Abdikasim Salad Hassan

 Abdikasim Salad Hassan (Somali: Cabdiqaasim Salaad Xasan; born on 1 January 1941), also known as Abdiqasim Salad, is a Somali politician who served as the fifth President of Somalia from 2000 to 2004. He helped found the Transitional National Government and previously served as Interior Minister and Finance Minister in the government of Siad barre.

Biography

Abdiqasim was born in the town of Galdogob, situated in the north-central Mudug region of the former Italian Somaliland. His family hails from the Habar Gidir sub-clan of the Gorgaarte Hawiye.

Abdiqasim pursued his post-secondary education in the USSR, graduating in 1965 from the Biology Department of Lomonosov Moscow state University.

Political career

Early career

A key fiunder of Somalia's Sulh (reconciliation) group o the which former Foreign Minister Abdirahman Jama Barre was also a part, Abdiqasim has held several important positions in the Somali government, most notably as Siad Barre's last Interior Minister. As such, Abdiqasim was responsible for all internal security agencies including the National Security Service (NSS), the investigative Department of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party, the police, and the Deputy Prime Minister ship.

Additionally, Abdiqasim was the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia in the late 1980s. Abdirahman Jama Barre served opposite him as the 1st Deputy Prime Minister. 

After the Siad Barre administration's ouster in 1991 and the start of the civil war in Somalia, Abdiqasim left for Cairo.

President of Somalia 

In 2000, the Transitional National Government  (TNG)  was established as Somalia's new interim central government.  On August 26, Abdiqasim  presented himself as a candidate in that year's elections for a new TNG President.  He received 145 of the total votes, with former Somalia ambassador to Washington Abdullah Ahmed Addou earning 92 votes on the third ballot.  Abdiqasim was sworn into office the following day. 

Abdiqasim's administration controlled parts of the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, with the rest of the southern half of the country under the control of various faction leaders.  Shortly before the mandate of Transitional National Government expired in August 2003, Abdiqasim withdrew from talks aimed at forming a new government.  Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah accused him of trying to make the negotiations fail to extend his time in office.  This resulted in Hassan Farah's dismissal by Abdiqasim. 

In 2004, Abdiqasim ran for re-election in that year's presidential race.  On October 10, 2004, in a session held by the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed  was elected as President of the Transitional Federal government (TFG), a successor interim body to the TNG that  Abdullahi had helped establish earlier in the year.  Abdullahi received 189 votes from the TFG Parliament, while the closest contender, Abdullah Ahmed Addou, got 79 votes in the third round of voting.  Abdiqasim peacefully withdrew his candidature.

Personal life 

Since the end of his term President, Abdiqasim has relied for a safer Somalia.  He takes part in numerous events in and around Somalia where he talks to his fellow countrymen about how they can change their nation for the better. 

He now divides his time between Somalia and Egypt.