Light in the darkness for Yemen?

Yemen’s energy sector is trying to emerge from al-Qaida’s rule and a broader civil conflict. It is a slow process

THE COUNTRY'S energy authorities have had two events to cheer about in re­cent weeks. In June, a UAE tanker carry­ing 14,000 tonnes of petroleum products docked at the port in Aden, Yemen's sec­ond city and temporary capital while Sanaa remains in rebel hands. The offloaded fuel, the first of several promised deliveries, was pumped to power stations, bringing to an end many days of blackouts for at least some sections of the population. The second event, two months earlier, was the recapture by pro-government forc­es of the southern coastal city of Mukalla, which had been under al-Qaida control for a year. Retaken, too, was the oil exporting ter­minal of Ash-Shihr, 60km east of Mukalla. Befo