In 1838, Muhsin Bin Fadl, Sultan of Lahej ceded 194km2 (75sqmi) of Aden to the British. On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy the territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India making Aden a part of British colonial rule from 1839 until 1937. In the 1920s, the British began expanding and annexing the multiple sheikhdoms surrounding Aden under the claim of protecting them.[8] This was more a precautionary measure to prevent the Yemeni imams from storming Aden than a desire to annex the small sheikhdoms to the empire.[8] In the mid-1950s, the British realized that they would not be able to manage the colonies and needed a stable political unit that would distance Aden from the wave of Arab nationalism that had swept the region and preserve for them influence and the ability to manage Aden from London,[9] so they established the Federation of the Emirates of South Arabia in 1959.[10] The federation did not succeed for several reasons, the first of which was the British insistence that Aden would be part of the entity, which was rejected by the commercial elite of Aden, most of whom were Indians, Persians, and Jews, because they feared for their future from the sheikhdoms.[10][11] On the other hand, the leaders of the sheikhdoms feared that they would be overthrown later or that their influence would remain limited due to the dominance of the educated Aden elite, which was made up of a large number of non-Arabs and non-Muslims.[12] In addition to all that was the sheikhdoms' differences over the who should be the president of the federation.
Following the establishment of the Federation of South Arabia on 1965, four sheikhdoms out of twenty-one had joined the union.[13] The Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates of Hadhramaut refused to join either of the federations. Several resistance movements emerged, such as the National Liberation Front (NLF), whom were responsible for the wounding of British High Commissioner Kennedy Trevaskis on 10 December 1963 using a grenade, an event that sparked the 14 October Revolution which was influenced by the 26 September Revolution against the Imams in the North.[14] The British had announced that they would withdraw by 1968 as a result of the revolution. The NLF and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) appeared in the 1960s, supporters of the NLF were from the countryside of Radfan, Yafa, and Ad-Dali, while the supporters of the FLOSY were mainly from Aden; This is because tribal affiliations played a major role in attracting supporters.[15]
The leaders of the NLF came from within the protected sheikhdoms and were not supported by the Egyptians at first, while the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen ran its operations from Aden and received support from Gamal Abdel Nasser, which made it appear as a follower of the Egyptians promoting Nasser’s agendas inside the country, the operations of these factions against the British were known to them as the Aden Emergency. The British tried to reach a compromise with these groups and found themselves waging a war on two fronts, trying to thwart the Republic in the north and the anti-English factions in the south.[16]
By 1965, most of the western protectorates had fallen to the National Liberation Front. As for Hadhramaut, it seemed calm until 1966 because the English presence there was less than its counterpart in the western protectorates.[17]Ali Salem al-Baidh and Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas joined the National Liberation Front in Hadhramaut and prevented the sultans of the Kathiri Sultanate and the Qu'aiti Sultanate from entering the country, but allowed the Sultan of the Mahra Sultanate due to his old age.[18] The commander of the Hadhrami Bedouin Legion was killed by one of his men in the same year, and Ali Salem Al-Beidh and Muhammad Salem Akash played a major role in gathering supporters in favor of the National Liberation Front, taking advantage of the near absence of the English presence in al-Mahra.[19]
Qahtan Al-Shaabi was the only person the British knew because he was an agricultural engineer in his city of Lahij. When the British tried to negotiate with the National Liberation Front, Qahtan demanded immediate withdrawal and recognition of the legitimacy of his government, and that the British government provide aid double what it proposed to the union, and that all the islands associated with the Aden Protectorate be part of the new state. While the British demands were an orderly handover to the authorities, and that the new state not interfere in the affairs of any country in the Arabian Peninsula.[20] The British were surprised by the presence of people they thought were loyal to them alongside the popular Qahtan. The NLF was invited to the Geneva Talks to sign the independence agreement with the British. During its occupation of Aden, the British had signed several treaties of protection with the local sheikhdoms and emirates of the Federation of South Arabia; however, these parties were excluded from the talks, and thus the agreement stated [...the handover of the territory of South Arabia to the (Yemeni) NLF...]. Southern Yemen became independent as the People's Republic of Southern Yemen on 30 November 1967, and the National Liberation Front consolidated its control in the country. On 14 December 1967, the PDRY was admitted into the United Nations as a member state. the British announced that they would withdraw from 1968, which sparked the battles between the National Liberation Front and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen to monopolize the right to self-determination after the British left.[21]
