Somalia: Col. Abdullahi Yusuf laid to rest 25 Mar 25, 2012 - 12:39:55 PM
GALKAYO, Somalia Mar25 2012 (Garowe Online) – Over two thousand people attended the burial of former President Col. Abdullahi Yusuf who was laid to rest in Galkayo the capital of Mudug region on Sunday, Radio Garowe reports.
Puntland forces laid to rest the former president
Before being airlifted to Galkayo the Colonel’s body was brought to Mogadishu’s Adan Adde airport; where the Bombay military band conducted a military burial ceremony for the departed.
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Gaas and officials from the TFG then conducted a Janaza prayer an Islamic funeral prayer.
President Sharif, Prime Minister Gaas and former President of Puntland Mohamud Adde Hersi and the family of Abdullahi Yusuf accompanied the departed’s body to Galkayo where President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, religious leaders and clan leaders were awaiting their arrival.
Abdullahi was buried in a cemetery a few miles away from Galkayo international airport which was renamed today to Abduallahi Yusuf international airport. A 22 gun salute was fired in honor of the former president’s body landing in Galkayo where he spent many years of his life.
At the burial President Farole gave a brief statement adding that his passing could be felt across Somalia, “Abdullahi was a patriotic man whose dedication and rigidness will inspire many to come.”
President Sharif also gave a few remarks at the burial praying for the departed and reminding the huge crowd who gathered at the cemetery the magnitude of the Colonel’s passing from the Somali people who he had always kept in his heart said Sharif.
Delegates from Yemen, Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia and many others from around the world attended the burial.
