Your committee is all too aware that most of our meetings take place in London and that many members find it difficult to travel from far away places. We were therefore delighted that two of our members, Nick and Jill Hammans, gave a talk describing their travels in Yemen entitled ‘Frankincense, Amazement and Myrrh’, to the Exeter branch of the Royal Geographical Society in December. We need more such initiatives, and your committee would welcome suggestions from members of the Society.

In January this year we were grateful to the Middle East Association (MEA) for the invitation to a discussion group meeting led by Captain Roy Facey, the Aden Port Development Adviser, and Abdulrab al-Khulaqi, the Marketing Director, entitled ‘Aden in a Changing Region’. Roy Facey’s presentations have become a permanent feature of the MEA’s calendar and are always informative and entertaining. In March, Frank Gardner OBE, the BBC Security Correspondent was invited to give an illustrated lecture on his ‘Impressions of Yemen’. It was particularly striking that Frank’s affection for the Arab World and for Arabs in general survived, absolutely intact, his dreadful experience in Riyadh a couple of years ago, which so transformed his life.

The Islamic Art Circle at the School of Oriental and African Studies invited the Society to attend a lecture by Dr Salma Samar al-Damluji, a long-standing member of our Society. Her subject was ‘The Yemen Architecture Project from Yafa’ to Hadramaut’.

In May, Pat Aithie was to have launched her new book The Burning Ashes of Time in London with the support of the Society. Unfortunately she was taken into hospital just before the meeting and an alternative programme had to be devised. We are grateful to Bill Heber Percy for coming to the rescue with an account of last year’s Soqotra visit and a report on the Society’s support for the Hadibu Training Centre. John Mason, our Hon. Treasurer, could not be present but kindly provided a selection of his excellent photographs of the Island to accompany the talk. We are also very grateful to Bill for his untiring and fruitful work on behalf of other Soqotran NGOs.

Looking forward, and returning to the subject of tourism, we hope that members will be able to visit the Soqotra exhibition in Edinburgh this summer. Under the title ‘Soqotra, Land of the Dragon’s Blood Tree’, this will be formally launched at the Royal Botanic Garden on 30 June – next week – and will be open to the public from 1 July until 29 October. If you know of any tour operators specialising in eco-tours, I hope you will do your best to persuade them to visit Edinburgh to see what a golden opportunity awaits them!

Our first meeting after the AGM will be the launch of Peter Hinchcliffe’s account, with co-authors John Ducker and Maria Holt, of the last days of British rule in South Arabia, entitled Without Glory in Arabia: The British Retreat from Aden. This will take place at the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 2 Belgrave Square, on 20 September.

At long last the exhibition of Nigel Groom’s photographs, displayed here at last year’s AGM, was opened in Sana’a in late May. The Society was represented by our Vice-Chairman, Julian Lush, and Alan D’Arcy, and the event was presided over by Michael Gifford, the British Ambassador, and Dr Elizabeth White, Director of the British Council in Sana’a. Our thanks are due to the Government of Yemen and Sharif Haider al-Habili for their support for this exhibition which is later intended for permanent display in Bayhan.

Over the year the Society has continued to support a number of projects, which are gradually coming to fruition. Details of the grants made by the Society are included in the accounts presented by our Hon. Treasurer, John Mason, whom I warmly thank for looking after our funds. Thanks are also due to the other societies and individuals who have supported us, in particular Ann Thomson at the MEA for arranging the meetings that we have held there, but we are also greatly indebted to our host today, the Ambassador of Yemen, and to the staff of the Embassy for the hospitality extended to us once again on the occasion of our AGM. As the new Chairman of the Society I am delighted to have been able to welcome HE Mohamed Taha Mustafa as the new ambassador of Yemen. He arrived in Britain after ‘Id al-Fitr last year and presented his letters of credence in February this year. May I also mention that Khalid al-Yamani 

has now replaced Faisal al-Abdali as the Embassy’s representative on your committee.

I take the opportunity here to thank Julian Paxton for soldiering on as Hon. Secretary of the Society for an additional year, which is way beyond the call of constitutional duty. We urgently need to find a successor for him.

I am sad to record the deaths of Dr Derek Harvey OBE, who will be remembered for his knowledge of the birds of Yemen and for his keen interest in wild life conservation; of John Hewitt MBE, who wrote a fascinating account for the Journal in 2004 of his ‘First Footsteps in Yemen – 1947’; and of Philip Allfree, whose vivid and entertaining memoir of his time as a political officer in the former Eastern Aden Protectorate, Hawks of the Hadhramaut (1967), is a modern classic of Arabian travel literature.

