ABSTRACT

Federal leaders seem to have agreed about independence for South Yemen. Already on 9 November 1963 six leading Adenese wrote to Britain’s colonial secretary demanding a British declaration of South Yemen’s independence, to be issued before December 1964. Following the visit of the UN Inquiry Commission, copies of this letter were also sent to the UN General Assembly and to the Secretary General. 1 Several weeks later, Aden’s Chief Minister, Baharun, declared that his government’s main mission was “to obtain freedom from imperialism” and that he “would wear black” till the emergency regulations were ended in Aden. 2 in February 1964 the Sultāns Aḥmad Ibn al-Fadlī, who officiated as the Federal Minister for education and information, also demanded independence. 3