On 12 June 2000, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Yemen sign the Treaty of Jeddah — the agreement fixing land and maritime border coordinates after a century of dispute stemming from the 1934 Treaty of Taif.

Signatories: Foreign Ministers Saud al-Faisal and Abdul Qadir Bajamal (and the Yemeni deputy prime minister). The treaty provides for pastoral rights, placement of armed forces and future resource extraction along the line.

Talks followed the 1995 Memorandum and the 1997 “Como Line”; 1998 clashes on Duwaimah accelerated a settlement. Entry into force: the following month.

The Saudi border wall (2003–2010) drew accusations of breaching the 20 km grazing buffer; both sides nonetheless reaffirmed the treaty in 2004.

For the Arabian Peninsula, 12 June 2000 closes the twentieth-century Saudi–Yemeni border dispute.

The text was analysed in the American Journal of International Law and on regional diplomatic portals.

The Treaty of Jeddah of 12 June 2000 remains the Saudi Arabia–Yemen delimitation agreement.

Image: Jeddah; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Treaty of Jeddah (2000). Treaty text: Treaty of Jeddah 2000 (Al-Bab).