Yemen Crisis: Key player

Yemen Crisis: Key players

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has been clinging to power amid widespread popular protests against his rule, a string of defections, and a power struggle with a rival family. Here's a look at some of the key players involved.

Saleh family

Now approaching his 70th year, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has a reputation as an exceptionally tenacious political survivor. He has likened the task of ruling Yemen to "dancing on the heads of snakes".

President Saleh has placed sons and nephews in positions of military command

President Saleh's family hail from the Hashid tribal confederation, one of the two main tribal groupings in Yemen. They are among a minority of Yemenis practicing the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, common in Yemen's northern highlands - the more settled regions of middle and southern Yemen follow the Shafi school of Sunni Islam.

Mr Saleh received little formal education, joining North Yemen's military in 1958 and rising through the ranks. He was wounded several times during the civil war between Saudi-backed royalists and republicans before participating in a coup in 1974 and joining the military government that took over.

He became president of North Yemen in 1978 and took over leadership of the Republic of Yemen in 1990 following unification with the south.

President Saleh has several children. His eldest son is Ahmed Ali Abdallah Saleh, born in 1970 to a mother who was killed in a car accident in 1981. After school in Yemen he studied in the US and at Britain's elite military academy at Sandhurst.

He was elected to parliament for Sanaa in 1997 and appointed as head of the Republican Guard in 2000. He was reported to have survived an attempt on his life in July 2002 when a Stinger missile was fired at his military helicopter and it was forced to land. There are rumours of another attempt on his life in 2004. President Saleh has denied in the past that he was grooming Ahmad to replace him.

Ali Saleh al-Ahmar is another prominent son. He served as head of the republican guard until he was replaced by his half-brother Ahmed in 2000. He was later military attache in the Yemeni embassy in Washington, and director of the office of the head of the military.

Three nephews - Tariq, Yahya and Amar - command security and intelligence units and have also been positioning themselves ahead of the expected transition.

Ahmar clan

The Saleh and Ahmar families have a historic rivalry has been shifting to a second generation as key contenders try to position themselves for a transition. Recently, the Ahmar compound in the capital, Sanaa, has come under attack from government forces, while fighters loyal to the Ahmar clan have laid siege to ministries and other public buildings.

Shiekh Sadiq al-Ahmar (right) and brother Hamid are among a number of powerful siblings

The Ahmar family comes from the Amran governorate, just north of Sanaa and the heartland of the Hashid tribal federation. The family was headed by Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, founder of the Islamist Islah party, until his death in 2007.

Like President Saleh, the Ahmars are from the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam.

Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar is now the overall leader of the tribal confederation. But he is seen as less powerful than his father, and is flanked by a number of prominent brothers.

The most high profile is Hamid al-Ahmar, a businessman and leading member of Islah, who is reported to have been plotting against President Saleh for years. He has repeatedly called for Mr Saleh's resignation.

Along with other businessmen he is believed to be providing financial backing for the demonstrators, and his Sabafon mobile mobile network has sent out text messages with the times and locations of protests.

Other brothers have recently stepped down from officials positions as the political unrest in Yemen has escalated.

One, Sheikh Hussein bin Abdullah al-Ahmar, quit President Saleh's Governing People's Council on 28 February over the shootings of protesters.

Another, Himyar, was deputy speaker of parliament before he resigned in March.

Gen Mohsen

A further figure expected to play a key role in the outcome of the unrest in Yemen is Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, President Saleh's half brother and a long-time ally of the Yemeni leader. He is not a member of the Ahmar family.

Gen Mohsen, a kinsman of President Saleh, announced his support for protesters in March

He announced that he was backing the protest movement on 21 March, while saying his forces would continue to provide security and stability.

Over the years Gen Mohsen has played a leading role in trying to mediate Yemen's various internal conflicts.

He is the commanding officer of the 1st armoured tank division, which has sent units to a main square in the capital.

He also heads the north-west region, one of the country's four military sections.

The rivalry between him and the president's family has become known over the past few years. By 2008, there were rumours of a proxy war between Gen Mohsen's forces and those of Ahmad Ali Abdallah Saleh.