[4][5] An ally of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, he condemned the 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état[6] and received the deposed leader after his flight from the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa on 21 February 2015.

In 2001, President Ali Abdullah Saleh named bin Habtour to serve as Deputy Minister of Education, an office he held until 2008.

[14] In July, the Yemeni government-in-exile in Saudi Arabia announced the appointment of his former deputy, Nayef al-Bakri, as governor.

[20] On 13 December 2016, he accused the United Kingdom of war crimes against Yemen, by giving bombs to the Saudi-led coalition.

[21] On 5 April 2017, he tendered his resignation as prime minister by submitting it to the Supreme Political Council, according to sources close to him.