Admiral Mohamed Omar Osman (born 1940) () is a Somali admiral,

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake o ...

and the incumbent chairman of the

Ogaden National Liberation Front The Ogaden National Liberation Front, abbreviated ONLF, (, JWXO; ) is a Somali nationalist armed and political organization seeking self-determination for the Somali-inhabited Ogaden (Somali region) of eastern Ethiopia. Founded in 1984 by forme ...

(ONLF).

Early life and education

He was born in

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 ...

, but attended secondary school in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

. He later went to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

where he graduated from the Naval Section of the Egyptian War College where Somali Army generals were completing their military education simultaneously, and later Admiral Osman completed his naval military education in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's Kuznetsov Military Academy.Biography appended to , 12 October 2009 (accessed 17 November 2009)

Naval Service

After returning to

, he was appointed a member of the central committee of the ruling

Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party The Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP, , XHKS, , ) was the ruling party of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1976 to 1991. History SRSP was created by the military regime of Siad Barre under Soviet guidance. A founding congress ...

in the mid-1970s, then became chief of the party's Politbureau. Afterward, he was appointed

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Somali Navy The Somali Navy (, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Somali Armed Forces. It is now virtually inactive. History The Somali Navy was founded in 1964 with the help of Soviet military advisers. It had its bases in Berbera, on the Gulf o ...

and promoted to the rank of vice admiral, as chief of naval operations, he oversaw and commanded navy forces in the Ogaden war against the

Ethiopian Navy The Ethiopian Navy (), known as the Imperial Ethiopian Navy until 1974, is the Navy, naval branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force founded in 1955. It was disestablished in 1996 after the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Erit ...

and commanded naval infantry units to assist the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. After the collapse of the central government in Somalia in 1991, he returned to the

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

in Ethiopia, where in 1998 he was chosen to be the leader of the ONLF at the Party Congress.

Chairmanship of the ONLF and later life

In the later years, Admiral Osman and his supporters had been in a power struggle against a group led by the ONLF head of Planning and Research Department, Dr. Mohamed Sirad Dalool, who was assassinated March 2009. This has reportedly led to a split in the ONLF, with one faction loyal to Admiral Osman, while another, led by Abdiwali Hussein Gas, holds Admiral Osman responsible for Dr. Dalool's death, which he has not commit, in fact, it is to be said that Dr. Dalool and Admiral Osman were very close friends and that he relied heavily on Dr. Dalool for advice and that he was a key member who was important of the party."Ethiopia: Ogaden's ONLF breaks into two factions"
, ''Jimma Times'', 3 March 2009 (accessed 17 November 2009)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Mohammed Omar 1940 births Living people Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party politicians Somali nationalists Somalian admirals Somalian military leaders Muslim socialists