Ali Nasir Muhammad

{{Short description|Leader of South Yemen from 1980 to 1986}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ali Nasir Muhammad

| native_name = {{nobold|علي ناصر محمد الحسني}}

| image = Ali Nasser Muhammad USSR (cropped).jpg

| caption = Muhammad in 1982

| office = 2nd General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party

| term_start = 21 April 1980

| term_end = 24 January 1986

| predecessor = Abdul Fattah Ismail

| successor = Ali Salem al Beidh

| office1 = Chairman of the Presidium of Supreme People's Council

| term_start1 = 21 April 1980

| term_end1 = 24 January 1986

| predecessor1 = Abdul Fattah Ismail

| successor1 = Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas

| office2 = Chairman of the Presidential Council

| term_start2 = 26 June 1978

| term_end2 = 27 December 1978
{{small|Acting: 26 June 1978 – 1 July 1978}}

| predecessor2 = Salim Rubai Ali

| successor2 = Abdul Fattah Ismail
{{small|(As Chairman of the presidium of Supreme People's Council)}}

| office3 = Prime Minister of South Yemen

| term_start3 = 2 August 1971

| term_end3 = 14 February 1985

| predecessor3 = Muhammad Ali Haitham

| successor3 = Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|12|31|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Mudiyah, Dathina Confederation, Aden Protectorate{{cite web |title=(عدن الغد) تنفرد بنشر مذكرات الرئيس علي ناصر : الحلقة ( الاولى) ( الطريق إلى عدن ) |url=https://adengad.net/public/posts/422811#ixzz65Qk2ffRg |website=Aden Gad |access-date=17 September 2023}}

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Socialist Party

| otherparty = National Liberation Front

| awards = 40px Order of Friendship of Peoples
40px Order of José Martí

| website = https://www.alinaser.com/

| native_name_lang = ar

| honorific_prefix = al-Rafīq

}}

Ali Nasir Muhammad Al-Husani ({{langx|ar|علي ناصر محمد الحسني}}; born 31 December 1939){{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.net/encyclopedia/icons/2014/12/4/علي-ناصر-محمد |title = علي ناصر محمد {{!}} شخصيات {{!}} الجزيرة نت}} is a Yemeni former politician and leader of South Yemen who served as Secretary-General of the Yemeni Socialist Party between 1980 and 1986. He was president of South Yemen twice and once the Prime Minister. He served as the Prime Minister from 2 August 1971 until 14 February 1985{{cite web|url=http://rulers.org/rulyz.html|title=Countries YZ}} and as Chairman of the Presidential Council from 26 June 1978, after the ouster and execution of Salim Rubai Ali, until 27 December 1978.

File:President of South Yemen, Ali Nasir Muhammad during the opening ceremony.jpg

In April 1980, South Yemeni president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned, officially for health reasons,{{Cite book |last=Halliday |first=Fred |title=Revolution and Foreign Policy, the Case of South Yemen, 1967-1987 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |pages=35}} and moved to Moscow. His successor was Ali Nasir Muhammad,{{cite news |date=22 April 1980 |title=South Yemen Replaces President; Held Office Less Than 2 Years |volume=129 |work=The New York Times |issue=44561 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/04/22/archives/south-yemen-replaces-president-held-office-less-than-2-years.html}} who was generally seen as a more pragmatic and moderate leader than his predecessor.{{Cite journal |last=Cigar |first=Norman |date=1985 |title=South Yemen and the USSR: Prospects for the Relationship |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=4 |pages=776}} Mohammad was less committed to Marxist-Leninist ideology than Ismail and relaxed various socialist policies in the PDRY. His rule was also marked by his moderate approach towards foreign affairs, as evidenced by his less interventionist stance towards both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman and attempts to improve relations with the West.{{Cite journal |last=Cigar |first=Norman |date=1985 |title=South Yemen and the USSR: Prospects for the Relationship |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=4 |pages=788}} On January 13, 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, the South Yemen Civil War. The fighting lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster, and Ismail's death.{{cite news |date=11 February 1986 |title=South Yemen Reports Ex-Chief Died in Battle |volume=135 |work=The New York Times |issue=46682 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/11/world/around-the-world-south-yemen-reports-ex-chief-died-in-battle.html}}{{cite news |last1=Kifner |first1=John |date=19 January 1986 |title=South Yemen Head is Said to Depart |volume=135 |work=The New York Times |issue=46659 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/19/world/south-yemen-head-is-said-to-depart.html}} Ali Nasir's term lasted from 21 April 1980 to 24 January 1986. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to North Yemen. He was succeeded by Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas.   

File:Ali nasser in moscow.jpg in 1984]]

Ali Nasir was a member of the National Front, ar. الجبهة القومية (NF) as well as the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP - الحزب الاشتراكي اليمني) after the YSP was formed from the UPONF in October 1978. During the 1994 Civil War in Yemen, he pushed his supporters to operate alongside the forces of Sana'a government and against the recently re-established Democratic Republic of Yemen, seeking revenge for his ouster. The southern secession was repressed in July 1994 after the surrender of Aden and Mukalla strongholds.

The former president became an opposition figure in the 2011 Yemeni uprising, being named to a 17-member transitional council intended by some anti-government factions to govern Yemen during a prospective transition from the authoritarian regime led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to a plural democracy. This council was opposed by the Joint Meeting Parties, the main opposition coalition, which also supported Saleh's removal from power and a transition to democracy.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-idUSTRE76F0ZP20110716?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews|work=Reuters|date=16 July 2011|access-date=17 July 2011|title=Yemen protesters set up transitional council}}

In February 2015, there were media reports that Muhammad was being considered as a prospective interim leader of a "presidential council" after the collapse of the government.{{Cite web |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/23615 |title=Yemeni Factions to Set up Interim Presidential Council | al Akhbar English |access-date=2015-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128214801/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/23615 |archive-date=2016-01-28 |url-status=dead }}