Ali Abdullah Saleh

Alí Abdullah Saleh, also written as Ali Abdullah Saleh (Bayt al-Ahmar, Sanaa, March 21, 1947 – December 4, 2017), was a Yemeni politician and military. He served as president of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from July 18, 1978 until May 22, 1990, when he became the top leader of reunified Yemen.

After 21 years in power, on February 2, 2011, he announced that he would resign from power in 2013, ensuring that his son Ahmed would not succeed him in office. Despite this, protests against him continued and, on November 22, 2011, he announced his resignation.

On January 21, 2012, the Yemeni parliament approved his immunity, and the next day he took a plane to the United States. He has been, after Gaddafi, the leader of an Arab country who has remained in power the longest. power, even both died in a similar way.

Biography

He was born in Bayt al Aḩmar, near Sana'a, into a Zaydite family.

In 1958 he joined the armed forces. After reaching the rank of second lieutenant, he took advantage of the assassination of the previous president, Ahmed Husayn al-Ghashmi, and in 1982 Salé reached the general secretariat of the party in power: the General People's Congress. In 1983 he would be re-elected as president of North Yemen.

The fall of the Soviet Union weakened South Yemen's position and led to both countries reunifying in 1990 after several years of negotiations. The South accepted Salé as president of the new reunified State.

In 1990, Ali Abdullah Saleh supported the invasion of Kuwait by his ally Saddam Hussein. Following Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, Yemenis were deported en masse from Kuwait by its new government.

After Yemen's reunification, the north and south agreed to split ministries in half, a multi-party political system and hold parliamentary elections within three years. The 1993 elections gave victory to Saleh's party, the CGP, followed by an Islamic party (al-Islah), leaving the Socialist Party, with communist ideology, in third place. The Socialist Party did not accept the result, leading the country to a civil war in 1994.

In 1999 he became the first president of Yemen to be elected by universal suffrage, in an election in which he garnered 96% of the vote, although the main opposition party, the South Yemen Socialist Party, did not was able to present a candidate for the elections. His opponent in the 1999 elections was also a member of Salé's party, the General People's Congress, who ran as an independent. Parliament, dominated by the Government, prevented 28 other candidates from running.

In 2001, a referendum extended the presidential term to seven years, which meant that the next presidential election took place in September 2006, with the president being re-elected again, in elections once again branded as fraudulent by the opposition. In 2002, after the boarding of the So San, it was discovered that he continued buying missiles from North Korea although he had previously promised the US government that he would stop doing so.

On June 3, 2011, within the framework of the incipient civil war that emerged in Yemen as a result of Saleh's refusal to abandon power and the popular rebellion against him; Tribal rebel forces attack the Presidential Palace and Saleh is wounded as are his Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar and other senior officials, and several military officers loyal to the president are killed. Salé cries out for revenge against the rebels who tried to assassinate him.The next day, June 4, Saleh was transferred to Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment in that country for his serious injuries; Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi was left in charge of the presidency. Later reports revealed that he suffered burns to 40% of his body, a hemorrhage in the skull and a collapsed lung. More than a month later the country fell. remains in uncertainty and mired in a political blockade due to the absence of Saleh and the lack of clarity about his status, and the opposition's demands that the presidency be declared completely absent and a transitional government be formed without Saleh.

On July 7, 2011, Salé finally reappeared before the public with a brief television speech from his place of hospitalization; You can then see an almost unrecognizable Salé, with his arms and hands bandaged, and with an extremely deteriorated appearance. In the intervention it is known that the president underwent eight surgical operations; However, Salé tries to be optimistic and has offered dialogue to solve the political crisis, although he has not mentioned when he will return to the country.

Power transfer agreement

November 22, 2011: The UN special envoy for Yemen, Yamal Benomar, confirms that the Government and the opposition have reached an agreement on the GCC plan for the resignation of Saleh, who finally signs the agreement with which to put an end to his role at the head of the country.

In a ceremony held in Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni president signed the agreement that stipulates the peaceful transfer of power. The agreement ratified in Riyadh guarantees immunity to the president and his collaborators.

The outgoing Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, apologized for "any shortcomings" committed in his 33-year rule before leaving Yemen for the United States on Sunday, clearing the way for a transfer of power after a year of protests, noting:

"God through, I will leave for my treatment (medical) in the United States and return to Sana'ah as head of the National People's Congress Party"

Departure to the United States

Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh left for the United States, after obtaining immunity from Parliament. Thus ended another long autocratic rule in the Middle East. Saleh ruled Yemen with an iron fist since 1978. Saleh did not resign from his position, but remained as "honorary president"; from the country. He gave in after almost a year of popular uprisings against him.

Since the day before Parliament declared his immunity and a few hours after his family had left the country, on January 22, 2012, Saleh left on a private plane for the United States, stopping in the neighboring country of Oman, where you intend to undergo medical treatment.

In Washington, a senior official said Saleh was cleared to enter the United States so he could receive medical care. The official stressed that the United States expects Saleh to remain on American soil for a limited time.

Return to Yemen

Saleh left the United States via Ethiopia on February 24, 2012 after receiving medical treatment. He returned to his country the next day. He arrived at the military airport in the capital Sana'a hours before the new President and his successor Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi were sworn in, which led to protests against his return and the new government's inability to prevent entry. of him in Yemen.

Resignation of power

On February 27, 2012, Saleh formally handed over power to his deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi as the president of Yemen, pledging to support his efforts to "rebuild" a country still reeling from months of violence. This ended his rule after 33 years in power. The Associated Press also reported that Saleh and his family were preparing to go into exile in Ethiopia at the end of the month.

Murder

On December 2, 2017, Salé and the Houthis broke their alliance after clashes broke out between fighters from both factions. After that statement, clashes took place in the Yemeni capital between the former president's forces and the Houthi rebels, who had been allies since 2014. The clashes in the Yemeni capital left around 250 dead on both sides. On December 4, 2017, Houthi rebels broadcast a video on the Iranian television station Al-Alam News Network, in which they claimed to have murdered Saleh and his advisors in Sana'a. Sources from the General People's Congress of Yemen confirmed the murder of Salé.

Decorations

• Order of the Republic, North Yemen, 1982.
• Order José Martí, Republic of Cuba, 2000.
• Caballero Gran Cruz de la Real Orden de Francisco I (Casa de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, 25/03/2004).