Photo and commentary by Carol J. Riphenburg, Ph.D.
riphenbu@cdnet.cod.edu
In Yemen the most important demographic element is the tribe. In the north, tribes remain the dominant social structure; and they play a pivotal role in contemporary politics.
This photo depicts his Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar, chief of one of Yemen's two major tribal confederations (the Hashid), head of the Islah Party (the second largest in Yemen), and Speaker of the National Assembly. Located at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman, Yemen has a character all its own. Elsewhere in the Middle East, powerful police states strictly enforce the harsh authority of central governments and ruling families. In Yemen, home to 18 million people, the government in Sana'a, the capital, barely holds sway.
One of the poorest countries in the world with little oil wealth to speak of, it is also one of the most heavily armed. Men regard Kalashnikovs to be as much a part of the dress code for the highland male as his checkered headcloth, jambiyya (the traditional curved dagger), and ankle-length shirt or wraparound futah skirt.
With over 50 million guns and a tradition of prickly pride, the government habitually switches off the cell phone system to prevent its use by restive tribes for battlefield communications.
The traditional easy going attitude toward tribal contentiousness and customs, such as the kidnapping of foreigners as a means of pressuring the central government, has come under more international scrutiny since September 11 and the recognition of the Hadhramaut as the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden.