Abdulahi Mohamed Sa'adi was the first president of the Somali regional state of Ethiopia, serving from January to July 1993. [1] [2]
The Somali Regional State historically known as the Ogaden, is the largest and easternmost of the nine ethnic divisions (kilimo) of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian states of Afar, the chartered city Dire Dawa, Oromia to the west, as well as Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the north, east, and south, and Kenya to the south-west.
Sa'adi was born in 1934 in Fik, the main town of the Nogob region in the Ogaden, Ethiopia. At the age of 14 he moved with his family moved to Herar, where he attended a primary school. He attended intermediate and high school in Addis Ababa. [1]
Ogaden is the historical name of the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Hararghe province. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somalis. The Ogaden (clan) of the Darod constitute the majority in the region, although this is disputed. Other Somali clans in the region are Isaaq, Gadabuursi, Issa and Hawiye clans.
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the northeastern part of Africa, known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somaliland and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest. With over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates.
Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. According to the 2007 census, the city has a population of 2,739,551 inhabitants.
In early 1956, Sa'adi went to Somalia, where he started his political career. He addressed the United Nations General Assembly in December 1964 about the Ogaden War. In 1964 he emigrated to Kenya, where he started a business. In early 1976, he returned to Somalia to carry on his political career, and he participated in the Ogaden war in 1977. [1]
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), the only one in which all member nations have equal representation, and the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the UN, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receive reports from other parts of the UN, and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established numerous subsidiary organs.
The Ogaden War was a Somali military offensive between July 1977 and March 1978 over the disputed Ethiopian region of Ogaden, which began with the Somali invasion of Ethiopia. The Soviet Union disapproved of the invasion and ceased its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia; the United States, conversely, ceased its support of Ethiopia and started supporting Somalia. Ethiopia was saved from a major defeat and a permanent loss of territory through a massive airlift of military supplies, the arrival of 16,000 Cuban troops, 1,500 Soviet advisors and two brigades from South Yemen, also airlifted to reinforce Harar. The Ethiopians prevailed at Harar, Dire Dawa and Jijiga, and began to push the Somalis systematically out of the Ogaden. By March 1978, the Ethiopians had captured almost all of the Ogaden, prompting the defeated Somalis to give up their claim to the region. A third of the initial Somali National Army invasion force was killed, and half of the Somali Airforce destroyed; the war left Somalia with a disorganized and demoralized army and an angry population. All of these conditions led to a revolt in the army which eventually spiraled into a civil war and Somalia's current situation.
In 1977, Sa'adi was appointed as representative to Kuwait of the Western Somali Liberation Front. Later, he joined the newly formed Ogaden National Liberation Front. Later, the Somali government called for his return, but, fearing prosecution, he applied for political asylum at the Swedish embassy in Kuwait, and he then moved to Sweden. [1]
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.5 million people: 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 3.2 million are expatriates. Expatriates account for 70% of the population.
The Western Somali Liberation Front was a separatist rebel group fighting in eastern Ethiopia to create an independent state. It played a major role in the Ogaden War of 1977-78 assisting the invading Somali Army.
Sa'adi was among the 45 members of the central committee of the liberation front, which was established in 1992. He was elected president of the newly established state of Somali on January 23, 1993, but he was removed from office in July 1993, succeeded by Hassan Jire Kalinle. [1]
Greater Somalia comprises the regions in or near the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited. The territory historically encompassed British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland, the Ogaden in the Ethiopian Empire and the Northern Frontier District in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. At the present day, it encompasses Somalia, eastern Djibouti, the Somali region and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, and the Lamu, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera Counties in Kenya.
Jijiga is a city in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Regional State in 1995 after it was moved from Godey. Located in the Faafan zone with 60 km (37 mi) west of the border with Somalia, the city has an elevation of 1,609 metres above sea level.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front is a separatist rebel group fighting for the right to self-determination for Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The ONLF, established in 1984, demands for the autonomy of this region and has claimed responsibility for several attacks since the beginning of 1994 aimed at Ethiopian forces in the area, which the government considers a region under the new federal system. The area of the Somali region stretches at least about 330,000 square kilometres and has over 3 million people, mainly from the Absame Somali tribe. The ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupying government, despite the Ogaden being represented in the Ethiopian federal government by groups including the opposition Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP). The ONLF is composed mainly of members of the Ogaden clan, specifically "the makaahiil tribe of the Ogaden". The armed wing of the ONLF is the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA).
Shilavo is a city of the somalia part of the Ogaden somalis ,Located in the Korahe Zone of the Somali Region, the town has a latitude and longitude of 6°06′N44°46′E with an elevation of 395 meters above sea level. it is the administrative center of Shilavo woreda.
The EthiopianSomali People's Democratic Party is a political party in Ethiopia, created by the current ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) after brutally refusing Somali's demands for self-determination in 1993, EPRDF created a surrogate party called the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League which is one of many satellite organisations existing throughout Ethiopia.
Gerbo is one of the woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, named after its major town, Gerbo. Part of the nogob Zone, Gerbo is bounded on the northwest by Segeg, on the north by the Degehabur Zone, on the East by the Korahe Zone, on the south by the Gode Zone, and on the West by Dihun.
Gode is a city in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Shabelle Zone, the city has a latitude and longitude of 5°57′N43°27′E. Gode was the capital of the Somali Region until 1995, when it was moved to Jijiga for political reasons.
Danan is a town in the eastern part of Ethiopia known as the Ogaden. Located in the Gode Zone of the Somali Region, and it is located the main road between Gode and Kebri Dahar (Qabridahare) the nearest towns with electricity. This town has a latitude and longitude of 6°30′N43°30′E.
The 2007–2008 Ethiopian crackdown in Ogaden was a military campaign by the Ethiopian Army against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The crackdown against the guerrillas began after they killed 74 people in an attack on a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April 2007.
The Insurgency in Ogaden is an ongoing separatist insurgency, waged by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) against the Ethiopian government. The war began in 1994 when the ONLF attempted to recreate Greater Somalia by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia, or form their own independent state.
The 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War occurred between June and August 1982 when Ethiopia, sending a 10,000 man invasion force backed by warplanes and armored units, supported by hundreds of SSDF rebels invaded Central Somalia. Siad Barre's regime managed to ultimately repel most of the rebel offensive through declaring a state of emergency in the war zone. The United States government responded by speeding up deliveries of light arms and Pattons already promised. In addition, the initially pledged US$45 million in economic and military aid was increased to US$80 million.
Abdulrahman Ghani or Abdulrahman Qani is the chieftain of the Talomoge sub-clan of the Ogaden Somali. He is the past President of the Somali Region of Ethiopia.
Admiral Mohamed Omar Osman is the chairman of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). He was born in Ethiopia, but attended secondary school in Mogadishu. He later went to Egypt where he graduated from the War College, and completed his military education in the Soviet Union.
The Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL) was a political party in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. It was the ruling EPRDF's regional partner from 1994 to 1998.
Ethiopia–Somalia relations are bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Somalia. These relations are characterized by the land border shared by the two countries and a number of military conflicts in recent years.
Abdirahman Mahdi is the current Foreign Affairs Secretary and one of the founders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a political movement determined to allow the people of Ogaden to exercise their right to self-determination in the Horn of Africa. The ONLF is considered a terrorist organisation by the government of Ethiopia.