In its ongoing effort to prevent the rise of “any popularly supported government in the region”, the US has joined Saudi Arabia’s savage war of annihilation against Yemen’s northern tribal rebels, the Houthis. The Pentagon has expedited the delivery of bombs, ammunition and guidance systems to assist the Saudi-led campaign and is providing logistical support... Read More

Protestors are walking confidently down a street a street in the southern Yemeni port of Aden when there is a rattle of gunfire as the security services shoot into the crowd and people run panic-stricken seeking cover. A man in a check shirt is left lying face down in the dust in the empty street,... Read More

The US embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which has just closed its doors because of the al-Qa'ida threat, is a spectacularly ugly building that has been designed as a fortress to withstand a military assault. It is easy to understand why the State Department may be feeling nervous about the embassy's security. It was... Read More

This is the tribal chant of the powerful Awaleq tribe of Yemen in which they bid defiance to the world. Its angry tone conveys flavor of Yemeni life and it should give pause to those in the US who blithely suggest greater American involvement in Yemen in the wake of the attempt to destroy a... Read More

Yemen is the Afghanistan of the Arab world. It is the poorest Arab country, its government is weak, its people are armed, it already faces a serious rebellion, it is strongly tribal and its mountain ranges are a natural refuge for groups like al-Qa'ida. There is nothing new about the growing political, social and economic... Read More