Here the Queen of Sheba once ruled. Here the Magi bought frankincense and myrrh. Here Arabian trade routes crisscrossed, bringing exotic spices, precious cloths and treasures from the East. Here too in 1967 devout Marxists won independence for their moonscape land at the mouth of the Red Sea. After 128 years of British colonial rule, they were determined to use the precepts of socialist orthodoxy to yank a remote Arab nation into the 20th century. The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, or simply South Yemen, set up a Moscow- style government and forged close ties with its mentor.
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