Yemen in 2005

555,000 sq km (214,300 sq mi)
(2005 est.): 20,043,000
President Maj. Gen. ʿAli ʿAbdallah Salih
Prime Minister ʿAbd al-Qadir al-Ba Jamal

In 2005 the government of Yemen continued to cooperate closely with the U.S. on its “war on terrorism” and arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda suspects in the process. Yemeni authorities engaged in clashes with the followers of radical cleric Hussein al-Houthi, who had been killed in September 2004 after starting an uprising. These clashes led to the death of more than 200 people in 2005. Pres. Maj. Gen. ʿAli ʿAbdallah Salih, responding to criticism that Yemen was one of the world’s most heavily armed countries, continued his program to disarm tribal Yemenis who were carrying weapons in public. Nurses in Sanaa, Yemen, demonstrate against the large number of firearms in the country, saying that the heavily armed populace creates problems for security and investment and results in a high crime rate.APThis led to a number of skirmishes between troops and tribesmen.

The Yemeni government undertook drastic economic reforms in an effort to address its budget deficit. A tax increase coupled with a cut in fuel subsides—which more than doubled the cost of fuel—resulted in riots and the death of both civilians and government officers. Yemen was one of the poorest countries in the world.

Though Yemen was officially considered polio-free, more than 100 cases of polio were reported. The World Health Organization described this outbreak as an epidemic, and WHO became heavily involved in orchestrating a national immunization drive to combat the polio outbreaks.