Hamid al-Ahmar

Who is Hamid al-Ahmar?

Hamid al-Ahmar is a Yemeni multimillionaire businessman and politician. He is the general secretary of the Preparatory Committee of the National Dialogue for the JMP and a member of opposition party Yemeni Congregation for Reform, commonly known as Islah.

He is a son of Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, the former head of the Hashid tribal confederacy of Islah which is now headed by Hamid's older brother Sadeq, and the former Speaker of the Yemeni HR since 1993. Senior Al-ahmer has been known in Yemen as the presidents’ maker and breaker. His uncle, after whom he is named, was executed by the Yemeni Imam Ahmed Hameed Al-deen during the Yemeni civil war of 1962-1968. "After all, the heinous murder of his ambitious uncle and grandfather led his father to mobilize the Hashid tribes, normally supporters of the Imam, to the side of the revolution when it broke out in north Yemen in 1962. The efforts of his father, family, and tribesmen eventually led to the permanent demise of the Imamate’s 11 centuries’ rule."

As a youth, he spent summers in the United States, staying with a family to learn English. He earned a bachelor degree in economics with honors at Sana'a University. He went into buying, eventually owning cellular telecom Sabafon, the Islamic Bank of Saba, and at least a dozen other businesses.