Somalia’s outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has offered his condolences on the death of former Somali Minister for Defense General Abdirahman Mohamud Ali Bayr in Nairobi, Kenya.
Former Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi appointed Abdirahman Mohamud as the country’s defense minister in 2004, a government headed by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
President Farmajo said the late served the Somali Nation for a long time, serving as a Minister, Member of Parliament and Commander of the 60th Division of the Armed Forces.
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi raajicuun. The death of the late Abdirahman Mohamud Ali Bayr is tragic. He served the Somali Nation for a long time, winning a National Defense Medal in 1964. He has also been instrumental in rebuilding our government and has held key positions in the Transitional Federal Government,” said Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, according to a statement from the presidency.
General Abdirahman has held various positions in previous governments, including Minister of Defense, Commander of the 60th Division of the Armed Forces, Commander-in-Chief of the National Army Operations, Head of Somalia-Iraq and US Relations, and Head of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Defense and MP.
The late General was born in 1935 in the town of Las Qoray in the Sanaag region, according to history. He received extensive military training in Egypt, Russia and the United States.
Also in 1964, General Abdirahman was wounded in the war between Somalia and Ethiopia, when he was one of the officers awarded a medal by the Somali government.
