Sacked Yemen vice president Al-Ahmar welcomes new presidential council

Yemen vice president Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar on Friday announced his support for the formation of a new presidential council, a day after he was dismissed from his role by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Hadi sacked Al-Ahmar and delegated his own powers to the presidential council on Thursday in a move welcomed by Saudi Arabia.

"I welcome the issuance of the presidential declaration on the transfer of power, the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council, and its accompanying bodies and teams, to complete the transitional phase," Al-Ahmar said in one of a series of tweets about the council.

أرحب بإصدار، الإعلان الرئاسي بنقل السلطة وتشكيل مجلس القيادة الرئاسي والهيئات والفرق المصاحبة له، لاستكمال المرحلة الانتقالية.

— علي محسن صالح الأحمر (@alimohsnalahmar) April 7, 2022

Al-Ahmar, a politically powerful army general whose military career has spanned six decades, served as vice president from 2016.

Hadi gave him the role due to his strong ties with tribal figures surrounding the capital Sanaa, according to Arabi 21. 

Al-Ahmar is also a distant relative of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who resigned after 22 years in power following Yemen's revolution in 2012.

Saleh reportedly tried to have Al-Ahmar killed in 2010 when he told Saudi military commanders that Al-Ahmar’s headquarters was a rebel base to be bombed, according to The Guardian.

Hadi’s decision to sack Al-Ahmar and delegate authority to the presidential council is said to be in agreement with a 2011 power transfer initiative devised by the Gulf Council Corporation (GCC) back in 2011 as civil and political unrest began to grip the country.

The leadership council is composed of a chair and seven deputy chairmen, including Rashad Al-Alimi, a security official backed by Saudi Arabia.