YEMEN - Co-operating With The US.

Strategic co-operation between the US and Yemen, or more specifically a regime under President Saleh's leadership, has been going on since the cold war days when the country was divided into North and South Yemen. North Yemen used to be closer to the West, in a strategic sense, while South Yemen was a client state of the Soviet Empire. However, the situation changed and a degree of uncertainty entered relations following reunification in 1990.

This uncertainty turned to mistrust when, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, Yemen was seen to be supportive of Iraq. The rapid victory of the US-led coalition put Yemen in a very difficult geo-political situation, as it was isolated from its Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) neighbours in the Arabian Peninsula as well. It took years of quiet diplomacy for Yemen and the US to work back to their pre-1990 levels of understanding, with Saleh having taken a close personal interest in the rebuilding of links with Washington.

There are domestic and regional angles to the relationship with the US as well. The fact that the US endorses Saleh's presidency boosts his legitimacy and image both locally and in the region. Such endorsements have often come during Saleh's visits to Washington. The US has also shown its willingness to engage economically with Yemen through aid and investment, which once again helps to raise his standing within the country. It has played a crucial role behind the scenes in helping the Yemen recover from the negative economic fall-out of both reunification in 1990 and the May-June 1994 civil war between the northern and southern sectors. Continuous American support through the IMF and World Bank for Yemen's economic reform programme has also been of critical importance.

Saleh's image was enhanced following a visit to Washington for a meeting with then President Bill Clinton on April 4, 2001. One of the reasons why Washington has a soft spot for Saleh is that he has been fairly unique in his treatment of the tiny Jewish community in the country, relative to most other Arab states. Saleh eased travel rules for Israelis of Yemeni origin, who in March and April 2000 were allowed to visit areas in Yemen where Jews once lived. Clinton publicly commended Saleh for this when they met. But later Saleh explained to the Yemeni press that the government dealt with the Jewish tourists not as Israelis but as "Yemenis living abroad".

US backing for Saleh has also helped to boost Yemen's regional stature and improve ties with neighbouring countries. American diplomacy has helped during the 1990s to repair ties between Yemen and the GCC states which were severely damaged during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis. The US has also intervened where possible to facilitate agreements that would boost stability in the region. Thus, it was instrumental in helping to get the Saudis to sign a compromise border deal with Yemen on June 12, 2000 - tentatively ending a border dispute that had threatened to explode into war on several occasions; the problem has not disappeared, however.

The co-operative US-Yemeni relationship briefly threatened to revert to friction, however, in October 2000 when Islamist militants launched a suicide attack on the USS Cole, an American naval vessel harboured at the Yemeni port of Aden. The US immediately placed the blame for that event on Osama Bin Ladin. Some frictions began to emerge between the two governments as the Yemeni side felt that the US was getting too intrusive, while the American side believed that Yemen was not co-operating enthusiastically in the investigation. Things were resolved, eventually, although both sides continued to occasionally complain about less than adequate co-operation and lack of sensitivity.

Military co-operation arrangements had been discussed in Sanaa in December 1999 during the visit to Sanaa of Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander of the US forces in the Middle East. Although this report was downplayed by both sides, following Saleh's visit to the US in April 2001, it was said he and Clinton had discussed granting the US 5th Fleet the right to use the port of Aden and boosting US-Yemeni military co-operation.