SOMALIA: Chronology of key events since 1990

SOO MAAL · May 6, 2005

04 May 2005 13:46:19 GMT

Source: IRIN

NAIROBI, 4 May (IRIN) - December 1990: Clan-based uprising erupts in Mogadishu against the government of President Siyad Barre, which had previously used violent means to quell rebellion.

27 January 1991: Barre flees Mogadishu after forces loyal to the United Somali Congress (USC) of the ****** clan capture and retain control of Mogadishu, supported by the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM).

29 January 1991: Ali Mahdi, a businessman and member of the USC, declares himself interim president. General Mohamed Farah Aydid, leader of another faction of the USC, objects.

18 May 1991: The former British protectorate of Somaliland, anxious to separate itself from the chaos in the rest of Somalia, declares independence. [The territory is however not internationally recognized up to date.

17 November 1991: Full-scale fighting starts between the two factions of USC headed by Ali Mahdi and Aydid. By the end of March 1992, Human Rights Watch estimates that up to 14,000 people have been killed. Mogadishu is split between forces loyal to the two men.

April 1992: To monitor the ceasefire in Mogadishu, and escort deliveries of humanitarian supplies to distribution centres in the city, the UN launches an operation in Somalia, called UNOSOM. UN Security Council approves deployment of 50 ceasefire observers.

December 1992: The US-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF) lands in Mogadishu to help create a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Somalia, and is authorised by the UN to use "all necessary means" to do so. Operation Restore Hope begins.

4 May 1993: UNITAF hands over operations to UNOSOM, with a mandate to establish a secure environment throughout Somalia. UNITAF troops are however not deployed to Somalia's northeast and northwest, or along the Kenyan-Somali border, where security continues to be a matter of grave concern for relief workers.

18 October 1993: Fighting in Mogadishu breaks out when US troops try to arrest Aydid's top lieutenants. Eighteen American soldiers are killed and over 90 wounded. Hundreds of Somalis are killed and wounded. The corpses of the US soldiers are dragged through the streets.

28 March 194: US mission to Somalia formally ends

March 1994: A UN-sponsored peace conference brings together all Somali factions in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, resulting in the Nairobi declaration in which the factions agree to set up a government for Somalia.

March 1995: UNOSOM is withdrawn from Somalia when it reaches the end of its mandated period of operation - none of the Somali factions, NGOs or humanitarian agencies seek a renewal of its mandate.

August 1996: Aydid dies of gunshot wounds sustained in fighting against Osman Ali Atto, his former lieutenant. His son, Husayn Muhammad Aydid - a former American marine - is chosen by the Habr Gidir sub-clan of the ****** clan to replace his father.

November 1996: An Ethiopian-sponsored reconciliation conference, in the Ethiopian town of Sodare, brings most of the factions together. However, Husayn Aydid boycotts it.

November 1997: All faction leaders meet in Cairo, but talks collapse when they fail to come up with an acceptable power-sharing agreement, leaving Somalia without a national leader and Mogadishu still divided and insecure.

August 1998 - Clan leaders in the northeast set up the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and elect Col. Abdullahi Yusuf as President (Later to become TFG President).

2 May 2000: On the initiative of the Djibouti government, the Somali National Peace Conference brings together more than 2,000 participants in the town of Arta, Djibouti. It is the first conference where warlords do not have control of the agenda.

26 August 2000: After three months of talks, a 245-strong Transitional National Assembly, based on clan representation, elects Abdiqasim Salad Hassan as the new president of Somalia.

27 August 2000: Abdiqasim is sworn in at an inauguration ceremony attended by the heads of government [OF] Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen and the host country Djibouti. Representatives from the UN, European Union, Arab League, Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union), France, Italy, Kuwait and Libya also attend.

May 2002: Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, president of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, dies in a South African hospital and is replaced by his vice-president, Dahir Riyale Kahin.

15 October 2002: Reconciliation talks, sponsored by the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), open in the Kenyan town of Eldoret. Originally scheduled for April 2002, they were repeatedly postponed.

February 2003: Somali talks are moved from Eldoret to Nairobi, Kenya's capital.

April 2003: First presidential elections in Somaliland - incumbent Riyale wins.

October 2003: Abdiqasim abandons talks and rejects charter adopted in Nairobi for new government.

January 2004: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, chairman of IGAD, brokers a deal that resolves contentious issues between the various factions.

22 August 2004: A 275-member transitional parliament is inaugurated.

15 September 2004: Shariff Hassan Sheikh Adan, a businessman, is elected as the assembly's speaker.

16 September 2004: Fighting erupts around the Somali town of Kismayo, as the forces of Gen Muhammad Said Morgan and those of the Juba Valley Alliance battle for control of the town.

10 October 2004: Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, 71, is elected as interim president by the transitional parliament.

14 October 2004: Yusuf is sworn in at a ceremony attended by several African heads of state in Nairobi.

29 October 2004: Fighting between Somaliland and Puntland in the disputed Sool region claims the lives of over 100.

3 November 2004: Yusuf appoints Ali Muhammad Gedi as prime minister.

1 December 2004: Gedi announces a 78-member transitional federal government (TFG).

11 December 2004: Parliament passes a vote of no confidence in the TFG.

13 December 2004: Yusuf reappoints Gedi as prime minister.

13 January 2005: Parliament approves Gedi's reconstituted, 90-strong cabinet.

6 February 2005: Parliament's speaker, leading some 60 legislators, returns to Mogadishu and is welcomed by cheering crowds.

