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Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Somali: Cabdullaahi Yuusuf Axmed) was born December 15 1934 in the town of Galkacyo, Mudug Region. He is now the transitional President of Somalia. He was elected by a session of the transitional Parliament held in neighbouring Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on October 10, 2004, and sworn in on October 14, 2004. He has been living in the Kenyan capital since his election. The election took place in Kenya because the Somali capital was regarded as being too dangerous. Ahmed is from the Darood tribe.
Background A former army officer and leader of the SSDF, Ahmed led a guerrilla movement in the 1970s aimed at ousting the Somali dictator Siad Barre. In the 1990s Ahmed emerged as the pre-eminent leader of his native Puntland region; he declared the territory autonomous in 1998. On July 23, 1998 he became the President of Puntland and served in this position until his term expired on July 1 2001. However, after this he continued to declare himself to be the President of Puntland and started against the new leadership. In May 2002 he gained control of Puntland's capital and was recognized as President of Puntland again, though rebellions continued until 2003. Ahmed then continued serving as President of Puntland until October 2004 when he resigned to become President of Somalia. He is said to have an authoritarian approach to leadership.• Transitional presidency The President pledged to promote reconciliation and to set about rebuilding the country. However, his government has been plagued by internal disagreements. In particular, Ahmed is at loggerheads with some warlords and government members over where the administration should be based. The president and prime minister oppose a move to Mogadishu, citing security reasons. The make up of a possible foreign peacekeeping force - in particular the inclusion of Ethiopian troops - is another bone of contention. Ethiopia has been accused of backing rival Somali warlords in order to keep the country weak. However, he helped relocate the Transitional Federal Institutions along with his Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi and the Speaker of the Parliament Sharif Adan from Nairobi to the cities of Mogadishu and Jowhar. In May 2006, the Second Battle of Mogadishu started and CNN reported that there were Transitional government forces in action, but Abdullahi Yusuf told the BBC the alliance of warlords are not fighting on behalf of the government. How CNN concluded otherwise is not yet known. At present, Yusuf Ahmed resides in Baidoa with parts of his government. Several people have left his government after the victories of the Islamic Court Union. An arangement has been made with the Islamic Court Union in Khartoum on 5 September, 2006. The interim-government of Yusuf Ahmed and the Islamic Court Union will merge into a new transistory government of Somalia. The Islamic Court Union had the precondition that the Ethiopian army should leave the country. The rise of the Islamists has damaged Yusuf's dream of establishing central rule in Somalia for the first time in 15 years. On 18 September, 2006, Yusuf Ahmed escaped an assassination attempt by suspected car bomb . His brother and several others were killed. | ||||||||
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