Mohamed Omar Habeb (Somali : Maxamed Cumar Xabeeb), commonly known as Mohamed Dheere or Mohamed Dhere (died November 15, 2012), was a Somali faction leader based out of the city of Jowhar. He hailed from the Abgaal subclan of Hawiye. He also had significant influence on the northern parts of the capital Mogadishu where he controlled a militia of around 400 men. [1]
He was a leader of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) in the 2001–2004 time period, and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) in 2006. In early May 2007, the Transitional Federal Government named him both the governor and mayor of Banadir and Mogadishu, respectively; he was dismissed in July 2008.
In June 2002, Mohamed Dheere was member of parliament who was elected in Arta Jabuti, after the arrival of the government in Somalia especially in Mogadishu and at that time there was a big problem which led Mohamed to fight against the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, the precursor of the present Transitional Federal Government. He was a member of the competing Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC). [2]
In 2006, Mohamed Dheere joined the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), a US CIA-backed initiative by Mogadishu warlords and businessmen to oppose the growing influence of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). [3] This led to the Second Battle of Mogadishu, which resulted in the June 2006 ousting of Mohammed Dhere and the rest of the ARPCT from the capital. Thereafter, on June 14, 2006, he fled from his base of Jowhar to Ethiopia after a two-hour battle with the ICU. [4]
Late in 2006, Mohamed Dhere was among many Somali groups that counterattacked the ICU. They were heavily supported by a force from the Ethiopian army and air forces, including tanks and MiG fighter aircraft. Mohamed Dhere's forces advanced through the battles of Battle of Beledweyne and Jowhar before the Fall of Mogadishu which occurred before the end of the year.
Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein dismissed Habeb from his post as mayor on July 30, 2008, accusing him of incompetence, embezzlement, insubordination, and abuse of power. According to Hussein, his decision was supported by the people of Mogadishu and by the city's traditional elders. Habeb, however, resisted this and said that his dismissal had to be approved by President Abdullahi Yusuf; he claimed to have Yusuf's support to remain in office, [5] and Yusuf reportedly revoked the decision on July 31. Habeb's dismissal was viewed as an indicator of increasing disagreement between Yusuf and Hussein, and ten ministers allied to Yusuf resigned from Hussein's government on August 2. [6]
On January 22, 2009 it was reported that Mohamed Omar Habeb was arrested with Ali Nur Mohamed for crimes for shooting at a peace rally in Mogadishu. [7] He was released shortly after.
On November 15, 2012, Mohamed Omar Habeb died in Mogadishu of illness. [8]
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was a Somali politician and former military officer. He was one of the founders of the rebel Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), as well as the Puntland state of Somalia, the latter of which he served as the first president. In 2004, Yusuf also helped establish the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008.
Ali Mohammed Gedi, popularly known as Ali Gedi, is a Somali politician who was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively unknown in political circles upon his appointment as prime minister in November 2004. He is affiliated with the Abgaal subclan of Mogadishu's Hawiye clan, one of Somalia's four most powerful clan 'families'. He narrowly survived a suicide attack at his home that left at least seven people dead on June 3, 2007. Gedi was widely viewed as corrupt, and was replaced by Nur Hassan Hussein as PM during late 2007.
Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid is the son of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid. His father was leader of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), the faction that fought UNOSOM II and US forces during 1993.
The Somali Warlord Alliance, officially called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, was a Somali alliance created by various Somali warlords and businessmen with the backing of the American Central Intelligence Agency in order to challenge the emerging influence of the Islamic Courts Union during the Somali Civil War.
Muse Sudi Yalahow born Mogadishu was a Trade Minister in the Transitional Government of Ali Mohammed Ghedi. He was dismissed in June 2006 after ignoring government requests to halt fighting with the Islamic Courts Union militia.
The Second Battle of Mogadishu was fought for control of Somalia's capital city, Mogadishu. The opposing forces were the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), and militia loyal to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The conflict began in mid-February 2006, when Somali warlords formed the ARPCT to challenge the ICU's emerging influence. The ICU's influence was largely generated by wealthy financial donors who sought to enable the Islamic Courts Union to seize power in the country to bring stability. The battle is referred to as the Second Battle to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades-long Somali Civil War.
