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The scene of the ruling seat in Yemen has been associated with blood, blood whose redness colored a series of assassinations that were a common theme for every 'dancer on the snake chair' of the presidency, the last of whom was former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was added to the list of leaders removed from the scene by assassination at the hands of his Houthi partners.

Perhaps Saleh himself forgot that his installation on the ruling seat in 1978 also came after the assassination of Colonel Ahmed Hussein al-Ghashmi, the third president of the era of the 'Yemen Arab Republic', son of the Hamdan tribe to which the Hashid tribe belongs, to which Ali Abdullah Saleh belongs.

So it is a recurring scene of battles of displacement through blood that took place within the same tribe after it monopolized decision-making and power, and formed a distinct social and political weight and direct influence in shaping this scene since before the Yemeni revolution in 1962, which gave it exceptional influence over other tribes that also witnessed a noticeable decline in their roles after being replaced by the 'Houthi supervisor', who commands everyone as a 'sayyid from the purified progeny' authorized to rule exclusively according to 'divine right'.

Difficult Silence

After the killing of Saleh on December 4, 2017, in a brutal manner closer to revenge, Yemenis thought that Hashid would gird the 'dagger of Sheikh Abdullah' and rush to confront the Houthis, given its political and material influence and based on its history full of clashes, alliances, and bloody conflicts. However, the tribe that had given a special status and a broad Yemeni tribal alliance that it continued to lead within its framework did not move an inch, but rather sought to reach understandings and signed a comprehensive peace with the Houthis stipulating coexistence with them, commitment to open roads, and ending all forms of vengeance, which unleashed the power-hungry militia that rushed to the remaining provinces after securing the role of major tribes in terms of numbers and equipment.

This decline does not negate that the Hashid tribes retain a large number of fierce opponents to the Houthi project within their ranks, distributed across several battlefronts, perhaps the most prominent of whom is the Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Sagheer Hamoud Aziz, and others.

Founder of Historical Influence

The Hashid tribe gained its influence from the status created for it by its most prominent paramount sheikh and authority, Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, born in 1933 in the village of Dhalima in Amran Governorate adjacent to Sanaa and the tribe's stronghold, after its contribution to the revolution of September 26, 1962, according to certain convictions, including the al-Ahmar family's dispute with Imam Ahmad and the killing of his father and brother by the imams. For this reason, al-Ahmar considered the men of his tribe to be the official army of the revolution, especially since the feeling among the Hashid tribes, both sheikhs and individuals, was that they were responsible for protecting the revolution and that it was their revolution. And 'this feeling was generated among Hashid as a result of what they suffered when the father and brother Hamid died and the humiliation and suffering they endured. All this created a feeling among them that the revolution only arose as an official and popular reaction to what happened, and that one of the most important factors for its establishment was what happened to Hashid and its sheikhs. Based on this feeling and sentiment, they became convinced that they were responsible for protecting the revolution and that it mattered to them and concerned them more than others,' according to the memoirs of Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar published in 2007.

Republicans by day... royalists by night

Despite this presence, the men of Hashid were described during the revolution war in northern Yemen in the 1960s as 'Republicans by day, royalists by night', as the country was divided into two camps: the republican camp led by President Abdullah al-Sallal, joined by Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, and a camp loyal to Imam Ahmad (the Mutawakkilite Kingdom). During this war, the Hashid tribes received money and weapons from both sides.

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It is true that al-Ahmar's position after the revolution began as Minister of Interior and ended as Speaker of Parliament, but a signal from him was enough to implement what he dictated literally, and thus the presence of Hashid expanded until it became the 'tribe of the president' and the depth of inherited social rule in the history of 'Republican Yemen'.

Political morning and tribal evening

Just as al-Ahmar had an overwhelming tribal presence, he also had an active political presence, as he was known for his close personal relationships with Arab and foreign leaders, presidents, princes, and kings, which he dedicated to supporting and strengthening Saleh's regime, composed of a mixture of tribesmen, religious men, merchants, military men, and those under their protection, especially before and during the 1994 crisis that witnessed the civil war between the unity partners, the North and the South.

In 1990, Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar founded the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party and headed its Shura Council in agreement with Saleh, according to his memoirs, to form an additional political vessel against the Yemeni Socialist Party, the political carrier of the South Yemeni state, after the adoption of political pluralism in the country under the constitution of the system resulting from the unification of the two parts in 1990. Al-Ahmar also headed the House of Representatives from 1993 until his death in 2007.

Estimates indicate that the number of armed men loyal to the Hashid sheikhs approaches 300,000, but there is no census of their numbers, although there are estimates that their number 'together with the Bakil tribe' reaches three million people.

'You are my president... but I am your sheikh'

After his dispute with President Abdullah al-Sallal, the first president of the republican regime in Yemen in 1962, control fell to the wing that al-Ahmar continued to lead, and he was accused of diverting state powers to his benefit and that of his tribe, which is divided into four sections: Sarimi, Kharifi, Asimi, and Adhari, along with a broad alliance of tribal figures, most notably Sinan Abu Luhum, the paramount sheikh of 'Bakil', Hashid's most prominent rival, and his 'right-hand man' as he described him, Mujahid Abu Shuwarb, Ali Hamid Jalidan, Hammoud Atif, and others, which gave Hashid a distinctive influence. Al-Ahmar used to boast of his influence and the processions of his armed escorts in the streets of Yemeni cities.

Upon the installation of Ali Abdullah Saleh, in whose accession to the presidency al-Ahmar had a prominent role, a covert and overt alliance was formed between the president and the wing of tribal, social, and religious influence represented by al-Ahmar, who relied on Hashid for his power. In addition to his influence deeply embedded in the state and its authorities, the latter was installed in the position of 'Sheikh of Sheikhs of Yemen'. Therefore, it can be said that the two men ran the country with two heads that fit under the turban of a single tribe, which, whenever faced with social obligations, was replaced by the military cap, as appropriate. Whenever they wanted to invoke the state and the law, Saleh had a prominent presence, urging 'commitment to the law and the constitution' as he always repeated. And whenever they saw benefit in a contradictory stance, al-Ahmar's role came, clad in the Hashid shawl and the turban of 'Sheikh of Sheikhs of Yemen', to replace the state, the army, and the law, which was not applicable to everyone, despite the accusations that did not stop at accusing these soldiers of being 'republicans by day and royalists by night' during the revolution war in the north in the 1960s, and that they received money and weapons from both sides.

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