And a pragmatic new leader
The news that came crackling over Radio Aden shortly after midnight indicated that once again intrigue was brewing in the South Yemen capital. Ostensibly for reasons of health, Abdel Fattah Ismail, 40, had resigned as his country's President and secretary-general of the ruling Socialist Party. Replacing him in both positions was Prime Minister Ali Nasser Muhammad, 41. In fact, there had been a bloodless coup.
A doctrinaire Marxist, Ismail seized power in mid-1978 as head of a triumvirate that overthrew (and executed) President Salem Robaye Ali for "laxism toward reactionary states." Ismail strengthened his country's...
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