Vice P.M., The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulqadir Ba Jammal Admits: Tense Relations with the Saudis [Archives:2000/05/Front Page]

Political sources in the Yemeni capital Sana’a have confirmed that the state of tension in the Yemeni-Saudi relations is still going on. This could be clearly inferred from the recent media wranglings published in the Saudi dailies Al-Riyadh and Al-Madina to which the Yemeni daily AL-Thawra has responded rationally and calmly in its editorial on 29 January, 2000. 
Political analysts have made it clear that the verbal message to president Ali Abdulla Saleh from King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz lately conveyed by the Yemen’s foreign minister Abdul Qadir Ba Jamal has not pointed to any breakthrough in the tense relations between the two countries’ leaderships. President Saleh’s verbal reply implies that the two parties have not reached an agreement on the disputed issues. The recent visit of Yemen’s deputy premier, the foreign minister to Saudia has failed to bring closer their points of view regarding the two countries renewable border dispute. 
The same sources pointed out that the recent clashes caused the killing of ten Yemeni army soldiers stationed on the borders. During the confrontation, Saudi troops advanced into Yemeni territories more than 7 kilometers deep at the area of Bakil Almir and occupied the highest and biggest Gihaf mountain nearby Alazraq area of the district of Bakil Almir in the north-west area of the Yemeni borders with Saudia. 
In a brief statement to Aljazira TV. channel early last week Yemen’s deputy premier, the foreign minister Abdul Qadir Ba Jamal had confirmed that clashes took place between troops of the two countries but did not elaborate about casualties or consequences of the clashes.
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