King Fahd, Saleh meet in support of bilateral relations
Saudi Arabia-Yemen, Politics, 7/27/1999

The Saudi News Agency on Monday reported that King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, currently in Marbia, Spain, received on Monday Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for the first time in two years.

The Saudi agency added that the two leaders reviewed "conditions and developments on the Arab, Islamic and international arenas," as well as "bilateral relations between the two countries and means of developing them."

Ali Saleh, who on Sunday took part in the burial ceremony for the Moroccan king in Rabat, arrived on Monday at dawn in Marbia to meet with the Saudi King, who is spending this summer in this tourist resort located on the southern coast of Spain.

This is the first meeting between the two men since 1997. However, relations between the two states are witnessing tensions due to an old border conflict.

Since 1995, the two countries started talks to demarcate their joint borders. However, land borders between the two counties are extended to 2,500 km and have not been fully demarcated until now while the sea borders have not demarcated yet.

In July 1998, a confrontation took place between the two sides over al-Dweima island in the Red Sea, which both Sanaa and Riyadh claimed as their property, and the confrontation resulted in killing three Yemeni soldiers.

Afterward, the two countries signed an agreement to avoid resorting to using force.

Meanwhile, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, who is in charge of the border issue headed on Sunday night for Marbia after he represented the king at the funeral of the late King Hassan II of Morocco.

Ali Saleh met with Prince Sultan in Rome, Italy in September 1996, and the two men reached an agreement on border demarcation.

This process of border demarcation was not completed yet, according to statements made by Yemeni officials.

In June, 1999, the Saudi defense minister discussed with Yemeni Minister of State for Legal Affairs Abdullah Ghanem the development of negotiations pertaining to border demarcation between the two states.

Previous Stories:
  King Fahd receives Spanish king   (7/20/1999)
  Saudi - Yemeni committee on border demarcation concludes latest session   (6/24/1999)
  Source: Yemeni - Saudi border agreement soon   (6/15/1999)
  A message from President Saleh to King Fahd   (6/14/1999)

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