But to end on a happier note: I am sure you were as delighted as I was to learn of Sultana al-Qu’aiti’s appointment as MBE in HM The Queen’s Birthday Honours List – a richly deserved award for her charitable work in Yemen.

Victor Henderson

Chairman's report, AGM 9 June 2004

The highlight of last year’s Autumn programme was the Society’s Tenth Anniversary Luncheon held at the Royal Garden Hotel on Monday 8 December. This was attended by over a hundred members and their guests. We are most grateful to Dr Abdul Karim Al-Iryani, Adviser to the President and Secretary-General of the ruling General People’s Conference Party, for accepting the Society’s invitation to attend this event as principal guest and speaker.

I am glad to report that the photographs taken by Freya Stark during her visits to southern Arabia in the 1930s – which were exhibited in Oxford in 2002 and in Exeter at the beginning of 2003 – were delivered to the Seiyun Museum last September for permanent display there. Thanks to the co-operation of ‘Friends of Hadhramaut’ we were able to airfreight the pictures out to Yemen at a very reasonable rate. The Society also hopes to find a suitable home in Yemen for Nigel Groom’s photographs which date from the late 1940s, and many of which were reproduced in his book Sheba Revisited (2002).

Looking ahead a little, I am sure that those of you who recall the successful performances given by the Seiyun Popular Arts Group in Britain two summers ago will be glad to know that the Society is once again supporting the International Music Village Festival. This year a group from Mukalla, comprising seven musicians led by Ahmad Al-Ahmady, will be performing in Cardiff and Regent’s Park from 23 June until 3 July. On 2 July beginning at 7.30pm they will be giving a special performance at Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, for the Yemeni Community in London and ‘Friends of Hadhramaut’, and I hope that many of you will find the time to attend that event. Paul Hughes-Smith has been very closely involved in arranging this visit, as he was, of course, in the previous visit by Yemeni musicians; and once again he deserves our warmest thanks for his sterling efforts. I should also like to thank Pat Aithie and Leila Ingrams for the support which they have given in arranging aspects of the Al-Ahmady Group’s programme; and both Paul and Leila may wish to say a few words about the programme a little later.

In my report last year I mentioned that Alan D’Arcy was unable to lead the Society’s seventh annual tour to Yemen due to ill health. With the feeling generated by the war in Iraq and its unfortunate aftermath, Foreign Office Travel Advice would probably have prevented such a visit taking place in any case. Nevertheless, I am pleased to say that Alan, who recently resigned as Hon. Treasurer of the Society, is feeling fit enough to plan two tours with twelve persons participating in each. The first in November this year, and the second in January next year. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Alan for all he has done and continues to do for the Society. We are delighted that he has agreed to remain on our Committee.

In his place as Hon. Treasurer I warmly welcome John Mason who will present the 2002 and 2003 accounts to this Meeting. Your Committee once again apologises for being unable to present a full set of accounts for 2002 at last year’s AGM.

We remain convinced that, with sensible planning, travel to Yemen poses no greater threat than travel to other destinations not subject to similar restrictions but where foreign tourists have been manifestly at risk. As individuals we have always received a most warm and hospitable welcome on our visits to Yemen, despite recurrent political tensions. We are therefore optimistic that the Society’s seventh tour to Yemen planned for this autumn will prove as successful as our previous tours. We welcome the recent change of emphasis in Foreign Office Travel Advice, but look forward to a substantive relaxation of current restrictions, in the light of the strenuous efforts which the Yemeni authorities have made to contain and counter the threat of political violence. So far as I know, there have been no serious security incidents during the past eighteen months. Recent revelations of the deplorable behaviour of the coalition forces in Iraq have done nothing to improve relations between the Arab World and this country. It is therefore all the more important that the Society continues to pursue its objectives as a charitable organisation devoted to propagating a positive message to a wider audience about the history and culture of Yemen; it is a message which we hope may help to counter negative publicity and alarmist reporting in the media. In this context we were delighted to see such a large number of people at the Yemen Day reception hosted in the House of Commons on 26 May by Keith Vaz. The principal guest and speaker was Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Dr Abubakr Al-Qirbi. The crowd of between two and three hundred present included Baroness Symons, Minister of State at the Foreign Office, MPs and Arab Ambassadors.

