APRIL 26: The Prime Minister, Mr ...er... Dr ...er... sorry, it's so long since his name was mentioned in an official bulletin. Anyway, he's now back in Yemen. Readers with good memories will recall that some weeks ago Dr Faraj bin Ghanim flew to Geneva, ostensibly for a medical check-up, without fixing a date for his return flight.

Meanwhile rumours (officially denied) suggested that he had offered his resignation before leaving the country. Allegedly there was an argument about a cabinet reshuffle, with Dr Ghanim wanting to sack three ministers and the President resisting.

There is also the simmering issue of state subsidies on wheat and flour, which are supposed to be abolished this year as part of an IMF/World Bank economic package. Some members of the cabinet are understandably nervous about this because efforts to remove state subsidies have led to riots in the past. Last October, when the price of diesel went up by 67% to please the bankers, armed tribesmen and farmers barricaded roads on all sides of Sana'a for several days. The World Bank, meanwhile, argues that bread subsidies actually do little to help the poor because most of the money is creamed off by middlemen.

Dr Ghanim's temporary absenteeism is a familiar form of protest in the upper echelons of Yemeni politics. During the 1970s, President Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani went into self-imposed exile until opponents allowed him to sack his disastrous prime minister, Abdullah al-Hajari. More recently, the unlamented vice-president, Ali Salim al-Baid, turned political absenteeism into an art form.

Dr Ghanim is a 57-year-old economist from Hadramaut. His appointment, following an overwhelming victory by the General People's Congress (the president's party) in the 1997 elections, came as a surprise because Dr Ghanim is an independent. He was once a leading figure in the southern Socialist Party and is credited with the economic opening that began in the People's Democratic Republic before unification with the north in 1990.

His appointment was seen partly as a move to appease the south after its defeat in the 1994 war of secession, but also won approval in the north. He is regarded as a man of integrity (a quality sufficiently unusual among Yemeni politicians to arouse comment).

However, the fact that he is not a member of the northern political establishment has caused problems. After only two months in office, according to the Aden newspaper, al-Ayyam, he was showing frustration at the way some of his instructions were ignored.

APRIL 27: Two protesters were killed and several people injured - including three policemen - during a demonstration in Mukalla on April 27. More than 2,000 people reportedly took part in the protest against the death sentences on southern leaders who were recently convicted of treason for their part in the 1994 secession attempt. All those sentenced are currently abroad. Both the Socialist Party and the League of the Sons of Yemen were involved in the protest. The League said security forces had tried to prevent the demonstration by surrounding the party's office and the homes of its local leaders on Monday morning.

APRIL 29: Two people died and 27 were injured in an explosion as they left al-Khayr mosque in Sana'a after Friday prayers on April 24. The mosque, in the Bir 'Abid district, is known for its links with fundamentalism.

According to al-Ayyam newspaper, Sheikh Muqbil al-Wada'i and his religious opponent, Abd al-Majid al-Rimi, have been waging an "audio war", circulating accusations against each other on cassette. (Cassettes are often used for religious and political propaganda in Yemen because of the high illiteracy rates.)

Earlier this year (February 28), a bomb exploded at al-Rahman mosque in Mansoura, where Sheikh al-Wada'i was delivering a sermon. Those injured in the latest blast included a number of foreigners: Libyans, Somalis and two American passportholders of Arab origin. There was also a Canadian, Shakir Chargall, who is thought to be a western convert to Islam. He was reportedly engaged to a Malaysian woman and planning to marry in Sana'a.

APRIL 30: Dr Abd al-Karim al-Iryani, the new Prime Minister, is one of Yemen's shrewdest and most experienced politicians, having served as a government minister almost continuously since 1974, first in the Yemen Arab Republic and later in the unified state.

He was born in 1934 in the village of Iryan in the central highlands, to a one of Yemen's most prominent families. His uncle, the late Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani, was president of the republic during the early 1970s.

Before entering politics, Abd al-Karim al-Iryani studied biochemistry and genetics in the United States where he obtained a doctorate at Yale University. He still takes an interest in the subject and once, during an official visit to Britain, made a special journey to Cambridge University to see the place where DNA was discovered.