9 February 2005: Gedi announces plans to start relocating from Nairobi to Mogadishu on 21 February.

16 February 2005: At least 40 members of Somalia's interim government leave Nairobi for various regions of Somalia, as part of the relocation process.

24 February 2005: President and prime minister begin a week-long tour of Somalia. This is the first time they have stepped on Somali territory since Yusuf's election in October 2004, and his appointment of Gedi two months later.

29 April 2005: Gedi flies to Mogadishu to meet MPs and ministers who insist the transitional government should relocate to the capital, and not to Baidoa or Jowhar as proposed by the TFG.

3 May: Blast disrupts a public rally addressed by Gedi at a Mogadishu football stadium. More than 10 are killed.

SOURCES:

1. United Nations Department of Public Information (www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions?unosom2b.htm) 2. The International Crisis Group (www.crisisgroup.org) 3. www.somalinet.com 4. Reuters Foundation Alertnet (www.alertnet.org)

IRIN news

SOO MAAL · May 6, 2005

SOMALIA: Some key actors in the transitional process

06 May 2005 07:16:33 GMT

Source: IRIN

NAIROBI, 6 May (IRIN) - Abudllahi Yusuf Ahmed: Interim president of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Former president of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia. He is a member of the Ma jeerteen subclan of the Da rod clan.

Ali Muhammad Gedi: Prime minister of the TFG. Former university veterinary lecturer. He is a member of the Abgal subclan of the Ha wiye clan and hails from the Mogadishu area.

Sharif Hassan Shaykh Aden: Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP). He is a prominent businessman from the Asharaf subclan of the Rah anweyn clan.

Col Hassan Muhammad Nur "Shatigadud": Founding chairman of the ********* Resistance Army (RRA). A former military intelligence officer, he is currently the minister of agriculture in the TFG. He hails from the southwestern town of Baidoa. He is a member of the Harin subclan of the Rah anweyn clan.

Shaykh Aden Muhammad "Aden Mdaobe": A former member of the RRA's top leadership. He is currently the minister of justice in the TFG. Madobe is a former Koranic school teacher and a member of the Hadamo subclan of the Ra haweyn clan.

Abdiqassim Salad Hassan: Former president of the transitional national government. He handed over to Abdullahi Yusuf and went back to Mogadishu. He is from the Ha bar Ge *** subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Ali Mahdi Muhammad: Former hotelier, he became president after Siyad Barre left Mogadishu. He now lives in Mogadishu.

Hussein Muhammad Aydid: Son of the late Gen Aydid and a former US marine. He replaced his father as clan leader in 1996. He is a former faction leader based in Mogadishu and is now deputy prime minister and minister of interior in the TFG. He is a member of the Ha bar Ge *** subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Muse Sudi Yalahow: A powerful Mogadishu-based faction leader. He is the current minister of commerce in the TFG. He is a member of the Ab gal subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Muhammad Omar Habeb "Muhammad Dheere": Jowhar-based faction leader and the "governor" of the Middle Shabelle region, south-central Somalia. He was elected a member of the TFP but stepped down in favor of Gedi, which allowed Gedi to be named prime minister. He is from the Ab gal subclan of the Ha wiye.

Osman Hassan Ali "Atto": A Mogadishu-based faction leader and former right-hand man of the late Gen Aydid until 1995. He is the current minister of public works in the TFG. He is from the Ha bar Ge *** subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Muhammad Qanyare Afrah: Another Mogadishu-based faction leader. He is currently the minister for national security in the TFG. He is from the Murusade subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Muhammad Ibrahim "Habasade": One of the top three leaders of the RRA and the current "strongman" of Baidoa. He is a member of the TFP. He is from the Leysan subclan of the Rah anweyn clan.

Col Barre Aden "Hiirale": Leader of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), which controls the southern port city of Kismayo and the surrounding Juba valley area. He is a member of the TFP and was named into the cabinet but has so far declined to be sworn-in as a minister. He is from the Mare han subclan of the Da rod clan.

Yusuf Mire "Serar": Deputy leader of the JVA. Member of the TFP. He is from the Ha bar Ge *** subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Omar Muhammad Mahamud: Faction leader based in Mogadishu. Member of the TFP and the current minister of religious affairs. He is from the Ab gal subclan of the Ha wiye clan.

Yusuf Muhammad Siyad, "Indhacade": Faction leader based in the southern port town of Merka. Controls the Lower Shabelle region.

Gen Muhammad Said Hirsi "Morgan": Siyad Barre's son-in-law and former Defense minister who currently holds no position in the TFG. He controlled Kismayo until his forces were defeated by forces led by Hiirale and Serar in 1999. He is a member of the Ma jeerteen subclan of the Da rod clan.

Gen Ade Muse Hirsi: President of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland. Lived in exile in Canada but returned to Somalia in 2001 to lead opposition forces against Abdullahi Yusuf, then leader of Puntland, until 2003 when they signed a peace deal. He is from the Ma jeerteen subclan of the Da rod clan.

Dahir Riyale Kahin: President of the self-declared republic of Somaliland. The former colonel in the National Security Service was appointed vice president by the late Somaliland president Muhammad Ibrahim Egal and later became president after Egal died in 2002. He is from the Gado birsay subclan of the D ir clan.

SOURCES:

1. www.somalinet.com

2. http://www.hirran.com

3. www.irinnews.org

4. http://awdalnews.com

5. International Crisis Group (www.icg.org)

6. IRIN interviews with TFG members