Former Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi Dies at 80

Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, the internationally recognized president of Yemen who led the country during a devastating civil war, died on Thursday. He was 80. A source in the Yemeni presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hadi died at his residence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following a sudden health crisis.

Hadi served as Yemen's president from 2012 until April 2022, a period defined by political collapse, famine, and a brutal multi-sided conflict. He had been living in exile in the Saudi capital since 2015, after Houthi fighters seized control of the national capital, Sanaa.

His political career spanned decades, beginning with a military background. Born in 1945 in Abyan province, Hadi trained at Britain's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and rose through the ranks of the armed forces. After Yemen's unification in 1990, he was appointed defense minister by then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and later became vice president in 1994, a post he held for 18 years.

Hadi assumed the presidency in February 2012 following Saleh's resignation amid Arab Spring protests. He was elected as a consensus candidate in a one-man vote, backed by regional Gulf states and the international...