Turning to our lecture programme, the first of our autumn lectures was given in October by Aidan Hartley on ‘The life and death of Peter Davey’, the subject of an article by Aidan Hartley in last year’s issue of the Journal. A review of Aidan’s acclaimed book The Zanzibar Chest will appear in the next issue. In November Mrs Khadija al-Salami, Press Counsellor at the Yemen Embassy in Paris showed a documentary film entitled ‘Yemen’s Thousand Faces’ which she herself had scripted and directed. The film looked at the lives of the few remaining Jews in Yemen, and at another little known community in the remote mountainous north: the ‘flower men’ of al-Munaibah. The film is a fascinating record of a way of life which is fast disappearing. A review of Mrs al-Salami’s autobiography, The Tears of Sheba, will also appear in the Journal.

In February this year we were indebted to the Middle East Association for inviting Society members to attend a presentation on the Port of Aden by Captain Roy Facey, and in March we joined the Society for Arabian Studies for a fascinating lecture by Clara Semple on the Maria Theresa Dollar, the subject of her forthcoming book. The programme for the rest of the year will be distributed with the next issue of the Journal in August.

On an historical note, I would like to mention that this year is the fiftieth anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s visit to Aden in 1954 when she opened ‘The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’, whose name was changed to the ‘Jumhouriya’ or Republic Hospital after independence. And 1954 also saw the completion of the Aden Refinery which, like the Jumhouriya Hospital, is still in service.

The British Ambassador in Yemen, Frances Guy, will be leaving Sana’a in July. Her successor is Michael Gifford who is expected to take up his appointment later that month. We extend our best wishes to them both, and we hope that there will be an opportunity later in the year for Frances Guy to give members of the Society her valedictory impressions.
Many of you will have heard the sad news of the death in April of Christine Heber Percy who played an active part in organising the exhibition of paintings by Yemeni artists, which the Society sponsored in 2000; we extend our heartfelt condolences to Bill and his family on their tragic loss.
The famous explorer and travel writer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who died last August at the age of 93, visited Yemen several times during his journeys in southern Arabia. His Excellency Dr Mutahar Alsaeede represented Yemen at the Memorial Service for Sir Wilfred held at Eton College Chapel last October. This was in the middle of Ramadhan, so the Ambassador’s presence at the Service was particularly appreciated.

I am very glad to welcome to our AGM today Professor Roderic Dutton from the University of Durham. He is present in two capacities: as a member of the Society and as Chairman of ‘Friends of Soqotra’. Before I invite him to say a few words about the major exhibition on Soqotra which is planned to be held in Edinburgh next year, I would like to thank His Excellency the Ambassador and his staff for welcoming the Society once again to the Embassy this evening and for their generous hospitality.

Douglas Gordon

Chairman's report, AGM 12 June 2003

The Society was formed in February 1993, so this year marks its tenth anniversary Cultural highlights of the past decade have included the Yemen Festival of 1997, and the British Museum’s Queen of Sheba exhibition last year. Running concurrently with the exhibition were various events to which our Society contributed in no small way; among the most enjoyable were the concerts given by the Seiyun Popular Arts Group in June and July, eight of whose musicians and singers visited Britain from Yemen to take part in the international Music Village Festival. They gave a lively concert in Kew Gardens with exuberant audience participation, winning several encores! Equally successful but on a smaller scale were the concerts which the group gave elsewhere during their busy programme. A performance in Goodenough College raised money for the ‘Friends of Hadhramaut’ charity, and two evenings were devoted to the entertainment of the Yemeni community in Cardiff. The Society also supported the visit to Britain of two other Yemeni vocalist musicians, Dr Nizar Chanem (a member of the Society) and Hassan al-Amri, who were invited to play during the Arabian Seminar held at the British Museum in July. They also performed at the Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall for members of the Yemeni Community. Paul Hughes-Smith deserves our warmest thanks and congratulations for the active part he played in arranging the visits of both teams of musicians.

Meanwhile, an exhibition of photographs by Freya Stark, chosen from the collection in the archive of St Antony’s College, Oxford, opened in Magdalen College. This exhibition, which, as I mentioned in my report last year, was sponsored jointly by the Society and Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Qu’aiti, ran from June until October, and we are greatly indebted to Caroline Singer for organising it. We are also most grateful to Dr Eugene Rogan, Director of St Antony’s Middle East Centre, for making the photographs available to the Society. These were again exhibited earlier this year at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter; both the Vice-Chancellor and the Yemeni Ambassador, Dr Mutahar al-Saeede, attended the January opening. We are hoping to arrange for the collection to be sent to Yemen for permanent display in the Seiyun Museum.