The Islamic Courts Union was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded their influence to become the de facto government in most of southern and central Somalia, succeeding in creating the first semblance of a state since 1991.
The 2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive is the period in the Somali Civil War that began in May 2006 with the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) conquest of Mogadishu from the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and continued with further ICU expansion in the country. Following the outbreak of the war on December 21, 2006; by December 24, direct Ethiopian intervention in the conflict in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was no longer denied by the Ethiopian government. The Eritrean government denied any involvement despite Ethiopian claims to the contrary.
Following the civil war and the ensuing societal chaos, some factions managed to exert a degree of authority over certain regions of Somalia where they maintained broad, clan-based support. This allowed these factions to establish working administrations and eventually coherent states, and restored order to their regions. This occurred first in Puntland, Southwestern Somalia, Galmudug, Jubaland and finally Banadir.
The Battle of Beledweyne occurred on December 24 to December 25, 2006, when Ethiopian troops seized that Somalian town from Islamic Courts Union fighters, according to some news agencies. Beledweyne is 100 km north of Baidoa, the seat of Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
The Battle of Jowhar took place during the 2006 Somali War between the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces for control of the town of Jowhar. It began on December 27, 2006, when retreating ICU forces regrouped near their stronghold of Jowhar. It became the last major town and strategic stronghold of the ICU to fall to Ethiopian and TFG forces before the latter overtook Mogadishu two days later.
Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (Somali: Maxamed Qanyare Afrax, Arabic: محمد افراح قنياري} was a Somali faction leader and politician who was based south of Mogadishu in the Daynile District. He came in third position in Somalia's first election as a federal country on 10 October 2004 and was subsequently appointed minister of public security in the government of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi, He served as minister of security in 2006 but was dismissed after ignoring calls by the Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi to stop fighting forces of the Islamist Courts. He continued to participate actively in Somali political affairs being reelected to the first post transitional federal parliament of Somalia as a member of parliament, he resigned from his seat representing his clan in the summer of 2013, his seat in the Federal Parliament of Somalia was taken over by his son Cabdiweli Mohamed Qanyare.
The Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) was a political movement and paramilitary organization based in southern Somalia. It was founded in Ethiopia by a loose coalition of warlords opposing the newly formed Transitional National Government (TNG).
The transitional federal government (TFG) was the government of Somalia between 2004 and 2012. Established 2004 in Djibouti through various international conferences, it was an attempt to restore national institutions to the country after the 1991 collapse of the Siad Barre government and the ensuing Somali Civil War.
After two decades of violence and civil war and after the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia captured Mogadishu and Kismayo, the TFG attempted to disarm the militias of the country in late 2006. According to the UN/World Bank's Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) coordination secretariat, "the total estimated number of militias [militia members] to be demobilized is 53,000." In 2005, they estimated that "there are 11–15,000 militia people controlling Mogadishu ."
Villa Somalia in Mogadishu, is the palace and principal workplace of the president of Somalia. The current occupant of Villa Somalia is President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM) of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).
Omar Mohamud Mohamed is a Somali politician and former warlord known as Omar Finnish. He is the former Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banaadir. He was appointed on 22 August 2019 by Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. He stepped down on 7 September 2022 after the new president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, reappointed Yusuf Hussein Jimaale as the new mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banaadir.
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2006 is set out below.
General Ismail Qasim Naji in Borama, Somalia was the chief of staff of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and currently the Somali ambassador in Oman. He has served as a senior officer of the Somali army since the administration of Siad Barre, who was removed from power in 1991. Before the formation of the TFG, he also commanded the army of the predecessor Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia between 2002 and 2004.
Nur Hassan Hussein, popularly known as Nur Adde, was a Somali politician, who served as Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2007 to February 2009. He was from Mogadishu and part of the Abgaal sub-clan of the Hawiye.