Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, the former president of Yemen who was forced into exile by the civil war that erupted during his tenure, has died at the age of 80.
Mr Hadi, a former general, led Yemen's internationally recognised government from 2012 until 2022, by which time Houthi rebels controlled the capital Sanaa.
His death was confirmed by the Yemeni leadership council that replaced him four years ago.
No cause of death was given. Mr Hadi was known to have had heart problems in the past and travelled to the US for medical treatment. He had also lived in Saudi Arabia.
A military veteran of the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Hadi ascended in politics as an ally of Yemen's long-serving leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. Appointed vice president in 1994, he gained a reputation as a reserved behind-the-scenes operator, in contrast to power-hungry billionaire Mr Saleh.
When Mr Saleh was injured in an assassination attempt in 2011, it was Mr Hadi who took on the acting presidency. A year later, Mr Saleh fell from power after a months-long uprising in which hundreds of people were killed.
Mr Hadi succeeded him as president with UN backing. The intention was for him to lead a two-year transitional government. But matters deteriorated when the Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile in Aden.
A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 at the request of Mr Hadi’s government. The intervention halted the Houthi advance but the country effectively remains divided between two governments.
Living in Saudi Arabia in the later part of his term, Mr Hadi faced suggestions his health and exile had left him disconnected from Yemen. In 2022, he agreed to hand over power to a Presidential Leadership Council after talks in Riyadh.
