Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid Abdi Hasan Awale or Abdi Qeybdiid ( , ) was born in 1948 in Galkacyo , Somalia . He was elected on August 14 , 2012 as the new president of Galmudug state , a semi - atonomous region in Somalia . In December 2006 , he led an engagement on behalf of the Transitional Federal Government ( TFG ) , backed by a sizable contingent of Ethiopia n troops , known as the Battle of Bandiradley . He is also the " Mad Abdi " of the July 12 , 1993 Abdi House Raid , which presaged the First Battle of Mogadishu . Career synopsis . Qeybdiid rose to prominence as Mohammed Farrah Aidid ' s interior minister in its clashes with UN forces during the so - called " nation - building " phase of UNOSOM II in 1993 . Like Aidid , he is a member of the Sacad sub - clan of the Habar Gedir clan . In 1993 , an assault force of Delta Force commandos backed up by nearly 140 United States Army Rangers and four US Army Special Forces operators under the command of Gen . William F . Garrison and Col . Lee Van Arsdale captured Qeybdiid together with Osman Ali Atto . He stayed in American custody for some months . The arrest is portrayed in the film Black Hawk Down . By 2001 , he was the chief of police over Mogadishu as part of the new Transitional National Government ( TNG ) . In 2006 , he fought with the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter - Terrorism ( ARPCT ) against the Islamic Courts Union in the Second Battle of Mogadishu . They surrendered on 11 July 2006 , the last Alliance forces to do so . An August 24 , 2006 article in the " Sudan Tribune " alleges Qeybdiid ' s involvement with a shadowy Ethiopian - backed intelligence unit known as the Central Revolutionary Investigation Department . In late 2006 , after retreating from Mogadishu , he fought under the name of the newly formed autonomous region known as Galmudug but without any known affiliation or permission as yet . He led its forces , fighting alongside Ethiopia and Puntland allies , in the Battle of Bandiradley . On January 1 , 2007 , he returned to Mogadishu where he pled for there to be no reprisals against the defeated Islamists . Arrest in Sweden . In 2005 , he was arrested in Lund , Sweden on suspicion of genocide , but released after a hearing in Gothenburg found insufficient evidence for a prosecution . In October 2005 , the Swedish newspaper " Svenska Dagbladet " reported that a video recording incriminating Qeybdid had circulated amongst politically active exiled Somalis for a long time . The film showed how the police chief participated in the execution of young boys in the Somali town of Kismayo in 1991 . The sequence is described as brutal , showing someone allegedly looking like Qeybdid interrogating a group of captured child soldiers before giving his militamen orders to open fire on them and kill them . Other claims related to his role in the militia of Mohamed Farrah Aidid in 1993 , the time of the First Battle of Mogadishu . The Swedish authorities ' attempts to interrogate Qeybdid proved fruitless , as he refused to answer questions on the grounds that the interpreter provided for him was a member of an enemy clan . The defence attorney appointed to him said , however , that he maintained his innocence . It is believed that the murder of Swedish journalist Martin Adler in Mogadishu could have been carried out by his followers in retaliation for this arrest . However , rumors abound about the motives behind the killing , and no evidence linking Qeybdid to the murder has ever been produced .