www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-11 03:25:30
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.
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