Life and Legacy of President Abdullahi Yusuf (Pictures)

[bilan]

is the book available in NA?

[Valenteenah.]

Soldiers make the hardest of leaders. Better you stand for something than fall for anything, I suppose. Whatever their mistakes, they did what they believed was the best for their country. Can't say the same for any of us here, can we?

[Somalia]

1962 - Abdullahi Yusuf while under the command of General Caynanshe was part of a group of officers who foiled a coup attempt in Hargeisa, Waqooyi Galbeed which was led by Col. Koongo and Col. Kayd.

[Gheelle.T]

Here is a quote from an Ethiopian General on the late Col. Yusuf in the battles of 77 before the Soviet came to the rescue

 

Gen. Wassihun described the strength of the Somalian army that invaded Southern Ethiopia through Bale and Sidamo and its hand picked leader Col. Abdulahi Yussef (who was president of the transitional government of Somalia until recently). When Gen. Demissie was appointed commander of the Southern Corps, the Somalian Army was only 60 KM from Awasa.

 

Col. Abdulahi’s army was marching to Addis Ababa emboldened by his success at controlling vast territories and dawning of Ethiopian fighter jets and capturing the famous Ethiopian fighter jet pilot, Col. Legesse Tefera

. It took three days for the then Col. Demissie Bulto to reorganize the retreat ting Ethiopian army, turn it into a fighting force, and drive the Somlian army beyond the border.

Gen. Wassihun concluded that what prevented the elite Somalian force and its prized leader

was the strong leadership of Gen. Demissie and the heroic deeds of many under his command. The military operation in the South against the Somalian army is one of the marbles yet to be chronicled in the annals of war in Ethiopian history.

Of course what prevented the Somali army to reach its goal was the combination of the elite Soviet advisers, Cuban,Yemenis and other Warsaw block foot soldiers that were deployed to assist the Ethiopians.

 

http://www.demissiebulto.com/

[Gheelle.T]

The Warrior President:

 

http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/3129/Abdullahi_Yusuf_Dies_At_77

[General Duke]

His deeds and valor have always been underplayed by the Somali elites and media. In 1964 Yusuf at 30 showed true grit and guile to devastate the Ethiopian invaders in Bay & Bakool regions.

 

In 1977, his daring raids into the heart of Ethiopia was the closest Somali's have ever come to decaying the old enemy since the time of Imaam Ahmed. I am fortune to have met in person such a historic Titan such as Abdullahi.

[Somalia]

Gheelle.T;808640 wrote:

Here is a quote from an Ethiopian General on the late Col. Yusuf in the battles of 77 before the Soviet came to the rescue

 

 

Of course what prevented the Somali army to reach its goal was the combination of the elite Soviet advisers, Cuban,Yemenis and other Warsaw block foot soldiers that were deployed to assist the Ethiopians.

 

http://www.demissiebulto.com/

Great link thanks.

[Somalia]

1980s, leading SSDF.

 

[money]

This VOA article does some objective analysis to the marxuum.

 

The former president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government has died at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 77 following a long battle with liver disease. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former warlord, was elected president in 2004, but had few friends left in Somalia by the time he resigned four years later.

 

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed spent a lifetime fighting. He famously led an attempt to overthrow Somali President Mohammed Siad Barre in 1978, but failed, fled to Kenya and then to Ethiopia. There, he formed a rebel force to fight against the Barre regime.

 

But the Ethiopians turned against him and he was imprisoned in the mid-1980s until 1991, when Siad Barre was finally forced from power.

 

The Somalia he went home to was chaotic and violent. Warlords were fighting throughout the country for control of territory and resources.

 

In his homeland, in the northeast, Yusuf put together his own forces and became one of the founders of the autonomous region of Puntland, where his legacy is best remembered.

 

On the news of his death, the current Minister of State Planning for Puntland, Abdulkadir Hashi, wrote on Twitter that he was "saddened by his passing" and called the late president a "great patriot & friend."

 

Politically, Yusuf was a hardliner, inflexible and forever a military man who was quick to sideline anybody who stood in his way. His political career was boosted by warlords and others who believed the country needed a leader willing to fight.

 

He became president of Somalia's first Transitional Federal Government (TFG) after beating out 27 other candidates, one of them being Mohamed Mohamoud, a self-described peace activist who is also from Puntland.

 

"Abdullahi Yusuf was sidelining anybody who is not strictly on the military side," said Mohamoud. "He was not comfortable with the people who are politically enlightened, politically independent, politically courageous, who is against military rule."

 

Although he won the election with the backing of the country's warlords, they quickly turned against him when he tried to set up a government in Mogadishu, fearing a federal government would encroach on their territory.

 

Under pressure from the warlords, he moved the government to Baidoa in central Somalia. Then, growing more concerned about the rising power of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), he was instrumental in convincing Ethiopia to send troops into Somalia in 2006 to help prop up the TFG.

 

The move was unpopular with many Somalis. Former presidential candidate Mohamoud said he supported Yusuf's military strategy, but said more thought should have been given to reforming the political system.

 

"We were not even opposing him, even me I was not opposing him, just because I believe it was appropriate to take Somalia by force first," said Mohamoud. "But after someone takes by force, well, there should be an immediate change of the system to a rule of law."

 

The Ethiopian incursion backfired for Yusuf. The troops' presence only helped to bolster support for the militant wing of the ICU, which later evolved into the militant al-Shabab.

 

Sheikh Abdisamad Abdiwahab, a Somalia analyst with Southlink consultants in Nairobi, says Yusuf had also lost the support of the United States, which had supported his stance against the Islamists.

 

"Initially they were having very high hope, he's going to restore stability and security of Mogadishu, but he failed to do so, contrary to the expectations of the Americans," said Abdisamad. "So they tell him publicly, if you fail to restore the security and law and order, kindly resign."

 

His fellow politicians accused him of favoring his own ***** clan, which had no clout in Mogadishu or Baidoa. And the international community called him an obstacle to peace for blocking peace deals with the Islamists.

 

Yusuf resigned in 2008, making way for the current TFG president, former cleric Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

 

 

source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Former-Somali-President-Yusuf-Dies-at-77-143969976.html

[Somalia]

Associated Press: In a political career spanning almost half a century, Yusuf survived several assassination attempts, two stints in jail and a liver transplant.

____________________________________________________

 

Born in 1934, Abdullahi Yusuf was born into a nomadic family in Nugaal region. He joined the army in 1950 in Galkacyo, Mudug region and was sent off to Italy for training in 1954, making him one of the original 16 to graduate from military academy.

 

In 1957 at the age of 23, he became the deputy police commissioner of Banaadir. Later that year he was given the position of police commissioner of both Lower and Upper Jubba Regions.

 

In 1960 he was sent off to Italy for military training and when he returned he became military police at the 26th division in Woqooyi Galbeed Region.

 

In 1964, as a lieutenant officer in Bay, he fought off a surprise invasion from Ethiopian forces, he did this with light armour weapons and consequently invaded 15 km into Ethiopia. He represented Somalia at peace talks regarding the border war.

 

That same year he was decorated with the Medal of Valor by President Aden Abdullah Osman and promoted to the rank of Colonel for his actions. He was then sent off to the prestigious Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, then the Soviet Union.

 

In 1969, he refused to take part in a coup with then Major General Siad Barre and as a consequence imprisoned for 6 years after Siad Barre took power. When released he and then Colonel Aideed were given similar jobs at the Fiat Company in Mogadishu.

 

In 1977, Siad Bare handpicked Abdullahi Yusuf to lead Somalia's elite forces in the ****** war. He was given a total of 35000 troops which invaded the ****** from the South till they reached their target, Mojo, 70 km south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.

 

He was the only Colonel to lead divisions of the Somali Army during war and was the only Somali leader to reach the vicinity of Addis Ababa since Ahmed Gurey in wartime.

 

After the war was lost, Abdullahi Yusuf and other military officials attempted a coup against Siad Barre in 1978, the coup failed and Abdullahi Yusuf and other officials fled to Kenya. 17 alleged co-conspirators were executed and others were sentenced for a minimum of 20 years.

 

His actions led to reprisals against his ********** clan, specifically his Omar Mahamud sub-lineage, with over 2000 people dying of thirst after Siad Barre's paramilitary units destroyed their wells. In addition it is estimated that the clan lost 50,000 camels, 10,000 cattle, and 100,000 sheep and goats.

 

That same year, he founded Somalia's first rebel group, the SSDF, Somali Salvation Democratic Front (then known as DFSS) and it put its base in Ethiopia. Here they used to engage the Somali Army in border skirmishes.

 

In 1982, SSDF fought the Somali Army in two border towns, seizing it with Ethiopian help. This led to further reprisals against Abdullahi Yusuf's clan. The Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam declared the territories to be part of Ethiopia, creating tensions between the two and Abdullahi Yusuf was subsequently jailed in 1984 for not handing over the territories which Somalia later regained. The SSDF's armed wing was disbanded.

 

He was released from a prison in Gode, ****** region in Ethiopia in 1991 after the collapse of the Derg (Haile Mariam's regime). As Somalia also transcended into chaos after the toppling of its dictator Siad Barre, Abdullahi Yusuf returned home to his ancestral homeland in North West Somalia. The SSDF is relaunched as forces loyal to Abdullahi Yusuf capture, Northern Mudug, Nugaal and Bari, and later on Sool and Eastern Sanaag.

 

Puntland State of Somalia is then founded in 1998 with the backing of locals, business community and the clan elders, creating a state from Gaalkacyo to Buhoodle. He became the first President of the autonomous region and stayed on the post till 2001 when he lost an election. He regained his seat by toppling Jama Ali Jama which he believed had close ties with the newly formed Transitional National Government, a coalition of former warlords and Siad Barre era officials that wanted to establish a government. This subsequently failed.

 

He was elected President of Somalia in 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya. His newly formed government was flew back to Somalia a year and a half later and made Baidoa, the capital of Bay Region, the government's seat due to Mogadishu's safety concerns.

 

In 2006, Ethiopia invaded with the approval of the Transitional Federal Government amidst an expanding influence from the Islamic Courts union, which seized the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu and large swathes of the south. Ethiopia entered Baidoa, the temporary capital for the government and went onto Mogadishu and toppled the UIC. An insurgency progressed against the Ethiopian forces and they withdrew in 2008 after Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned from his post as President.

 

He moved abroad due to health reasons, living between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. He died on the 23rd of March 2012 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

[The Zack]

Can we now talk about the evil things this man has done or this is still too early? Let me know when they emotions settle : )

[Somalia]

The Zack;808981 wrote:

Can we now talk about the evil things this man has done or this is still too early? Let me know when they emotions settle : )

After he's buried.

 

I'll be waiting for you.

[Somalia]

[The Zack]

Somalia;808982 wrote:

After he's buried.

 

I'll be waiting for you.

LOL Fair enough! I shall be back after the burial insha'allah marka.

[bilan]

did not AY AUN admit his mistakes already, whatever wrong he has done, he has done them with good intentions, so you are never allowed to talk ill about him, same way people are not allowed to talk Sayidka, but if you must, then wait at least 10 years, is that fair