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Yemeni president grooms son as successor

LONDON -- Syrian President Hafez Assad is doing it. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is doing it.

So, why not Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh?

Arab diplomatic sources said Saleh is grooming his 30-year-old son to succeed him as leader of Yemen. As in Syria, Saleh is being cautious, bringing up his son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, through the ranks of the military. He is now a colonel.

The London-based Al Majallah weekly said that despite Yemeni's constitution the president is intent on having his son succeed him. Ahmed first appeared on Yemeni television in June during a ceremony held at the Royal College of Staff Officers and Commanders in Amman.

The junior Saleh was awarded the rank of colonel by Jordan's King Abdullah. The two men are longtime friends and the king accompanied Saleh to Sanaa for a brief visit.

As in Syria and Iraq, analysts are questioning the choice of succession. "But who is Col. Ahmed Abdullah Ali Saleh," Al Majallah said. "What are his attributes, qualifications and characteristics? And if he became one day the head [of state] of Yemen, how would he resolve the conflicts and disputes round him and where would he lead Yemen to?"

Ahmed's mother was killed with her driver in a car accident in the 1980s in Sanaa, the newspaper said. The family is said to have had a long-running dispute.

The junior Saleh received his bachelors degree from the United States and, like Jordan's Abdullah, his masters from Sandhurst College in Britain. Ahmed won a parliamentary seat in 1997 in Sanaa. Suddenly, he was thrust into the spotlight. Like Abdullah, Ahmed was appointed commander of the special forces.

"It has been organized and trained with open and direct supervision of high level American experts, especially after the visit of Gen. Frank Tony, the American commander of special forces and the joint exercise of the American and the Yemeni forces," Al Majallah said.

The newspaper said Ahmed is a seasoned equestrian and has established a horseriding club in Sanaa.