This blog has never been to Yemen before, and the only really interesting (as in ridiculously interesting) museum appears to be one dedicated to the country’s deposed leader, which officially opened earlier this year. Due to the Yemeni Revolution during the Arab Spring, Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down after 33 years in power. But that didn’t stop Saleh from opening a museum all about himself, because that’s what former dictators do (including ones with lots and lots of money). Located in a wing of the Saleh mosque in Sanaa, one of the museum’s central display cases exhibits a pair of burnt trousers that Saleh was wearing at the time of his assassination attempt in June 2011 as well as fragments of shrapnel that were once taken out of his body. Some personal items that belonged to Saleh include a model of a palm tree made of gold as well as decorative guns, swords, medals, prayer carpets, ivory tusks, rocks from the Hiroshima bombing, and a skinned Arabian leopard (one of the world’s most endangered animals).
There are also a number of gifts (actually some 2,000 pieces from 81 countries) given to him by kings, presidents, and world leaders over the course of his long rule, including a silver platter from the U.S. House of Representatives. Visitors can see photos of Saleh posing with Queen Elizabeth, the Pope, and Saddam Hussein. Many people in Yemen believe the museum is the former ruler ’s attempt to gain sympathy and respect, while also remaining front and center in Yemen’s social and political world. The dude’s even got a Facebook page. Yemeni citizen Luai Ahmed said, “[Saleh] is the only dictator in the world who was dethroned, yet still has zillions of dollars, access to any country he wants, and who still plays a huge role in his political party… Of course, I am going to have a look at his burned pants.”
