Yemen celebrates its 10th unity anniversary

Yemen on Monday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the unity of the two northern and southern parts of the country by a central rally during which Yemeni military equipment were paraded and youths performed sports shows.

The rally was held in the presence of the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, high ranking Yemeni officials and crowded number of Arab and foreign officials and guests.

Yemen's prime minister welcomed the visitors in an inaugural speech.

He remarked that his country has started a new epoch in which the democratic process is pursued on the ground of political pluralism, the freedom of expression, the freedom of the press and honoring of human rights Meantime, the Yemeni daily al-Thawra issued on Monday indicated the improvement of relations between Yemen and each of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the other Gulf states. It indicated that the participation of all these countries in this celebration constitutes a clear evidence on the improvement of Yemen's relations with these friendly countries.

Yemen has witnessed the first direct presidential elections in 1999 and has an elected parliament.