How is the International press reporting Yusuf's win

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

AFP which is AP and Reuters rival for prompt news has one of the first articles on the election.

 

Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed, the new president of Somalia

 

NAIROBI, Oct 10 (AFP) - Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who was elected Somalia's new president Sunday, has been a prominent political and military player in the anarchic Horn of Africa state for more than a quarter of a century.

 

Since 1998, he has served as president of the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland, surviving a violent power struggle there in 2002.

 

On two occasions, his politics landed him long jail terms.

 

Born in the Mudugh region of Puntland on December 15, 1934, Yusuf had his primary and high school education in Somalia, before going on to study law at the Somali National University.

 

He is a graduate of the former Soviet Union's Frunze War College, where he studied military topography, and he received further military training in Italy.

 

Yusuf served as Somalia's military attache to Moscow between 1965 and 1968.

 

The following year, another army officer, Mohammed Siad Barre, led an overthrow of the elected civilian government. Barre stayed in power until he too was ousted in 1991.

 

Yusuf refused Barre's appeal for his help in the coup, a decision that resulted in his detention until 1975.

 

At that point, either through forgiveness or expedience, Barre released Yusuf and appointed him director of a government agency before giving him command of the southern front of the army during a 1977-8 war with neighbouring Ethiopia.

 

In April 1978, he and other officers tried in vain to oust Barre. Dozens of people involved in the coup attempt were executed. Yusuf managed to flee to Kenya.

 

Later that year, he formed the first organised group to take up arms against Barre, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, and remained its chairman for seven years.

 

Although he had enjoyed the backing of Addis Ababa, Yusuf found himself jailed in Ethiopia in 1985 when he opposed Ethiopian sovereignty claims over several Somali border regions which Yusuf had wrested from Barre's conrol.

 

He was able to walk out of prison in 1991 when Ethiopia's military leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam, was ousted by rebels.

 

Around the same time, Barre, facing armed opposition from several quarters, fled the country and what was left of his regime crumbled, plunging Somalia into a chaos peopled by competing faction leaders, Yusuf included, and their heavily armed henchmen.

 

Yusuf's stronghold was in the centre and northeast of Somalia and he played a leading role in various doomed efforts to install a new national government.

 

When the region of Puntland declared its autonomy in in 1998, Yusuf became its president.

 

His failure to abide by constitutional stipulations to hold elections within three years led to inter-clan clashes in 2002, when hundreds of people were killed.

 

A conference held in Putland's capital, Garowe, in 2002 elected Jama Ali Jama as the region's new president, forcing Yusuf to retreat to another Puntland town, only to return with force later the same year.

 

Yusuf is married and has three children.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Xinhuanet -- Chinese

 

NAIROBI, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Somali lawmakers on Sunday picked Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as president, who will in turn appoint a prime minister to form a government, mandated to lead Somalia through a five-year transitional period.

 

Somalia has been tortured with anarchy and violence for 13 years since the regime of Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled. Therefore, it is in high hope that the new government will act functionally to bring stability to the Horn of Africa nation.

 

The following is a brief introduction to Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed:

 

Yusuf, 71, leader of the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, has been tipped by diplomats, regional analysts to win the elections. Yusuf established the regional administration of Puntland in 1998 with a presidency and a single-chamber quasi legislature known as the Council of Elders. Political parties are banned.

 

The traditional elders in Puntland chose Abdullahi Yusuf as theregion's first president for a three-year term. Another leader Jama Ali Jama was elected to replace him in 2001, but Yusuf refused to relinquish power, claiming he was fighting terrorism. He seized power in 2002, reportedly with the help of Ethiopian forces.

 

Yusuf has also been a fixture in the political life of Somalia since he led an unsuccessful tribal revolt against Siad Barre, with the exception of Mohamed Abdi Hashi, vice president of Puntland who regularly disagreed with and publicly challenged him.

 

Along with the late colonel Ciro and a handful of clansmen, he made an aborted coup against Siad Barre. The aftermath was bloody and costly to his clan and Barre killed in retaliation thousands of innocent civilians and caused the displacement of many more from which his clan never recovered.

 

After the unsuccessful tribal revolt against Barre, he defectedto Ethiopia to lead the clan-based Somali Salivation Democratic Front. Enditem

 

 

Clan leader Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed elected as Somali president

 

www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-11 03:38:00

 

NAIROBI, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, leader of the Barod clan, one of the four major clans of Somalia, was elected president of Somalia, parliament speaker Shariff Hassan Shek Adan announced here Sunday.

