Ali Abdullah Saleh’s Regime, Unification, and al-Qaeda

This chapter evaluates how Ali Abdullah Saleh was appointed president of Yemen in July of 1978. In the months following the assassination of both al-Ghashmi and Rubayya Ali, the armies of both North and South Yemen massed along the border and numerous threats were made on Saleh's life. When it seemed as if border tensions might escalate into a larger conflict that could imperil the Saudi Kingdom, the United States made a fateful decision to ship tanks and anti-tank missiles to Saleh, thus turning the tide of Yemen's North-South conflict. In the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution that had taken place earlier in 1979, the United States chose to support North Yemen out of concern for Soviet designs on the Middle East. The declaration of support for Saleh both saved his presidency and marked the beginning of a roller-coaster relationship with the Americans over the next three decades. The chapter then looks at the 1986 South Yemen civil war; how and why Saleh united Yemen in 1990; and why Saleh supported Saddam Hussein during the First Gulf War. It also considers Saleh's relationship with the Islamists in Yemen, and when al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula was founded.