Yemeni Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi

Updated: 2011-11-24 06:30

(Xinhua)

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SANAA - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Wednesday after backing out of doing so for at least three times.

Under the deal, the president would hand over power to his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and resign within 30 days in return for immunity from prosecution.

The following is the profile of Yemen's Vice President Abd- Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was born in the Dhakeen village in the al-Wadhi'e district, Abyan province on May 1, 1945. He joint the army of South Yemen in 1970 and became a Major General in early 1990.

As a military commander, Hadi got several certificates and courses abroad, mainly in Britain and Russia, and held many senior posts within the southern army before the unification.

During the 1994 war, which unified North and South Yemen, he led the southern forces which surrendered to the unity forces of the north. He played a key role in the victory against the southern separatist forces, and as a reward for this, Hadi was appointed as Defense Minister from May 9 till October 3, 1994.

On October 4, 1994, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appointed Hadi as his deputy and Hadi has been on this post since then.

On November 12, 2008, he was elected as deputy president and secretary general of the General People's Congress (GPC), the ruling party.

Since the beginning of this year, Yemen has been in the grip of anti-government protests calling for an end to Saleh's 33-year rule, paralyzing the already troubled economy and pushing the country toward civil war.

The ruling party and the opposition then accepted Hadi as a suitable person to manage the country's affairs and be responsible for restructuring the army after Saleh.

When the protests started to escalate in April, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposed a deal to solve the Yemeni crisis. Under the West-backed GCC deal, President Saleh should resign and transfer power in 30 days after signing it to his deputy Hadi in return for immunity from prosecution.

The deal also called for forming a national unity government from the Yemeni ruling party GPC and the opposition coalition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), each accounting for 50 percent, led by the opposition, and starting preparations for presidential elections in 60 days since forming a new government.

Saleh backed out of signing the GCC plan three times at the last minute. On June 3, he was injured in a bomb attack on his presidential palace, which killed at least 14 bodyguards and government officials. Saleh along with other 87 senior officials flew to Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh the day after to receive medical treatment, appointing Hadi as acting president since June 5.

On September 12, Saleh, in Saudi Aarbia, issued a republican decree, authorizing Hadi to hold a dialogue with the opposition to sign the GCC-brokered power transition deal and set its implementation mechanism. Later, Saleh came back to Yemen, but he affirmed that the decree remains valid to finalize the GCC deal.