# Aden Abdullahi Nur

Major General Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gabyow" (Somali: Aadan Cabdullaahi Nuur "Gabyoow", 10 October 1920 – 5 June 2002) was a senior Somali military officer and politician in the Somali Democratic Republic. He hails from the Ogaden - Aulihan branch of the greater Darod clan.

## Early years

Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gabyow" was born on 10 October 1920, in the district of Mado Gashi in the Northern Frontier District, which was under the British rule. He received his primary education in Garissa, the capital city of the Northern Frontier District.
In 1941, he joined the British Colonial Army in charge of the Horn of Africa, which was called the King's African Rifles in their third battalion. He received high level of training in the second capital of Uganda, Jinja, formerly under the British colonial rule. In 1943, he was taken to Jigjiga, the capital city of the Ogaden, one of the cities under the British colonial rule where the main base of the King's African Rifles was located, there he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
When he finished his duty in Jigjiga, he was sent to Kismayo, only to be returned to Kenya when the British handed the territory over to Italy. Gabyow was among the British troops sent to fight in Korea until 1952. He had previously fought in the Malayan Emergency. In 1952, he was sent to Britain as one of the African troops who attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

## Career

In 1963, Gabyow became a platoon leader in the new Kenyan army. In 1970, he made his way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from where he was transported to Mogadishu by the Somali embassy. Due to his experience in fighting communists in Asia, he was sent to the Soviet Union for four years of training. He became head of a new police station and was later appointed head of Halane military training station in 1976. He was promoted to the rank of colonel the same year.
After being the head of the Halane military training station, General Adan Gabyow became Minister of Defence under Siad Barre. As a result of a conflict between him and Barre, he was arrested and jailed in 1988.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office files at Kew attest that Gen Aden Abdullahi Nur was relieved as Minister of Defence and appointed Minister of Tourism on 30 January 1989.

### Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM)

Somali Patriotic Movement was formed in 1985 as a result of a split in the Somali Salvation Democratic Front by military dissidents hailing from Gabyow's own Ogaden. In 1988, they demanded the release of General Gabyow and encouraged officers from their Ogaden clan to resign. Their appeal led to the dissertation of Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess. The sacking of Gabyow was the catalyst for a conflict that had been smouldering over some years. In March 1989, soldiers of the Ogaden mutinied in Kismayo, and fighting continued until the government troops gained the upper hand in July.

### Civil War

In January 1991, the government of Siad Barre was toppled in Mogadishu by the Hawiye-dominated United Somali Congress. In February 1991, fighting erupted between the USC and the SPM in Afgoye. The defeated SPM were forced to flee south to Kismayo, where they joined up with other disparate Darod who had fled from Mogadishu. In April the same year, SPM lost control of the port city of Kismayo and the USC finally captured Kismayo at the end of the month, and the SPM/SNF were pushed south of Dhobley.
Gabyow was finally released from prison when the USC overran the capital. Following the defeat of SPM, various Darod factions, including the SPM, SSDF and SNF regrouped under the banner of SPM. Gabyow was appointed the new chairman of SPM, taking over from Colonel Biliqo and Jess became the military commander. General Morgan was given charge of the police. The SPM recaptured Kismayo and Brava in June 1991.
Following their defeat the various Darod factions, including the SPM (Ogaden), SSDF (Harti) and SNF (Marehan), regrouped under the banner of the SPM. Internal Darod conflicts over land were forgotten in the face of the anti-Darod rhetoric from Aideed, who proclaimed his intention of clearing all Darod from Somalia. Gabiyo was appointed the new chairman of the SPM, and Jess the military commander. General Morgan (Majeerteen and Barre's son-in-law) was given charge of the police. The election of Gabiyo as the chairman led to a rift between Gabiyo and Jess. It is suggested that Gabiyo was elected chairman to ensure the support of his Awlihan clan, who up until then had been supporting Jess.
In June 1991, the SPM recaptured Kismayo and Brava. A second attempt to retake Mogadishu was again defeated by the USC. In December 1991, during the reelection of the SPM chairman, Gabiyo and Morgan combined forces to remove Jess's forces from Kismayo and Brava. Jess then went on to form an alliance with Aideed's USC, which became known as the Somali Liberation Army (SLA). Their combined forces managed to push Gabiyo and Morgan out of Kismayo and in April 1992 forced Barre into exile in Kenya. Following this victory Aideed and Jess formed the Somali National Alliance (SNA), combining with the SDM and the SSNM.
In December 1991, during the reelection of the SPM chairman, Gabyow combined forces with Morgan who led SSDF/SPM to remove Jess' forces from Kismayo and Brava. Jess then allied with General Mohamed Farrah Aideed's USC. Their combined forces managed to push Gabyow and Morgan out of Kismayo, rendering Siad Barre to exile. As a result of a US-led UN-sanctioned intervention in Somalia, Unified Task Force (UNITAF) took control of Kismayo. When the forces withdrew the city once again remained under control of an alliance of SPM/SSDF/SNF forces.

### Cairo Peace Conference

General Gabyow was among 25 delegates attending the Cairo Peace Conference in 1998. Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Gabyow stormed out of the Cairo talks and later announced their rejection of the Cairo declaration. Gabyow had long pointed an accusing finger at Hussein Aideed, son of Aideed who took over his father's position after he was killed in fighting between him and Ali Mahdi, and the Egyptian government for instigating violence in Kismayo, but both the Egyptian authorities and Aidid denied any involvement in the war-torn southern Somali port.
Both General Morgan and Gabyow belong to the powerful Darod clan which felt marginalised by the political dominance of the Hawiye due to the legitimacy the Cairo declaration gave Somalia's two most powerful Hawiye - Hussein Farrah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Muhammad. The Cairo declaration subsequently failed after signatories including Aideed's failure to disarm.
In 2000, Gabyow was among several leaders calling for a federal system in Somalia.

## Death

Aden Abdullahi Noor "Gabyow", who had been suffering from several illnesses for a while, died on 5 June 2002 in Nairobi the capital city of Kenya, after contracting stroke diseases. His body was flown to the capital of the Middle Juba region Bu'ale, where he was given a national funeral.