The Society also sponsored a display of photographs taken by Shelagh Weir entitled ‘Portraits of Yemen’ at the Clore Education Centre of the British Museum during September and October. These exceptionally fine colour photographs now form an educational resource which will be used in Arab World Education projects organised by the Museum.

In October, Alan D’Arcy led the Society’s sixth annual tour of Yemen which lasted three weeks and was thoroughly enjoyed by the sixteen members who participated. The Foreign Office Travel Advice, which had prevented a tour taking place in 2001, had been eased slightly. Needless to say no problems were encountered by our members who were extremely well received by the many Yemenis who met and entertained them.

After the success of the summer events in promoting the richness of Yemen’s history and culture and the warmth of its people, it was unfortunate that the attack in October on a French tanker and subsequent security alert generated a spate of negative publicity and alarmist reporting in the media. But worse was to follow at the end of December with the killing of American missionaries in Jibla by a gunman. Casualties of the travel ban reimposed by the Foreign Office included a trade mission to Yemen organised by the Middle East Association, and several package tours. It goes without saying that the absence of visitors is a bitter blow to Yemeni tour companies and to people who make a living from tourism. Since then the situation has been further complicated by the US/British invasion of Iraq, which caused predictable hostility throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds, not to mention strong opposition within Europe. Nevertheless, we remain convinced that, with sensible planning, travel to Yemen poses no greater threat than to destinations not subject to similar travel restrictions but where foreign tourists have been manifestly at risk. As regards the Society’s seventh tour to Yemen planned for this autumn, it is, I regret to say, the recent illness of Alan D Arcy, rather than security considerations, which seems likely to rule this out. We wish Alan a speedy return to good health.

[The Chairman read out a message from Alan D’Arcy thanking all those who had sent him messages of sympathy and support. His message included a brief financial statement, pending the circulation to members of a full statement of account later in the year]. Meanwhile, I very much regret to announce the recent death of David Birtles who generously supported the Society as a corporate member. As some of you will recall, he was co-author of an illustrated history of the Armed Forces of Aden 1839-1967, published three years ago.

The critical times in which we live make it all the more important for us to encourage and support projects promoting cultural interaction with Yemen. Thanks to the efforts of the British Council in Sana’a and in Cardiff, where there are, of course, strong community links with Yemen, I am happy to report that a scheme for an exchange of study visits by Yemeni and Welsh artists was initiated earlier this year. The idea grew out of the art exhibition organised by the Society in October/November 2000 to display the works of Yemeni artists and those of several British artists who had visited Yemen. The first artist to benefit from this new scheme was Miss Najween al-Atef, a young lecturer at the Fine Arts Institute, Aden, whose two month programme in March and April included attachments to art colleges in Cardiff and Swansea. We hope that it will be possible to build on the success of her visit and that further such exchanges will follow.

Turning to our lecture programme, the first of our current series of lectures took place in November, when Peter Hinchcliffe and Maria Holt gave a presentation on their proposed history of the British in Aden 1961-67, which will draw on Yemeni oral sources as well as British. No lecture was held in October because of the Red Sea Trade and Travel study days organised that month by the Society for Arabian Studies; and I should mention here that our Society has contributed to the cost of publishing the proceedings of those study days. In December, Paul Hughes-Smith introduced and showed a documentary film about Yemeni music. In February this year, Dinny Hawes, Deputy Director of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, discussed the many years of humanitarian work carried out in Yemen by the Institute’s overseas arm, International Cooperation for Development; a full account of lCD’s work, written by Marta Colburn and entitled ‘The Republic of Yemen’, was recently published by Stacey International. In March, we joined with the Society for Arabian Studies to hear Peter de Geest give a fascinating talk on the caves of Soqotra. As some of you will be aware, a recently formed charity called ‘Friends of Soqotra’ has published its first, handsomely illustrated, newsletter. Membership, at an annual subscription of £20, is open to all who have an interest in the Soqotra archipelago, the welfare of its people and the conservation of its uniquely important biodiversity. We will be publishing further information about ‘Friends of Soqotra’ in the Journal. We will also be publishing an abridged version of the excellent talk which James Taylor gave the Society last month on ‘Traditional Arab Sailing Ships’.

