MIDDLE EAST THE MESS IN YEMEN THE NASTY LITTLE WAR IN YEMEN, 
ONE YEAR OLD THIS MONTH, IS DRAGGING ON IN GRAND DISREGARD 
FOR THE PEACE-SEEKING EFFORTS OF THE U.N . NEITHER EGYPT NOR 
SAUDI ARABIA HAS HONORED ITS PLEDGE, WHICH BOTH MADE EARLIER THIS 
YEAR UNDER U.S . MEDIATION PRESSURE, TO DISENGAGE SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM YEMEN 
. ALTHOUGH NASSER HAS SENT HOME SIX SHIPLOADS OF TROOPS, HE 
HAS ROTATED IN FRESH DETACHMENTS, AND AT LEAST 20,000 EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS 
ARE STILL IN YEMEN PROPPING UP THE REPUBLICAN REGIME OF PRESIDENT 
ABDULLAH SALLAL . ALL THE WHILE, MONEY AND MUNITIONS FROM THE 
MONARCHIES OF SAUDI ARABIA AND JORDAN STILL POUR ACROSS THE 25-MILE-WIDE 
BUFFER ZONE TO ROYALIST TRIBESMEN SUPPORTING DETHRONED IMAM MOHAMED EL BADR 
. SO FAR AS THE ACTUAL FIGHTING IS CONCERNED, IT IS 
STILL A STANDOFF, WITH THE REPUBLICANS CONTROLLING THE CITIES AND THE 
PLAINS, AND THE ROYALISTS HOLED UP IN AND DEFENDING KEY STRONG 
POINTS IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS . SHORT RATIONS . IT IS 
ALL VERY FRUSTRATING FOR THE 200-MAN U.N . TEAM, WHICH WAS 
RUSHED TO THE SCENE FROM THE GAZA STRIP TWO MONTHS AGO 
IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THE SHOOTING . THE UNIT, MADE 
UP MOSTLY OF YUGOSLAV SOLDIERS AND CANADIAN AIRMEN, WAS FAR TOO 
SMALL TO POLICE THE VAST, EMPTY YEMEN FRONTIER, AND FROM THE 
START IT WAS PLAGUED BY BAD BREAKS AND HOSTILITY FROM LOCAL 
AUTHORITIES . THE TEAM'S FIRST COMMANDER, SWEDISH MAJOR GENERAL CARL VON 
HORN, HAD HARDLY SET UP HEADQUARTERS IN THE MUDWALLED CAPITAL OF 
SAN " A WHEN HIS HORSE, BEING LED DOWN A DUSTY 
STREET, KICKED A YEMENI GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, RESULTING IN THE ARREST OF 
BOTH GROOM AND HORSE . U.N . PLANES ARE REGULARLY FIRED 
ON (NONE HAS BEEN DOWNED SO FAR), AND LAST MONTH A 
RUSSIAN-MADE EGYPTIAN ILYUSHIN JET BOMBER ATTACKING NAJRAN INSIDE SAUDI ARABIA NEARLY 
SCORED A DIRECT HIT ON A U.N . PLATOON . GETTING 
INTO THE ACT, THE RUSSIANS HAVE SENT IN AT LEAST 900 
WORKMEN AND TECHNICIANS, WHO ARE CONSTRUCTING A NEW JET AIRPORT NORTH 
OF SAN " A . RECENTLY, THE RUSSIANS THREW AN INQUIRING 
U.N . INSPECTOR OFF THE PREMISES WHEN HE APPROACHED THE AIRPORT 
TO CONDUCT A ROUTINE INSPECTION . APART FROM SUCH HARASSMENT, THE 
U.N . TEAMS FOUND IT DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS TO TRAVEL AROUND THE 
COUNTRY . ALL IN ALL, ADMITTED U.N . SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT, 
IN EFFECT, THE U.N.SANCTIONED PROJECT HAS BEEN A FLOP . AND 
FOR HIM IT HAS BEEN A RATHER MESSY FLOP, FOR IN 
THE PAST THREE WEEKS HE AND VON HORN HAVE HAD AN 
UGLY EXCHANGE OF RECRIMINATIONS . THE PRESTIGIOUS BUT STORMY VON HORN, 
FIRST U.N . CHIEF IN THE CONGO AND FOR FIVE YEARS 
HEAD OF THE U.N.'S PALESTINE PEACE-KEEPING FORCE, SUDDENLY RESIGNED IN A 
CABLE TO THANT, CHARGING LACK OF SUFFICIENT LOGISTIC SUPPORT, AIRCRAFT AND 
EVEN RATIONS . THANT BRANDED VON HORN'S CHARGES " IRRESPONSIBLE AND 
RECKLESS, " ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK THAT THE MISSION WOULD CONTINUE, THANKS 
TO " ORAL ASSURANCES " BY EGYPT AND SAUDI ARABIA THAT 
THEY WOULD CONTINUE SPLITTING THE BILL ($200,000 PER MONTH) FOR ANOTHER 
TWO MONTHS . SICK REBEL . ONE VICTIM OF THE YEMEN 
CONFLICT IS THE MAN WHO STARTED IT ALL BY OVERTHROWING THE 
IMAM : EX-PALACE GUARD, NOW PRESIDENT AND FIELD MARSHAL, ABDULLAH SALLAL, 
42 . LAST MONTH SALLAL FLEW TO CAIRO FOR TALKS WITH 
NASSER, BUT ENTERED A HOSPITAL AND WAS DISCHARGED FOR CONVALESCENCE ONLY 
LAST WEEK . A PHYSICIAN WHO HELPED TREAT SALLAL CONFIDED THAT 
HE WAS SUFFERING FROM A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN . " PRESIDENT NASSER 
VISITED HIM ONCE BRIEFLY . WE GAVE HIM TRANQUILIZERS . WE 
BROUGHT IN EGYPT'S GREATEST COMEDIAN, ISMAYEN YESSIN, TO RAISE HIS SPIRITS 
. WE SHOWED HIM MOVIES . WE FLEW IN HIS WIFE 
FROM YEMEN, " THE DOCTOR RELATED, BUT ADDED SADLY : " 
HIS SICKNESS IS REALLY POLITICAL . IF WE COULD GIVE HIM 
GOOD NEWS ABOUT YEMEN, HE WOULD RECOVER . " 