Before President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced his abdication of power in Yemen and handed it over to a presidential council, he had ended at least 50 years of the influence of his deputy, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the shadow man in Yemen.
The Red Team was absent from the photos taken in the recent ceremonies of Hadi handing over power, but he soon issued a statement blessing the transfer of power and said, "I bid farewell to a life stage of commitment and full soldiering in the institution of the Armed Forces and in the Presidency of the Republic that began with the beginnings of the September 26 revolution The blessed year of 1962 and extending to today.
And this is the first day of the general, who was full of hearing and sight in Yemen away from power, as his influence among politicians, the army and the tribes sometimes overshadowed the position of the president in Yemen.
influence from the army
The prominent military official, born in 1945 in the village of Beit al-Ahmar in the Sanhan District, a suburb of the capital, Sana'a, had joined the army in 1961, one year before the September 26 revolution, which announced the establishment of the republican regime.
Since then, he has been promoted in the army until he reached the staff of the First Armored Brigade in 1978, and then his name rose to prominence when he was one of the most prominent military leaders who thwarted the Nasserist coup, which was planned to end the modern rule - at that time - of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since then, Al-Ahmar's influence and authority has strengthened, as he hails from the same family as President Saleh. For a long time, it was rumored that he was Saleh's half-brother, and he penetrated among the tribes, between parties and civil sectors.
But the 1994 summer war, which thwarted the southern regime’s attempt to withdraw from the unit signed in 1990, was Mohsen’s most prominent stop, as his forces and the Islamists allied with them were the striking force, and since then his problems have begun to widen.
Al-Ahmar wielded influence, although his highest position was commander of the Northwest Military District and the 1st Armored Division.
collision with fit
However, former President Saleh began to get fed up with Mohsen’s growing influence, and began marginalizing the latter’s forces at the expense of establishing the Republican Guard forces led by his son Ahmed, while Mohsen was leading the six Sa’ada wars between (2004-2010) against the Houthis.
The situation between the two men, who represented a strong authority, exploded after the outbreak of the popular uprising in 2011, which Mohsen supported and announced his defection from Saleh, and the influence of the two men turned into a crisis that cast a shadow over the popular demands of the youth of the revolution.
But the settlement that represented a way out of the crisis was, in essence, the removal of the two men, but President Hadi, who ascended to power, appointed Mohsen as his advisor in 2013, so that the latter’s tasks were limited to official meetings.
But the Houthis’ storming of the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014, brought Mohsen back to the fore, as he was the person wanted for them to have to leave for Saudi Arabia, and from there Hadi returned him to the position of Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and later appointed him as his deputy in an attempt to mobilize the tribes against the Houthis.
A legacy of alliance and hostility
Among those who see Mohsen as part of the Saleh regime, which caused the collapse of the country and the spread of corruption, others see him as a military figure who succeeded in striking balances in the political and military scenes of a country that has lived through cycles of military and political turmoil.
His opponents say that he was one of the most prominent military leaders who promoted corruption within the military establishment, as during his reign, fake lists spread in the army's statements records.
Lieutenant-General is accused of committing crimes while leading the military campaigns in southern and northern Yemen, but his supporters believe that these accusations are nothing more than part of the political conflicts, as Al-Ahmar was close to the Islamic Reform Party.
In his last statement, Al-Ahmar called on Yemenis to allow, and said, "God bears witness, that at all stages I was only biased towards the people and the republic, above my self-revenge, or biased towards my interests, tolerant towards much abuse of my personality, committed to laws and directives, protecting national gains and guarding the republic, democracy and interests." Supreme".
10 years of rule
Like him, Hadi had wrapped up 10 years of ruling a country that had descended into an ongoing war that caused the worst humanitarian crisis, and nearly 35 years of a volatile military and political life between southern and northern Yemen.
Hadi, who was born in Abyan governorate, in southern Yemen, in the year in which his deputy, Mohsen al-Ahmar was born, had risen to military positions after studying a military academy in several countries, and during the bloody fighting between the head of power in the ruling regime of southern Yemen in 1986, Hadi was standing on the side The defeated fled to Sana'a.
This resort motivated him to engage strongly in the 1994 war on the side of Saleh’s regime in the face of its victors in advance, to be rewarded by his appointment as Minister of Defense, and two years later he was appointed as Saleh’s deputy, and until 2012 he remained without real influence except for fictitious and administrative tasks.
Many believe that his marginalization period was reflected in his performance after assuming power, as he seemed shaky and weak in the face of crises, despite the wide and great support he received from the Yemeni people and the international and regional communities after his election in 2012.
Hadi took controversial positions, most notably his statement when he visited Amran governorate after the Houthis took control of it, and said that "Omran has returned to the bosom of the state," in addition to his signing of the Peace and Partnership Agreement after the Houthis took control of Sanaa.
This cost Hadi a lot, as soon as the Houthis imposed a house arrest on him, and this prompted him to submit his resignation, which the House of Representatives did not decide on. Suddenly, he fled to the city of Aden, and there the Houthis tried to assassinate him to flee again to the Sultanate of Oman and then Saudi Arabia.
The man, who has been residing in Riyadh since April 2015, and suffers from a heart condition, has been rarely seen during the past four years, and his last visit to Yemen was in 2019.
Resolving the crisis
While a few - who are Hadi supporters - see that he stood against Iranian interference in Yemen, his opponents see it as a real dilemma that has prevented any political progress in the country, as he represents the only elected and legitimate legitimacy of Yemenis, leaving the country, which is witnessing one of the worst humanitarian crises, mired in a mire of corruption. and war.
Hadi is also accused of neglecting the situation in Yemen, leaving the matter to his office manager and his children, who have engaged in corruption, especially with regard to fuel import contracts.
Just as Hadi was a dilemma for reforming the elected legitimate institution, it was the solution, concluding a long journey of political and military contradictions and many unfulfilled promises.