Old City, Sana’a, Yemen

Back in 1990 and 1991 I had the privilege of living and working in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, for the United Nations Development Program. Sana’a is a World Heritage City that has been continuously inhabited for more than 2,500 years, and the number of residents has doubled from one to two million since I was there. Yemen is a conservative Muslim country (slightly less so than Saudi Arabia), but there was wide acceptance of foreigners. I learned a few stock Arabic phrases, and found that basic politeness went a long way. With a local driver’s license and a rented car, I drove around the country to see the awesome scenery and ruins of ancient cities that existed before the Roman Empire.

Yemen was a kingdom not unlike Saudi Arabia, until the last ruling Imam was deposed by revolutionaries in 1962. Many Yemeni men still wear the traditional jambiya dagger on an elaborately embroidered waist belt.

Yemen once had a monopoly on the sale of exotic incense to the Romans, which was transported through the desert by camel caravans. A Roman army attempted to conquer Yemen (then known as Arabia Felix, or “Happy Arabia” because of its irrigation agriculture) in 24 B.C., but discovered that the mountainous terrain was too great an obstacle. From the 15th century until the 17th century, Yemen was the only source of coffee (”mocha” is actually the name of a Red Sea port, Al Mokha, that exported coffee beans). Today Yemen is a provider of petroleum for U.S. and European oil companies.

The USA has maintained low-key, long-term military cooperation with the Yemeni government — especially in the last twenty years, since the unification of North and South Yemen opened up large areas to oil exploration. Military aid was recently upped to $70 million a year. Although it has democratic institutions such as an elected parliament, Yemen is ruled for the most part via a loosely organized oligarchy of prominent families who receive oil money disbursed by the President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Oil provides the bulk of the government’s revenues, however production peaked in 2004 and has been declining in recent years. The country’s rapidly growing population has now exceeded 23 million.

Osama bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but his family originated from Yemen. The country’s proximity to Saudi Arabia and lack of government control in many remote areas has made Yemen a useful hiding place for a number of al-Qaeda members.

In Part 2, I’ll try and piece together what has been reported about recent violence in Yemen, particularly three U.S. (or U.S.-supported) air attacks this month.