In the autumn we hope to have another joint lecture with the Society for Arabian Studies, a film evening and, in December, a social function to celebrate the Society’s tenth anniversary, which I very much hope that Dr Abdul Karim Al-Iryani will be able to attend.

In conclusion I should like to thank His Excellency the Ambassador and his staff most warmly for welcoming us once again to the Embassy and for their generous hospitality.

Douglas Gordon

At our last AGM we said goodbye to our Honorary Co-President, H.E. Dr Hussain al-Amri, who has returned to Sana’a but remains an honorary member of the Society. In his place we are very pleased to welcome H.E. Dr Mutahar Abdullah Al-Saeede, who presented his credentials as the new ambassador of the Republic of Yemen at the end of October and subsequently became our Honorary Co-President.

After the summer holiday recess we resumed our lecture programme in October with an illustrated talk by Shelagh Weir on the "Crafts of Yemen". In November, Dr Trevor Marchand of the School of Oriental & African Studies described in his illustrated lecture to a joint meeting of our Society and the Society for Arabian Studies, how the distinctive shape and beauty of the Yemeni minaret was achieved and how the skills were passed down from master builder to apprentice. The autumn programme concluded in December with a presentation by Ian Harmond on the EC-funded Master Plan for Soqotra.

In the New Year, the Letchworth Museum Art Gallery arranged an exhibition to celebrate the life and work of Abdo Nagi whose obituary was published in the last edition of the Journal. Our first lecture of the year was given by Mohammed Almasyabi who introduced us to the work of the Yemeni Development Foundation, a charity that was launched in March 2000 to give advice and assistance to the Yemeni community in this country and in Yemen itself. Our Society has contributed to a project to provide Braille computers for the al-Aman Welfare Society in Sana’a to train blind girls.

In March, Marta Paluch introduced her book ‘ Yemeni Voices - Women tell their stories’, giving a vivid insight into the changing lives of the women whom she had interviewed for a British Council project while she was working in Yemen.

Our next speaker was Caroline Singer, a member of the Society, who lectured to a joint meeting with the Anglo-Omani Society on "The Frankincense Trail - travels in Oman & Yemen". She delivered a fascinating talk illustrated with slides to a full house. The final lecture in our spring programme was a talk by Jane Diamond, who had just returned from visiting Yemen, on The Establishment & Management of a Family Planning Centre: organisational objectives versus local expectations’. She has worked for Marie Stopes International in Yemen and wrote an article for the journal in 1998 about her experiences in this important field. Unfortunately a personal misfortune prevented her from delivering the lecture, which has been postponed until next year.

Once again we are grateful for the co-operation of the Society for Arabian Studies and the Anglo-Omani Society in arranging joint meetings and avoiding clashes over lecture dates. Throughout the year under review we have been invited to several meetings about Yemen arranged by the Middle East Association (MEA). In October there was a discussion group meeting at which Mustafa Rajamanar, the British Vice-Consul (Commercial) in Aden, spoke about business opportunities. In January, Captain Roy Facey spoke once again about ‘Aden Port Development’, which is fast becoming an annual event in our calendar. In March the Yemeni Foreign Minister, Dr Abu Bakr al-Qirbi addressed a discussion group meeting at the MEA during his official visit to Britain. In early June, Ambassador Frances Guy, on a brief visit from Sana’a, also addressed the MEA. We are most grateful to the Mae's Director, Brian Constant, for inviting members of our Society to attend these events, and for the continued use of the MEA as a venue for some of our lectures.

On your behalf I should also like to thank the Committee for their support over the year. A major concern of the Committee has been to contribute to the side events connected with the British Museum ‘Queen of Sheba’ Exhibition which was launched on 5 June in the presence of a strong Yemeni delegation led by the Minister of Culture and several hundred guests. To this end we have co-sponsored with Dr Abdul Aziz al-Qua’iti, a member of our Society, an exhibition of Freya Stark’s photographs taken during her travels in Southern Arabia, which opened earlier this month at Magdalen College, Oxford. We have also contributed to the projects bringing musicians from Yemen to perform at various venues in London from 27 to 30 June and in Cardiff on 2 July, and another smaller group of Yemeni players who will be performing in London from 18 to 21 July.

We are planning to have three more lecture meetings this year, details of which will be circulated to the membership with the forthcoming tenth anniversary issue of the Journal.