 

Yusuf, also leader of the autonomous Somali region of Puntland,obtained 189 votes in the runoff of the Horn of Africa nation's presidential poll. His rival, Abdullahi Ahmed Addou, former Somaliambassador to Washington and then finance minister, gained 79 votes.

 

Five lawmakers of Somalia's 275-member Transitional National Assembly didn't vote in the runoff while two votes were declared vain.

 

According to election organizers, in the likely event of no candidate obtaining more than two-thirds of the ballot, the top six runners will go to a second round. If none of them gains a two-thirds majority, the two leading candidates will face off in a third round, on a simple majority basis.

 

Yusuf, 71, has been tipped by diplomats, regional analysts to win the elections. Yusuf established the regional administration of Puntland in 1998 with a presidency and a single-chamber quasi legislature known as the Council of Elders. Political parties are banned.

 

One analyst who observed the election held here on Sunday in Kenyan capital Nairobi, said Yusuf's winning shows that clans are still major players in Somali politics.

 

"There are a lot of lobbying among the major clans in Somalia --clans influence determines the outcome of the election," Abdul Rahman Osman, a Somali scholar, told Xinhua at the voting site.

 

Members of Somalia's Transitional National Assembly were sworn in in August in Nairobi, with each of Somalia's four major clans allocated 61 seats in the parliament, while an alliance of minority clans was awarded 31.

 

Maj. Gen. Muhammad Siad Barre, former leader of Somalia who wastoppled in 1991, also came from Barod clan.

 

Lawmaker Ahmed Bhmbil thinks Yusuf's winning also means that Mogadishu needs new face.

 

"There are a lot of problems currently in Mogadishu. To end them means someone from outside Mogadishu to bring new blood of leadership in the region." Bhmbil told Xinhua.

 

Somali lawmakers started voting for president of Somalia on Sunday in Nairobi.

 

A total of 28 contestants including a woman competed for the presidency in what is widely seen as the culmination of a tortuoustwo-year peace process in Kenya, mediated by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

 

However, two presidential aspirants withdrew from the contest at the last minute, leaving 26 candidates to take an oath binding them to abide by whatever results from the voting.

 

Since a first ballot failed to give any candidate the two-thirds majority required for an outright victory, six top runners were qualified to go to the second round. However, the last three have decided to withdraw from the second round.

 

Yusuf Ahmed gained 147 votes in the second round of the race, while Ahmed Addou gained 83 votes. The other candidate Jama Barre,half-brother of Mohammed Siad Barre, gained only 38 votes.

 

Since the breakdown of the Somali central government in 1991, conflict and famine have killed hundreds of thousands of people, plunging the country into anarchy.

 

Under the auspices of IGAD, which groups Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia, Somali National Reconciliation Conference began in October 2002 in Kenya.

 

The presidential elections come after the election of the speaker of the transitional federal parliament of Somalia on Sept.15 and his two deputies on Sept. 22 and the inauguration of the transitional parliament on Aug. 29. Enditem

[Nationalist]

this is BBC reporting, damn the cadaan are even faster than some of our own websites.

 

Somalia MPs elect new president

 

 

 

if Siad Barre and Aidid would be alive to see this

 

 

The new president's first task is to appoint a prime minister

 

Somalia's interim parliament has chosen Abdullahi Yusuf as the new president in the latest bid to bring political stability to the lawless African state.

The election was held in a sports stadium in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, because Somalia's capital is still considered too dangerous.

 

The country has seen numerous attempts to restore order since 1991 when warlords ousted the military ruler.

 

Chaos followed, as rival militias fought and two million Somalis fled.

 

 

Clear winner

 

Sunday's election was the culmination of two years of often difficult negotiations in Nairobi.

 

 

The election followed two years of peace talks

 

After two rounds of voting and three voluntary withdrawals, the field was narrowed down from 28 to just two candidates.

 

Abdullahi Yusuf, a military strongman and president of the Somali semi-autonomous region of Puntland, was going head-to-head with Abdullahi Adow, a financier and former ambassador to Washington.

 

After the final third round, Abdullahi Yusuf emerged the winner by securing 189 votes against 79 for his run-off rival.

 

His election was greeted by loud cheers in the hall, the BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi reports.

 

The 275 MPs, most of them clan leaders and warlords, had earlier queued to go through metal detectors and enter Nairobi's Kasarani Sports Centre Gymnasium, which is serving as the election venue.

 

As the voting began the MPs - who were nominated in August - were called one by one to cast their votes in transparent ballot boxes.

 

In his first speech Abdullahi Yusuf pledge to reconcile Somalis and bring peace to the country.

 

His first job will be to choose a prime minister, our correspondent says.

 

In faction and clan-ridden Somalia, this decision will be made after considerable horse-trading, much of which has been going on in the corridors and backrooms of the sports hall.

 

 

 

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is not expected to return to Somalia for at least two months, our correspondent says.

 

Before voting began, parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden urged the international community to recognise the outcome and Somalis to support whoever was elected.

 

One of the candidates who pulled out, outgoing transitional President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, said he was ready to do that.

 

"That is democracy," he said.

 

Decade of chaos

 

The stadium was packed while thousands more Somalis gathered outside where heavily armed Kenyan police were patrolling the venue.

 

 

 

 

Parliament-in-exile

 

Somalis are hoping that a new administration under a new president and prime minister will set them on the road to peace and stability.

 

But optimism is tempered by the knowledge that there have been numerous failed attempts to restore stability, correspondents say.

 

Somalia descended into chaos as rival militias tore the country apart after the military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown.

 

Many of the two million Somalis who fled became refugees in neighbouring countries.

 

 

==========================================================

 

Profile: Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf

 

 

Abdullahi Yusuf rebelled against former dictator Siad Barre

The Somali parliament has chosen a new president, in the first tentative step towards forming a government after 13 years of civil war.

He is Abdullahi Yusuf, 69, a powerful warlord and president of the Somali semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

 

A soldier by profession, he was once a senior officer in the Somali armed forces under Somali dictator Siad Barre in the 1970s.

 

He refused to co-operate with the military rulers and rejected an offer of a diplomatic posting.

 

His plot to overthrow President Barre in April 1978 failed and he was forced to flee the country to Ethiopia.

 

From there he started a jungle war and continued his bid to unseat Barre.

 

He is a member of the Ethiopian-backed Somali Reconstruction and Restoration Council (SRRC) - a loose coalition of opposition warlords, which was the main challenge to the TNG.

 

From one of the six major clans - the Dar00d - his approach to leadership is thought to be authoritarian and he is said to have strong support from the Ethiopian government for his presidential bid.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

AP --- Associated press.

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct. 10, 2004 — Members of Somalia's transitional parliament on Sunday elected former army officer Abdullahi Yusuf as interim president for the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, the parliament's speaker said.

 

Yusuf won with 189 votes in a third round of voting, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden told the 275-member transitional parliament and regional foreign affairs ministers who observed the vote.

 

Former Finance Minster Abdullahi Addow garnered 79 votes, Aden said.

 

Two candidates withdrew from the race at the last minute.

 

 

In August a transitional parliament was formed after months of delays because of disagreements within Somalia's clans over a charter and over who was to represent them. The speaker of parliament was elected on Sept. 15.

 

The president will nominate Somalia's prime minister.

 

Somalia has had no government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and then turned their guns on each other, dividing the country of about 7 million people into fiefdoms.

[Paragon]

Reer-ameerika, you mean you guys didn't have a TV coverage from stn?

[Paragon]

Provincial leader wins Somali elections

 

Sunday 10 October 2004, 22:51 Makka Time, 19:51 GMT

 

Ahmad (L) won the elections by 189 votes to 79 for his rival

 

Abd Allahi Yusuf Ahmad has won Somalia's presidential election beating 25 other candidates in a vote by lawmakers, election officials in Nairobi announced.

 

After a third round of voting in Nairobi by members of Somalia's transitional assembly on Sunday, election officials said Yusuf, who has served as president of the autonomous northeastern region of Puntland since 1998, had won 189 votes against 79 for his run-off rival, Abd Allahi Ahmad Adu, a former diplomat and finance minister.

 

A tribal-based parliament made up mainly of military commanders and tribal leaders has selected a head of state with the huge task of establishing the first legitimate government in 13 years.

 

At least three hours behind schedule, lawmakers queued up to go through metal detectors and enter a national sports complex that served as the parliament.

 

The building was ringed by paramilitary police armed with assault rifles.

 

The vote is the culmination of two years of peace talks designed at creating a new transitional government intended to shepherd Somalia to elections after five years.

 

Thirteen previous peace conferences have failed to stabilise the country of seven million, which is divided into clan-based fiefdoms.

 

Peace pledge

 

The first person to cast a ballot was assembly speaker Sharif Hasan Shaikh Adan.

 

 

The parliament is made up of

commanders and tribal leaders

 

He told reporters beforehand that in order to stand, candidates would have to first sign a solemn pledge to respect the result and hand over to the new government any weapons held by them or their supporters.

 

They would also have to promise not to disrupt the voting process itself, he said.

 

Among the many possible pitfalls the 275-strong parliament faces is the danger that a sore loser could decide to play a spoiling role, as the new president prepares to establish his rule in Mogadishu.

