Ahmed Dini Ahmed

Ahmed Dini Ahmed (1932 – 12 September 2004) (Arabic: أحمد ديني أحمد‎) was a Djiboutian politician. He served as Vice-President of the Government Council from 1959 to 1960 as a member of the African People's League for Independence (LPAI) and was later Prime Minister of Djibouti from 1977 to 1978. He led the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), an Afar rebel group, during the civil war of the 1990s; after the group split in 1994, he led a radical faction of FRUD.

Ahmed, a member of the Afar ethnic group, was born near Mount Mabla in the north of Djibouti.^[1] Following independence, Ahmed became Prime Minister as well Minister in charge of Urban and Regional Planning (Aménagement du territoire) and the Creation of New Resources in July 1977.^[2]

He led FRUD in its armed struggle against the government, which began in 1991. FRUD split in 1994, and a moderate faction led by Ali Mohamed Daoud entered negotiations with the government (signing a peace agreement in December 1994),^[3] while Ahmed continued to lead a radical faction which vowed to continue to fight.^[3][4] The radical faction held a congress in late September 1994 and elected Dini as head of its executive committee.^[4] Following the signing of a reconciliation agreement between his faction and the government in February 2000, Dini returned to Djibouti from Yemen on 29 March 2000, ending nine years of exile.^[5]

In the January 2003 parliamentary election, he was the first candidate on the candidate list of the opposition coalition, the Union for a Democratic Alternative (UAD), in the District of Djibouti;^[6] however, the coalition did not win any seats.

He died on 12 September 2004 at a French military hospital in Djibouti.^[1]

References

1. Cherif Ouazani, "Ahmed Dini Ahmed", Jeuneafrique.com, September 19, 2004 (French).
2. "Décret n°77-010/PR portant nomination des ministres de la République de Djibouti.", Journal Officiel de la République de Djibouti, July 15, 1977 (French).
3. Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 180.
4. "DINI'S FACTION REAFFIRMS PURSUIT OF ARMED STRUGGLE", Reuters, 30 September 1994 (Horn of Africa Bulletin, Vol. 6 No. 5 (September–October 1994).
5. "Djibouti: Opposition leader Ahmed Dini returns after nine years in exile", AFP (nl.newsbank.com), 29 March 2000.
6. "Décret n°2002-0261/PR/MID Portant publication des listes des candidats en vue des élections législatives du vendredi 10 janvier 2003.", Journal Officiel de la République de Djibouti, December 25, 2002 (French).