Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Shariif Sheekh Axmed, شريف شيخ أحمد; born 25 July 1964) is a Somali politician who was the 7th President of Somalia from 2009 to 2012.

Born on 25 July 1964 in Mahaday, a town in the south of the Middle Shabelle region where he studied Islam, Arabic language and memorized the Qur'an as a child.

He began his education at the Sheikh Sufi Institute, which was associated with Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

He studied at Libyan and Sudanese universities in the mid-1990s, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Law and Islamic Shariah.

The Sharif administration successfully brought the Federal Government of Somalia through transitional status following the collapse of the previous governing administration in 1991.

His administration is credited with developing Somalia's constitution and setting up key institutions such as the police, the military and the judiciary.

He established the Somali National Army, opened the main sea port of Mogadishu and relaunched the central bank.

Under Sharif's leadership, the Transitional Federal Government succeeded in driving out Al Shabaab from the capital city and its surroundings, establishing security, peace and reconciliation through the difficult transitional period.

Sharif departed for Somalia in 2000 at a time when Somalia was under the control of warlords and friends could not visit each other in Mogadishu due to clan separation and mistrust.

The legacy of the civil war was apparent everywhere in Somalia and Sharif had ambitions of saving his country and his people.

He established Al Shuruuq Agency, a cultural and heritage institution and the Federation of Adolescents in Mogadishu which facilitated social interaction for young Somalis who had never before crossed the boundaries formed by the warlords.

As a result, the residents of Mogadishu began to cross the lines where friends, schoolmates, and elders can come together and express themselves in a positive way.

Sharif became a regional attorney of his home province, middle Shabelle, where he was elected chairman of a provincial court in Jowhar between 2001 and 2002.

Armed groups in the Somali capital who exploited the disintegration of the central government had been responsible for countless kidnappings and killings.

The court was established through a campaign which Sharif led to secure the release of an abducted child.

The court was successful in securing the release of the child and other abductees as well as looted vehicles.

The court went on to suppress the violence of gangs and warlords which was prevalent throughout the capital.

Subsequently, all five Islamic courts united and Sharif, who had always been seen as the moderate face of the Islamic Courts Union, was elected to become the chair.

Somalia was already beginning to see swift political and economic changes under his first six months of leadership.

Warlords and their influence were eliminated from the city with the help of the people's support which made it possible for the first time in sixteen years to reopen Mogadishu International Airport and Mogadishu Port.

Top UN officials have referred to this period as a 'Golden era' in the history of Somali politics.

From 2004 to 2007, he led the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), subsequently assuming leadership of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) until late 2008.

At the time the Transitional Federal Government which was established in Mbagathi, Nairobi in 2004, was a fragile body which was divided and weak.

The Ethiopian army invaded Somalia claiming that it was trying to help the Transitional Federal Government and overthrew the Islamic Court Union.

Sharif met with the US Ambassador to Kenya for talks concerning cooperation with the Transitional Federal Government, after which he left for Yemen to meet with other former Islamic Courts Union members.

As an exiled opposition leader Sharif, the former leader of the Islamic Courts Union, was in search of a headquarters for establishing a new political party, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia.

In September 2007 nearly 500 delegates gathered in Asmara, Eritrea, including Islamists, parliamentarians, civil society and the diaspora and adopted a constitution.

Sharif's party the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia signed a peace treaty with the Transitional Federal Government on 9 June 2008 in Djibouti called the Djibouti Agreement.

In January 2009, he ascended to the presidency, overseeing the country's transition from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) during his three-year term.

Post-presidency, he became head of the Himilo Qaran political party and also the founder and head of the Forum for National Parties.

He is the chairperson of the Council of Presidential Candidates of Somalia.

After winning the vote in the early hours of 31 January 2009, President Sharif was sworn in later in the day at the Kempinski hotel in Djibouti.

Sharif vowed to form a broad-based government and invited all armed groups in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation to join the UN-sponsored reconciliation effort.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN's special envoy for Somalia, praised the "transparent" presidential vote.

"We are finally seeing progress from the hard work by all sides to create an inclusive parliament," Ould-Abdallah said in a statement.

In March 2009, Sharif attended the Arab summit in Bagdad to get support for his fight against Al-Shabaab, and establishment of security, peace and reconciliation.

On 6 August 2009, Sharif and US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton held a joint press conference in Nairobi, Kenya discussing the challenges facing Somalia, and the possibility of achieving peace, stability and reconciliation for the Somalis.

On 30 September 2009, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (C.S.I.S.) in Washington hosted a statesman's forum with Sharif on Somalia promoting peace through international engagement.

On 10 October 2009, Sharif presented a speech at the General Debate of the 64th Session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on promoting peace, security, reconciliation and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

In May 2010, at the Istanbul Conference on Somalia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the only chance to bring stability to Somalia was to support the government of Sharif.