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May 25th, 2009   

19th Anniversary of the Unification of Yemen


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President Mahmood Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority and Speaker of the Parliament, Peter Milliken, Ambassadors from over 70 countries, many other dignitaries, and Sheeba the camel attended the 19th Anniversary of the Unification of Yemen at the Hilton Lac-Lemay, in Gatineau on Monday, May 25th 2009.

Yemen became a sure contender for the honour of “the Most Memorable Reception of the Year”, by demonstrating coulorful Yemeni national costumes worn by students and Embassy staff; displays of Yemeni heritage in silver with amber, Yemeni coffee, paintings, large movie screens showing spectacular Yemen vistas and more to dazzle the imagination.

Ambassador Khaled Bahah commented on the importance of May 22nd, 1990 when Yemen re-unified and stated that, “The implementation of this historic re-unification changed the course of our social and political history forever”.

The room was packed with an international crowd with Ambassadors from A-Z, from America to Zimbabwe and notables like Senator James Cowan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, legendary statesman Marcel Prudhomme, and Members of Parliament Jack Harris, Honorable Bernard Patry and the Honourable Bill Casey, among many, many others. There was no shortage of NGOs, business leaders and academic luminaries such as WaterCan representatives, Nexen Inc’s Vice President Eric Miller, as well as Alain Martin of the Harvard business School and professor May Telmassany of University of Ottawa. Along with many other distinguished guests were the CBC journalist David Halton who covered Trudeau’s visit to Yemen and his official photographer, Jean-Marc Carisse.

The Ambassador honoured Canadians who had made considerable contributions to Yemen and presented awards to Dr. Martin Robinson of the Canadian Medical Delegation for substantially benefiting medical wisdom among Yemeni doctors. A similar presentation was made to Nexen Inc, of Calgary for their outstanding generosity, corporate responsibility and in particular the famous Nexen Scholarship Program.

Ambassador Bahah, in his speech, quoted the great industrialist Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress but working together is success”


 
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