Sharif Sheikh faces Qatari terrorism for Somalia’s presidency

Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed announced last Thursday that he will run for the presidential elections in 2020 after the end of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s term.

Sharif has criticized the federal government for its weakness in fighting the terrorist al-Shabaab movement, adding that his candidacy comes at the request of the Somali people.

The former president said that his party intends to be a strong contender in the presidential and parliamentary elections and establish a political program that cares about the country’s national security.

Sharif’s weapon in dealing with the aftermath of Somalia’s civil war is national reconciliation, which is expected to include many sections of the society, most notably tribal sheikhs and elders, intellectuals and youth. The former president also seeks to establish a comprehensive judicial system based on justice.

He lost the last presidential election to Farmajo, who won 184 seats out of 347 in the Somali parliament.

Sharif was born on July 25, 1964 and grew up in a village in Mahaday, northeast of the capital Mogadishu. He came from a mostly Sufi family and has confirmed in previous statements that he is a "moderate Sufi" following the Idrisi tariqa. He also studied at the Sheikh Sufi Institute, which is affiliated with al-Azhar University.

In 2006, he was appointed president of the Islamic Courts Union, which briefly took control of the country before being expelled by Ethiopian forces. He also served as Somalia’s seventh president from January 2009 to September 2012.

Sharif, who has a good relationship with the UAE, explained that Qatar is currently infiltrating Somalia through Fahad Yasin, Somalia’s deputy director of intelligence and national security.

In 2006, Ethiopia invaded Somalia and was confronted by Sharif’s forces, but he was defeated. He managed to flee towards the Kenyan border, where he was detained by Kenyan police in January 2007, before being released the following month after talks with the US ambassador to Kenya.

During his tenure as president, he achieved unprecedented successes in the war against al-Shabaab, restoring security and stability in the country again. But after Farmajo took over, al-Shabaab returned to the country and carried out violent operations that have shaken both Somalia and Kenya.