Ali Mahdi Muhammad
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Ali Mahdi Muhammad ( so, Cali Mahdi Maxamed, ar, علي مهدي محمد) (1 January 1939 – 10 March 2021) was a Somali entrepreneur and politician. He served as President of
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
from 26 January 1991 to 3 January 1997. The Cairo Agreement in December 1997 designated Ali Mahdi as president once again, a position he held until being succeeded by Abdiqasim Salad in the year 2000. Muhammad rose to power after a coalition of armed opposition groups, including his own
United Somali Congress The United Somali Congress (USC) was one of the major rebel organizations in Somalia. Formed in 1987, it played a leading role in the ouster of the government of Siad Barre in 1991, and became a target of the Unified Task Force campaign in 19 ...
, deposed longtime dictator
Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
. However, Muhammad was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north.


Early life

Muhammad was born in 1939, in
Jowhar Jowhar ( so, Jowhar, ar, جوهر) is the capital city of Hirshabelle state of Somalia. Jowhar is also the administrative capital of Middle Shabelle Regions of Somalia, region of Somalia. Along with Baidoa, it used to form the joint adminis ...
, an agricultural town in the southern
Middle Shabelle Middle Shabelle ( so, Shabeellaha Dhexe, ar, شبيلي الوسطى, it, Medio Scebeli) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. Overview It is bordered by the Somali regions of Galguduud, Hiran, Lower Shabelle (Shabell ...
region of Somalia (then a colony of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
known as
Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...
). His family hails from the
Hawiye The Hawiye ( so, Hawiye, ar, بنو هوية, it, Hauija) is the largest Somali clan family. Members of this clan traditionally inhabit central and southern Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia ( Somali, Harar, Oromia and Afar regions) and the Nor ...
clan (Harti Abgaal Agoonyar).


Career


United Somali Congress

Muhammad began his career in business, working as an independent
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
-based entrepreneur and first entered politics in 1968, competing for a parliamentary seat in Mogadishu. After fallout from the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign of the late 1970s, the
Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
administration began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the abortive 1978 coup d'état.''ARR: Arab report and record'', (Economic Features, ltd.: 1978), p.602. Most of the people who had allegedly helped plot the putsch were summarily executed.New People Media Centre, ''New people'', Issues 94–105, (New People Media Centre: Comboni Missionaries, 2005). However, several officials managed to escape abroad and started to form the first of various dissident groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force.Nina J. Fitzgerald, ''Somalia: issues, history, and bibliography'', (Nova Publishers: 2002), p.25. By the late 1980s, Barre's regime had grown considerably unpopular. The authorities became increasingly totalitarian, and
resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
s, supported by Ethiopia's communist
Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...
administration, sprang up across the country. This eventually led in 1991 to the outbreak of the
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, the toppling of Barre's government, and the disbandment of the
Somali National Army The Somali National Army ( Somali: ''Xooga Dalka Soomaaliyeed,'' lit. ''"Somali Ground Forces"'') is the ground forces component of the Somali Armed Forces, and is the largest out of the three service branches that make up the majority of the A ...
(SNA). Many of the opposition groups subsequently began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed the ouster of Barre's regime. Armed factions led by
United Somali Congress The United Somali Congress (USC) was one of the major rebel organizations in Somalia. Formed in 1987, it played a leading role in the ouster of the government of Siad Barre in 1991, and became a target of the Unified Task Force campaign in 19 ...
(USC) commanders Mahdi Muhammad and General
Mohamed Farah Aidid Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid ( so, Maxamed Faarax Xasan Caydiid; ar, محمد فرح حسن عيديد; 15 December 1934 – 1 August 1996) was a Somali general and diplomat. Educated in both Rome and Moscow, he served as a chief in the Italian ...
, in particular, clashed as each sought to exert authority over the capital.Library Information and Research Service, ''The Middle East: Abstracts and index'', Volume 2, (Library Information and Research Service: 1999), p.327.


President of Somalia

In 1991, a multi-phased international conference on Somalia was held in neighbouring
Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
. Aidid boycotted the first meeting in protest. Due to the legitimacy conferred on Muhammad by the Djibouti conference, he was subsequently recognized by the international community as the new President of Somalia. Djibouti,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, and
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
were among the countries that officially extended recognition to Muhammad's administration. However, he was not able to exert his authority beyond parts of the capital, and instead vied for power with other faction leaders in the southern half of the country and with autonomous subnational entities in the north. The competition for influence and resources between Muhammad and Aidid continued on through the 1992–95 United Nations missions to Somalia (
UNOSOM I United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali ...
,
UNOSOM II United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried on ...
, and
UNITAF The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...
), until Aidid's eventual death in 1996. In 2000, Muhammad participated in another conference in Djibouti, where he lost a re-election bid to Barre's former Interior Minister
Abdiqasim Salad Hassan Abdiqasim Salad Hassan ( so, Cabdiqaasim Salaad Xasan; ar, عبد القاسم سلطة حسن; born on January 1, 1941) or Abdiqasim Salad is a Somali politician. He helped found the Transitional National Government which he served as Presiden ...
. Muhammad gave a concession speech, indicating that he respected the outcome of the election and would support and work with the new President-elect.


Death

Ali Mahdi Muhammad died on 10 March 2021, in
Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows throug ...
, after contracting
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya The COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Kenya on 12 March 2020, with the initia ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Ali Mahdi 1939 births 2021 deaths Presidents of Somalia United Somali Congress politicians People from Middle Shabelle Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya