Hameed Al-Ahmar

Hamid al-Ahmar

Hamid al-Ahmar ( حميد الأحمر )(born 1967) is a Yemeni multimillionaire businessman and politician. He is the general secretary of the Preparatory Committee of the National Dialogue for the JMP and a member of opposition party Yemeni Congregation for Reform, commonly known as Islah.

He is a son of Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, the former head of the tribal confederacy of Islah which is now headed by Hamid's older brother Sadeq, and the former Speaker of the Yemeni HR since 1993. Senior Al-ahmer has been known in Yemen as the presidents’ maker and breaker. His uncle, after whom he is named, was executed by the Yemeni Imam Ahmed Hameed Al-deen (1948–1962) during the Yemeni civil war of 1962-1968. "After all, the heinous murder of his ambitious uncle and grandfather led his father to mobilize the Hashid tribes, normally supporters of the Imam, to the side of the revolution when it broke out in north Yemen in 1962. The efforts of his father, family, and tribesmen eventually led to the permanent demise of the Imamate’s 11 centuries’ rule."

As a youth, he spent summers in the United States, staying with a family to learn English. He earned a bachelor degree in economics with honors at Sana'a University. He went into buying, eventually owning cellular telecom Sabafon, the , and at least a dozen other businesses.

He has been a member of the Yemeni House of Representatives (HR) since the 1993 parliamentary elections. He has been a member of the Shoura Council of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform party which is known by its short Arabic name Islah, meaning "reform." At the beginning of 2007, he was elevated to the Higher Commission of the party, which is equivalent to a political bureau.

While not occupying any formal position within the Yemeni opposition parties coalition which is known as the Joint Meeting Parties—JMP, Hameed is widely perceived as the Yemeni opposition’s strong man. He is believed to be the engineer and the patron of the JMP and of the political, civil, and tribal opposition to the current Yemeni regime. He is credited for leading the Yemeni opposition in a presidential elections battle against Saleh in September 2006. Hameed’s success is attributed to his education, success as a businessman, and his very influential political family (Al-ahmer) of the Hashid tribal coalition which dominates Yemen’s politics since the ascension to power of the current Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who is also from Hashid.

See also

References

External links

• The Yemeni Opposition’s strong man, Dr. Abdullah Al-Faqeh, Yemen Times, 27 December 2007
• Saleh’s Son Lashes at Sheik Hamid al-Ahmar, Vows to Face 'Plots', Mohammed Al-Amrani, , 15 November 2009
• Sheikh Hameed Al-Ahmar to Yemen Times: "The real threat to Yemen’s unity and stability is this current regime", Yemen Times, 1 March 2011, extensive interview
• Yemen security blames Islah leader for Friday massacre, Nasser Arrabyee, Yemen Observer, 21 March 2011
• Kingmaker seeks stable, developed Yemen, Abigail Fielding-Smith in Sana’a, Financial Times, 25 March 2011
• Yemen's Hamid al-Ahmar urges President Saleh to leave, BBC News, 31 March 2011

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