Republic of Somalia Paper Money Collection

Republic of Somalia Notes

[ Last Update: Tuesday, 20-Oct-2009 18:28:39 EDT ]

Somali Democractic Republic Regional Issue, Mogadishu Regional Forces, 50 N Shillings, 1991 Issue Obverse: Man working loom, arms at top left center Reverse: Young person leading a donkey with three children Watermark: Sayyid Mohammed Aabdullah Hassan Size: 140 x 70 mm 1991 saw great changes in Somalia. President Barre was ousted by combined northern and southern clan-based forces all of whom were backed and armed by Ethiopia. And following a meeting of the Somali National Movement and northern clans' elders, the northern former British portion of the country declared its independence as Somaliland in May 1991; although de facto independent and relatively stable compared to the tumultuous south, it has not been recognised by any foreign government. In January 1991, President Ali Mahdi Muhammad was selected by the manifesto group as an interim state president until a conference between all stakeholders to be held in Djibouti the following month to select a national leader. However, United Somali Congress (USC) military leader General Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the Somali National Movement (SNM) leader Abdirahman Toor and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) leader Col Jess refused to recognize Mahdi as president. This caused a split between the SNM, USC and SPM and the armed groups Manifesto, Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) and Somali National Alliance (SNA) on the one hand and within the USC forces. This led efforts to remove Barre who still claimed to be the legitimate president of Somalia. He and his armed supporters remained in the south of the country until mid 1992, causing further escalation in violence, especially in the Gedo, Bay, Bakool, Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba regions. The armed conflict within the USC devastated the Mogadishu area. Sayyid Mohammed Aabdullah Hassan (April 7, 1856, in northern Somalia - December 21, 1920 in Imi, Ogaden) was a Somali religious and nationalist leader. Referred to as the Mad Mullah by the British, he established the Dervish State in Somalia that fought an anti-imperial war for a period of over 20 years against British, Italian, and Ethiopian forces.