Profile of new somali president

Cleric Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, 44 who won the Somalia presidency in a parliament vote held in Djibouti last night was born in 1964 in rural area of Mahaday district some 110 miles northeast of the Somalia capital Mogadishu,where he went to Koranic School. In Mogadishu, Ahmed finished his intermediate and secondary study in Egyptian administered Sheikh Sufi. After graduation from Kordafan University in Sudan where he majored in geography and Arabic language, he returned back to Somalia in 1998. He has also learnt in Libya,What's so amazing about him is that he lived in a very simple life in a $50 per month rented house in Yaqshid district in Mogadishu with his wife and two children. Unlike the warlords his alliance chased out of Mogadishu in earliy 2006, Sheik Ahmed doesn't have a lavish lifestyle. Sheik Ahmed is from Agon-yare sub-clan of Abgal clan, one of the dominant clans in Hawiye tribe who inhabit many regions of southern Somalia. He is moderate Islamist and speaks Somali, Arabic and little bit English. His openness and respect for the media gave him the advantage of conveying his messages through local and international media. He always welcomes reporters and gives interviews with detailed answers. He is a black-complexion religious man with short black beard and white turban on his head but now changed it with westren sytle dress of suit.In 2002, he was elected as the chairman of an Islamic court in Jowhar, 90km northeast of Mogadishu. His court dealt with small cases relating to light crimes and conflicts among business people and families. When militia led by Mohamed Omar Habeb 'Mohamed Dhere' invaded and took over the control of Jowhar, Sheik Sharif fled to Mogadishu and started teaching geography in Juba High School in Yaqshid district.He decided to join the Islamic movement in the capital after a 12-year-old boy was kidnapped from his school by gunmen. The kidnappers demanded ransom money which prompted Sheikh Ahmed to stand up against armed thugs in the area. He began campaigning for Islamic courts in the capital to restore peace and some sort of order. "I want to fight against robbers in the capital and also unify the Islamic courts in the city," Ahmed said. In 2004, Sheikh Ahmed became one of the leading figures in the Islamic courts in the capital. His closest friends and allies include Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, one of the founders of Islamic courts in Somalia and Terrorist ADAN HASHI FARAH(AYROW OR AYRO) the leader of the radical group of Al-Shabab who was later killed in US air strike on Dhusamareb town in central Somalia. In 2005, Sheikh Sharif was elected as the leader of Islamic courts Union, which made by 11 semi-independent courts in Mogadishu. His leadership of the Islamic courts led series of victories over Mogadishu warlords who kept Somalia as hostage for so long. During the ICU rule in Somalia, Sheik Sharif said he accomplished his ultimate dream of freeing Mogadishu from warlords and he's ready to handover the throne anytime he's asked to step aside.
Profile:Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed