Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Somali: Cabdulaahi Yuusuf Ahmed, 15 December 1934 - 23 March 2012) was a Somali politician and former colonel in the Somali National Amry. He was one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland state of Somalia, the latter of which he served as the first president. In 2004, Abdullahi also helped establish the Transitional Federal Government, which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.
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Personal life
Abdullahi Yusuf was born on 15 December 1934 in Galkayo, situated in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia. The city was at the time part of Italian Somaliland. His family hailed from the Omar Mohamud sub-clan of the larger Majeerteen Harti Darod clan.
For his post-secondary education, Ahmed studied law at the Somali National University in Mogadishu. He later moved abroad to pursue Military Studies. Abdullahi obtained a degree in Military Topography from the M. V. Frunze Military Academy in the former Soviet Union , an elite institution reserved for the most qualified officers of the Warsaw Pact armies and their allies. He received additional military training in Italy.
Abdullahi was married to Hawa Abdi Samatar. The couple had two sons and two daughters in addition to six grandchildren.
Early career
Somali Army
Abdullahi joined the Somali Army in 1950. In 1954 he was included in the first batch of Somali military personnel that was taken to Italy for Officer training. The batch included Aidid, Samatar, and Gabeyre. He was promoted to the post of commander in 1960. As a soldier, he participated in the Somali-Ethiopian war of 1964 and was decorated for bravery.
Between 1965 and 1968, he served as Somalia's military attaché to Moscow. On 15 October 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. His assassination was quickly followed by a miliary coup d'état on 21 October 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. For refusing to support Siad Barre's seizure of power, Abdullahi was imprisoned for several years by the new military regime.
In 1975, Abdullahi was released from prison and appointed by Siad Barre as the director of a governmental agency. He later commended the Somali National Army's (SNM) southern front in the Ogaden War against neighboring Ethiopia, with assistance from 60th division commandant Col. Abdullahi Ahmed Irro, as well as frontline deputies Col. Abdulkadir Berked of Begedi of Afgio and Col. Ahmed Ilgir of Burtinle serving as his deputies. Ahmed was assigned to lead the Neghaille. For his efforts, Ahmed was again decorated for courage, but would remain a Colonel throughout his military career.
Somali Salvation Democratic Front
In 1978, together with a group of officials mainly from his own Majeerteen (Darod) clan, Abdullahi participated in an abortive attempt to overthrow Siad Barre's administration. The military coup d'état was originally planned for 12 April. However, it was instead hastily carried out a few days earlier, on 9 April, due to fears of potential leaks. Abdullahi was at the time in the southern Gedo region and was unaware of the changes to the coup plan. He later learned of the failed putsch via a secured communication network, which contained a coded two sentence massage from Col. Abdullah Ahmed Irro reading "Wife Aborted" dated 11:00 am, 9 April 1978. Most of the people who had helped plot the coup were summarily executed, but Abdullahi and several other colonels managed to escape abroad.
Later that year, in adjacent Ethiopia, Abdullahi and Hassan Ali Mire formed a rebel movement called the Somali Salvation Front, with Abdullahi serving as chairman. Th organization was subsequently renamed the Somali Salvation Front (SSDF) IN 1979. It was the first of several opposition groups dedicated to ousting Siad Barre's regime by force.
After opposing the Ethiopian government's claims of sovereignty over several Somali-inhabited areas that the SSDF had managed to seize control of from Siad Barre's forces. Abdullahi was detained by the local Ethiopian authorities in 1985. Hassan was elected as the SSDF's nwe chairman the following year. Abdullahi would remain imprisoned until his release in 1990, following the demise of Ethiopia's then-ruling Derg.
Abdullahi 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 country. He later served as a co-chairman of the National Salvation Council of Somalia, established in 1997.
President of Puntland
Over the next few years, Abdullahi emerged as the pre-eminent leader of his native Puntland region in the north, eventually declaring the territory autonomous in 1998. On 23 July 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 1 July 2001. However, Abdullahi wanted his tenure extended. He and Jama Ali Jama subsequently fought for control of the region, with Abdullahi emerging victorious the following year Ahmed them 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 as interim president.
Transitional Federal Government
Establishment and overview
In 10 October 2004, in a session held by the Transitional Federal Parliament in the neighboring Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Abdullahi was elected as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) an interim federal administrative body body that he had helped establish earlier in the year. He received 189 votes from the TFG Parliament, while the closest contender being , former Somali Ambassador to the United States 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. Abdullahi was sworn in a few days later on 14 October 2004.
As President, Abdullahi pledged to promote reconciliation and to set rebuilding the country. However, his government was beset by internal disagreement and contentions with others 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, Abdullahi along with his Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi and the Speakerof 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 resided util 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 Somali 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 Abdullahi 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 pricy and terrorist attacks.
Insurgency
In May 2006, the Second Battle of Mogadishu started and CNN reported that there were interim government forces in action. However, Abdullahi told the BBC that the alliance of warlords were not fighting on behalf of the government, and threatened to fire them. 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 21 December 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 28 December, the Transitional Federal Government had captured Mogadishu as the ICU forces fled. On 8 January 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President Abdullahi 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 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.
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.
Assassination attempt
On 17 September 2006, a suicide car bomber smashed his vehicle into Abdullahi convoy outside the National Parliament in Baidoa. The attack killed four of Abdullahi's bodyguards as well Abdullahi brother. Six attackers were also slain in the subsequent gun battle.
health problems
Abdullahi 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, and on 4 January 2008, he collapsed in Baidoa and was taken to Ethiopia for treatment. Two days later, Abdullahi was rushed to London for tests. He returned to Mogadishu on 16 February 2008; rebels promptly fired mortars at the presidential compound, reportedly wounding at least five people.
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