ABSTRACT
The country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula occupies one of the most fabled lands in the Middle East. Some believe that Yemen was the home of the legendary Queen of Sheba, who traveled to Jerusalem to rendezvous with King Solomon in biblical times. Yemeni men wear curved daggers called jambayyas in their belts, and both men and women in Yemen chew qat, a narcotic plant capable of stimulating both passive and violent behavior. Yemeni opposition to Yahya coalesced into the Free Yemeni movement in 1944. Egyptian forces remained in Yemen, fighting an increasingly frustrating and deadly war with Yemeni fighters, who used the rugged territory of Yemen to ambush and wear out the Egyptians. The People's Democratic Congress ruled the former Yemeni Arab Republic and the Yemeni Socialist Party, led by Ali Salim al-Bidh, ruled the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
