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A year of living dangerously
Caveman terrorist spooks the West:Jason Burke in Islamabad and Brian Whitaker strip away the 'James Bond' hype heaped on Osama bin Laden
Originally published in The Observer, 3 January 1999
TEN DAYS ago Osama bin Laden held an unusual press conference. In a tent on the…
Brian Whitakerdescribes how Yemen's mountain farmers are learning to control rainwater.Originally published in The Guardian, 24 January 1992
THE construction of the Ma'rib dam was one of the great engineering achievements of the ancient world; its collapse one of the greatest disasters. For more…
Prime Minister resigns
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in Middle East International,8 May 1998
AFTER absenting himself from official duties for almost a month, Yemen’s prime minister, Dr Faraj bin Ghanim, has finally resigned. During his 50 weeks in office he regularly complained that his…
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in Middle East International,16 October 1998
THERE WERE celebrations in Yemen last week on the news that an international court had ordered the return of Red Sea islands seized by Eritrea. At least 12 people died and more than 200 Yemenis were taken prisoner…
Hostage to fortune and Yemeni guns
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in The Guardian, 30 December 1998
THE HOSTAGE tragedy in Yemen highlights the often tenuous control of the government over its people. President Ali Abdullah Salih might give the appearance of a strongman, having been in…
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in Middle East International,21 January 2005
Unidentified assailants launched a gun and grenade attack on the heaquarters of a website owned by Yemen's ruling party, the General People's Congress, on January 13.
The office was badly damaged and two journalists…
1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004
2004
Row with ambassador
28 October 2005
Ice cream man guilty
30 September 2005
Press war escalates
2 September 2005
President is 'fed up'
22 July 2005
Journalists under fire
18 February 2005
Attack on website
21…
Pawns of Gulf war live forgotten in Yemen camps
Tens of thousands of guest workers expelled by Saudi Arabia subsist in a Red Sea shanty town, reports Brian Whitaker
Originally published in The Guardian, 7 January 1993
SADDAM Street, Martyrs District and the Mother of Battles District. The citizens…
Introduction
DISCUSSION OF REFORM in the Arab countries is focused mainly on the nature of the regimes and the lack of democracy. But governments are products of the societies they govern and in Arab countries it is often society, as much as the government itself, that stands in the way of progress…
Harmless retribution
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in Middle East International,10 April 1998
Yemen's marathon treason trial has ended with five defendants sentenced to death - among them Ali Salim al-Baid, the former vice-president, and Haidar abu-Bakr al-Attas, the former prime minister…
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