The National Liberation Front had the upper hand at the expense of the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, whose members were divided between joining the National Front or leaving for North Yemen.[22] Abdullah Al-Asanj and Muhammad Basindwa left for North Yemen. The last British soldier left Aden on November 30, 1967, and the sheikhdoms of the Eastern Protectorate in Hadhramaut were annexed to the new country. The lands of South Yemen are rugged and barren, a fact that played a role in the social, cultural and economic development of the south, unlike the northern regions of Yemen. Their population in 1967 did not exceed two million people, while northern Yemen exceeded six million.[23] Most of the population of the south was concentrated in the western regions of Lahj and its environs, and these alone constituted more than 60% of the population, 10% were nomads. Qahtan al-Shaabi assumed the presidency of a state that had never existed before, with a collapsed economy.[24] Civilian workers and businessmen left, British support stopped, and the closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 reduced the number of ships crossing Aden by 75%.[25]
The National Liberation Front had approximately 4,000 members, a small number of university-educated leaders, and all of them, without exception, had no experience in government.[26] The front was divided into two right-wing and left-wing sections. The right-wingers and their popular leader, Qahtan, did not want to make major changes in the prevailing social and economic structure and took a conservative stance toward “liberating all Arab lands from colonialism, supporting the resistance of the Palestinian people, and supporting socialist regimes around the world to resist imperialism and colonial forces in the Third World.”[27] The leftist section of the Liberation Front was also promoting and opposed the establishment of popular forces and proposals to nationalize lands, and they were not preoccupied with the struggle of social classes. Qahtan wanted the continuation of existing institutions and their development.[28][29] The leftist section “wanted a social and economic transformation that would serve the broad segment of the working people instead of the wealthy minority,” as they put it.[30] on March 20 1968, Qahtan dismissed all leftist leaders from the government and party membership and was able to put down a rebellion led by leftist factions in the army in May of the same year.[28][31] On another level, in the months of July, August and December of 1968, the popular Qahtan faced new rebellions from leftist parties because all Arab countries welcomed the front. The National Liberation Front received a cold reception, as regimes like Egypt wanted to merge the National Front with the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen.[32] The leftist section was more numerous than the supporters of the popular Qahtan, and they wanted a regime that would lead the masses and face the great challenges facing the new state, the most important of which was the bankruptcy of the treasury.[32]
On December 11, 1967, the lands of “feudal symbols and British agents” were confiscated, and the state was divided into six governorates. The aim of the move was to end tribal aspects in the state and ignore the tribal borders between the defunct sheikhdoms.[33] On June 16, 1969, Qahtan fired Interior Minister Muhammad Ali Haitham, but the latter withdrew his ties to With the tribes and the army, he was able to ally himself with Muhammad Saleh Al-Awlaki, and they reassembled the leftist forces that had been dispersed by President Qahtan Al-Shaabi. They were able to arrest him and place him under house arrest.[34]
On June 22 1969, a radical Marxist wing of the NLF formed a presidential committee of five people, Salim Rubaya Ali, who became president, Muhammad Saleh Al-Awlaki, Ali Antar, Abdel Fattah Ismail, and Muhammad Ali Haitham, who became prime minister.[34] they gained power in an event known as the Corrective Move. This radical wing reorganised the country into the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) on 30 November 1970.[35] Subsequently, all political parties were amalgamated into the National Liberation Front, renamed the Yemeni Socialist Party, which became the only legal party. This group took an extreme leftist line and declared its support for the Palestinians and the Dhofar Revolution. West Germany severed its relationship with the state due to its recognition of East Germany. The United States also severed its relationship in October 1969. The new powers issued a new constitution, nationalized foreign banks and insurance companies, and changed the name of the state to The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in line with the Marxist-Leninist approach they followed. A centrally planned economy was established.[36] The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen established close ties with the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, Cuba, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. East Germany's constitution of 1968 even served as a kind of blueprint for the PDRY's first constitution.[37]
The major communist powers assisted in the building of the PDRY's armed forces. Strong support from Moscow resulted in Soviet naval forces gaining access to naval facilities in South Yemen.[42][43][44] The most significant among them, a Soviet naval and air base on the island of Socotra for operations in the Indian Ocean.[45][46][42]
Unlike the early decades of other partitioned states such as East Germany and West Germany, North Korea and South Korea, or North Vietnam and South Vietnam, all of which faced tense relations or sometimes total wars, the relations between the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) remained relatively friendly throughout most of their existence, although conflicts did arise. Fighting broke out in 1972, and the short-lived conflict was resolved with negotiations, where it was declared unification would eventually occur.[47][48]
However, these plans were put on hold in 1979, as the PDRY funded Red rebels in the YAR, and the war was only prevented by an Arab League intervention. The goal of unity was reaffirmed by the northern and southern heads of state during a summit meeting in Kuwait in March 1979.
