[7][8] In 2011, in the wake of the Arab Spring, which spread across North Africa and the Middle East (including Yemen), Saleh's time in office became increasingly precarious, until he was eventually ousted as President in 2012.

[9] In May 2015, Saleh openly allied with the Houthis (Ansar Allah) during the Yemeni civil war,[10] in which a protest movement and subsequent insurgency succeeded in capturing Yemen's capital, Sanaa, causing President Hadi to resign and flee the country.

In December 2017, he declared his withdrawal from his coalition with the Houthis and instead sided with his former enemies – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and President al-Hadi.

[25] He participated in the Nasserist-inspired military coup of 1962, which was instrumental in the removal of King Muhammad al-Badr and the establishment of the Yemen Arab Republic, beside that he wasn't an Nasserist.

[20] After al-Ghashmi was assassinated on 24 June 1978, Colonel Saleh was appointed to be a member of the four-man provisional presidency council and deputy to the general staff commander.

[20][25] On 17 July 1978, Saleh was elected by the Parliament to be the President of the Yemen Arab Republic, while simultaneously holding the positions of chief of staff and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

[26] The New York Times Middle Eastern correspondent Robert F. Worth described Saleh as reaching an understanding with powerful feudal "big sheikhs" to become "part of a Mafia-style spoils system that substituted for governance".

[27] Robert Worth accused Saleh of exceeding the aggrandisement of other Middle Eastern strongmen by managing to "rake off tens of billions of dollars in public funds for himself and his family" despite the extreme poverty of his country.

Despite early public skepticism and a serious coup attempt in late 1978, Saleh managed to conciliate most factions, improve relations with Yemen's neighbours, and resume various programs of economic and political development and institutionalization.

More firmly in power in the 1980s, he created the political organization that was to become known as his party, the General People's Congress (GPC), and steered Yemen into the age of oil.

[34] After using Islamic militants to repress the separatist Yemeni Socialist Party and keep the country under his rule, Saleh turned a blind eye to their activities and allowed their sympathizers to work in his intelligence services.

He expressed hope that "all political parties – including the opposition and the General People's Congress – find young leaders to compete in the elections because we have to train ourselves in the practice of peaceful succession.

"[38] However, in June 2006, Saleh changed his mind and accepted his party's nomination as the presidential candidate of the GPC, saying that when he initially decided not to contest the elections his aim was "to establish ground for a peaceful transfer of power", and that he was now, however, bowing to the "popular pressure and appeals of the Yemeni people."

[35] In an investigative documentary allegations were made that Saleh's government supported and directly helped Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

He was playing with the entire world".Richard Barrett, who was with Britain's MI6 intelligence agency before becoming director of the Al-Qaeda Monitoring Team for the UN, described Mujahid's story of his background in Afghanistan, his return to Yemen and his involvement with AQAP as "credible".

Opposition elements started leading protests and demanding that Saleh end his three-decade-long rule because of the perceived lack of democratic reform, widespread corruption and human rights abuses carried out by him and his allies.

[51] On 23 April 2011, facing massive nationwide protests, Saleh agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan in which he would receive immunity from criminal prosecution.

[42] Saleh suffered burns and shrapnel injuries, but survived, a result that was confirmed by an audio message he sent to state media in which he condemned the attack, but his voice clearly revealed that he was having difficulty in speaking.

The opposition expressed skepticism, however, and a government minister said Saleh meant that he would leave power under the framework of a Gulf Cooperation Council initiative to transition toward democracy.

[64] On 23 November 2011, Saleh flew to Riyadh in neighbouring Saudi Arabia to sign the Gulf Cooperation Council plan for political transition, which he had previously spurned.

[42] One of the museum's central display cases exhibits a pair of burnt trousers that Saleh was wearing at the time of his assassination attempt in June 2011.

[31] Other displays include fragments of shrapnel that were taken out of his body during his hospital treatment in Saudi Arabia, as well as various gifts given to Saleh by kings, presidents and world leaders over the course of his rule.

[68] Later that year, in October, the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar said that Saleh and his son have the right to run in the next Yemeni presidential election, as the 2011 deal does not cover political incapacitation.

[70] The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh in 2014, accusing him of threatening peace and obstructing Yemen's political process, subjecting him to a global travel ban and an asset freeze.

[73] Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam stated that his group had spotted messages between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saleh three months before his death.

[76] Saleh declared his split from the Houthi movement in a televised statement delivered on 2 December, calling on his supporters to take back the country[77] and expressed his openness to a dialogue with the Saudi Arabian-led coalition.

[78] Saleh was killed on his way to Marib while trying to flee into Saudi-controlled territories after a rocket-propelled grenade struck and disabled his vehicle in an ambush and he was subsequently shot in the head by a Houthi sniper, something his party denied.

Saleh was gaining $2 billion a year from 1978 to 2012, mainly through illegal methods, such as embezzlement, extortion and theft of funds from Yemen's fuel subsidy programs.

The couple have seven sons, including the eldest Ahmed Saleh (born 1972), former commander of the Republican Guard, once considered a potential successor to his father, and Khaled.