Yemen’s former rulers destiny [Archives:2003/651/Reportage]

Hassan Al-Zaidi
It is a miracle that a ruler in Yemen and under such difficult circumstances to rise to power and remain all those years long. It is also a miracle to continue ruling Yemen amidst political and social unrest.
When he first assumed power on July 17 1978, the president didn't have any political or tribal or regional affiliations. He neither used tribal influence nor an organized political movement.
The president managed to deal with the tribe, the party, and the religious movements and has his own way of dealing successfully with counterpart rulers, his citizens, and world leaders at times of peace and war.
President Saleh has played a praiseworthy role in dealing with the local as well as international developments.
Recalling the events happened in Yemen after the revolution, we would find that it had not experienced political stability.
Following the two revolutions, the 26 September and 14 October, Yemen encountered pitched civil wars between the republicans and monarchists and external interference in those drawn-out wars.
During the 1970s, two major political systems ruled Yemen and then led to split between them.
Assassination attempts were performed against some political leaders.
Since his coming to power, president Saleh has achieved considerable transitions with regard to political stability and could rationally and sagaciously in peace of mind tackle internal affairs and started enlarging new horizons for dialogues with the national political forces along with making contacts and meetings with his brothers in the south.
With his boundless capacity and shrewd policy, he succeeded as a unique example, particularly with creating an equilibrium in handling international relations together with the superpowers.
He had ruled the state of Yemen (formerly known as the north of Yemen) for 12 years, 4 years a ruler of two states and 9 years for the unified Yemen.
He could in a very short period of time establish a new kind of political stability. Compared to last period, there is a big distinction made on July 17, 1987 and July 17 2003.
During his reign, the president could stabilize democracy, peaceful coexistence power, and political pluralism.
The main unforgettable heroic deeds are reestablishing the Yemen's unification in 1990 and getting rid of the secession war that erupted in 1994.
At the external level, one of the thorny border issues among the neighboring countries has been resolved with the Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.
The president could settle disputes with Eritrea.
Above all, the president has been still preoccupied with the states' political, financial, administrative and economic reforms through uprooting corruption and the corrupt.
He has been seeking to stabilize security and safety in all fields.

Destiny of former Yemeni rulers
During the 20th century, the Arab region had undergone severe internal and external political unrest as well as, military coup d'etat.
Yemen was used to be ruled by several rulers. Some of them ruled the country longer and some others were destined to be, killed, exiled or removed.
Among the Yemeni rulers are listed below:
– Imam Yahya Hameed Al-Deen who was shot dead on February 17 after 30 years of dictatorship.
– Imam Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al-Wazeer was beheaded by the Imam Ahmed in Aden after three weeks of coming to power in 1948.
– Imam Ahmed Hameed Adeen came under attempted assassination and then died on September 18, 1962. He ruled Yemen for 15 years.
– Ibraheem Mohammed al-Hamdi was shot dead after 40 months.
He came to power on October 11, 1977.
– Salem Robaye'a Ali was killed in air attack bombardments by his comrades on June 26, 1978. He ruled Yemen in the south for 9 years.
-Ahmed al-Ghashmi, killed on June 24, 1978.
Some of the Yemeni rulers such as, Mohammed al-Badr ran away after the 26 September revolution in the north.
He was in exile and remained abroad till 1996. He ruled Yemen at that time for just one week.
– Abdullah Yahya Assalal ruled Yemen for 7 years and died in 1994.
– Abdurahman al-Eriani ruled Yemen for 6 years and was in exile in Damascus. He died there in 1997.
– Abulfattah Ismael ruled Yemen for 3 years and was in exile in 1981.
-Qahtan Asha'abi, the first president of the republic in the south.
He was toppled in June 1969. He ruled south Yemen for two years.
Enforced exile rulers have been still abroad
– Ali Nasser Mohammed is still in exile. He ruled south Yemen for 6 years and then he was overthrown during January incidents in 1986 took place in Aden.
– Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas was the last south Yemen president during the pre-unification period. He ruled Yemen for 4 years.
– Ali Salem al-Beidh, the former secretary-general of the Yemen Socialist Party is still in exile since 1994.
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[archive-e:651-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-07-17-p:report]