In 1980, PDRY president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned and went into exile in Moscow, having lost the confidence of his sponsors in the USSR.[49] His successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad, took a less interventionist stance toward both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman.
The Freedom Statue in Khor Maksar, AdenPeople celebrating the 14th October Revolution next to the Freedom Statue
On 13 January 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, who wanted power back. This conflict, known as the South Yemen Civil War, lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster, and Ismail's disappearance and presumed death. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to the YAR. Ali Salim al-Beidh, an ally of Ismail who had succeeded in escaping the attack on pro-Ismail members of the Politburo, then became General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party.[50]
Against the background of the perestroika in the USSR, the main backer of the PDRY, political reforms were started in the late 1980s. Political prisoners were released, political parties were formed, and the system of justice was reckoned to be more equitable than in the North. In May 1988, the YAR and PDRY governments came to an understanding that considerably reduced tensions, including agreement to renew discussions concerning unification, to establish a joint oil exploration area along their undefined border, to demilitarise the border, and to allow Yemenis unrestricted border passage on the basis of only a national identification card. In November 1989, after returning from the Soviet–Afghan War, Osama bin Laden offered to send the newly formed al-Qaeda to overthrow the South Yemeni government on behalf of Saudi Arabia, but Prince Turki bin Faisal found the plan reckless and declined.[51] In 1990, the parties reached a full agreement on joint governing of Yemen, and the countries were effectively merged as Yemen.[52]
Demographics
Stamp from 1989
South Yemen's ethnic groups were, as of 2000, ethnic Yemeni Arabs (92.8%), Somalis (3.7%), Afro-Arab (1.1%), Indians and Pakistanis (1%), and other (1.4%).[53]
Religion
South Yemen has maintained control over religious expression and has worked to diminish the role of religion in everyday life. It has replaced sharia with secular law in many areas, such as personal status, and has entrusted the interpretation of these laws to secular officials or state-empowered sheikhs. The state also controls religious trusts and channels funds for mosques through a government ministry, which has contributed to the sheikhs' dependence on the state.[54]
Additionally, the state has adopted a dual approach to religion, promoting a form of 'official' Islam while suppressing 'popular' Islam. This has included public displays of religious observance by government leaders to deflect accusations of being anti-Islamic, despite the state's ongoing efforts to undermine the influence of Islam in society.[55]
The legislative body, the Supreme People's Council, was elected by the people for a period of five years. The collective head of state, also known as the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council, was elected by the Supreme People's Council for a period of five years as well.[57]
The executive body was known as the Council of Ministers, and was formed by the Supreme People's Council. Local representative bodies were the people's councils, and their decisions were taken into account when the members of the Supreme People's Council were governing. Local executive bodies were the executive bureaus of the people's councils.[57]
The highest court was the Supreme Court of South Yemen, other courts in the country included courts of appeal and the provincial courts, and the courts of first instance were known as the district courts or magistrate courts.[57]
The only political party was the Yemen Socialist Party.[57]
Relations between South Yemen and several nearby states were poor. Saudi Arabia only established diplomatic relations in 1976, initially hosting pro-British exiles and supporting armed clashes in the border regions of South Yemen. Relations with Oman declined through the 1970s as the South Yemeni government supported the insurgent Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO). Relations with Ba'athist Iraq were also low, as South Yemen offered asylum to a number of Iraqi communists.[62]
The United States listed South Yemen as a “state sponsor of terrorism” between 1979 and the Yemeni reunification.[63] Diplomatic relations with the United States had been broken on 24 October 1969[64] because of disagreements with US policy in the Middle East.[65] They were not restored until shortly before reunification.
