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Yemen after Saleh: The Leader who Died Twice

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
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Yemen after Saleh: The Leader who Died Twice

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)
Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Reuters)

Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed twice. The first time was when he announced his alliance with the Houthis and the second was when he ended it with them. He died a political death the first time and a real one the second.

A journalist close to Saleh said that the decision to kill him was not made by Abdul Malek al-Houthi, head of Iranian-backed militia, but by Tehran. The decision was sparked by the uprising against the Houthis, the state of terror they were experiencing and the possibility of the collapse of the agenda Tehran was spearheading with all of its strength.

The result was the Houthis’ deployment of tanks in Sanaa which they had only previously used in protecting their Saada stronghold. They attacked Saleh and his forces in an unprecedented offensive. Videos posted on YouTube attested to the fierceness of the battle.

Yemeni, Arab and western analysts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis committed “political suicide” even though it was pushed to do so as part of a “struggle to survive.”

Yemeni political researcher Bara al-Shiban said: “Never has a politician blown up the residence of his ally.”

In a new Yemen and a new Sanaa, head of intelligence in the Houthi government Abou Ali al-Hakem, and head of its revolt committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, and others like them, have left the Saada caves and started to eliminate all who stand in their way.

Despite his death, Saleh remains the main concern of Yemen and its people. For four decades, the man was a part of everything in the country, from security to hope, to disrepute to joy.

He united the Yemenis in 1990, but then divided them in the war in the South in 1994. He then waged six wars against the Houthis and managed to unite Yemen against him in 2014 when he allied himself with them. He then sought to close a grey chapter in his history by opening a white one when he announced on December 2 the end of his alliance with the insurgents, a decision he paid the price for with his life two days later.

The struggle for power between Saleh’s General People’s Congress and the Houthis erupted in front of the al-Saleh mosque in Sanaa on November 29. Clashes between the two sides left some 16 people dead and for the first time since 2014, chants against the militias were heard in the streets of the capital.

The Houthis soon organized their ranks to confront the uprising and on November 30, they attacked Tarek Abdullah Saleh, head of Saleh’s guard, killing three of his corps. The offensive also targeted the former president’s family and members of his party.

Saleh’s assassination

Many reports have emerged on how Saleh was killed, but the murderer is the same. Video showed that he was killed as he was escaping Sanaa, while a statement issued by his son Ahmed, said that he was murdered in his home.

The fate of his corpse has not been revealed yet and it is strange that no tribal leader has demanded that it be retrieved. Only the women who were oppressed in Sanaa have made such pleas, said a Yemeni public employee on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Dr. Manuel Almeida, a researcher on the Middle East, said that the Houthi leadership “will regret” killing Saleh, saying the development may be a turning point in the conflict.

Death in Sanaa

Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed al-Jaber said that Iran is “sending death to Yemen.” This claim is being proven today in Sanaa.

A Yemeni student said that the residents in the capital may have escaped death, but it still surrounds them in the city. He explained that since Saleh’s death, the Houthis have been trying to convince the locals that they have averted strife, “but we do not believe them.”

“We are living in terror in every sense of the word,” he stressed.

It is very difficult for someone to find a safe haven, besides those who have relatives in the countryside that is far away from the clashes.

Shiban told Asharq Al-Awsat: “I have never seen such terror in Sanaa. It appears that the Houthis are strong and no one can leave the capital now without thorough inspection.” He said that their belongings, such as mobile phones or laptops, are searched.

“One of my relatives in Sanaa said that they now listen out to loudspeakers that warn them against going outside. It is as if you are in North Korea or may be even worse,” he said.

Tribal role

Opinion has been divided over the role the tribes can play in the conflict. Some say that their influence is exaggerated, while others have accused them of betraying the cause. Others have demanded that they be given more time to absorb the shock of Saleh’s death, while others believe that a whole tribe, should it mobilize, can make a difference in the conflict.

A Yemeni observer said that the “people are now broken… but if the Arab alliance would shift from airstrikes to ground action, then speedier results may be reached on the field.”

The tribes should not be accused of treason, nor should they be completely trusted, said an official, who is close to the General People’s Congress.

“They are still influential players on the scene through their weapons, fighters and knowledge of the terrain,” he noted.

“They will be a mighty foe should they return to the scene and they are not as weak as some social media activists claim,” he added.

According to media sources, the tribal leaders are demanding that they receive strong support in order to eliminate the Houthis, but these claims cannot be completely trusted.

