86. Intelligence Memorandum1
SOUTH ARABIAN DISSIDENT AND FEDERAL ARMED FORCES
Summary
In anticipation of the independence of South Arabia in 1968, the Adeni dissidents in Yemen are preparing a “Liberation Army” of South Arabian tribesmen. This army is being trained at Egyptian army camps in conventional and guerrilla warfare for use as a disciplined commando-type unit against the Federal Army. The Federal Army, which consists of 5,000 British-trained tribesmen, will become the security force of South Arabia after the British evacuation.
The new “Liberation Army” is intended to secure South Arabia for the dissidents, who will probably form a government-in-exile, but the army’s ultimate effectiveness will depend upon whether it remains loyal to the political group which formed it or whether it ultimately aligns itself with its military opponent, the Federal Army. Both forces, composed of the same type of hill tribesmen, share a contempt for the urban politicians who will dominate any independent government.
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- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Saudi Arabia, Memos, Vol. I, 12/63-4/67. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; No Dissem Abroad; Controlled Dissem. Prepared in the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence. A note on the memorandum indicates it was produced solely in the CIA by the Office of Current Intelligence and coordinated with the Clandestine Services.↩