Rashad al-Alimi

Rashad Muhammad al-Alimi (Arabic: رشاد محمد العليمي, romanized: Rashād Muḥammad al-ʻUlaymī; born 15 January 1954) is a Yemeni politician currently serving as the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council since 7 April 2022.^[2]

His Excellency Rashad Muhammad al-Alimi
رشاد محمد العليمي
Al-Alimi in 2023
Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 April 2022 Disputed by Mahdi al-Mashat (Supreme Political Council)
Prime Minister	Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak
Vice President	Aidarus al-Zoubaidi Tareq Saleh Sultan Ali al-Arada Abdullah al-Alimi Bawazeer
Preceded by	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (as President of Yemen)
Adviser to the President of Yemen
In office 2014[1] – 7 April 2022
President	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
Member of the General Committee of the General People's Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 2011[1]
Deputy Prime Minister of Yemen
In office 2006–2011[1]
President	Ali Abdullah Saleh
Prime Minister	Abdul Qadir Bajamal Ali Muhammad Mujawar
Interior Minister of Yemen
In office 4 April 2001 – 18 May 2008
President	Ali Abdullah Saleh
Prime Minister	Abdul Qadir Bajamal Ali Muhammad Mujawar
Preceded by	Hussein Arab
Succeeded by	Mutaher al-Masri
Personal details
Born	(1954-01-15) January 15, 1954 (age 70) Al-Aloom, Taiz Governorate, North Yemen
Political party	General People's Congress
Alma mater	Sanaa University Ain Shams University
Website	www.presidentalalimi.net
Nickname	"Alimi"
Military service
Allegiance	Yemen
Branch/service	Yemeni Armed Forces
Years of service	1978–present
Battles/wars	Yemeni Civil War 1994 civil war in Yemen

Early life and education

Rashad al-Alimi was born on January 15, 1954,^[1] in Al-Aloom, a village in the Taiz Governorate,^[2] and is the son of judge Mohammed ben Ali al-Alimi. He graduated from Gamal Abdel Nasser High School in Sanaa in 1969.^[3] He subsequently obtained a bachelor's degree in military science from the Kuwait Police College in 1975, and another university degree in arts from Sanaa University in 1977, then a master's degree and a doctorate in sociology from Ain Shams University in Egypt between 1984 and 1988.^[4]

Career

al-Alimi meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 17 February 2023

A member of the General People's Congress, he was Minister of the Interior from April 4th 2001 to 2008.^[3][5][1] He then became Chairman of the Supreme Security Committee and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Defense and Security Affairs in May 2008, subsequently becoming a member of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference, then adviser to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2014.^[4]

On 3 June 2011, during the Battle of Sanaa, al-Alimi was wounded along with Ali Abdullah Saleh during an attack on the Al-Nahdin Mosque in the Presidential Palace.^[6] He was subsequently transferred to Saudi Arabia and to Germany for treatment, before returning to Sanaa on 13 June 2012. He left the city again as a result of the Houthi takeover in Yemen^[2] and began living in Saudi Arabia in 2015.^[7]

Al-Alimi became Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, a body given the powers of the President of Yemen, on 7 April 2022, through a decree by President Hadi, who irreversibly transferred his powers to the council. Multiple sources in the Yemeni and Saudi governments stated that Saudi Arabia, where Hadi was living, forced him to cede power to Alimi.^[8][9][10]

References

1. "Biography". Official Website of Rashad al-Alimi (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
2. "Who is the new President of the Presidential Council in Yemen?". Middle East 24 News English. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
3. "من هو رشاد العليمي .. رئيس مجلس القيادة الرئاسي المخول بصلاحيات الرئيس هادي (سيرة ذاتية )". ye-now.net (in Arabic). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
4. "رشاد العليمي.. تعرّف إلى رئيس مجلس القيادة الرئاسي في اليمن". mubasher.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
5. "April 2001". www.rulers.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
6. "Yémen : le président Saleh blessé, son armée riposte". leparisien.fr (in French). 3 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
7. "Saudi Arabia shakes up Yemen alliance in bid to exit quagmire". Middle East Monitor. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
8. "Yémen: le président en exil transfère le pouvoir à un nouveau conseil". Le Point (in French). 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
9. Said, Summer; Kalin, Stephen (17 April 2022). "Saudi Arabia Pushed Yemen's Elected President to Step Aside, Saudi and Yemeni Officials Say". The Wall Street Journal. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
10. "Saudi Arabia forced Yemen's president to resign, says report". Middle East Eye. Washington, D.C. 18 April 2022. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

Political offices
Preceded by Hussein Arab	Interior Minister of Yemen 2001–2008	Succeeded by Mutaher al-Masri
Preceded by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi as President of Yemen	— DISPUTED — Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen 2022–present Disputed by Mahdi al-Mashat (Supreme Political Council) Reason for dispute: Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)	Incumbent