Ali Nasir Muhammad

Ali Nasir Muhammad Al-Husani ( ; born 31 December 1939) is a Yemeni politician who also served as the Secretary-General of the Yemeni Socialist Party between 1980 and 1986. He was president of South Yemen twice and once the Prime Minister. He served as the Prime Minister from 2 August 1971 until 14 February 1985 and as Chairman of the Presidential Council from 26 June 1978, after the ouster and execution of Salim Rubai Ali, until 27 December 1978.

Biography

In April 1980, South Yemeni president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned, officially for health reasons, and moved to Moscow. His successor was Ali Nasir Muhammad, who was generally seen as a more pragmatic and moderate leader than his predecessor. Mohammad was less committed to Marxist-Leninist ideology than Ismail and relaxed various socialist policies in the PDRY. His rule was also marked by his moderate approach towards foreign affairs, as evidenced by his less interventionist stance towards both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman and attempts to improve relations with the West. On January 13, 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, the South Yemen Civil War. The fighting lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster, and Ismail's death. Ali Nasir's term lasted from 21 April 1980 to 24 January 1986. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to North Yemen. He was succeeded by Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas.

Ali Nasir was a member of the National Front, ar. الجبهة القومية (NF) as well as the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP - الحزب الاشتراكي اليمني) after the YSP was formed from the UPONF in October 1978. During the 1994 Civil War in Yemen, he pushed his supporters to operate alongside the forces of Sana'a government and against the recently re-established Democratic Republic of Yemen, seeking revenge for his ouster. The southern secession was repressed in July 1994 after the surrender of Aden and Mukalla strongholds.

The former president became an opposition figure in the 2011 Yemeni uprising, being named to a 17-member transitional council intended by some anti-government factions to govern Yemen during a prospective transition from the authoritarian regime led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to a plural democracy. This council was opposed by the Joint Meeting Parties, the main opposition coalition, which also supported Saleh's removal from power and a transition to democracy.

In February 2015, there were media reports that Muhammad was being considered as a prospective interim leader of a "presidential council" after the collapse of the government.