Vic Henderson to YT: Abyan Fiasco caused me the most work and an Appeal for Clemency was Submitted to Yemeni Government in November [Archives:2001/03/Interview]
January 15 2001
He joined diplomatic service in 1966 and took up various diplomatic posts in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Caracas, Jerusalem, Helsinki, and others. His last destination in his diplomatic career was Yemen and now he will go for retirement. He successor in Yemen will be Ms. Frances Guy who has been Deputy Head of Mission in Addis Ababa.
On this occasion, Mohammed Hatem Al-Qadhi of Yemen Times met him and filed the following interview.
Q: As an ambassador, what impression you have about Yemen during this time?
A: Well, my impressions are that the people are very welcoming and friendly. Certainly, my wife and I feel very much at home. Yemen has a very beautiful landscape. It has a very interesting architecture. There are certain security situations at times which have prevented Yemen from taking the best advantage of all these assets and I hope for the security situation to be stabilized in the future to enable more and more people to come and visit Yemen. I think they should and I shall certainly be back.
Q: What is the most striking event that happened to you in Yemen and will live in your memory?
A: Well, certainly the one which caused me the most work was the kidnapping of 16 tourists some of who were British. I remember the date exactly which I shall never forget it, December 28, 1998 and the killing of four of them including three of the British tourists when the security authorities mounted a rescue the following day. That was succeeded a few weeks later by two kidnapping incidents involving British nationals. It was a very difficult time and a lot of work and I recall I worked for 47 days in a row without taking a day off, an example of how it was. I have also other vivid and obviously happy memories including spending four days right out in the countryside in Ibb governorate in a wonderful countryside just late the beginning of the rainy season when things started to turn absolutely delightful. That will live in my mind. Two visits to Hadhramaut, the first semi-official and the second is purely tourist. Hadhramaut is a great asset that Yemen has to sell abroad and where in my view tourists can be perfectly safe and secure.
Q: There are some efforts to get the British prisoners in Aden released. The last visit of Mr. Keith Vaz was mainly for this purpose. Is there something new about this issue which plus the Abyan tragic fiasco which worsened the relationship crisis between Yemen and Britain?
A: I am happy to say that my relations with His Excellency, the President, the Prime Minister, ministers and officials throughout have been very good and cordial. It was not the Abyan incident on its own which made things difficult for a while. It was the fact also of the arrest of a number of British nationals in Aden subsequently charged with various terrorist offenses. That was the busiest for us and we followed the conduct of the investigations and then subsequently the legal procedures very closely. That time raised some difficulties. Regarding your question about the prisoners appeal for clemency, this was submitted through the embassy to the Yemeni government in November. There is yet to be any response and we do hope President Saleh will consider the appeal for clemency sympathetically.
Q: Yemen claims that Britain hosts people who are creating nagging problems for its security like the so-called Abu Al-Hamza Al-Masery living in Britain. Your comment please?
A: It is not an easy question to answer, I know that the activities of individuals living in the UK who are active politically are followed closely to see whether there is any infringement to the law and so far our police authorities have not been able to find evidence which would warrant prosecution under the British law and there is always this balance which has to be struck between freedom of speech and activities which are designed to subvert friendly foreign states. But I know maybe the Yemeni government is not happy from time to time with what Abu al-Hamza says. I read again something he said to be following the bombing of the church in Aden which is certainly not helpful. But whether it is actionable or he has said anything which would make him liable to prosecution is not a matter for me.
Q: During your stay in Yemen how do you see the Yemeni-British political and trade relations?
A: Well, as I already said we passed through a difficult period. During the year 2000, relations certainly improved. We had the visits by the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and Minister of Health during which they met the Foreign Office Minister responsible for the Middle East, Peter Hain. Then, the President stopped in London on his way to the Millennium Summit in New York and had very cordial talk and discussions with the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook. That was quickly followed by a visit by Keith Vaz, another Foreign Office Minister of State, who had the advantage of knowing Yemen well for he was born in Mualla in Aden. It was a good visit during which many things were reviewed. It is just unfortunate that the very next week we should have the bombing of the USS Cole and also the placing of a bomb in my embassy. Those things happened in October and naturally and unavoidably put Yemen in the spotlight again and in the way Yemen would not like, I think. But we still hope that it will be possible to continue to rebuild the relationship because there is a lot of things which the two sides can help one another with including for example the field of security cooperation. We both share the interest of fighting terrorism and in all its forms and wherever it is. That is just one field where we hope to see cooperation, although I myself wont be able to take part in that.
Q: Concerning relationship, there are some efforts exerted by some friendship associations in both Yemen and UK. How do you see them?
A: There are two associations; the British-Yemeni Society in London and the Yemeni-British Friendship Association in Sanaa. My good friend and colleague Husssein Al-Amri and I are co-presidents of both which are honorary jobs. The chairman of the Society in London is a former ambassador to Sanaa Mr. Douglas Gordon whom many of your readers will remember. The chairman of the association is the Minister of Health and my good friend Dr. Abdullah Abdulwali Nasher. They do incalculable and valuable help, providing information about our respective countries, making contacts with government officials and organizing cultural and information events.
Q: With regards to the bombing of the British Embassy, have the investigations reached any results?
A: We are in touch with the investigations authorities and this is a long going thing. The investigation is not complete yet. I can not say anything more than that or make any comments.
Q: Any last word?
A: I just want to say that my wife and I are genuinely sad to be leaving. We will certainly be back for holidays because once bitten with the Yemen bug, you stay bitten and you want to be coming back. If there are any opportunities to use my experience and knowledge and love of Yemen in the service of commercial or academic interest that I will do because that would increase the chances of our coming back frequently. I think our aim is to come back once a year and see our friends and visit all sights which we will take away in our memories.
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