Friday, March 23, 2012

The Warrior President

Abdullahi Yusuf
Abdullahi Yusuf, freedom fighter, founding father, warlord, president, died today of liver failure in a Dubai hospital. He was 77 years old.

I have very mixed feelings about Yusuf's legacy. He embodied a quintessentially Somali obstinate strength that on the one hand enabled him to almost single-handedly will the state of Puntland into being, while on the other bespoke an uncompromising, all-too-typical autocratic attitude that has led the country to ruin.

My conflicted thoughts about Yusuf are fairly evident, I think, in the obituary I wrote today for Somalia Report.

Posted by JAY BAHADUR

1 comment:

  1. Thanks to my 23 year old son I am reading your book. Your comments about Yusuf are an example of how a turbulent life brings forth tortuous and complicated people. God help Somalia. Linda G.

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