Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud

Colonel Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud (Somali: Xasan Maxamed Nuur Shaatigaduud; Arabic: حسن محمد نور شاتيغادود) (1946-2013) was a Somali politician and faction leader. He served as the chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), and subsequently as the first President of the short-lived Southwestern Somalia autonomous regional state. Shatigadud was later a Member of the Transitional Federal Parliament, and was eventually appointed Minister of Finance in the Transitional Federal Government. Shatigadud was succeeded as president by Madobe Nunow.

Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud
حسن محمد نور شاتيغادود
Minister of Finance of Somalia
In office
15 January 2005 – 2 December 2007
Prime MinisterAli Mohammed Ghedi
Preceded byHussein Mahmud Sheikh Hussein
Succeeded byMuhammad Ali Hamud
Personal details
Born17 June 1946
Somalia
Died3 April 2013
Dortmund, Germany
SpouseSara Xaaji Guuleed

Personal life edit

Shatigadud was born in 1946 in Bakaar Yare, Waajid, Bakool, near the border with Ethiopia in southern Somalia. He hailed from the Hariin subclan of Mirifle Rahanweyn. He attended primary school in Baidoa, then moved to Mogadishu for secondary school.[citation needed] He later studied at universities in Somalia, Italy and Russia. He was multilingual, reportedly speaking Somali, Maay, Arabic, Italian, Russian and English.[citation needed]

After having lived and worked most of his life in Somalia, Shatigadud eventually retired to Dortmund, Germany. He died there in late March 2013, having suffered a heart attack. His body was subsequently flown to Mogadishu for a Janaza prayer by Members of Parliament and other senior Federal Government officials. Shatigaduud was finally laid to rest in Baidoa's main cemetery, with a large crowd attending the funeral and prayer service.[1]

Career edit

National Security Service edit

Shatigadud ("Red Shirt") served as a colonel in the National Security Service (NSS). He was also a Governor of the Gedo region under the Siad Barre administration.[2]

Rahanweyn Resistance Army edit

Following the start of the civil war in 1991, Shatigadud acted as the leader of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA). The rebel group was founded in September 1995 to oppose the invasion of the southwestern Bay and Bakool regions by Mohamed Farah Aideed's Somali National Alliance (SNA).

For a time, the RRA later supported an initiative to form a new Transitional National Government (TNG) under President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan.

President of Southwestern Somalia edit

On April 1, 2002, Shatigadud became the President of the Southwestern State of Somalia, an autonomous self-proclaimed state in southern Somalia centered in Baidoa.[3][4] The polity's organization was thought to be a move to show the disaffection of the RRA with the nascent Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government, as well as an act to counter the influence of the Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) in the same regions.[4]

Internal disputes developed between Shatigadud, who wished to support the new Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), and his two deputies, Sheikh Aden Madobe and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, who wished to continue to support the TNG. The conflict resulted in many deaths and calls for Shatigadud to step down as President.[5] Habsade continued to meet with TNG leaders ostensibly with the hope of being part of the nascent national government.[6] The feuding leaders of the RRA were eventually reconciled and, though conflicts periodically erupted thereafter, all joined the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) at its formation.

Transitional Federal Government edit

In November 2004, Shatigadud was appointed a Member of the 275-seat Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP).[7] Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi later named him Minister of Finance in January 2005.[8][9]

On December 2, 2007, Shatigadud was appointed Minister of National Security in the government of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. He along with three other ministers from his Rahanweyn clan resigned the following day, asserting that their constituents had not been given a fair share of posts in Hussein's government.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Somalia: Body of Shaati-Gaduud laid to rest in his hometown". Garowe Online. 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Southern regional authorities: the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) (2004)". Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). 2004. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  3. ^ "SOMALIA: RRA sets up autonomous region". IRIN. 1 April 2002. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  4. ^ a b "Third autonomous region breaks with Somalia". Afrol News. 2 March 2002. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  5. ^ "Baidoa uneasy as RRA leaders wrangle". IRIN. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  6. ^ "SOMALIA: RRA leaders in talks with TNG". IRIN. 2 September 2002. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  7. ^ "SELECTED MEMBERS OF TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL PARLIAMENT OF SOMALIA" (PDF). November 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  8. ^ "Prime Minister Geedi announced his second cabinet line up" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  9. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments Archived 2016-05-17 at the Wayback Machine CIA, November 22, 2006
  10. ^ Ahmed Mohamed, "Somali president flown to Kenya hospital", Reuters (IOL), December 4, 2007.