Aden Abdullahi Nur

Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gabyow" (10 October 1920 – 5 June 2002) (Somali: Aadan Cabdullaahi Nuur "Gabyoow", Osmanya: 𐒛𐒆𐒗𐒒 𐒛𐒛𐒁𐒆𐒚𐒐𐒐𐒖𐒔𐒘 N𐒙𐒙𐒇 "G𐒖𐒁𐒕𐒙𐒓", Arabic: "ادم عبد الله نور"جبيو), was a senior Somali military officer, politician and faction leader who served in senior roles in the Somali National Army.

Gabyow was born on 10 October 1920 in Mado Gashi, the Northern Frontier Province, then under British rule. He received his primary education in the district capital of Garissa.

In 1941, he joined the British Colonial Army in charge of the Horn of Africa, the King's African Rifles, in their third battalion. He received training in Jinja (present-day Uganda) under British rule. In 1943, he was taken to Jijiga, the capital of the Ethiopian Somali Regional State, where the main base of the King's African Rifles was located, and was promoted to sergeant. Gabyow later fought in British Malaya in the 1940s.

In 1963, Gabyow became a platoon leader in the newly formed Kenya army. In 1970, he travelled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and was sent to Mogadishu by the Somali embassy. Because of his experience in combat operations in Asia, he was sent to the Soviet Union for four years of training. Upon his return, he was promoted to head of a new police station and was later appointed head of Halane military training station in 1976. In the same year, he was promoted to the rank of colonel.^[1]

After heading the Halane military training station, Somali President Siad Barre nominated Gabyow as Minister of Defence. However, following a conflict with Siad Barre, he was arrested and imprisoned in 1988.^[1]

The Somali Patriotic Movement was formed in 1985 as a result of a split within the Somali Salvation Democratic Front by military dissidents from Gabyow's Ogaden clan. In 1988, they demanded the release of General Gabyow and encouraged officers from their Ogaden clan to resign, leading to the defection of Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess. The dismissal of Gabyow contributed to a conflict that had been building for years.^[2] In March 1989, soldiers of the Ogaden mutinied in Kismayo, and fighting continued until government troops gained the upper hand in July.^[3][4]

In January 1991, the government of Siad Barre was toppled in Mogadishu by the Hawiye-dominated United Somali Congress. In February 1991, fighting erupted between the USC and the SPM in Afgoye. The SPM were forced to flee south to Kismayo, where they joined other Darod who had fled from Mogadishu. In April of the same year, the SPM lost control of Kismayo, and the USC captured the city at the end of the month, pushing the SPM/SNF south of Dhobley.^[4]

Gabyow was released in 1991 when the USC overran the capital. Following the defeat of SPM, various Darod factions, including the SPM, SSDF, and SNF, regrouped under the banner of SPM. Gabyow was appointed the new chairman of SPM, taking over from Colonel Biliqo, and Jess became the military commander. General Morgan was given charge of the police. The SPM recaptured Kismayo and Barawa in June 1991.^[4]

Following their defeat, the Darod factions, including the SPM (Ogaden), SSDF (Harti) and SNF (Marehan), regrouped under the banner of the SPM. Internal Darod conflicts over land were overshadowed by the anti-Darod rhetoric from Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who proclaimed his intention of clearing all Darod from Somalia. Gabyow was appointed the new chairman of the SPM, and Jess the military commander. General Morgan (Majeerteen and Barre's son-in-law) was given charge of the police. The election of Gabyow as chairman led to a rift between Gabyow and Jess, reportedly because Gabyow was elected chairman to ensure the support of his Awlihan clan, which had previously supported Jess.^[4]

In June 1991, the SPM recaptured Kismayo and Brava. Afterwards, USC successfully defeated the second attempt to retake Mogadishu. In December 1991, during the reelection of the SPM chairman, Gabyow and Morgan combined forces to remove Jess's forces from Kismayo and Brava. Jess then formed an alliance with Aideed's USC, which became known as the Somali Liberation Army (SLA). Their combined forces pushed Gabyow and Morgan out of Kismayo, and in April 1992, forced Barre into exile in Kenya. Following this victory, Aideed and Jess formed the Somali National Alliance (SNA), combining with the SDM and the SSNM.^[4]

In December 1991, during the reelection of the SPM chairman, Gabyow combined forces with Morgan, who led SSDF/SPM, to remove Jess' forces from Kismayo and Brava. Jess then allied with General Mohamed Farrah Aideed's USC. Their combined forces pushed Gabyow and Morgan out of Kismayo, forcing Siad Barre into exile. As a result of a US-led UN-sanctioned intervention in Somalia, the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) took control of Kismayo. When the forces withdrew, the city once again remained under the control of an alliance of SPM/SSDF/SNF forces.^[4]

General Gabyow was among 25 delegates who attended the Cairo Peace Conference in 1998. Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Gabyow left the Cairo talks and later announced their rejection of the Cairo Declaration. Gabyow accused Hussein Aideed, son of Aideed, and the Egyptian government of instigating violence in Kismayo, but both the Egyptian authorities and Aideed denied any involvement.^[5]

Both General Morgan and Gabyow belonged to the Darod clan, which felt marginalized by the political dominance of the Hawiye due to the legitimacy the Cairo Declaration gave to two other Somali Hawiye - Hussein Farrah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Muhammad.^[5] The Cairo Declaration subsequently failed after signatories, including Aideed, had refused to disarm.^[6]

In 2000, Gabyow was among several leaders calling for a federal system in Somalia.^[7]

Gabyow died on 5 June 2002 in Nairobi, Kenya, after suffering a stroke at the age of 81. His body was subsequently flown to Bu'ale, Middle Juba, where his funeral was held.

• Siad Barre
• Mohammad Ali Samatar
• Abdullah Mohamed Fadil
• Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan
• Mohamed Farrah Aidid
• Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed
• Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud