EX-ISLAMIST SOMALI WARLORD ELECTED ‘PRESIDENT’ OF KEY REGION
Mogadishu, Somalia, 6 Rajab 1434/16 May 2013 (MINA) – Former Islamist warlord Ahmed Madobe has been elected “president” of Somalia’s volatile southern Jubaland region following weeks of tense negotiations between rival factions, officials said Wednesday.
“Ahmed Madobe was elected by an overwhelming majority to be the president of Jubaland,” said Abdi Nasser Serar, spokesman for the 500-strong conference of clan elders and local leaders who voted for a leader, a move opposed by the central government in the capital Mogadishu.
Delegates said that while 10 votes were still cast for other candidates and 15 abstained, 485 voted in favour of Madobe, the Modern Ghana quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Madobe life journey
Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam aka Sheikh Ahmed Madobe or Madobe is the Chairman of Raskamboni movement.
As a member of Islamic Courts Union (ICU) he was governor of Kismayo in 2006. When the ICU was overthrown by Ethiopian National Defense Force he fled towards the Kenyan boarder when he was wounded, and later received medical treatment at an Ethiopian hospital. He was later arrested by the Ethiopians.
When the Somali parliament expanded to 550 MPs he was elected MP in January 2009 and released from Ethiopian prison. But on 4 April 2009 he announced his resignation from the parliament.
Sheikh Ahmed Madobe was the leader of Ras Kamboni Brigades (the predecessor to Raskamboni movement) which was allied with Hizbul Islam. On 1 October 2009, armed conflict between Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab began after a dispute between the Ras Kamboni Brigades and al-Shabaab over control of Kisimayo.
Wikipedia mantion that The Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and Jabhatul Islamiya (JABISO), which were aligned with al-Shabaab in Hiiraan and Mogadishu refused to support the Ras Kamboni Brigades, meanwhile Anole group remained neutral.
The fighting also led to a split within the Ras Kamboni Brigades, with a faction led by Ahmed Madoobe fighting against al-Shabaab and a faction led by Hassan al-Turki siding with al-Shabaab.
The Battle of Kismayo was decisively won by al-Shabaab, which then expelled Madbobe’s Ras Kamboni Brigades from the city. In the battles that followed, in November 2009, Madobe’s forces were overpowered by al-Shabaab and its local allies. It was then forced to withdraw from the Lower Jubba region and most of southern Somalia.
In February 2010, al-Turki’s branch declared a merger with al-Shabaab. On 20 December 2010, Hizbul Islam also merged with al-Shabaab.
The Raskamboni movement then allied with Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a and the Transitional Federal Government.
On 15 May 2013, Madoobe was elected as president of Jubaland, a key southern region of Somalia. (T/P09/E1).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
