Assassination
Imam Yahya was shot by an assassin on 17 February 1948. The assassin, known as Al-Qardaei, was from the Bani Murad tribe.
Upon the knowledge of the murder of Imam Yahya, Yemeni tribes rallied behind Sayf-ul-Islam Ahmad bin Yahya and accepted him as the new Imam of Yemen. The armies surrounded Sanaa under the leadership of Seif Ul Islam Alhassan and Seif Ul Islam Alabbass both sons of the late Imam supported by their brother Seif Ul Islam Yahya from within the city walls.
The news shocked both the Arab League, and all Muslim governments. King Abdullah of Jordan compared his death to that of the third Khalifah Othman.
Both King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, and himself supported Imam Ahmad, and were first to declare him as the new Head of State.
Yemen was a founding member of the Arab League in 1945, and later joined the United Nations in 1947.
In 1946 British opposition to Imam Yahya's was led from Aden-based political parties.
He had 14 sons.
Read more about this topic: Yahya Muhammad Hamid Ed-Din