Ali Salem al-Beidh ( ar, علي سالم البيض, translit=‘Alī Sālim al-Bīḍ; born 10 February 1939) is a
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 politician who served as the General Secretary of the
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party ( ar, الحزب الاشتراكي اليمني, ''al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Yamani'', YSP) is a political party in Yemen. A successor of Yemen's National Liberation Front, it was the ruling party in South Yemen until ...
(YSP) in
South Yemen and as
Vice President of Yemen The Vice President of the Republic of Yemen is the second highest political position in Yemen.
As of 7 April 2022, the role is fulfilled by the Deputy Chairmen of the Presidential Leadership Council.
Under the Constitution of Yemen, the Vice Pres ...
following the
unification in 1990. He left the unification government in 1993, sparking the
1994 civil war in Yemen and then went into exile in Oman. He is a leader of the Southern independence movement known as
Al Hirak.
Leadership in South Yemen
He studied for a Commerce degree and became a School Teacher in
Mukalla
Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east o ...
in 1961. He joined the
National Liberation Front in 1963 as the Local Committee founder in Mukalla, and went underground in 1965. In 1966 he was admitted into the
Hadramawt
Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...
Provincial Committee of the
NLF. After independence he joined the
YSP. In 1971 he was selected as the General Secretary of the Hadhramawt Provincial Committee and was admitted into the YSP National Central Committee as a Candidate-Member. Selected as Full Member of the Central Committee in 1975, well as Deputy Minister for School Education and Vocational Training. In 1977, he was admitted as Candidate Member for the YSP Politburo, and a full Politburo member in 1981. Ali took the top position in the YSP following a
12-day 1986 civil war between forces loyal to former chairman
Abdul Fattah Ismail
Abd al-Fattah Ismail Ali Al-Jawfi ( ar, عبد الفتاح إسماعيل علي الجوفي , translit=ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Ismāʿīl; 28 July 1939 – 13 January 1986) was the Marxist ''de facto'' leader of People's Democratic Republic of Yem ...
and then-chairman
Ali Nasir Muhammad
Ali Nasir Muhammad Al-Husani ( ar, علي ناصر محمد الحسني; born 31 December 1939, in Mudiyah, Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen) is the former leader of South Yemen serving as General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party between 198 ...
. An Ismail ally, he took control after Muhammad's defeat and defection and Ismail's disappearance. In a coup that took the lives of anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 people, Ali was one of the few high-ranking officials who survived.
Suffering a loss of more than half its aid from the Soviet Union from 1986 to 1989 and an interest in possible oil reserves on the border between the countries, Ali's government worked toward unification with North Yemen officials.
Unification and Civil War
Following the unification of
South Yemen with the
Yemen Arab Republic
The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the northwestern part of what is now Yemen.The United States extend ...
in 1990, he took up the position of vice-president in the transition government of unified Yemen. But in 1993, Ali quit the government and returned to the former Southern capital of
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, claiming that the new government was systematically marginalizing the southern people ignoring the needs of the south. On 21 May 1994, as the South's military position weakened, Ali declared the
Democratic Republic of Yemen
The Democratic Republic of Yemen ( '), colloquially known as South Yemen, was a breakaway state that fought against Yemen Arab Republic in the 1994 Yemeni Civil War. It was declared in May 1994 and covered all of the former South Yemen.
Th ...
. He served as the only President of the DRY, from 21 May to 7 July 1994. Ali fled to the neighboring
Sultanate of Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
after the secession failed.
South Yemen movement
After fifteen years of living in
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
Ali Salim al-Beidh resumed his political career on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the
Yemeni unification
Yemeni unification () took place on May 22, 1990, when the area of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (also known as South Yemen) was united with the Yemen Arab Republic (also known as North Yemen), forming the Republic of Yemen (known as ...
. This came amid highly escalating tensions in the south, with clashes and violence between protesters and Yemeni security forces. In a televised speech from
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the former President called for a return of South Yemen. Since then he has called for several demonstrations to demonstrate the strength of the movement. These have continued into 2011. As a result of his increased involvement, he lost his right to stay in Oman after violating the conditions of his citizenship. Following the
2011 Yemeni uprising, he renewed calls for reinstating South Yemen as a separate country.
See also
*
South Yemen insurgency
The South Yemen insurgency is a term used by the Yemeni government to describe the protests and attacks on Military of Yemen, government forces in southern Yemen, ongoing since 27 April 2009. Although the violence has been blamed on elements w ...
2009 speech
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beidh, Ali Salim
1939 births
Living people
Yemeni Socialist Party politicians
Vice presidents of Yemen