Riyadh reissues work visas for Yemeni workers

A Yemeni official source said on Saturday that Riyadh has started to reissue visas giving work licenses to Yemenis to work in Saudi Arabia following seven years of suspension.

The Yemeni source added: "36,000 visas were issued for Yemeni workers within two weeks according to new employment contracts," noting that the number of Yemenis recruited in Saudi Arabia are 400,000.

The Lebanese daily al-Nahar said the Saudi authorities evacuated thousands of Yemenis, froze its aid to Yemen and suspended issuing new visas after Sanaa angered its Arab Gulf states neighbors when it sided with Iraq during the Gulf war.

Tensions escalated later on following limited confrontations between the two countries over a border area rich in oil and gas. Al-Nahar added that Yemen's relations with the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia have been greatly improved in recent years.

In 1995 Riyadh and Sanaa signed a memorandum of understanding to end the long border disputes between the two countries.