 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Borderline blues
By Nasser ArrabyeeFive years ago, probably neither side expected the Yemeni-Saudi border talks to be as protracted and difficult as they have turned out to be. The memorandum of understanding signed in 1995 initiated endless joint committees, border demarcation talks, and shuttling between Sana'a and Riyadh -- to little end, as both sides are virtually in the same place they started.
The recent dispute focuses on two boundary markers: Thar Mountain and Ras Al-Mawaj point, which were vaguely included in the Taif Treaty signed between the two countries in 1934. Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh said recently that despite continuous contact, "we are waiting for our brothers in Saudi Arabia to take the initiative, and agree" on exactly what that treaty's particulars spell for the current dispute. The Saudis, for their part, say that Thar Mountain overlooks the Saudi city of Najran and that they do not accept the marker, which Yemen claims the Taif Treaty designates. Yemen also contests the Saudi claim to three Red Sea islands and parts of the Empty Quarter, a vast desert region with potentially lucrative oil fields.
Demarcation committees have been, and still are, meeting regularly in both Sana'a and Riyadh to define their common border. The last meeting for the technical joint committee supervising the border demarcation took place on 27 February in Riyadh.
The dispute over the 2500-kilometre-long border has been the most sensitive issue in the two countries' relations for years. Of late, the question of whether to renew the 1934 Saudi-Yemeni Taif Treaty has intensified the conflict, and a recent American offer to mediate has been rebuffed by Saudi Arabia.
Bilateral negotiations and arbitration could deal with the problem -- separately or together -- according to US Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker, who visited Yemen in early February. "It's really up to the two parties themselves to decide what's the best mechanism," he said. Walker touched on the issue during talks with Yemeni President Saleh and Prime Minister Abdel-Kareem Al-Eryani, and did the same with senior Saudi officials in a later visit to Riyadh.
But Saudi Arabia does not want, nor has ever requested, third-party involvement in the negotiations. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdel-Aziz said in a recent interview, "We and Yemen have open channels for understanding and will reach an accord that satisfies all of us." Despite commitment to a solution on both sides, armed clashes and skirmishes have intermittently been reported.
The Arab Republic of Yemen (previously known as Northern Yemen) and the Democratic Republic of Yemen, to the south of the former, merged in 1990, forming the now unified Republic of Yemen. Analysts believe unification, which created a richer and more populous Yemeni state, shifted the balance of power in the region. Previously, the northern government in Sana'a was allied with Saudi Arabia in opposition to the socialist regime in the south.
Some Yemeni observers say that Saudi Arabia is reluctant to settle its border dispute with Yemen after the loss of its allies in the north. Meanwhile, new oil discoveries in Yemen have allowed the newly-unified state to decrease its dependence on Gulf aid and to absorb the more than one million workers who were forced to leave Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Sana'a's government opposed the introduction of US troops to liberate Kuwait, but did not openly support Iraq's occupation of the Gulf state. The fact that most Yemeni workers left Saudi Arabia has deprived Riyadh of one of the cards it used to pressure successive Yemeni governments.
Western countries also started dealing directly with Yemen, instead of doing so within the framework of their relations with Saudi Arabia. The growing strategic importance of Yemen after unity, as well as the support of some Western countries for its democratisation efforts, helped Yemen build stronger relations with the outside world. President Saleh visited Germany recently and it was reported that he had received an invitation to visit the United States. These increasingly frequent contacts, many analysts say, will help accelerate talks with Saudi Arabia and bring the border dispute to a close. Whether this is likely, or simply optimism born of border-talk fatigue, remains to be seen.
