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 Yemen Size: 527,970 square kilometers. Population: 16.5 million |
Yemen continues to buy bargain-basement Soviet systems from Russia and other
republics of the former Soviet Union. Sanaa has obtained MiG-21 aircraft and
expects additional purchases of the T-72 tank. The new hardware is meant to
increase Yemen's deterrence and impose rule on the nation's unruly tribes.
At the same time, Yemen has sought to increase its regional and Arab
connections. Yemen has improved relations with Saudi Arabia and has launched
a drive for membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council.Sanaa wants to improve relations with the United States. This has been made
difficult by the activities of Al Qaida agents in Yemen and its involvement
in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden. Sanaa has been slow in
providing U.S. investigators with access to Yemeni officials believed linked
to Bin Laden.
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