In Aden, there was a structured judicial system with a supreme court.
Living standards
Despite a poor economy, the government ensured a basic level of living standard for all citizens and established a welfare state.[62] Income equality improved, corruption was reduced, and health and educational services expanded.[38][66] Overall, the population was assured of a basic but adequate living standard for all.[67]
Education
A classroom in Aden
Democratic Yemen had a "National Science Day" on 10 September.[68][69]
In 1976, the South Yemen national football team participated in the AFC Asian Cup, where the team lost to Iraq 1–0 and to Iran 8–0. They entered their only World Cup qualification campaign in 1986 and were knocked out in the first round by Bahrain. On 2 September 1965, South Yemen played their first international match against the United Arab Republic, to whom they lost 14–0. On 5 November 1989, South Yemen played its last international match against Guinea, to whom they lost 1–0. The team stopped playing when the North and South united in 1990 to form the modern state of Yemen.
In 1988, the South Yemen Olympic team made its debut in the Summer Olympics in Seoul. Sending only eight athletes, the country won no medals. This was the only time the country went to the Olympics until unification in 1990.
Women's rights under the socialist government were considered the best in the region. Women became legally equal to men and were encouraged to work in public; polygamy, child marriage, and arranged marriage were all banned; and equal rights in divorce received legal sanction.[72][73][74][75][76]
Following independence, South Yemen was divided into six governorates (Arabic: muhafazat), with roughly natural boundaries. From 1967 to 1978, each given a name by numeral.[77] The state changed this practice in the mid-1980s but gave the governorates geographical or historical names and ensured that their borders did not coincide with tribal allegiances.[77] Today, this legacy contributes to misunderstanding and confusion when discussing political issues and allegiances in Yemen.[77] The islands of Kamaran (until 1972, when it was seized by North Yemen), Perim, Socotra, Abd-el-Kuri, Samha (inhabited), Darsah and others uninhabited from the Socotra archipelago were districts (mudiriyat) of the First/Aden Governorate being under the Prime Minister's supervision.[78]
GDR working on infrastructure projects in South YemenPort of Aden
During British rule, economic development in South Yemen was restricted to the city of Aden, focused mainly on the port and on the British military bases. As a result, following the British withdrawal, there here was little to no industrial output or mineral wealth exploitation in the country until the mid-1980s, when significant petroleum reserves in the central regions near Shibam and Mukalla were discovered. Foreign aid was minimal, as the British government did not fulfill promises of aid and the Soviet Union offered only US$152 million from 1969 to 1980.[62]
The main sources of income were agriculture, mostly fruit, cereal crops, cattle and sheep, and fishing. The government guaranteed full employment in agriculture for rural citizens, and established a number of collective farms, however, those set up following the Soviet model produced poorer results than cooperative-run farms.[62]
The national budget was 13.43million dinars in 1976, and the gross national product was US$650 - 500 million. The total national debt was $52.4million.
Economic policy
Limited natural resources posed challenges to the economic development of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Despite this constraint, significant, albeit modest, oil reserves were discovered shortly after the country's unification in 1990. However, the YSP government did not benefit from oil exports to fund its development initiatives.[79]
Over time, economic policies in the PDRY underwent a transformation, shifting from an initial focus on developing the state sector to promoting cooperative and joint private-public enterprises. By the late 1980s, there was a notable presence of industries in Aden and around Al Mukalla in Hadramawt, producing a range of essential goods such as plastics, batteries, cigarettes, matches, tomato paste, dairy products, and fish canning.[80]
Within the industrial sector, the state implemented welfarist labor laws that were widely enforced. These laws included regulations aimed at safeguarding women in the workforce by prohibiting night shifts and hazardous occupations. Additionally, the legislation ensured that workers received salaries that enabled them to maintain reasonable living standards. Trade unions in the PDRY primarily functioned as state entities rather than as negotiating bodies, playing a significant role in upholding labor regulations and standards.[81]
Oil
A few months after The Events of '86, the PDRY had discovered oil after more than 6 decades of unsuccessful exploration,[82] the Soviet Union discovered oil in the Shabwah Governorate in late 1986, marking a turning point for the resource-scarce nation.[83] Decades of unsuccessful exploration efforts, hampered by the harsh desert environment and political instability, had left South Yemen heavily reliant on foreign aid, primarily from the Soviet Union, and remittances from its citizens working abroad, estimated to be around half of government revenue by the mid-1980s. The discovery, made by the Soviet oil company Technoexport, emerged amidst the Cold War, with the Soviet Union playing a crucial role in the exploration and discovery process.[84]
In 1980s, Technoexport contracted with the PDRY to search for oil in a 13,500-square-mile area in Shabwa, and, in 1984, launched a program of exploratory drilling. This Soviet effort yielded only traces of oil over the next two years, a sharp contrast to the discovery and rapid exploitation of oil in the same period by an American company, Hunt Oil, in- the YAR's Marib basin, an area just to the west of Shabwa. Then, in late 1986, the Soviets struck very high quality oil in western Shabwa, an occurrence confirmed by authorities in Aden in early 1987.
By late March, Initial estimates placed the oil reserves at around 1 billion barrels,[83][85] sparking plans for pipeline construction and full-scale production of the oil fields. events moved swiftly, and industry sources reported in mid-1987 that the three fields - lyad East, lyad West, and Amal already had a productive capacity of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), that between 5,000-10,000 bpd were being trucked to the Aden refinery, and that there were plans to increase the number of trucks on the oil run to bring deliveries up to 25,000 bpd, considerably more than the PDRY's total domestic need at the time.[83] The discovery was viewed as a potential pathway to reduce dependence on external sources of income and improve the lives of South Yemen's roughly 2.4 million citizens. However, the joy of discovery was accompanied by a multitude of challenges.[83]
Western Shabwa was not the only exploration area, and the Soviet Union was not the only explorer in the second half of the 1980s.[83] Replying to a claim that the PDRY had put all of its eggs in one basket, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Minerals Salih Abu-Bakr ibn Husaynun noted in late 1987 that eight Western and Arab companies were engaged in exploration efforts in several areas in the PDRY.[83] This count seems about right. Although Italy's Agip stopped work in late 1985, Brazil's Braspetrol, France's Societe Nationale Elf Aquitaine (Elf) and Compagnie Franqaise des Petroles (Total), Kuwait's Independent Petroleum Group, and Canadian Occidental were among the firms actively searching for oil in the years that followed.[83]
The Soviet involvement in the discovery, estimated to have cost over half a billion dollars and add to South Yemen's already staggering debt, raised concerns about potential political and economic influence in the region.[83] Additionally, the oil find added a layer of complexity to the already intricate relationship between South and North Yemen, both of which desired unification and saw the resource, estimated to hold the potential for substantial economic benefits, as a potential driver of economic prosperity.[86]
Furthermore, South Yemen grappled with internal political struggles and social unrest at the time of the discovery. The violent leadership struggle within the ruling communist party, culminating in the January 1986 "blood bath" in Aden, further destabilized the nation. This volatile political landscape cast a shadow over the potential benefits of the newfound oil wealth and raised questions about how the resources would be managed and distributed fairly within the nation.[87]
Airlines
The following airlines had operated from the PDRY:[88]
Alyemda – Democratic Yemen Airlines (1961–1996). Joined Yemenia, the airline of the former YAR
The Brothers Air Services was formed by Sayid Zein A. Baharoon who used the “Brothers” nomenclature in his merchant enterprises. Known as BASCO, this fledgling airline lasted only a short time.[90]
↑ While, according to the Constitution of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Islam was "the state religion",[1] the government discouraged the practice of Islamic traditions like Ramadan and other Muslim holidays,[2] leading some authors to believe that it was an atheist state[3]
↑ also as: Yemen (Aden) (اليمن (عدن), al-Yaman ('Adin))
Related Research Articles
The Politics of Yemen are in an uncertain state due to the Houthi takeover in Yemen. An armed group known as the Houthis or Ansar Allah seized control of the Northern Yemeni government and announced it would dissolve parliament, as well as install a "presidential council", "transitional national council", and "supreme revolutionary council" to govern the country for an interim period. However, the deposed president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, has declared he is still in office and is working to establish a rival government in Aden.
Aden is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km east of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and north of the Gulf of Aden. With its strategic location on the coastline, Aden serves as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, making it a crucial maritime hub connecting Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. As of 2023, Aden City has a population of approximately 1,080,000 residents, making it one of the largest cities in Yemen. Aden is divided into eight districts: Tawahi, Mualla, Crater, Khur Maksar, Al Mansura, Dar Sad, Sheikh Othman, and Al Buraiqa. These form today's Aden Governorate. During British Colonialism, Aden referred to the area along the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, encompassing Tawahi, Mualla, Crater, and much of Khur Maksar District. The western harbor peninsula, known as Little Aden, now falls within the Al Buraiqa District.
The national flag of Yemen is the official flag of the Yemen. It was adopted on 22 May 1990, the day of the Yemeni unification. It resembles the Arab Liberation Flag that was used by the National Liberation Front. It served as the derivation for the flags of both North and South Yemen prior to their unification, and the distinctive elements of flag were removed in choosing the flag post-unification.
Abdul Fattah Ismail Ali Al-Jawfi was a Yemeni Marxist politician and revolutionary who was the de facto leader of South Yemen from 1978 to 1980 after the overthrow of President Salim Rubaya Ali. He served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council and founder, chief ideologue and first leader of the Yemeni Socialist Party from 21 December 1978 to 21 April 1980. He died under mysterious circumstances during the 1986 South Yemen Civil War and his body was never found.
Salim Rubaya Ali, commonly known by his nickname, Salmin, was a Yemeni Maoist politician and revolutionary who served as the second head of state of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen from 22 June 1969 until his execution on 26 June 1978.
Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi was the first President of the People's Republic of South Yemen. Al-Shaabi's National Liberation Front (NLF) political organisation wrested control of the country from the British and won political supremacy over the opposition Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) in 1967. On 30 November 1967, the Protectorate of South Arabia was declared independent as the People's Republic of South Yemen, with al-Shaabi as President. Al-Shaabi held the presidency until 22 June 1969, when a hard-line Marxist group from within his own NLF seized control. He was replaced by Salim Rubai Ali and jailed, then placed under house arrest until the 1970s, and lived quietly in Aden from his release until his death in 1981.
The Yemen Times was an independent English-language newspaper in Yemen. The paper was published twice weekly.
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The Aden Protectorate was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January 1839, and which continued until the 1960s. In 1940, it was divided for administrative purposes into the Western Protectorate and the Eastern Protectorate. The territory now forms part of the Republic of Yemen.
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Faisal Othman Bin Shamlan was a Yemeni intellectual, technocrat, political reformist and public figure. He was a Yemeni member of parliament who had held the post of Oil and Mineral Resources Minister in the post-unification government of Yemen. Prior to the reunification of Yemen in 1990, Shamlan was the Minister of Infrastructure and Oil in the socialist government of South Yemen. He was the recognized presidential candidate of the Yemeni opposition coalition, a coalition which consists of the Islamist Islah, the Yemen Socialist Party and several smaller parties, in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated by incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Yemeni unification took place on 22 May 1990, when the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was united with the Yemen Arab Republic, forming the Republic of Yemen.
The modern history of Yemen began with the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British set up a protective area around the southern port of Aden and in 1918 the northern Kingdom of Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. North Yemen became a republic in 1962, but it was not until 1967 that the British Empire withdrew from what became South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a communist governmental system. The two countries were officially united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
The Aden Emergency, also known as the 14 October Revolution or as the Radfan Uprising, was an armed rebellion by the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) against the Federation of South Arabia, a British Protectorate of the United Kingdom, which led to the proclamation of the People's Republic of South Yemen.
The National Liberation Front was a Marxist–Leninist paramilitary organization and a political party operating in the Federation of South Arabia, during the Aden Emergency. During the North Yemen Civil War, fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British attempted to establish an autonomous colony known as the Federation of South Arabia. Following the exit of the British armed forces, the NLF seized power from its rival, the Arab nationalist Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) (FLOSY). In the aftermath of the Emergency, the NLF renamed itself the National Front and eventually became the main force behind the creation of the Yemeni Socialist Party, which subsequently governed the country as a single-party Marxist–Leninist state.
The Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen was an Arab nationalist military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia in the 1960s. As the British tried to exit, Abdullah al Asnag created the FLOSY. The FLOSY attempted to seize power when the British left from another military group operating in South Arabia, the National Liberation Front (NLF).
The South Yemen civil war, colloquially referred to in Yemen as the events of '86, the events of January 13, or simply as the events, was a failed coup d'etat and brief civil war which took place on January 13, 1986, in South Yemen. The civil war developed as a result of ideological differences, and later tribal tensions, between two factions of the ruling Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), centred on Abdul Fattah Ismail's faction, at-Toghmah, and Ali Nasir Muhammad's faction, az-Zomrah, for the leadership of the YSP and South Yemen. The conflict quickly escalated into a costly civil war that lasted eleven days and resulted in thousands of casualties. Additionally, the conflict resulted in the demise of much of the Yemeni Socialist Party's most experienced socialist leadership cadre, contributing to a much weaker government and the country's eventual unification with North Yemen in 1990.
The Arab Police mutiny was an incident during the Aden Emergency where Arab soldiers and police mutinied against British troops. While the mutiny itself was localized and quickly suppressed, it undermined the South Arabian Federation which had been organized by Britain in 1959 as an intended successor to direct colonial rule.
The Second Yemenite War was a short military conflict between the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. The war developed out of a breakdown in relations between the two countries after the president of North Yemen, Ahmad al-Ghashmi, was killed on 24 June 1978, and Salim Rubai Ali, a moderate Marxist who had been working on a proposed merger between the two Yemens, was murdered two days later. The hostility of the rhetoric from the new leadership of both countries escalated, leading to small-scale border fighting, which then in turn escalated into a full-blown war in February 1979.
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↑ Gabriel Jonsson Towards Korean Reconciliation: Socio-cultural Exchanges and Cooperation p.34
↑ Tareq Y. Ismael, Jacqueline S. Ismael Politics and Government in the Middle East and North Africa p.438 University Press of Florida, 1991 ISBN 0-8130-1043-8
↑ Noel Brehony Yemen Divided: The Story of a Failed State in South Arabia p.31
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↑ Stokes, Lee (11 May 1990). "East German Security Quit South Yemen" (Press release). United Press Agency.
↑ Tucker-Jones, Anthony (2010). The Rise of Militant Islam: An Insider's View of the Failure To Curb Global Jihad. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN9781844159451.
↑ Katzman, Kenneth (13 February 2002). "Terrorism: Near Eastern Groups and State Sponsors". CRS Report for Congress (Report). p.21. The former South Yemen (People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, PDRY) was on the U.S. terrorism list during 1979-1990 for supporting left-wing Arab terrorist groups
↑ Halliday, Fred (4 April 2002). Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen, 1967-1987. Cambridge Middle East Library. Vol.21. p.81. ISBN9780521891646.
↑ United States Congress (1978). "Report of Congressman Paul Findley on Visit to South Yemen". Peace in the Mideast: A Delicate Balance (Report). pp.38–39.
↑ Ismael, Tareq Y.; Jacqueline S. Ismael (October 1986). The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen: Politics, Economics, and Society; The Politics of Socialist Transformation. Lynne Rienner Pub. ISBN978-0-931477-96-6.
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