Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (born 25 July 1964) was the President of Somalia from 2009 to 2012, succeeding Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe and preceding Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Courts Union. Ahmd later cooperated with the new government after defecting from the ICU and was elected president in 2009, fighting against the Islamic rebels in the country in the Somali Civil War.
Biography
Ahmed was a Sunni-Muslim Abgaal Somali, born in Mahadai in 1964. He graduated from Kordofan University and majored in Arabic, minoring in geography. After overseas studies, he became a member of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) movement and was made their commander-in-chief. He fought against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces, backed by Ethiopia and the United States in the Somali Civil War, but in 2008 a split occurred between violent traditional ICU leaders and those wanting to seek peace, including Ahmed. A year later, he ran for President of Somalia and was elected.
As the President of Somalia, Ahmed had to fight against his former comrades. He waged war against the ICU's Al-Shabaab militant wing, fighting for the restoration of the ICU control that lasted only 2006, as well as Al-Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups in the country. Ahmed served as President until 2012.