Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
عبدالله يوسف أحمد
President of Somalia
In office
14 October 2004 – 29 December 2008
Prime Minister Muhammad Abdi Yusuf
Ali Muhammad Ghedi
Salim Aliyow Ibrow
Nur Hassan Hussein
Mohamoud Mohamed Gacmodhere (Unrecognised)
Preceded by Abdiqasim Salad Hassan
Succeeded by Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe (Acting)
Personal details
Born 15 December 1934 (1934-12-15) (age 77)
Galkacyo, Somalia
Political party TFG
Spouse(s) Hawa Abdi Samatar
Alma mater Somali National University
Frunze War College
Religion Islam

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Somali: Cabdullaahi Yuusuf Axmed, Arabic: عبدالله يوسف أحمد‎) (born December 15, 1934 in Galkacyo, Somalia) is a veteran Somali politician. He is one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, where he served as the autonomous region's first President. In 2004, he also helped establish the Transitional Federal Government, which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.

Contents

Early years

Ahmed was born on December 15, 1934 in the city of Galkacyo, situated in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia.[1][2]

For his post-secondary education, he studied Law at the Somali National University in Mogadishu. Ahmed later moved abroad to pursue Military Studies.[3] He obtained a degree in Military Topography from the Frunze War College in the former Soviet Union, and received additional military training in Italy.[2]

Ahmed is married to Hawa Abdi Samatar.[4]

Career

Somali Army

Ahmed joined the Somali Army during the 1950s, and was promoted to the post of commander in 1960.[5] As a soldier, he participated in the Somali-Ethiopian war of 1964 and was decorated for bravery.[6]

Between 1965 and 1968, Ahmed also served as Somalia's military attaché to Moscow.[3]

On October 15, 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. His assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on October 21, 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition — essentially a bloodless takeover. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army.[7] For refusing to support Barre's seizure of power, Ahmed was imprisoned for several years by the new military regime.[3]

In 1975, Ahmed was released from prison and appointed by Barre as the director of a governmental agency until 1982. He later commanded the Somali National Army's (SNA) southern front in the Ogaden War against neighboring Ethiopia.[2] For his efforts, Ahmed was again decorated for courage, but would remain a colonel throughout his military career.[6]

Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF)

In 1978, together with a group of officials mainly from his own Majeerteen (Darod) clan, Ahmed participated in a failed attempt to overthrow Barre's dictatorial administration.[3][8] Most of the people who had helped plot the coup were summarily executed, but Ahmed and several other colonels managed to escape abroad.[3] Later that year, in adjacent Ethiopia, Ahmed formed a guerrilla movement called the Somali Salvation Front, which was subsequently renamed the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) in 1979. The SSDF was the first of several opposition groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force.[8]

After opposing the Ethiopian government's claims of sovereignty over several Somali-inhabited areas that Ahmed's rebels had managed to seize control of from Barre's forces, Ahmed was detained by the local Ethiopian authorities in 1985.[2] He would remain imprisoned for five years until his release in 1990, following the demise of Ethiopia's then-ruling Derg.[3][5][9]

President of Puntland

Ahmed subsequently returned to Somalia. In 1992, he marshalled forces to successfully expel an Islamist extremist group linked to Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya that had taken over Bosaso, a prominent port city and the commercial capital of the northeastern part of the country.[10]

Over the next few years, Ahmed emerged as the pre-eminent leader of his native Puntland region in the north, eventually declaring the territory autonomous in 1998. On July 23, 1998, he was appointed the first President of Puntland by the unicameral Council of Elders legislature, and served in this capacity until his term expired on July 1, 2001. However, Ahmed wanted his tenure extended. He and Jama Ali Jama subsequently fought for control of the region, with Ahmed emerging victorious the following year.[2] Ahmed then served his second term as president until October 2004, when he was elected President of Somalia. He was succeeded in office by Mohamed Abdi Hashi.

Transitional Federal Government (TFG)

Overview

On October 10, 2004, in a session held by the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), Ahmed was elected as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), an interim federal administrative body that he had helped establish earlier in the year.[11] He received 189 votes from the TFG Parliament, while the closest contender, erstwhile Somali ambassador to Washington Abdullahi Ahmed Addou, got 79 votes in the third round of voting. The then incumbent President of Somalia, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, peacefully withdrew his candidature.[12][13] Ahmed was sworn in a few days later on October 14, 2004.[13]

As President, Ahmed pledged to promote reconciliation and to set about rebuilding the country. However, his government was beset by internal disagreements and contentions with other stakeholders in Somalia. For example, he was at loggerheads with some warlords and government members over where the administration should be based. The President and Prime Minister opposed a move to Mogadishu, citing security reasons. Consequently, Ahmed along with his Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi and the Speaker of the Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden helped to relocate the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) from Nairobi to the Somali cities of Jowhar and Baidoa, where the TFG resided until the government eventually took control of Mogadishu.

