According to al-Alam news channel, Saudi TV has recently aired a map in which the occupied parts of Yemen were shown as Saudi soil.
During Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule, the two countries signed the Jeddah border treaty in 2000. The treaty gave the Saudis total control over the Asir, Najran, and Jizan provinces.
The agreement provided grazing rights for shepherds in a 21 km buffer zone on both sides of the frontier and stipulated that no armed forces be stationed within it.
Many promises were made at the time, according to Yemeni sources, including admitting Yemen into the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), receiving Yemeni workers, and reinforcing the collapsing economy. Although people welcomed the promises wholeheartedly and criticism was rare, they were never fulfilled.
Now, many Yemenis complain that Saudi Arabia’s support for various tribal and political figures in Yemen seems aimed at keeping their southern neighbor divided and weak. Head of tribes have raised their eyebrows at Saudi Arabia’s intentions towards Yemen, suspecting them as being aimed at seizing the oil-rich eastern Yemeni soils without any compensation. Their suspicions get even higher considering Yemeni government’s silence on the matter.
A comparison of old and new maps shows Saudi advancement to Yemen while according to the treaty, Saudi Arabia was supposed to correct the maps and distribute new ones based on the 2000 Jaddah agreement.