In view of the events of last year it was not possible to arrange a British- Yemeni Society Tour to Yemen, but Alan D’Arcy has worked tirelessly to arrange a tour this autumn. The Foreign Office Travel advice remains discouraging but several members of the Society have made private visits to Yemen; clearly a close eye must be kept on security with the continuing tension in the region. The latest FCO travel advice is available on the internet.

I congratulate the Embassy on the establishment of a web site, which will be much appreciated by those of our members with internet access: www.yemenembassy.org.uk

In conclusion I should like to thank H.E. the Ambassador and his staff for hosting our AGM and for the generous hospitality shown to the Society.

Douglas Gordon

Chairman's report, AGM 21 June 2001

Since the last AGM held exactly a year ago to the day, the Society has been active with a full programme of meetings and events. The autumn programme last year began with a lecture by Christopher Ward of the World Bank’s Rural Development, Water and Environment Department, on the water crisis inYemen. In October, Dr Salma Samar Damluji gave an illustrated talk to a joint meeting of our Society and the Society for Arabian Studies (SAS) on her return visit the previous February to Hadhramaut and Yafa’. We are grateful to SAS for their continued cooperation in arranging joint events.

Starting in late October an exhibition of paintings by Yemeni artists was held in Cardiff, London, where a number of British artists who had visited Yemen were invited to exhibit alongside them, and in Birmingham. Bill Heber Percy, who played a major role in organising this successful and rewarding event, has written a detailed account for the Journal. But I should like to take this opportunity of expressing our warm thanks both to him and to the other volunteers involved, to our financial sponsors who helped make the event possible, and to H. E. Dr Hussain al-Amri for his enthusiastic support.

The year ended with a well attended lecture by Carl Phillips on the archaeological work which he and his team continue to carry out in the Tihama.

Thanks are due to Alan D’Arcy for once again leading a Society tour to Yemen last October. This was the fifth such tour. It was arranged at shorter notice than we would have wished because of developments earlier in the year; it was a great success and I know that Alan, undaunted by a long spell of ill health — now happily behind him — is planning a sixth tour. The timing of it and notice to members will again be subject to local factors. I sometimes think that the wild men of Marib and elsewhere have prior knowledge of the date of our AGMs! Shortly before our meeting last year two kidnapping incidents occurred; last month a young German Arabic language student was kidnapped; he was released last week fit and well. I suspect that his unexpected immersion in the dialect and oral traditions of tribal society in Marib province, where he was detained for some three weeks, will have aroused the envy of not a few of his fellow students. But even ‘benign’ kidnappings can cast a long shadow, pulling the rug from under the feet of those of us who have lobbied for a relaxation of FCO travel advice. The Society’s October tour did not, of course, start auspiciously: on the morning of the party’s arrival in Sana’a USS Cole was attacked in the Port of Aden, and early the following day a bomb exploded in the British Embassy compound in Sana’a. Nevertheless, after consulting the Embassy, Alan D’Arcy and his party decided to go ahead with what proved to be a very successful and enjoyable tour. Their decision was influenced by the knowledge that the Yemeni security authorities have always taken very good care of organised groups of our members. But it was also made easier by the fact that as a Society and individually we have many friends in Yemen, and that between us we have considerable local knowledge of the country. For these reasons, while always bearing FCO travel advice in mind, we feel able to exercise a certain latitude in interpreting and applying it.

Before turning to this year’s activities, I should like to mention two events in last year’s social calendar: on 18 July our Vice-President, Dr Abdulla Abdul Wali Nasher, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton in recognition of his exceptional services to medicine; and in late September, I and four other members of the Committee had the pleasure and privilege of calling on President Ali Abdullah Salih during his brief visit to London on his way to New York. We had a lively discussion with the President immediately before his own meeting with the Foreign and Home Secretaries. We are most grateful to Dr Hussain al-Amri for proposing and arranging this call.

In January we once again had the opportunity to listen to Captain Roy Facey address the Middle East Association on Aden Port development and the Free Zone. In February we joined with the Anglo-Omani Society to hear a talk by Sa’id el-Cheithy on ‘The Life and Writings of Sayyida Saline’, whose connection with Aden was described in last year’s Journal.

