4/8/2025
Al-Radar: On the anniversary of the assassination of Ali Abdullah Saleh
Saleh's messages from his grave
By Engineer/Hasaballah Al-Nour Suleiman
President Ali Abdullah Saleh was buried on Saturday, December 9, 2017 in his village near Sana'a, under tight security measures, according to a member of his family. Saleh's funeral was attended by one of his sons, "Madyan", his nephew, the Speaker of the Yemeni Parliament, Yahya Ali Al-Ra'i, a member of the former president's party, and the Houthi leader Ali Abu Al-Hakim, according to the "Arabi 21" website.
Ali Abdullah Saleh remained in the corridors of power and politics for forty years, and the Arab press called him "the dancer on the heads of snakes" (and he loved this title), while American officials described him as a "strange and cranky" person. The magazine "The Atlantic" chose a more modern and cinematic description when it called him the "Frank Underwood" of the Middle East, after the hero of the famous American political series House of Cards, in reference to his "malicious and devious" ways of consolidating his power by manipulating his opponents and allies alike.
Various media outlets covered the death of Ali Abdullah Saleh, with analysis of how he was killed, and what the state of his party and the state of Yemen would be. There was a lot of speculation and analysis, ranging from the most pessimistic to the most optimistic. But in this article, we would like to highlight a different aspect; where we enter his grave, and take from him some messages loaded with lessons that he reached after his move to the afterlife. They are messages of state, not messages of article.
Before moving on to Saleh's messages, we will briefly review his political career. Saleh took power after the assassination of three presidents of North Yemen in one year. He fought wars for six years with the Houthis, using Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar in their war, which led many to see that war as a way to get rid of Major General al-Ahmar, his first competitor, and to pave the way for his son Ahmed to reach power. Especially since he sometimes supplied the Houthis he was fighting with weapons. He also managed to involve the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a war against the Houthis, but soon severed his relationship with Saudi Arabia after standing with Saddam Hussein in his invasion of Kuwait. Then he returned to the Saudis to seek their help in his war with the socialists in South Yemen, then soon boycotted them after the Arab Spring revolution, and following the Gulf initiative that brought him out of power in Yemen, and finally returned to them in the last week of his life.
Likewise, he allied with the Yemeni Islah Gathering Party (the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen), and fought the socialists in the south with them, then turned against them. He later agreed with the socialists in the south, and he was able to unify Yemen under the name of the Republic of Yemen, but he soon turned against them and abused them and chased Ali Salem Al-Beidh and his southern comrades until he expelled them from the country.
After leaving power in 2012, and the union of all Yemeni political parties against him, he found his goal in his old enemies: the Houthis, who in turn rejected the Gulf initiative. He allied with them and provided them with political cover, and enabled them to enter the capital, Sana'a, hoping to dance on their heads at this stage. Finally, he turned against them and returned to his Saudi opponents. But it was the last dance on the heads of snakes; his foot slipped this time. We do not know, is it because of his old age? Or because of his weak ability to dance on the heads of snakes? Or is it the inevitable end for everyone who walked this path?!
Ali Abdullah Saleh has sent several messages from his grave, which, as we mentioned, are messages of state, not messages of article.
The first message to his sons, in which he says:
(The matter is not a matter of revenge, otherwise the Houthis would have taken revenge for their brother Hussein al-Houthi. Rather, it is a matter of a country that is being lost between our hands, and a people who have had thousands killed and millions displaced, and is on its way to extinction. And a nation torn apart by strife, and exploited by enemies, so that some of them strike the necks of others. It is necessary to rise above trivial matters and petty things, and rise to the level of the issue).
As for the last message, it is to the nation in general, and to the people of Yemen in particular, I say to them what the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said and we did not take it:
(Do not return after me as disbelievers, some of you striking the necks of others).
Unite as your Lord has commanded you, and do not divide so that you are humiliated and insulted, and international powers and their local agents pull you. Your strength lies in your unity, and your glory lies in the book of your Lord and the Sunnah of your Prophet.
You were heroes when you came out against me demanding your rights, with your bare chests facing bullets, and you set the most wonderful examples of sacrifice. You were a school from which others learn, so the minds of rulers and kings flew in every Muslim country, and the infidels went crazy. The enemies united from every direction, and they found in your revolution a loophole through which they infiltrated, as there was no intellectual or political alternative in your hands to put in place of the existing system, which made it easier for your enemies to steal your efforts, circumvent your blessed revolution, and abort it in its infancy.
You must understand the lesson well, and know that the book of your Lord organizes all your affairs, so turn to God and He will turn to you, and make Him your Qibla and He will take care of you, and raise His book and He will help you, for if God helps you, then there is no one who can overcome you.
Peace be upon you…
Engineer / Hasaballah Al-Nour - Khartoum
Source: Al-Radar
