Profile: Nur Adde, new Somali PM

By Rashid Abdi
BBC News, Nairobi

Nur Adde has previously kept out of Somalia's divisive politics

After a long search, President Abdullahi Yusuf has opted for a seasoned humanitarian worker to replace Mohammed Ghedi as the prime minister of Somalia.

Col Nur Hassan Hussein - also known as Nur Adde - was the eventual compromise candidate selected from a long list of politicians and technocrats whose names were being considered for the position.

The appointment needed careful analysis by President Yusuf as he needed to kill two birds with one stone: to impress the Hawiye clan, while also retaining control of his fragile administration.

Col Nur Adde hails from the Mudulood sub-clan of the Abgal, itself part of the Hawiye clan which dominates the affairs of Mogadishu and the central regions of Somalia.

Former policeman

The 69-year-old former military officer began his career in the Italian colonial police force in Somalia in the early 1950s and served in a special unit to protect tax revenues called the "Guardia Di Finanza".

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Nur Adde studied law at the Nation University - Jamacadda Ummadda - in Mogadishu and later attended several police academies in Italy and the US, where he specialised in criminal investigation and international law.

With this experience and training he rose through the ranks to become the deputy chairman of the so-called Salvation Court - a military-court - which tried tax evaders and other financial crimes suspects during former President Siad Barre's rule.

After the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, Nur Adde became the chairman of the Somali Red Crescent society, a post which he still holds.

He is widely credited for professionalising the organisation and turning it into an effective tool to tackle some of the humanitarian disasters Somalia has suffered in the last 17 years of anarchy.

Despite this uphill task, Col Adde has managed to steer clear of the political minefield - a trait that political observers argue may be his greatest asset as President Yusuf struggles to improve the image of his transitional government.

Foreign diplomats believe he could be a safe pair of hands for the job, given his experience working with international partners during his career as manager of a relief aid organisation.