 

"If this government goes to Somalia without a consensus among the participants, particularly those with big guns, it will be very difficult to do anything good on the ground," said Somali analyst Jabril Ibrahim Abd Allah.

 

Two-thirds majority

 

Two of the 27 candidates - regional commanders Jama Ali Jama and Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigudud - dropped out of the race without explanation on Sunday.

 

Prominent among remaining contenders are Abd al-Qasim Salad Hasan, a wealthy politician who led a previous attempt at government; and a powerful regional commander Muhammad Qanyari.

 

 

Al-Jazeera

[BN]

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE

 

 

Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed ® prepares to cast his ballot, during the second round of Presidential elections

 

Abdullahi Yusuf has his hand lifted up as he is elected Somali president.

 

 

Somali presidential canidate Abdulkadir Sufi, left, hold up the arm of Abdullahi Yusuf.

 

An overjoyed Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

 

Abdullahi Yusuf © stands behind an empty ballot box as he listen to the national anthem, after he was elected Somali President.

 

Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed ® addresses the crowd after he was elected Somali President.

 

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed speaks after winning the presidency of Somalia in a vote by lawmakers among 26 candidates in Nairobi.

[Som@li]

nice picz,,

[BN]

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed wins Somali presidential election

 

 

NAIROBI : Veteran politician and soldier Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed won Somalia's presidential election and promised to do all he could to rebuild his country which has been devastated by years of factional fighting and lacked a proper government since 1991.

 

If he failed, he would quit, he pledged, after winning a third round run-off ballot of Somali lawmakers held in a sports stadium on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

 

 

 

Somalia's own capital, Mogadishu, with its squabbling and heavily armed rival factions, was considered too dangerous a venue for the election.

 

In the run-off, Yusuf, who has served as president of the autonomous northeastern region of Puntland since 1998 and as a faction leader and army officer before that, trounced his rival, former diplomat and minister Abdullahi Ahmed Adow, by 189 votes to 79.

 

Twenty-four other candidates who entered the race earlier Sunday were either eliminated in the first two rounds or withdrew.

 

On being announced the winner, Yusuf stood by an unfurling Somali flag -- a white star on a blue background -- to the cheers of hundreds of spectators.

 

A Kenyan police band played Somalia's national anthem.

 

"Having given me the honour by electing me I pledge before you and the international community to work hard to reconcile Somalis to bring back peace and security and restart the country all over again," Yusuf declared in the Somali language.

 

Since the 1991 fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, Somalia has lacked almost all the trappings of a functional state, such as national systems of education, healthcare and justice.

 

"I will also disarm militias," he added.

 

One of Yusuf's first tasks as president will be to name a prime minister who will form a new government. A mediation official from the two-year-long negotiations that culminated in Sunday's vote said Yusuf might not be officially sworn in till well into next week.

 

"I will do my best to serve but if I am unable I will go back to parliament and ask them to elect another president," he promised, before calling for international troops to be deployed in Somalia, "to assist us reconstructing."

 

The African Union has said it was considering sending such a force, but no detailed plan has yet been unveiled.

 

The last international intervention in Somalia was a disaster. A UN mission deployed from 1992 to 1995 provided famine relief but failed to restore peace, while a US force sent to protect aid workers left hurriedly after 18 troops were killed during a botched mission in Mogadishu in October 1993.

 

Adow was gracious in accepting defeat.

 

"I am ready to support the new government in any capacity... I wish that the next government led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed will bring peace and prosperity back to Somalia," he said.

 

This election followed numerous similar attempts to reconstitute a national government in Somalia.

 

Most recently, a major conference in Djibouti led to the appointment in 2000 of Abdulkassim Salat Hassan as president of an administration that failed to exert its authority much beyond a few pockets of Mogadishu.

 

Salat bowed out of Sunday's race after scoring miserably in the first round, and pledged to back the eventual winner.

 

Before voting began all candidates signed a solemn declaration vowing to acknowledge the vote's outcome and to hand over all firearms and ammunition to the government, the fourth of its kind to be set up outside Somalia by peace conferences since 1991.

 

Both the president and government will have a five-year mandate, after which general elections are meant to be held inside Somalia.

 

The international community has also pledged its support for whoever wins the vote.

 

But the administration in Somaliland, a self-declared independent region in the northwest, has refused to play any part in this electoral process or to recognise its outcome.

 

- AFP

[OG_Girl]

First time ever in my life to put blue flag .

 

Let us all show we are ONE in this moments.

 

Let us call " Blue flag Power" .

 

Salam

[Som@li]

Good, let us all put the blue flag.