Cabdullaahi Sheekh Ismaaciil) BIYOMAAL DIPLOMAT AND DEPUTY PRIMEMINISER OF SOMALIA

Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Somali: Cabdullaahi Sheekh Ismaaciil) was the deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the transitional government of Somalia. He was appointed to that position on December 1, 2004 as part of a partial government formed by Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Ghedi. He lost these positions in August 2006 when Ghedi formed a new government. Unlike many other members of the government, Ismail was not a member of one of the factions which has fought for control of the country since the early 1990s. He was previously the foreign minister of Somalia during the mid 1990s.
Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail was the ex-Somali Ambassador to Russia under the Siad Barre government. Ismail is from the powerful Dir clan, and from the Bimal of the Marka region. He lived in Addis Ababa in the past ten years, and has close connections with the Ethiopians.