Regarded as a technocrat, he has held a variety of government posts, including Agriculture Minister, Planning and Development Minister, Education Minister and Prime Minister. He is a member of Yemen's largest political party, the General People's Congress.

He is considered one of President Ali Abdullah Salih's closest advisors and played a crucial role in developing the north's political strategy before and during the civil war last year. It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that in his spare time he is also an excellent chess player.

(See The role of the state in a traditional society by Abd al-Karim al-Iryani)

APRIL 30: For most of his eleven-and-a-bit months as Prime Minister of Yemen, Dr Faraj bin Ghanim was not a happy man; he regularly complained about the way his plans were thwarted. A few weeks ago he flew to Geneva without fixing a date for his return flight. Officially, the trip was for a medical check-up - an explanation which nobody believed, though its symbolism was clear. The Prime Minister was sick of his job. The customary polite wishes for a speedy recovery were noticeably lacking and Dr Ghanim's name vanished from government news bulletins.

On April 24 he returned to Yemen but meetings with the President, Vice-President and others failed to resolve the problem. On April 29 the weekly cabinet meeting was suddenly cancelled. The entire government has now resigned and Dr Abd al-Karim al-Iryani (previously deputy prime minister and foreign minister) will head a caretaker administration, at least until mid-May.

The central issue was a dispute between the Prime Minister and President Ali Abdullah Salih about cabinet changes. When Dr bin Ghanim was appointed, he insisted that all ministers should face a "performance review" after 12 months, and the President agreed to this. Since then, Dr bin Ghanim has made no secret of his desire to sack three or four ministers in a cabinet reshuffle. The President insisted that this must wait until the annual review became due in mid-May, but the Prime Minister wanted the changes to take place earlier.

On the surface, the dispute seems a small one and may be just a symptom of more serious underlying problems in the relationship between the President and his ex-Prime Minister. It is also possible that Dr bin Ghanim's eagerness to reshuffle the cabinet early is related to a deadline set by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The bankers have given Yemen until the end of April to show progress in its economic reform programme. As part of the package agreed with the bankers, state subsidies on wheat and flour are supposed to be abolished this year.

Some members of the cabinet are understandably nervous about this because efforts to remove state subsidies have led to riots in the past. Last October, when the price of diesel went up by 67% to please the bankers, armed tribesmen and farmers barricaded roads on all sides of Sana'a for several days. The World Bank, meanwhile, argues that bread subsidies actually do little to help the poor because most of the money is creamed off by middlemen. Dr Ghanim's absence over the last few weeks was the latest example of a form of protest which has become familiar in the upper echelons of Yemeni politics.

During the 1970s, President Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani went into self-imposed exile until opponents allowed him to sack his disastrous prime minister, Abdullah al-Hajari. More recently, the unlamented vice-president, Ali Salim al-Baid, turned political absenteeism into an art form. Dr Ghanim is a 57-year-old economist from Hadramaut. His appointment, following an overwhelming victory by the General People's Congress (the president's party) in the 1997 elections, came as a surprise because Dr Ghanim is an independent. He was once a leading figure in the south and is credited with the economic opening that began in the People's Democratic Republic before unification with the north in 1990.

His appointment was seen partly as a move to appease the south after its defeat in the 1994 war of secession, but also won approval in the north. He is regarded as a man of integrity (a quality sufficiently unusual among Yemeni politicians to arouse comment). However, the fact that he was not a member of the northern political establishment caused problems. After only two months in office, according to the Aden newspaper, al-Ayyam, he was showing frustration at the way some of his instructions were ignored.

MAY 17: Yemen's latest government, announced on May 16, has a new man at the top but, apart from that, little has changed. Four ministers have swapped places and there are three newcomers. At that rate, assuming a reshuffle every 18 months or so on average, it will take 15 years to get a complete change of personnel.

Dr Iryani, the new prime minister, is a cautious man but also a canny politician. His government faces serious problems with the economy and internal security - as witnessed by the recent kidnappings. In the past, Yemeni governments have been dogged by internal squabbles which often prevented them making decisions, let alone taking action.

