Yemenis Reflect on Former Leader Saleh’s Death: “Everything That Happened in Yemen Was Always About Him”

The war in Yemen took an unexpected turn last week when the country’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was assassinated by a Houthi rebel militia at his home in the capital, Sanaa. Until early December, Saleh and the Houthis, an Iranian-backed group that controls Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, had been allies. But days before he was killed, Saleh split with the Houthis and reached out to Saudi Arabia in a bid to end its nearly three-year military campaign against the rebels, whom the Saudis view as an Iranian proxy force on their southern border. Bombing by a Saudi-led coalition has decimated infrastructure in already impoverished Yemen and killed thousands, while an intermittent Saudi blockade on all ports of entry in Houthi-controlled Yemen has created famine-like conditions and a severe fuel shortage.

Saleh had ruled Yemen for 33 years before he relinquished power in 2012 following a year of Arab Spring-inspired protests. He built a Yemeni state that grew increasingly centralized under his control and also made him extraordinarily wealthy. His regime stymied human rights and killed scores of protesters during the Arab Spring; after North and South Yemen were united in 1990, many southerners felt the Saleh regime was biased against them. Under Saleh’s watch, and partly because of it, Yemen became home to a burgeoning Al Qaeda offshoot. Saleh played an astute political game that pitted his enemies against each other, while bringing others into his fold via a vast network of corruption. The inner workings of his government, especially the sprawling patronage network and kickbacks for everyone from businessmen to former Al Qaeda members, were secretive but crucial to how the country functioned during his presidency.

Saleh stayed in Sanaa after he stepped down, but grew increasingly frustrated with his successor, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Feeling sidelined, Saleh helped the Houthis in their conquest of Sanaa in September 2014. That Saleh connived his way back into a position of leadership by embracing his former enemies came as no surprise to Yemenis who knew their longtime leader would never give up power easily. Saleh’s move to end the war by violating his alliance with the Houthis and making overtures to Saudi Arabia may salvage his reputation for many Yemenis. Others always viewed him as a necessary dictator, believing that Yemen’s messy tribal politics required a strongman who could — at least to some extent — control powerful tribes.

When I lived in Yemen during the Arab Spring, Yemenis often told me that Saleh would never be killed by his opponents in a public and graphic manner like former Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi. It is against Yemen’s all-important and unwritten tribal code to debase a leader in such a way. Urbanization has been eroding tribal law, however, and the war has taken a toll on common morality.

I asked five Yemenis of different ages and from many parts of society to reflect on Saleh’s death and what they think it means for the future of their country. A recent internet and social media clampdown in Sanaa has made communication with people in Houthi-controlled territory much more difficult; as a result, I was unable to reach Houthi supporters for comment. All the Yemenis I spoke to were shocked that their famously mercurial ex-president was gone, but none saw his death as a good omen for Yemen, even those who risked their lives to protest against the Saleh regime in 2011. All but one answered in English; Maged al-Madhaji’s comments have been translated from Arabic. Responses have been edited for clarity.

Nisma Alozebi, civil engineering student at Aden University

Nisma Alozebi in October 2017.

Maged al-Madhaji, co-founder and executive director of Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies

Maged al-Madhaji in January 2017.

Mustapha Noman, former Yemeni ambassador and deputy foreign minister under Saleh

Mustapha Noman in 2015.

Ahlam Mothanna, physician from Taiz, Yemen

Ahlam Mothanna in 2013.

Ala’a Jarban, Yemeni activist and university student in Canada

Ala’a Jarban in 2016.

Top photo: Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis hold posters and portraits of Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh during a demonstration in support of the former president, as his political party marks 35 years since its founding, at Sabaeen Square in the capital Sanaa on Aug. 24, 2017.