Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (Somali: Cabdulaahi Yuusuf Axmed) (born December 15 1934 in Galkayo, Puntland, Somalia) is the transitional President of Somalia. He was elected by a session of the transitional Parliament held in neighbouring Kenya on October 10, 2004, and sworn in on October 14, 2004.

Abdullahi served in the Somali army and rose to the rank of colonel. When a civil war began in Somalia during the early 1990s, Abdullahi became a warlord and gained the support of neighboring Ethiopia. He was a co-chairman of the Somali Reconciliation Council which was formed in 1997. In July 1998, he was elected President of Puntland, a state created by Majerteen clans in the northeastern and central parts of Somalia. His term expired on July 1 2001, but he asked for his term to be lengthened. This was declared unconstitutional on July 3 2001. Abdullahi then fought for control of the country. His forces captured the Puntland capital, Garowe, in November 2001. His main rival, Jama Ali Jama, had control of much of the country, but Abdullahi's forces defeated him and captured his last stronghold, Bossasso, in May 2002. Jama continued in opposition until 2003, when Abdullahi gained effective control over the country. In the October 2004 vote for transitional President of Somalia, Abdullahi got the most votes in all three rounds, during which several other candidates were eliminated. His chief opponent was former finance minister and ambassador to the United States Abdullahi Ahmed Addou.

pl:Abdullahi Yusuf sv:Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia article. Browse Wikipedia for more information.