BOOK REVIEWS

"I have never been a representative of any political party, tribe, group or coalition."

50 Years in Shifting Sands:
Personal Experience in the Building of a Modern State in Yemen

Author: Mohsin A. Alaini, Former Prime Minister of Yemen
Translated from Arabic edition (2002) by Hassan al-Haifi
Publisher: Dar An-Nahar (Beirut) - 2004

In light of the current impasse in the Middle East and with conflicts raging throughout the region, many books are going to print in every language attempting to explain the political circumstances. This book stands out among these as a volume written by a seasoned diplomat from the Arab World with intimate knowledge and understanding of the political environment in the region. HE Mohsin A. Alaini has the qualifications and experience that few officials in the Arab World can boast. Having witnessed the dramatic events of the past half century in the region has produced a most compelling memoir of a lifetime lived at the forefront of news. The book entitled 50 Years in Shifting Sands: Personal Experience in the Building of a Modern State in Yemen is recommended reading for all historians, international relations scholars and foreign policy researchers with any interest in the Middle East. Furthermore, it would be advisable for Western governments to read this book closely, in light of the current "trap" in which they find themselves in the Middle East.

Shifting Sands, an interesting 384-page book is the autobiography of HE Mohsin A. Alaini, the former Prime Minister of Yemen emblazed with a cover photo showing Alaini giving his first speech at the UN General Assembly in December 1962. The book covers the most landmark junctions in Yemeni history with nine chapters entitled: Beginning of National Service; The September Revolution; The Khamir Conference and Relations with Egypt; The November Coup; National Reconciliation; International Relations; Relations with South Yemen; The 13th of June Movement; and Back to Diplomatic Activity Again. At the end of the book, the author includes a useful appendix entitled, "Key people and places".

In the introduction of this book, the tri-lingual lawyer, teacher and diplomat, Alaini, describes the book as "the story of a person who does not claim to be a fighter for patriotic causes, a political leader or diplomat, it is merely a story of an ordinary citizen, who found himself thrust into the midst of events he had no choice but to be a part of - events he could neither evade or distance himself from, as they unfolded. This is just a story of a Yemeni citizen who found himself holding different governmental positions." The author notes, "this book is not an account of the Yemeni National Movement, of the Revolution, and the Republic, or of the unity. It is neither about the old and new in Yemen, nor of the relations between Yemen's South and North. Neither it is of the youth, the sheikhs and the officers, of the Yemeni-Saudi or Yemeni-Egyptian relations, nor of the relations with Eastern or Western countries or international organizations. It is not concerned with the issue of Arab unity or with the Gulf War and its consequences. Rather, this book is the story of a half century in the life of a citizen during the time of the Imamate and the Revolution, the civil war (1962-1970) and the reconciliation in Yemen (1972), and during the military coups and other turbulent events raging in the Arab capitals." The memoir ends in 1993, with Alaini again in Washington as ambassador.

In reviewing this book, a question was raised: in what section of the magazine should this book be? The Profile section, Features section or in the Book Review section?

During the Cold War, in the post-WWII era, the battle between the Western and Eastern ideologies played out in Yemen mainly during the five years from 26 September 1962 till the withdrawal of the 70,000 Egyptian soldiers from Yemen in 1967 after the Six Day War. The author comments in his book, "There are some tribal leaders who are saying, 'May God preserve half of the Republic and half of the Monarchy. Because some of them have benefited from the war, they are not interested in peace and losing their resource.'" The unified Yemen was born by caesarean section, the Imamate in the North and the British colonization in the South.

During this period, Yemen and the Arab world were filled with ideological differences and political battles. Alaini explains, "it was our [Yemenis] belief, that we should not involve ourselves with the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Marxist Movement, the Arab Nationalists Movement, or the Baath Socialist Party."

He was born in al-Hamami, bani Bahloul, in the Governate of Sana'a in 1932 to a humble family, and is married to Mrs. Azeeza Abdullah (relative of Sheikh Sinan Abu Luhoum) and has two daughters, two sons and six grandchildren. His village of al-Hamami is about 15-kilometres southeast of Sana'a. When he was seven, his mother passed away, soon to be followed by his father and eldest brother. He spent months every year grazing other people's sheep. In those days of unprecedented drought and starvation that had hit Yemen, he moved with his brothers and sisters to the village of al-Masajid, not far from Sana'a, to help a modest family who owned some farmland. Fortunately, his relatives placed them in the Bureau of Orphans, since it had the only elementary school, which was established by Imam Yehia. Alaini then attended intermediate school which had Lebanese and Egyptian teachers, before going to secondary school. In 1947, he was selected among 40 Yemeni students to study in Lebanon, In February 1948, he heard about the assassination of Imam Yehia and two of his sons and some grandsons, and the new leader, Imam Ahmed, ordered the Yemeni students out of Lebanon, which led Alaini to move to Egypt. He soon enrolled in law school at Cairo University in 1952, the year of the Egyptian July Revolution.

While in Egypt, he became one of the student leaders, rallying with other Yemeni students behind Muhammad al-Zubairi to support the Yemeni Federation. In Cairo, he was anticipated with al-Zubairi, the Free Yemenites, Ahmad Nuuman and judge Abdur-Rahman al-Iriani. He left his law studies to go study French at the Sorbonne in 1956-57, where he met Dr. Claudie Fayein (1912-2002), author of the famous book, Une Francaise Medicin au Yemen (French Woman Doctor in Yemen), which first appeared in 1955 in the collection “Sciences and Voyages," and it contained anecdotes and follows the itinerary of the doctor: her travel from Aden to Taiz then to Sana’a, her visit to Dhamar and her air trip to Mareb. Mohsin Alaini later translated her book into Arabic. In the preface to the translation of her book, martyr Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Zubairi, noted his sympathy with Dr. Fayein, noting "she was created and lived in Europe, her soul emanated from the twentieth century. But in Yemen she suddenly goes ten centuries back, and lives for a long time in the world of those centuries, she never resents, nor becomes haughty or afraid. However, her humanity transcends to be melted by the fire of pain, affection and mercy.”

While a student in Cairo University, he joined the Baath Party and in July 1959, he obtained his law degree. He then went to Aden to teach history and civics at the Islamic Scholastic Institute, where he was elected as Secretary-General to the Teachers' Union, becoming also a member of the Executive Council of the Labour Congress with Abdullah al-Asnaj. He was then designated as the Yemeni delegate to the Federation of Arab Labour Unions in Cairo, where he developed continuous contact with the media.

While having dinner as a guest of the Labour Union on September 28, 1962, with the Iraqi President Abdul Kareem Qassim, who informed him that a revolt had broken out in Yemen and he was appointed as foreign minister! He went to Cairo, where he met American, British and Italian ambassadors, as well as a number of Arab dignitaries, and having his first meeting with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser on October 2, 1962 where his chief of staff, Mr. Sami Sharaf, was annoyed to see the jacket buttons of Mohsin Alaini about to fall off and ordered his assistant to fix them before his scheduled meeting with the president! During that time, Mr. Sharaf told him, "the information we have is that Qassim is not pleased with the Revolution because he sees al-Sallal as a communist, and al-Beidhani as a Nasserite, and Alaini as a Baathist." President Nasser also asked him when he joined the Baath Party?

On the diplomatic circuit, Alaini meet the great ones of the world. Chinese Prime Minister, Chou En-lai, for whom Yemen cannot have been a high priority, showed an impressive grasp of his brief (p.233). He also met Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Russian President Podgorney, North Koran President Kim Song II, American presidents Lynden Johnson, J.F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. He was appointed, dismissed and variously transferred among ambassadorial posts (the US, UN, USSR, UK, Germany, also briefly France); and he served four times as Prime Minister. Mohsin A. Alaini, a former member of the Baath Party, held the position of Foreign Minister a number of times and the Prime Minister of North Yemen four times. President Abdullah al-Sallal, sent him to New York to head the Yemeni delegation to the 17th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 1962, in order to replace the Royalist delegation, which had arrived to New York to represent Yemen in the session. He reached New York on the same day that Algerian President Ahmad Ben Bella had arrived to introduce his newly independent country to the world organization. He joined President Ali Abdullah Saleh for his visit to the United States in 1979.