Some leaders said that they too have suffered like the rest of the Yemeni people at the hands of the Houthis. “We will advance if we receive real military, not financial, backing,” they explained.

“The Yemenis do not want Houthi rule and they will accept anything but the Houthis in Sanaa,” they stressed.

Yemeni political researcher Najib Ghalab said that the change in tribal alliances can be achieved by having an armed force that would be able to help rid the tribes of oppressive militia practices.

The Houthis can only control the tribes through oppression and violence, he remarked.

Furthermore, the losses that the tribes have incurred in both their alliance and opposition to the Arab coalition is a point that should not be overlooked, he stated.

With the right military support, the tribes can provide the needed environment to expel the Houthis. The Houthis will maintain their oppression unless a whole tribal bloc, not just small clusters, revolts, Ghalab stressed.

Yemen’s future

Joost Hiltermann, of the International Crisis Group, noted that the recent developments in Yemen indicate that the war will escalate.

Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador to Yemen of the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the Houthis waged their war largely without Saleh.

"He was largely a spent force by the time he died in a weekend's fighting," wrote Feierstein in a policy brief.

Almeida meanwhile said that the only surprising thing about recent developments was that it took this long for the Saleh-Houthi alliance to collapse. Ever since they seized control of Sanaa in 2014, the militias accumulated power and wealth at the expense of Saleh and his General People’s Congress, he remarked.

Saleh’s assassination will likely turn several of his supporters against the militias. This may help in recruiting northern tribes against the Houthis, he explained.

What happens to the General People’s Congress after Saleh’s death?

Ghalab said that the militants will try to force the party to restructure its leadership to transform it into a Houthi branch.

The Congress needs to stay strong and realistically deal with the developments and build a united front. The party can make a radical change and create unity in steering the battles against the Houthis, not just politically, but on the ground as well, he continued.

The reality is that the militias are actually living in a state of isolation. Their strength lies in the excessive use of force … but they have consequently fueled internal anger and they do not enjoy tribal or civilian backing, he said.

The Houthis will suffer popular backlash, especially in wake of the crimes and executions they are now committing, Ghalab predicted.

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Russia, China Unlikely to Back Iran Against US Military Threats

A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Russia, China Unlikely to Back Iran Against US Military Threats

A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
A man stands by the wreckage of a burnt bus bearing a banner (unseen) that reads "This was one of Tehran’s new buses that was paid for with the money of the people’s taxes,” in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square on January 15, 2026. (AFP)

While Russia and China are ready to back protest-rocked Iran under threat by US President Donald Trump, that support would diminish in the face of US military action, experts told AFP.

Iran is a significant ally to the two nuclear powers, providing drones to Russia and oil to China. But analysts told AFP the two superpowers would only offer diplomatic and economic aid to Tehran, to avoid a showdown with Washington.

"China and Russia don't want to go head-to-head with the US over Iran," said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy expert for the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Tehran, despite its best efforts over decades, has failed to establish a formal alliance with Moscow and Beijing, she noted.

If the United States carried out strikes on Iran, "both the Chinese and the Russians will prioritize their bilateral relationship with Washington", Geranmayeh said.

China has to maintain a "delicate" rapprochement with the Trump administration, she argued, while Russia wants to keep the United States involved in talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

"They both have much higher priorities than Iran."

- Ukraine before Iran -

Despite their close ties, "Russia-Iranian treaties don't include military support" -- only political, diplomatic and economic aid, Russian analyst Sergei Markov told AFP.

Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Moscow would do whatever it could "to keep the regime afloat".

But "Russia's options are very limited," he added.

Faced with its own economic crisis, "Russia cannot become a giant market for Iranian products" nor can it provide "a lavish loan", Gabuev said.

Nikita Smagin, a specialist in Russia-Iran relations, said that in the event of US strikes, Russia could do "almost nothing".

"They don't want to risk military confrontation with other great powers like the US -- but at the same time, they're ready to send weaponry to Iran," he said.

"Using Iran as a bargaining asset is a normal thing for Russia," Smagin said of the longer-term strategy, at a time when Moscow is also negotiating with Washington on Ukraine.

Markov agreed. "The Ukrainian crisis is much more important for Russia than the Iranian crisis," he argued.

- Chinese restraint -

China is also ready to help Tehran "economically, technologically, militarily and politically" as it confronts non-military US actions such as trade pressure and cyberattacks, Hua Po, a Beijing-based independent political observer, told AFP.

If the United States launched strikes, China "would strengthen its economic ties with Iran and help it militarize in order to contribute to bogging the United States down in a war in the Middle East," he added.

