- [SW News] (Garowe, S.Africa) PRESS
RELEASE : LOSS OF A NATIONAL LEADER, CONDOLENCE TO THE SOMALI
PEOPLE. : Posted on 3 April 2002
Garowe,
May 3, 2002
PRESS
RELEASE : LOSS OF A NATIONAL LEADER, CONDOLENCE TO THE SOMALI PEOPLE.
The
President of Puntland State of Somalia, H.E. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed,
was saddened by the sudden passing away of a national figure, H.E. the
Late Haji Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, President of Somaliland and formerly,
the Prime Minister of Somalia.
Abdullahi
Yusuf Ahmed would like to send his heartfelt condolence to the family
of the Late Somali leader, to the people and administration of
Somaliland as well as to the entire Somali people wherever they may
live.
H.E.
Abdullahi Yusuf has asked the religious leaders of Puntland State to
pray for the Late Leader, Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, for Allah’s
forgiveness. Amiin!
Ismail
H. Warsame
Chief
of Cabinet
President
of self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland dies
Fri May 3, 9:30 AM ET
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The leader of Somalia's self-declared
Republic
of Somaliland, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, died Friday in a South African
hospital
following complications from a medical procedure.
Egal, who was born in 1928, died from a laceration that occurred
during a
colonoscopy at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, according to a
statement
from Somaliland officials.
Egal became the second president of the self-styled republic in the
northwestern corner of Somalia in 1993 when clan elders decided to
declare
independence following the collapse of President Mohamed Siad Barre's
government in 1991.
Egal and his administration managed to keep Somaliland relatively
peaceful
and stable as the rest of the Horn of Africa nation descended into
chaos
while clan-based political factions battled for power. But he never
managed
to secure international recognition for the republic.
Under the Somaliland constitution, Vice President Dahir Riyale Kahin
becomes
acting president. He was scheduled to attend a special cabinet meeting
in
the capital, Hargeisa, Friday afternoon. Following the meeting, the
acting
government was to issue a statement, an official in the president's
office,
who asked not to be identified, said by telephone.
Egal had come to South Africa for a "rigorous" medical check
up April 23 and
was responding well to treatment, according to the statement.
"Until his last moments, the president had truly joyous and
spirited
discussions with his ministers, friends, visiting doctors and numerous
sympathizers in South Africa," the statement said.
A colonoscopy is a procedure for examining the interior of the entire
colon
and rectum using a flexible illuminated instrument, either a
fiber-optic or
video camera known as a colonoscope.
Egal was survived by his wife, Khultun, and five children.
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