Inevitably, one of Dr Iryani's priorities will be to maintain cohesion among ministers. The trouble with Grand Solutions is getting people to agree to them. So, in the run-up to next year's presidential election, the emphasis is likely to be on modest (and perhaps achievable?) reforms rather than radical change.

The rising star of the new administration is Abd al-Qadir Bagammal, a former Socialist minister in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, who later joined the General People's Congress. As Minister of Planning and Development in the outgoing government, he worked hard to reduce Yemen's foreign debt and increase aid. He is promoted to Foreign Minister.

(See The role of the state in a traditional society by Abd al-Karim al-Iryani)

JUNE 3: On May 24-25 Saudi forces moved into a Red Sea archipelago which is also claimed by Yemen. At least seven islands, just over 100km west of Midi, are involved.

According to the Yemeni opposition newspaper, al-Jamahir, the Saudis landed on a small island which was undefended by Yemeni troops and cleared off the eight fishermen they found there. Within 12 hours they began erecting pre-fabricated buildings and installing military positions.

The newspaper said they had also occupied a second island in the group and were seeking to evacuate inhabitants from the remainder as a precondition for talks with Yemeni officials.

Geographical names in the area often have several variations. Al-Jamahir (May 28) named the occupied island as "Dhu-Hurab", while the Palestinian newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi (May 26), referred to it as "Huraym". This is probably the archipelago marked on some maps as "Duharan".

Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been at loggerheads over the border for more than 60 years. Only a small part of the frontier has ever been defined [click here for background]. The agreed portion of the land border ends at the Red Sea about 5km north of Midi. Yemen maintains that a north-westerly bend in the line just before it reaches the sea indicates that the maritime border should continue in the same direction. The Saudis, on the other hand, prefer to draw the line in a westerly direction, giving them more of the Red Sea. By occupying these islands, which are south of Yemen's preferred line, the Saudis are staking a claim to their own projection of the maritime border.

One possible factor in the renewed tension is the choice of Abd al-Karim al-Iryani as Yemeni prime minister - since he is disliked by the Saudis. The customary congratulations on this new appointment were not forthcoming from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabi has also informed the United Nations that it does not accept the border agreement signed by Yemen and its eastern neighbour, Oman, six years ago. In a memorandum to the UN General Secretariat last April, the kingdom suggested that it might have a claim to some of the territory covered by the Yemeni-Omani agreement.

The move has surprised some diplomats because Riyadh did not formally oppose the border settlement in 1992. It may be linked to the Saudis' desire for an oil corridor to the Arabian Sea, between Yemen and Oman.

Recently Prince Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz, the Saudi Defence Minister, paid an inspection visit to the border province of Najran, which Yemen ceded to the kingdom under the Treaty of Ta'if in 1934. Many Yemenis regarded the prince's visit as provocative.

JUNE 3: It is a well-known fact - though rarely discussed - that not all the prisons in Yemen are run by the government. We are not talking here about the sort of prisons they have in the United States, where the task of looking after prisoners is contracted out to private companies. We are talking about prisons owned and run by individuals for their own purposes.

It was in one of these prisons that Sheikh Mansur Bakhtan, a prominent tribal elder, died in May. He had been detained there by Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar because of a land dispute. The reason why Sheikh Abdullah owns a prison is understandable, up to a point. He is paramount chief of the Hashid confederation - which makes him the most important tribal leader in Yemen.

The government's control of tribal areas is minimal, and where state law has no influence tribal law takes over. There are parts of the country where tribal law actually maintains order more effectively than state law - and sometimes dispenses justice more fairly.

We know that Sheikh Abdullah is kind and generous towards his friends: he recently entertained the visiting leader of Hamas to a magnificent banquet.

We trust that as leader of Yemen's foremost religious party he is also merciful towards his enemies.

But Sheikh Abdullah is more than a traditional tribal and religious leader. His role as Speaker of the House of Representatives means he is also a modern statesman. Because of this, we are confident that conditions in his prison are at least as good as those in the state prisons. (It would not, in any case, take much effort to make them a great deal better.)

