC), with the moderate Islamic
party, Al-Islah, coming 2nd and the southern based Yemen Socialist
party in 3rd place. A government with representatives of all 3 parties
took power.
A rebellion by southerners who were unhappy with northern
dominance took place in April but was quickly suppressed.
In the wake of that, the YSP was marginalised as a political force.
This has left Al-Islah, which is believed to have some backing from
the Saudis, as the only severe opposition to the ruling GPC.
In October 1994, President Saleh was re elected
to serve a 2nd term and then, in September 1999, a 3rd term. In
April 2003, at the most recent election for the House of Representatives,
the GPC took an overall majority with 238 seats, most of the remainder
were taken by Al-Islah. The premiership is presently held by Abdul
Qadir Bagammal, who took office in 2001.
Yemen has had some problems across the Red Sea
with the newly self governing republic of Eritrea. Both claim the
Hanish islands in the Red Sea, either to develop as a tourist facility
or as a platform for oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea. Drilling
has begun with the agreement of both governments, although the territorial
issue has yet to be fully settled.
Yemen has become an important player in the “war against
terror” by virtue of the strong Yemeni connections
of leading figures in al-Qaeda and the activities of assorted home
grown affiliates. Under strong pressure, the Yemeni government has
motivated against these on its own account and allowed the Americans
to carry out ‘pre-emptive’ operations on their territory.
There are also increasing links between the Yemeni
and American militaries. However, local sensitivities
meant that Yemen withheld public support from the American led assault
on Iraq in 2003. |
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