Ismaïl Omar Guelleh

Ismail Omar Guelleh [ Izmail ɔma ː ʀ gels ] ( Somali: Cumar Ismaaciil Geelle; born November 27, 1947 in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia ) is since 1999 the second President of Djibouti.

Ismail Omar Guelleh was born as a member of the Issa - Somali in Dire Dawa in Ethiopian territory. His parents sent him to a French religious school in his hometown and in 1960 for further training in the then French Djibouti. There Ismail Omar Guelleh appeared in 1968, the police of the French administration in 1970, he became inspector. At the same time he was active in the independence movement Ligue Populaire Africaine pour l Independence ( LPAI), which is why he was dismissed from the police force in 1975.

After independence Guellehs uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon became president of the country. He transformed the 1979 LPAI single party Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progres (RPP ) to, rise within which Guelleh. In 1999, Guelleh succeeds Aptidon. As a candidate of the RPP, he won with 74 % against an independent challenger.

In 2000, he dismissed the chief of staff of the National Police forces Yacin Yabeh, who later launched a coup attempt. In the same year he led in Arta peace talks for Somalia, which led to the formation of a transitional government.

Ismail Omar Guelleh was last re-elected in the 2005 presidential election unopposed with almost 100% of the votes. The parliamentary elections in 2003 and parliamentary elections in 2008 won the RPP alliance led by the Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle significantly, so they got all the seats in the National Assembly. These voted unanimously in April 2010 a constitutional amendment to that would Ismail Omar Guelleh allow a third term.