Yemen, Saudi open border post [Archives:2003/673/Front Page]

Reuters & Yemen Times Staff
SANAA, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Yemen and Saudi Arabia opened a new crossing on Monday, the latest step by the two neighbors to end a border row and tighten security as they battle Islamic militants.
The potentially oil-rich region along the Empty Quarter desert had been long disputed until the two Arab states signed a border pact in 2000.
Economic and anti-terror collaboration in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States helped speed up the defining of the 1,800 kilometer (1,100 mile) long border.
The new border post was the latest sign of a thaw in historically cool ties between the two countries.
“This new demarcation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia is remarkable for the countries' relations and it is of great importance for the security of Yemen and Saudi Arabia against any activity of terrorists,” Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Qader Bagammal told Reuters.
“This will also improve the flexibility for the legal transfer of goods and people and also work against any smuggling of drugs and weapons,” he added.
The new post is the first to be opened since the 2000 pact and the fourth on the porous border.
The May bombings which killed 35 people in the Saudi capital Riyadh fuelled cooperation and led to a swap of al Qaeda suspects under a security agreement signed in August.
The weapons used in the Riyadh attacks are suspected to have been smuggled from Yemen where there are up to 60 million illegal weapons. Many Yemenis carry arms despite government efforts to seize weapons.
Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a hotbed for Islamic militants, is cooperating closely with the United States in its war against terrorism.
The U.S. embassy advised Americans in Yemen on Sunday to take exceptional precautions because of an unspecified threat.
Saudi Arabia came under intense U.S. pressure to crack down on militants after Washington said 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudis.
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