In March Dr Dionisius Agius gave an illustrated talk on ‘The Language of the Dhow’ to the Society for Arabian Studies, to which the Anglo-Omani Society and our own Society were invited. In April we showed the film ‘Only I returned’, a documentary about the life and achievement of the 18th century German surveyor and explorer, Carsten Niebuhr; we are grateful to the Royal Danish Embassy for making the film available to us. In May,Victor Henderson, who has now retired after completing his term as HM Ambassador in Sana’a, gave us the benefit of his experiences in a valedictory talk at the Middle East Association. We are most grateful to him for the support he has given us during his term as Ambassador and as co-President of our Society; many of our members have warm memories of the hospitality extended to them in Sana’a by Victor and his wife, Heather. As most of you will know, Victor Henderson has been succeeded in Sana’a by Frances Guy, and I should now like to read out a message which she has sent accepting our invitation to become the Society’s new co-President:

‘Thank you for inviting me to become co-President of the British-Yemeni Society It is an honour and a privilege. My first few weeks in Sana’a have been marked by the very kind hospitality shown to me by everyone, most notably by the Yemeni-British Friendship Association. The change in government has permitted a fresh look at some of the issues which have complicated our bilateral relations. While I cannot promise miracles for the immediate future, I hope we can build on the goodwill created by some recent visits, to gradually improve our relations. I have been struck by the genuine warmth felt by many Yemenis towards the United Kingdom, despite recent events, and I can hut undertake to do my best to build on that, and try and create some new areas of co-operation between our two countries. I wish you well with the ACM and look forward to meeting you all soon. ’

Last year we said farewell to Sa’id Hadi following his appointment as Yemen’s Ambassador in Kuwait, and we were grateful to Raid Salim for taking his place on the Committee until the arrival of the Embassy’s new Minister, Mr Ahmad Hajar.

As in all societies, our membership ebbs and flows but remains stable around the 225 mark. We have three corporate members and would like to increase the corporate element in our membership. But unfortunately few British companies are actively involved in Yemen at the present time. Inevitably, as members of our Society get older we lose some of them, and this year we were sad to see the passing of Gavin Young, Colonel ‘Bill’ Bowen, and, perhaps saddest of all because so unexpected, of Abdo Nagi.

Our next meeting will be on 10 October when ShelaghWeir will speak about the Crafts of Yemen, and on 7 November Dr T. Marchand has promised to give us an illustrated talk on the Minarets of Sana’a. The autumn programme will be sent out with the Journal in early August.

A very significant cultural event to which we can look forward next year will be an exhibition of Yemeni antiquities to be held at the British Museum between June and October. The exhibition follows those held in Paris, Vienna, Munich, Rome, Turin, Rotterdam and Madrid during the past three years, but will include material in British and other collections not previously displayed.

After the conclusion of our business this evening, we are very glad to welcome Charles and Patricia Aithie and to congratulate them on the publication of their book, ‘Yemen: Jewel of Arabia’, which they will be introducing to us to later. I would like to thank them very warmly for coming all the way from Cardiff to tell us something of the background to the book, and of their experiences in gathering the wealth of beautiful photographs which lies therein.

Finally, I should like to thank H. E. the Ambassador and his staff for hosting this meeting and for entertaining us here this evening. A few weeks ago His Excellency told us the sad news that he would be leaving London shortly to return to Sana’a. I hardly need say how sorry we will be to see him go; we will remember him very warmly; those of us travelling to Sana ‘a will hope to catch a glimpse of him there; meanwhile we offer him and his family our very best wishes for the future

Douglas Gordon
    

Chairman's report, AGM 21 June 2000

As you know, I took over as Chairman from Stephen Day in September 1999. I should like to take this opportunity to thank him for his period of stewardship.

Since the last AGM, the Society has held regular meetings which for the most part have been well attended. I will not mention details of the lecture programme up to the end of October 1999, since these were listed in the December issue of the Journal. In November, Dr Fuad al-Nahdi, the Editor of Q-News, spoke on The Influence and Impact of Yemenis in East Africa, and in December we had a joint lecture with the Society for Arabian Studies at which Dr St. John Simpson spoke on Vice or Virtue?: Early reactions to the spread of tobacco in Arabia.

