Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War

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Yemen–Yuhanna, Mikhail

Yemen

Yemen and the Sudan were the two most vocal Arab nations in defense of Saddam Hussein. Although their governments claimed that thousands of Yemeni citizens and Sudanese enlisted as part of Saddam Hussein’s army, and some Yemeni and Sudanese troops were captured, Allied forces estimate that at most a few hundred people from both countries served with Iraqi forces. “Support from these quarters was more in the nature of a nuisance to the coalition than an actual threat,” the U.S. Department of Defense reported on the situation. “However, because of the long-standing border disputes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, that country’s alignment with Iraq had to be treated as a potentially serious threat. A Yemeni invasion of southern Saudi Arabia or western Oman could not have succeeded; however, such a move would have diverted resources and attention away from the primary threat. Saudi Arabia remained concerned about potential threats to the kingdom’s security from the Sudan and Yemen throughout Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Saudi concerns led to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis—a problem that continues in Saudi-Yemeni relations.”

References:

Conduct of the Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, Report by the Department of Defense, April 1992, 25.

Yuhanna, Mikhail

See Aziz, Tariq Mikhail.