General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Ismail Qasim Naji ( so, Ismaaciil Qaasim Naaji, ar, إسماعيل قاسم ناجي) was the chief of staff of the

Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) ( so, Dowladda Federaalka Kumeelgaarka, ar, الحكومة الاتحادية الانتقالية) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Republic of Somalia from 14 October ...

(TFG) 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 ...

and currently the Somali ambassador in Oman. He has served as a senior officer of the Somali army since the administration of

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 ...

, who was removed from power in 1991. Before the formation of the TFG, he also commanded the army of the predecessor

Transitional National Government The Transitional National Government (TNG) was the internationally recognized central government of Somalia from 2000 to 2004. Overview The TNG was established in April–May 2000 at the Somalia National Peace Conference held in Arta, Djibouti. ...

(TNG) of Somalia between 2002–2004.

Military service

Somali National Army

Transitional National Government

From 2004–2004, Gen. Naji served as the military chief of the

(TNG). During this time, the TNG was opposed militarily and politically by the rival

Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) was a political movement and paramilitary organization based in southern Somalia. It was founded in 2001 by Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid, son of the late faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid ...

(SRRC), backed by

Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid ( so, Xuseen Maxamed Faarax Caydiid, ar, حسين محمد فارح عيديد) (born August 16, 1962) is the son of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid. His father was leader of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), the o ...

(son of the late warlord

Mohamed Farrah 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 ...

Mohamed Dhere Mohamed Omar Habeb ( so, Maxamed Cumar Xabeeb), commonly known as Mohamed Dheere or Mohamed Dhere (died November 15, 2012), was a Somali faction leader based out of the city of Jowhar. He hailed from the Abgaal subclan of Hawiye. He also had sig ...

, and others. Eventually the leadership of the SRRC and the TNG reconciled.

Transitional Federal Government

In November 2004, the TNG was succeeded by the establishment of the

(TFG). On April 15, 2005, Gen. Naji was appointed Chief army commander of the TFG. In October 2005, a report by the UN Monitoring group quoted Gen. Naji as having accepted a large shipment of goods from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

in contravention of UN sanctions on arms imports, including 5,000 weapons, hand grenades and antipersonnel mines. In November 2006, Gen. Naji acknowledged the defection of TFG militia to the

Islamic Courts Union The Islamic Courts Union ( so, Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga) was a legal and political organization formed to address the lawlessness that had been gripping Somalia since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 during the Somali Civil War. Th ...

(ICU). On January 17, 2007, Gen. Naji reported what was believed to be Sheikh

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Sharif Sheikh Ahmed ( so, Shariif Sheekh Axmed, ar, شريف شيخ أحمد; born 25 July 1964) is a Somali politician who served as President of Somalia from 2009 to 2012. He is the founder and leader of Himilo Qaran political party and ...

's briefcase, filled with documents, was recovered by government forces from a jungle hideout in southwestern Somalia as conflicting reports emerged the ICU leader had been arrested near the Dadaab refugee camp in the

Garissa Garissa ( so, Gaarrisa) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province. Geography The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through the Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanctuar ...

district of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. On February 10, 2007, he was replaced as army chief-of-staff by

Abdullahi Ali Omar General Abdullahi Ali Omar ( so, Cabdilaahi Cali Cumar, ar, عبد الله علي عمر), a.k.a. ''Daad'', is a Somali military official. He previously served as Somalia's Chief of Army. Biography Omar hails from the town of Galkayo, situated ...

Subsequent career

The same day he was dismissed as army chief-of-staff (February 10, 2007), Prime Minister

Ali Mohamed Ghedi Ali Mohammed Gedi ( so, Cali Maxamed Geeddi, ar, علي محمد جيدي) (born 2 October 1952), popularly known as Ali Gedi, was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively un ...

appointed Ismael Qasim Naji to the position of

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naji, Ismail Qasim Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Somalian military leaders Members of the Transitional Federal Parliament Somalian generals Ambassadors of Somalia to Oman