For all these reasons we are sure that when the time comes Yemen's most distinguished jail-keeper will be happy to unlock his doors for inspection by Amnesty International or organisations of similar standing.

JUNE 6: The economic crisis in Southeast Asia and the slump in oil prices are taking their toll on Yemen's fragile economy. According to the new government's programme, presented to parliament on June 1, lower oil prices caused a drop in foreign revenue to $236 million in January-March, compared with $378 million in the same period last year. The deterioration is expected to continue.

"These developments led to slowness in completing price reforms on schedule and a rise in the general budget deficit in a very dangerous way," the statement said. "The real deficit at the end of April 1998 reached 36.2 billion riyals ($280 million) while the planned deficit for the same period was estimated at about 4.4 billion riyals."

Originally, Yemen's budgeted deficit for the whole of 1998 was 13.5 billion riyals, based on revenue of 336.6 billion riyals and expenditure of 350.1 billion. This looks likely to be greatly exceeded.

The government's programme promises continuing economic, financial and monetary reforms, together with "a comprehensive nationwide programme for administrative, employment and legal reforms." It also promises tough action to combat kidnapping and further efforts to resolve the border dispute with Saudi Arabia.

JUNE 7: Three members of a BBC television team, charged contravening Yemen's press law, were acquitted on June 7. The verdict - which was announced amid cheers - is a significant landmark for press freedom in the country.

The team - Rajih 'Umar, Robin Barnwell and Frank Smith, who work for the documentary programme, Correspondent - were arrested on May 26 as they returned to Sana'a after visiting the Bani Dhabyan tribe to interview Sheikh Mubarak Ali Saada, responsible for kidnapping four Britons during the last few months. They had earlier been told by the Ministry of Information not to go to the area, and the British Embassy had also reportedly advised against the trip.

The case was viewed in the west (and by some Yemenis) as a straightforward matter of press freedom. The team had entered Yemen legally and were simply doing what, in many countries, would be normal journalistic work. They even informed the Information Ministry of their plans. But behind this lay a complex legal and political muddle. In the first place, there was a difference of opinion between the Information Ministry and the Interior Ministry.

The Information Ministry had warned the journalists that the area they planned to visit was dangerous and the authorities could not guarantee their safety. The journalists replied that they would look after themselves. There was no evidence that they were actually forbidden to make the trip. A different argument came from the Interior Ministry which, among other things, is responsible for keeping the wilder tribes in order and preventing kidnappings - though generally with little success.

For several months, Yemen has been under intense international pressure to stop the kidnapping of foreigners. In the Interior Ministry's view, the journalists had exposed themselves to the risk of kidnapping in order to interview a sheikh. If, instead of granting an interview, he had decided to take them hostage, Britain would have been pressing the Yemeni government to get them released.

In court, Judge Haikal Ahmed Othman said: "Yemen believes in the freedom of the press, and the press is a necessity in this age. The world has become a village as a result of advanced technology and information." The prosecution claimed that the journalists had broken the law by not informing the government of their plans. But after viewing the confiscated tapes, the judge said: "The authorities were aware of their presence and the films they shot did not insult the government or the Yemeni people."

He ordered the tapes and other equipment to be returned to the journalists, who are now expected leave for Britain to edit their programme. Afterwards, the defence lawyer, al-Sheik Tareq Abdullah, said: "I'm very proud, not only because I won the case but because this case is historical. This is a victory for Yemen and the Yemeni people."

JUNE 30: Yemen's long-awaited price rises have brought the long-predicted riots - with an unconfirmed death toll of more than 50. On June 18, after much hesitation, the government finally decided to implement the latest phase of the World Bank/IMF economic restructuring package which was agreed in 1995. The increases are:

Petrol......... up 40% to 35 riyals ($0.27) a litre
Kerosene....... up 15% to 15 riyals a litre
Cooking gas.... up 25% to 200 riyals per cylinder
Wheat.......... up 35% to 900 riyals per 50 kg (110 lb)
Flour.......... up 35% to 1,330 riyals per 50 kg

The increases - intended to remove state subsidies on basic goods - were originally scheduled for earlier this year but delayed because of disputes within the government and general nervousness about the likely response from the public. It is thought that the previous prime minister, Dr Faraj bin Ghanim, opposed the rises, and they are being implemented now as a result of his resignation and the appointment of Dr Abd al-Karim al-Iryani to replace him. The government also faces worsening budget problems.

Increases in bread prices are always an emotive issue and provide an obvious focus for opposition parties across the political spectrum. But the government has also had plenty of time to plan the announcement and make security preparations. To soften the blow (and perhaps to help maintain order) the salaries of government officials and military personnel are being increased by 15%.

The rises were widely condemned in sermons during Friday prayers. One preacher referred to the World Bank as the "Bank of Death", while others urged the government to ignore "the instructions of the people's enemies".

On June 20 there were reports of large demonstrations in Sana'a. About 500 protesters marched along the Ta-izz road leading from Bab al-Yemen; rubbish, tyres and a car were set on fire. In Tahrir Square police used teargas to disperse the crowds, and also fired shots into the air to break up a protest on Zubairi Street, the main thoroughfare. After an emergency cabinet meeting the government said it would not reverse the changes.

The demonstrations continued on June 21, with police patrolling Sana'a in armoured vehicles. According to the Yemen Times, unrest in Dhamar was far wider and fiercer than in the capital, with violent confrontations between police and protesters, and looting of shops and public buildings. The newspaper reported that 160 people had been arrested in a security clampdown, though the Interior Ministry said later that those arrested had been released. The Yemen Times also carried a photograph of an empty teargas canister, showing an expiry date of April 1987.

An opposition group, the Supreme Independent Student Committee, said on June 22 that one demonstrator had been killed and a number of others injured during the protests. Sana'a University was reportedly closed. According to unconfirmed reports, police used live ammunition in Ta'izz on June 22. One person died there, and three were injured. In Ma'rib, three died and seven were injured. On June 23, six people were reported to have been killed in Marib.

In fact the death toll was considerably higher, and this became clear on June 28 when 21 soldiers killed in the north-eastern region were buried at a martyrs' cemetery in Sana'a. At least 13 of the soldiers had been killed around Ma'rib in clashes with tribesmen involving guns and rocket-propelled grenades on June 26. The tribesmen had blockaded the road which carries fuel from the local refinery to the capital, but it was reportedly cleared by troops using tanks. Other soldiers apparently died in separate incidents during the previous few days. Estimated casualties among the tribes range between 20 and 30 dead.

Sana'a was quiet on June 26, with a large security presence around the mosques where sermons at Friday prayers had inflamed opinion the previous week.

On June 29 Hunt Oil denied a report one of its pipelines had been blown up. The company said its pipeline, which carries about 150,000 barrels per day from Marib to Ra's Isa on the Red Sea, remained in operation despite small leaks caused by bullet holes. The pipeline would be shut down for a few hours to carry out repairs later in the week. A spokesman said: "The volume of oil which has leaked is too small to be measured accurately with the checkmeter on the pipeline."

About 3,000 people attempted to hold a demonstration in al-Houta (Lahj province) on June 29. Police wielding clubs dispersed the demonstrators and at least 21 people were arrested. 

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There was serious trouble last October when diesel prices were raised as part of the same financial package. Then, major roads on all sides of the capital were blockaded and tankers from Ma'rib were held up for several days.

The World Bank argues that removing subsidies ought to have little effect on the average consumer because they brought little benefit in the first place. The money, they say, was usually creamed off by middle-men.

Already there are reports that some bus fares have doubled - suggesting that businesses will use this opportunity to raise prices by more than is strictly necessary.

The government has prohibited the holding of further demonstrations without permission. Opposition parties are threatening to test the government's resolve by defying the ban shortly.

Blame for much of the trouble is attributed to Islah, the conservative/Islamist Islah party, which has announced that its goal is to bring down the Iryani government. But the view among opposition parties of all complexions is remarkably similar: that economic reform will not work without political reform and the elimination of corruption. One party has called for a high tax on the popular drug, qat, in order to keep food prices down.

JULY 14: Relations between the state and tribes in the north-eastern border provinces of Ma'rib and al-Jawf have always been fragile, and since steep price increases were announced in June at the behest of the IMF, security forces in the area have clashed repeatedly with the Jahm, Jida'an and Alaiwah tribes.

In the past, tribes with a grievance have resorted to kidnapping foreigners, especially in Ma'rib. But now they have latched on to another, more permanent hostage: the pipeline that carries almost 40% of Yemen's oil production to Ra's 'Isa on the Red Sea. On July 10 they blew another hole in the pipeline near Sirwah - the seventh since the trouble began. So far, both the government and the Hunt Oil Company which operates the pipeline, have played down the damage. After an earlier attack, a company spokesman referred to small leaks caused by bullet holes and said: "The volume of oil which has leaked is too small to be measured accurately."

However, recent reports have put the spills at more than 20,000 barrels and, according to the Yemen Times, the total cost of repairs will exceed $1 million. One spill has been burning for days because the area is thought too insecure for an attempt to douse the flames and repair the leak. Although the 350-km pipeline is vital to the country's economy and important (via Hunt Oil) to Yemeni-American relations, it is virtually impossible to protect. If the damage is indeed relatively slight, this is probably only because the tribes have so far attacked it with guns and grenades rather than more powerful explosives.

With the vulnerability of the pipeline - as well as its political and economic significance - exposed, the government faces a long-term problem in its relations with the tribes whose territory the oil passes through. President Salih's initial response has been to place a more ruthless army commander in the area, though historically the only effective way to deal with the tribes has not been to control them but to reach an accommodation. At present the omens for that are not good either: last week Sheikh Mohammed al-Zaidi of the Jahm tribe returned to Ma'rib after the failure of negotiations in Sana'a.

Yemeni officials have blamed both the Saudis and the opposition Islah party for fomenting trouble in Ma'rib and in the cities. Both have an obvious motive: the long-running border dispute in the case of the Saudis, and the publicly-declared aim of bringing down the government in the case of Islah. The Saudi ambassador in Yemen categorically denied that the kingdom had "aided or instigated" the disturbances, though a number of northern tribal sheikhs are widely believed to be Saudi clients.

Whatever the truth, the Yemeni government habitually blames external forces for internal problems. In this instance, the tribes do have a number of specific demands, including compensation for flood damage three years ago, plus a reversal of the price increases. In the southern city of Aden there were at least two explosions within a week near the oil refinery, apparently caused by grenades. Eighteen people, including fishermen, were taken in for questioning after the first incident, which a government spokesman said had caused no damage "worth mentioning". However, a local newspaper claimed that a fuel pipe feeding ships in the harbour had been damaged, causing extensive pollution.

JULY 22: Yemen says it has re-captured al-Duwaima, the Red Sea island occupied by the Saudis two days earlier. Officials in Sana'a said Yemeni naval forces landed at dawn on July 22, but later Saudi Arabia denied the claim.

Yemen's Foreign Minister, Abdul-Qader Bagammal, is said to be flying to Riyadh "soon" for talks on the escalating border crisis.

According to President Ali Abdullah Salih - in an unusually outspoken comment on the situation - nine Saudi naval vessels used long-range artillery to attack and occupy al-Duwaima island on July 20, killing three Yemenis and wounding nine.

The Saudi attack was perceived by Yemen as highly provocative, and a breach Article 8 of the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding between the two neighbours - though later the Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef bin Abd al-Aziz, claimed his country had acted "in self-defence".

Although the border dispute has continued for more than 60 years and military incidents are common, Yemeni politicians and officials do not normally discuss them in public. The fact that the president has spoken out now highlights the seriousness of the current situation.

PREVIOUS ATTACK

The Yemeni government has still not officially mentioned an earlier incident on May 24-25 when Saudi forces moved into a Red Sea archipelago which is also claimed by Yemen. At least seven islands, just over 100 km west of Midi, were involved.

According to the Yemeni opposition newspaper, al-Jamahir, the Saudis landed on a small island which was undefended by Yemeni troops and cleared off the eight fishermen they found there. Within 12 hours they began erecting pre-fabricated buildings and installing military positions.

