A Yemeni welcome
by Kirtan Bhana - TDS
15 May 2024
May 22 is commemorated as Yemen Unification Day. On this day in 1990 a merger that united North Yemen and South Yemen into one country took place. Yemen’s Charge d’Affaires to South Africa, Ambassador Ahmed Hassan hosted a luncheon in Pretoria, South Africa where he welcomed the newly accredited Arab Ambassadors to South Africa. Ambassadors Salem Al-Shebli of Kuwait, Mubarak Al-Khalifa of Qatar and Mohamed Sheikh Issak of Somalia recently presented their diplomatic credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa and began their tour of duty in South Africa.
Addressing the attendees who included among other diplomats and officials, Ambassadors Zodwa Lallie, Deputy Director General for the Middle East and Asia at Dirco, Mahash Alhameli of the United Arab Emirates and Dean of the Arab Diplomatic group, Andre Nzapayeke of the Central African Republic and Dean of the African Diplomatic group and Salih Omar Abdu of Eritrea and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in South Africa, Ambassador Hassan made references to the history of Yemen as it relates to its recent past and its current cooperation dynamics in the Middle East region, the support received in the development of the country and the challenges it faces due to the activity of the Houthi Militia and the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel.
“I would like to congratulate Palestine and Palestinian Ambassador Hanan Jarrar on the United Nations General Assembly’s recognition of the State of Palestine,” said Hassan while expressing gratitude for South Africa’s firm and principled position on the Palestinian issue. The de-escalation of the war in Yemen has also led to conditions of progress and advancements in relations between South Africa and Yemen.
The State of Kuwait received particular attention for its role in recognizing and supporting Yemen’s republican system after the revolution of September 26, 1962 which saw the elimination of a defunct, ignorant and backward imamate and the emergence of a modern unified Yemen. “There is no doubt of the distinguished fraternal bilateral relations with the sister countries of Qatar, Kuwait and Somalia, as there is with all neighbours and Arab countries in the region,” said Hassan. He pointed out that the aid received from Kuwait and Qatar was used to build schools, universities, hospitals and medical clinics.
As a country that shares the bounty of the Red Sea with Somalia and Sudan, Hassan acknowledged the continued solidarity and commitment to the security of the Red Sea which was agreed to at a conference in Taiz, Yemen in March 1977.
The Middle East’s strategic central geographic role which pivots Asia, Europe and Africa, which has over many millennia been home to dominant ancient civilizations, has left a legacy for humanity which still influence the current discourse, even though we have not completely uncovered some of the mysteries, and in other instances, unfathomable practices of the ancients.