The make up of a possible foreign peacekeeping force – in particular the inclusion of Ethiopian troops – was another bone of contention. Ethiopia was accused of backing rival Somali warlords in order to keep the country weak. The African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) mission therefore excluded countries neighboring Somalia from participating in peacekeeping activities.

Due to a lack of funding and human resources, an arms embargo that made it difficult to re-establish a national security force, and general indifference on the part of the international community, President Ahmed also found himself obliged to deploy thousands of troops from Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of the country. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region's government. This left little revenue for Puntland's own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.[14][15]

Insurgency

In May 2006, the Second Battle of Mogadishu started and CNN reported that there were interim government forces in action. However, Ahmed told the BBC that the alliance of warlords were not fighting on behalf of the government, and threatened to fire them.[16] Indeed, members of the government who were part of the warring Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) were sacked. Others left the government in disaffection following the victories of the Islamic Courts Union.

After the start of the new phase of the War in Somalia on December 21, 2006, the TFG, with the help of Ethiopian forces, wrested control of the southern part of the country and the capital, Mogadishu, from the hands of the Islamic Courts Union. By December 28, the Transitional Federal Government had captured Mogadishu as the ICU forces fled.

On January 8, 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President Ahmed entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. It was announced that the government would relocate to Villa Somalia in the capital from its interim location in Baidoa. This marked the first time since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 that a Somali government controlled most of the country.

Following this defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to withdraw from the country, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the Transitional Federal Government's troops.[17]

Assassination attempt

On September 18, 2006, a suicide car bomber smashed his vehicle into Ahmed's convoy outside the National Parliament in Baidoa. The attack killed four of Ahmed's bodyguards as well as Ahmed's brother. Six attackers were also slain in the subsequent gun battle. Ahmed's life was most likely saved by the fact that he was traveling in the second vehicle in the convoy rather than the front one (a decoy). The Islamic Courts Union, which at the time controlled much of the southern half of the country, was blamed for the attack. [18]

Health problems

Ahmed underwent a liver transplant in the 1990s. In early December 2007, he was admitted to a hospital in Nairobi for treatment of what his spokesman described as bronchitis,[19] and on January 4, 2008, he collapsed in Baidoa and was taken to Ethiopia for treatment.[20] Two days later, Ahmed was rushed to London for tests.[21] He returned to Mogadishu on February 16, 2008; rebels promptly fired mortars at the presidential compound, reportedly wounding at least five people.[22]

Dismissal of government

In the second half of 2008, Ahmed had been at loggerheads with then Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein over a proposed new cabinet,[23] the latter of which Ahmed characterized as nothing more than a "clan deal".[6]

On December 14, 2008, Ahmed announced that he had dismissed Hussein and his government, citing corruption, inefficiency, treason and failure to bring peace to the war-torn country as reasons for the dismissal.[24] Earlier in the year, Hussein had survived a vote of no confidence after having been accused by some lawmakers of embezzling state funds.[25]

Hussein said that Ahmed did not have the power to fire him without parliamentary approval, while Ahmed asserted that he believed Parliament would endorse the dismissal.[25] Parliament supported Hussein in a vote on December 15, but Ahmed nevertheless appointed Mohamoud Mohamed Guled as Prime Minister to replace Hussein on December 16.[26]

On December 21, Radio Garowe reported that 80 members of parliament held a conference in Baidoa where they all agreed that the vote of confidence in support of Hussein's government never took place. Ismail Ali Nur, who spoke on behalf of the dissenting lawmakers, indicated that Somalia's constitution requires a parliament quorum of no less than 139 MPs present for votes, but that "only 95 MPs" showed up as opposed to the 143 members of parliament claimed by Speaker Adan "Madobe" Mohamed. Nur also urged people to "watch video footage recorded from that session."[27]

On December 24, the newly-appointed Prime Minister Guled announced his resignation, citing that he did not wish to be "seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going well now."[28][29]

Following Guled's resignation, Abdirashid Sed, who was close to President Ahmed, said that Ahmed would announce his resignation and retirement from politics at a special session of Parliament on December 29. According to Sed, Ahmed made this decision "because he does not want to be seen as an obstacle to peace in Somalia".[30]

Resignation

On December 29, 2008, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced before a united parliament in Baidoa his resignation as President of Somalia. In his speech, which was broadcast on national radio, Ahmed expressed regret at failing to end the country's 17 year conflict as his government had mandated to do.[31]

