Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar ( ar, أحمد علي عبد الله صالح الأحمر; born July 25, 1972) is the eldest son of former

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and was a commander of approximately 80,000 troops of the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

unit of the Yemeni Army. On April 14, 2015, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

added Saleh to the list of

Specially Designated Nationals The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

, barring US citizens and businesses from interacting with Saleh or his assets.

Early life

Ahmed's mother died when he was a young boy. Before his father's resignation, Ahmed was widely seen as was being groomed to eventually replace him.

Corruption

In 2008, business people with close ties to Ahmed Saleh, reportedly used

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

funds to found Shibam Holding Company, a government-backed property developer. This new firm took control of a great deal of government land and, later, of the General Investment Authority (GIA).

Military career

On December 15, 2012, amid tensions between Republican Guard units and President Hadi, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Saleh refused to relinquish control of long-range missiles to the Defence Ministry, stoking fears of further clashing. On December 19, President Hadi responded by issuing decrees announcing a restructuring of the military into four main branches including the land forces, the navy, the air force, and the border forces, effectively dissolving the Republican Guard and rendering Ahmed Saleh's position unnecessary. This was widely seen as an effort on President Hadi's part to weaken the influence of Yemen's political and military elite. Though no longer in command of the Republican Guard, Ahmed Saleh apparently remains a part of the military, but in what capacity it is unclear. As recently as February 3, 2013, National Yemen newspaper reported him as having met with both President Hadi and the remaining leadership of the Republican Guard.

Post-military career

Saleh was sworn in as Yemen's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on 19 May 2013. The ceremony was also attended by UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Yemeni Foreign Minister

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi Abu Bakr Abdullah al-Qirbi ( ar, أبو بكر عبد الله القربي) is a Yemeni diplomat who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen from 2001 to 2014. On 13 December 2009, al-Qirbi urged Iran's government to crack down on Iranian gro ...

, and the Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Ali Mansour bin Svaa. Nahyan emphasized the importance of Saleh's appointment as part of efforts to maintain close relations between the two countries. President Hadi had announced Ahmed's dismissal on 29 March 2015, following the outbreak of the

Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: *Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 *Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 *North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 *Aden Emergency, 1963–67 *South Yemen#Di ...

. Saleh and his father were initially allied with the Houthis, which are fighting against forces loyal to Hadi. The UAE terminated Saleh's ambassadorship on 7 April 2015 and revoked his diplomatic immunity. He was reported to have been placed under house arrest in his residence in Abu Dhabi. After his father was killed by the Houthis in 2017, Ahmed Saleh declared his animosity against the Houthis. As of May 2018, Saleh was living in his residence in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

and was reported to have intensified efforts to garner support from former senior members of the General People's Congress against the Houthis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Ahmed Living people General People's Congress (Yemen) politicians Yemeni Zaydis People of the Yemeni revolution 1972 births Children of presidents Ambassadors of Yemen to the United Arab Emirates Yemeni military personnel of the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Saleh family People from Sanaa 21st-century Yemeni diplomats Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List