Ahmad Diriye
Image of Ahmad Diriye taken from U.S. State Department
Born	Ahmad Umar 1972 (age 51–52)[1] El Buur, Somali Democratic Republic
Other names	Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah, Sheikh Omar Abu Ubaidaha, Sheikh Ahmed Umar, Sheikh Mahad Omar Abdikarim, Abu Ubaidah, Abu Diriye, Diriye
Known for	Leader of Al-Shabaab

Ahmad Diriye (Somali: Axmed Diriye, Arabic: أحمد ديري; born 1972), also known as Ahmad Umar or Abu Ubaidah al-Somali, is the Emir of Somalia’s Islamist group Al-Shabaab. He was listed by the U.S. State Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in April 2015. The Rewards for Justice Program currently offers up to 10 million USD for information regarding him.^[1]

History

Ahmad Diriye was born in 1972 in El buur, Somalia (back then the Somali Democratic Republic).^[2]

He is believed to be in his fifties and is a member of the Bijamal section of the Dir clan from the Kismayo region of Somalia.^[1]

Ahmad Diriye became the leader of al-Shabaab following the death of the group's former leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, in September 2014. Prior to replacing Godane, Diriye served in several positions within al-Shabaab, including as Godane's assistant, the deputy governor of Lower Juba region in 2008, and al-Shabaab's governor of Bay and Bakool regions in 2009. By 2013, he was a senior adviser to Godane and served in al-Shabaab's "Interior Department," where he oversaw the group's domestic activity. He shares Godane's vision for al-Shabaab's terrorist attacks in Somalia as an element of al-Qa’ida's greater global aspirations.^[3]

He was named Al-Shabaab leader in September 2014, after Godane was killed by a U.S. airstrike.^[4]

See also

• List of fugitives from justice who disappeared

References