| Ali Salem al-Beidh | |
|---|---|
| Vice President of Yemen | |
| In office 22 May 1990 – 1994 |
|
| President | Ali Abdullah Saleh |
| Prime Minister | Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas Muhammad Said al-Attar |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi |
| Personal details | |
| Religion | Islam |
Ali Salim al-Beidh (‘Alī Sālim al-Bīḍ, Arabic: علي سالم البيض) (born 1939) is a Yemeni politician who served as the General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), the top political position in South Yemen, and as Vice-President of Yemen following Yemen's unification in 1990. He left the unification government in 1994, sparking the 1994 civil war in Yemen and went into exile. He is now a leader in Al Harak, the South Yemen Movement.
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A former Politburo member, al-Beidh took the top position in the YSP following a 12-day 1986 civil war between forces loyal to former chairman Abdul Fattah Ismail and then-chairman Ali Nasir Muhammad. An Ismail ally, he took control after Muhammad's defeat and defection and Ismail's disappearance.[1][2] In a coup that took the lives of anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 people, al-Beidh was one of the few high ranking officials who survived.[3]
Suffering a loss of more than half its aid from the Soviet Union from 1986 to 1989[4] and an interest in possible oil reserves on the border between the countries, al-Beidh's government worked toward unification with North Yemen officials.[5][6]
Following the unification with the North in 1990, he took up the position of vice-president in the transition government of unified Yemen. But in 1993, al-Beidh quit the government and returned to the former Southern capital of Aden, claiming that the new government was ignoring the needs of the south. On 21 May 1994, as the South's military position weakened, al-Beidh declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen. He served as the only President of the DRY, from 21 May to 7 July 1994. Al-Beidh fled to the neighboring Sultanate of Oman after his failed secession. He was subsequently removed from his positions in the Yemeni Socialist Party.
After fifteen years of living in exile Salim al-Beidh resumed his political career on the eve of the 19th anniversary of the Yemeni unification. This came amid highly escalating tensions in the south, with clashes and violence between protesters and Yemeni security forces. In a televised speech from Germany, the former President declared himself leader of Al Harak, the southern separatist movement, and called for a return of South Yemen.[7] [8] Since then he has called for several demonstrations to demonstrate the strength of the movement.[9] These have continued into 2011.[10] As a result of his increased involvement, he lost his right to stay in Oman after violating the conditions of his citizenship.[11]