The book presents how the Yemeni Revolution had faced enmity from the South and the North alike. Alaini became convinced that the Yemeni problem could only be resolved by the British and Saudi recognition of the republican regime and the expulsion of the Hameed al-Deen family from the neighbouring areas. Alaini goes into details about Yemen's Tragedy, arising differences between the Yemeni leaders after 26 September 1962, in addition to the Jeddah Agreement and Haradh Conference of November 1965.

The book mentioned the catastrophic defeat of the Arabs during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War and the Arab Summit Conference which was convened in Khartoum, declaring on 31 August 1967 that President Nasser and King Faisal had agreed to withdraw forces and suspension of support and assistance to the two sides in Yemen, and that an Iraqi-Moroccan-Sudanese Tripartite Committee would work on achieving national unity in Yemen. Withdrawal of Egyptian forces from Yemen after 5 years convinced Alaini that the only way to solve Yemen's problems is through peaceful means, since even with the backing of the Egyptian troops no resolution was reached successfully. We were convinced that it would be difficult to end the war with war and were compelled to pursue every effort to end the state of war through peaceful means.

"You speak of unity, freedom and socialism, which is the most important and most imperative? Freedom comes first of course. For if the people are free then they can achieve unity, if they so wish, and they can build the society for which they aspire.

The sands shifted constantly. We are given inside views of the Khamir conference in 1965, the (bloodless) coup of November 1970 which sent Abdullah al-Sallal into exile, the abortive ‘unity’ agreement with Aden in 1972, and the blunder (by others) of deposing Qadhi Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani in 1974. The account of gaining Saudi recognition for the Republic is of particular interest.

There is no doubt that HE Mohsin Alaini did an excellent effort in collecting data and photos for his book, including precious information. The Ambassadors Magazine invites him to cover many other issues that were not discussed in the book, including the evolution of Yemen, the 70-day siege of Sana'a and the heroic role of General Hassan al-Amiri in protecting the Republic and more importantly, how he managed to maintain his influential role in Yemeni politics during this 50-year period of extreme conflicts and back-stabbing. On a social level, it would be interesting to discuss how Alaini, the anti-qat fighter, was defeated in this battle. Hence, a second edition is in order!

The book is in dire need for a second edition, which has to include an index and key reference along with the following information:

The book translator mentioned, "these memoirs reveal the sincere views of an important broker for bringing Yemen into the stream of aspiring developing nation." Alaini's 50-year journey as teacher, labour union leader, lawyer, diplomat, communicator, administrator, catalyst, buffer, broker, failed to mask his main features as the architect of national reconciliation in Yemen. He was highly convinced to change the issues from military conflict to political conflict. The man who dreamt of being an engineer but instead became a lawyer, is ironically responsible for engineering the development of modern Yemen. Today he spends his days between his home in Taiz next to Sabr Mountain and the other a house on the Nile in Cairo.

Among the 70 photos published in Alaini's "Shifting Sands", the following interesting photos have been selected. Some of them are with influencial Yemeni politicians, Arab leaders, as well as foreign leaders. Two particular photos are of great historical significance, the first is of Ahmad Nu'man, prime minister of Northern Yemen, speaking to Egyptian President Nasser in Cairo requesting more support. The second photo, is of Prince al-Badr, the Imam's son, with Ahmad Nu'man and Muhammed Zubeiri, founders of the Free Yemenite Movement, who Alaini invited to stand up and shake hands, to symbolize the unity of Yemeni people.

Ahmad Nu'man with President Nasser

In Cairo 1955, Ahmad Nu'man with Prince al-Badr and Muhammad Zubeiri.

With Iraqi leader, General Abdul Kareem Qassem	With Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella
With Egyptian President Nasser	With Egyptian President Sadat and PM Ali Nasser Mohammed
With Saudi Arabian King Fahd.	With Lebanese President Charles Helou
With Libyan President Lt. Col. Muammar Gaddafi	With General Al-Amri and Arab League Secretary-General Abdul Khaaliq Hassouna
With Sheik Abdullah Al-Ahmar	With Yemeni President Al-Aryani