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Witness History

Britain's withdrawal from South Yemen

Witness History

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture, History

4.51.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2017

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1967 the British withdrawal from their colony of Aden led to the creation of the People's Republic of South Yemen. Britain had colonised the port city in 1839. Aden had been at the centre of the British colonial trading system and had been one of the busiest ports in the world. The handover has been described as one of the most chaotic in British colonial history. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the former British diplomat, Oliver Miles and to Ghassan Luqman who says the scars of Britain's quick withdrawal are still being felt in Yemen today.

Photo: Aden 1967 Copyright: Alamy.

Transcript

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1:04.7

BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness Podcast, history as told by the people who are

1:10.3

there with me for Hana Hiver and today we go back to 1967 and the British

1:16.0

withdrawal from the Port City of Aidan and the creation of the People's Republic of

1:20.8

South Yemen. With torch-like processions and dancing in the streets, the people are celebrating independent.

1:28.0

Although they're still awaiting the arrival of the National Liberation Front leaders from Geneva.

1:34.0

Britain had colonised the Port City of Aidan in 1839,

1:38.0

one of the longest inhabited places on earth.

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