Salaad Gabeyre Kediye | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1933 Harardhere, Italian Somalia |
| Died | 3 July 1972 (aged 38–39) Mogadishu, Somalia |
| Allegiance |  Somalia |
| Service/ | Somali National Army |
| Years of service | 1956–1971 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | 1964 Ethiopian-Somali Border War |
| Alma mater | Frunze Military Academy |
Salaad Gabeyre Kediye (Somali: Salaad Gabeyre Kediye, 1933 – 3 July 1972), also known as Salah Gaveire Kedie,[1] was a Somali senior military official and a revolutionary who was executed by the Siad Barre regime.
Kediye was born in Harardhere, Somalia, at the time an Italian colony. A career army man, he received military training at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow (Военная академия им М. В. Фрунзе), an elite Soviet institution reserved for the most qualified officers of the Warsaw Pact armies and their allies.[2] He later rose to the rank of General in the Somali National Army (SNA).[1]
Born to an Abgaal Hawiye family, Salaad was also the son in law of President Aden Abdulle Osman and maintained a degree of prominence in the Military throughout the 60s. He would first become famous at the battle of Tog Wajaale against the Ethiopian imperial army during the 1964 War.[3]
On October 15, 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod, Somalia's then President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards. His assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on October 21, 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the SNA 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.[4][5]
Alongside Barre, the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power after President Sharmarke's assassination was claimed to be led by Gen. Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Korshel. Kediye officially held the title of "Father of the Revolution," and Barre shortly afterwards became the head of the SRC.[6] The SRC subsequently renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic,[7][8] arrested members of the former civilian government, banned political parties,[9] dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution.[10]
A power struggle eventually ensued at the SRC's leadership. In 1971, Kediye and then Vice President Muhammad Ainache were charged with attempting to assassinate President Barre. Both men were shortly afterwards found guilty of treason, and along with Colonel Abdulkadir Dheel, were publicly executed the following year.[1][6]