In the first half of this year we have held four meetings. In January at a joint meeting with the Middle East Association, Captain Roy Facey gave us an update on the development of Aden Port; and in February, John MeHugo discussed the legal basis of the decision on the Yemen-Eritrea dispute over Hunaish island. Special mention must be made of Bader Ben Hirsi’s documentary film onYemen, The English Sheikh and Yemeni Gentleman, which we showed in March to a packed hall. It had been our intention to show a shortened version of the film after the AGM today, but so far there is only the 75 minute video, which will be shown next month during the Seminar for Arabian Studies. In due course we hope the film will become available on video-cassette. In April, Peter Hincheliffe gave a talk entitled Dhala’ Diary, 1966, which he illustrated with slides and film taken at the time. The text of his talk will appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal.

I must thank our Editor for his hard work in producing the excellent December issue, which, due to a last minute crisis in the printing of it, was not available for distribution until January. The demand for it, not least from our friends in Yemen, was gratifying and we are planning to increase the print-run of the next issue. As mentioned in our last newsletter, we have decided to move production of the Journal from the end of year to mid-year.

In addition, I should like to pay tribute to the support I have had from Julian Paxton, as Secretary, and from Alan D’Arcy, as Treasurer, in keeping the Society’s affairs in good order.

Sadly, several of us were amongst the many who gathered to say farewell to Jim Ellis, our vice-president, in late January. A founder member of this Society, he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

On a happier note, we congratulate our co-president, Victor Henderson, on the award of his C.M.G.

We regret losing the services of Sa’id Hadi Awadh on the Committee, as the Yemen Embassy representative, but we were delighted to hear of — and now record our congratulations on — his appointment as Ambassador to Kuwait. We await news of his successor, but meanwhile the gap he left is being filled by Raid Salem.

Our members have been active. Last September, Carl Phillips contributed to a symposium held in Sana’a on the material culture of Yemen, and in December returned to the Tihamah for a fifth season at the early Sabaean site of al-Hamid. Meanwhile, Julian Lush arranged at short notice a weekend in Munich for a few members of the Society to see the Yemen Archaeological exhibition, which has since moved to Rome. In January this year Bill Heber Percy, with John Shipman, led a small group of artists toYemen.

Our Christmas appeal for the Ras Morbat Clinic, Aden, raised £1,000, and I thank members for their generosity towards this worthy cause.

For reasons which are well known to you, we could not arrange a Society tour to Yemen in 1999, but, subject to the usual caveats, Alan D’Arcy is planning to lead one in October/November this year.

We have kept in constant touch with the Foreign Office on the subject of travel advice and have lobbied for less stringent restrictions. Clearly there are still places where it would be unwise to go. Although we are hopeful that a tour can be arranged - and those of our members who have visited Yemen in recent months have been very well received - we, as a Society, have to err on the side of caution. Unfortunately there have been two kidnapping incidents within the past two weeks: one involving a visiting Norwegian diplomat (killed) and his son, and the other a senior Italian archaeologist. Such incidents obviously rule out any early relaxation of FCO travel advice. But this month has also brought some very good news, namely that Yemen and Saudi Arabia have finally reached agreement on their long-standing border dispute. This is a remarkable achievement, following hard on the heels of the tenth anniversary of unification on 22 May. On the occasion of that anniversary, I have already on your behalf asked His Excellency the Ambassador to convey our congratulations to President Salih, but I am sure you would wish me to ask him to send a further message expressing our warmest congratulations on the historic border treaty whichYemen has now concluded with Saudi Arabia.

Looking ahead, I am very glad to report that the Society will be arranging an exhibition in London of works by Yemeni artists combined with paintings of Yemen by British artists. This will take place in November at the Kufa Gallery and we will be sending members full details in due course. Meanwhile, I should like to thank Bill Heber Percy and Caroline Lees for taking the lead in organising this project on behalf of the Society.

Dr Salma Damiuji has agreed to speak to a joint meeting of our Society and the Society for Arabian Studies on 11 October about her visit to Yemen in February this year. When arranging our lecture programme we try to hold joint meetings with other Societies when the subject is of mutual interest. This increases the size of the audience, helps us to recruit new members, and reduces costs by sharing expenses.

Stacey International will be publishing a new book on Yemen by Patricia and Charles Aithie. We hope that Pat, a member of our Society, will be able to talk to us about it and show us slides of some of the splendid photographs which the book will contain. Meanwhile, we congratulate David Birtles and his co-author on the publication earlier this year of The Armed Forces of Aden 1839-1967. A review will appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal.

Finally, I should like to thank His Excellency Dr Hussain al-Amri for his generous support of the Society and for placing the facilities of the Embassy at our disposal this evening.

Douglas Gordon