The newspaper said they had also occupied a second island in the group and were seeking to evacuate inhabitants from the remainder as a precondition for talks with Yemeni officials.

Geographical names in the area often have several variations. Al-Jamahir (May 28) named the occupied island as "Dhu-Hurab", while the Palestinian newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi (May 26), referred to it as "Huraym". This is probably the archipelago marked on some maps as "Duharan".

THE SAUDIS' AIM

Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been at loggerheads over the border for more than 60 years. Only a small part of the frontier has ever been defined [click here for background]. The agreed portion of the land border ends at the Red Sea about 5km north of Midi. Yemen maintains that a north-westerly bend in the line just before it reaches the sea indicates that the maritime border should continue in the same direction. The Saudis, on the other hand, prefer to draw the line in a westerly direction, giving them more of the Red Sea.

The islands occupied last May are south of Yemen's preferred line - suggesting that the Saudis are staking a claim to their own projection of the maritime border.

One possible factor in the renewed tension is the choice of Abd al-Karim al-Iryani as Yemeni prime minister - since he is disliked by the Saudis. The customary congratulations on his appointment last May were not forthcoming from Riyadh.

Since late June, there have been numerous clashes between Yemen's security forces and armed tribes in al-Jawf and Ma'rib - two northern Yemeni provinces bordering Saudi Arabia. The tribes have blown several holes in a pipeline which supplies almost 40% of Yemen's oil. There are strong suspicions among Yemeni politicians that the tribes' action was encouraged, and perhaps funded, by the Saudis.

OMANI BORDER

Saudi Arabi has also informed the United Nations that it does not accept the border agreement signed by Yemen and its eastern neighbour, Oman, six years ago. In a memorandum to the UN General Secretariat last April, the kingdom suggested that it might have a claim to some of the territory covered by the Yemeni-Omani agreement.

The move surprised some diplomats because Riyadh did not formally oppose the border settlement in 1992. It may be linked to the Saudis' desire for an oil corridor to the Arabian Sea, between Yemen and Oman.

Oman's foreign minister, Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, left Saudi Arabia on July 20 after a surprise meeting with Saudi's Crown Prince Abdullah. Oman had earlier protested about the Saudi attitude, arguing that the 1992 deal with Yemen and a 1990 agreement with Saudi Arabia had finalised international boundary issues.

In May, Prince Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz, the Saudi Defence Minister, paid an inspection visit to the border province of Najran, which Yemen ceded to the kingdom under the Treaty of Ta'if in 1934. Many Yemenis regarded the prince's visit as provocative.

According to the Ba'athist newspaper, al-Jamahir (July 17), Saudi authorities recently detained a number of Yemenis for 10 days after they entered the Abha area, which is off-limits to Yemenis. The group were arrested on their way back after delivering goods and were fined 4,000 Saudi riyals each.

JULY 27: Canadian Occidental Petroleum has announced significant additions to its reserves in the Masila block, which it describes as a "world class asset". In a report on July 24, the company said it had drilled seven successful development wells in the block during the first half of this year, resulting in the addition of 71 million barrels of proved reserves. This brings Canadian Oxy's share of proved Masila reserves to 208 million barrels - a proved reserve life of 5.6 years.

The company added: "We are aggressively expanding the Masila exploration and development programme ... With the largest exploratory land position in Yemen, we intend to capitalise on our control of the extensive Masila infrastructure and extensive knowledge to create further long-term opportunities in this area."

JULY 29: The number of Yemeni provinces will be increased from 18 to 20 under a presidential decreee issued on July 29.

Parts of the Sana’a, Mahwit and Hajjah provinces will be combined to create a new province called Amran in the north. In the south, a province called al-Dali’ will be created from parts of Lahij, Ibb and Ta’izz provinces. A plan to divide Hadramawt province was recently abandoned in the face of local opposition.

The changes date back to a proposal at the time of unification in 1990 to "eliminate the effects of the division (of Yemen) and establish a geographic and demographic balance between the provinces." The decree requires parliamentary approval.