Abdi Hasan Awale or Abdi Qeybdiid (, ; born 1948) is a Somali politician. Qeybdiid was a high ranking member of the

Somali National Alliance The Somali National Alliance (abbreviated SNA) was a major politico-military faction formed on 16 June 1992 by four different rebel groups that had been in opposition to the regime of former President Mohamed Siad Barre. The SNA was among the f ...

during the 1990s. His home hosted the 12 July 1993 conference that was the target of the

Bloody Monday raid The Bloody Monday raid (, ), also known as the Abdi House raid or Operation Michigan, was a US military operation that took place in Mogadishu on 12 July 1993, during the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) phase of the UN inter ...

. He later served as police chief for both the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and the Mogadishu forces. During the mid-2000s he was a leading figure in the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

backed Somali Warlord Alliance fighting the Islamic Courts, transitioning during the Ethiopian military occupation the following year to Commissioner of Police for the

Transitional Federal Government The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) (, , ) was internationally recognized as a provisional government of the Somalia from 14 October 2004 until 20 August 2012. It was established in Nairobi, Kenya, following the Transitional National Govern ...

. In 2012, he was elected President of

Galmudug Galmudug (; ), officially Galmudug State of Somalia (), is a States and regions of Somalia, Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Puntland state of Somalia, to the west by the S ...

state, holding office until 2015.

Personal life

Abdi Hasan Awale was born in 1948 in

Galkacyo Galkayo (, ,Dr Badal Kariye Ba Bsit Ma Mba & Phd, ''The Kaleidoscopic Lover: The Civil War in the Horn of Africa & My Itinerary for a Peaceful Lover'', (AuthorHouse: 2010), p.116. Italian: ''Gallacaio also known as Rocca Littorio'') is the third- ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. He is a member of the Sacad sub-clan of the Habar Gedir clans.

Political career

Abdi Hasan Awale rose to prominence as Mohammed Farrah Aidid's interior minister in its clashes with UN forces during the so-called "nation-building" phase of

UNOSOM II The United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried o ...

in 1993. By 2001, he was the chief of police over Mogadishu as part of the new

Transitional National Government The Transitional National Government (TNG) was the internationally recognized central government of Somalia from 2000 to 2004. Overview The TNG was established in 20 April–5 May 2000 at the Somalia National Peace Conference held in Arta, Djibo ...

(TNG). In 2006, he fought with the

Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism The Somali Warlord Alliance, officially called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (Abbreviation, abbreviated ARPCT; ), was a Somali people, Somali alliance created by various Somali warlords and businessmen with the ba ...

(ARPCT) against the

Islamic Courts Union 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 ...

in the

Second Battle of Mogadishu 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). ...

. They surrendered on 11 July 2006, the last Alliance forces to do so. He defected from the alliance in June 2006, saying, "Since the formation of ARPCT, Mogadishu has been a centre of a military crisis that has led to the needless death of hundreds of people, therefore I decide to quit the alliance to build on the gains of the Islamic tribunals and give peace a chance". In December 2006, he led an engagement on behalf of the

(TFG), backed by a sizable contingent of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

n troops, known as the Battle of Bandiradley. He is also the "Tiger Abdi" of the 12 July 1993 Abdi House Raid, which presaged the

First Battle of Mogadishu The Battle of Mogadishu (), also known as the Black Hawk Down Incident, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent. It was fought on 3–4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, between forces of the United States—supported by UNOSOM II—against So ...

. On 1 January 2007, he returned to Mogadishu where he pleaded for there to be no reprisals against the defeated Islamists. He was elected on 1 August 2012 as the new president of

state, a semi-autonomous region in Somalia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awale, Abdi Hasan Presidents of Galmudug Somalian police chiefs Living people Somalian faction leaders 1948 births Somali National Alliance politicians Battle of Mogadishu (1993)