Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Somali: Sheekh Shariif Sheekh Axmed, Arabic: شيخ شريف شيخ أحمد; born 25 July 1965) is a Somali politician who served as the 7th President of Somalia from 2009 to 2012. Before his presidency, he became the Chairman of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from 2004 to 2007 and the Alliance of Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) from 2007 to 2009.

In 2004, Sharif became the head of the ICU. By mid-2006, the organization had wrested control of Mogadishu from warlords and expanded territorial control across much of Somalia. This rapid rise prompted a full-scale Ethiopian invasion in late 2006, leading to the ICU's governing body to collapse. In the ensuing military occupation and Islamist insurgency, Sharif assumed leadership of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS). Following Ethiopia's troop withdrawal in January 2009, he was elected President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

Sharif's TFG administration faced fierce opposition from militant groups like Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, which demanded the withdrawal of African Union troops that had been deployed following the invasion and the full implementation of Sharia law. In early 2009, his government...