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"We call on the Yemeni government to temporarily suspend all border talks with Saudi Arabia, until it achieves equitable bargaining conditions." That was the first of seven recommendations issued following an intensive debate sponsored/organized by Yemen Times in Sanaa on Thursday, July 30th, 1998.
Some seventy leading political scientists, lawyers, journalists, politicians, and other intellectuals participated in the meeting which was chaired by Dr. Mohammed Al-Qubati. Four keynote speakers made presentations.

Abdul-Malik Al-Mikhlafi, Secretary-General of the Nasserite Unionist Party, talked about "What Yemen Wants to Achieve in the Talks". Dr. Khadeejah Al-Haisamy, Lecturer of International Political Relations at the Political Science Department, author of a book on the border dispute, talked about "What Saudi Arabia Wants in the Talks".

Dr. Ahmed A-Kibsi, Chairman of the Association of Political Scientists, and Professor of Systems of Government at Sanaa University, talked about "Possible Scenarios in the Future of the Region".
Mohammed Hussain Al-Farih, Member of the Association of Arab Historians, talked about "The Meaning of Historic Rights for Yemen".
After 3 hours of extensive debate, the intellectuals issued a 7-point recommendation (as shown in the box), which the authorities said are considering.

It has been raining cats and dogs, as the saying goes. The rains were followed by major casualties.
"From Kilometer 64 to kilometer 160 on the highway between Sanaa and Hodeidah, total damage is estimated at YR 350 million," said Engineer Abdul-Wali Mughallis, Director-General of Road Maintenance at the Highway Authority.
"In Haraz area, five persons were killed as their homes collapsed on them. Also in the same area, mountainside mud-slides destroyed large areas of farms and thousands of coffee trees," he added.

On the Sanaa-Taiz highway major boulders fell off the mountain sides blocking the road. In one point at Yaslih, some 60 kilometers south of Sanaa, workers have been chipping away on a giant boulder that is 30 meters wide.
Flash floods have menaced such areas as Bani Matar, Al-Haimatain, Mahweet, Raimah, Utuma, Wusab, Raimah, Al-Udain, and other parts of Taiz, Dhale and Lahej governorates.
Large numbers of heavy trucks carrying imported goods from Hodeidah to Sanaa and other parts of the highlands have been stranded at Al-Qadam area, some 80 kilometers east of Hodeidah.
Unfortunately, a thirsty country like Yemen is not even able to avail itself of the rainwater, as it has not prepared itself for a rainy day.

Tribes from the governorates of Marib, Al-Jawf and Shabwa held meetings during 31/7-2/8/1998. The Sanaa gathering aimed to find ways and means to interact with the authorities.
Tribes from those regions have been odds with the authorities for quite a while now. They had engaged in kidnapping, road-blocking, sabotage of oil facilities, and other actions that forced the government to send and station armed forces in those regions.
The tribes demand a piece of the pie as they complain that their regions have been deprived of development projects.
The tribes also discussed the on-going border talks between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
At the end of the conference, the tribes issued the following recommendations and demands:

1- Giving these regions' high school graduates priority in getting scholarships;
2- Giving citizens of these governorates priority in employment by petroleum companies operating there;
3- Allocating a specific number of seats at the Military College for young men from this region;
4- Giving the opportunity to unemployed young men to enlist in the army;
5- Giving more opportunity to people from these regions to occupy government posts there;
6- Providing prominent figures in the regions a recognized official status;
7- Resolving the problems of army officers and soldiers suspended from work;
8- Condemning the kidnapping of foreigners;
9- Rejecting accusations of being foreign agents; and
10- Forming a special committee headed by Sheikh Saleh Bin Sowda to follow up implementation of development projects in the region.

By: Mohammed Bin Sallam, Yemen Times