Join us as the Kent Global Leadership Program in Conflict Resolution and the Institute of Global Politics present a discussion with Major General Aidarous Zubaidi. Kent Director Jean-Marie Guéhenno will introduce the event, which includes SIPA adjunct and journalist Peter Salisbury.
Major General Aidarous Qassem Al-Zubaidi serves as Vice President of of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Yemen's executive body, and President of the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Kent Director and President of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the largest component of the Internationally recognized Government of Yemen. Born in Al Dhala governorate in the independent State of South Yemen – then known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen – he graduated from the Faculty of Air Force and Air Defence in 1988. In 2015, Major General Al-Zubaidi led the Southern Resistance Forces in a decisive war against the Houthis, successfully liberating South Yemen from Houthi control and subsequently being appointed Governor of Aden following the city's liberation. His unwavering opposition to Iranian-backed Houthi forces is matched by his commitment to preventing Iranian control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait and Red Sea waterways through their Houthi proxies. In 2022, he was appointed Vice-President of Yemen under the auspices of the GCC-led Riyadh conference that formed the seven-person Presidential Leadership Council, cementing his role as a key architect of South Yemen's political future.
