Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke (Somali: Cabdirashiid Cali Sharmaarke, Arabic: عبد الرشيد علي شارماركي) (8 June 1919[2][4][5] – 15 October 1969), also known as Abdirashid Shermarke,[6] was Prime Minister of Somali Republic from 12 July 1960, to 14 June 1964, and President of Somali Republic from 6 July 1967, until his assassination on October 15, 1969.[1] He was the father of Somali Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke.
Raised in Mogadishu by his mother, Sharmarke attended Qur'anic schools and completed his elementary education in 1936. He then embarked on a career as a trader and later as a civil servant in the Italian colonial administration.
In 1943, the year of its inauguration, Sharmarke joined the incipient Somali Youth League political party. He entered the British administration's civil service the following year.
On 1 July 1960, with the creation of the Somali Republic, the then-incumbent President Aden Abdullah Osman Daar appointed Sharmarke Prime Minister of Somalia. Sharmarke's duties as Prime Minister saw him travel abroad extensively in pursuit of a non-aligned and neutral foreign policy. He remained Prime Minister until March 1964, when the first general elections were held and which saw him re-elected as a member of Parliament. In the 1967 presidential elections, Sharmarke beat out Daar to become the second President of Somalia. He was sworn into office on July 6, 1967.
Assassination
In 1968, Sharmarke narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. A grenade exploded near the car that was transporting him back from the airport, but failed to kill him.[3]
On 15 October 1969, while paying an official visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Sharmarke was gunned down by one of his own bodyguards.[3][10] On duty outside the guest house where the president was staying, the officer fired an automatic rifle in close range at Sharmarke, killing him instantly. Observers suggested that the assassination was inspired by personal rather than political motives.[3] Sharmarke's assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on 21 October 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition; essentially a bloodless takeover. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army.[11]
Mohamed Haji Ingiriis (2017) Who Assassinated the Somali President in October 1969? The Cold War, the Clan Connection, or the Coup d’État, African Security, 10:2, 131–154, DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2017.1305861