Najeeb Qahtan al-Shaabi (1953 in Sha'ab, Lahj,

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

– 24 May 2021 in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, Yemen) was a Yemeni politician who was a candidate in the 1999 presidential election in Yemen. He ran as an Independent, despite being a member of the General People's Congress, against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He received 3.8% of the vote. He served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1991 till his death 2021. He was the son of Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, the first president of

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

. On 24 May 2021, Najeeb died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in Aden, Yemen during the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen.

Early life

Shaabi was born in 1953 in Shaab, a village in Tur Al Bahah district, Lahij Governorate. He was named after Mohamed Naguib, the Egyptian general who led the country after the revolution in 1952. He received primary and secondary education at a school in

. Shaabi later moved to Egypt and enrolled in

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

, graduating from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences in 1976. He continued within the same faculty, attaining a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and enrolling for a Ph.D. by 1983 before returning to Yemen.

Political career

After the unification of Yemen in 1990, Shaabi became a member of parliament as part of the ruling General People's Congress, and was chosen to be a part of its permanent committee in the same year. He supported the Yemeni government during the civil war of 1994, receiving the Unity Medal for his dedication. He was reelected to his seat in parliament during the 1997 Yemeni parliamentary elections.

References

1953 births 2021 deaths General People's Congress (Yemen) politicians Children of presidents People from Lahij Governorate Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen {{Yemen-politician-stub