... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it..., who was killed in December by his erstwhile Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
rebel allies, on Sunday named his replacement.
The General People’s Congress, a key player in Yemeni politics for decades, elected former deputy premier Sadiq Amin Aburas by consensus at a meeting of its general committee, it said in a statement.
It made no mention of the Houthis, but said it would continue to "reject and resist aggression and siege" against Yemen, a reference to a military campaign being waged since 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition.
Aburas, 65, is seen as having been close to Saleh, the long-time Yemeni strongman killed by Houthi button men on Dec 4 after their alliance collapsed.
Saleh held power in the Arabian Peninsula country for three decades before being ousted in 2012 following mass protests.
He later allied with his former enemies, the Iran-backed Houthis, to seize the capital in 2014 from the internationally backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
That prompted Iran’s regional arch-rival Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
to lead an intervention against the alliance the following year.
In late 2017, the Saleh-Houthi alliance fell apart after Saleh offered to "turn the page" with Riyadh in return for a ceasefire and the lifting of a crippling blockade.
That sparked fighting in the streets of Sanaa, and Saleh was bumped off as he tried to flee.
The GPC said Aburas would lead it until its next general assembly, a date for which could not yet be set "because of the current difficulties". Aburas also heads the party’s five-member executive committee.