He also blamed the international community for its failure to support the government, and said that the speaker of parliament, Aden "Madobe" Mohamed, would succeed him in office per the Transitional Federal Government's Charter.[32]

While it was suggested that Ahmed's resignation added chaos to the country's political landscape as Ethiopia withdrew its troops, some diplomats opined that it might have improved the prospects of striking a deal with the more moderate Islamist insurgents.[31]

Post-retirement

Ahmed was initially reported to have flown out of Baidoa back to his native Puntland in the northeast.[31] He then arrived in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, on January 20, along with his wife and 17 family members and guards.[33] On January 21, Al Arabiya reported that Ahmed was granted political asylum in Yemen, where he now also resides.[34]

In 2011, Ahmed released his memoirs, titled Struggle and Conspiracy: A Memoir (Halgan iyo Hagardaamo: Taariikh Nololeed). He began a promotional European tour for the book late in the year and in early 2012.[35]

Notes

  1. ^ Rulers - Index Ah-Al - Ahmed, Abdullahi Yusuf
  2. ^ a b c d e New president offers hope for war-torn Somalia
  3. ^ a b c d e f New People Media Centre (Nairobi, Kenya), New people, Issues 94-105, (New People Media Centre: Comboni Missionaries, 2005).
  4. ^ MFA Press Statement: Working Visit of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed of Somalia, 7 to 9 November 2006
  5. ^ a b Janice Hamilton, Somalia in Pictures, (Twenty-First Century Books: 2007), p.70.
  6. ^ a b c Profile: Somali's newly resigned President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
  7. ^ Moshe Y. Sachs, Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, (Worldmark Press: 1988), p.290
  8. ^ a b Nina J. Fitzgerald, Somalia: issues, history, and bibliography, (Nova Publishers: 2002), p.25.
  9. ^ Georgetown University. Center for Strategic and International Studies. African Studies Program, CSIS Africa notes: a publication of the African Studies Program of the Georgetown University Center for Strategic and International Studies, Issues 156-179, (The Program: 1994), p.3.
  10. ^ Gérard Prunier. "Somalia: Civil War, intervention and withdrawal 1990–1995 (July 1995), p.6" (PDF). WRITENET Country Papers, UK. http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/somalia/country_conditions/Prunier.pdf. Retrieved 1 January 2006. 
  11. ^ Somali PM optimistic about rebuilding country
  12. ^ Somalia MPs elect new president
  13. ^ a b Rulers - Somalia - October 2004
  14. ^ Somalia: Guide to Puntland Election 2009
  15. ^ Opening Annual General Assembly Debate, Secretary-General Urges Member States to Press in Tackling Poverty, Terrorism, Human Rights Abuses, Conflicts
  16. ^ "Warring Somali ministers warned". BBC. 2006-06-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4768857.stm. Retrieved 2007-02-03. 
  17. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2009-05-01). "USCIRF Annual Report 2009 - The Commission's Watch List: Somalia". Unhcr.org. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,USCIRF,,,4a4f272bc,0.html. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  18. ^ "Somali leader survives bomb blast". BBC. 2006-09-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5356126.stm. Retrieved 2007-02-03. 
  19. ^ "Somalia's leader 'has bronchitis'", BBC News, December 5, 2007.
  20. ^ "Somali interim leader collapses", BBC News, January 4, 2008.
  21. ^ "Sick Somali president in London", BBC News, January 7, 2008.
  22. ^ "Mortar attack on Somali president's residence wounds five", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), February 17, 2008.
  23. ^ Somali president sacks prime minister
  24. ^ Somalia's New Prime Minister Resigns
  25. ^ a b "Somali president sacks PM, PM stands firm", AFP, December 14, 2008.
  26. ^ "Somali president names new prime minister", AFP, December 16, 2008.
  27. ^ Somalia: PM Nur Adde Confidence Vote 'Never Happened' - 80 MPs
  28. ^ "More turmoil in Somalia as new PM quits", AFP, December 24, 2008.
  29. ^ Somali leader quit threat denied
  30. ^ "Key Somali official says president to quit Monday", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), December 28, 2008.
  31. ^ a b c "Somalia's president quits office", BBC News, December 29, 2008.
  32. ^ "Somali President Yusuf resigns", Reuters (FT.com), December 29, 2008.
  33. ^ "Yemen agrees to host former Somali leader", Sapa-DPA (IOL), January 21, 2009.
  34. ^ Yemen grants asylum to ex-Somali president
  35. ^ Struggle and Conspiracy: A Memoir
Political offices
Preceded by
Abdiqasim Salad Hassan
President of Somalia
2004–2008
Succeeded by
Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe
Acting