Saleh Ali al-Sammad ( ar, صالح علي الصمَّاد; 1 January 1979 – 19 April 2018) was a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

i political figure from the Houthi movement who served as the president of Yemen's Supreme Political Council and the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' President of Yemen until his assassination. On April 23, 2018, Houthi officials announced al-Sammad was killed in a Saudi-led coalition drone airstrike.

Political career

Saleh Ali al-Sammad was born in Bani Ma'az in Yemen's Sahar District on 1 January 1979. He was appointed in September 2014 to serve as a political adviser to President

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi ( ar, عبدربه منصور هادي, translit=ʿAbd Rabbih Manṣūr Hādī Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the pres ...

. Al-Sammad struck a conciliatory posture during and after the 2014–15 coup. In November 2014, after the Houthis withdrew from Yemen's "unity government", he expressed support for most of Hadi's cabinet choices, including Prime Minister

Khaled Bahah Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah ( ar, خالد محفوظ بحاح) (born 1 January 1965) is a Yemeni politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Yemen between 2014 and 2016, as well as Vice President of Yemen from 2015 until he was fired on Ap ...

. As of February 2015, after the Houthi takeover of the government, he was described as "the senior Houthi leader in

Sana'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...

". In February 2015, al-Sammad said the Houthis hoped for normal relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and other countries and suggested that the group was interested in sharing power with other political factions, potentially including members of the deposed

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in a new, 551-member parliament. On 6 August 2016, al-Sammad became head of the Supreme Political Council. He was sworn in on 14 August. On 15 August 2016, the Supreme Revolutionary Committee handed power to the Supreme Political Council.

Death

On 23 April 2018, Al-Samad was killed by a Saudi-led coalition

drone strike Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakist ...

, making him the most senior Houthi casualty. The weapon was a LJ-7 or AKD-10 air-to-surface missile, possibly fired from a

Wing Loong II The Chengdu GJ-2, also known as Wing Loong 2, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group in the People's Republic of China. Intended for use as a surv ...

UCAV. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the top leader of the Houthi movement, stated that "the forces of aggression, led by America and Saudi Arabia, bear the legal responsibility for this crime and all its consequences."

References

1979 births 2018 deaths Deaths by airstrike Houthi members People from Saada Governorate Sanaa University alumni People killed in the Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) Presidents of Yemen {{Yemen-politician-stub

Political career

Death

See also

References