A tribally based country, racked by poverty, divided between the prosperous north and disposessed south, rebelion in the mountainous north, scores of
African's seeking to escape poverty washing up dead on the western coastline every week and an economy inching towards the precipice. This is Yemen. Tourism officials will point out that these threats are being dealt with and that there is plenty to sea and do in the country once home to the mysterious Queen of Sheeba, Roman legions, Arab traders and the British Royal Navy. They would be right of course, Yemen's history is rich and its cultural heritage unique. These two reasons alone are enough for me to pack my bags for Sanaa. Yet the country is not, right. There is something about it that feels like a Somalia 20 years ago. The country isn't falling just yet, but those first signs are showing. The emergence of al-Qaeda cells (The Yemeni Brigades) in Sanaa, Aden, Marib and Hadramawt and a recent announcement by al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia that they were moving to Yemen are incredibly worrying. If only, if only Yemen had vast quantities of oil...then perhaps the world would care. But, alas, they dont. How ironic then is it that a brother (a perfectly honest chap) of the infamous Osama bin Laden is planning a bridge across the Gulf of Aden into Dijibouti. A connection that will connect two of the most historically rich, yet poorest and most insecure, areas in the world. Hopefully World Bank aid or the discovery of Tanzanite or some other rare metal may boost the country in the future. But one cant help but feel that the current regimes tenure will end, like Sheeba's did, like the Britons and the Romans...and what will remain are the tribes.
