Aden Abdullah Osman Daar

Aden Abdulle Osman Daar آدم عبد الله عثمان دار
1st President of Somalia
In office July 1, 1960[1] – June 10, 1967[1]
Succeeded by	Abdirashid Ali Shermarke
Personal details
Born	1908 Beledweyne, Hiiraan Region, Italian Somaliland
Died	June 8, 2007(2007-06-08) (aged 99) Nairobi, Kenya
Nationality	Somali
Political party	Somali Youth League (SYL)
Religion	Islam

Aden Abdulle Osman Daar (Somali: Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan Daar, Arabic: آدم عبد الله عثمان دار‎) (1908 – June 8, 2007), popularly known as Aadan Cadde, was a Somali politician and the country's first President from July 1, 1960 to June 10, 1967.^[1]

Biography

Aadan Cadde was born in 1908 in the town of Beledweyne in the central Hiiraan region to a Mudulood Hawiye family.^[2]

Political career

Somali Youth League

He joined the incipient Somali Youth League (SYL) political party in 1944, a nationalist organization that campaigned for an independent Somalia. Quickly rising through the ranks, Daar became the local secretary of the SYL's Beledweyne branch in 1946. A decade later, he became chairman of the national legislative assembly, and would eventually lead the SYL itself two years afterwards.^[3]

Presidency

By the time Somalia gained its independence in 1960, Daar had attained widespread prominence as a nationalist figure. In short order, he was elected the country's first President, a position he would assume from 1960 to 1967.^[3]

In the 1967 presidential election, Daar was defeated by Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, his former Prime Minister. His term as president ended on June 10, 1967. Daar accepted the loss graciously, making history as the first leader in Africa to peacefully hand over power to a democratically elected successor.^[3]

Shermarke was assassinated two years later by one of his own bodyguards. The slaying led to an unopposed, bloodless coup d'état by the Somali Army on October 21, 1969, the day after Shermarke's funeral. Spearheading the putsch was Major General Muhammad Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army.^[4]

Civil war

In 1990, with the start of the civil war, Daar and about 100 other Somali politicians signed a manifesto expressing concern over the violence and advocating reconciliation. He was summarily arrested, and remained imprisoned until the ultimate collapse of Barre's regime the following year.^[3]

Later years

After his release, Daar spent the better part of his later years on his farm in Janale, in southern Somalia.^[5]

On May 22, 2007, it was erroneously reported that he had died in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. He was, however, in critical condition and on life support. Daar died in hospital on June 8, 2007, at the age of 99.^[6][7][8]

The Transitional Federal Government, then headed by former President of Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, declared 21 days of mourning, complete with a national memorial service, and issued a statement that Daar would receive a state funeral.^[9] It also renamed Mogadishu International Airport after him.

See also

• Osman Aden Abdulle
• Somali Youth League

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Somalia - Worldstatesmen.com
2. ^ Rulers.org - Daar, Aden Abdullah Osman
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Aden Abdulle Osman - First President of Somalia
4. ^ Moshe Y. Sachs, Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Volume 2, (Worldmark Press: 1988), p.290.
5. ^ Aden A. Osman, 99; first president of independent Somalia
6. ^ Aweys Osman Yusuf, "Somalia: First President Dies At the Age of 99", Shabelle Media Network (allAfrica.com), May 22, 2007.
7. ^ Mohamed Abdi Farah, "Somalia: Former president in coma (correction)", SomaliNet, May 22, 2007.
8. ^ "Somalia's first president dies at age 99", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), June 8, 2007.
9. ^ Body of First President Arrives in Mogadishu

Persondata
Name	Daar, Aden Abdullah Osman
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1908
Place of birth	Beledweyne, Hiiraan Region, Italian Somaliland
Date of death	June 8, 2007
Place of death	Nairobi, Kenya