Siad Barre Leads Coup to Become President of Somalia (1969)

Following the assassination of Somalia's president in 1969, a military coup installed Major General Mohamed Siad Barre as leader. His dictatorial administration was marked by human rights abuses and civil strife. Though he sought to end pervasive clan loyalties, warfare among rival factions intensified. In 1991, he was ousted. The country plunged into a civil war and has had no effective central government since. How did Siad Barre's regime terrorize the Majeerteen clan in particular? More...

Siad Barre
Siad Barre
Siad Barre
محمد سياد بري
Siabar 003.jpg
Military portrait of Major General Mohamed Siad Barre.
3rd President of Somalia
In office
October 21, 1969 – January 26, 1991
Vice President Muhammad Ali Samatar
Preceded by Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein
Succeeded by Ali Mahdi Muhammad
Personal details
Born Mohamed Siad Barre
October 6, 1919
Shilavo, Ogaden
Died January 2, 1995 (aged 75)
Lagos, Nigeria
Political party Supreme Revolutionary Council
Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
Spouse(s) Khadija Maalin
Dalyad Haji Hashi[1]
Religion Sunni Islam

Mohamed Siad Barre (Somali: Maxamed Siyaad Barre; Arabic: محمد سياد بري‎; October 6, 1919 – January 2, 1995) was the military dictator[2][3] and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ("Comrade Siad").[4]

At the time of independence in 1960, Somalia was touted in the West as the model of a democracy in Africa. However, clanism and extended family loyalties and conflicts were social problems the civilian government failed to eradicate and eventually succumbed to itself.

The Barre-led military junta that came to power after a coup d'état in 1969 said it would adapt scientific socialism to the needs of Somalia. It drew heavily from the traditions of China. Volunteer labour harvested and planted crops, and built roads and hospitals. Almost all industry, banks and businesses were nationalised, and cooperative farms were promoted. The government forbade clanism and stressed loyalty to the central authorities. A new writing script for the Somali language was also adopted. To spread the new language and the methods and message of the revolution, secondary schools were closed in 1974 and 25,000 students from fourteen to sixteen years of age and an additional 3,000 military and civil service employees were sent to rural areas to educate their nomadic relatives.[5]

After 20 years of military rule, Barre's Supreme Revolutionary Council was eventually forced from power in the early 1990s by a coalition of armed opposition groups. He died in political exile in 1995, but was returned to Somalia for burial in his home region.
Early years

Mohamed Siad Barre was born as a member of the Marehan Darod clan (sub-clan Rer Dini) near Shilavo in the Ogaden.[6][7] His parents died when he was ten years old.[7]

After receiving his primary education in the town of Luuq in southern Somalia, Barre moved to Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, to pursue his secondary education.[7] Claiming to have been born in Garbahaarreey in order to qualify,[6] he enrolled in the Italian colonial police as a Zaptié in 1940.[8] He later joined the colonial police force during the British military administration of Somalia, rising to the highest possible rank.[7]

In 1950, shortly after Italian Somaliland became a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration, Barre attended the Carabinieri police school in Italy for two years.[7] Upon his return to Somalia, he remained with the military and eventually became Vice Commander of Somalia's Army when the country gained its independence in 1960. After spending time with Soviet officers in joint training exercises in the early 1960s, Barre became an advocate of Soviet-style Marxist government. He believed in a socialist government, and a stronger sense of nationalism.
Seizure of power

In 1969, following the assassination of Somalia's second president, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, the military staged a coup on October 21 (the day after Shermarke's funeral), and took over office. The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power was led by Major General Barre, Lieutenant Colonel Salaad Gabeyre Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Korshel. Kediye officially held the title of "Father of the Revolution," and Barre sho

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