Until now, China has been cautious and expressed itself "with restraint", weighing the stakes of oil and regional stability, said Iran-China relations researcher Theo Nencini of Sciences Po Grenoble.

"China is benefiting from a weakened Iran, which allows it to secure low-cost oil... and to acquire a sizeable geopolitical partner," he said.

However, he added: "I find it hard to see them engaging in a showdown with the Americans over Iran."

Beijing would likely issue condemnations, but not retaliate, he said.

Hua said the Iran crisis was unlikely to have an impact on China-US relations overall.

"The Iranian question isn't at the heart of relations between the two countries," he argued.

"Neither will sever ties with the other over Iran."

Features

Beirut’s Commodore Hotel, a Haven for Journalists During Lebanon’s Civil War, Shuts Down

People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
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Beirut’s Commodore Hotel, a Haven for Journalists During Lebanon’s Civil War, Shuts Down

People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)
People stand outside the closed Commodore hotel, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP)

During Lebanon’s civil war, the Commodore Hotel in western Beirut's Hamra district became iconic among the foreign press corps.

For many, it served as an unofficial newsroom where they could file dispatches even when communications systems were down elsewhere. Armed guards at the door provided some sense of protection as sniper fights and shelling were turning the cosmopolitan city to rubble.

The hotel even had its own much-loved mascot: a cheeky parrot.

The Commodore endured for decades after the 15-year civil war ended in 1990 — until this week, when it closed for good.

The main gate of the nine-story hotel with more than 200 rooms was shuttered Monday. Officials at the Commodore refused to speak to the media about the decision to close.

Although the country’s economy is beginning to recover from a protracted financial crisis that began in 2019, tensions in the region and the aftermath of the Israel-Hezbollah war that was halted by a tenuous ceasefire in November 2024 are keeping many tourists away. Lengthy daily electricity cuts force businesses to rely on expensive private generators.

The Commodore is not the first of the crisis-battered country’s once-bustling hotels to shut down in recent years.

But for journalists who lived, worked and filed their dispatches there, its demise hits particularly hard.

“The Commodore was a hub of information — various guerrilla leaders, diplomats, spies and of course scores of journalists circled the cafes and lounges,” said Tim Llewellyn, a former BBC Middle East correspondent who covered the civil war. “On one occasion (late Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat himself dropped in to sip coffee with” with the hotel manager's father, he recalled.

A line to the outside world

At the height of the civil war, when telecommunications were dysfunctional and much of Beirut was cut off from the outside world, it was at the Commodore where journalists found land lines and Telex machines that always worked to send reports to their media organizations around the globe.

Across the front office desk in the wide lobby of the Commodore, there were two teleprinters that carried reports of The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies.

“The Commodore had a certain seedy charm. The rooms were basic, the mattresses lumpy and the meal fare wasn’t spectacular,” said Robert H. Reid, the AP’s former Middle East regional editor, who was among the AP journalists who covered the war. The hotel was across the street from the international agency’s Middle East head office at the time.

“The friendly staff and the camaraderie among the journalist-guests made the Commodore seem more like a social club where you could unwind after a day in one of the world’s most dangerous cities,” Reid said.

Llewellyn remembers that the hotel manager at the time, Yusuf Nazzal, told him in the late 1970s “that it was I who had given him the idea” to open such a hotel in a war zone.

Llewellyn said that during a long chat with Nazzal on a near-empty Middle East Airlines Jumbo flight from London to Beirut in the fall of 1975, he told him that there should be a hotel that would make sure journalists had good communications, “a street-wise and well-connected staff running the desks, the phones, the teletypes.”

During Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and a nearly three-month siege of West Beirut by Israeli troops, journalists used the roof of the hotel to film fighter jets striking the city.

The parrot

One of the best-known characters at the Commodore was Coco the parrot, who was always in a cage near the bar. Patrons were often startled by what they thought was the whiz of an incoming shell, only to discover that it was Coco who made the sound.

AP’s chief Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson was a regular at the hotel before he was kidnapped in Beirut in 1985 and held for seven years, becoming one of the longest-held American hostages in history.

Videos of Anderson released by his kidnappers later showed him wearing a white T-shirt with the words “Hotel Commodore Lebanon.”

With the kidnapping of Anderson and other Western journalists, many foreign media workers left the predominantly-Muslim western part of Beirut, and after that the hotel lost its status as a safe haven for foreign journalists.

Ahmad Shbaro, who worked at different departments of the hotel until 1988, said the main reason behind the Commodore’s success was the presence of armed guards that made journalists feel secure in the middle of Beirut’s chaos as well as functioning telecommunications.

He added that the hotel also offered financial facilities for journalists who ran out of money. They would borrow money from Nazzal and their companies could pay him back by depositing money in his bank account in London.

Shbaro remembers a terrifying day in the late 1970s when the area of the hotel was heavily shelled and two rooms at the Commodore were hit.

“The hotel was full and all of us, staffers and journalists, spent the night at Le Casbah,” a famous nightclub in the basement of the building, he said.

In quieter times, journalists used to spend the night partying by the pool.

“It was a lifeline for the international media in West Beirut, where journalists filed, ate, slept, and hid from air raids, shelling, and other violence,” said former AP correspondent Scheherezade Faramarzi.

“It gained both fame and notoriety,” she said, speaking from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

The hotel was built in 1943 and kept functioning until 1987 when it was heavily damaged in fighting between Shiite and Druze militiamen at the time. The old Commodore building was later demolished and a new structure was build with an annex and officially opened again for the public in 1996.

But Coco the parrot was no longer at the bar. The bird went missing during the 1987 fighting. Shbaro said it is believed he was taken by one of the gunmen who stormed the hotel.

Features

Key Details of Greenland’s Rich but Largely Untapped Mineral Resources

Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
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Key Details of Greenland’s Rich but Largely Untapped Mineral Resources

Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers will meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday after President Donald Trump recently
stepped up threats to take over Greenland.

The autonomous territory of Denmark could be useful for the ​United States because of its strategic location and rich mineral resources. A 2023 survey showed that 25 of 34 minerals deemed "critical raw materials" by the European Commission were found in Greenland.

The extraction of oil and natural gas is banned in Greenland for environmental reasons, while development of its mining sector has been snarled in red tape and opposition from indigenous people.

Below are details of Greenland's main mineral deposits, based on data from its Mineral Resources Authority:

RARE EARTHS
Three of Greenland's biggest deposits are located in the southern province of Gardar.

Companies ‌seeking to ‌develop rare-earth mines are Critical Metals Corp, which bought the ‌Tanbreez ⁠deposit, ​Energy Transition Minerals, ‌whose Kuannersuit project is stalled amid legal disputes, and Neo Performance Materials.

Rare-earth elements are key to permanent magnets used in electric vehicles (EV) and wind turbines.

GRAPHITE
Occurrences of graphite and graphite schist are reported from many localities on the island.
GreenRoc has applied for an exploitation license to develop the Amitsoq graphite project.
Natural graphite is mostly used in EV batteries and steelmaking.

COPPER
According to the Mineral Resources Authority, most copper deposits have drawn only limited exploration campaigns.

Especially interesting are the underexplored areas ⁠in the northeast and center-east of Greenland, it said.

London-listed 80 Mile is seeking to develop the Disko-Nuussuaq deposit, which has ‌copper, nickel, platinum and cobalt.

NICKEL
Traces of nickel accumulations are numerous, ‍according to the Mineral Resources Authority.

Major miner ‍Anglo American was granted an exploration license in western Greenland in 2019 and has ‍been looking for nickel deposits, among others.

ZINC
Zinc is mostly found in the north in a geologic formation that stretches more than 2,500 km (1,550 miles).

Companies have sought to develop the Citronen Fjord zinc and lead project, which had been billed as one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc resources.

GOLD
The most prospective ​areas for gold potential are situated around the Sermiligaarsuk fjord in the country's south.

Amaroq Minerals launched a gold mine last year in Mt Nalunaq in ⁠the Kujalleq Municipality.

DIAMONDS
While most small diamonds and the largest stones are found in the island's west, their presence in other regions may also be significant.

IRON ORE
Deposits are located at Isua in southern West Greenland, at Itilliarsuk in central West Greenland, and in North West Greenland along the Lauge Koch Kyst.

TITANIUM-VANADIUM
Known deposits of titanium and vanadium are in the southwest, the east and south.

Titanium is used for commercial, medical and industrial purposes, while vanadium is mainly used to produce specialty steel alloys. The most important industrial vanadium compound, vanadium pentoxide, is used as a catalyst for the production of sulfuric acid.

TUNGSTEN
Used for several industrial applications, tungsten is mostly found in the central-east and northeast of the country, with assessed deposits in the south and west.

URANIUM
In 2021, ‌the then-ruling left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party banned uranium mining, effectively halting development of the Kuannersuit rare-earths project, which has uranium as a byproduct.