Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been killed aged 75, held power in Yemen for almost 34 years – an extraordinary feat in one of the world’s most fractious countries. From 2004, at the opposite end of the country, Saleh also fought an intermittent war against Zaidi rebels known as the Houthis, as well as militants linked to al-Qaida in various parts of the country. Protest demonstrations in Yemen continued and it was not until February 2012 that Saleh was finally cajoled into leaving office. This proved disastrous because it allowed Saleh to make mischief from the sidelines. • Ali Abdullah Saleh, politician, born 21 March 1942; died 4 December 2017

Source: The Guardian December 04, 2017 17:48 UTC