Abdul Rahman Yahya Al-Eryani (born 1908, died 14 March 1998) was the President of the Yemen Arab Republic

Yemen Arab Republic

The Yemen Arab Republic , also known as North Yemen or Yemen , was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen...

 from November 5, 1967 to June 13, 1974. Al-Eryani was a leader of the al-Ahrar opposition group, during the time of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen

Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen

The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , sometimes spelled Mutawakelite Kingdom of Yemen, also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or as North Yemen, was a country from 1918 to 1962 in the northern part of what is now Yemen...

. He served as minister of religious endowments under northern Yemen's first national government and is the only civilian to have led northern Yemen.

Early life

Abdulrahman Al-Eryani was born in the village of Iryan in 1908. His father, Yahia Al-Eryani, was the chief Judge of the Mutawakliat Kingdom of Yemen and a very pronounced scholar of Sharia. His mother, Salwa Al-Eryani was a known lady for her charitable efforts in her village.
Abdulrahman Al-Eryani started his education in his village "Iryan" until the age of 16 when he left to the capital Sana'a to study in its famous Sharia School. After few years, he graduated and worked at the Imam Court until 1937 when he was appointed as a judge for the first time.

According to Yossi Melman

Yossi Melman

Yossi Melman is an Israeli writer and journalist.Yossi Melman graduated from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University...

 of Haaretz

Haaretz

Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...

, Dorit Mizrahi of the Mishpacha Magazine

Mishpacha (magazine)

Mishpacha is a weekly Orthodox Jewish magazine published in Jerusalem; it was founded in 1987. Its name means "family" in Hebrew. The Hebrew edition is part newspaper, but the English version is a magazine...

, and an article in the weekly HaOlam HaZeh

Haolam Hazeh

HaOlam HaZeh was a weekly news magazine published in Israel until 1993.The magazine was founded in 1937 under the name Tesha BaErev but was renamed HaOlam HaZeh in 1946...

, there are allegations that Al-Eryani was born Zekharia Hadad to a Yemenite Jewish

Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...

 family in Ibb

Ibb

Ibb is a city in Yemen, the capital of Ibb Governorate, situated on a mountain ridge, surrounded by fertile land and is known as "The Green City". It is located about 73 miles north-east of Mocha. Ibb was governed by a semi-autonomous emir until 1944, when the emirate was abolished...

. According to this version, in 1918, there was a drought in Yemen, which had a severe effect on the Jews, who were generally worse off then the Arabs. Both his parents died, and he was then adopted by the Al-Eryani, a powerful Muslim family, was renamed "Abdul Rahman Al-Eryani" and converted to Islam. At that time, Yemen was ruled by Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din

Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din

Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin became Imam of the Zaydis in 1904 and Imam of Yemen in 1918. His name in full was Amir al-Mumenin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Rab ul-Alamin Imam Yahya bin al-Mansur Bi'llah Muhammad Hamidaddin, Imam and Commander of the Faithful.Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin was born on Friday...

, who decreed that all orphaned Jewish children must be disconnected from their religion and be given over for adoption to a Muslim family.

According to YemenOnline, the claim of Jewish descent is a "fantasy". According to this version, Abdul Rahman was not the adopted Zekharia, but his stepbrother. Further, Abdul Raheem, who was close to his stepbrother Abdul Rahman, was the real Zekharia Hadad. Abdul Raheem is said to have retired in Iryan before dying in 1980, and has dozens of surviving children and grandchildren.

Participation in the Constitution Revolution

Al-Eryani actively opposed the kings of the Mutawakkalite Kingdom of Yemen, helping to lead al-Ahrar ("the free") in pushing for a republic. In February 1948, he participated in the "Constitution Revolution" of the Free Yemeni Movement against the King (Imam) aiming at the establishment of constitutional monarchy. He was imprisoned for about 7 years after the fall of the revolution, which stood for only a few weeks. Al-Eryani was sentenced to death by beheading in 1955 for his activities with al-Ahrar, minutes before his execution by sword, he was granted a reprieve by King Imam Ahmed. He spent more than 15 years until his release in 1962.

Term as President of Yemen

Abdul Rahman Al-Eryani opposed the Egyptian and Saudi interference in Yemen affairs and led with two of his colleagues, Ahmed Noaman and Mohamad Al-Zubairi, a strong movement against the foreign involvement of Nasser's Egypt in the Yemeni civil war

North Yemen Civil War

The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Imam...

 between republicans and royalists. He was held in Egypt with Noaman in 1966 while their partner Al-Zubairi was assassinated earlier.

In 1970, he arrived at a national conciliation agreement with the supporters of the royal regime and established a formal relation with Saudi Arabia. In 1972, he reached an agreement with South Yemen for the unification of the two parts of the country, which constituted the basic foundations for the unification of 1990. It was also during his regime that Yemen had parliamentary elections and permanent constitution for the first time.

Al-Eryani went into exile in Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 in 1974, where he eventually died in 1998, aged 89.