President of Somalia YUSUF DEAD AT AGE 86
Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:45 am
(JBC) Jowhar, Somalia, 11/2/2005
Somalia's transitional federal government President Abdullahi Yusuf died today in Jowhar, his current capital at age 86.
A warlord and a lifelong rebel colonel, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, leader of the Darod clan, was selected president of Somalia from a pool of other warlords to restore some kind of governance in a long cumbersome peace negotiations held in kenya.
However , one year from his inauguration, Somalia's transitional government has been split over its base leading to fears that this fourteenth peace attempt will crumble.
Yusuf had the Ethiopian backing and called for African peace forces to disarm his rival militias. That issue and his insistence of not going to Mogadishu is the main reason the TFG is divided into two competing camps.
Yusuf avoided forming the TFG in Mogadishu since he has little support in capital and has refused to move there while it is still under the control of his rivals.
The cause of the president's death is not known but it is suspected he died for kidney failure. The president was sick for days and this has prevented him of going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to take part of AU conference.
The Somali Speaker Sharif Hassan who is constitutionally is responsibble to contiunue the office of presidency has called for national reconciliation during a parliamentary session to mourn his former rival Yusuf.
May the soul of the late President ... a friend, rest in peace,"Sharif said in an interview on HornAfrik TV.
Somalis always doubted the sincerity of the president and some argue the reconciliation has come too late in a country destroyed by warlords including the late president.
In the north eastern province of Puntland where the president is from, there were aprupt morning, shock and disbelief of his sudden death.
"He was a great warrior for us. The Daarood people will miss him" Said Hawa Booq Jama of Boosaaso.
But the mood was different and subdued in other parts of Somalia.
Student University 22-year- Hassan Ali of Mogadishu was not in mourning.
"He killed so many people... I have no tears to shedfor a warlord, Somalia will be better off without him and all other warlords," he told reporters.
President Yusuf coffin is lying in his building in the Jowhar until the funeral on Friday and some Somali dignitaries and Clan leaders are expected to pay tribute the man they have always distrusted and feared.
There is also a confusion where the president will be buried. Speculators say his corpse will be flown to Gaalkacyo, his birth city.
Somalia has been without government for more than 15 years and the country's infrastructure is destroyed. Somali factions are divided as ever.
Some experts believe the passing of Yusuf, notoriously known divisive clan leader may lead to either two scenarios: the restoration and econcilliation of the factions or a total anarchy and choas that could lead to another civil war and create more fiefdoms in Somalia.
Somalia's transitional federal government President Abdullahi Yusuf died today in Jowhar, his current capital at age 86.
A warlord and a lifelong rebel colonel, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, leader of the Darod clan, was selected president of Somalia from a pool of other warlords to restore some kind of governance in a long cumbersome peace negotiations held in kenya.
However , one year from his inauguration, Somalia's transitional government has been split over its base leading to fears that this fourteenth peace attempt will crumble.
Yusuf had the Ethiopian backing and called for African peace forces to disarm his rival militias. That issue and his insistence of not going to Mogadishu is the main reason the TFG is divided into two competing camps.
Yusuf avoided forming the TFG in Mogadishu since he has little support in capital and has refused to move there while it is still under the control of his rivals.
The cause of the president's death is not known but it is suspected he died for kidney failure. The president was sick for days and this has prevented him of going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to take part of AU conference.
The Somali Speaker Sharif Hassan who is constitutionally is responsibble to contiunue the office of presidency has called for national reconciliation during a parliamentary session to mourn his former rival Yusuf.
May the soul of the late President ... a friend, rest in peace,"Sharif said in an interview on HornAfrik TV.
Somalis always doubted the sincerity of the president and some argue the reconciliation has come too late in a country destroyed by warlords including the late president.
In the north eastern province of Puntland where the president is from, there were aprupt morning, shock and disbelief of his sudden death.
"He was a great warrior for us. The Daarood people will miss him" Said Hawa Booq Jama of Boosaaso.
But the mood was different and subdued in other parts of Somalia.
Student University 22-year- Hassan Ali of Mogadishu was not in mourning.
"He killed so many people... I have no tears to shedfor a warlord, Somalia will be better off without him and all other warlords," he told reporters.
President Yusuf coffin is lying in his building in the Jowhar until the funeral on Friday and some Somali dignitaries and Clan leaders are expected to pay tribute the man they have always distrusted and feared.
There is also a confusion where the president will be buried. Speculators say his corpse will be flown to Gaalkacyo, his birth city.
Somalia has been without government for more than 15 years and the country's infrastructure is destroyed. Somali factions are divided as ever.
Some experts believe the passing of Yusuf, notoriously known divisive clan leader may lead to either two scenarios: the restoration and econcilliation of the factions or a total anarchy and choas that could lead to another civil war and create more fiefdoms in Somalia.
