Ex-Somali PM Ali Khalif Galaid dies in Ethiopia

Ali Khalif  Galaid who served as the first Prime Minister in the first post-civil war government in Somalia has died. He was 79.

Galaid died Thursday morning in the Ethiopia town of Jigjiga where he had been living. Ministry of Information spokesman Ismail Mukhtar confirmed the passing on of the long-serving politician and academic.

Professor Galaid was appointed by President Abdikasim Salam as PM in October 2000 after they both returned from the historic Arte Conference in Djibouti where the first formal government after the civil war was formed. He left office after one year.

The former Prime Minister also served as an MP and taught in universities in the U.S. In 2014, he declared himself the president of the non-recognised Khatumo state located within the contested regions of Sool, Sanaag and Ayn. Both Puntland and Somaliland lay claim to these regions.

Galaid was born on October 15, 1941, in Las Anod then under the British colony.